TV 1996-12-24 (Taped Holiday Hell 1996-12-07 at ECW Arena in Philadelphia, PA & 1996-12-20 at Fairgrounds Fieldhouse in Middletown, NY)

Champions

World: Raven

TV: Shane Douglas

Tag Team: Eliminators

We open up with Holiday Hell and Little Guido is in the ring. He cuts the same promo from back on the 6th about how he was leader of the FBI. Guido says that if JT Smith ever walks back into the ECW he will kick his ass.

Little Guido & Davey Paizzano vs. Dudley Boys (w/ Sign Guy Dudley) ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
Davey is David Morton Tyler Jericho (Kid Kash). This match is clipped. Buh Buh tosses around Guido and Davey. He back drops Spike out of the ring onto them. Guido and Davey take over on Spike. Guido with a power bomb for 2. Spike comes back and hits a tornado bulldog and is able to make the tag to Buh Buh Ray. Flapjack into a cutter but Davey breaks up the pin. Buh Buh does the same to him. Buh Buh sits on the top rope and Spike jumps off with a splash onto both men for the win. 5.36 is shown.

Opening video.

Joey Styles opens things up from Middletown and Taz hits the ring. With the better audio for the TV version I can tell you that Taz says he was scheduled for the “King of the Hill Rumble”. He was to be the eighth entrant but wanted to get the number 1 spot. Since Tod Gordon refused to change it he won’t be competing tonight. Then he calls out Sabu and the fans go fucking nuts. The reaction was not picked up very well on the fan cam but was crazy loud here. Few more notes from the match with a better camera angle; Buh Buh dumped Balls Mahoney and Rob Van Dam at the same time, Little Guido’s elimination was sick looking as he was just pressed and slammed to the concrete floor. Candido is the one that eliminates Kronus. So I liked this while watching the Fan Cam and it came across even better on TV.

Joey brings us a 1996 year in review and my god was Kronus fat in January.

Joel Gertner is here for Hype Central and he brings out TV Champion “The Franchise” Shane Douglas and Francine. Douglas cuts a really good promo on Dreamer, he does so with out even cursing! Shane talks about how Dreamer’s real hero is Douglas and not Terry Funk. Douglas says that Dreamer has wanted to be like him since day one.

Joey talks about how Terry Funk pinned Brian Lee back in the tag match that they had. Lee has challenged Funk to match and next week Joey hopes to get word from Funk.

Stevie Richards and Blue Meanie are in Times Square taking in some sights. Stevie super kicks Santa for not giving him a toy train when he was 9.
Joey tells us that the Eliminators have won the titles and next week we’ll get some highlights.

My thoughts on the show…
The year in review was cool. The rumble was even better then on the fan cam. Much better camera work and the commentary adds to it. This one is worth watching.

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1996-12-27 at The Farmer’s Market in Downingtown, PA

Champions
World: Raven
TV: Shane Douglas
Tag Team: Eliminators

We get some shots of the crowd waiting in line to get inside. The classy bunch tonight.

Chris Candido vs. Mikey Whipwreck, ref John Finnegan
Candido comes out to music that is NOT Back in Black. I am now infuriated and hate this show. Candido on the mic before the match. Talks about his stint in WWF and how the fans here suck to. Mikey on the attack early on and takes Candido over the top rope to the floor with a rana. They go into the crowd for a bit. Mikey sends Candido into the rail and hits a somersault planch out of the ring. Candido comes back by laying Mikey out on the top rope. Candido with a suplex and a couple of leg drops for 2. Mikey tries to come back but Candido cuts him off with a clothesline. Candido with a chin lock and the crowd IMMEDIATELY brings to chant “Boring”. Mikey makes a comeback and hits a tornado DDT, back drop and spinning head scissor for 2. Candido goes low after the kick out. Mikey blocks a superplex and hits a northern lights for 2.8. Candido though cuts him off and then goes up top. Mikey knocks him down and hits a super rana. Candido lands awfully close to the ropes. Mikey goes for the cover and Candido always knowing where he is in the ring gets his foot on the rope at 2. Candido puts Mikey on the buckle and goes for a super bomb but Mikey back drops him off the top rope! High cross body off the top but Candido rolls through and grabs the tights for the win in 11.42.

Balls Mahoney vs. Louie Spicolli, ref Jim Molineaux
Back drop and drop kick by Louie and Balls bails to the floor. Louie follows and hits a high knee to the back and throws Balls into the guard rail. Louie now picks up a chair and slams it across the back of Balls. Back into the ring and Balls misses a cross body and crashes to the mat. Balls ducks a line and hits a spin kick that sends both men over the top to the floor. Balls now with a chair and he nails Louie with it. Back in the ring Balls misses a corner charge and gets dropped with a release german suplex. Balls is back up first though and he goes back on the attack. Balls with a testicular claw and he drops a fist from the second rope to the groin. Balls goes up again but Louie cuts him off and nails a superplex and both men are down. Back up and Louie beats Balls to the punch and then drops him with a few clotheslines. Louie goes up top and comes off with a double axe handle attempt but Balls gets the fist out to the gut. Balls misses a second rope leg drop. Balls reverses an irish whip but Louie ducks his clothesline and hits the DVD for the win in 9.34.

Bad Crew vs. The Dudley Boys (w/ Sign Guy Dudley), ref John “Pee Wee’” Moore
Ugh for real Bad Crew? Sigh. Buh Buh Ray starts off and he sends both Bad Crew members to the floor. Spike then comes in and gets back dropped about 30 feet into the air by Buh Buh onto Bad Crew outside of the ring. This looked really awesome. Spike with a drop kick in the ring. Spike tags in officially. This should have been a squash. Bad Crew cut off Spike and then they double team him a bit. Powerslam gets 2. Bad Crew hit the hart attack but Buh Buh breaks up the pin. Bad Crew then hits a demo decapitator leg drop. Then a power bomb doomsday device. Just stealing all the 80s tag team finishers. Spike fights back and hits the tornado bulldog. Both men are down and manage to crawl and make the tag. Buh Buh hammers on both Bad Crew. Spike and one of the Bad Crew brawl on the floor. Buh Buh hits a cutter then sits on the top rope as Spike climbs to his shoulders and dives off with a big splash for the win in 10.23. Huge pop for both Dudleys.

Taz and Bill Alfonso make their way to the ring next. You know the drill. Bad mouthing of Sabu, he comes out but is held back by a bunch of wrestlers. Taz then back on the mic trashes the fans and tries to start fights with them all.

Gangstas vs. D-Von Dudley & Axl Rotten, ref John Finnegan
They meet each other in the aisle and brawl begins. New Jack piledrivers D-Von through the merch table. D-Von gets thrown through a wall he’s bleeding. D-Von comes back with a chair. Jack goes low and nails Dudley with a chair. All four men meet back up. Jack hits Axl with the top rope chair shot and gets the pin in 4.52.

Stevie Richards (bWo) vs. Gorgeous Quartermaine, ref John Finnegan
We get the opening bell and the bWo spend the next three minutes cutting a promo. GQ attacks from behind and goes to work on Stevie. Nova pays no attention to what is happening in the ring and just poses on the floor. GQ remains in control for way to long. Stevie finally ducks a clothesline and goes low. Stevie bomb gets 2. GQ ducks the steviekick and hits a super kick of his own for 2. GQ goes up top and misses a leg drop then eats a steviekick. Richards with the cover and win in 7.01.

Tag Team Champions The Eliminators vs. Sabu & Rob Van Dam, ref Jim Molineaux
RVD and Saturn start off. They do some chain wrestling that gets some applauds from the fans. Saturn then hits Van Dam with a super kick and tags Kronus. Kronus with a somersault leg drop and then he goes for a rana. Van Dam reverses it into a power bomb and tags Sabu. Sabu goes to work on the arm of Kronus. Kronus breaks free and tags Saturn. He comes in and nails a rana. Quick tag back to Kronus who hits a pump handle fall away slam and spin kick. Kronus then goes after Van Dam and suplexes him in to the ring. The two go at it with some kicks. Van Dam throws Kronus into the ropes and goes for a springboard cross body. He however springs off way to soon and Kronus is no where near him and he just hits the mat. HAHAHAHA. Kronus with a power bomb and suplex. Tag to Saturn and he hits a falcon’s arrow. Van Dam comes back though and he and Sabu hit a bunch of double team springboard moves. Sabu tags in and Saturn gets a 2 count with a fisherman’s suplex. Van Dam grabs a chair and nails Saturn with it then Sabu with air sabu. Saturn goes to the floor and Sabu dives onto him. Kronus dives onto Sabu and Van Dam onto Kronus. Saturn now with an springboard moonsault onto everybody. Back in the ring Saturn comes off the top rope with an elbow drop. The tape fucks up and when we come back Kronus is hip tossing Van Dam onto a chair. Not sure if they cut anything out or if we only missed the few seconds the tape was screwy. Saturn hits Van Dam with a splash off the top for 2. Kronus power bombs Van Dam ONTO the top rope. Holy balls that looked painful. Sabu comes in and hits a bunch of drop kicks, Kronus bails to the floor. Saturn comes in and Sabu with a suicide dive onto Kronus. Van Dam and Saturn fight. Sabu gets super kicked by Saturn and rolls to the apron. Saturn with a pump handle slam off the apron sends Sabu through a table. That was nasty looking. Back in the Van Dam goes for a split legged moonsault but Saturn pulls Kronus out of the way. The Champions go for a double spin kick but Van Dam moves and hits a bunch of strikes of his own. Saturn and Kronus cut him off and nail two sets of double team kicks but Sabu breaks up the pin each time. The third time they nail total elimination and are able to hold back Sabu to get the win and retain in 16.03.

Pitbull 2 vs. Brian Lee, ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
Pitbull rushes the ring and they go right to the fight. Onto the floor and into the crowd they go. Out of the arena and then back in the reverses order until they are back in the ring. Lee with a big boot but Pitbull gets right back up. Lee with a clothesline and then another this time off the second rope. Lee grabs Pitbull by the throat and then starts to climb the ropes. Umm what is this going to accomplish? Well it doesn’t matter anyway as Pitbull cuts him off climbs up there with him and lands a super fall away slam for the win. Lee attacks after the match hitting a chokeslam. Lee then does the same to the ref. Time of the match was about 6 minutes. I forgot to start the timer.

World Champion Raven (w/ Lori & Tyler Fullington) vs. Sandman, ref John Finnegan
Sandman throws Lori to the ground and Raven attacks. They brawl back and forth Sandman hits a DDT but Tyler distracts him allowing Raven to attack and hit a DDT. The bWo comes out. All the same stuff as last week happens and Raven gets the win in 7.39.

TV Champion “The Franchise” Shane Douglas & Francine vs. Tommy Dreamer & Beulah, ref Jim Molineaux
We clip to Douglas nails Dreamer with a chair in the aisle. Douglas all over Dreamer hitting him with multiple suplexes. Beulah comes in and pretends that she is into Shane. She low blows him allowing Dreamer to come back and hit inverted atomic drop, swinging neck breaker and DDT. Francine puts Shane’s foot on the rope to stop the count. Dreamer grabs Francine and Beulah goes after her. Shane grabs Beulah for a belly to belly but Dreamer rolls him up for 2. Dreamer goes for a piledriver on Francine but Shane breaks it up. Shane grabs Dreamer but gets hit with a DDT. Dreamer picks up the win for his team in 7.06.

My thoughts on the show…
Bleh. Very tired of these final three matches. Things need to get switched up in the new year.