TV 1994-02-01 (Matches taped 1994-01-08 at ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pa)
Champions
Heavyweight: Terry Funk
TV: Sabu
Tag: Kevin Sullivan & Tazmaniac
We open up with the ending to last week then get a short Sheik video package.
Opening video.
Joey Styles is of course our host and he welcomes us to this weeks episode
Tag Team Champions Kevin Sullivan & Tazmaniac (w/ Woman) vs. Keith Shearer & Mikey Whipwreck ref Jim Molineaux
The champs hit the ring and go right after their opponents. Sullivan with a chair on the floor to both of them. Tazmaniac with big t bone suplex on Mikey. Sullivan with a power bomb. Tazmaniac finishes it off with a super belly to belly in 2.34. The champions then go crazy until Woman covers Sullivan’s eyes. Taz starts covering his own eyes and calms himself down. These guys are great.
Hype for the Arena show this Saturday.
“The Franchise” Shane Douglas (w/ Sherri Martel) vs. Tommy Dreamer, ref John Finnegan
Match is joined in progress. Douglas hits a suplex but then misses a forearm smash from the top rope. Dreamer goes to the arm. Dreamer hits the ropes but Shane ducks a line and then Sherri grabs the foot. Dreamer goes after her. Sherri runs and slides into the ring as Douglas cuts off Dreamer as he gets in the ring. Douglas with a chin lock but Dreamer eventually picks him up and drives him into the buckle. Dreamer still down though and Shane goes up top. Dreamer gets his foot up though and takes over. Powerslam gets 2. Dreamer punches away at Shane. Dreamer with a roll up. Shane kicks out and Dreamer grabs Sherri who is on the apron. Sherri throws a chain to Douglas and he nails Dreamer with it. Douglas covers and gets the win. 6.10 of the match is shown.
Douglas is on the phone now and he says this Saturday night he is going to take the belt from Terry Funk. We get an awesome video package on Douglas afterwards.
Johnny Hotbody vs. Chad Austin, ref John Finnegan
Hotbody beats on Austin and drops him on his head with a german suplex. Austin fights back and kicks Hotbody to the floor. Austin goes up top and does a somersault dive to the floor. About 2 minutes is shown.
Matty in the House gets some predictions from the locker room for the main event on Saturday night. JT Smith and Sandman pick Terry Funk, Jason goes with Sabu, Rockin’ Rebel says Douglas, Tod Gordon says he can’t make a prediction. Paul E Dangerously tells Matty he’s a schmuck for asking him who he thinks is going to win.
Tod Gordon hypes the Arena show from his office and trashes some of the business practices of the other wrestling companies.
Jason shit talks Sandman and Sal Bellomo.
Public Enemy promo highlights with clips from their match against Keith Shearer and Chad Austin cut into the promos. PE was victories after Johnny Grunge hit the reverse DDT and Rocco Roc came off the top with a moonsault.
Sabu’s handler (w/ Paul E. Dangerously) vs. Duane Gill, ref Jim Molineaux
Gill comes off the top but is caught by the throat and chokeslamed down. Match is over in .15. Two more chokeslams after the match as the crowd cheers on. Joey tells us that this Saturday night we will finally learn the name of this big man.
Joey with some last minute hype for the big show this Saturday. Paul E. has some final words for Terry Funk and Shane Douglas. Paul E. says it is going to be a night more torturous then watching a nights worth of WCW PPVs. Hype video for the show.
My thoughts on the show…
Enjoyable one here tonight. I love the tag champions so any time they are around I’m happy. The Douglas/Dreamer match was pretty good and as usual Paul E. had me hyped every time he was on screen.
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The Night the Line was Crossed 1994-02-05 at ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pa
Champions
Heavyweight: Terry Funk
TV: Sabu
Tag: Kevin Sullivan & Tazmaniac
Commissioner Tod Gordon is in his office and he opens up the show by letting us know that ECW is not for everyone.
“Wildman” Sal Bellomo vs. Mr Hughes (w/ Jason), ref Jim Molineaux
Oh no this is not going to be good at all. Hughes beats on Bellomo for a while. Sal fights back but Jason grabs his foot. Hughes hits the bossman slam and gets the win in 3.14. Pretty much a squash.
Dog Collar Match: Sandman & Tommy Cairo vs. Rockin’ Rebel & Pitbull (w/ Jason), ref John Finnegan
Pitbull is attach to Cairo and Sandman to Rebel. Jason’s pants are skin toned so he looks naked, it’s really weird. Bell rings and they go right to it brawling immediately to the floor. Pitbull with some chair shots as Rebel and Sandman brawl into the crowd. Rebel and Cairo bleeding. They all make it to the ring for a bit. Crowd is really into this. Rebel with a piledriver onto a table. Back in the ring Sandman and Cairo are whipped into each other. Cairo just sort of bounces right off hits Pitbull with a belly to belly and pins him in 4.50. Cairo and Sandman get attacked after the match but are able to fight them off.
Public Enemy vs. Bruise Brothers, ref Jim Molineaux
PE attack as the Bruise Brothers climb into the ring. And they’re in the crowd. PE are both busted open. PE getting dominated for the past five minutes. Johnny Grunge throws powder into the eyes of one. Rocco Roc comes up from behind and nails the other with a 2 x 4. They both cover him and get the win in out of no where in 7.59.
Tommy Dreamer vs. Jimmy Snuka (w/ Hunter Q Robbins), ref Jim Molineaux
Uggh I had begun to forgot about Robbins. Snuka talks shit to the fans. They are freaking out on him hardcore. Dreamer goes out into the crowd with the fans. They finally lock up and Dreamer slams Snuka to the mat twice. Snuka bails to the floor. Back in the ring Dreamer charges but Snuka ducks and Dreamer goes over the top to the floor. Snuka with a back breaker and superbly splash but Dreamer kicks out! Snuka is in shock. Snuka goes up and hits another one but doesn’t go for the cover. Snuka goes up top for a third superfly splash. Snuka covers and gets the easy pin in 10.16. After the match Snuka hits another one as Dreamer coughs up blood. Snuka goes up top for another one but Tod Gordon comes out and tells him to stop. Snuka jumps off and hits Gordon with a double axe handle. I was expecting to hate this but I did not.
Tag Team Champions Kevin Sullivan & Tazmaniac (w/ Woman) vs. Sheik and Pat Tanaka, ref Jim Molineaux
Sheik knocks down the entire entrance set on his way to the ring. Come on bro. Sheik busts open Sullivan very early on as they fight in the crowd. Tazmaniac locks Tanaka in a half crab in the ring and won’t let go. Sheik throws a fire ball at Tazmaniac and then one at Sullivan. Tanaka covers and gets the win in 3.11. Sheik and Sullivan continue to go at it in the crowd.
“Awesome” Mike Awesome vs. JT Smith
Isn’t the “Awesome” sorta implied by it being his last name? Smith attacks from behind and I think it’s really his only shot in the match. Awesome stops him and just begins a beating. Clotheslines, splashes and a belly to belly. Smith to the floor and Awesome hits a running plancha to the floor and Awesome basically breaks Smith’s back against the guardrail. Back in the ring Awesome sets up the power bomb but Smith with a small package for the win in 2 minutes. Awesome is pissed and he kills the ref with 2 power bombs and he goes to the top for a splash but the rope breaks and he lands on his face! Awesome is so mad. Fans loved every second of this match.
“The Franchise” Shane Douglas (w/ Sherri Martel) vs. Sabu (w/ Paul E Dangerously & 911), ref Jim Molineaux
Shane out first and then Sabu gets introduced but Paul E hits the ring first and nails Sherri with his phone knocking her out. Shane then nails Paul E taking him out and Sabu hits the ring and the match is on. Sabu’s Handler is now named 911. Ok so things have been changed up a bit from the way they were hyping it the whole time. Sabu and Shane will go at it for 15 minutes if no one wins Champion Terry Funk will come out. If Shane or Sabu get a win it’s just them against Funk. Shane nails a back breaker and suplex for 2. Sabu comes back and he flies all over the ring. Sabu spends a bunch of time on the arm of Douglas. Douglas with a slam, super kick and big boot to regain control. Sabu goes back to work on the arm. They go to the floor with 3 minutes left in the 15 minute period. Sabu goes to moonsault Shane throw a table but Shane moves. Shane throws him back in the ring and Sabu is holding his knee in pain. Shane with a knee breaker as we are closing in on 15 minutes. Shane really wasting time. The 15 minutes expires and out comes Funk.
Champion Terry Funk vs. “The Franchise” Shane Douglas (w/ Sherri Martel) vs. Sabu (w/ Paul E Dangerously & 911), ref Jim Molineaux
Shane and Funk brawl into the crowd. Sabu has been taken from the ring and is to injured to continue Joey tells us. Funk and Shane brawl in and out of the ring. Funk nails a piledriver on the floor and DDT back in the ring. A second one lays out Douglas but he gets his foot on the rope to break up the pin. Douglas rolls to the floor. Funk nails Sherri and hits another DDT this time on the floor. Funk asks for a chair and the fans throw like ten into the ring. Funk stacks up the chairs and DDTs Douglas on the pile. Funk however injures his back on the chairs. Douglas with a belly to back for 2. They go to the floor. Shane with the advantage and then back in the ring he nails a DDT. Funk is bleeding from the brawl outside of the ring. Ref takes a bump and then we get a REALLY slow beat down of Funk by Shane. Funk fights back and they go into the crowd again. This is so boring. We are 30 minutes total time, 15 into the “three way” portion of the match. Sabu comes back out and Funk just wonders into the crowd as Shane and Sabu fight. Funk makes his way over to Joey grabs his mic and starts yelling at Shane and Sabu to come out and fight him. Only problem is that it’s just the TV mic and not for the loud speaker so no one hears him. Funk heads back to the ring and hits a neck breaker on both his challengers. Shane locks a sleeper on Sabu and then Funk puts one on Shane at the same time. Sabu goes for the aarbian press but fucks it up and almost breaks body parts. He tries it again and this time hits it properly. Bad Breed comes out to help Funk who is out of it in the crowd. They bring him to the back. Shane with a fisherman suplex for 2.5. The Rottens comes back out and attack Douglas and Sabu with chairs. 45 minutes have gone by. Axl drags Sabu back and Shane is left all alone. Sabu comes back out quickly and Funk follows him out. They brawl to the outside…I think, there is only a hard cam pointed in that general direction. Funk head butts the ref and then everyone else. I can’t explain how much I’m NOT enjoying this match. Sabu climbs to the top rope for a moonsault but slips. Then he goes for a springboard moonsault but the rope is way to loose and he just slowly sinks to the mat. He climbs the turnbuckle now and Funk rolls into place so he can land it. One for Shane also but there is no ref. Shane with a piledriver on Funk and he front suplexes Sabu on Funk. Shane with a suplex on Funk. Funk comes back and locks in the spinning toe hold. Sherri jumps in and Funk suplexes her. Shane with a clothesline on Funk and belly to back suplex on Shane. Funk gets Sherri’s shoe and starts using it on everyone as its announced that 5 minutes are left. The ref is still out as time runs down. The three men brawl around a bit more and time runs out and we have a 60 minute time limit draw. I clocked the match at 57.38. Fans give a nice round of applauds. I hated this.
Joey Styles is with Champion Terry Funk backstage. Funk cries a bit and gives props to Sabu and Douglas for such a tough match. Then he rambles a lot about how great ECW is. Tod Gordon comes out to thank all the press for attending the press conference even though it doesn’t seem like there is anyone else there. Paul E Dangerously comes out. 911 and some other guy hold Sabu back as Paul E calmly tells them to just not let him see the table and things will be fine haha. Shane and Sherri are out next and Shane says that he was the only one that wasn’t taken to the back during the match and he should be named champion because of it. This is the first time Shane goes crazy in a promo with lots of foul language. Funk comes back out and Shane calls him an old man. Funk is very sad that he paid compliments to everyone and Shane is saying not nice things about him. Shane again says he should be declared the champion. Funk says Shane can have the belt because he can’t wait to take it back from him next time. Shane gives him the belt back and calls Funk an old piece of shit. Funk slaps him and they brawl around on the ground. All the other wrestlers pull the two apart as the show ends.
My thoughts on the show…
AWFUL. The Mike Awesome match was kick ass. The press conference at the end was also really good. The whole rest of this show was terrible. There was seriously nothing else even close to being good. The main event dragged and was too long while everything else was super short. The matches being short was probably a good thing though as they all sucked anyway.
