Written by: Bob Colling
Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 7/29/1998
From: Philadelphia, PA
Matches:
1.)Jerry Lynn & Masato Tanaka defeated Mike Awesome & Justin Credible
Angle Developments/Notes
1. ECW World Tag Team Champions Sabu and Rob Van Dam cut a promo about not knowing their opponents for Heatwave. RVD says the fans will pay to see Sabu defend his tag titles at the event. RVD does a great job of being a jackass to Sabu. Joey Styles announces the opponents as being Hayabusa and Hakushi (from WWF fame!)
2. We hear from Taz who is the unrecognized FTW Champion. Taz is coming to Heatwave to get a victory over Bam-Bam Bigelow. He is going to take back his victory over Bigelow in Dayton.
3. ECW World Champion Shane Douglas rips into Lance Storm for turning on Chris Candido and the Triple Threat. Douglas notes how Candido’s ear was ripped thanks to Sabu. Douglas assures Lance Storm that Candido will get revenge for what Storm did to him.
4. Awesome and Tanaka kick off the tag bout trading chops in the middle of the ring. Awesome shoulder blocks Tanaka, but he gets right back up. Tanaka drops Awesome with a clothesline and a springboard clothesline knocking Awesome off the apron to the floor. Masato uses a chair on Awesome to maintain control. Lynn is tagged in and hits a weak double axe handle. Lynn attempts a few dropkicks but Awesome isn’t affected. Awesome lifts Lynn up and drops him gut first to the canvas. Credible tags in and looks to take advantage of a weak Jerry Lynn. Lynn is able to battle back with a few strikes in the corner. Lynn hits a leaping back elbow. Lynn misses a splash in the corner. Credible goes for a vertical suplex but Lynn almost gets a submission with an arm bar. Tanaka tags in but Credible crawls away and tags in Awesome. Awesome hammers away on Tanaka. Awesome hits a release German suplex. Awesome nails Tanaka with a slingshot shoulder block for a near fall. Awesome follows up with an elevated German suplex for a near fall. Awesome goes to the floor and sets a table up on the floor. Awesome tries for a powerbomb but Tanaka counters only for Awesome to hit a double leg slam for a near fall. Awesome clotheslines Tanaka to the floor as Credible and Lynn go at it in the ring where Lynn hits a head scissors and baseball slides Credible into the first row. Lynn takes Credible out with springboard cross body into the crowd. Awesome splashes Tanaka in the crowd as well! Awesome scoop slams Tanaka and heads up top to hit a big splash in the ring for a near fall. Credible gives Awesome a steel chair and he whacks Tanaka with it a few times, but Masato gets up only for a third shot to drop him. Credible enters but can’t get the easy pin. Tanaka hits a snap powerslam and tags out to Lynn. Lynn works over Credible with a back suplex and heads up top. Lynn hits a leg drop but can’t get the three count. Lynn is stopped with a low blow from Credible. Awesome comes back in to clothesline Lynn and delivers a big splash for a two count. Awesome tosses Lynn across the ring with a belly to belly suplex. Lynn and Credible begin to trade roll ups until Credible drives Jerry down with a side walk slam. Awesome tags back into the match and splashes Lynn in the corner. Lynn hits a hurricanrana on Awesome but Credible prevents Lynn from tagging out to Tanaka. Lynn low blows Credible and Tanaka tags in to clean house with clotheslines and forearm shots. Tanaka nearly pins Credible with a clothesline. Lynn dropkicks Awesome off the apron while Tanaka gets a near fall on Justin with a superplex. Tanaka plants Credible with a tornado DDT onto a few chairs but Awesome makes the save! Tanaka powerbombs Tanaka over the top through the table on the floor! Credible attempts the That’s Incredible but Lynn counters and gets the pin with a tombstone of his own! (***1/2. That was a really good tag team match between four guys that had been feuding. I enjoyed Credible trying to get a cheap win by having Awesome do the work and then he gets pinned anyway. Just a job done well here to promote both feuds heading into Heatwave.)
5. Next weeks episode is just a recap of what happened at Heatwave. So, I’ll just skip ahead to the August 12th edition for the next review.
Final Thoughts:
A great show this week as they promoted the show and put on great tag match that put on the majority of the show. This is how a go-home show should be for any promotion. It has me excited for Heatwave ’98!
Thanks for reading.