ECW on TNN 7/7/2000

Written by: Bob Colling

ECW on TNN
Date: 7/7/2000
From: Chicago, IL

Matches:
1.) ECW Television Champion Rhino defeated Gary Wolfe to retain the title
2.) Tajiri defeated Jerry Lynn
3.) Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger defeated Chris Chetti & Nova, and Danny Doring & Roadkill in an elimination match
4.) ECW World Champion Justin Credible defeated the Sandman to retain the title

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) As per usual, Cyrus comes out to cut off Joel Gertner during his opening line. Cyrus says he has warned Gertner way too many times and threatens to kick Gertner’s ass. Joel is glad that Cyrus is out here because tonight Cyrus is going to get his ass kicked by Gertner himself. Spike Dudley makes his way out after having been injured for several months. Fans greet Spike with a “welcome back” chant and Spike says that when he does talk he backs it up. Spike says that Cyrus is the reason that Super Crazy was deported, RVD was stripped for the ECW TV Championship, and Rhino broke Spike’s leg per Cyrus’s orders. Tonight, it’s going to be about payback. Rhino comes running down and says that Spike isn’t kicking anyone’s ass tonight. Gary Wolfe runs down into the ring and goes after Rhino.

2.) Wolfe drops Rhino with a clothesline and a spinning heel kick. Wolfe plants Rhino with a spine buster and Spike slides a table into the ring. Rhino GORES Wolfe through the table and they go to the apron where Rhino puts Wolfe through a table with a piledriver! Rhino covers in the ring and wins the match. (DUD. Yeah the finish was good, but it was a quick match. The fans seemed to have not known who Wolfe was as he basically came out to no reaction. There might have been a generational gap there.)

3.) Lynn baseball slides Tajiri but walks into a kick followed by being sent into the railing. Tajiri ducks a clothesline to deliver a kick to the face. They enter the ring with Tajiri chopping Lynn against the ropes. Tajiri hits a nice standing hurricanrana but Lynn stops Tajiri with a tilt a whirl back breaker as we go to commercial. Lynn has a Gory Special on Tajiri but that doesn’t last long and Tajiri puts Lynn on the mat with a submission hold with his leg around Lynn’s head. Cyrus has come down to ringside to support Lynn. Tajiri kicks Lynn right in the face. Lynn hits a German suplex on Tajiri for a two count. Lynn plants Tajiri with a tornado DDT out of the corner but only gets a near fall. Lynn attempts a reverse DDT but Tajiri counters with one of his own.

Tajiri heads to the top rope but Lynn cuts Tajiri off and hits a superplex for a near fall! Tajiri is backed into a corner but Tajiri hits an inverted tornado DDT for a near fall. They trade chops until Lynn is met with a spinning heel kick. Lynn delivers a spinning elbow strike and Tajiri goes to the floor. Tajiri spits mist into Cyrus’s face and puts the Tarantula on Cyrus! Steve Corino enters and super kicks Lynn! Tajiri dropkicks Lynn and gets the win. (***. A good match between these two as now the Lynn situation gets even more confusing. Good to see Cyrus get touched by a baby face as well.)

4.) Backstage, ECW World Champion Justin Credible and Francine are hanging out. Credible is looking at Francine’s chest saying they are beautiful but he is really talking about the ECW World Championship. Credible tells Sandman that tonight he will find out he is the champion.

5.) All six men involved in the tag team elimination match go at it in the ring. Diamond gets dropped by Chetti with a side kick. Roadkill splashes Swinger and Doring hits the Bareback. Chetti hits a scissors kick on Roadkill and send Doring over the top to take out Diamond and his circus of friends. Nova grabs Diamond and they exchange punches in the ring. Roadkill hits a double springboard clothesline on Diamond and Swinger. CW Anderson enters the ring and lays everyone out with left hands. CW literally takes everyone out and plants Roadkill with a spine buster! Nova hits a Swanton Bomb and nearly pins Roadkill. Diamond hits the Simonizer on Nova to eliminate Nova and Chetti.

Doring works over Diamond with several strikes. Doring clotheslines Diamond but Swinger makes the save. Roadkill is planted with a double Flatliner but Doring makes the save on the pin attempt. Roadkill slams Swinger and Doring goes to the top rope. Danny gets shoved off by Chetti and Doring gets hit with an implant DDT and Swinger pins Doring. (**. Some fine action throughout here as they sped through the match. A big win for the team of Diamond and Swinger who have presented as jokes prior to this for the most part.)

6.) Dawn Marie is the special referee for the main event. Dawn confronts Francine and is met with a kendo stick shot from Credible, so much for her being the special referee.

7.) Sandman hammers away on Credible on the floor to gain control of the title match. Sandman sends Credible over the railing and into the front row. Sandman sends the champ chest first into the railing a second time and grabs a pallet from the backstage area. Credible backs off in the corner but Sandman sends Justin back first into the pallet in the corner. Sandman follows up with a bulldog onto the pallet and nearly wins the title but Credible kicks out at two. Sandman sends Credible over the top to the floor. Credible gains control with by flipping Sandman into the pallet and has his kendo stick but misses and Sandman clotheslines the referee. Credible super kicks Sandman and is on the top rope where Sandman kicks Credible to hit a top rope hurricanrana! Dusty Rhodes comes down to count the fall but Francine breaks up the cover and Dusty has Francine until Steve Corino enters to attack but is sent away with elbow strikes and jabs for Jack Victory.

Francine hits Sandman with the kendo stick several times. Gorgeous George enters and has a cat fight with Francine. George chases Francine to the backstage area. Sandman hits a White Russian leg sweep off the middle rope but here comes Scotty Anton to get involved. Anton rams Sandman into the referee in the corner. Anton knee lifts Sandman and here comes Raven who plants Anton with a DDT but Credible hits Raven with a kendo stick! Credible gets a table and slides it into the ring. Sandman low blows Credible and hip tosses the champ through the table in the corner! Sandman has the cover but there is no referee. Rhino enters and GORES Sandman. Credible gets up and hits the That’s Incredible to win the match. (**. Actually, not a bad match but once again with all the interference it hurts the match. The heel champion sometimes needs a clean win to get creditability.) After the match, Tommy Dreamer runs down and hits a DDT on Rhino and has some barbed wire which he piledrives Credible onto it! Credible is bleeding big time from that one.

Final Thoughts:
The streak of entertaining shows continues from ECW. Tajiri/Lynn was a good match and the main event was a fine brawl for what it was. Diamond and Swinger could be getting a serious heel tag team push and I’m not against that idea at all. Credible/Dreamer has been built up very well with a couple of weeks left before Heatwave.

Thanks for reading.