wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: ECW Hardcore Heaven ’97
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-We continue along as I get to ECW’s PPV from August of 97. Next up is In Your House: Ground Zero followed by Fall Brawl. As I mentioned I plan to finish out the rest of 1997 and then I will see if I want to continue to 1998 or jump to another time period. I know my friend wants me to get to 80s NWA/JCP and I have always had the idea of going through each Starrcade like I did with WrestleMania. We will see where it goes. Let’s get to it!
-This is ECW’s 2nd PPV and the main story coming into this one is Jerry Lawler invading ECW after they came to RAW. Go back and watch when Lawler showed up in the ECW Arena for the first time as it looked like a riot. Good times!
-Commentary: Joey Styles
-Date: Aug 3, 1997
-War Memorial Auditorium, Ft Lauderdale, FL
-Attendance: 1950
-PPV Buys: 36,000
-Joey Styles, in the center of the ring, welcomes us to the show and the crowd serenades him with ECW chants. He runs down the card a bit before being interrupted by Ravishing Rick Rude. The crowd lets him know that he sold out as he just showed up as part of DX on RAW. Joey crushes Rude for selling himself out to some “boy-toy dancer in another company.” Rude wants all the fat, out of shape, Lauderdale losers to button their lips and open their eyes to the man who will be the next ECW TV Champion, Chris Candido. Good heel heat for Rude as people started throwing drinks at him. Oh yes, this show is going to be filled with overdubbed music.
-Todd Gordon is out and tells Rude he threw away a lucrative two year contract as an announcer by being a hired gun. I mean, WWF was on hard times, but I am sure their checks cleared at least. Gordon tells him he can do whatever he wants, but he isn’t a licensed manager in ECW so has until the count of ten to leave. The crowd starts the count and Rude takes his leave but not before yelling, “fuck you Gordon.”
-Now we get the proper opening with the ECW Music that they are allowed to use. Unfortunately, my groove gets interrupted by Peacock throwing in commercials in the middle of the opening. That sucks!
ECW Television Championship: Taz (c) vs. Chris Candido
-Taz was booked as the baddest dude in wrestling and you believed it. He had just choked Douglas out for the TV Title and Candido is looking to bring it back to The Triple Threat. It should be noted the show doesn’t look great as it is dimly light, but high production wasn’t ECW’s thing. Taz just stares at Candido, so Candido spits in his face. Big mistake as Taz lands a low blow off a leap frog and hits a pump handle suplex. Joey makes me feel old as he notes Taz is 29 and Candido is 25. Candio curses out the ref and then gets dumped with more suplexes. They do some mat wrestling and Taz ends up with an armbar, but Candido gets to the ropes to break. Taz stomps and calls Candido a “pussy” which pops the crowd. Candido drops Taz on his head and taunts Taz with his own pose. Joey mentions that both men have suffered broken necks in their past. Candido goes to the eyes and fires off chops in the corner. Candido misses a clothesline and Taz gets a Northern Lights Suplex for two. Candido gets an enziguiri and drops a leg on the back of the neck which gets a one count. Taz throws punches from his back and tries another arm, but Candido lands a low blow to stop that noise. Vertical suplex from Candido followed by two leg drops. He works Taz over in the corner and then yells at the ref some more. Candido charges, but gets backdropped to the floor. Taz follows and gets sent into the railing. Candido fires Taz back first into the railing again as Joey references Sunny without naming her. Back in the ring Candido sets Taz on the top rope and brings him down with a hurricanrana. Candido up top and he connects with a flying headbutt. Man, that ring has a lot of bounce and is loud! Taz ducks a clothesline and hits own of his own. He ducks an enziguiri and wraps Candido up in a bow and arrow. Candido fights his way out and hits a powerbomb for two. Candido slaps Taz around and throws him sternum first into the corner. He heads up to set-up for the top rope powerbomb, but Taz brings him down with a belly to belly suplex. They each duck a clothesline, but Candido gets caught and dumped on his head with a release German Suplex. Next up a T-Bone Suplex as both men are slow to get up. Candido back with a powerslam out of the corner and again, both men struggle to their feet. Candido gets cocky and Taz hooks the Tazmission in the corner and takes it to the mat where Candido taps out at 11:52.
Winner and Still ECW Television Champion: Taz via submission at 11:52
-Solid match with an ending that kind of came out of nowhere. Taz continues to roll and look like a killer. ***
-Joey tells us that the next ECW PPV will be in Pittsburgh in November for November to Remember. He throws to earlier in the night before the show started as Insane Clown Posse were in the ring to hype the crowd and then got their ass beat by RVD. Sabu joined in on the fun and the crowd ate it up with a spoon.
ECW Revenge Match: Spike Dudley vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
-Spike had just upset Bigelow in the ECW Arena and is basically toast here. More overdubbed music as there is no way they are paying AC/DC or Guns N Roses. Spike jumps Bigelow at the bell and then the massacre is on. Bigelow launches Spike across the ring and the crowd starts an “Over here,” chant as they want Bigelow to throw Spike into the crowd. Spike ducks a clothesline and gets a sort of bulldog and then gets a proper one out of the corner. He comes off top, but gets caught and Bigelow powerbombs the piss out of him. That had to suck! Gorilla Press and Spike gets dropped across the steel support on the buckle and falls to the floor. Gorilla Press and this time Spike gets tossed from the ring, over the railing and into the third row. ECW chant breaks out and the fans help Spike get back to ringside as Bigelow celebrates in the ring. Spike is pouring blood from his head as I assume it was from the drop on the buckle and fall to the floor. Bigelow dumps Spike back into the ring and hits a sit-out piledriver. Top rope moonsault finishes at 5:05.
Winner: Bam Bam Bigelow via pin at 5:05
-Total SQUASH as Bigelow got his pound of flesh back after the Spike upset a week ago. Funny that Spike turned his ability to take a beating into a WWE run that Bigelow never got again. SQUASH
-Back to before the show as Sandman runs in to save ICP and gets bludgeoned by RVD and Sabu. Sandman gets taken away in an ambulance.
“Mr. Monday Night” Rob Van Dam (w/ Bill Alfonso) vs. Al Snow
-RVD gets the ECW music used as the top of this show as his dubbed over entrance theme. I have no clue what Snow’s awful dubbed music is here. Joey immediately takes shots at WWF for making Snow one of The New Rockers, though Snow is wearing his New Rockers gear here. Snow chases Fonzie because I mean who wouldn’t with that annoying whistle. RVD lets Snow know he needs to focus on him and then we get some mat wrestling. RVD with an armbar and then a a few kicks including a spinning back kick. Snow gets an Ocean Cyclone Suplex (thanks Joey) and tries a monkey flip, but RVD lands on his feet. He poses on the middle rope so Snow hits him with a dropkick that sends him to the floor. Snow follows out with a pescado and we brawl on the floor. Joey notes they have no cute little mats in ECW. Yeah, seemed hardcore at the time, but I’m sure it sucked. Snow heads up the ramp and hits a running clothesline. RVD gets thrown into the railing, but comes back by sending Snow head first into the ring post. Back in the ring they botch something and Snow rolls to the floor to try to cover for it. RVD misses a baseball slide and eats a clothesline on the floor. Charge by Snow, but RVD gets his boot up and then hits a moonsault press off the railing. ECW chant! Rob with another dive over the top to Snow on the floor and some more posing. Up top, but Snow crotches him and brings him down with a top rope superplex. Again, that ring has lots of bounce! To another corner and Snow looks for a super belly to belly, but RVD pushes off and then grazes Snow with a leaping sidekick. Back flip splash gets two. Rob back up with a Frog Splash, but it’s only 2.5 stars at this time so it only gets two. Vicious kick to the face, but Rob gets caught trying a rana and gets dropped on his face. Hooking clothesline from Snow as he keeps hearing voices in his head. Yep, that would pay off in a big way eventually. Northern Lights Bomb gets two! They each avoid shots from the other guy and it ends with RVD taking another dropkick off the ropes that sends him to the floor. Snow out with a somersault plancha as he catches the time-keepers table on the way down. Snow blasts RVD in the head with a chair and then wears him out with other show. Snow heads up the ramp to try another running clothesline, but RVD throws the chair at his face to counter. Effective! RVD drops Snow balls first on the railing which is a spot Tommy Dreamer always did because he seemed to have a thing with getting his balls abused. Snow eats a chair to the face and we head back in the ring. Corkscrew legdrop gets two. Joey goes on a rant about how this isn’t sports entertainment which is silly because all pro-wrestling is sports entertainment. This match is running out of steam as even the crowd is dying off a little bit. Van Daminator finishes at 13:43.
Winner: Rob Van Dam via pin at 13:43
-Some good stuff here with a few things that looked rough. It ran out of steam a bit and then just ended out of nowhere. ***
-To Joey where he throws to video from The Extreme Chopper as it follows the ambulance that Sandman stole from the hospital. Apparently, Peacock doesn’t care about this as they throw in a commercial in the middle of the report. Too funny! Lance Wright is in the chopper with his report and it’s pretty awful. Remember this isn’t sports entertainment though!
-Jerry Lawler cuts a funny promo backstage about hhow he told Vince McMahon this is the darkest day in his career to be in this dump. Lawler promises he is not by himself as all the other WWE Superstars are behind him in spirit. Taker told him to use a Tombstone, Bret said to use a Sharpshooter, and Austin gave him permission to open a can of whip ass. Lawler sunk his teeth into this one!
-The Dudley Boys are in the ring with Joel Gertner and Jenna Jameson. The crowd wants her to show her…well, you know. My boy MailMan loves Gertner and I am sure he loved his “squeeze my lemon until the juices run down my leg,” line. The crowd chants about Gertner having a woody. Yep, this is what we got back in the day folks that was so revolutionary and cutting edge. It was simpler times! As you would expect Jenna gets a big reaction from the crowd. Gertner tells Jenna to remember his name because she will be screaming it later. Joel goes through his entire spiel as he introduces Sign Guy, Big Dick, and then The Dudley Boys. I cracked up on the “your referee is….bald,” line. Gertner declares The Dudley Boys the winners and New ECW Tag Team Champions since The Gangtas have forfeited.
ECW World Tag Team Titles: The Dudley Boys (c) vs. PG-13
-PG-13 are the Tag Champions of USWA (Lawler’s promotion) and I am sure them being on the card was a favor to Lawler working the show. They get the over-dubbed music treatment as I don’t remember what they were using. JC Ice cuts a promo because they need to keep filling time on this show. He calls Momma Dudley a ho and uses jokes that Lawler would be proud of. He then does a Butthead impression to Jenna which pops the crowd. Wofie and D-Von start us out and Wolfie gets a hammerlock. Ice in for a double team move which gets two. D-Von shoots off a headlock and gets dropped with a shoulder. Criss-cross of the ropes which doesn’t make this Hogan/Warrior at the Rumble, but it’s a comedy spot so Ice can slide to the floor and kiss Jenna. Wolfie back in and Buh Buh gets the tag. Lockup and Wolfie eats an elbow followed by a shoulder. He flips out of a belly to back and snaps off a rana. He fires off punches, but misses a crossbody off the second buckle. Buh Bu works the arm and spits on Ice for good measure. The Dudleys work the arm and get in cheap shots behind the refs back as I guess they are the heels in this one even though PG-13 are supposed to be the outsiders. Another comedy spot as D-Von works on Buh Buh’s arm not realizing it was him. The crowd lets him know that he fucked up. They get into an argument on the apron while the camera misses Big Dick hitting a double chokeslam on PG-13. The crowd is so invested in this match that they chant for Jenna. Buh-Buh lands a headbutt, but Ice lands on his feet off a backdrop. Jenna trips him up and the crowd wants her to bounce. She does so and it gets the biggest pop of the match. Slam from Buh Buh and D-Von comes off the middle ropes with a legdrop. Side slam follows. Buh Buh back in with a tilt-a-whirl powerslam followed by an elbow from D-Von. Back in comes Buh-Buh and he fires off some chops. Ice throws punches which Buh-Buh doesn’t sell, so Ice kicks him in the balls. He sticks a DDT and makes the hot tag (I guess) to Wolfie. He holds his own against both Dudleys including a dropkick to both men. He hits a Tigerbomb on D-Von, but Buh Buh breaks up the count. Slam from Buh Buh, but he gets caught on the middle ropes in the corner. He gets brought down with a bulldog and this one has broken down. Ice tries a dive over the top, but gets caught so Wolfie follows to land on the pile. ECW chant! Back in the ring 3D finishes at 10:58.
Winner and Still ECW Tag Team Champions: The Dudley Boys via pin at 10:58
-Weird dynamic here as the fans really didn’t want to cheer for anyone, but PG-13 were defacto babyfaces because nobody liked The Dudleys. Really The Dudleys should have mopped the floor with them instead of having a competitive match with The Nation of Domination rappers. *1/2
-More fun with Lance Wright in the chopper and again, Peacock interjects with a commercial! Sandman is apparently still looking for the arena and had to make a stop for cigarettes and beer. Again, they don’t do sports entertainment.
-The lights are out and Jerry “The King” Lawler is here. He insults the fans in the building and plugs WWF’s Ground Zero PPV. He tells us we will see some real Superstars there. Well, I mean he isn’t lying and everyone in the crowd would crap their pants if Austin, Taker, or Bret showed up to this ECW show.
Jerry “The King” Lawler vs. Tommy Dreamer (w/ Beulah)
-Loved me some Beulah back in the day! Dreamer stalks Lawler to start and the chase Is on. Lawler catches Dreamer on the way back in, but Dreamer has a metal pan and blasts Lawler in the face with it and that sends him over the top to the floor. More weapon shots on the floor and Lawler is bleeding. A beer gets tossed in Lawler’s face and I assume that wasn’t cheap. Tommy crotches Lawler on the railing and then rubs a burger in his face. They fight into the crowd as Dreamer takes Lawler up the steps and hits his pose while the crowd loses their mind. Another been gets wasted as they head back to ringside. Lawler gets tossed into the railing and now a bucket of popcorn gets dumped on him. Lawler is gushing blood and these fans are loving every second of it. Can’t say they aren’t giving them what they want! Dreamer finds a belt from a fan and he whips Lawler a few times. He then chokes him with it as the crowd starts an ECW chant. More beers tossed on Lawler, this time from the fans. Things head back inside the ring as Dreamer brings in a chair into play. He heads up top, but Lawler hits the ropes and Tommy falls on his balls. Won’t be the last time he takes some kind of a ball shot. Lawler slams Dreamer off and he falls on the chair. Dreamer is tossed face first into the chair and the crowd is pissed! Dreamer is bleeding now which puts both men doing blade jobs in under 5 minutes. Moxley probably thinks that’s too quick. To the floor for more chair shots and Dreamer gets dropped balls first on the railing. As we mentioned is it even a Dreamer match without that spot? Lawler grabs the belt and uses the buckle to punch Dreamer in the face. King talks some trash as the fans try to get Dreamer back into this one. Good belt shots from Lawler as he whips Dreamer. Lawler smashes the previously smashed burger in Dreamer’s face now. He wraps the belt around Dreamer’s neck and ties him to the bottom turnbuckle. I think a fan just said something about Lawler being with a thirteen year old, and I went back to listen and yep…it was a chant about Lawler being with 13 year olds. ECW fans man! Lawler hits the piledriver, but Dreamer kicks out at two. This isn’t Memphis! The crowd starts an ECW chant and Lawler eggs them on. Joey goes on a rant about Lawler taking trash on ECW while he was in a barbed wire match in Memphis and was hit by a car driven by Eddie Gilbert. Lawler makes friends with the crowd by ripping off Dreamer’s ECW shirt and wiping his ass with it. That fires up Dreamer who no sells all of King’s punches. Dreamer fires back and Lawler pulls the straps down, but falls on his face. Joey: “too bad as I think it was holding him up.” Dreamer stuffs his shirt in Lawler’s mouth and argues with the ref. That lets Lawler hit a double axe to the balls and then he drops a knee on them several times as well. Joey yells about it being blatant and I mean, yeah, but this is ECW. Besides this is just a warmup for Dreamer. Lawler DDTs the ref and tries to post Dreamer’s balls, but Dreamer pulls Lawler face first into the post. The lights go out as the run ins start and it begins with Rick Rude. He decks Dreamer with a trashcan a few times including a nasty shot to the head. Lawler goes for the cover, but Dreamer is out at two again. King stomps the ref for good measure and goes back to firing off right hands. Lawler sets too soon on a backdrop and Dreamer looks for a pile driver, but the lights go out again. This time Jake “The Snake” Roberts shows up and the crowd pops for him even though he hits Dreamer. See, give them any star power and they will wet their pets. Jake drills Tommy with a DDT and then hits King with a clothesline as he hasn’t forgotten about their issues in WWE. Dreamer kicks out at two, so King heads to the floor and finds a chair. Lawler lands some punches, but Dreamer avoids a slam and looks for a DDT. The lights are out again and this time Sunny shows up. She sprays Dreamer in the eyes with hairspray and naturally we get a catfight between Sunny and Beulah. Lawler looks for a piledriver on Beulah, but Dreamer is back with a chair. Lawler uses Beulah as a shield, but she hits a blue kick to the balls. Dreamer hooks a testicular claw and hits the DDT for the win at 18:57.
Winner: Tommy Dreamer via pin at 18:57
-About what you would expect from this match and the fans got what they wanted. Just a garbage brawl with over booking, but it hit all the notes the fans wanted including the cat fight. Not a good match, but it was okay and delivered what the fans wanted. **
-More fun with Lance Wright and The Extreme Chopper! Sandman has made it back to the building and he attacks security in the parking lot with his cane.
ECW World Heavyweight Championship: Sabu (c) (w/ Bill Alphonso) vs. Terry Funk vs. “The Franchise” Shane Douglas (w/ Francine)
-Apparently this a rematch of a match that put ECW on the map in the early years. Douglas cuts a promo before the match just because. He complains he doesn’t have time to waste which is weird as that is what this promo is doing. Sabu won the Championship a week earlier from Funk in their infamous barbed wire match. The one where Sabu had a chunk of his bicep taken out, so it is still tapped up here. Apparently, it took 100 sutures to close it and then he used crazy glue to make sure it stayed that way. This is Elimination Rules, so we are in for a long one here! Sabu and Douglas lock up as Funk stands on the apron. Funk tells them to go ahead and fight as he drops down to the floor to watch. Douglas is pissed at Funk’s strategy and decides to go out after him. All three men brawl on the floor. The crowd seems spent after the Dreamer/Lawler match. Funk gets sent into the guard rail and then gets a trash can tossed in his face by Sabu. Shot to the head with the can from Douglas. Sabu gets a two count back in the ring. Douglas hits a suplex to drop Sabu on Funk for two. Legdrop for Douglas gets two. Slingshot legdrop from Sabu gets two. Funk gets a trip on Sabu, but gets tossed to the floor by Douglas. He follows Funk out with a double axe and then one from Sabu. Back inside Saby gets a two count as Joey talks about Funk planning to retire by the end of the year. Sure! Sabu hits Air Sabu in the corner and Douglas gets a two count. They repeat in the corner and it gets two as Douglas decides to hit Sabu with a chair. I mean, that’s pretty stupid. At least see if he gets the pin and then hit him with chair if you have to. Now their alliance is gone and Douglas has put himself in a worse spot. Sabu and Douglas brawl on the floor for a bit. Sabu hits Funk with a chair and then hits a double jump dive off the top and over the railing onto Douglas. Funk throws a chair at Sabu, but gets caught with a springboard body press for two. Asai moonsault from Sabu to Funk which gets the fans back into it with an ECW chant. Chops from Funk as they head back into the ring. Douglas gets a delayed vertical suplex for two as Funk throws some chairs in the ring. This is just so slow and plodding! Funk and Douglas work together as they get a tandem neckbreaker/backbreaker that drops Sabu on twp open chairs. Nice! Sabu starts swinging chairs which Funk no sells as he calls Sabu a “mother fucker.” You don’t have to tell Franchise to start cursing as he goes off on Funk, but it gets bleeped by Peacock. Funk hits a piledriver on Sabu for two. Douglas grabs a piece of railing and throws it into the ring. Sure! Douglas gets whipped into the railing in the corner and then gets backdropped on it for two. The railing gets set on Douglas and Funk so Sabu can jump on it. That gets Sabu a two count as he tried to pin both men. Douglas runs wild a bit with clotheslines and belly to back duplexes, but no cover. He hooks a sleeper on Sabu, so Funk can put one on him to call back to their match from 3.5 years ago. Sabu comes out the best of that situation and hits Shane with a Triple Jump Moonsault for two. He tries to do the same to Funk, but the chair gives away and that lets the fans chant “you fucked up.” This is a mess! Sabu improvises and hits both men at the same time with a Triple Jump Moonsault for two. Fonzie tosses a table into the ring as Joey mentions Sabu made this famous in pro-wrestling. My first experience seeing it was Harley Race going through a table in his match with Hogan on Saturday Night’s Main Event. For some reason Todd Gordon gets involved and pulls Funk off the table. Douglas decks him and Sabu ends up putting Gordon and Fonzie through the table (he didn’t know Fonzie was on there). They fight on one side of the ring as the ring crew clear the ring of the tables on the other side. It’s like a high school play with bad lighting. Sabu brings in a ladder next and just hits people on the face with it. Effective! The ref gets knocked on and The Sandman is here to bring life to the crowd. He attacks Sabu and hits a slingshot legdrop on the ladder. Sabu gets pins and eliminated at 19:30 as the police haul Sandman away. Sabu hits a Triple Jump Dive on Sandman and the cops as the crowd starts another ECW chant. Meanwhile we are guaranteed a new champion now as Funk and Douglas brawl on the dimly lit side of the ring. Francine gets involved, but begs off long enough. Douglas uses a broken piece of table to hit Funk, but that does no good as Funk brains him with a garbage can and then hits himself with it to pop the crowd. Back in the ring Douglas slaps Funk around as members of the roster start watching from the entrance. Shane gets a belly to belly for two as Funk is apparently the first to kick out of the move. Francine is in to slap Funk around a bit and Dory Funk Jr hits the ring. Douglas bumps all over the place for him and both men are down. Funk gets a roll-up for two, but Douglas is back with a rough looking belly to back suplex. They fight on the apron near a table that got set-up somewhere and they both end up going through it. Ugly spot there as I have no clue what they were trying and it just looked bad. The crowd realized it too as they didn’t pop or chant “ECW.” Back in the ring Douglas gets a two count. Belly to belly is kicked out again by Funk. A third one and again, Funk is out at two. A fourth one is reversed to a small package for two. Good near fall there! A fourth one is finally enough to finish at 26:37.
Winner and New ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas via pin at 26:37
-Longer than it needed to be with some stuff hitting and some stuff missing, but that’s what you get with a Sabu match at times. It started well and then kind of lost steam before picking up once it got down to Douglas vs Funk and that would probably would have been a better direction, but I understand wanting to recreate the match they felt put them on the map. **1/2
-Douglas and Francine whip Funk with the belt after the match as the crowd starts a loud “bullshit” chant.
-Gertner hits the ring and wants Douglas to dump Bigelow and Candido to form a new Triple Threat (Triple Crown) with The Dudley Boys. Bigelow and Candido hit the ring as does Big Dick and all 6 men brawl. The Triple Threat bail as the jobbers on the roster hit the ring and get destroyed by The Dudleys. We all know where this is going as the crowd chants for New Jack. First though its Balls and Rotten with chairs, but The Dudley Boys take control. Funk gets beat up some more as well though he does hold his own for a bit. The overdubbed music hits and New Jack and Kronus hit the ring to send the crowd home happy. Needless to say it loses the magic with the dubbed in music and crowd. Saturn, with a big ass brace on his leg, drops an elbow on Buh Buh. The Dudleys take their ass beating which leaves Gertner all alone. They arguesover who gets to hit him with the chair and New Jack wins as he unloads with a sick shot. Kronus hits a 450 for good measure and everyone who can walk celebrate in the stands with the fans.
-Thanks for reading!
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