Dark Pegasus Video Review: Eastern Championship Wrestling (04.13.93)

Eastern Championship Wrestling (04.13.93) by J.D. Dunn Twitter.com/jddunn411 Facebook.com/jddunn411 April 13, 1993 From Philadelphia. Your hosts are Jay Sulli, Stevie Wonderful and Terry Funk. Eddie Gilbert tries to muscle in, but Funk pours water on him and chases him off. We get more clips of Funk from Quantum Leap. Oh boy. Gilbert really sold that water. ECW TV Title Tournament: Glen Osbourne (#3) vs. Johnny Hotbody (#5). Osbourne was the TV Title champion before this, but they stripped him of the title. I don’t remember a kayfabe reason, but the business reason was to be able to hold this tournament with the new TV deal. Hotbody’s male-pattern baldness makes his gimmick that much better. It’s even until Hotbody tosses Osbourne to the floor and suplexes him. No mats in ECW. Back in, Hotbody grabs what may or may not be an illegal choke. Osbourne gets out of it, and Hotbody accidentally nails the ref. That leads to a low blow and a piledriver from Hotbody. No ref, so Hotbody sets up for a superplex. Tommy Cairo runs down for some payback, tripping Hotbody and pushing him off the second rope. That sets up a splash from Osbourne at 7:47. Solid outing that furthered the Hotbody vs. Cairo feud. ** Tony Stetson & Larry Winters (w/Peaches) vs. The Samoan Warrior & Chris Michaels. Stetson & Winters are the #1 contenders to the tag team titles. Peaches is Lori Fullington (Mrs. Sandman). Michaels looks like a pudgy version of Rocker-era Shawn Michaels. Michaels skins the cat but gets clotheslined over. Samoan Warrior actually has more success. Warrior is Lloyd Anoa’i, son of Afa, maybe better known as L.A. Smooth. Stetson and Winters finish Michaels with the Death Sentence at 5:03. Stetson & Winters came off much better this week than last. ** After the match, The Super Destroyers attack Stetson and Winters, and they brawl back to the locker room. The Sandman sucks up to Terry Funk and thanks all the fans who made his ECW Title win possible. ECW Heavyweight Title: The Sandman (w/Peaches) vs. The Kodiak Bear. Before the match, Peaches gives Sandman a huge kiss. It’s just so weird to see Sandman before the changeover. They’re trying to make him into a Sting-like sex symbol and it’s just… wrong. Kodiak does a lot of gruff, fat-guy offense, but Sandman hits a missile dropkick and a sad slingshot shoulderblock. That sets up the shinni no make at 4:34. Silliness by today’s standards, but it’s an interesting time capsule to see what bookers thought would get over back in the day. 3/4* Eddie Gilbert (#2) vs. J.T. Smith (#7). Smith is still a jobber here, as evidenced by his treatment here. He would go on to semi-fame as a member of the Full Blooded Italians. Gilbert just massacres Smith and steals the ringbell. Terry Funk leaves the announce booth to shout some threats, but Gilbert uses the bell anyway. Smith comes back with a fallaway slam. His moonsault whiffs, though, and Gilbert clotheslines him onto the announce table. Smith knocks Gilbert to the apron where Gilbert produces a gimmick from his tights (hey, I’m reviewing ECW, I might as well start using “smart” terms). Smith tries a suplex, but Gilbert nails him with the foreign object and gets the pin at 4:33. Smith actually showed some potential here. Too bad he became something of a joke later on. ** Tommy Cairo vs. The Super Ninja. Ninja is not Keiji Mutoh, but he kind of tries to wrestle like him. We’re JIP. Ninja tries a handspring elbow, but Cairo catches him and drops him with a German Suplex for the win about 2:00 in. Johnny Hotbody attacks Cairo after the match, but we’re out of time. 1/4*

The 411: Two episodes in, and we already get the feel of Mid-South wrestling (where booker Eddie Gilbert cut his teeth). The TV flows pretty well, but the wrestling is non-existent.
Final Score:  4.0   [ Poor ]