ECW/WWA Battle of the Belts 1993-01-23 from Radisson Hotel in Philadelphia, PA
This was a joint show between the ECW and the WWA which was a promotion based out of NJ. Earlier in the day there was a wrestling convention at the hotel.
WWA Junior Heavyweight Champion “Surfer” Ray Odyssey vs. Chris Evans
Surfer with an arm bar to start and he floors Evans with a shoulder block. Evans with a side headlock ray throws him into the ropes and hits a hip toss then a body slam. Evans rolls to the floor. Ray follows him out with a slingshot plancha. Evans walks around the ring a bit and the champ stops the referees ten count a few times. Back in the ring Evans knees Odyssey in the stomach. Odyssey reverses a corner whip and back drops Evans as he comes out from hitting the buckle. They lock up and Evans again with a knee. Evans throws Ray to the floor and comes off the tope with a double axe handle. He slams Odyssey’s head into the apron. Back in the ring Rey gets a 2 count on a sunset flip. Evans pokes Ray in the eyes. Odyssey with a drop kick and they trade chops in the corner. Evans hits a stiff looking superkick and whips Odyssey chest first into the opposite corner. Piledriver but Ray rolls to the apron so he can’t be pinned. Evans whips him to a corner and charges but Odyssey gets the boots up and Evans goes down. Ray misses a 2nd rope elbow drop. Evans goes up top but misses a splash. Odyssey fights back with a clothesline and top rope dropkick. Evans throws Ray into a corner and charges but Odyssey hits a sunset flip when Evans charges with his head down and gets the win at 9.22.
WWA Promoter Dennis Coraluzzo comes to the ring to introduce his WWA Tag Team Champions Pain and Agony The Lords of Darkness. They are lead to the ring by their manager Tricky Nicky. ECW President Tod Gordon hits the ring to announce his tag team The Super Destroyers. I think Coraluzzo is the heel here as the Destroyers are getting cheered.
WWA Tag Team Champions Lords of Darkness (w/Tricky Nicky) vs. ECW Tag Team Champions Super Destroyers (w/Hunter Q. Robbins III) ref John Finnegan
A title versus title match! With an ECW ref, that doesn’t seem fair. The Destroyers are much larger then their opponents. All four men wear masks so this should be fine to type. Destroyer pushes a Lord off and the other one complains of a mask pull. Coraluzzo gets on the mic and complains that it’s an ECW ref. the Destroyer hits a pump handle and then a press slam and tags. Lords of Darkness are able to tag also. Destoyer drags the Lord into the corner and tags. Corner whip and big hip toss by the ECW team. Destroyers tag back and forth and get in the normal big man offense of punch, kick, sledge. Suplex by the Destroyer and he tags. Side slam and hip toss as the WWA Tag Team Champions look way outmatched. Just as I type that they are able to make a tag and hit a double drop kick. Reverse chin lock and they make a few illegal switches. Destroyer fights back rather quickly and makes the tag. The other one comes in and misses an elbow drop allowing the Lords to take back over. All four men brawl in the ring. Both managers come in the ring and hit the opponent with a weapon. The ref counts a double pin but then for some reason gives all the belts to the Super Destroyers. Are we to believe that he was able to figure out who the legal men were? The Destroyers win the WWA tag belts in 8.14
“Wildman” Sal Bellomo (w/ Cosmic Commander) vs. ??? (w/ Women)
Women tells us that Kevin Sullivan who was set to be the opponent is not here tonight but she has a special surprise. She calls out her pick and someone comes out in a mask. The guy in the mask has a jacket on that says “Kerry”. Since Kerry Von Erich was at the wrestling convention earlier in the day no one has a hard time figuring out who it is. The Commander pushes the masked man and gets hit with a spinning discus punch. Bellomo attacks from behind but gets hit with the same spinning punch. Bellomo rips off the mask and by god it’s Kerry Von Erich! Bellomo may actually be surprised. Von Erich misses a corner charge and his shoulder hits the post. Bellomo uses his limited offense to take down Kerry and locks in a sleeper hold. Von Erich eventually fights out of it and puts on one of his own. Bellomo quickly drops down into a jaw breaker. Sal comes of the second rope but gets caught in the claw. Kerry hits the rope and lands the spinning punch but Sal kicks out at 2. Back to the sleeper and both men fall out of the ring and brawl. Both men get counted out at 5.53.
Brass Knuckles Bullrope Cowbell Match: Tony Stetson vs. Johnny Hotbody (w/ Devious Don E. Allen) ref John Finnegan
This is the second meeting between the two men and they have so quickly built up hatred for each other that they jumped right into a bullrope match. You can read my recap of the first meeting back in ECW TV Pilot 2. Stetson charges the ring and attacks Hotbody. He hangs him over the top rope as the ref tries to break them apart. They brawl on the floor and both men get busted open. Back in the ring Stetson chokes Hotbody with the rope and gets low blowed. Hotbody hits Stetson with the bell drops a few elbows. Hotbody covers and gets a pin at 4.42. Strange ending as it looked like Stetson kicked out.
Davey Boy Smith vs. The Masked Superstar, ref John Finnegan
Davey Boy over powers, out wrestles and out quicks the Superstar to start. Superstar though rakes the eyes and body slams Smith. Smth whipped into the corner but Superstar misses a charge. Smith hits his running powerslam and gets the win at 1.42.
ECW Champion Sandman (w/ Peaches) vs. WWA Champion The Spider
Coraluzzo and Gordon argue over who the referee for the match is going to be. It’s decided that the WWA ref will be inside the ring with John Finnegan outside for ECW. The masked man Spider hits the ring exciting the kids by shooting them with silly string. Sandman hits the ring and we have two surfer gimmicks in one show!!!! Spider gets big cheers during his introduction. Sandman’s reaction is mixed. “Sandman sucks” chant starts up so looks like he’s playing the bad guy tonight. Sider with a super kick and Sandman goes to the floor. Headlock takeover by Spider. Sandman fights back up and throws Spider into the turnbuckle. He charges but Spider leaps up and over Sandman hits an arm drag and back to the headlock takeover. Sandman fights his way back up pushes Spider to the ropes but ducks his head and Spider slams it to the mat. Back to the headlock and Sandman finally able to counter it with a back suplex. Sandman beats on Spider in a corner. Irish whip by Sandman and they clothesline each other. Sandman up leaning against the ropes and he gets clotheslined out of the ring. Sandman to the apron and Spider jumps off the top rope and clotheslines Sandman as they both fall to the floor. Back in the ring Sandman takes Spider down with an arm drag and he holds onto the arm. Spider gets to the ropes and rolls to the apron. Sandman goes to suplex him in but Spider lands on top and gets a 2. Sandman right back in control and he just wears away at Spider for the next few minutes. Sandman throws Spider to the corner but the ref gets in the way and they go down. Sandman covers as the ECW ref gets in to make a 2 count. Spider goes for a back suplex and Sandman’s foot hits the new ref. Gordon and Carluzzo get in the ring and start fighting. The refs wake up and call for the bell 11.57. All four men continue to brawl as the locker rooms clear.
Texas Death I Quit Match: “Hot stuff” Eddie Gilbert vs. Terry Funk
Funk stops Gilbert from coming to the ring as they stare each other down in aisle. Gilbert is being led to the ring by a lady manager. In the ring they point and shout at each other a bit. Women comes running down to the ring and joins Funk by his side. Women then chases Gilbert’s manager to the back. They lock up and Funk elbows Gilbert then throws him out of the ring. Funk drags him back in only to throw him right back out. Gilbert on the apron and Funk knocks him back to the floor. Gilbert leaves the ring and walks to the back. The ref goes after him and makes him get back in the ring. Gilbert now punches away and Funk and sends him to the floor. Back in the ring Gilbert remains in control. Funk gets knocked out of the ring again. Back in Gilbert beats on Funk for a few minutes. Gilbert gets the time keepers hammer and hits Funk with it. Funk is busted open. Gilbert takes Funk out of the ring and slams his face into a table four times. They fight in the crowd and back to the ring. Gilbert with a reverse chin lock but Funk yells no into the mic. Funk trips Gilbert and goes for the spinning toe hold. After a few spins Gilbert hits Funk with the mic. Gilbert brings a table into the ring and smashes Funk into it. Gilbert drops Funk out of the ring and Funk lands on his head. They fight out of the ring Gilbert hits Funk with a cookie sheet. Funk fights back as we near the 15 minute mark. Gilbert is bleeding now. Back in the ring Funk puts the table on the mat and DDTs Gilbert on it. They go back outside the ring to brawl. Funk slams Gilbert’s head into the table a bunch of times then slaps him repeatedly. Gilbert begs for mercy from the ref but doesn’t say I quit. Funk suplexes Gilbert on the floor. Funk just beating the crap out of Gilbert. Gilbert manages to fight back and piledrivers Funk in the ring. Gilbert goes into his tights and pulls something out. Gilbert throws a fireball into Funk’s face! Funk won’t give up and Gilbert calls him crazy. Gilrbert brings the wooden ring steps into the ring. Funk slams Gilbert’s head into the steps. Funk starts screaming over the fact that Gilbert called him crazy. Gilbert gets up and they fight and Gilbert gets his leg tied up in the rope. Funk smashes Gilbert in the leg with the steps. Gilbert screams into the mic “You’re breakin my leg”. Funk doesn’t stop slamming the steps into the leg. Gilbert punches the ref from the ground. Coraluzzo gets in the ring and asks Gilbert if he quits and Gilbert does ending that match in 23.32. Funk collapses on the floor while walking to the back. After a few minutes Funk makes it to the back where he’s met by Coraluzzo who tells Funk that Gilbert is crazy and beat him up. Coraluzzo throws the cameraman out of the locker room and our show comes to an end.
My thoughts on the show
Not a big fan of this one at all, up until the main event at least. While it was cool to see the big names, nothing before the main event was good in ANY way. Funk and Gilbert beat the crap out of each other for 23 minutes and I did love that. A really good hardcore brawl. If you have this show, just fast forward the first hour and a half and get to the main event. Funk and Gilbert MADE this show.
