Rebooking ECW: ECW Hostile City Showdown (05/17/97)

Out of control, Unwarranted, hostile! In a state of public emergency, Extreme Championship Wrestling enters into a Hostile City Showdown tonight, live for the ECW Arena! In action is ECW’s Television Champion Chris Candido as he faces his former best friend Lance Storm, “The Human Suplex Machine” Taz, Rob Van Dam, and Tommy Dreamer all locking horns in three way action! Also, Terry Funk,The ECW Heavyweight Champion himself, defends his title against Raven one more time. It’ll be a showdown tonight and Extreme Championship Wrestling is on the front lines.One one question remains, are YOU ready to enter the Hostile City Showdown?

Extreme Championship Wrestling presents:

ECW Hostile City Showdown 1997 – 05/17/97 (Philadelphia, PA)

MATCH CARD:

Singles Match 

Danny Doring Vs. Axl Rotten

Tag Team Match

The Dudleys (Buh-Buh Ray & D-Von) Vs. Little Guido & Louie Spicolli

Three-Way Dance

Taz Vs. Rob Van Dam Vs. Tommy Dreamer

Singles Match for the ECW Television Championship

Chris Candido (c) Vs. Lance Storm

‘Grudge’ Singles Match

Perry Saturn w/John Kronus Vs. “Prime Time” Brian Lee

Tag Team Match for the ECW Tag Team Championships

The Pitbulls (c) Vs. Spike Dudley & Roadkill

Singles Match for the ECW Heavyweight Championship

Terry Funk (c) Vs. Raven

The results were as follows:

1. Opening Segment: Joey Styles opened the show by welcoming everybody to Extreme Championship Wrestling’s Hostile City Showdown! He presented most of the match card and surprisingly was not interrupted by anybody in the ECW locker room. Pleased with this, Styles finished his statements and the the opening contest was ready to begin.

2. Danny Dorning was able to pick up his third consecutive victory in his ECW career over Axl Rotten tonight. Perhaps the toughest match thus far for Doring, Rotten was not going to give this one up without a fight. Doring ran his mouth to Rotten from across the ring all the way until the initial lock-up to start the match. Axl would stay all over Doring though, as he knew through Doring’s brash, cockiness that he was a legitimate threat to a possible victory. Axl would slowly lose momentum after a few well placed dropkicks and a superplex from the top. After putting a hitch in Axl’s game plan Doring then took the wheel and would finish the match with it firmly in his control. A valiant effort by both men was displayed and this was a solid opening match for the show. After picking up the pin, Doring motioned to the ECW crowd that he was now three and zero! (9:27)

3. The Dudleys made short work of Guido and Spicolli tonight as the team just wasn’t able to get a solid start or advancement over the Dudleys at any point. Small rallies would be made and then shut down almost as suddenly as they’d start. Frustration definitely set in here for Spicolli and Guido and once this was the case, they were all but done for. The Dudleys would put both men down with a 3D each. Once out cold, Spicolli and Guido were piled on top of each other and pinned with a foot from D-Von and a foot from Buh-Buh Ray on top of them. (7:15)

4. Commercial break + Merchandising information for the new ECW Resurgence tee shirts. Advertised as only $14.99 and available in all sizes from S-3xL! Get yours today!

5. Tommy Dreamer, Taz, and Rob Van Dam were all business tonight. Talk about a showdown… These guys all went out with a mindset that they were going to prove something. After making each of their entrances, getting properly announced and measuring each other carefully, nothing short of a classic began. The mixture of styles in this one was apparent from the get-go and this fact made for a really compelling match. Van Dam as the aerialist, Taz as the mat technician and Dreamer as the extremist. Several ovations were given by the crowd at rest points and the match really ended up being the gem of the entire card. Taz would make Van Dam tap with the Tazmission for the first elimination and Dreamer would soon follow. After a hard fought battle with two other really great athletes, Taz was declared the winner. Fans demanded at the end “One more time!”. Hopefully it will not be the last time these men do face off. (20:20)

6. Commercial break + Reminder that ECW would be holding Wrestlepalooza 1997 0n the thirtieth of this month, only about two weeks away!

7. Chris Candido was able to eek out a victory over his former best friend in a really solid wrestling match for the ECW Television Championship. Both men fought cleanly and there was no interference by Awesome, Douglas or Francine at any time during the match up. They didn’t even show up at ringside to accompany Storm. Seeing as the Triple Threat wasn’t a factor, Candido was really able to step up and show Storm, as well as the ECW crowd, exactly why he is the TV Champ. After the match however, the rest of Triple Threat immediately rushed the ring and attacked Candido. Mid way through the beating, Taz’s music hit and he and Bill Alfonso rushed the ring as well. Taz ran off all Triple Threat members, causing them to scurry on to the outside. Bill Alfonso then proceeded to get on the mic and speak to the Triple Threat on the outside who were headed up the walkway back to the curtain, “My man Taz is here to make sure that all of you losers on the outside don’t lay another hand on Chris Candido!” Taz had helped Candido to his feet at this point and stood by his side. Alfonso, after a pretty strong “TAZ!” chant, continued, “… You see because my man Taz wants the champ at one hundred percent, so at Wreslepalooza he can take the belt from him, himself!” Just then, like the flip of a switch, Taz snapped and Nearly threw Candido across the ring with a huge exploding Tazplex. Proud of what he accomplished, Taz then stood and basked in the crowds thunderous “F*ck you, Taz!” chants. Happy, Alfonso and Taz exited leaving Candido a heap of body mass on the canvas. (16:33)

8. In a shocking turn of events “Prime Time” Brian Lee beat Saturn, as it seemed that Saturn just wasn’t mentally into the match. It appeared as though Lee had gotten into Saturn’s head and he was already beaten before the bell ran. Not to say he didn’t put up a heck of a fight in typical Perry Saturn fashion, because he did. Brian Lee was a crimson mask by the end, complements of Saturn. With Saturn pinned, Kronus stepped into the ring between him and Brian Lee. As Saturn groggily returned to his feet, Kronus stood and looked to both men. Finally, Saturn reached out his hand for a handshake. Kronus stepped away from him and stood by the side of “Prime Time” Brian Lee. Kronus and Lee exited together leaving a stunned Saturn in the ring to put all of the pieces together… (11:57)

9. Commercial break + Hype for Raven/Terry Funk match for the main event.

10. In the biggest upset in recent ECW history, Roadkill and Spike Dudley were able to knock off the ECW Tag Team Champions for their titles. In an unorganized brawl, the underdogs were able to divide and conquer unlike any other team the champs have faced thus far. It was obvious that the ECW Tag Team Champions underestimated the unlikely team. For the win, Spike would put Pitbull #1 through a table on the outside with an Acid Drop that took both men out. Pitbull #2 was absolutely squashed by Roadkill on the inside, eventually earning himself and Spike the titles. Nobody expected this one, not even Roadkill and Spike Dudley, as after declared the winners Spike would crowd surf as Roadkill slapped hands with everybody in the front row. Absolutely disgraced and furious, The Pitbulls stormed to the back as soon as they physically could. Surely a Cinderella moment was achieved for Spike Dudley and Roadkill on this night. (18:29)

11. Terry Funk would once again successfully defend his ECW Heavyweight Championship against Raven tonight. Terry Funk faught to his last breath as Raven nearly seemed to beat the living daylights out of him. Neither men held back, as Raven has been hunting Funk for months and Funk hadn’t been able to silence Raven once and for all yet. After a brutally physical match, an Even Flow DDT was hit on Funk who was driven head first into the championship belt. This would only gain Raven a near fall. After throwing nearly everything he could at Funk, Raven lost his cool once again. It was nearly déjà vu when Raven searched out chairs to presumably throw into the audience again (probably getting ECW sued again). His efforts were stopped however, when the lights went out. Sabu would appear perched on the top turnbuckle with a chair of his own. Preoccupied with Sabu, Raven would fall victim to a stolen Even Flow DDT onto the concrete floor on the outside where he had stood and Funk took him by surprise. Funk would roll Raven into the ring and collapse on top of the referee, allowing Sabu to hit an Arabian Facebuster with his steel chair on a downed Raven. This would seal the deal for Terry Funk to retain his Extreme Championship Wrestling Heavyweight title. Before the three count and final bell was rang, Sabu had already disappeared…

12. Joey Styles closed the show with a recap of the entire event and a video package. He also reminded the viewing audience to tune in to ECW Resurgence every Thursday night to keep up with all the extreme action!