Written by: Bob Colling
Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 3/25/1998
From: Philadelphia, PA
Matches:
1.)Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney defeated FBI, and Danny Doring & Roadkill in an elimination match
2.)ECW World Tag Team Champions Chris Candido & Lance Storm defeated Jerry Lynn & Chris Chetti
3.)ECW Television Champion Bam-Bam Bigelow defeated The Sandman to retain the title
4.)Al Snow defeated Rob Van Dam
Angle Developments/Notes
1. Bill Alfonso, Sabu and Rob Van Dam open the show. Apparently, RVD is going to soften Bigelow up for Sabu to beat him at Wrestlepalooza. RVD is getting ready to kick his ass and he will beat him in Buffalo. RVD is going to scar Bigelow for life, but Sabu takes exception to that. Then he says he is going to knock his teeth down his throat, which Alfonso doesn’t like. RVD is going to knock Bigelow’s head off!
2. Mahoney and Rotten are apparently the number one tag team title contenders. This is an extreme three way dance. Mahoney and Rotten proceed to use their chairs in the opening seconds of the match. Doring and Roadkill are eliminated when the FBI hit a superkick/side Russian leg sweep combo on Doring. The number one contenders are able to win the match after Mahoney hit the Nutcracker Suite on Smothers. (NR. The match was clipped and even still it wasn’t all that interesting.)
3. Backstage, the Triple Threat is standing around. Candido is excited to be going to Buffalo. They are really hyping the show up as being a big one. Douglas dismisses the thought that RVD will weaken Bigelow down for Sabu. Douglas suggests that Bigelow will end Rob Van Dam. Douglas continues to say that the heads don’t bother him.
4. Candido continues to demand his own entrance aside from Storm. He also got upset when the ring announcer announced Storm before him. Lynn and Chetti start the match controlling the champs with basic offense such as hip tosses and dropkicks. Candido drives Lynn down with a wheelbarrow slam. This match is clipped as well. Lynn hits the same move and the fans get behind him. Candido slaps Storm and they begin to fight. Storm hits a spinning heel kick but saves Candido from the cover. The champs hit a powerbomb/neck breaker combo for a near fall on Lynn. Late in the match, Chetti botches a springboard and crotches himself on the middle rope. Storm nails Chetti with a top rope spinning heel kick but can’t get a three. Candido casually covers Chetti to win the match. (NR. Once again, it was clipped so I can’t give a rating on it. But, the action shown was decent.) After the match, Mahoney and Rotten come out with chairs. Rotten rips on Storm and Candido. Rotten nails Candido with a chair over the head to shut him up. Storm jumps off of Candido’s back to dropkick both men. Mahoney puts a stop to that with a sick chair shot and they stand tall. Shane Douglas comes out and does Francine. Douglas low blows Mahoney but Rotten hits the champ with the chair. Bigelow has come out and plants Rotten with the Greetings From Asbury Park and the same happens to Mahoney!
5. Sandman is getting a shot at the ECW Television Championship this week against Bam-Bam Bigelow. But, first Taz confronts Bigelow in the ring. Taz says that Bigelow didn’t beat him on March 1st because of the hometown advantage nor because of the size difference. Taz says that Bigelow was the better man. Taz wants to shake Bigelow’s hand. They shake with no problem. Taz says it’s just a matter of time before the belt is his. Sandman prevents Taz from leaving and shakes his hand too.
6. Bigelow attacks Sandman before the bell to get the cheap advantage. This is going to be heavily clipped. Sandman chokes Bigelow over the bottom turnbuckle and slams a table onto the champ on the floor. Sandman gets a ladder from the backstage area and nails Bigelow with it. Bigelow turns the advantage in his favor by tossing Sandman into the ladder in the corner. Bigelow follows up with a splash. Sandman battles back with his kendo stick and gets a two count. Bigelow nails Sandman over the head several times with the kendo stick. Bigelow is busted over his right eye. Bigelow catches Sandman in the corner and finishes him off with the Greetings From Asbury Park! (NR. Sandman dished a lot of offense but one bad move by Sandman cost him the match. A fine match, maybe because of the clipping.)
7. RVD is kicking Snow in the chest as the main event starts joined in progress. RVD hits the Rolling Thunder but Snow kicks out at two. RVD tries to get a submission with an Indian Death Lock but Snow doesn’t give in. RVD catches Snow and catapults him into the corner. Snow catches RVD on a springboard to hit a side suplex! They are on the floor where RVD backdrops Snow into the crowd. RVD proceeds to hit a somersault dive. Snow fights back in the ring with two wheelbarrow suplexs. Snow clotheslines RVD into the crowd and takes RVD out with a springboard moonsault in the crowd! Snow hits a powerbomb back in the ring but misses a top rope moonsault. RVD connects with a split legged moonsault. Snow whacks RVD with two chair shots and a low blow. Snow plants RVD with a DDT but Alfonso comes in to break the count only to hit RVD with a chair on accident. RVD hits the Van Daminator and the referee is knocked out as well. RVD misses the frog splash and lands on the chair. Snow spikes RVD with the Snow Plow but the referee is out. Sabu runs out but is crotched on the top. Sabu dropkicks the chair into RVD from off the top. Snow covers and wins the match. (NR. This seemed like a good match, which was clipped again. It must have been a lengthy one. Regardless, the action was good by these two. One of Snow’s better performances.) After the match, RVD and Sabu nearly come to blows but Alfonso begs them not to. RVD avoids a high five and Sabu nearly takes him out with a springboard dive but Alfonso stops him to end the show.
Final Thoughts:
A rather strong show this week with several of the big names competing. The Bigelow/Sandman stuff was a decent brawl. Snow/RVD seemed like a really good match and the progress of the slow breakup of Sabu and RVD is going along nicely. A good episode this week.
Thanks for reading.