Random Network Reviews: Hardcore Heaven 2000

Hardcore Heaven 2000
May 14th, 2000 | The Rave in Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Attendance: 3,400

I’ve made sure to note before that I was completely into ECW during this time. Shortly before this show, Mike Awesome was the ECW Champion but jumped ship to WCW. To fix this, a WWF contracted wrestler, Taz, returned to win the ECW Title from a WCW contracted wrestler, Mike Awesome. Taz even appeared on Smackdown with the belt. He dropped the belt to Tommy Dreamer in a feel good moment before Justin Credible attacked and won it from him, while throwing down the Tag Team Titles. Confused? That would be understandable. This would be the sixth and final Hardcore Heaven event and the third broadcast on PPV.

The old ECW intro video starts things off. Joey Styles and Joel Gertner are in the ring to open things. Gertner does his usual gimmick and they leave. The cameras follow them like something is going to happen but it doesn’t and we just get an awkward shot of the crowd.

Before the next match, Cyrus shows up to bitch at Joel Gertner. When Gertner tries to fight back, Kanemura, who is with Cyrus, chokes him out.

Balls Mahoney vs. Masato Tanaka
These two were ECW Tag Team Champions recently. They work some standing switches before Balls goes to a single leg crab. Enough of this wrestling as Balls starts throwing punches but Tanaka wants to wrassle so he goes back to that. He tries a dive to the outside, but Balls catches him and sends him into the guardrail before using an ECW staple, hitting his opponent with a fan’s beer cup. The fight stays outside bringing us a chair shot and a tornado DDT on the runway from Tanaka. Inside, both guys have chairs and duel with them. Balls wins and manages to take down Tanaka with one but only gets two on the pin. Tanaka gets two on a tornado DDT on a chair and calls for the Roaring Elbow. Balls ducks and hits the Nutcracker Suite for two. Tanaka comes back with Diamond Dust which only gets two. Well with all of these big kickouts, what are people going to do for the rest of the card? It goes further when Tanaka gets a shoulder up after another Nutcracker Suite onto chairs. Balls now kicks out of the Roaring Elbow. Tanaka now comes off the top with a chair shot and then a Roaring Elbow ends things.

Winner: Masato Tanaka in 9:17
The match itself was good but I don’t like the excessive kickouts. This wasn’t a big time match so it didn’t need that. Add in that it opened the show, and you’ve set the rest of the card up for failure when someone loses to a normal wrestling move. ***

Backstage, Lance Storm says that there is nobody left to help Justin Credible.

Simon Diamond w/ Mitch, the Prodigy, the Prodigette and the Musketeer vs. Little Gudio w/ Big Sal vs. Mikey Whipwreck w/ the Sinister Minister
Simon Diamond has the most ridiculous entourage ever. Everyone goes for their finishers early but some fast paced action sees everyone avoid it and hit other moves. Simon feels a little out of place here but turns things around for me with the Simon Series, which I always liked. Guido dropkicks his face off right after though. Chairs come into play and Mikey eats one. The lights in the arena go out so only a spotlight shows us the action. The guys work through it, doing some dives outside so credit there. It ends when Mikey flips onto everyone outside. Inside, Guido hits the Sicilian Slice but Diamond breaks the pin. Mikey covers both guys after superkicking Diamond, who drops with Guido on his shoulders. Simon is eliminated after a Whippersnapper. Mikey hits Guido with a big spinning Pedigree like move for a near fall. To rally, Guido climbs Big Sal but falls off in ugly fashion. Mikey takes out Sal with a fireball, but that allows Guido to win with the Maritato, aka the Unprettier/Killswitch.

Winner: Little Guido in 7:09
This is basically what I’ve come to expect from anything Three Way Dance involving Little Guido. It was fast paced, featured a lot of high impact moves and kept the crowd on their toes. This was fine for what it was, though I’ve seen them do it better. **¾

Backstage, Justin Credible stars a promo with “everybody wants to kick my ass.” That’s kind of the story of his career. He talks about how hard he worked for the belt. His “got blood?” shirt was dope.

Lou E. Dangerously and the Dangerous Alliance are out now. He calls Elektra more than just a pretty face (even though she was pretty ugly to me) and claims that she is the toughest female in the business. This brings out Jazz who beats up everyone and is left with Elektra. She rips her jacket off to reveal a Mie Awesome shirt. She then takes the shirt off, leaving Elektra in next to nothing. CW Anderson gets up and murders her with a spinebuster. Kid Kash comes out to make the save and start his match.

CW Anderson w/ the “Dangerous Alliance” vs. Kid Kash
Towards the end of ECW’s run, these were two of my favorite guys to watch. Kash leaps from the top into the crowd to take out CW and Billy Wiles. The start of the match sees Kash use his quickness until CW plants him with a powerbomb. Wiles slams Kash onto the guardrail, getting in a cheap shot. Kash comes back with a cross body, but CW answers with a snap suplex. Very back and forth so far. They try another cheap shot with Lou and a cell phone but Kash ducks and Wiles gets leveled. CW goes up top and Kash greets him with a super rana to win. I did not like the finish.

Winner: Kid Kash in 7:18
That’s the kind of finish that I never like. CW Anderson was in firm control and never really goes for high risk moves, so why would he do it here? It was done to shoehorn in the Kash top rope finish. Outside of that, it was fine back and forth, but both guys have done better. **½

Rob Van Dam, Scotty Anton and Bill Alfonso cut a promo backstage. It was standard fare.

Chris Chetti and Nova vs. Da Baldies vs. Danny Doring and Roadkill
Da Baldies brawl with Danny Doring and Roadkill until Nova dives out onto them. In standard fashion of this show so far, things are very hectic early on, with everybody getting a chance to showcase their abilities. Nova gets a near fall after a swanton bomb before Doring gets two on the Lancaster Lariat of Lust. Yup. Da Baldies drop Roadkill with a double spinebuster onto two open chairs. Things are moving at a ridiculous pace as Nova takes out Da Baldies with a singles double team move on his own. Vic Grimes comes out to help them but fails miserably as Doring takes him out. Angel lays out Doring with a guitar shot and they’re eliminated. For good measure, Roadkill hip tosses Grimes from the runway straight to the floor. An insanely dangerous bump for no reason. He then splashes him through a table. Inside, Nova and Chetti put down Da Baldies with the Tidal Wave.

Winners: Chris Chetti and Nova in 6:36
That was hectic and not really in the best of ways. It was a big mess as they just tried to cram about 15 minutes worth of stuff into six. *¾

Da Baldies attack the winners, leading to an appearance by New Jack. He was in the midst of an overly long feud with them. He beats them down with his array of weapons and takes Tony DeVito through the crowd, whipping his ass. Of course it leads to New Jack leaping from a balcony and take out DeVito. Back to the ring and New Jack hits Angel with a guitar before diving off the top onto him with a chair. The referee counts three but I’m unsure if this was a match.

Steve Corino w/ Jack Victory vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri
Tajiri turned on the Network, which Steve Corino was basically a part of. Corino disses the fans and tries to convince Tajiri to come back. “You little slant eyed bastard.” Tajiri slaps him and we’re off. Corino gets an early near fall with a powerbomb. Tajiri applies the tarantula, which gets a massive pop. The fight goes to the runway where Tajiri nails an impressive stalling Brainbuster. Okay, Corino should be dead. He is busted open and Tajiri shows no mercy with a vicious baseball slide. Corino is an absolute mess. Even with some Jack Victory involvement, Tajiri still kicks a chair into Corino. He gets a table and dropkicks the end of it into Corino’s head. Corino is finally able to turn the tide a bit. That doesn’t last long a Tajiri applies the octopus and spits the mist into Victory’s face. He then lights up Corino with a flurry of kicks and punches. Following a brutal kick to the head, Tajiri wins with a double stomp through a table.

Winner: Yoshihiro Tajiri in 10:25
Really great stuff here. It was one-sided but it needed to be. Tajiri had to get his revenge and Steve Corino was a slimy heel. However, I think this was a massive moment for Corino as he took this beating and sold it well. I think this had a major role in his ECW World Title run down the line. Brutal stuff here. ***½

After the match, Kanemura appears again and assists Jack Victory in beating down on Tajiri. Dusty Rhodes makes the save and takes out everyone until Rhino shows up to kick ass. Sandman is out next for a TV Title match. Chaos.

ECW World Television Championship
Rhino (c) vs. Sandman
This starts with both guys just brawling. That’s expected since the Sandman is the last guy that you want wrestling. They just throw each other into the guardrail for a bit. Rhino looks for a flying gore off a chair but Sandman dodges and Rhino goes through a table. Jack Victory and a bandaged up Steve Corino run out so Sandman’s wife Lori appears to cane them for the save. She makes the mistake of slapping Rhino. He picks her up and piledrives her from the apron through a table! LORI IS DEAD! Rhino now looks to gore her through a table but Sandman makes the save. He picks her up only for Rhino to gore him through the table while holding her. Rhino covers to retain.

Winner and Still ECW World Television Champion: Rhino in 6:22
Not the best match but it did serve its purpose. Sandman was pissed and Rhino came out looking like an insane monster. Rhino’s booking in ECW was pretty excellent. *½

Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam w/ Bill Alfonso and Scotty Anton
These two had two matches the year before for the TV Title, both won by RVD. He hasn’t been beaten in 26 or so months as he only lost that title due to injury. They run a series of near misses that is just excellent to watch. They knew each other so well and it is rightfully playing into the match. It gets a loud standing ovation. The first big spot comes as Lynn somersaults onto RVD outside. RVD comes back with his signature spinning guardrail leg drop onto a chair. He enters the ring a poses because he’s RVD. That causes him to miss a moonsault outside and he hits hard. Back inside, RVD sells a DDT masterfully, looking like he’s paralyzed. They continue to miss each other due to their previous knowledge of each other. Alfonso brings a chair in and hilariously just rolls out in one swift motion. RVD backflips for no reason before picking up a chair, so Lynn just throws it back at him. He gets two on a sick leg drop onto the chair. RVD skateboards the chair into Lynn for another near fall. Lynn gets one on a sunset flip that causes RVD to land headfirst on a chair. I’m not even writing every single move and there have been some big ones. It’s cool that most moves being hit come off of a counter or something like that. They fight on the apron, and after a series of reversals, Lynn bulldogs RVD through a ringside table. As Anton checks on RVD, Lynn lays him out with a somersault. Lynn’s back is cut from the table spot. Thanks to an assist from Alfonso, RVD hits the Van Daminator and then places a chair on Lynn. He hits a Five Star Frog Splash onto both but the Corino and Victory run out to beat on him. Lynn is up and helps RVD fight them off. Rhino shows up and gore Lynn before powerbombing RVD. Somehow, they turn it around and take out both Rhino and Cyrus. RVD goes up to finish Lynn but Anton shoves RVD off the top and onto the runway. He lands in ugly fashion. This allows Lynn to hit the Cradle Piledriver but RVD still gets a shoulder up. Lynn does a second to win.

Winner: Jerry Lynn in 19:50
These two always delivered but this wasn’t on the level of their best work from the year earlier. It was headed in that direction but all of the excess interference really hurt it. There was no real point to it either as the Network really wouldn’t have gained anything from it. It should have just been Anton’s interference. The actual wrestling was really good and I love their ability to counter one another. ***½

Justin Credible dares Tommy Dreamer to come out but Paul Heyman and officials stop Dreamer due to his bad back.

ECW World Heavyweight Championship
Justin Credible (c) w/ Francine vs. Lance Storm w/ Dawn Marie
In the aisle, Lance Storm gets Dreamer’s blessing for the singles title shot. Dawn Marie easily blows Francine out of the water in terms of who looks better tonight. Storm slaps Credible, leading to a brawl. Storm is pissed about the Tag Titles being vacated. He leaps outside but is met with a cane shot and gets busted open. The fans chant for Dreamer since there is no real face in this match. They trade stuff in the ring, with neither guy gaining a true advantage. They both try for tombstones but Storm ends up hitting a Northern lights suplex for two instead. He then hip tosses Credible through a table on the runway. Still only the second most dangerous hip toss of the evening. Maple Leaf gets locked in so Francine attacks. Dawn Marie enters and we’ve got a CATFIGHT! Credible breaks it up and lays out Dawn with That’s Incredible. Storm hits him with the cane and a piledriver for two. Storm eats Justin’s finisher but kicks out. They go through a series of moves ending with That’s Incredible and Justin retains.

Winner and still ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Justin Credible in 12:29
Considering their chemistry as partners, I was hoping for more from the match. The crowd rather dead. That could be from the previous match or the lack of a defined face here but either way it disappointed. **¼

Tommy Dreamer shows up and hits Justin Credible with the cane. He then points at Francine, who cot him the belt. She tries to sweet talk her way out of this but Tommy is having none of that, dropping her with the Spicoli Driver.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

This is one of the more enjoyable ECW Pay-Per-Views I can recall. It has a good mix of everything that stood out in ECW to me. You had the fast paced multi man matches, the extreme style of New Jack, the great exchanges between Lynn and RVD, the blood of Steve Corino and the insane spot with Sandman’s wife. There are some down moments like the lackluster main event but as a whole, it’s an enjoyable two and a half hours of wrestling.