The “OH MY GOD!” Review: ECW HeatWave ’96

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The “OH MY GOD!” Review for ECW Heat Wave ’96

Champions
World: Raven
 TV: Chris Jericho
Tag Team: Eliminators

What we missed…
Last night in Allentown this happened;
1996-07-12 at Agricultural Hall in Allentown, PA
Taz defeated Mikey Whipwreck
Louie Spicolli defeated El Puerto Ricano
 Tarzan Goto defeated Axl Rotten
ECW TV Champ Chris Jericho drew Shane Douglas (30:00).
The Samoan Gangsta Party No Contest against Buh Buh Ray & Big Dick Dudley
Bad Crew defeated Havoc, Inc.
 Sandman defeated Bluedust
 Sabu defeated Hack Meyers
Too Cold Scorpio defeated Pitbull #2
Terry Gordy & Tommy Dreamer defeated Raven & Brian Lee

Two other matches took place but will show up on TV in the coming weeks. I would have liked to see this show as it features the debut of Louie Spicolli, Scorpio coming back after some time off and a 30 minute Jericho/Douglas match that I picture being pretty good. Now onto the show…

Heatwave 1996-07-13 at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, PA

Samoan Gangsta Party vs. The Gangstas ref Jim Molineaux
Well you can probably figure out what happens. Gangstas hit the ring and a huge brawl breaks out. New Jack is with Sweet Sammy Silk and he busts him open. Most interesting weapon of the match an electronic football board game. The ref calls the match at 2.56 and awards the victory to the The Gangstas. I’m guessing this is the Samoans final appearance. If not there characters will not be recovering. New Jack on the mic after the match. Gangstas want a 4 corners match with Tag Team Champions Eliminators, Bruise Brothers and the Samoan Gangsta Party.

Mikey Whipwreck vs. “The Giant” Paul Lauria (w/ Damien Kane & Lady Alexendra) ref Paul Richards
Kane was apparently so mad that he couldn’t beat Mikey himself that he brought back Lauria. Ummm they had one match 3 and a half months ago. Joey goes over the history of Mikey and Lauria. Mikey with a drop kick and plancha to the floor. He whips Paul to the rail and charges but Lauria counters with a hot shot to the rail. Back in the ring Laurica goes up top but Mikey hits him off and gets the win with a super frankensteiner in 1.33. The Eliminators hit the ring and take out Lauria with total elimination. Saturn gets on the mic and they accept the 4 corner match. Saturn runs down Mikey and says it’s to bad his friend Sabu isn’t there to help him cause they don’t have a match tonight. Mikey is limping down to the dressing room and Sabu shows up so…

Tag Team Champions Eliminators vs. Mikey Whipwreck & Sabu ref John Finnegan
Sabu and Mikey charge the ring and take out the Eliminators. The champions bail to the floor. Sabu and Saturn start they wrestle on the mat with some pin and submission attempts. Sabu with a springboard moonsault to a standing Saturn. Saturn up with a superkick. Sabu goes for misses a splash and gets superkicked again. HUGE top rope splash by Saturn gets 2 and he makes the tag. Kronus with a handspring elbow in the corner. Sabu fights back and lays Kronus on the second rope. Mikey tags in and comes off the top with a leg drop. Hip toss and arm drag brings in Saturn and he gets the same. The champs both charge Mikey and get Japanese arm dragged. Sabu comes flying into the screen with a crossbody on both Eliminators. Sabu runs off Mikey’s back to hit Kronus with bulldog. Saturn comes in blind and brainbusters Mikey. Saturn kills Mikey with a clothesline. Mikey hardly kicks out. Suplex crossbody combo by the Eliminators. Pump handle suplex by Kronus. The Eliminators start working over Mikey’s arm now. German by Saturn for 2. Saturn goes for a superplex but Mikey blocks it and front suplexes Saturn to the mat. Mikey jumps off the top and goes for a rana but they mess it up and it looks like a powerbomb instead. Saturn still sells it and Mikey makes the tag. Sabu comes in and throws a chair at the champions. Sabu jumps off a chair to the top rope and falls. Sabu comes off the turnbuckle but Saturn dropkicks him. Mikey and Kronus fight on the floor. Sabu with a super rana for 2. Doctor bomb gets a 2 count for Saturn. Sabu powerbombs Saturn to the floor. Sabu goes for his DDT through the table but Saturn shakes the ropes and Sabu falls through the table. Kronus and Mikey are fighting in the ring and Saturn comes from behind with a clothesline. A SICK looking total elimination gets them the win in 11.40

– It’s time for the first ever Italian Karaoke Contest. JT Smith, Little Guido and Sal Bellomo are out. Smith says something about Sal being bilingual. Guido says he doesn’t go that way and Smith says he’s thinking of bisexual. Guido introduces us to his little brother Big Guido. So Big Guido was the guy from the June 30th show who JT Smith introduced that I couldn’t hear the name of.

Buh Buh Ray & Big Dick Dudley (with Sign Guy, Chubby & Dances With Dudley) vs. F.B.I. (w/ Sal Bellomo Big Guido) ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
D-Von shows up by eagles nest. He tells Big Dick to come kick his ass if he’s so bad. Dick leaves and Buh Buh and DW get beat on by the F.B.I. D-Von hits the ring with a chair and takes out the F.B.I. D-Von leaves and Dick comes back. Buh Buh with a double side walk slam. Big Guido comes in Buh Buh goes to power bomb him but Smith and Little Guido break it up. Big Dick has been wondering around the ring looking for D-Von. Big Guido hits a power bomb on Buh Buh. Big Dick and Big Guido face off. Sal hits Dick with a chair and Dick no sells it. Dick and Big Guido go out it. D-Von gets back in the ring as the F.B.I. all over whelm Big Dick. D-Von hits DW, Sign Guy ad Chubby with a chair. Buh Buh gets the chair but won’t hit D-Von. D-Von low blows Buh Buh and hits him with the chair. Hack Meyers comes from the back and hits D-Von with a chair. Big Guido power bombs Hack. Big Dick finally gets away from the F.B.I. and Dick and D-Von finally come face to face. D-Von kicks Dick downstairs twice. Dick gets the chair and is about to hit D-Von but Big Guido spins him around. Dick hits Guido and pins him. Dudleys win in 6.41. Apparently Big Guido was in this match. What a cluster fuck that was.
Axl Rotten vs. Tarzan Goto ref Paul Richards
Tarzan Goto is here tonight from the FMW promotion. Goto with 2 quick leg sweeps and Axl kicks him off both times. Back drop by Goto. Axl with a spin kick. Axl goes for a crossbody but Goto moves and Axl hits the ropes. They go to the floor and have a chair duel. They fight around ringside and into the crowd. Back in the ring Goto with repeated chair shots to the back of Axl that break the chair. Big clothesline by Goto for 2. Goto calls for a chair but Axl gets it away from him and nails him in the back with it. Bodyslam and elbow drop for 2. Axl with a clothesline for 2. DDT by Axl for 2. Axl goes for another DDT but on a chair. Goto pushes Axl back onto the chair. Goto with a brainbuster on the chair for the win at 7.06.

– Joey Styles is in the ring and he welcomes us to the show. Joey introduces his guest Taz with Bill Alfonso and Team Taz. YES! A Taz promo! Taz doesn’t even get a sentence out before the fans start a “Fuck you Taz” chant. Taz talks about choking out Bam Bam Bigelow from the WWF, Devon Storm from WCW, and Paul Varelans from the UFC. Taz is going to take over ECW. Alfonso fires Joey Stytles for not giving Taz respect. Joey starts to yell at Alfonso about not having the authority. Taz steps in and says, “shut your mouth mother fucker” Joey shrugs and timidly agrees saying “I’m fired” and gives up the mic. HAHA. Alfonso brings the new host Joel Gertner. Joey tries to talk but Taz takes the mic and gives it back to Gertner. Taz forces Joey to shake Gertner’s hand. Getner does another intro to the show. He introduces Taz. Taz runs down Sandman for his family turning their backs on him. Another “Fuck you Taz” chant. If it was Taz’s son he would just bust his ass. He runs Tommy Dreamer for chasing his “two slut lesbian rats”. Joey interrupts so Taz grabs him by the throat and brings him to the mat. Taz says no one is tougher then him and “Frankenstein” by Edgar Winter Group plays over the loud speaker. It’s 911!!!! 911 has been out of ECW since February. Gertner goes to get a few words with 911 and gets choke slammed. He goes to give Alfonso one but Taz chop blocks him. 911 chokeslams Taz and turns his attention back to Alfonso. Taz is up! German dumps 911 on his head and Taz chokes him out!!!

TV Champion Chris Jericho vs. “The Franchise” Shane Douglas vs. Pitbull 2 (w/ Francine) vs. 2 Cold Scorpio ref John Finnegan Four Corners Elimination Match
This match really has no chance of being anything but awesome. I also kind of expect it to be the longest match I’ve ever reviewed hope I can hold up. God I hope they put the belt back on Shane tonight. Shane blindsides Pitbull with a chair in the aisle. Scorpio and Jericho start. They do a bunch of misses and ducks off the ropes. Jericho ends it by hitting a spin kick and Scorpio bails to the floor. Some chain wrestling ends with Scorpio drop kicking Jericho. Somersault leg drop gets 2. Tiger bomb from Jericho for 2. Jericho with a submission. Scorpio reverses it a locks on a camel clutch. Pitbull gets on the apron and is bleeding. Scorpio with a spin kick and in comes Douglas. Jericho reverses a suplex and gets 2. Headlock takeover by Jericho. He goes for a slingshot splash and barely connects. Douglas goes face first into the turnbuckles a few times. Jericho walks over to both the men on the apron but doesn’t tag out. Chop fight between Jericho and Douglas ends with a spin kick and lionsault for 2. Jericho tags in Pitbull and Shane scurries to tag Scorpio. Press slam into a powerslam by Pitbull. Scorpio goes for a victory roll but gets power bombed. Scorpio pulls Pitbull out of the ring. Scorpio rams Pitbull into a chair. Scorpio with a few blows back in the ring and Shane tags in. Belly to back gets 2. Shane tags Jericho. Jericho goes for a leap frog and gets caught and powerslammed for 2. Jericho with a german release for 2. Frankensteiner reversed into a powerbomb. Pitbull tags Scorpio. Scorpio goes up but Jericho cuts him off. Both men are standing on the top rope now. Jericho with a SUPER RANA from standing! Douglas tags himself in and tries to pin Scorpio. Jericho favoring his knee as he gets out of the ring. Scorpio comes off an irish whip with a spin kick. He punches Douglas out of the ring and then follows him. They brawl out there. Back in the ring Douglas gets bulldogged on a chair. Pitbull tags in and Shane again runs away. Shane tags Jericho. Jericho goes for a slam but his knee buckles. Jericho gets thrown into a corner, Jericho tries for an up and over but Pitbull never charged and Jericho just plants face first on the mat. Pitbull powerbombs him for 2. Scorpio tags back in. Butterfly suplex, Jericho fights back with a DDT. Douglas refuses to tag back in. Pitbull comes in a puts Scorpio up top. Super fallaway slam. Pitbull goes for the tag and Shane tags out Scorpio. Shane goes after Pitbull and gets hip tossed out of the ring. They brawl on the floor and Jericho hits a plancha on them. Scorpio does the same onto all three. Jericho sent to the rail and the he back drops Scorpio into the crowd and they brawl. Douglas with a bulldog onto a chair for 2. Douglas tries to tag Scorpio but he is down on the apron and rolls to the floor. Same thing with Jericho. Pitbull beats on Douglas in the corner now. Press slam Douglas wiggles out but Jericho immediately comes flying into the screen with a missile drop kick. Jericho and Pitbull fight over who gets the pin and Douglas is able to roll away. Dropkick, spinning toe hold and figure four by Jericho. Douglas’ shoulders are down during the submission but he keeps kicking out. Douglas able to tag in Scorpio. Jericho with a fishermen for 2. Jericho goes for a lionsault and gets dropkicked while he’s upside down and lands on his head!!! Jericho is maybe dead but Scorpio doesn’t tag. Powerbomb by Scorpio no pin again. Jericho drop kicks Scorpio in the back and hits a tiger suplex. Jericho tags Douglas. Douglas tags Jericho right back in. Scorpio with a tombstone and tumbleweed and eliminates the champion at 26.50. New champ tonight! Douglas in now and he extends a hand and wants to form an alliance against Pitbull but Scorpio doesn’t take it. Back drop, drop kick and abdominal stretch by Scorpio. Shane with a belly to belly but he’s to tired to cover. Douglas goes to the second rope but Scorpio sunset flips him. Pitbull comes in and gets superkicked. Shane stacked on top of Pitbull. Scorpio goes for a moonsault but they both move. Shane works out a superbomb with Pitbull. Pitbull begrudgingly agrees and Scorpios gone at 31.25. Douglas and Pitbull go to the floor. Shane goes into the rail and ring post. Pitbull slides 2 chairs into the ring and powerbombs Shane onto them! Pitbull puts a table in the corner. Douglas reverses a whip a pulls Pitbull into a belly to belly. Francine jumps up on the apron and Shane pulls her into the ring. Douglas picks her up and kisses her. Pitbull charges and Shane moves, throws Francine to the ground and the ref gets hit. Pitbull press slams Shane and Francine throws powder into the Pitbull’s eyes!!!!! Shane kicks him low and Francine slpas him. WHAT!!! She pulls down her dress and her undies say Franchise on the butt. Pitbull 1 comes down and is freaking out. He wakes up Pitbull 2 by slapping him and telling him to get them. Pitbull 2 is up and pissed. Clothesline, another and a third takes them both over the ropes. Pitbull 1 has Francine. SUPER BOMB THROUGH A TABLE!!!!!! They killed her!!! Shane DDTs Pitbull 1 onto the belt and hits Pitbull 2 with it. Pitbull 2 kicks out though. Shane charges with a piece of table in his hand and smashes it over Pitbull 2’s head but again only a 2 count. Brass knucks to the face but its still not enough! Chain to the face Pitbull 2 kicks out AGAIN and fires back. Pitbull 2 misses a spin kick in the corner and bounces off the top rope and lands outside of the ring with a thud. Belly to belly back in and that’s it! Shane Douglas is the TV Champion in 39.26. AWESOME! Shane carries Francine to the back.

Louie Spicoli vs. Pablo Marquez ref Jim Molineaux
Spicoli hits Marquez with the mic to start the match. Two short arm clotheslines Spicoli Driver but he picks him up at 2. VICIOUS chair shot gets the pin at 1.16. Sabu hits the ring and Joey says this was the scheduled match before Sabu got injured in the tag match.

Louie Spicoli vs. Sabu ref Jim Molineaux
Spicoli is upset that this match is happening. Spicoli working over the injured neck of Sabu. Neckbreaker gets 2. Swinging neckbreaker gets a 2 count. Slingshot belly to back. Goes for it again but Sabu flips to his feet and drop kicks Spicoli to the floor. Sabu sits Spicoli on the guardrail and runs across a table and body blocks Spicoli into the crowd. Triple jump dive into the crowd with a chair by Sabu. Sabu misses a 2nd rope legdrop and lands on a chair. Sabu lands on his fight off a tilt a whirl slam attempt and hits a rana. Spicoli throws a chair as Sabu goes for a triple jump moonsault. Spicoli looses dueling chairs. Sabu dropkicks Spicoli to the floor. Table set up on the apron and guardrail. Louie placed on it. Sabu hits a top rope moonsault through the table to the floor! Spicoli bleeding from his elbow. Back in the triple jump moonsault gets a 2. Spicoli ducks a clothesline and Sabu hits the corner. Spicoli with a german suplex with a bridge for 2. Sabu puts Spicoli on the top turnbuckle and runs up a chair and goes for a rana. Spicoli blocks in Sabu hits the mat and Spicoli comes off the top with a somersault body attack. Spicoli puts a chair on Sabu and goes to drop a knee on it but Sabu moves and leaves the chair. Sabu goes for an Arabian face buster and Spicoli moves. Spicoli starts to climb the rope and Sabu throws a chair at him. Sabu jumps off the chair lands a super DDT and then the Arabian face buster for the win in 11.58

Rage of the Cage Match: World Champion Raven vs. Sandman, Stevie Richards vs. Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy, “Primetime” Brian Lee vs. Tommy Dreamer referees for this match are Paul Richards, John Moore, and Jim Molineaux
Essentially we have three separate matches going on at once here. The rules are as follows; World Champion Raven and Sandman start inside the cage. Stevie Richards and Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy start on the top stage and the first one to get to the cage can enter, creating a 2 on 1 match. Tommy Dreamer and “Primetime” Brian Lee fight outside the cage in a “falls count anywhere” match. Raven is not defending his title but Stevie is. Meaning if Stevie gets pinned Raven doesn’t have the belt anymore. It’s pretty confusing. Raven tells Sandman to leave him be and he’ll give him Tyler back. Raven then attacks and we have the bell. DDT by Raven and he canes Sandman. Figure four locked on. The other two portions of the match have not started yet as “Freebird” begins to play. Gordy busts Stevie open right away. They make it towards the cage and Lee attacks Gordy. Dreamer makes his way to the ring and takes out Lee. Bluedust and Super Nova come out now and Dreamer takes them out. Lee is bleeding as they go into the bleachers. Gordy is in the cage as Richards is COVERED in blood. Sandman is out holding his knee. Gordy is all over Raven. Stevie comes off the top of the cage but Gordy punches him. Gordy all over Richards trying to pin him to win the title. The spike on Richards but have breaks it up. Raven is also covered in blood and Dreamer is busted open. Gordy is destroying Richards and Raven in the ring as Dreamer and Lee still brawl outside. Gordy with a piledriver but Raven breaks up the pin. Sandman still down holding his knee. Two Steviekicks don’t take Gordy down and he levels Richards with a clothesline. Gordy nails Sandman. I don’t think he understands the rules to the match either. Lee gets in the cage and attacks Gordy. They go outside the cage and Raven and Richards go after Sandman. Dreamer DDTs Lee on the floor and enters the cage. Superkick onto Stevie. Tommy canes Raven. Dreamer handcuffing Raven to the cage. Tyler gets in the ring and stands in front of Raven. Dreamer seems willing to hit Raven anyway and Sandman wont let him. Nova gets Raven out. Raven pushes Sandman into Dreamer and DDTs Sandman down for 2. Raven grabs Stevie and throws him into the cage for some reason. Tommy with a DDT on Raven but he kicks out. Nova has 3 tables stacked up on the floor. Dreamer and Lee fight on the cage right above. Lee chokeslams Dreamer off the cage through the tables. It looks awesome. Sandman with a DDT on Raven and he gets the win at 14.48. Brian Lee chokes out Missy Hyatt, Beulah and Kimona Wanalaya all who have just come to ringside. We see the carnage of the match afterwards.

My thoughts on the show
So the 4-way Elimination match was just awesome, both the action and all the stuff at the end. The tag title match was also pretty decent and the main event was pretty bloody, which is what you should expect in an ECW cage match. None of the other matches were all that good. Mildly recommended show considering the 4-corner match was good and took up a good chunk of the show.

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