Rebooking ECW: Hardcore TV (01/16/97)

Tonight on Hardcore TV, a monumental rematch pits Tommy Dreamer against Taz one more time! Also, Lance Storm of The Triple Threat finally breaks his silence. Who will he side with, Douglas or Candido? Plus, a few peeks inside the minds of the ‘who’s who’ of Extreme Championship Wrestling. All that and more on this week’s exciting episode of ECW’s Hardcore TV!

ECW HARDCORE TV 01/16/97 (Elmira, NY)

1. The Dudleys defeated the Gangstas in a tag team match. The two teams picked up right where they left off at House Party on the 11th. A tag format was not established (though it was supposed to be) during the entire match. The were tables, chairs and a cheese grater implemented by both teams and the fans were really into it as action happened everywhere. (9:14)

2. The Eliminators Inteview: Styles asks about the number one contenders for the ECW belts, The Pitbulls. Kronus does most of the talking and states that The Eliminators have come up against guys a lot meaner and more formidable than The Pitbulls. He then claims that he and Saturn have held the belts for this long and have no intentions of letting them slip away to a bunch of muts. Perry also chimed in that the champs are not hard to find, so anytime The Pitbulls are itching for a beating, The Eliminators would be happy to oblige them.

3. Commercial break.

4. Lance Storm Interview: Lance Storm was finally able to get a few things off his chest when answering the one question everybody wanted to know: “Douglas or Candido?”  After deep thought, Storm said that he understands where Chris Candido was coming from and don’t blame him for taking arms up against “The Franchise”. Storm says he made his decision strictly on the basis of friendship length, saying that he was friends with Candido far before Shane Douglas. So, with that said, he now fully backs Candido and will stand by him against Shane. He ends the interview by saying, “Nothing personal, Shane.”

5. Mikey Whipwreck defeated Chris Candido w/Lance Storm after Mikey caught Candido off guard while he was distracted with pro-Candido chants. Mikey hit a vicious reverse DDT onto a chair. Storm tried to warn Candido but was unsuccessful. This was considered an upset as Whipwreck scored the roll up victory and fled. (8:08)

6. Commercial break + Recap of Dreamer/Taz from House Party.

7. Tommy Dreamer Promo: Dreamer is seen in the ring with a mic. He starts by saying that last night he was taken damn close to his limit as a professional wrestler. He says that Taz brought the best out in him and that he’d like to try to have lighting strike twice with this rematch. Tommy then added that if Taz thought he’d beat him again, he had another thing coming. He states that the 11th was just a warm up and that this time around, he was ready.

8. Taz defeated Tommy Dreamer for the second time. Though, this time around, Tommy kept up with Taz even more so than he had at ECW House Party. Taz was tested and Dreamer fought to his last breath. Several times towards the end of the match, much to Taz’s disbelief, Tommy would stand up after receiving impactful move after impactful move… This match was just as good, if not better than their one on the 11th. After the match, Taz showed Tommy respect before leaving the ring. (17:37)