Hardcore History Episode 9: June 1st, 1993 ECW Review

Introduction:
Hello and welcome back to CrazyMax’s ECW Hardcore History. Last week we saw the ECW Tag Team Titles change hands when the Suicide Blondes used some under handed tactics to steal the belts from Larry Winters and Tony Stetson. We saw the new tag team of JT Smith and Tommy Cairo as they took on a couple of jobbers. We saw the Super Destroyers destroy Sal Bellomo who was acting like Super Destroyer #3. We also the feud between Paul E. Dangerously and Tod Gordon reach new levels when Dangerously and Muraco tricked Gordon into signing a ECW Heavyweight Title Match between The Sandman and Don Muraco. All in all it was a pretty eventful show, therefore lets not waste any more time and lets get this show kicked off.

Show Opening:

The show opens with Jay Sulli and Stevie Wonderful, nothing new here. They announce that we will be seeing the tag match from last weeks show. We also have Sal Bellomo in action or is it Super Destroyer #3? We also have Hot Stuff International in action. We also have the ECW Heavyweight Title Match between the Sandman and Don Muraco. Paul E. Dangerously then comes out and interrupts Stevie Wonderful. Wonderful turns around and gives Dangerously a huge bear hug. Dangerously tells Wonderful that he did such a great job scouting for the Dangerous Alliance last time that he wants him to do it again. Wonderful is heading back to do the directorial job. Dangerously then joins Jay Sulli ringside and he is going to be the guest commentator.

They show the ECW Tag Team Title match from last weeks show.

Match 1: Salvatore Bellomo vs. Super Destroyer #1

The match starts with a collar and elbow tie up. They roll around on the ropes until Super Destroyer #1 backs Bellomo into the turnbuckle. Bellomo pushes him off as they do the most annoying shit ever and go to Hunter Q ringside. Bellomo snap mares Destroyer #1 and lays in multiple right hands to the Destroyer. The Destroyer gets control of the match and gets Bellomo in the corner. Destroyer #1 works over the leg of Bellomo. Bellomo gets out of the corner and clubs Destroyer #1 with a couple of forearms to the chest.

Bellomo snap mares Super Destroyer #1 over and drops a knee to the face. Bellomo punches the Destroyer in the back numerous times as Super Destroyer walks around the ring. Super D #1 lays in a big right hand to get advantage of the match. Destroyer then pokes Bellomo in the eye. Destroyer then whips Bellomo into the rope and hits him with a back elbow. Destroyer then rakes the eyes of Bellomo with the boot laces. Super Destroyer then gets Bellomo in a reverse chin lock. Destroyer then stomps on the hand of Bellomo.

Bellomo gets up and punches Destroyer twice in the face. Bellomo then rakes the face of Super Destroyer and lays in some right hands to the Destroyer. Bellomo then gets the Super Destroyer on his knees and he tries to remove the mask of the Destroyer. Bellomo then clubs the Destroyer in the back again. Bellomo goes for the mask again but can’t get it. Bellomo hits the Destroyer with a body slam and then a drop kick. Bellomo then snap mares the Destroyer and goes for the big splash and nails it. Bellomo gets a 2 count when the Destroyer kicks out.

Super Destroyer #2 then makes his way to the ring and they both attack Bellomo. They are laying in some shitty looking chops to the head and work him over until Tommy Cairo comes in and makes the save for Bellomo. He clubs the hell out of the backs of the Destroyers. One Destroyer starts choking out Bellomo while the other works over Cairo. Bellomo and Cairo get control of the action and they send the Super Destroyers packing. Cairo walks up behind Bellomo and he turns around and decks Cairo. Cairo gets up holding his jaw as Bellomo walks off. Your winner by disqualification…Salvatore Bellomo!

Recap:
This match was trash. The Super Destroyers were super stiffs and Bellomo only knew how to do 3-4 things during his time here in ECW. He did the snap mare, the knee drop, the body slam, the drop kick, and the splash. Thats about all he did and he did them repeatedly in each of his matches so far. We can’t get this dude out of the company quick enough. Looks like Cairo is going to be thrown into the feud with the Super Destroyers since he has his issues with Hunter Q Robbins. It’s interesting that they really have no idea what they want to do with Cairo. Last week he was with JT smith and this week he is helping out Bellomo. It’s as if he is the only face on the roster than can help these dudes out because they have no idea what to do with him. Outside of that there is nothing that is worth while to see during this match.

Match 2: Jimmy Snuka/Eddie Gilbert vs. Tommy Cairo/Glen Osbourne

The match starts with Gilbert and Osbourne in the ring. Gilbert quickly rakes the eyes and throws him out of the ring. Gilbert drags Osbourne into the chairs and he picks one up and nails Osbourne twice to the back. Gilbert then drags Osbourne back to the ring and he slams his face into the stairs and then into the time keepers table. Gilbert takes the bell hammer and smashes it into the head of Osbourne. Gilbert then grabs a chair and starts to choke Osbourne out with it. Gilbert throws Osbourne back into the ring. Gilbert steals a can of soda from the announce table and dumps it on the head of Osbourne.

Gilbert puts Osbourne into the corner and whips him but Osbourne reverses and hits Gilbert with a big time back body drop. Osbourne then starts working on the arm and tags in Cairo. Cairo comes in and boots Gilbert in the gut then whips him into the ropes and hits Gilbert with another back body drop. Gilbert quickly rolls out of the ring and gets ‘coached’ by Dangerously and Snuka. Gilbert gets back in the ring and offers to shake the hand of Cairo. Cairo quickly says no. Gilbert and Cairo get in a tie up then Cairo gets Gilbert in an arm ringer twice. Cairo tags in Osbourne and he comes off the top rope with an ax handle to the arm.

Osbourne gets Gilbert with an arm ringer but Gilbert gets Osbourne back to his corner and tags in Snuka. Snuka puts a thumb to the throat of Osbourne and drops him to the mat. Osbourne gets in the corner and Snuka chops him. Snuka then whips Osbourne into the ropes and hits him with a claw to the mid section. Snuka then picks up Osbourne and body slams him. Snuka then grabs Osbourne by the hair and jumps in the air and hits him in the face with his knees. Snuka then chokes Osbourne over the middle rope then with his boot on the mat. Snuka distracts the ref as Gilbert grabs a soda can from the table again and nails Osbourne twice with it in the head.

Snuka tags in Gilbert and he comes in and kicks Osbourne in the gut and snap mares him over. Gilbert goes to the middle rope and goes for an elbow but Osbourne rolls out of the way and gets the tag to Cairo. Cairo comes in and gets Gilbert in another big time back body drop. Cairo whips Gilbert into the ropes again and hits him with a drop kick. Cairo whips Gilbert into the ropes again but Dangerously holds on to Gilbert and and Cairo misses the drop kick. Cairo gets up and charges at Gilbert and he ends up getting nailed with the Hot Shot. Gilbert goes for the cover and gets the 1-2-3. Your winners by way of pinfall….Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert and Superfly Jimmy Snuka!

Recap:
This was a pretty good match here. Gilbert coming in hot with the chair shots and the brawling that ECW would become accustomed to. It slowed down a bit in the middle but the interference of Dangerously kept the match interesting in the middle there. Gilbert was in the ring the most because he can still move unlike Snuka so thats always a plus. Here we go again with Cairo getting thrown into a match to help out another face in a match with two guys who did him wrong. This further proves the point that ECW had no idea what to do with Tommy Cairo at this point. Thats a shame because Cairo was a pretty good wrestler, all things considered and the other guys in ECW, that could have used a solid one on one feud early on here.

Match 3: JT Smith vs. Max Thrasher

The bell rings with Thrasher charging at JT Smith and lays in some right hands. Thrasher then hits JT with a head butt and follows that up with a right hand. Thrasher then hits JT with a jumping head but while he has a hockey mask on. Thrasher then throws JT Smith over his head. After that we get an ECW Special Announcement.

ECW Special Announcement: Discussing Super Summer Sizzler

They show highlights of a battle royal to determine the Pennsylvania State Heavyweight champion. They show Stetson getting eliminated by Larry Winters and Stetson turning heel and attacking Winters. They then show highlights of a match between the Suicide Blondes vs. The Super Destroyers. Bellomo shows up ringside and a brawl ensues outside. They announce that at Super Summer Sizzler that Bellomo and the Super Destroyers will take on 3 members of the Suicide Blondes plus Hunter Q Robbins.

They show a match between Road Warrior Hawk and Jimmy Snuka. Every member of the Dangerous Alliance come out and attack Hawk. Gilbert then throws a fireball in the face of Hawk. Lastly, they show the Dark Patriot going against JT Smith. They show the Dark Patriot throwing JT Smith off the balcony inside the ECW arena. Sulli says we will be seeing all of these matches and more on future episodes of ECW. Can’t wait for that i guess.

Match 3 Continued: JT Smith vs. Max Thrasher
We come back from the Special Announcement with JT Smith on the middle rope laying in the right hands to Max Thrasher in the corner. The ref then gets in the middle of JT and Thrasher to break it up. Thrasher grabs JT by the legs and tries to pin him with his feet on the ropes but the ref catches Thrasher trying to cheat and stops the pin. JT essentially returns the favor and trips up Thrasher and pins him in the corner with his feet on the rope. The ref counts the 3. Your winner by pinfall….JT Smith!

Recap:
This match wasn’t terrible but it’s really hard to tell because they broke it up in to two parts because of the special announcement. There wasn’t a lot of action in the middle of the match but what you did see of the match wasn’t terrible. The ending was pretty good considering the heel got caught cheating the but the good guy didn’t. You don’t really see that very often so it was good and different here. Other than that the only reason to check this match out is to see the Special Announcement in the middle of it.

Match 4: ECW Heavyweight Title Match: The Sandman (C) vs. Don Muraco

The match starts with the Sandman quickly going for a cover trying to catch Muraco off guard. He got a 2 count before Muraco kicked out. They get in a collar and elbow tie up and Sandman gets Muraco in a head lock. Muraco pushes him off into the ropes and the Sandman hits Muraco with a shoulder block that sends him flying. Muraco then calls for a timeout and talks to Dangerously on the outside. Muraco drives the Sandman into the rope and he tries to go for a club but the Sandman blocks it and lays in a bunch of left hands. Sandman then hits Muraco with a clothesline and sends Muraco to the floor. Muraco talks with Dangerously on the outside and regroups.

Muraco gets back in the ring and they get in another tie up. Muraco drives the Sandman into the corner and kicks in the gut. Muraco lays in a couple of right hands and then he whips the Sandman into the opposite corner. Muraco spins around as Sandman comes out of the corner and levels him with a clothesline. Muraco rolls out of the ring again to speak with Dangerously. Muraco gets back in the ring and we get in another collar and elbow tie up. Sandman gets Muraco in a side headlock and grinds the ears a few times. Muraco usher Sandman into the ropes and bends over but Sandman hits him with a monkey flip and gets a 2 count. Sandman then gets Muraco in a backslide but Muraco kicks out right away and he slides out of the ring once again.

We get another tie up and Sandman quickly gets Muraco in an standing arm bar. Dangerously distracts the ref and Muraco nails Sandman with a low blow. Muraco then drops a knee to the chest of the Sandman. He then does it for a second time. Muraco picks up the Sandman and Muraco hits him with a big knee lift. Muraco then climbs to the middle rope and drops a club to the chest of the Sandman. Muraco picks up the Sandman and chops him right in the face. Sandman punches Muraco 3 times in the gut but Muraco rakes the face to keep control of the match. Muraco picks up the Sandman and goes for his tombstone but Sandman reverses it by getting over to the ropes and he ends up on the apron on the outside.

Muraco then decks the Sandman with right hand. Sandman responds with 3 left hands of his own. Sandman then jumps into the ring and clotheslines Muraco. Sandman then goes for a small package and gets a 2 count. Sandman then lays in some left hands to the face of Muraco on the mat. Muraco gets back to his feet and Muraco hits him with some right hands. He comes off the rope and Dangerously hooks his leg and trips up the Sandman. Peaches then charges at Dangerously and jumps on his back. The Rockin’ Rebel then comes out and pulls Peaches off of Dangerously. Sandman is working over Muraco and then he sees the Rebel. Rebel gets in the ring and the Sandman drops him with a DDT. Muraco grabs Sandman by the head and appears to be going for a bulldog but the Sandman pushes him off and he goes crashing into the ref.

Sandman then goes over to Muraco, who is in the corner, and whips him into the other corner where the Rockin’ Rebel is. Sandman then gets Muraco in a sleeper hold. Dangerously gets in the ring and levels the Sandman in the back with the telephone. Muraco lands on top of the Sandman as the referee comes to and he counts the 1-2-3. Your winner and NEW ECW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION….THE MAGNIFICENT DON MURACO!!!!

After the match each member of the Dangerous Alliance/Hot Stuff International congratulate Don Muraco, who is holding up the belt in the middle of the ring.

Post Match Interview: Dangerous Alliance/Hot Stuff International

Gilbert gets on the mic and yells we have a new champion. Dangerously then says that the name of the new champion is the Magnificent Don Muraco. Muraco says he wants to thank everyone for their calls and letters and thanks them for their support. Gilbert then gets on the mic again and says this is the happiest day of his life. Snuka then hits us with the TCB….taken care of business. Dangerously then gets a bottle of water and sprays it all over Jay Sulli as the show goes off the air.

Show Recap:
This was a decent card top to bottom. We had some feuds continue and some end. JT finally got his revenge on Max Thrasher. The tag match between Hot Stuff International vs. Cairo/Osbourne was pretty fun and it was sort of a precursor of what is to become of ECW in the near future. We also got to see Don Muraco take the strap off the Sandman and add a little credibility to the ECW Heavyweight Title. I would say this show is worth checking out if only for the last match and the tag match.

Anyways, thats all we have for this week’s episode. Based off the special announcement it looks like we have some good action heading our way. I hope you stick around as we walk down this road and review the history of ECW right here at CrazyMax.