Written by: Bob Colling
Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 9/5/1998
From: Philadelphia, PA
Matches:
1.)Chris Candido defeated Lance Storm
2.)Big Sal defeated Kronus
3.)Spike Dudley defeated Big Sal
4.)Tracy Smothers defeated Tommy Rogers
5.)The Sandman defeated Justin Credible & Jason in a handicap match
Angle Developments/Notes
1. Lance Storm and a woman come down to the ring to kickoff the program. Storm lets us know who the woman actually is. She is Tammy Lynn Bytch. Storm is calling the actual Tammy a fraud and a fake. Storm says this is the lady who did favors for Vince McMahon to get a job and did favors to keep her job. Bytch is actually Dawn Marie, by the way.
2. Candido controls Storm early on with a few chops and reverses Storm’s offense as well. Candido nearly wins with a body scissors roll up and went for another one only for Storm to hit a German suplex for a two count. Chris clotheslines Storm off the top to the floor. Candido takes Lance out with a top rope cross body on the floor! Candido rams Storm into the guard railing and a table is brought into play. Storm hip tosses Chris onto the table and drops an elbow off the apron to crash through it. Lance continued to control Candido before being catapulted into the corner and met with a swinging neckbreaker. Chris nearly wins after a middle rope leg drop. Storm hits a dropkick to cut Candido off. Candido catches Lance and hits a powerslam followed by a series of clotheslines. Candido hits a running powerbomb for a near fall. Storm tosses Candido off the top and hits a dropkick. Storm with a handspring splash and a northern lights suplex for a two count. Candido crotches Storm on the top rope. Candido tried for a powerbomb off the top but got out of it. Storm tries for a top rope hurricanana but Candido hits the powerbomb! Bytch breaks up the cover and that leads to a fight between Sytch and Bytch. Sytch rips Bytch’s clothes off. Storm goes to hit a suplex but Candido hits Storm with a chain and Sytch pins Storm for the win. (**. What the hell was that finish? It was a really good match, but that ending completely leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Getting ripped off on a finish is a bad idea.) After the match, Candido takes his trunks off to reveal he wears a thong like Tammy. They celebrate wearing thongs. Yeah, that’s ECW for you.
3. Sal takes care of Kronus in less than a minute after hitting the Samoan Drop. Kronus has really fallen down the card since Saturn left for WCW. The referee, Jeff Jones, puts over Big Sal. Jones issues a challenge to anyone in the back to kill his monster. Naturally, that brings out Spike Dudley. Spike pins Sal in under ten seconds. A 600lbs guy jobbing to Spike Dudley so quickly. Poor Kronus looks like a complete idiot.
4. Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney are at ringside to help Rogers take on the FBI. Rogers with a flurry of offense on Smothers in the early moments and knocks the FBI off the apron. Rich hits Rogers with a flag and drops Tommy over the railing. Axl uses his chair on Guido. Guido is busted wide open. Smothers has control of the match since the involvement of the FBI members. Tracy gets near falls after two leaping side kicks. Rogers makes his comeback with a series of forearms and a springboard back elbow. Rogers heads up top and hits a cross body for a two count. Rogers gets low blowed and Smothers hits a cobra clutch slam for the win. (*1/2. Not a bad match between these two. Rogers is a fine underdog type of guy making Smothers look good in the match.)
5. Credible isn’t interested in tagging into the match and that allows Sandman to beat on Jason for a few moments. Sandman tries to force Jason to tag in Credible, but Justin just jumps to the floor. Jason knocks Sandman down with a roundhouse kick and Credible tags in to take advantage. Sandman recovers and continues to hammer away on Jason as Credible runs away. Jason kicks Sandman on the side of the head and Credible gets tagged in again. Credible hits a shoulder breaker and along with Jason hit a double dropkick. Jason follows up with a second shoulder breaker. Sandman continues to be double teamed but kicks out of a cover attempt. Sandman plants Jason with an inverted DDT and wins the match. (*. Just a bad match that didn’t have a lot of heat behind it. I was quite bored by what they delivered.) After the match, Credible and Jason try to leave but the referee insists they have to be caned. Jason returns to the ring and Sandman hits him with the cane. Jason asks if that’s the best he has and Sandman just destroys Jason with ten more cane shots. Credible slides in and is met with a shot. Jason is whacked over the head. Sandman hits a side Russian leg sweep on Nicole Bass. Credible comes back in with a cane of his own and viciously attacks Sandman.
Final Thoughts:
A below average episode for Hardcore TV this week. The opener had everything all lined up to be a great match but the finish ruined it. Everything after that was nothing better than average. A skippable show, really.
Thanks for reading.