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Leighty’s Retro Review: ECW Barely Legal

April 24, 2022 | Posted by Robert Leighty Jr.
ECW Barely Legal 1997 Image Credit: WWE
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Leighty’s Retro Review: ECW Barely Legal  

-This show was a pain to find on Peacock for whatever reason. I nearly gave up and was about to use the DVD copy that was included with One Night Stand II. Before ROH, TNA, and AEW had diehard fans fighting for space against WWE, we had the little promotion that could fighting for space against WCW and WWF. I first came across ECW in 1996 or so when it would be on around midnight on a local channel. I had heard of ECW as far back as 1994 when fans were chanting it during WCW Slamboree in Philly (great show by the way). After some delays this was the very first ECW PPV and Paul Heyman’s speech to the roster is stuff of legends and is part of the Beyond The Mat documentary. Oddly enough I don’t think I have ever sat through this entire show. Let’s get to it!

-Announce Team: Joey Styles
-Date: April 13, 1997
-ECW Arena, Philadelphia, PA
-Attendance: 1170
-PPV Buys: 104,000

-Joey Styles welcomes us to the show in the ring and as he is trying to run down the card, The Dudley Boys interrupt. The crowd immediately starts a “fuck you” D-Von chant and quickly reminds me I am watching an ECW show again. He says a few words and we cut to the show opening.

-Show opening with the familiar music we all know and love! Broken Tables, Sabu killing himself, BEULAH! I also liked how their openings ended with the current ECW Champion and in this case that is Raven.

-Back to the ring with Joel Gertner and his spiel of introducing The Dudley Boys. Joel looks weird without the neck brace.

ECW Tag Team Titles: The Dudley Boys (c) (w/ Joel Gertner and Sign Guy Dudley) vs. The Eliminators

-The Dudleys bail to the floor and Sign Guy gets dropped with Total Elimination. He was basically a sacrificial lamb as Buh Buh is back in and hits Kronus with a Buh Buh Bomb. The diving head butt from D-Von gets two. Splash from D-Von gets another two count, but on Saturn. Suplex from Bubba as D-Von gets a crossbody for another two. Saturn gets a moon-sault and runs off some clotheslines before getting dropped with a BossMan Slam. 3D is missed as Kronus gets a spin wheel kick. All four men have been in the ring this entire time by the way. Also, Joey naming nearly every move after each wrestler is getting a little annoying (ie: Saturn-Sault, Bubba-Bomb, Bubba-Slam, etc). The Eliminators each hit twisting moonsaults as the crowd chants for ECW. Things slow as the champs stall on the floor. Saturn gets an assisted moonsault press to the floor and Kronus hits a Space Flying Tiger Drop (or Space Flying Kronus Drop in this case) and back in Kronus hits a rana. Saturn off the top with an elbow as all four men are again in the ring. The Eliminators are just running through their offense as this has been as ass kicking. The crowd is popping for everything from The Eliminators. Kronus up top and he hits a 450 splash which gets a standing ovation and another ECW chant. Total Elimination finishes Buh Buh off at 6:30.

Winners and New ECW Tag Team Champions: The Eliminators via pin at 6:30
-Not even really a match as it was just The Eliminators squashing The Dudley Boys. No tags, no legal men. Just The Eliminators running through their crowd popping offense for 6 minutes. **1/4

-Gertner is back to tell us The Dudleys have won if you go by his scoring system. “Fuck him up,” rings out from the crowd. Sure enough, Joel eats Total Elimination.

-Joey hypes the 3 Way Dance for tonight with the winner facing Raven for the ECW Championship. One of the men involved is The Sandman and we get a video package set to generic Metallica music.

-Joey tells us that Lance Storm vs. Chris Candido was set for tonight, but Candido is out due to an injured shoulder.

-Chris Candido, with an arm in a sling, talks about being on the first ECW show in 1993. A year ago he was with Dr Tom and with his girl winning the tag belts at WrestleMania. He goes on a rant against Sandman, Richards, Funk and he is just all over the place. He promises he will be part of the show tonight.

Lance Storm vs. Rob Van Dam

-RVD is a fill in and we would hear about that for years. The generic overdubbed music is killing the crowd for the entrances, but I mean, no way WWE is paying for all the music ECW pirated. The fans chant “you sold out” to RVD as he just on RAW I believe. Lockup to start and RVD gets in some strikes in the corner. I forgot how loud that ECW ring is. Storm gets a side headlock into a top wristlock and that lets RVD use his feet to land strikes. Storm bails to the floor and RVD follows with a somersault plancha to the floor. Nice! Back inside RVD gets a slam and hits a leg drop from the top which gets two. Storm gets tossed to the corner, but jumps to the top and springs off with an elbow. RVD gets bounced to the floor but Storm eats concrete as he misses a dive. RVD hits a moonsault press off the railing for another ECW chant. Rob brings in a chair as they head back into the ring. Nasty spot as RVD just tosses the chair at Storm’s face as he bounces out of the corner. That had to suck! Basement dropkick with the chair to Storm in the corner as the crowd continues to harass RVD for selling out. RVD up top and he hits the Frog Splash for two. Guess it was only *** at this point. More fun with the chair from RVD. He tries a splash in the corner, but Storm is out and hits a spin kick. He follows with a cartwheel splash and a springboard forearm gets a two count. Storm gets a take down and floats into a Boston Crab which turns into a Single Leg Crab. That goes for a bit before Storm gets sent to the apron. RVD lands a strike and hits a slingshot guillotine leg drop for two. Back in the ring Storm gets a Tiger Bomb on the steel chair for two. Storm hits a kick to the back of the head, but RVD is back with a ball shot. He springs off the ropes for a back elbow which gets two. German Suplex with a bridge gets two for Storm. Storm gets smart and uses the chair which pisses the crowd off. Storm holding the chair can only lead to one thing and sure enough, RVD hits the Van Daminator and then Rolling Thunder for the pin at 10:10.

Winner: Rob Van Damm via pin at 10:10
-This was solid which should be expected with the talent involved. I assume Candido was going over Storm as well if he wasn’t injured. ***

-Mic time with RVD as the crowd again lets him know that he sold out. RVD won’t shake Lance’s hand as he doesn’t want respect from the fans or any of the boys. He cuts a famous promo where he rails that he sold out by putting his boots on and wrestling tonight as a replacement. It’s all business as the win tonight made him worth more money here and more money elsewhere. “Get the fuck out,” say the fans.

Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada, Yakushiji vs. Terry Boy, Dick Togo, and TAKA Michinoku

-Michinoku Pro invading ECW! Team Taka is also part of the bWo. The crowd floods the ring with streamers in a move that ROH fans would use in the future. Yakushiji is replacing Gran Naniwa who is out with an injury. I know the hype around this match and I saw it once many years ago, but don’t remember anything about it. Hamada and TAKA start this one out and quickly Hamada hits an arm drag and then a snapmare followed by a slam. Yakushiji in off the top with a stomp and then a slam for two. Sasuke in and he fires off kicks as the crowd is treating him as the biggest star in the match. Team bWo use triple team offense on Sasuke and Terry Boy gets a Camel Clutch so TAKA can hit a dropkick to the face. Styles lets us know Sasuke wrestled in The Tokyo Dome last night TAKA and Yakushiji have a go and Taka gets a slam. Terry Boy in and he hits a delayed suplex as he holds him up there for quite some time. The crowd starts a “Power Ranger” chant at Yakushiji. Togo in and he throws Shiji up so he can fall on his face. A second try and Yakushiji counters with a rana. Things break down a bit before Hama and Terry Boy are in and have a battle of chops. Terry Boy gets caught in an armbar, but TAKA makes the save. TAKA accidentally decks his partner which lets Hamada get an armbar on TAKA. Sasuke back in and it’s a double back elbow. Sasuke gets a chinlock and Terry Boy just comes in for the save and is now the legal man. Sasuke gets a cartwheel into a splash for two. Yakushiji is back in with a dropkick on TAKA, but gets trapped in the wrong corner. Terry Boy eats a dropkick off the apron and then Yakushiji gets a baseball slide into a head scissors. Togo and Hamada beat on each other for a bit. Hamada with a rana for two as TAKA makes the save. Taka gets a small package for two. A triple team beat down of TAKA and then a single leg crab from Sasuke. TAKA escapes and hits an enzuigiri. Yakushiji gets tossed to the floor. Double bulldog takes Sasuke down and TAKA hits another basement dropkick. They clown Sasuke by posing on him which pops the crowd. Sasuke gets kicked in the face again by Togo and then a delayed suplex for two. Terry Boy back in with a single leg take down and then a spinning toe hold, but Sasuke kicks off to break. Terry Boy plants him with a DDT tough. TAKA back in and he splatters Yakushiji on the mat with a brainbuster. Terry Boy in with a boot to the face and Togo with a knee to the face for two. Togo off the middle with a Senton. Terry Boy back in and he hits a nasty belly to back suplex. Damn! Hamada back in and Taka catches him with a backdrop. Hamada gets worked over in the bWo corner and then a spike piledriver. With him dead and gone, he rolls to the floor and now Yakushiji wants more. He gets triple teamed powerbombed, but Sasuke with the save. They blow something and the crowd lets them know they “fucked up.” Now everyone just starts hitting everyone to pop the crowd. Asai Moonsault over the guardrail from Sasuke. Super Reverse Atomic Drop From Terry Boy to Hamada. Springboard Plancha to the floor leaves Terry Boy and Yakushiji as the only two in the ring. Moonsault gets two for Yakushiji. Terry Boy hits a swinging DDT for two and then a chokeslam into a powerbomb. Togo and Hamada back in the ring as Togo hits a powerslam for two. This is nuts! Hamada with a DDT for two. Pop-up powerbomb from Togo for two. Slam from Togo as he heads up, but Sasuke stops that. Hamada brings him down with a top rope rana. Yakushiji heads up and comes off with a rana. He then hits Togo with a suicide dive. Sasuke and TAKA now in the ring and TAKA gets a belly to belly suplex and springboard dropkick to the head. Michinoku Driver, but Yakushiji makes the save. Sasuke with a dropkick and moonsault press for two. Nasty powerbomb from Sasuke and then a German suplex into a bridge gets the win at 16:56.

Winners: The Great Sasuke, Yakushiji, and Gran Hamada via pin at 16:56
-This just flew by and those last 8-10 minutes was just move after move with people just switching in and out seamlessly. If you were looking for some kind of emotional story this wasn’t the match for you, but if you want non stop action with eye popping moves all over the place this is your match. ****1/2

-Video package on Stevie Richards who will also be in the 3 Way Dance tonight.

ECW World Television Title: “The Franchise” Shane Douglas (w/ Francine) vs. Pitbull #2

-Douglas has to get some promo time because I mean, it’s an ECW show. He curses a lot and takes credit for bringing ECW to PPV. He takes credit for calling people out from other companies and he knows they aren’t coming. Too bad there was no Forbidden Door in 1997! He continues to ramble as he has 4 points to get across. Gary Wolfe (Pitbull #1) is sitting in the front row and we see footage of Shane attacking him when he had a halo on his head. So Shane has been tormented by a masked man and if Pitbull two loses, whoever this mysteriously ravishing man is, has to take his mask off. Shane finally stops talking and Pitbull hits the ring as the brawl is on. Pitbull gets the upper hand and gets a backdrop. Spinning heel kick and clothesline follow. He hooks the head and cranks on the neck as awful music plays over whatever The Pitbulls were using at the time. Thankfully it stops as Shane reverses the tide and goes to work on the neck. Pitbull counters into a side headlock and gets a two count off that. Douglas punches his way out, but gets caught with a drop toehold. He gets a front facelock and cranks on the neck again. The crowd chants “break his neck.” Now Shane goes to the neck, so Pitbull picks him up and dumps him balls first on the top rope. They blow something as it looked it was supposed to be a pop-up reverse atomic drop. They repeat the spot and Pitbull hits a clothesline for two. Gary Wolfe is at ringside without his halo and again, the crowd starts a “break his neck” chant. Powerbomb is countered by a rana as that almost went bad as Douglas nearly went all the way over Pitbull’s head. Both men end up falling over the top rope to the floor. Piledriver from Douglas and then another one. A third one and yet no cover. The crowd lets us know that Francine has herpes as they are bored with this one and are findings ways to entertain themselves. Dropkick to the back of the head sends Pitbull to the floor. Delayed vertical suplex followed by a Camel Clutch. Pitbull breaks and tosses Shane in the corner. Another reverse atomic drop and a clothesline which was the same spot we saw earlier in the match. Douglas and Dreamer seemed to always make sure their balls were abused in their matches. The crowd wakes up as Douglas gets dumped over the top and through the time keeper’s table. Wolfe gets in some shots as he hopes the rail. The riot squad stop that noise and escort Wolfe to the back. A section of railing gets tossed into the ring as the crowd chants, “we want blood.” Douglas tries to drop Pitbull knee first on the rail, but it tips over and ruins the effect. Shane improvises with a ball shot! Douglas tosses the railing to the floor onto Pitbull. That had to suck! He crotches Pitbull on the railing, though it caught more quad than balls. Steel chair to the back as this one probably should have ended by now. Joe y Styles goes on a rant against Sting of all people as he rails against someone bungie jumping from the ceiling with his face painted. That crowd would piss their pants if Sting ever showed up in that building. Back in the ring Douglas hits a knee to the gut and then an elbow. “She’s a whore.” Poor Francine! Douglas gets caught coming off the top and then placed in the corner. Douglas pushes Pitbull off and tries to come off again, but gets caught with a dropkick on the way down. A few people in the crowd start yelling “boring,” and I don’t blame them. Shoulder block by Pitbull and then a clothesline. Powerslam gets a two count. Back elbow gets another two count. Standing dropkick another two count. Press Slam as Pitbull seems gassed! Douglas gets brass knuckles from Francine and uses them for a two count. Douglas uses a piece of table for another two count. Then the bell for another one. A chair for another one. This is getting absurd! Pitbull makes a rally but gets clocked with The TV Title and then again. The crowd is turning on this one. Douglas goes for the chain in his boot, but takes too long and gets caught with a pump handle slam for two. Pitbull gets the chain and decks Shane, but here is Candido. Douglas gets a roll-up for two. Clotheslines from Pitbull, but he walks into a belly to belly to finish at 20:43.

Winner and Still ECW World TV Champion: Shane Douglas via pin at 20:43
-This was kind of a disaster as it was boring with some botched moments and just way too long in general. I know they story of each wanting to break each others’ neck, but after railing, chairs, tables, brass knuckles, it ends with a simple belly to back suplex. 3/4*

-The Masked Man comes out wearing a familiar robe. He lays a kiss on Francine and gets blasted with the belt by Douglas. The real Rick Rude pops up from behind as the man in the Rude robe was Brian Lee. The crowd is awake with all this after sitting through that snooze-fest. Lee is out of The Triple Threat which opened a spot for Bam Bam Bigelow.

-Raven cuts a promo backstage. The Raven character is one of mt favorites of all time and I was eating this stuff and his WCW stuff up with a spoon back in the day.

-Taz gives his final thoughts ahead of his hyped match with Sabu. They hate each other and that’s all we need! The Path of Rage was leading to Sabu and we see some of Taz’s victims: Bigelow, Jericho, RVD, Scorpio among others. He quotes Clubber Lang with “I’m going to bust you up.” Nice!

Grudge Match of The Century: Taz (w/ Bill Alfonso) vs. Sabu

-Taz makes his entrance with Team Taz while Sabu just appears in the ring out of nowhere. This was ECW’s version of Sting/Hogan at Starrcade as far as build and anticipation. Stare down to start as the crowd is standing. They trade slaps and then punches before a running clothesline from Taz. Sabu bails to the floor to walk it off and the back in the ring where Taz nearly gets the Tazmission. Sabu is able to block which Joey notes is a big deal as nobody has ever avoided the hold. Wrestling sequence as they trade holds and Taz ends up with an anklelock. Sabu escapes and shoots in, but Taz snuffs that out. Taz gets back control and throws cross face forearms. Sabu is bleeding from the nose after those shots. Sabu rolls to the floor again and looks kind of pissed about the broken nose. Back in and Sabu dropkicks the knee. Now Taz bails to the floor, but Sabu hits a baseball slide. Taz ends up in the front row and Sabu sets up a chair. She jumps off the chair and springs off the ropes over the barrier onto Taz. Always impressive! They brawl in the crowd and we can’t really see anything because ECW wasn’t great at shooting stuff like this. Sabu sets up a chair and jumps off again, but misses Taz and crashes into the railing. They head back to ringside and finally back into the ring. Drop toehold into another submission that is released quickly as Taz just opts to punch Sabu in the face. Taz gets the mount and gets reversed, but Taz gets an armbar and body scissors. Sabu gets to the ropes to break and that was always weird in ECW considering nothing else was ever enforced. Sabu grabs another chair and just casually tosses it at Taz’s face. Effective! Air Sabu connects in the corner, but misses the second time. Taz drops Sabu face first on the chair for two. The crowd is kind of dead for this one for whatever reason. High clothesline from Taz as was more on the face that anywhere. Spinebuster from Taz. Sabu grabs the tights to send Taz to the floor. Triple Jump Springboard is either blown or missed as again the camera missed it. Taz suplexes Sabu over the railing into the crowd. Team Taz sets a table up as a bridge on the apron and railing. Something goes wrong again as Sabu wanted another Triple Jump, but opted out of it. Sabu ends up getting put through the table with a throw. Back in the ring both men are down as again, this crowd is just gone. I don’t know if their expectations were too high for what we are getting or what. Sabu gets a rana off the top to wake the crowd up and it gets two. Impressive springing leg drop from Sabu as he flew over halfway across the ring to hit it. Back to the floor for some more brawling and then back inside. Taz drops Sabu on his head with a head and arm suplex. Headlock suplex next! Sabu gets a t-bone suplex to again pop the crowd. Now things get real interesting as Sabu hooks the Tazmission, but I mean, it’s Taz’s hold and he breaks easy with a belly to back suplex. Now Taz connects with the T-Bone and the Tazmission is locked in to end this one at 17:46.

Winner: Taz via submission at 17:46
-Weird how the crowd wasn’t into this one after foaming at the mouth for the build. Some blown spots which is kind of normal for a Sabu match, but this was solid. It just never reached epic like it was built to be. ***

-After the match Taz cuts a promo offering his respect to Sabu while also cussing out a heckler. He tells Sabu he would accept a rematch and wants a handshake. Sabu accepts and raises Taz’s hand. Then a hug and the crowd now boos until RVD shows up and decks Taz from behind. Taz goes for a suplex, but Sabu makes the save and it’s a beat down. Arabian Facebuster and this angle after the match has more heat than anything they did during the match. Taz gets put through a table on the floor and then Sabu chokes him out with The Tazmission. Fonzie is left in the ring and it all becomes clear as he tears off his Team Taz gear and shows a Sabu shirt. “You sold out” chant from the crowd.

-Fonzie then reveals Taz cost him a lot of money as he had his money on Sabu. RVD cuts a promo about being a PPV Superstar and tells any promoters to call his man Fonzie. “I love working Mondays.”

-Tommy Dreamer and Beulah McGillicutty are introduced by Joey as Dreamer will be on commentary for the next match. Weird not to have a match for Dreamer on the first ever ECW PPV. Oh and Beulah is an absolute smoke show.

#1 Contender’s Three Way Dance: Big Stevie Cool (w/ bWo) vs. The Sandman vs. Terry Funk

-Obviously no Metallica for Sandman and instead it’s the generic overdubbed music they have used previously. Winner gets an ECW Title Shot against Raven tonight. Sandman’s entrance eats up over 4 minutes before he gets into the ring and eventually they just send Funk out to get this show moving. Four plus minutes of Metallica is great. Four minutes of overdubbed generic rock is not. Speaking of overdubbed, what they have for Funk is even worse. Joey informs us that Dreamer gave up his spot in this match to his mentor, Terry Funk. I still would have had Dreamer on the show in some kind of match. Sandman offers Funk a beer and Terry turns it down, so Sandman drinks it and spits it in the face of Stevie. Triple side headlock and then a stalemate. Funk and Sandman take turns chopping Stevie in the corner, but returns fire. Funk no sells a chop from Sandman and then lights him up with some chops, but Sandman has a shirt on which probably helps. Stevie gets a two off a school boy. Funk goes for the spinning toehold, but Stevie stops that. Stevie and Sandman take turns dropping elbow on Funk and Stevie gets a two count. Dreamer lets us know he promised Funk he would get involved in this match or the Raven match if he wins. Funk gets a neckbreaker while Sandman wanders off and returns with a ladder. Funk gets blasted in the face with the ladder and then Sandman suplexes the ladder on Stevie. The ladder gets dropped on Funk again and Sandman gets a two count off that. DDT from Sandman on Stevie. Sandman and Terry climb the ladder and fight up top. Actually they probably could have just made this a ladder match with a contract hanging. Funk gets a moonsault off the ladder onto Stevie. Sandman then comes off the top and just drops the ladder on Stevie. That had to suck! Joey is amazed at what Funk is doing considering he is 53. That’s prime age for a Main Event run in WWE over the last few years. More fun with the ladder as Stevie reverses a whip and Sandman cannon balls into the ladder. That gets a two count for Stevie. Funk gets hit with an elbow from Sandman and then an elbow to the balls from Stevie for two. Sandman climbs the ladder again for whatever reason and Stevie goes up to meet him. They fight as Funk staggers around the ring and knocks them over. Funk debuts the helicopter spot with the ladder that Bubba Ray Dudley admitted he did at TLC II to honor Terry. Funk is so dizzy he falls over with the ladder. Funk and Sandman fight near a ladder that is propped against the ropes as Stevie heads up. They go for the see-saw spot, but it doesn’t really work out for them. Joey Mercury probably wished it didn’t work when his face exploded off that spot years later. Sandman dumps Stevie to the floor and throws on the ladder on him for good measure. They brawl on the floor and Sandman flies over the top and see-saws the ladder into Stevie’s face. Again, props for creativity but it didn’t really work out well. Better than the last try at least. Sandman is off to the locker room again while Funk hits Stevie with a suplex. Sandman is back with a trash can and he has perfect aim as it bounces off Funk’s head as he tosses it in the ring. Stevie gets suplexed on the can and that gets two for Funk. Ugly spike piledriver on Stevie as they are just wandering around looking for spots to hit. Stevie gets buried under the ladder and Sandman hits the Slingshot Senton Leg Drop for two. Another see saw spot and this one misses completely as the ladder nearly lands in the front row. Funk opts to just toss a chair at Sandman on the floor. This is a mess but it’s kind of entertaining in a train wreck way. Double Powerbomb eliminates Stevie at 15:45. Sandman gets backdropped to the floor and lands on Stevie as he even has to take bumps after being eliminated. Sandman finds some barbed wire, because why not I guess. Funk pulls Sandman’s shirt over his head and Sandman isn’t in the shape he would get for his WCW run. Sandman gets his back worn out with a strand of barbed wire and cue the ECW chants. Sandman comes back by wrapping barbed wire around his body and runs into Funk. Effective I guess! Leg drop from Sandman gets two. Stevie is up on the apron for some reason as Sandman gets the garbage can put on his head. Stevie Kick sets up Funk to come off the top with moonsault for the win at 19:10.

Winner: Terry Funk via in at 19:10
-This was an okayish brawl for the first half and then kind of fell off a cliff with the constant ladder see-saw spots that all went wrong. The story was also all about Funk getting one last shot at glory, but the crowd seemed to be pulling for Stevie and his quest to take on his former bully. This certainly wasn’t boring, but it wasn’t what you would call good either. **

ECW World Heavyweight Title: Raven (c) vs. Terry Funk

-Raven is immediately out to pick the bones and I don’t blame him. Joey can bitch about it, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. Raven brigs a chair in the ring and hits his drop toehold. Dreamer wants to just watch the match and asks Joey to leave him alone. Funk is bleeding all over the place which brings a doctor into the ring. Funk tells Raven to bring it on as the doctor checks the cut. The crowd chants for Tommy as that really should have been the Main Event for this show. Tommy is nearly in tears as he says he promised Terry and would let him do this himself. Raven works the cut and talks trash as Funk swings blindly. Raven sets up a table as the doctor checks on Funk again. Raven suplexes the table on Funk and struggles to set up another one. He lays Funk on the table and dives over the top onto Funk and through the table. Raven blasts the doctor and calls for help. The Nest hits the ring and attack Funk. Raven cuts a promo on Dreamer as The Nest stacks tables under the Crow’s Nest. Big Dick Dudley blasts Dreamer with a table and back in the ring Raven hits the ref with a DDT. Dreamer fights off a chokeslam and puts Big Dick through the stack of tables in a terrifying bump. That looked really bad and could have been worse. Funk is still laying in a pool of blood as all of this is happening. Dreamer hits the ring and the crowd wakes up for Dreamer/Raven. Dreamer hits Raven with a DDT and Funk covers for two as the bell rings. I guess the match continues and immediately Funk gets a small package for the real win at 7:12. Not sure what happened there with the botched ending.

Winner and New ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Terry Funk via pin at 7:12
-Raven was kind of screwed here, but the story made sense as Funk got nothing in following the three way dance and only won because of Dreamer’s help. Not even really a match as it was mainly Funk bleeding while Raven cut a promo. I believe the time keeper screwed up with the early belly as the story would be that even with Dreamer interfering his DDT couldn’t beat Raven so Funk had to go to a small package. Weird match where the biggest bump was taken by Big Dick. *

-Thanks for reading!

7.5
The final score: review Good
The 411
This one gets a pass just for history purposes alone as ECW finally made it to PPV. They pulled it off and should be commended for it. The show is an easy watch (outside of Shane/Pitbull) and with 1 great match and a few good matches it makes for a good show. The lows are really low though and some of the charm of ECW in the mid 90s doesn't hold up as well today because ladder, table and chair spots don't mean as much now. Definitely check this one out though as any fan should see it at least once.
legend