ECW Hardcore TV 8/26/1998

Written by: Bob Colling

Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 8/26/1998
From: Queens, NY

Matches:
1.)Spike Dudley defeated Big Sal E. Graziano
2.)Sandman defeated Tracy Smothers
3.)ECW World Tag Team Champions Rob Van Dam & Sabu defeated the Dudley Boys & the Triple Threat to retain the titles.

Angle Developments/Notes
1. Chris Candido makes his way down to the ring with Sunny to kick off the show! The fans are going crazy for Sunny. Candido knows that everyone came to the show to see him wrestle. Sunny thinks everyone came to see her ass, which the fans agree with. Sunny calls out Lance Storm so she can slap his face. Storm comes down but takes his time because he is out numbered. Storm asks if she is going to slap him.. which she just said she would do. Storm turns his attention to Candido and says he carried their tag team. Sunny slaps Storm after he says she is only good from the waist down. Candido attacks Storm until Lance goes to the floor. Sunny announces she is in ECW to stay whether the WWF or Lance Storm like it or not!

2. This is the debut of Big Sal. Sal is being promoted as weighing over 600lbs. I won’t dispute that claim as the guy is enormous. As usual for Spike, he is able to beat Sal very quickly after hitting the Acid Drop.

3. Sandman attacks Guido and Rich on the floor before being attacked by Smothers back in the ring. This is really turning into a 3 vs. 1 match with Sandman fighting off the FBI. Sandman leg drops Smothers, who was dropped across the top rope. Sandman hits a top rope hurricanrana but Guido breaks up the cover while the referee was distracted. Smothers drops Sandman with a heel kick but can’t get a three count. Rich nails Sandman with a flag but Smothers still only gets a two count. Smothers misses a top rope splash. Sandman plants Guido with a DDT and the same for Rich. Sandman pins Smothers with a White Russian Leg Sweep. After the match, Jason comes out but is met with a kendo stick. Here comes Chastity but Justin Credible comes out and hits Sandman with a kendo stick several times. The FBI is holding Sandman during the beating. Credible hits the That’s Incredible! (*. The match isn’t anything special, but the post-match beating by Credible on Sandman was the key focus here. I can get behind this feud as Credible can rise of the card at the expense of a guy who the fans will adore no matter what.)

4. ECW World Champion Shane Douglas comes out before the main event and is able to put Candido and Bigelow in the match to make it a triple threat tag team title match. All six men go at it and thus it makes it hard to cover this properly but I’ll try. D-Von and Candido are the only two in the ring while the other four brawl on the floor. Candido and D-Von trade blows until D-Von hit a backdrop. RVD is delivering kicks on Bigelow on the floor. Sabu hits Bubba with a springboard side kick. Sabu hits a somersault leg drop on Bubba. Bubba catches Sabu and hits a back suplex. RVD is being double teamed by Bigelow and Candido on the floor. Bubba plants Sabu with a powerbomb. RVD avoids Bigelow in the corner but is met with a powerbomb anyway. RVD counters a powerbomb attempt and lands on top of Bigelow briefly. RVD heads to the top and hits a cross body on Bigelow. RVD comes off the top again to drop Bigelow with a kick to the chest. RVD takes Bigelow out on the floor with a dive. Sabu takes D-Von out with a dive on the floor as well. Candido whacks Bubba over the back with a steel chair but is tossed over the top onto everyone but Bigelow. Bigelow is standing behind Bubba in the ring! They collide but neither man goes down. The referee is splashed by both men after Francine rubbed her boobs in his face. So, now there isn’t a referee. Taz’s music hits and out comes the FTW Champion. Taz takes out the Dudley Boys and drops Bigelow with a clothesline and tosses Candido with a suplex. Shane Douglas tried to jump Taz but backs off in the corner. The Dudley Boys splash Taz in the middle of the ring and go for the 3-D but Taz counters by putting the Taz Mission on Bubba! Taz leaves to go after Douglas, who runs backstage. Sabu breaks up Bigelow’s cover on Bubba and Candido pins Bubba after a splash to eliminate the Dudley Boys from the match. RVD misses a split legged moonsault and lands on a chair. RVD sends Candido into a chair in the corner, which looked horribly coordinated. Candido hits a superplex on RVD. RVD comes back and hits the Five Star Frog Splash on Candido. Sabu locks in the camel clutch but Bigelow makes the save. Rolling thunder/leg drop combo on Bigelow by the champs. Sabu sets up a table in the ring. Bigelow catches Sabu and powerbombs Sabu, but not through the table. Sabu proceeds to bulldog Bigelow through the table but Candido makes the save. RVD kicks a chair into Candido’s face for the win. (***. A fine main event involving these three teams. A lot of big names involved and the crowd was hot for the entire match.)

Final Thoughts:
The opening and the main event for the show were the best parts of the show. Actually, the advancement with Credible and Sandman was fine as well. So, this was a fine show put on by ECW this week. A hot crowd is always a bonus, too.

Thanks for reading.