The “OH MY GOD!” Review of ECW’s “Extreme Lottery” event from the Lu Lu Temple in Plymouth Meeting, PA 1996-05-31
Champions
World: Raven
TV: Shane Douglas
Tag Team: The Eliminators
Quick note for all you history buffs, this show featured two names, some referred to it as the “Extreme Lottery” show, others have called it as “Judgment Night”.
We have a very interesting concept for tonight show. A 19-man battle royal will take place. The first 5 eliminated are done for the night while the next 12 will go on to face each other in singles matches based on the order they were eliminated, the runner up will get a TV title match, while the winner gets a shot at the world title. Hmmmm, lets see if the people at ECW can do math. I’m really looking forward to see how this shapes up.
Extreme Lottery Battle Royal
The F.B.I. are the first participants in the ring and J.T. Smith gets on the mic and starts singing. Smith calls for the match to be started even though he and Little Guido are the only two in the ring. Smith eliminates himself and then tells Guido to do the same. Guido wants to stay and fight so the two argue for a while with Smith trying to drag Guido out of the ring. They make up and go to hug but Smith grabs Guido and throws him out of the ring. They argue down the aisle and finally hug once they get to the entranceway. The rest of the participants begin to make their way to the ring. The match is set to have Tag Team Champions The Eliminators, Stevie Richards, The Bad Crew, The Bruise Brothers, “Primetime” Brian Lee, 2 Cold Scorpio (who has a heavy limp on his way to the ring), Devon Storm, El Puerto Ricano, Mikey Whipwreck, Pitbull 2, New Jack, Tommy Dreamer, Buh Buh Ray and D-Von Dudley. The match is underway and I’ll do my best to describe the action but we only have a 1-camera view and it’s from pretty far away. After about two minutes the Bruise Brothers and Brian Lee all lift up El Puerto Ricano above their heads and throw him to the floor through a table, it sounds devastating. The EMTs rush to ringside to help him out. The Bad Crew dump Devon Storm out. Buh Buh and D-Von Dudley go face to face and have a few words. D-Von turns to walk away and Buh Buh grabs him and throws him out of the ring. Now all eliminations will determine the rest of tonight’s matches. Pitbull 2 eliminates one of the Bad Crew members and a Bruise Brother immediately throws the other Bad Crew member out of the ring. Which means later tonight Bad Crew EXPLODES!! Dreamer gets chokeslammed by Lee. Mikey lounges at Saturn but Saturn catches him and throws him out of the ring. Dreamer crotches Richards on the top rope and superkicks (!?) him out of the ring. Mikey Whipwreck vs. Stevie Richards tonight! Brian Lee charges New Jack but Jack dugs and Lee is eliminated. Jack is eliminated by the The Bruise Brothers. Lee and Jack brawl to the back and they will face each other tonight. The Bruise Brothers see what is going on and step BETWEEN the ropes to help out. The refs however signal that they are eliminated. I don’t know why that happened but the Harris brothers will be on opposite sides of the ring tonight. 2 Cold Scorpio dropkicks Dreamer out of the ring. One of the Harris brothers gets back in the ring kicks New Jack who is on the floor and steps over the rope this time and to the floor. He is announced AGAIN as being eliminated. The official announcement of the Bruise Brothers match is made now. Dreamer is back in the ring now and throw in-between the ropes by Saturn. Dreamer has not yet been announced as gone. Kronus throws out Buh Buh Ray Dudley. Dreamer is announced as eliminated and will face Buh Buh even though he was eliminated before one of the Haris twins. Dreamer vs. Buh Buh. This is becoming a giant mess. Final four Eliminators, Pitbull 2 and Scorpio and somehow there is going to be an odd man out here. Saturn superkicks Pitbull 2 and he spills out to the floor. The Eliminators are left with 2 Cold Scorpio. Saturn grabs Scorps arms and Kronus charges. Scorpio ducks a clothesline and Saturn is eliminated. Scorpio Irish whips Kronus and Kronus hits a clothesline. Scorpio is sent to the corner and Kronus goes for the cartwheel handspring elbow but misses. Scorpio hits a super kick and Kronus is eliminated. 2 Cold wins the battle royal and will go on to face World Champion Raven later tonight. Time of the match over 11 minutes.
Bad Crew #1 vs. Bad Crew #2 ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
Bad Crews names are Dog and Rose, but who knows which is which, so we’ll just call them #1 and #2. It’s the match we never thought we would be lucky enough to see! They shake hands to start but it’s a double cross! Clothesline by the bigger Bad Crew and a body slam. He picks up his partner and throws him to the floor and hits a dive through the top and middle rope. Whip to the rail and back the other way. Back in the ring a tiger bomb gets two and a top rope Vaderbomb misses. The other guy now in control hits a flying clothesline and a top rope splash for 2. Damien Kane and Lady Alexandra who manage Bad Crew come to ringside. Corner charge but the boot goes up. First guy whips the second guy but it’s reversed. Kane trips up the first guy now which allows #2 to hit an elbow drop and pin at 3.06. Kane gets in the ring and it looks like he’s trying to convince the winner to beat up the loser with him. Bad Crew both attack Kane instead. Devon Storm hits the ring and takes out the Crew with a chair. My god I may have to watch a Bad Crew vs. Kane/Storm match soon. I’ll have to call in sick that day. Superplex moonsault combo by Kane and Storm. They brawl on the floor Kane sits Bad Crew in chairs and Storm dives on them.
Stevie Richards (w/ Blue Meanie) vs. Mikey Whipwreck ref John Finnegan
Richards on the mic calls out Super Nova. The three fools strut around the ring together and they all dance. It’s gloriously awesome. They lock up and Mikey is thrown to the mat. Some back and forth reversal spots that end with Mikey grabbing onto a headlock takeover. Mikey runs up the turnbuckle with Richards still in the headlock and takes him back over. Richards fights back and grabs a headlock and tries the same turnbuckle spot but Mikey falls back with a suplex and back to a headlock takeover. Mikey out wrestles Richards and drop kicks him to the floor. He follows with a plancha onto both Richards and Meanie. Mikey throws Richards back in and climbs the turnbuckle. Richards cuts him off and hits a superplex. Powerbomb by Stevie gets 2. Snap suplex and a chinlock slows things down. Hip toss attempt and Mikey flips into a head scissor. Richards cuts him off with a clothesline. Mikey rolls to the floor and Meanie goes after him. Whip to the guardrail is reversed and Stevie hits it. Mikey charges but Richards moves and he goes into the crowd. Back in the ring Richards climbs the ropes Mikey gets up and stumbles into them knocking Richards down. He hits a top rope frankensteiner and gets the win in 8.18
Ron Harris vs. Don Harris ref Jim Molineaux
They lock up and power each other back to the corner and start pushing and punching each other. Lock up again and headlock takeover by..lets call him Ron. Arm drag by Don. Irish whip and he hits a clothesline and eblow drop. Ron gets up quick and they start brawling again. Ron ducks a clothesline hits a big boot and gets the pin. The ref goes over to tell the ring announcer the final decision and Don gets up and knocks down Ron. The ref points to Don thinking he is the brother that won and awards the match to him at 2.38. The big men begin to argue and fight again but Brian Lee quickly comes out to settle things down.
“Primetime” Brian Lee vs. New Jack ref Paul Richards
Lee meets Jack in the aisle and they start brawling all over ringside. Lee hits a short arm clothesline back in the ring. “Primetime” goes for the cover with one hand on the chest. The ref stops his count at two and a half even though New Jack has not moved at all. Lee looks confused and starts stalking the ref. He drops a knee on Jack and picks him up. Jack wraps something around Lee’s neck and pulls a garbage back out and tries to suffocate him with it. Lee fights free with a low blow and puts the bag over Jacks head hits a big boot and gets a two count. Jack ducks another big boot attempt hits a slow blow and then a stun gun. 187 chair shot gets the win. Bruise Brothers attack after the match. Mustafa and Dreamer make the save. They along with Jack eventually get laid out with Dreamer getting chokeslammed by Lee and getting crotched on the comer post by the Harris brothers. The EMTs, Beulah and Kimona Wanalaya hit the ring and Dreamer is carried to the back.
Buh Buh Ray Dudley (w. Chubby, Sign Guy & Dances With Dudley) vs. Tommy Dreamer ref Jim Molineaux
Dreamer’s music hits but Tod Gordon comes down to ringside instead. We are informed that Tommy is to injured to wrestle and that in his place is going to be D-Von Dudley
Buh Buh Ray Dudley vs. D-Von Dudley ref Jim Molineaux
D-Von sneaks up behind, spins Buh Buh around hits him with a chair, hits a flying forearm, and gets the win in .09.
Tag Team Champion Saturn vs. Pitbull 2 (w/ Francine) ref Paul Richards
Lock up to start and Pitbull pushes Saturn into the turnbuckle. Headlock by Saturn and some leg kicks. Saturn hits the ropes and gives a front kick and spin kick that take down the Pitbull. Pitbull comes back with a press slam and arm bar. Saturn reverses and takes a side headlock. Pitbull pushes him off to the ropes Saturn hits a shoulder block but Pitbull doesn’t move so Saturn grabs a head lock and takes him over. Pitbull gets out and charges Saturn but gets nailed with a super kick. Pitbull reverses an irish whip Saturn ducks a clothesline and goes for a spring board moonsault but gets caught and powerslammed. Saturn whipped into the corner and goes down. Double under hook power bomb by Pitbull 2. Saturn thrown into the ropes and comes off with some kicks to take control. Pitbull rolls to the apron and Saturn hits a spring board cross body and they fall to the floor and fight into the crowd. Saturn attempts an Asia Moonsault but misses and lands head first on the floor and his head pretty much explodes as he is immediately covered in blood. Back in the ring Saturn puts Pitbull on the top rope stumbles around the ring and gets hit with a clothesline and pinned at 5.55. Saturn slumps down in the corner and is clearly dazed from hitting the ground as the EMTs come to attend to him. Saturn gets a nice ovation from the crowd as he walks to the back. Clearly a rushed finish to get Saturn the medical attention he needed.
TV Champion “The Franchise” Shane Douglas vs. Tag Team Champion Kronus ref John Finnegan
Douglas on the mic to start says that The Eliminators are clearly the best tag team in the business but tonight we find out what Kronus can do 1-on-1. Douglas starts off with an arm drag, which pisses Kronus off. They lock up and Douglas locks on a side headlock Kronus picks him up and throws him off. Douglas trips up Kronus and walks on his back. Kronus gets up and charges at Douglas takes him down and they brawl and tumble to the floor. Kronus hits Douglas with a frying pan and throws him into the guardrail twice and hits a clothesline. Kronus bodyslams the champion through a table at ringside. Kronus tries to suplex Shane back into the ring but Shane flips out of it and rolls him up for 2. Kronus gets sent into the corner but comes charging out with a clothesline. Shane rolls to the floor and Kronus follows but gets nailed with a chair a few times. Shane leaps off the apron with a somersault plancha. Douglas suplexes Kronus into the ring. Kronus whips in Shane and goes for a slam but Douglas hits a flying head scissor. Shane hits a drop kick for 2. Kronus goes low as Shane tries to pick him up. Kronus throws Shane into the corner and follows with a drop kick and the cartwheel headspring elbow. Douglas stumbles out of the corner and gets hit with a spin kick for 2. Shoulder breaker by Kronus. Kronus grabs onto an arm bar and we have a rare ECW rest hold. Douglas fights back and throws Kronus into the corner but misses a charge and hits his shoulder on the post. Kronus with another shoulder breaker. Douglas thrown into the corner and Kronus goes for another handspring elbow but Douglas pulls the ref in the way. Douglas comes out with 3 straight clotheslines. Saturn hits the ring with his head all wrapped up and he attacks Shane. Saturn throws Shane to the floor and holds him as Kronus does a headspring moonsault over the ropes but Shane moves. Douglas hits a plancha on Kronus and throws him back in the ring. Saturn’s head is gushing blood through his bandage. Back in the ring Kronus hit Shane with a press slam. He goes for a second but Shane slips out into a head scissor nails a belly to belly and retains the title at 14.28. Saturn gets in the ring and he gets belly to bellied also. The Eliminators take control and hit total elimination. Saturn is completely covered in blood and the fans give him a huge “Saturn” chant as they leave.
Taz (w/ Bill Alfonso) vs. Sandman (w/ Missy Hyatt) ref Jim Molineaux
Alfonso on the mic before the match. He runs down the fans, Sandman and Sabu and calls Taz the best athlete in wrestling today. Sandman comes down to ringside on crutches as he is recovering from surgery. Tod Gordon comes to the ring and gets on the mic and tells Sandman he can not compete tonight. Missy makes out with Tod, Alfonso attacks him, Missy attacks Alfonso. Sandman hits Taz from behind with the cane and we have a bell. Missy, Alfonso and Gordon roll to the floor as Sandman and Taz face off in the ring. Sandman swinging the cane to keep Taz away from him. Taz goes for a single leg but gets smacked with the cane. Missy and Alfonso make their way back into the ring and Sandman canes Alfnoso. Taz comes up behind and takes out the Sandman’s knee and locks in the Tazmission. Sandman will not give up and Gordon throws in the towel giving Taz the win at 1.58. Alfonso attacks Gordon again which brings out 2 Cold Scorpio. Scorpio starts backing down Alfonso and Taz comes from behind and locks in the Tazmission. Taz gets on the mic after and calls out Paul E. as the crowd chants for Sabu. Taz says to chant for Sabu all you want but he’s in Japan. Taz leaves the ring with everyone still laid out on the mat. EMTs come to ring side to help Sandman to the back and Scorpio is placed on a stretcher and carried to the back.
World Champion Raven (w/Brian Lee, Stevie Richards & The Blue Meanie) vs. 2 Cold Scorpio
Richards and Meanie are dressed like the Blue Bloods. “Lord” Stevie and “Sir” Meanie. Richards gets on the mic and tries to speak with a proper English accent. Richards says there is no way Scorpio will make it for the match tonight. Joey Styles comes to ringside and lets us know that Scorpio is being attended to in the back and that ECW will be returning to the Lulu Temple in 3 weeks. Bill Alfonso and Taz will meet The Sandman and Tod Gordon in the main event. Richards takes the mic back from Joey and continues to talk about how Scorpio won’t be able to show up for the match. Styles says that if Scorpio can’t make it to the ring he will lose by forfeit. The bell rings and the ref begins to count. He gets to 9 and Scorpio comes from the curtain. Scorpio gets in the ring and we get the bell. Meanie distracts the ref and Stevie hits a Steviekick Raven covers and gets 2. Another Steviekick for a 2. Raven picks up the challenger and hits a DDT for 2 again. Raven locks in a sleeper hold which almost puts Scorpio to sleep. Raven puts 2 Cold in the corner and sets up a chair in the opposite one. Scorpio reverses the whip and Raven hits the chair. Again Scorpio throws Raven into the chair and now uses it on the back and head of Raven. Scorpio puts the chair back in the corner and throws Raven into it. Raven is busted open Scorpio hits a DDT and gets a 2 count. Body slam and 2 Cold goes up top but Lee pushes him down. Scorpio rolls to the apron and as he tries to get up Raven charges and knocks him to the floor. Raven throws Scorpio into the crowd and hits a DDT on the floor. Raven whips Scorpio into the guardrail and tries a second time but Scorpio reverses it. Superkick by 2 Cold. Lee and Richards now come over to help Raven regain the advantage. Back in the ring Raven hits a knee drop between Scorpio’s legs. And that’s it as the show cuts off after 8 minutes of the match.
My thoughts on the show,
Really cool idea that gave us some interesting match ups, but unfortunately the matches themselves weren’t all that great. While the Bad Crew match was awful and I dread the tag match that will happen because of it, it’s cool that they are doing something with the bottom of the rung guys. I liked the ending to the Bruise Brother match although I’m not sure the fans realized what had happened. If you like watching people nearly kill themselves check out the Saturn match. There were seriously no good matches on it.
