wrestling / Video Reviews
Random Network Reviews: Heatwave 1999
Loading...ECW Heatwave 1999
July 18th, 1999 – Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio – Attendance: 3,700
The rare ECW Pay-Per-View that I get to review is always a fun time. Even if the show is forgettable, reliving ECW is one of my favorite things to do on the WWE Network. This was a huge time for the company as they had just landed their TV deal with TNN. While it would eventually lead to their demise, it was a big deal at the time. Heatwave 1998 is possibly my favorite ECW Pay-Per-View of all time, so it’s going to be cool to see if this can live up to its predecessor.
One of the coolest things ECW did was their Pulp Fiction like interviews. Taz cuts the first one on his opponent for tonight, Tajiri. Danny Doring and Roadkill, well mostly Doring, cuts one with the future Lita by their side. Nova and Chris Chetti do one and they were quite the odd couple. I can’t hear some of these because the dubbed over music is super loud. Jason Knight and the Dudley Boyz do separate ones before Steve Corino cuts one with Tajiri, Jack Victory and a youthful looking Rhino. Corino plans on having Tajiri hand the belt over to him. The Impact Players, with the lovely Dawn Marie, cut one and man, I loved that team. CALGARY…ALBERTA…CANADA. Jerry Lynn bores me to death but RVD and Sabu bring me back to life.
Joey Styles, the best commentator I’ve ever heard, introduces the show in the ring and we go to our opening video.
Chris Chetti and Nova vs. Danny Doring and Roadkill w/ Miss Congeniality
During a pre match promo, Danny Doring proposes to Miss Congeniality while the crowd chants “She’s got herpes” and “She’s a crackwhore.” Yup, this is an ECW crowd for sure. Roadkill doesn’t have a ring, so they use a condom instead. You can’t make this stuff up. Anyway, this was the start of Chris Chetti turning into an egotistical pretty boy which annoyed Nova. Nova starts hot, but is alone as Chetti is more into himself. This leads to him and Doring exchanging innovative moves before Roadkill gets two with a leg drop. Chetti gets the mild tag, but it just leads to Nova hitting a Stunner and DDT at the same time. Nova and Chetti work a nice double team and stereo leg drops. Chetti hits a beautiful double jump moonsault, which Joey Styles calls the finish. Chetti decides to grab a microphone and say the move was as pretty as he is and breaks out into dance. This brings in Lita to dance with him until Nova intervenes and she delivers one of the worst looking slaps ever. She eats the Amityville Horror from Chetti, who then hits it on Roadkill, which was impressive. They win with a double team leg drop/splash combo.
Winners: Chris Chetti and Nova in 7:03
Here we have a relatively entertaining opener, but I didn’t like Chetti stopping mid-match. I get wanting to play up his new cocky attitude, but there are better ways to do that. Also, I’d like to commend Joey Styles for building the backstory of how getting on PPV was important to Chetti and his history with Doring. Some innovative stuff here. **½
A video airs of Taz giving Tajiri props in Queens, only to be cut off by Steve Corino. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the rise of Steve Corino from 1999 to 2000 is one of the best things ever. Taz curses as always, leading Corino to say “Why don’t you just keep cursing so you can try and get over with the fans of dirty Queens?” He was such a good heel. Anyway, Tajiri attacks as this was the night he joined up with Corino.
Jason Knight vs. Jazz
While I have never liked Jason Knight, I remember thinking that it was cool to see her wrestle men. He kisses Jazz at the bell so she fires away. He slams Jazz and spanks her ass but his arrogance leads to her getting a near fall. Jason taunts after every move like he’s the blueprint for the Chris Chetti character. Jason continues to wear her down with the most basic of offense. Jazz hits a kick, suplex and Samoan drop for two. A headbutt to the groin gets the crowd going, which is amplified when she goes a con-chair-to to his crotch. OHMYGOD! That should have been the finish but he hits an enziguri. He tries a powerbomb on a chair but she counters to the Jazz Stinger and gets the 1-2-3.
Winner: Jazz in 6:23
Well this did the job of getting Jazz over, but it lasted a bit too long. They didn’t want to have Jason squashed, but it’s not like he was going anywhere. Points for some creative spots. *¼
Cyrus arrives to join Joey Styles on commentary.
Little Guido w/ Big Sal vs. Super Crazy
HE’S SUPER! HE’S CRAZY! Both guys are known for their fast paced styles and we get a trademark STANDOFF. Their next series ends with Guido applying the Fujiwara armbar but Crazy makes the ropes. Crazy hits a double jump moonsault, similar to Chris Chetti (who I’ve now mentioned in all three matches) for two. He does his ten punches in the corner while the crowd counts in Spanish. They spill outside and through the crowd as commentary mentions that Crazy may have brought out the mean streak they wanted to see from him. He takes out both Guido and Sal with a moonsault from a section of fans. AY DIOS MIO! This ECW referee is actually going for the countout so we’re back to the ring quickly. Crazy springboards into Guido’s boot and he hits the Sicilian Slice for two. Sal squashes Crazy with a slam on the concrete and I don’t know how he’s not a pancake right now. Guido continues to distract the ref, so Sal can come in the ring and do his own Sicilian Slice but it’s still not enough to win. Guido continues to get near falls because Super Crazy is so dang resilient. He makes the heroic comeback and does his bottom and second rope moonsaults but slips on the top, so he dives onto Sal instead. He goes for the final moonsault, misses and eats the Tomikaze for two again. Crazy plants him with a cross arm powerbomb to win.
Winner: Super Crazy in 12:31
The usual fast paced stuff from these two. Both guys can go and always had good chemistry, so this worked out well. Commentary again added to this by discussing how much of a fighter Super Crazy was. ***
I always liked how the Dudley Boyz had no music in ECW. They come out, with Sign Guy Dudley and Joel Gertner, to cut a promo. Bubba Ray is hostile as hell with the fans, spewing insults that could cause a riot. They even invite fans over to fight them and throw beer in their face. A woman that he insults spits at Bubba and he actually spits back. My goodness.
ECW World Tag Team Championship
The Dudley Boyz (c) w/ Joel Gertner and Sign Guy Dudley vs. Balls Mahoney and Spike Dudley
If memory serves me right, the Dudley Boyz were off to WWF a month or so later. Balls Mahoney is somehow an authority figure because he makes this Falls Count Anywhere. A slugfest starts us off, complete with “Balls” chants from the fans. Our first chair shot comes when Bubba clocks Balls. He goes outside and takes an Acid Drop on the ramp. Be careful, a year ago Taz and Bigelow went through that. After a huge back body drop, D-Von drives a ring bell into Spike. I feel like Spike has just one move because he does another Acid Drop outside. He’s also busted open. Bubba has a street sign saying Dudley St. and uses it on Balls before cutting him with a cheese grater. Those spots are always hard to watch. Balls uses it on Bubba as well and all four men are now bleeding. The fight is hard to follow as they are all just brawling in the crowd. Spike does leap from a railing in the crowd which was cool. Back to the ring and the Dudley Boyz nail top rope powerbombs at the same time. Despite the Dudley Boyz nearing the win, Spike and Balls are resilient. After a pair of low blows, they each nail their finishers but Sign Guy Dudley pulls out the official. Once they get back inside, the challengers do dual rollups that end this.
Winners and New ECW World Tag Team Champions: Balls Mahoney and Spike Dudley in 15:41
A signature ECW brawl. It was dull at times, but mostly it was just straight up violent. I disliked the finish though as two guys being held down for rollups together is convenient. **
The Dudley Boyz attack after the match and bring tables into play. Those tables are then set on fire and Spike is driven though them. Balls was going to go but he is dropped on his head by accident instead. The AWFUL WWE Network dubbed version of New Jack’s theme plays as he comes out. He cleans house and helps up the new Tag Team Champions.
Tommy Dreamer comes to the ring, accompanied by Francine. In classic Tommy fashion, he puts over ECW to start this promo. He discusses how he wants to make ECW the number one wrestling company in the world and then he begins to cry. His announcement is cut off by Steve Corino, Rhino and Jack Victory. Corino claims that Tommy’s career is over due to his herniated discs. Corino screams at Tommy and draws a ton of heat. He wants Tommy to lay down for him and put him over, but Tommy declines so he attacks. Tommy retaliates, Francine hits a bronco buster and pins Corino. Yoshihiro Tajiri enters and kicks Tommy and Francine. He puts Tommy in the Tarantula until Taz arrives because the MOOD…IS ABOUT TO CHANGE.
ECW World Heavyweight Championship
Taz (c) vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri
When this match was originally announced, I remember being pumped because I was a big Tajiri fan. Taz is on the attack until a Tajiri handspring back elbow. He beats on Taz outside of the ring and when they go inside, continues the assault. He gets a near fall with the Oklahoma Roll before moving to a sleeper. In classic Taz form though, he delivers some impressive Tazplexes before mocking Tajiri by bowing towards him. Also, Styles throws in a comment that I think was directed at Perry Saturn, but I’m not sure. Tajiri blocks another suplex with a low blow and fires off a series of kicks for two. Joey does a great job of selling how each lethal kick is a potential match ender. He goes up for a moonsault, but Taz launches him into Rhino on the ramp. Corino scurries, leaving Victory (who can walk) to be taken out with his own wheelchair. Uh-oh, are we getting a similar ramp ending at this Heatwave? Well Taz counters a hurricanrana with a sitout powerbomb on the ramp. Rhino sets up a table by the ropes, leading to a head and leg Tazplex through it! Taz again chases Corino backstage, but stops and gets barbed wire from the entrance. Joey shouts for the cameraman to stay wide, as he does the Tazmission with the barbed wire! Well damn that’s violent and the match is over.
Winner and Still ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Taz in 10:06
A fun match that got a decent amount of time. Tajiri showcased his stuff and was able to look good but I found the finish odd. I get that Taz is a champion who would do violent things to retain but it came from out of nowhere since this wasn’t incredibly personal or anything like that. **½
The Impact Players w/ Dawn Marie vs. Jerry Lynn and Rob Van Dam w/ Bill Alfonso
Rob Van Dam is so over its insane. It’s funny to hear Jerry Lynn introduced as the “New F’n Show” while RVD is the “Whole F’n Show.” Lynn and Justin Credible open and they had a really good match at last year’s Heatwave. Playing ff of their history, both guys nearly get their finishers early but they’re blocked. Joey Styles is playing up that Credible has been ducking RVD, which he does again by tagging Lance Storm. RVD and Storm perform a very fun exchange because both guys are damn good. It ends when Storm does his roll through Maple Leaf, which is a thing of beauty. When Lynn and Storm go at it, Credible uses his Singapore cane on Lynn with a brutal cheap shot. After this, Lynn plays the face in peril. Alfonso, being the manager that he is, dumps a bottle of water on Lynn to try and revive him, which gets a pop from the fans. Lynn and Storm do a series of near falls before a low blow and superkick get Storm a final one. Credible busts out the Razor’s Edge, causing Joey to bring up his friendship with Scott Hall. A chair is brought into play and Lynn DDTs Credible onto it. Hot tag to RVD, who awkwardly bumps into Storm before a facebuster and kick. He comes off the top with a diving kick and taunts. Alfonso literally rolls into the ring with a chair, so RVD can backflip and dropkick it into Storm. Seriously, the backflip was pointless but fits RVD. He does his leg drop guillotine on the outside while Lynn does a bulldog onto the ramp. RVD and Storm are inside, where RVD hits a leg drop. Credible breaks up the pin and runs from RVD instantly. Shortly after, they finally get into it, but Credible gets tossed outside. Alfonso sets up Credible on a table, but when RVD goes to put him through the table, Sabu comes from out of nowhere and does it himself. RVD goes for the Five Star Frog Splash but hits Lynn by mistake. Storm covers though he only gets two! A Van Daminator, followed by the Cradle Piledriver keeps Storm down for the count.
Winners: Jerry Lynn and Rob Van Dam in 21:08
Very good tag team match. They played tag formula great since the crowd loves RVD so much. The involvement of Sabu was fun though I wish they played the Credible/RVD stuff up more since Joey Styles was so honed in on it. ***¼
Rob Van Dam and Jerry Lynn get into it but decide not to fight. Sabu is a jealous girlfriend/partner so he shoves RVD into Lynn and all three start brawling.
