TV 1996-11-19 (Matches taped November to Remember 1996-11-16 at ECW Arena in Philadelphia, PA)
Champions
World: Sandman
TV: Shane Douglas
Tag Team: Gangstas
The show opens with stills from November to Remember with “November Rain” playing.
Joey Styles welcomes us to the show.
Opening video.
Joey talks about November to Remember. We get a run down on the history of Sabu and Taz. We go to the Taz promo that opened up N2R.
Joey talks about the tag team match between Sabu and Rob Van Dam against Eliminators.
Next up we see the introduction of the b.W.o. to the fans of ECW. We see the promo and then get about 2 minutes of the match between Stevie Richards and David Morton Tyler Jericho.
Joey talks about the feud between the Dudleys. We go to the match in which Buh Buh Ray Dudley beat his half brother D-Von Dudley.
Joey talks about the Sabu/Van Dam versus Eliminators match again.
In the main event Tag Team Champions The Gangstas won a three way dance with Sabu and Rob Van Dam and the Eliminators.
My thoughts on the show…
Well this was a short review. Easy pass on this it’s the garbage from N2R.
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TV 1996-11-26 (Matches taped November to Remember 1996-11-16 at ECW Arena in Philadelphia, PA)
Champions
World: Sandman
TV: Shane Douglas
Tag Team: Gangstas
Taz tells his side of the story. He tells us at Double Tables he won the tag titles with Sabu. Sabu then left him to go tour Japan. Taz says he demanded that Sabu be fired or he is going to quit. Taz then broke his neck because he didn’t have someone watching his back. Taz says Paul E then brought back Sabu and it was a slap to his face. Taz says that this would have all ended if Sabu asked him to be his partner in the three way dance at N2R.
Opening Video
Joey Styles welcomes us to the show and lets us know that we are getting more N2R matches and highlights tonight.
Axl Rotten beat Hack Meyers in the opening contest with a pedigree.
b.W.o. promo filmed much like the original n.W.o. promos. Black and white with lots of cuts and a shaky camera. This is pretty funny.
Joey is with Tommy Dreamer and he says a mixed tag team match has been signed with Dreamer and Beulah set to take on TV Champion “The Franchise” Shane Douglas and Francine. Dreamer says Shane and his bitch are going to die. We also already saw this match.
The next ECW Arena show is December 7th. The mixed tag team match, Sabu against Saturn, Rob Van Dam takes on Taz, World Champion Sandman goes up against Raven in a barbed wire match.
We go to the ring where Joey is with 2 Cold Scorpio. We get all his matches from N2R. Scorpio beat Devon Storm, JT Smith and Hack Meyers in various loser leaves town matches but then can’t get past Louie Spicolli. Scorpio won’t leave the ring so Taz comes out and tell him to leave. Paul E Dangerously ends up in the ring and he gets suplexed by Taz. The lights go out and Sabu is standing in the ring finally answering the challenge of Taz and then we go off the air.
My thoughts on the show…
Another short one today! So my initial review said to skip this one because there was only one thing that needs to be seen here and it’s about 3 minutes long. After some conversation with another writer here I felt the need change my opinion. The opening Taz promo was good. Axl and Hack was of course awful. I’m not a fan of Scorpio so you can skip all that stuff also. The Taz/Sabu segment at the end is MUST see and I don’t think I got that across in the N2R recap. If you skipped over N2R at least fast forward to the last 3 minutes of this show. Taz kicks Scorpio out of the ring, the suplex on Paul E that brings out Sabu. The crowd going crazy. So do yourself a favor get this show skip the crap and watch the end.
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1996-11-22 ECW at The Town Hall in Webster, MA
Champions
World: Sandman
TV: Shane Douglas
Tag Team: Gangstas
Buh Buh Ray Dudley (w/ Sign Guy Dudley) vs. D-Von Dudley, ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
Buh Buh into the ring and D-Von attacks him right away. Buh Buh goes for a back drop but D-Von leap frogs him and hits a belly to back suplex. Buh Buh with an avalanche in the corner and then he kinda humps D-Von…WTF. D-Von ducks a line and hits a reverse DDT. D-Von charges Buh Buh but he pulls down the rope and D-Von goes flying to the floor. Now the big brawl can begin. D-Von nails Buh Buh with a chair a few times. He tries to come off the second buckle with the chair but Buh Buh drop kicks it back at him. Rocker dropper and a headbutt off the top rope almost get a 3 count for D-Von. Buh Buh reverses an irish whip and throws D-Von up into the air and catches him with a cutter on the way down to get the win in 6.42.
Taz (w/ Bill Alfonso & Team Taz) vs. Spike Dudley, ref Jim Molinueax
Taz should make short work of Spike here. Spike surprisingly gets some early offense with a monkey flip and drop kick that send Taz to the floor. Spike comes off the apron with a somersault dive. Back in the ring though Taz takes over with an alabama slam. Taz with a fallaway slam and he bridges into a cover for 2. That looked awesome. Taz beats on Spike and this match is starting to drag. Spike with a low blow and tornado bulldog for 2. Head and arm tazplex and the tazmission finish this one in 5.03. This match should have taken half the time it did. Taz gets on the mic and being from NY he takes some time to shit talk Boston. Guess what he does next? He calls out Sabu.
TV Champion “The Franchise” Shane Douglas & Francine vs. Tommy Dreamer & Beulah, ref Paul Richards Mixed Tag Team Match
Shane says he’s going to beat Dreamer’s ass and then after that they are going to beat Beulah up too. Dreamer then says after he beats the shit out of Douglas he’s going to fuck up Francine. Shane attacks because that was a very rude thing to say. He goes right after the knee of Dreamer. The same knee that Douglas attacked last week at N2R. Douglas all over the knee with submissions and chair shots. Dreamer makes a comeback slamming Shane off the top and then slamming him down on the chair and throwing him out of the ring. The girls come in and roll around on the ground. Douglas nails Dreamer from behind with a chair. Belly to belly on Beulah but then Dreamer hits a DDT on Shane and gets the pin in 5.46. Wow Dreamer actually picks up a win for once.
Stevie Richards (w/ b.W.o.) vs. Roadkill, ref Jim Molinueax
b.W.o. cut a promo doing their best impressions of Hogan, Hall and Nash. Basic stuff to start. Stevie takes control and hits a side slam. Stevie goes up top but Roadkill shakes the ropes and crotches him. Suplex gets Roadkill a 2 count. Gut wrench now gets another 2. Powerslam by Roadkill. Roadkill goes up top but misses a splash. Stevie up and he hits a power bomb for 2. Stevie ducks a clothesline hits a stevie kick and gets the win in 4.40.
Louie Spicolli vs. GQ Quartermaine, ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
Joel Gertner on the ring announcing he helps out with the mask gimmick that GQ did a few weeks back. Gertner starts to talk trash to to Spicolli now. Spicolli goes to give him a DVD but GQ takes out his knee. GQ works the knee for a minute but Spicolli comes back with a spin buster. Louie with a northern lights. GQ takes out the knee again but then misses a top rope leg drop. Spicolli rips off the mask and hits the DVD winning in 2.33.
“Primetime” Brian Lee vs. Pitbull 2, ref Jim Molineaux
Lee attacks as Pitbull slides into the ring. Pitbull clotheslines Lee to the floor and they go right into the crowd. Lee with a suplex through a table. They brawl all over the hall and to the outside. Chokeslam by Lee back in the ring. Lee brings in a table and ends up getting super fall away slammed through it. Pitbull gets the win in 6. D-Von Dudley hits the ring for some reason and he and Lee work over Pitbull. Spike and Buh Buh Ray Dudley come down but get taken out. New Jack is out next. He beats the crap out of D-Von as everyone else fights to the back.
The Eliminators vs. Chris Candido & Mikey Whipwreck, ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
Candido gets on the mic and says that he’s been carrying pieces of shit for the past 2 years. He came back to ECW so he could have good matches with other talented wrestlers. He says he had a great match with Mikey last week and he’s out here to have another great one with the Eliminators. Candido and Saturn start. Mat wrestling and then Saturn tags out. Kronus comes in and hits his hand spring back elbow for 2. Candido slides under a kick and lands a rana. Mikey tags in. Kronus tries to show that he has the power advantage but Mikey uses his speed to take down Kronus. Saturn tags in. They do some back and forth off the ropes until Candido puts a knee into the back of Saturn from the apron. He tags in and hits a suplex and slam for 2. Kronus comes in and they hit a double team kick. Candido tags Mikey. Mikey goes for a super rana but Saturn just pushes him to the floor and Mikey crashes through a table. Candido helps him back in the ring and says he’s fine. Eliminators with lots of double team kicks on Mikey who looks to be anything but fine. Kronus with a shoulder breaker. Saturn gets tagged in and he comes off the top with a knee drop to the arm of Mikey. Belly to back suplex with a hammerlock in by Saturn and he locks in a cross arm breaker. Mikey has been in the ring for a while now. Eliminators continually knock Candido off the apron. Mikey finally begins a comeback but he’s cut off and hit with total elimination to end it in 11.12. Candido is pissed at Mikey for losing. Candido gets on the mic and says that Mikey screwed up and that he hurt his eye during the match and bit his lip and that’s why he couldn’t help much.
Super Nova vs. Rob Van Dam, ref Paul Richards
Nova surprisingly riding solo here. Van Dam with some kicks. Nova steps back to get some distance then he takes over on Van Dam with a drop kick and second rope elbow. Nova puts on a head lock but Van Dam picks him up and crotches him on the top rope. Springboard kick nails Nova in the face. Rolling thunder leg drop follows. Van Dam sends Nova into a corner and then just throws a chair at him and then points to himself. Well I don’t hate him yet but once he starts taunting 100 times a match I will. Van Dam kicks the chair into Nova’s face and poses again. Grrrrrrr. They go to the floor and he taunts some more. Van Dam puts Nova on the top rope but Nova counters and hits a tornado reverse DDT. Nova slams Van Dam with a chair against his back but then misses a splash off the top and lands on the chair. Van Dam with a running drop kick with the chair. He picks up Nova and plants him down with the worlds strongest slam. Split legged moonsault onto the chair gets Van Dam the win in 8.18.
Stevie Richards and Blue Meanie hit the ring for a promo. Richards talks about the b.W.o. movement getting started and that many other men will join the group in the coming weeks. JT Smith comes out even though it hasn’t been 30 days! He hugs Stevie and Meanie. Can’t hear a word he’s saying. Out come TV Champion “The Franchise” Shane Douglas and Francine. Douglas gets in Smith’s face and calls him a loser and says he shouldn’t even be there tonight. Francine slaps Smith and Smith goes after her. Douglas nails him with the belt and locks in the full nelson. Pitbull hits the ring and we get a pull apart. As Douglas is leaving Dreamer hits the ring and goes after both Douglas and Brian Lee. D-Von Dudley nails Pitbull with a chair busting him open. For some reason everyone is holding Dreamer back allowing Douglas and Lee to beat on Pitbull. Louie Spicolli finally decides to go over and help get Pitbull away. Things calm down and everyone leaves except Dreamer and Pitbull. As Dreamer and Pitbull are leaving D-Von, Douglas and Lee comes back out from the locker room and attack again. The refs come back out and are able to calm things down enough.
World Champion Sandman vs. Raven (w/ Tyler & Lori Fullington & b.W.o.), ref Jim Molinueax
Raven jumps Sandman at ringside and sends him into the rail a few times. They go into the crowd and all over the hall. They finally hit the ring after about 5 minutes. Sandman drop kicks a chair into Raven’s face. Sandman with a DDT but Stevie breaks up the cover by throwing a chair in the ring. Sandman picks up the chair and Stevie steviekicks it into his face. Meanie with an avalanche in the corner and another steviekick. Raven covers but only gets 2. Same table spot as N2R. Stevie nails another super kick on Sandman. They fuck up a roll up spot with Lori. Raven nails a DDT for 2. Guardrail into the ring Sandman with a DDT onto it for the win in 7.55. Sandman celebrates his victory with the crowd.
My thoughts on the show…
Yea this sucked. The TV crew was their so something from here is going to show up on TV in the coming weeks. Whatever they pick I’m not looking forward to it. Basically all the N2R rematches were nearly identical and the new stuff was mostly squashes. It almost felt like that since it was the first time in town they could just do whatever cause they knew the crowd would be so excited to have them there. Join me next time for a look at the infamous “Mass Transit Incident”.
