ECW November to Remember 1998 11/1/1998

Written By: David

ECW November To Remember
November 1, 1998
Lakefront Arena
New Orleans, Louisiana

The current ECW champions were as follows:
World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas (11/30/97)
Television Champion: Rob Van Dam (4/4/98)
Tag Team Champions: Dudley Boyz (10/24/98)
Unrecognized FTW Champion: Taz (5/14/98)

Your host is Joey Styles.

Jack Victory is being interviewed outside the building, and New Jack comes out of nowhere and jumps him until a bunch of security guys break it up.

Joey Styles does his usual hypeman routine in the ring, and Terry Funk comes through the crowd wearing a graduation cap. He gets on the mic and starts up about how Tommy Dreamer betrayed him. The story is that Dreamer has a mystery partner for a tag match and he didn’t choose his father figure Terry Funk to team with him. Funk’s also mad at Paul E. because he wasn’t invited to the show (hence him coming through the crowd). Dreamer comes out and tries to clear things up, but Funk ain’t havin’ it.

The bWo (The Blue Meanie and Super Nova) vs. Danny Doring and Amish Roadkill

Nova and Doring start. Nova has trouble getting out of a headlock and gets tossed to the mat, so now he’s pissed and he takes off his gloves!!!!!! They go into a rope running sequence and all of a sudden we see Terry Funk strolling down the ramp. Nova scores a sitout facebuster and tags Meanie in for some double-teaming that we don’t see because the cameras are all on Funk. The “Hardcore Legend” table-jacks the “officials” at ringside and takes a seat. After a long stalemate, Meanie hits Roadkill with a hangman’s neckbreaker and makes a tag. Meanie assists as Nova delivers a leap frog leg drop, Nova covers, and avoids a Doring elbow drop. Nova and Meanie team up for the SUPER DUPER DOUBLE LOOPER, Meanie covers, and he avoids a Roadkill splash. Roadkill and Doring have a chat, it gets heated, they trade some shoves, Doring gets on his knees to surrender, Nova dropkicks him, and his head gives Roadkill a low blow! A bulldog by Meanie results in Roadkill and Doring having a meeting on the floor, and Nova hits them with a sideways suicide dive. Back in, Meanie slams Roadkill and delivers the PEOPLE’S LEGDROP. Funk hops on the apron and slaps the hell out of Meanie, and Meanie fights back, knocking Terry onto the table. The table doesn’t break but rather tips over, landing him hard on the concrete! Only Terry Funk could manage to be hardcore when he’s not even in the match. Now he’s mad at the table for not breaking, so he destroys it! Oh yeah, the match. Well, Doring and Roadkill use the distraction to their advantage and Nova takes the worst of it. Nova gets beaten down by Roadkill, but eventually wins a rope running sequence with a drop toe hold. Roadkill takes the advantage right back though, culminating with a standing powerslam, which sets up an AMISH SPLASH three-quarters across the ring. He goes up again, walks the rope (!), and misses an elbow drop. Nova tries to tag out, but Doring tags in and stops him. Nova puts up a quick fight, but Doring hits a G-SPOT SUITE for two. Flying legdrop gets two. He’s all over Nova, but Nova finally makes a Hogan-like comeback and hits the SLEDGE-O-MATIC. Hot tag to Meanie, he wrecks shop and snap suplexes Doring. They team up and Doring and Roadkill both get splashed in the corner by Meanie. He and Nova climb to opposite turnbuckles for a frog splash/MEANIESAULT combo on Doring, 1-2-NO! Roadkill makes the save. Nova avoids a corner splash and hits Roadkill with a modified tornado DDT, then Meanie grabs Doring to set up the BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL for 1-2-3. (10:54) After the match, Terry Funk shows up again and beats the living hell out of Meanie, Nova, and a security guard. This match in a nutshell: slow start but eventually picks up, some sloppiness but also some cool moves. **1/4

We watch a 100 mph history package for the upcoming Dudley Boyz vs Masato Tanaka and Balls Mahoney match.

Tommy Rogers (w/Chris Chetti) vs. Tracey Smothers (w/ Tommy Rich, Little Guido, Big Guido, and Ulf Herman)

Smothers dominates early and tries relentlessly to get heat, allowing Rogers to hit a sneak missile dropkick. Smothers gets dumped on the floor and has a meeting with the FBI. Back in, the ref gets distracted and Ulf Herman drops Rogers with a slingshot shoulderblock. Chetti beats Herman back to the locker room while Smothers gets a two count with a choke. The ref gets distracted again, and Little Guido jumps in for a superkick/Italian leg sweep combo. That gets two. More interference and a leaping front kick gets two. Even more interference ending with a double elbow drop gets two. Smothers grabs a chin lock. Rogers fights back and hits a Russian leg sweep, but misses an elbow drop. Rogers gets the knees up on a splash, then hits a knee lift, a dropkick, and a powerslam. Smothers avoids a flying crossbody and rolls him up for two. Smothers delivers for a twisting flying crossbody, but Rogers rolls through it for 1-2-NO! School boy gets two for Rogers. Smothers evens the score with a low blow, then hits a cool slam for two. Guido gets on the apron with the Italian flag, he’s ready to nail Rogers, but Rogers reverses a whip, Smothers puts on the brakes, and Rogers hits a KAMIKAZE for the 1-2-3. (7:51)

After the match, Little Guido and Smothers appear to be having an argument, but it turns out to be a ruse to bait Rogers into getting his ass kicked. Chetti reemerges to save Rogers, then Herman reemerges with MABEL! Mabel crushes Chetti with a corner splash and Herman hits a gutbuster. Chetti gets set on a table for a splash from Mabel, but Spike Dudley shows up to save Chetti. Oops, Spike gets laid down on a table, Mabel jumps, Spike moves and Mabel hits nothing but wood. Spike hits some ACID DROPS and covers Mabel (?), and referee John “Pee Wee” Moore hops in, and Spike gets a 1-2-3! Only in ECW. The actual match was pretty much a TV-quality match on a pay-per-view, and the nonsense ain’t special unless you’re a Mabel fan. *1/2

We watch a loud backstage promo with Axl Rotten, Balls Mahoney, and Masato Tanaka. Axl does the talking and basically tells the Dudleys to hope and pray they don’t get killed by the team of Balls Mahoney and “Masata” Tanaka.

Lance Storm (w/Tammy Lynn Bytch) vs. Jerry Lynn — (Special guest referees: Tammy Lynn Sytch and Mikey Whipwreck)

I’m just going to call them Dawn Marie and Sunny to make it easier. Midway through the entrances we watch a clip of a recent brawl that set up this five-way feud. Sunny takes her sweet time getting ready for the match, and unfortunately, she’s the main ref and Mikey stands at ringside. They start with a long mat wrestling clinic before Storm hits a fireman’s takeover and grabs an arm bar. What follows is an insanely long yet fast-paced sequence, here goes: Lynn flips out of an arm ringer for one of his own, snap mare by Storm, Lynn bridges up and returns the snap mare, he hits the ropes for a shoulderblock, he runs some more, Storm leap frogs, Lynn catches him with a boot, Storm kips up from the corner whip, Lynn ducks a clothesline and delivers a monkey flip but Storm cartwheels out, Storm corner whips Lynn and hits a monkey flip but Lynn lands on his feet, Lynn catches Storm with a drop toe hold, and he ends it with an arm ringer. Goodness gracious they have to be tired after that. They trade a few arm ringers, Storm drops Lynn but Lynn brings him down with him and puts on an arm bar. Storm gets out and sets up a press slam, but Lynn wiggles free into a sunset flip, then they go from one nearfall to another, which gets sort of wasted because Sunny doesn’t make clear or consistent counts. A shoulderblock by Lynn gets two. A second shoulderblock gets two. Lynn counters a back suplex for two. Sunny is counting fast for Lynn. Storm hits a drop toe hold and they go back to some mat wrestling. Lynn gains the advantage and works on Storm’s arm. Storm takes it to the corner and nails Lynn with chops, but Lynn comes right back with some stiff ones of his own. Storm Flair Flips in the corner and lands on the apron, they both duck clotheslines, Lynn bumps Storm out to the guardrail, and he delivers a sweet baseball slide into a headscissors! He follows up with the rolling shoulderblock off the apron. Lynn gets a bit distracted, and Storm shoots him to the rail and rams his head into the steel. Back inside, Storm hits a flying shoulderblock and Mikey makes a two count. Storm puts his knee into Lynn’s sternum a couple times, then grabs a chinlock. They run the ropes and Lynn hits a crossbody for two. A flying headscissors gets another two. Lynn ends up on the apron after a short exchange, and Storm dropkicks him to the floor. Storm goes for a springboard crossbody, but he gets caught on the ropes and looks pretty ugly plummeting into Lynn. Back in, Lynn fights back, corner whip by Storm, and Lynn kips up into a sunset flip for two. Storm goes for a powerbomb, but Lynn flips through, lands on his feet, misses a clothesline, and Storm delivers a full nelson inverted leg sweep! Storm gets up slow and puts Lynn in a Mexican surfboard, but I think the move gets botched and Lynn gets free. A whip and a high dropkick gives Storm some time to gloat. Lynn counters a powerbomb into a sunset flip for two. Right back up, they both miss clotheslines and Storm hits a superkick for a very slow two count. Lynn reverses a whip and puts on a sleeper, Storm pushes him off and puts on a sleeper, and Lynn hits a back suplex. They stagger to their feet and trade big forearm blows, Lynn hits the ropes and counters a hurracanrana into a powerbomb for two. Lynn delivers a sitout front suplex, they tussle into a short cover for Storm, they bridge up, and Lynn delivers an awful-looking PEDIGREE. Delayed cover gets two. Sunny’s fast counts for are too fast and I think it’s messing with Storm. A quick chain wrestling exchange gets a slow one count for Storm. He hits a back elbow and begins to set up a tornado DDT, but Lynn dropkicks him off the turnbuckle to the floor. That sets up Lynn’s always-awesome crossbody plancha. Storm gets tossed in, Lynn battles with him from the apron, Storm crotches Lynn in the corner, and he delivers a super back suplex! They’re both down, and Sunny counts to seven before Dawn Marie gets involved. She gets OWNED by Sunny and stripped her to her bra n’ thong. Mikey gets in the ring and gives Dawn Marie a WHIPPERSNAPPER (a stunner). He tries to give one to Sunny, but Lynn stops him, so instead Lynn receives the WHIPPERSNAPPER. Storm low blows Mikey and gets him out of there, covers Lynn, and a ridiculously slow count gets 1-2-NO! Storm goes after Sunny, Lynn grabs him but receives a low blow, and Sunny hits Storm with a SUNNY STUNNER, then Mikey hits Sunny with a WHIPPERSNAPPER. Lynn puts Storm in a small package, and Mikey turns it over in Storm’s favor and makes a swift three count. Storm wins. (16:48) This match could have been superb if it weren’t for the guest referee angle that mainly consisted of, hello, giving the babyface an unfair advantage? There’s a reason most guest ref situations favor the heels. Anyways, Storm and Lynn get about A-minuses for their work, saving this match from being a disaster. It’s a good thing that this wasn’t the only time these two would face each other because they were pretty damn good opponents. ***

Terry Funk gets in Joey Styles’ face and apologizes for his earlier actions (?) and says he’s going home (?).

We watch some Justin Credible clips that set up the Credible/Victory vs Dreamer/Mystery Partner match coming later.

Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz (w/Joel Gertner, Big Dick Dudley, and Sign Guy Dudley) vs. Masato Tanaka and Balls Mahoney (w/Axl Rotten)

Buh Buh Ray gets on the mic for some cheap heat. Joel Gertner does his thing: “Hotter than Tabasco sauce but loads easier to swallow.” And Sign Guy does his thing: “War, Hate, and Dudleyness” The Dudleys somehow start with a sneak-attack, and Buh Buh ends up in the ring with Tanaka. They put on a quick slopfest and Buh Buh secures the advantage before tagging to D-Von. He gives us some boring heel moves like a trapezius hold before Buh Buh tags back in. He drops Tanaka with a neckbreaker for two. D-Von tags in and unloads on Tanaka with right hands. Tanaka eventually shows some fight, but D-Von hits an inverted DDT. A body slam sets up an exaggerated PEOPLE’S FALLING HEADBUTT, but Tanaka moves out of the way, makes the tag, hits a powerslam, and Balls hits a nice frog splash for two before Buh Buh makes the save. Buh Buh works over Balls, but Balls wins a rope running spot with a low blow, then delivers a superkick that sends Buh Buh to the floor. They dump D-Von onto the Buh Buh, and Tanaka hits a tope off Mahoney’s back. Balls goes up top, but Big Dick gets his “brothers” out of the way, and the Dudleys take over on the floor. Get this, Buh Buh hits a tope! I can’t believe what I just saw. Tanaka sends Buh Buh into the rail and drills him with a running chair shot. Back in, Tanaka hits Buh Buh with the ROARING ELBOW, but a second attempt bumps referee Jim Molineaux. He drops Buh Buh with the third attempt, so Big Dick jumps Tanaka and hits a neckbreaker slam, then Axl Rotten hits Dick with two evil chair shots. Sign Guy nails Axl and stomps him, then Joel Gertner joins the fun, but Balls comes in and drops Sign Guy with a NUTCRACKER SUITE. A chair shot from Gertner has no effect, and the quintessential stud muffin avoids a chair shot from Balls. That cues a big staredown with all four actual participants, each wielding a chair. Tanaka and Balls each come back after two chair shots, but three times a charm. Back up, they duck chair shots and hit stereo ROARING ELBOWS. Molineaux is still down, so referee Jeff Jones comes running down for the 1-2-NO! Jones stopped before three by faking an arm injury! You don’t see that one too often. Tanaka has a chat with Jones, so Jones pulls out a Japenese-English dictionary, then receives an Axl Rotten chair shot, and everyone gets back in the ring for a slugfest. Balls gets dumped when Big Dick pulls down the top rope, and Tanaka gets hits with the DUDLEY DEATH DROP, 1-2-NO!!! The Dudleys have a discussion, Buh Buh slaps D-Von and D-Von punches Buh Buh, then Balls and Tanaka sneak up for stereo chair shots, double cover, 1-2-NO! They set chairs on the mat for Balls’ NUTCRACKER SUITE and a tornado DDT from Tanaka, 1-2-NO! The Dudleys quiet the crowd with low blows, a piledriver on Balls and a sitout powerbomb on Tanaka. They clumsily get two tables in the ring, with D-Von getting a wire stuck on his (you’d think they’d be experts at getting tables), and here comes RVD and SABU to beat the hell out of the Dudleys. The Dudleys get laid out on the tables, Sabu hits a flying leg drop and RVD hits a frog splash. The spot either got mistimed or they each aimed for the far table. Balls covers D-Von, 1-2-3. New champions! (15:01) This had your typical ECW tag team madness, but somehow it all actually worked pretty well. One of the better Dudley Boyz matches I’ve ever seen from ECW. ***

We watch a promo led by Shane Douglas and then a history package for the six-man main event.

And then we watch an ad for an ECW “Extreme Music” CD. Why, ECW, Why?

Tommy Dreamer and Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Justin Credible and Jack Victory (w/ Jason, Nicole Bass, Chastity & Lance Wright)

Yup, Tommy chose Jake Roberts to tag with instead of Terry Funk. So you can see now why Funk made such a fuss. They all brawl on the rampway to start, then Roberts and Dreamer score a pair of knee lifts back in the ring. Credible and Victory get dumped to the outside, and Dreamer hits a pescado on the whole entourage. Back in, Tommy and Credible go at it a bit, then Roberts hits an inverted atomic drop and clotheslines Credible to the floor. Tommy ends up getting crotched on the guardrail by Credible and tossed inside. Credible beats Tommy up a bit and throws him back outside, where he receives some boots from Jason. On the elevated rampway, Credible whips Tommy and hits a powerslam! Back in, Credible scores some funny swinging DDT-like move. We get some more typical heel tactics to work over Tommy, and Credible grabs a chinlock. Jason gets in the ring, Credible climbs up top, Tommy counters Jason’s suplex and whips him to the corner to crotch Credible, then delivers a superplex. Tommy’s too beaten up, so Credible gets up first at delivers the DROP TOE HOLD ONTO A CHAIR. Tommy sits in the corner and baits Credible into missing a baseball slide, crotching him on the post. Tommy pulls him into another crotch shot, but Jason nails Tommy outside, so Credible STILL has the advantage. Jason hops on the apron and apparently he’s in the match because Jack Victory got injured earlier when he was backdropped to the floor. Credible avoids a corner whip, but Dreamer catches him and hits the DREAMER DRIVER. Lukewarm tag to Jake the Snake, Credible tags Jason, and Jake unloads, the crowd’s chanting for a stereo DDTs, but here comes Rod Price and One Man Gang. Jake gets splashed by One Man Gang, but now here comes New Jack and John Kronus with a bunch of weapons. Dreamer, New Jack, and Kronus take over with every weapon in the book, and Kronus hits Credible with a 450 SPLASH. Kronus gets up and runs right into a clothesline and a splash from One Man Gang, then New Jack hits the Gang coming off the top with a chair. Dreamer delivers the highest frog splash he’s ever done onto Credible, 1-2-NO! He then hits a Death Valley Driver, but Mr. Right and Chastity get involved and Chastity low blows Roberts, so Dreamer piledrives Chastity. Nicole Bass goes after Tommy, Tommy hits the low blow, and Roberts his the DDT. Tommy brings a ladder in the ring and heaves Credible onto it from top turnbuckle. DDT on the ladder by Roberts, and that gets the 1-2-3 (12:26) Terry Funk shows up and wants to know why Dreamer chose Jake Roberts as his partner. I kind of have the same question. Dreamer says he won’t hit Terry, so he lays there while Terry beats the hell out of him. This so should have been Dreamer vs. Credible. *3/4

We watch a silly RVD promo and a serious Taz promo.

FTW Champion Taz, Sabu and Rob Van Dam (w/Bill Alfonso) vs. The Triple Threat (ECW Champion Shane Douglas, Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Candido) (w/Francine)

The Dudleys jump Sabu and Van Dam on their way to the ring, the lights go out, Taz comes out, and he attacks the Dudleys before the lights even come back on, then he delivers a head-and-arm Tazplex on Candido. D-Von and Buh Buh get suplexed as well. Bam Bam takes Taz to the floor as Candido and Sabu match up in the ring. Douglas reverses a whip and Van Dam hits the rail on the outside. Inside, Douglas hits a fisherman’s buster and Candido hits a leg drop. INVERTED ROLLING NECK SNAP by Douglas. Sabu fights back and hits a springboard leg lariat on Douglas. On the floor, Van Dam saves Taz by taking a chair to Bam Bam. Candido and Douglas roll to the floor, and Sabu goes for a triple jump moonsault plancha, but falls off and settles for a springboard plancha. Van Dam follows with a sky high plancha. Sabu brings Douglas inside and hits the TRIPLE JUMP MOONSAULT for two. Sabu goes up top, but Bam Bam catches him and slams him for two before RVD and Taz make the save. The Triple Threat clears the ring, Candido piledrives Sabu, and Douglas covers for two. The match finally settles down to tag rules, and a stalling suplex by Candido gets two. Douglas tags in and delivers a shoulderbreaker. Candido tags back in, and Sabu reverses a whip and hits a springboard leg lariat. ARABIAN PRESS gets two before Douglas makes the save. The Franchise gets back in and keeps Sabu from tagging out, Sabu scores a dropkick, Douglas still holds onto him, but he finally makes a tag to Van Dam, who cleans house on Douglas and Bigelow. Meanwhile, Candido puts Taz through a table on the floor but it was completely missed by the cameras! Bam Bam stops the RVD onslaught with a shoulderbreaker. It turns out that the ref missed the earlier tag, so Sabu is still the legal man, Douglas pulls him to the Triple Threat corner and tags in Candido for a scoop slam. That sets up a rocket launcher with aid from Bigelow, but Sabu moves, and RVD hits Candido with a flying karate kick. He pummels Bam Bam, leg sweeps Candido and hits a FIVE STAR FROG SPLASH. Bam Bam and RVD try a hurracanrana/powerbomb exchange, but it gets botched, but even so the confident RVD pops up and acts like they drew it up that way. Taz gets in and hits Candido with a belly-to-belly Tazplex. Everyone ends up outside, and Bam Bam and Candido get thrown into the crowd. Van Dam looks like he wants to take a dive from the top turnbuckle into the crowd, but ends up settling for a wacky diving front kick from the apron on Bigelow. Douglas is all over Sabu on the ramp, but Taz sneaks behind him and the two face off. Taz dominates while Van Dam finally gets his big dive set up, and he hits Bam Bam with a somersault plancha into the first row! Inside, Taz and Shane have a little exchange, Shane kips up from the corner, Taz stays behinds him, TAZMISSION! They fall to the mat, and Sabu takes a chair up top, delivers an ARABIAN FACEBUSTER, and covers Douglas for the 1-2-3. (12:57) Taz and Sabu get in each other’s faces after the match, which breaks up the short-lived Sabu/Taz partnership. The idea is that Sabu hit both Shane and Taz with the Arabian facebuster, and also Taz had said he wanted to make Shane tap out. The problem was that Sabu’s target was kind of ambiguous, and you don’t automatically think, “Wow, I can’t believe he hit Taz,” and so it became one of those things that the announcer had to spell out for you. This match is hardly passable as a main event and nowhere near the potential of having these six guys in the ring together. **1/4

Final Thoughts: What’s with all the tag team stuff on this card? Only two one-on-one matches? I never cease to be confused by ECW booking. If you can ignore Sunny’s handiwork, Lance Storm vs. Jerry Lynn is very good, but there’s not much else of note from this pay-per-view. Thumbs down.