ECW Hardcore TV 2/25/1998

Written by: Bob Colling

Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 2/25/1998
From: Philadelphia, PA

Matches:
1.)ECW Television Champion Taz defeated Brakkus
2.)ECW World Tag Team Champion Lance Storm defeated ECW World Tag Team Champion Chris Candido

Angle Developments/Notes:
1. The show opens up with the entire ECW roster coming out to do a tribute for Louie Spicolli who recently passed away. It was a nice gesture for ECW to do that and it was made clear that Spicolli will forever be part of their family.

2. Joey Styles talks about the tag team match at Living Dangerously which will see ECW World Tag Team Champions Chris Candido and Lance Storm being on opposing sides. Candido chose Shane Douglas as his partner while we don’t know Lance Storm’s partner. The Triple Threat comes out to be interviewed by Joey Styles. Shane Douglas gets the microphone and oh, Sunny is with them this time. Shane considers Lance Storm to be a punk who thought he was going to hold three fingers up, but he was wrong. He says Taz thought his belt was more important than the ECW World Championship, but he was wrong too! Douglas, Candido and Bigelow are the Triple Threat. Shane talks about who Storm will pick as his mystery partner for Living Dangerously. Douglas is confident that he and Candido will win the tag match. Douglas wants to know who Storm is bringing to the pay per view by the end of the night. Candido says it doesn’t matter who Storm brings because they are two of the best! Candido is still pissed that Storm was trying to get with Sunny. Sunny tells Candido to calm down and she knows who the mystery partner is. Sunny isn’t going to tell Candido and asks why she should tell them the mystery. She doesn’t want to ruin the surprise! Sunny says there are a lot of secrets and Candido can’t handle them! Sunny slaps Candido and Bigelow tackles Candido to prevent anything form happening. Francine shoves Sunny and they nearly go at it but the Triple Threat breaks that up!

3. Taz takes Brakkus down to the mat quickly and delivers a few vicious cross face shots. Brakkus plants Taz with a powerbomb! Droz gets in the ring and sets a table up while Brakkus hits a second powerbomb. Brakkus goes for a slam but Taz gets out of it and sends Brakkus through the table with a t-bone suplex! Brakkus recovers and tries for a military press slam but Taz gets out of it and hits a German suplex! Taz locks in the Taz Mission and wins the match. (*1/2. Well, it was quick and puts an end to the angle between them I would assume, or at least hope. They did a fine job of protecting Brakkus from showing he knows nothing about wrestling.)

4. Tommy Dreamer is holding a candle and says that we all make decisions. He supports every one of her decisions as long as they don’t conflict with his life. Dreamer tells Justin Credible that he is going to make him famous. Dreamer talks about hitting a piledriver on Beulah three years ago. Credible hit a tombstone piledriver on Beulah. Dreamer says she will see a darker side of Justin Credible! I’m confused!

5. Storm hammers away on Candido to start the match. Lance clotheslines Candido before sending Chris to the floor with a superkick. Candido is kicked into the crowd and Storm takes him out with a springboard cross body! Storm gets a near fall back in the ring. They begin to trade chops. Candido drops Storm face first over the top turnbuckle and nails Storm with a clothesline. Candido goes for a delayed vertical suplex but Lance gets out of it only for Candido to hit a swinging neckbreaker. Chris comes off the ropes to deliver a quick leg drop. Lance tries to fight back but Chris hits a snap powerslam to keep control of the contest. Storm hits a spinning heel kick on Candido and follows up with a standing dropkick for a near fall. Storm splashes Chris in the corner but is crotched on the top rope on a springboard attempt. Candido brings Storm back down to the ring with a top rope back suplex. Chris gets a near fall after a Northern lights suplex. Storm gets out of a powerbomb and hits a standing spin kick. Candido crotches Storm on the top rope again. Candido hits a top rope hurricanrana for a two count! They are on the top rope where Storm hits a top rope powerbomb to win the match! (***1/2. A really good match here and a big win for Lance Storm in ECW. They kept it fast paced and put forth some solid action. A good showing with a nice finish.)

6. We go to the hood where New Jack is hanging out. New Jack is going to be on the pay per view. Jack admits to all his crimes and knows he go away with a lot of stuff. He is going to bring the violence his way, and that’s the gangsta way. He is the most dangerous man you’ve ever met.

Final Thoughts:
I thought it was a good episode this week. We got the end of the feud between Taz/Brakkus, which was done nicely, and we got a good match between Candido and Storm. I was kind of surprised that they showed that match on Hardcore TV. I guess a pay per view showdown would’ve been ideal for a singles showdown. Anyway, it was a nice go-home show since Living Dangerously is just a few days away!

Thanks for reading.