1996-12-28 at Agricultural Hall in Allentown, PA
Champions
World: Raven
TV: Shane Douglas
Tag Team: Eliminators
Stevie Richards vs. Axl Rotten, ref John Finnegan
bWo promo before the match. Axl bails to the floor right away as the fans get on his case for sucking. Axl says he’s leaving so Stevie goes out after him. Axl however gains the advantage for a few minutes. A rather large anti-bWo presences in the crowd tonight. Axl gets the crowd to turn on him by acting like he is going to use a chair and then putting it down. Axl goes for the chair again but Stevie drop kicks it into his face. Side slam by Richards and he loads up the Stevie kick but Axl catches it and drops him with a clothesline for 2. Axl misses an elbow drop and Stevie hits the kick this time for the win in 9.01.
Bad Crew 2 (w/ Bad Crew 1) vs. Mikey Whipwreck, ref Jim Molineaux
#1 distracts Mikey allowing #2 to attack from behind. Flying forearm gets 2. Bad Crew takes it to the floor and they double team Mikey. Mikey now takes it to the floor and lands a plancha. The Bad Crew members switch place allowing Bad Crew to regain control of the match. Mikey with a rocker dropper and Bad Crew rolls out of the ring and they switch again. The next time instead of switching they just double team Mikey in the ring. Mikey hits a super rana on one of them and gets the win in 5.27.
Dudley Boys (w/ Sign Guy Dudley) vs. Balls Mahoney & Jimmy Cicero, ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
Cicero is listed on a bunch of sites as “The Rookie” this is not only incorrect, it would be the worst name for a wrestler ever. Match is joined in progress the Dudleys clear the ring of their opponents then they back drop Spike Dudley out of the ring onto them. Buh Buh Ray Dudley now with a dive over the tope rope to the floor. They stay there and brawl for a bit. Back in the ring Balls gains the advantage on Spike. Powerslam by Balls and an elbow drop by Cicero gets 2. They tag back and forth a few times doing nothing exciting. Spike is able to tag after rolling out of the way of a splash from both Balls and Cicero. Buh Buh with a powerslam on Balls and cutter on Cicero. Spike jumps off the shoulders onto both of them for the win in 7.25.
Pitbull 2 vs. D-Von Dudley, ref John Finnegan
Pitbull dominates for the first five minutes with lots of punching and not much else beside a power slam. D-Von comes back with a swinging neck breaker. D-Von in control for a few minutes but he doesn’t do much either. Pitbull catches him coming off the top rope places him back up top and hits the super fall away slam for the victory in 10.58. Joel Gertner comes down and announces D-Von the winner. Pitbull goes after Getner and D-Von attacks him from behind. bWo come out and make the save. Joel gets nailed with a super bomb then every one drops a leg on him.
“Bulldozer” Brian Lee vs. Louie Spicolli, ref John “Pee Wee” Moore & Jim Molineaux
Lee attacks during the intros and we get the bell. They brawl right to the floor all over the building making it to the outside. We get a clip to them back in the ring. Lee tries to come off the top to Louie throws a chair at him. They do the chokeslam out of the DVD spot. Spicolli then hits the DVD. The second ref comes in but as Louie goes for another DVD he gets nailed with Lee’s foot. Chris Candido has come down and he makes a three count. Spicolli goes after him once he notices what happened. Candido throws powder into the eyes and Lee nails a chokeslam as the first ref gets up and makes the count. 5.56 of the match was filmed.
We get our Taz/Sabu confrontation next. Same as it’s been.
Chris Candido vs. Rob Van Dam, ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
Nice opening spot of reversals. Van Dam gets the advantage using some kicks. He almost over shoots on a springboard cross body and then back drops Candido to the floor. Van Dam up and over the top rope with a somersault plancha. Van Dam tries to suplex Candio from the apron to the floor but Candido reverses it and hangs Van Dam up on the top rope. Candido with a snap suplex and he goes into a chin lock. Candido slows things down but then he misses a corner charge allowing Van Dam to come back with some karate style stuff. Split legged moonsault but then Candido throws Van Dam to the apron. Van Dam tries to sling shoot himself back in but Candido drop kicks him mid air. Candido with a super rana for 2. Candido goes for a super bomb but Van Dam back drops him and then comes off the top with a nice cross body. Candido rolls through and gets a 2. Van Dam charges Candido and gets back dropped to the floor. Van Dam brings a chair into the ring and kicks into into Candido’s face. The ref gets knocked down also. TV Champion “The Franchise” Shane Douglas comes out and gives Candido a chain. Candido nails Van Dam with it and covers. Louie Spicolli comes out in a ref shirt and lays where the ref is down. Candido goes to wake up the “ref” and then gets nailed with a DVD. Van Dam covers as the real ref wakes up and makes the 3 count in 12.18. Candido on the mic after the match talks shit about Spicolli and then charges him in the aisle and they brawl to the locker room.
Tag Team Champion Saturn vs. Sabu, ref Jim Molineaux
After a little back and forth Sabu hits a triple jump moonsault for 2. Tag Team Champion Kronus comes down and interferes so Van Dam comes back out and it turns into a tag match. Kronus and Van Dam start off with some mat wrestling. Kronus with a power slam for 2. Kronus and Saturn with some stiff double team kicks. Kronus with a chair across the back and more double team kicks. Sabu keeps trying to get in the ring but continually gets knocked off the apron by Saturn. Saturn with a rana and he makes the tag. Van Dam drop kicks both Eliminators and makes the tag to Sabu. Sabu with a suicide dive onto Kronus. Sabu goes to dive off the ropes but Saturn knocks him down. The Gangstas hit the ring and all hell breaks loose. The brawl is mostly contained to the ring and the crowd begins to lose interest. Kronus drops a table right onto Van Dams head. Sabu hits a super rana on Mustafa but Mustafa somehow lands on top of Sabu. Sabu leg drops New Jack through a table as Mustafa gets pinned in the ring. Van Dam goes after Saturn in the ring. Eliminators go for total elimination but Sabu breaks it up. They go for it on Sabu but Van Dam pushes him out of the way and he gets nailed with it and pinned in 19.51. Cool finishes and switched up the match a lot from last weeks similar contest. A much longer tag team match until the triple threat match began. The two teams had about 7 minutes before the Gangstas came out. The brawl went on for too long though.
TV Champion “The Franchise” Shane Douglas & Francine vs. Tommy Dreamer & Beulah, ref John Finnegan
Douglas attacks but Tommy fights him off and they go to the floor. Douglas gains the advantage after a few minutes. He and Francine cheat a lot. Shane works over the neck of Dreamer. Beulah comes in an slaps Douglas giving Dreamer some time to recover and make a come back. Dreamer slams Douglas off the top and hits a power slam, spin buster and atomic drop for 2. Dreamer with a superplex for a near fall. Dreamer hits a DDT but Francine comes in a jumps on his back. The girls come in and roll around. Douglas nails Dreamer from behind with a chain and grabs Beulah. Dreamer with a roll up and he gets the pin in 9.02. Douglas hits Dreamer with a single arm DDT and then goes after Beulah and Pitbull 2 makes the save. Dreamer nails Francine with a pile driver.
Dog Collar Match: World Champion Raven vs. Sandman, ref Jim Molineaux
Lots of blood in this one. Good brawl. bWo comes out after about 8 minutes. Stevie Richards sets up Sandman for a steviekick. HE TURNS AND NAILS RAVEN!!!! The crowd explodes as the bWo leave. Sandman up and he hits three buckles. He’s inches away from the fourth but Raven pulls him in by the chain and drops him with a DDT. Raven covers and gets the 3 in 8.41.
My thoughts on the show…
Was into the last two matches which surprised me since I’ve been sick of them lately. The mixed tag match seemed different enough for me this time around. The main event was a fun brawl and had a kick ass finish. As much as I hate Sandman I kinda hope they give him the belt back at the next Arena show using that finish with him actually hitting the fourth buckle.
