The 100th Edition of the “OH MY GOD!” Review: ECW’s November To Remember ’96

Welcome to the 100th Edition of the “OH MY GOD” Review. How fitting that on the 100th edition that Heels Inc reviews one of the most popular and famous ECW Arena shows of all time…

ECW’s November to Remember 1996-11-16 at ECW Arena in Philadelphia, PA

Champions
World: Sandman
TV: Shane Douglas
Tag Team: Gangstas

It’s time for ECW’s biggest show of the year the 4th annual November to Remember. Lots of feuds looking to get settled tonight as Buh Buh Ray and D-Von Dudley go at it one on one, Sabu and Rob Van Dam look to get a title shot but first they have to go through the Eliminators. Sandman and Raven try to settle the hatred between them and Tommy Dreamer looks to exact some revenge on “Primetime” Brian Lee and TV Champion “The Franchise” Shane Douglas with a little help from his mentor Terry Funk. Also 2 Cold Scorpio gets his ECW send off as he makes his way out of the company to head to CT and the WWF and of course Taz will be looking for Sabu.

Taz and Bill Alfonso are already in the ring. Taz has a mic in his hand and he says in the back there are a bunch of wrestlers in the back signing contracts for a big show that’s going to happen next year. Taz says he’s going to steal Paul Heyman’s surprise. Taz says that he is going to be the main event of that big show against Paul’s boy (Sabu). Big “Fuck you Taz” chant. Crowd is hyped tonight. Taz says he’s going to rise to the top of ECW and he’s the man. INTENSE!

Davey Morton Tyler Jericho vs. Stevie Richards (w/ Blue Meanie & Super Nova), ref John Finnegan
Richards and crew come though the crowd with b.W.o. signs. The Blue World Order debuts!!! A LOUD “b.W.o.” chant starts up. It’s Da Blue Guy, Hollywood Bob Starr and Big Stevie Cool. Some mat wrestling back and forth Jericho gets on the mic and trash talks Stevie. Stevie charges and gets arm dragged and drop kicked. Richards hits some back elbows in the corner ala Kevin Nash. Jericho knees Richards between the legs and grabs Stevie in a testicular claw. Richards bails and Jericho follows with a top rope gross body to the floor. Slingshot clothesline and leg drop by Jericho get 2. Jericho continues to go low on Richards. Stevie ducks a line and now he goes low. Richards with a sideslam for 2 but then he misses a drop kick. Richards gets sent into the buckle chest first but then he hits a cutter for 2. Jericho with a pedigree for 2. Jericho with a sloppy super rana. Richards comes back and hits a power bomb but only gets 2. Richards calls for the steviekick but Jericho ducks and goes low. Stevie ducks another line and hits the steviekick this time for the win in 9.26. Nice opening match.

Axl Rotten vs. Hack Meyers, ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
Hack hits the ring hard and the fight is on. Hack must be pissed off from last night. They fight to the floor both men using a chair. Back in the ring Hack goes for his finisher but Axl pulls him off the top rope. Axl hits a pedigree on a chair and gets the win in 4.27.

Buh Buh Dudley (w/ Sign Guy Dudley) vs. D-Von Dudley, ref Paul Richards
Buh Buh hits the ring and they start to go at it right away. D-Von gets the advantage. D-Von has Buh Buh leaning on the ropes and charges but Buh Buh dumps him to the floor. Buh gets the upper hand on the floor but back in the ring D-Von hits a reverse DDT for 2. Back to the floor and into the crowd they go. Buh Buh crushes the skull of D-Von with a chair. D-Von gets in one of his own. They continue to fight on the floor for a few minutes. Buh Buh hits a superplex back in the ring. It gets a 2 count. Buh Buh bomb gets 2. Buh Buh misses a splash off the second buckle. D-Von then goes up top he hits a flying head butt but only gets 2. D-Von has Buh Buh out on his feet and goes for a chair shot but Buh Buh blocks it. D-Von jabs Buh Buh to keep control. Buh Buh reverses an irish whip launches D-Von into the air and hits D-Von with a cutter on his way down for the win in 10.21. Joel Gertner comes in the ring and announce D-Von as the winner. Gertner is great here talking shit to Buh Buh. Buh Buh goes to give him a bomb but Axl comes out and kills him and Sign Guy with a chair. Spike Dudley comes out and hits a tornado bulldog on D-Von. Axl though cuts him off. Big Dick Dudley comes out Axl and D-Von bail. Gertner sees that he’s the only one in the ring and freaks out. Buh Buh with a slam and Big Dick goes up top!!!! Moonsault and the crowd freaks out.

#1 Contender’s Match: The Eliminators vs. Sabu & Rob Van Dam, ref Jim Molineaux
Winner here gets a title shot later in the night. Joey hypes the match and the crowd is buzzing with excitement. Sabu and Saturn start off. Back and forth for a minute and both teams tag. Kronus has slimmed down a ton. They go back and forth until Kronus hits a suplex, some kicks and a german. Now everyone comes in and they all go at him. Saturn and Van Dam in the ring and Kronus and Sabu on the floor. Saturn with a power slam for 2. Kronus with a chair to the head of Sabu. Van Dam nearly drops Saturn on his head with a power bomb and then follows with the rolling thunder leg drop. Saturn tags control and lands a lionsault and tags. Kronus goes for a rana but Van Dam power bombs him then comes off the second turnbuckle with an elbow. Sabu throws a chair at Kronus from the apron and then comes in with an arabian face buster. Van Dam now with a top rope leg drop but Kronus gets his foot on the rope. Kronus goes low then hangs Van Dam on the top rope. Some double team kicks and Saturn covers for 2. Saturn locks in a chin lock and a chair comes flying into the ring thrown from Sabu. Saturn flips out and goes after Sabu. Kronus and Van Dam come spilling to the floor. Sabu jumps off the guard rail at Kronus and also lands face first onto the apron. Sabu in the ring with Kronus now. Air Sabu and a somersault leg drop off the chair get 2. Saturn comes in with a clothesline. Tons of action in this one. Van Dam tries to hit Kronus with the chair but its drop kicked into him. Van Dam right back up and he nails Kronus with the chair and now Saturn drop kicks it into him. This really just looks like 4 guys that don’t want to give anyone else an offense and I’m loving it. Sabu and Saturn go to the floor and Kronus does a hand spring and then jumps over the top rope onto them. Van Dam now comes flying out of the ring onto the eliminators. Sabu with a spring board plancha onto everyone and he slams his face into the guardrail. Table is set up by Sabu. He goes to jump onto a chair but Saturn comes off the top and catches him mid air with shoulder block. Cutter by Saturn. Saturn and Sabu on the apron fighting over putting each other through the table. Sabu wins that battle and hits a tornado DDT putting them both through. Van Dam sits Kronus in a corner and drop kicks a chair into his face. Slingshot leg drop/splash combo. Saturn is back in the ring and he’s bloodied. Saturn hits a SICK looking elbow from the top onto Van Dam. Van Dam fights back and Sabu hits an arabian face buster. Things start to slow down and we go back to a regular tag match. Saturn hits a sweep on Sabu for 2. Sabu drop kicks the knee of Kronus an docks in a single leg crab. Van Dam comes in and hits a drop kick and now all four men back in the ring again. Kronus comes off the second buckle with a somersault splash and Saturn hits a northern lights on Sabu at the same time. Saturn with a second rope moonsault on Van Dam. The bell rings at 20 minutes. The crowd immediately begins chanting “three way dance” but instead Tod Gordon comes out and calls for 5 more minutes. We get a bell Sabu locks Saturn in a boston carb. Van Dam comes off the top with a leg drop that looks like it just about kills Saturn. Kronus with a power bomb on Sabu and Van Dam. The crowd continues the “Three way dance” chant. Eliminators with some kicks on Van Dam. Sabu comes off the top rope and DDTs both Saturn and Kronus. Doomsday device rana on Saturn! Sabu eats a kick to the back of the head from Kronus followed by a super kick from Saturn. Van Dam breaks up the pin then hits a double undertook face plant on Saturn. Second rope clotheslines by Kronus nearly decapitates Van Dam. Saturn misses a moonsault off the top. Kronus cuts off Van Dam on the top rope then power bombs him. Somersault senton misses by Kronus. Sabu lands a triple jump moonsault lands on the chair and Kronus getting a 2 count. At 3.52 the bell rings. Saturn wants another 5 minutes to make sure they get the titles back. Gordon comes in and says to ring the bell for 5 more minutes! The fight is on again. Sabu hits a plancha and goes flying into the crowd. Both teams brawl on the floor for a bit. Saturn comes off the top rope with a knee to Sabu in the ring. Van Dam breaks up that pin. Saturn with a rana on Van Dam. Sabu and Saturn brawl as Van Dam and Kronus go up top. Sabu and Saturn knock each other into the ropes taking out their partners. Sabu and Saturn both go for a springboard and crash into each other. The bell rings again at 3.05. Gordon again on the mic. He says it’s obvious that neither of these teams are the losers and he makes the three way dance for the titles the fans go crazy. This shit was bonkers and I loved every second of it. 26.57 total time.

Chris Candido vs. Mikey Whipwreck, ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
Mikey’s face is all bruised up from his match last night against Dirt Bike Kid. Fans chant for Sunny and Candido grabs a mic and says she’s not there because they made her go to the hall of fame. Lots of back and forth between the two for the first few minutes. Mikey lands a northern lights for 2 and a rana that brings them both out of the ring. Mikey sends Candido into the crowd. Mikey flies into the crowd from the top rope with a clothesline. Back in the ring Candido catches Mikey coming off the top rope with a power slam for 2. Suplex and middle rope leg drop for 2. Things start to fall apart as Mikey attempts to reverse a few moves but keeps fucking up. Doctor bomb gets 2. Mikey reverses another bomb into a rana but again almost fucks that up. Mikey goes up top but Candido cuts him off and we know whats coming! HAHA well I was wrong as Candido hits a super rana for 2. Candido with a slam and then he misses a top rope head butt. Mikey with a roll up for 2. Leg lariat gets 2. Mikey comes off the top with a somersault body attack for 2. Candido is out on his feet. Missile drop kick from Mikey gets 2 again. Mikey with a tornado DDT but Candido won’t stay down for 3. Mikey goes for a moonsault but Candido catches him and drives his skull into the mat with a tombstone. Ahh here it comes. Candido goes up top Mikey knocks him down and goes up with him. Candido hits the super bomb!!! Victory in 11.54. Nice match despite Mikey fucking up a ton. Candido gets on the mic and gives Mikey credit for a good match.

Tag Team Champions The Gangstas vs. Sabu & Rob Van Dam vs. Eliminators, ref Paul Richards & Jim Molineaux
Oh wow yea lets get the guys who just did 25 minutes back out here right away. Joined in progress. We jump right to the action. The Gangstas haven’t hit the ring yet. They finally come out and bring the weapons to the fight. Kronus is busted open and it’s a giant brawl all over the place. Kronus is a bloody mess. At about 8 minutes everyone starts hitting dives to the floor. Sabu tries to do a triple jump and put Mustafa and Kronus through a table but keeps falling off the ropes. He finally just jumps and ends up missing anyway. It’s Taz!!! Van Dam jumps in front to save Sabu. Taz chokes out Van Dam. Sabu sees it and turns his back in the ring. Sabu gets nailed with total elimination and pinned in 9.33. New Jack comes right of the top with a chair shot on Saturn and he gets the pin in 9.42 to retain the titles.

Joey Styles is in the ring and he talks about all the great athletes that have been through ECW. Jericho, Malenko, Benoit, Guerrero. Joey says that another great wrestler would like to take some time to bid farewell to the fans. Joey brings out 2 Cold Scorpio making his last appearance tonight. “You sold out” chants. Joey says none of the other men he mentioned have accomplished what Scorpio did in ECW. Joey thanks Scorpio for all he has done in the ring. Scorpio says he’s not going to miss anyone because he’s not leaving and will be wrestling in the WWF and ECW. Scorpio says he understands tradition and he’s going to pass the torch and do a job for the next that comes out. Scorpio says the next match is a loser leaves town for 15 days match. Devon Storm comes out and Scorpio makes jokes about him.

Loser Leaves Town for 15 Days Match: 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Devon Storm, ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
Scorpio goes at Storm hits a drop kick and belly to back. Scorpio goes up top and hits the tumble weed getting the pin in .53. Scorpio now says to bring someone else out and makes it 30 days.

Loser Leaves Town for 30 Days Match: 2 Cold Scorpio vs. JT Smith (w/ Little Guido), ref John “Pee Wee”
Smith attacks from behind. Smith lands on his feet out of a monkey flip but then gets caught in a side slam. Scorpio with a moonsault for the win in .31. We now go to 60 days…

Loser Leaves Town for 60 Days Match: 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Hack Myers, ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
YES! No Hack Meyers for 60 days!!!!!! Spin kick by Scorp. Hack gets in some “Shah” punches but catches a super kick (shit) and belly to back suplex. Scorpio goes up top 450 ends it in 1.17.

Louie Spicolli and a few refs come out to check on Hack. Scorpio wants a “loser leaves for a year” match now. He slaps Spicolli and tells him to get up. Scorpio says tomorrow at Survivor Series Louie is his mystery partner (it was actually Superfly). Spicolli laughs it off. Scorpio says he can take him back to the WWF. Spicolli wants no part of it. Scorpio says he’s going to beat Louie in less then a minute and take him to the WWF with him.

Loser Leaves Town for 1 Year Match: 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Louis Spicolli, ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
Scorpio with a power slam for 2. Power bomb and Scorpio comes off the top with a leg drop for 2. Scorpio misses a moonsault as we pass the 60 second mark. Spin buster by Louie gets 2. Scorpio with a super kick and big clothesline. Scorpio comes off the top with a clothesline for 2. Scorpio charges Louie goes for a DVD but Scorpio slips out and goes for a kick. Louie ducks that and then hits a DVD and gets the pin in 2.13.

Even after the loss, Scorpio says he’s not going anywhere until someone can run him of. Out comes Taz and Bill Alfonso along with Team Taz. Taz gets on the mic and says his score with Scorpio was settled a few weeks back in Middletown. Taz tells Scorpio he can leave on his own or Taz can make him leave. Scorpio says he’s going to where the money is so he doesn’t have to work in small ass bingo halls anymore. Scorpio leaves and Taz says “Bye bye Flash… Get the Fuck outta my house… Bitch!”.

Moving on with Scorp gone, Taz calls out Sabu. The fans want Sabu. Taz says he’s not going anywhere until Sabu comes out. Ring announcer Bob Artese in at ring side and he’s trying to get Taz’s attention. Taz asks him what he wants. Bob says that he was told that there is another match and they need to start. Taz pushes Artese down in the corner and says that Bob is his hostage now and if Sabu doesn’t come out he is going to murder Artese. Tod Gordon comes out with a few wrestlers and says now is not the time. Alfonso pushes Gordon and Gordon charges. Taz quickly chokes Tod out. Taz calls out Sabu some more. Paul E. comes out now and he grabs Alfonso. Taz hits a t-bone suplex and locks in the Tazmission on Heyman. The lights go out, and when they come back on Sabu is in the ring! The fans go crazy. One year in the making! Taz and Sabu stand in their signature stances as the crowd can be heard chanting “Sabu” and “Taz” at the same time. Sabu and Taz charge at each other, but the lights go out again. Fans are now pissed and chant “bullshit”. The lights come back on and no one is in the ring.

World Champion Sandman vs. Raven (w/ Lori & Tyler Fullington & b.W.o.), ref Jim Molineaux
Raven says the only reason he is here today is to win back his World Title. Raven says that he is not going to fight Sandman’s fight and tonight he is going to outwrestle Sandman. Stevie gets the mic and says that the ECW fans don’t know wrestling. Sandman charges the ring and they go right after each other. No 30 minute ring entrance tonight. Richards stays on the mic and calls the match over the house mic. That’s awesome. Raven works over the arm of the Sandman. Richards points out it’s the left arm because Raven is left handed. Sandman uses leverage to break out of a hammerlock and send Raven to the floor. Sandman with a slingshot dive to the floor and the brawl begins. Raven quickly brings it back in the ring and goes back to the arm. Sandman clotheslines Raven and they both go over the top rope to the floor. Back in Raven holds the arm and Richards comes off the top driving the knee into the arm of Sandman. They go to the floor and Sandman takes over busting open Raven. Sandman goes for a DDT but can’t hit it properly because his arm. Sandman picks up Raven so he can beat on him more. Raven nails Sandman in the arm with a chair and hits a DDT. Stevie sets up a table. Stevie steviekicks Raven by accident and Meanie hits a meaniesault on Raven. Stevie hits the kick on Sandman and Raven gets a 2 count. Raven puts a table in a corner and sends Sandman through it and gets 2. Raven points to Tyler and asks Sandman if that’s what he wants. Sandman fires up and beats on Raven. Tyler comes in and shield Raven. Lori sneaks up from behind and misses Sandman 5 times with cane shots. Just literally swung all around him. She seriously must be drunk or something to have missed like that. Raven just decides to kick and DDT Sandman. Stevie comes in and hits a stevie kick to the back of Sandman’s head. Sandman pretends it didn’t hit him but then walks into a DDT. Oh man this is awful. Raven loads up his boot but misses and kicks the turnbuckle. Sandman gets a roll up for 2. Stevie throws in a piece of guardrail and Raven goes for a suplex onto it. Sandman blocks it lands a DDT and retains the title in 15.07.

Terry Funk & Tommy Dreamer vs. “Primetime” Brian Lee & TV Champion “The Franchise” Shane Douglas (w/ Francine), ref John Finnegan
Shane and Funk start. Shane tags out before making contact. Tommy tags in now. Lee attacks. Tommy with a russian leg sweep and he hammers away on Lee. Shane comes in to break it up and then Funk comes in to pull him off. They go to the floor and fight. Shane nails Funk and Dreamer with a chair. Tommy bulldogs Shane onto the chair and almost gets a 3. All four men go to the crowd to fight. Funk and Dreamer spend like 20 minutes trying to get a piece of guardrail in the ring while Shane and Lee just stumble around the ring. Shane and Lee both get sent into the rail in the corner. They drop it on Lee then slam Shane on top. Tommy crotches Shane on the rail and then clotheslines him. Dreamer climbs onto the rail for some reason and Lee crotches him and it makes me cringe. Funk with a DDT on Lee. This match is super slow. Shane goes up top but Funk punches him down. Shane falls off the top and lands on Funk though. Shane suplexes Dreamer onto the rail. Shane drops Dreamer knee first on the rail. Funk and Lee are out side the ring fighting. Tommy fights back. Francine goes up top and Tommy catches her as she goes for a cross body. Shane however chop blocks Tommy. Shane now drops Tommy’s knee onto a chair. Funk bleeding a bit on the floor. Dreamer goes low in the ring. Francine again starts to go up top but Tommy grabs her and hits an atomic drop. Lee now comes in the ring and hits a big boot. Lee misses a second and it hits Shane. Funk brings some chairs into the ring and now all 4 men are in. Funk goes after Shane and gets a 2 count. Lee chokeslams Dreamer over the top to the floor through a table. Funk goes outside to check on him. The ref is going to stop the match but Funk doesn’t want that so he throws him into the crowd. Shane hits a piledriver on Funk. Then they hit a spike piledriver. Shane with a single arm DDT as he looks to break the neck of Funk. Shane does the Zeus neck twist. Shane piledrivers Funk off the apron through a table. Dreamer finally gets up but Shane and Lee over power him. Tombstone by Lee. He goes for a cover but the ref is slow to get over as he’s just waking up and Dreamer kicks out. Shane with a full nelson. Francine comes in the ring and slaps Dreamer. Beulah shows up and hits Francine with a cookie sheet. Beulah is in a neck brace from when Shane put her in the full nelson a few weeks back. Lee grabs Beulah and just headbutts her! Shane rips off the brace and lands a belly to belly on her. Damage Control comes out to get Beulah out of the ring. Lee is beating on Dreamer with a chair on the floor. Funk goes up top and hits a moonsault into the crowd onto everyone! Back in the ring Lee goes for a chokeslam onto a chair but Funk saves Dreamer. Shane comes up from behind but Funk hammers his knee with a chair a few times. Funk locks in the spinning toe hold but Lee breaks it up. Lee goes to chokeslam Funk but Dreamer breaks it up nailing Lee with a TV camera. Funk hits a DDT on Lee and they get the win in 26.13. Single arm DDT on Funk after the match and Lee hits a chokeslam on Dreamer. They beat down Dreamer and Funk until Pitbull 2 comes out and makes the save.

My thoughts on the show…
Great opening interview and nice opening match. The next couple of matches were exactly the same and pretty bad besides a few sick chair shots in the Dudley match. The #1 contender tag match was a mess but one that I really enjoyed. Candido put on a good show even though Mikey tried to ruin it with blown spots. From that point on, the rest of the show wasn’t very good besides the Taz/Sabu stuff. The fans felt cheated at the end when the lights went out as they were fighting but the whole thing was awesome. The main even was way too long and very slow. A couple of good things to see here but overall a pass for me.