Dark Pegasus Video Review: Eastern Championship Wrestling (04.27.93)

Eastern Championship Wrestling (04.27.93) by J.D. Dunn Twitter.com/jddunn411 Facebook.com/jddunn411 Big show here. Both the ECW Title and Tag Team Titles are on the line. April 27, 1993 From Philadelphia. Your hosts are Jay Sulli and Stevie Wonderful. Eddie Gilbert claims to have ran Terry Funk out of the territory by defeating him in an “I Quit.” We see footage of Gilbert and Funk from a house show, but Tod Gordon pulls the plug because it’s “too graphic for TV.” Gordon does assure us that Funk was not run out of the territory. Hunter Q. Robbins III offers Stetson & Winters $500 if they can beat the Super Destroyers. ECW Tag Team Titles: The Super Destroyers (w/Hunter Q. Robbins III) vs. Tony Stetson & Larry Winters. Stetson and Winters are a regular team and the #1 contenders, so it’s not like this should be a total laughfest. The Destroyers clean house on them early, though. Stetson and Winters make a bit of a comeback, and Winters locks in the figure-four on Destroyer #1. The other Destroyer grabs Robbins’ cane and nails Winters with it for the DQ at about 5:00 (didn’t hear an opening bell). Robbins is out $500, but the champs retain. ** Glen Osbourne vs. Sal Bellomo. Eddie Gilbert hijacks the match and says he has a big announcement. It turns out to be the addition of The Magnificent Muraco to Hot Stuff International. The Suicide Blondes – Jonathan Hotbody and Chris Candido – introduce themselves. This is Candido’s debut in ECW. The Suicide Blondes vs. J.T. Smith & Tommy Cairo. The Blondes don’t fare well early, getting tossed around by Tommy Cairo. Smith plays face-in-peril. They work in that spot where Cairo blocks Smith from taking a hard bump into corner, so the Blondes try it and Candido winds up tossing Hotbody’s salad. Smith and Cairo start cheating for fun. Smith hits his moonsault, but the ref is tied up with Cairo. Hotbody comes off the top with a double ax-handle, and the Blondes get the win at 8:00. Candido was a solid hand in the ring even back then, so it’s not surprising that he took the quality up a notch. **1/4 Don Muraco and Jimmy Snuka gloat about their newfound alliance. Well, it is pretty shocking when you think about it. Ten years after maximum relevance, but still, cool to think about. Don Muraco & Jimmy Snuka (w/Eddie Gilbert) vs. The Hellriders. Yeah, this ain’t going well for the Hellriders. Muraco and Snuka may have huge guts at this point, but… well, so do the Hellriders in their primes. Muraco and Snuka overpower them, and Muraco press slams Snuka onto H.D. for the win at 3:02. 1/2* Recap of Rockin’ Rebel abusing Peaches and laying out the Sandman with the help of Tigra. Non-Title: The Sandman (w/Peaches) vs. Rockin’ Rebel (w/Tigra). Sandman in a surfer’s neon bodysuit is light some sickening sight gag. Rebel chokes Sandman against the ropes, and Tigra gouges his eyes. Standard stuff from Rebel, but he’s a good character. Sandman gets a knee up, but we’re busy watching Tigra’s cleavage. Nice camerawork there. Maybe ECW should hire Game Plan U.S.A. to shoot their stuff. Tigra cuts off Sandman’s comeback with another eyerake. Chick is vicious. That’s a DQ at 4:14. The faces chase off Rebel and Tigra, though. Not exactly the blowoff I was expecting, but I assume they’ll save that for a bigger show. ** Recap of the ECW TV Title Tournament, won by Jimmy Snuka. Hunter Q. Robbins III is upset because Stetson & Winters will be receiving a rematch for the tag team titles. He declares this will be the last shot.

The 411: Passable wrestling this week, but the show still seems like an anachronism, a condition I fear that will continue until Paul Heyman takes over booking duties.
Final Score:  4.0   [ Poor ]