Rebooking ECW: Resurgence (06/05/97)

Extreme Championship Wrestling is live from Baldwin, Pennsylvania coming off the heels of a monumental Wrestlepalooza! Championships changed hands, reigns were broken, and friendships were ended. Where do all your favorite ECW wrestlers stand after one of the biggest supercards of the year? What will Raven’s repercussions be for showing up when he was banned from doing so? Is Chris Candido still the ECW Television Champion? Who is the ECW Heavyweight Champion? What former WWF superstar has arrived in Extreme Championship Wrestling? Stay tuned to find out! 

ECW RESURGENCE 06/05/97 (Baldwin, PA)

1. Opening segment: Paul E. Dangerously and Todd Gordon, along with several other ECW officials, stood inside the ring ready to address the live audience as well as those watching at home. A hostile crowd dulled enough to a roar, allowing Paul E. to begin speaking. “Ladies and Gentlemen, as a representative and head booker of Extreme Championship Wrestling, I am here to tell you as well as the man known as Raven, that he has been officially terminated as well as banned from this company. Despite several warnings, as well as almost forcing our doors to close over a lawsuit, Raven decided to not only show up to Wrestlepalooza 1997, but to also run through and disrupt the ECW Heavyweight Championship bout between Terry Funk and Sabu. Raven, you have left me no choice. My hands, OUR hands, are tied.” Before Paul E. could continue, Todd Gordon asked for the mic. “Raven… If you could please come out here right now so we can clear this all up, it would really speed this whole process up. All we need is your signature on the discharge papers and you’re free to go. If you refuse to sign, I’m afraid you will be sued by Extreme Championship Wrestling for your actions as of late. None of us want it to come to this, so come on down and just scribble your name down…” Raven appeared at the curtain and headed toward the ring without entrance music. Getting into the ring, he grabbed the mic from Gordon and began to speak as thunderous boos flooded the arena. “Gordon, Paul, all three of us know, it is not going to go down like this. You’re not gonna’ kick me out forever just for doing what I want to do. You gonna’ kick Taz out because he wanted the belt from Candido? NO! How ’bout Terry, huh? You gonna’ kick Terry out for holding your damn strap as long as he did? NO! What about me, huh? What about Raven?” Raven paused to let the crowd get their ‘Raven sucks!’ chants out. “…Not as much as all your mothers do. Now listen up morons, I propose a deal. Let me fight for my contract. At ECW Barely Legal on June fifteenth, put me in the ECW Championship match. If I win, I get the belt and the opportunity to stay here. If I lose, I’ll go make millions for somebody else…” With another mic, Paul E. responded. “Raven, you know damn well that Terry Funk has decided to put his rematch into effect at Barely Legal. We have a match booked for the title already!” Raven shot back to him, “You know what I’m gettin’ at Paul, make it a three way dance! Put me in the match or I’ll sue this whole damn company for false termination!” Shocked and finally at his breaking point, Todd Gordon grabbed the mic from Dangerously and cut Raven off before he could say any more. “Acting as the president of this company, you got your damn match, Raven! You got it! But after, if you lose, I’ll see to it personally that you’re hauled outta’ here the second the bell rings!” Satisfied, Raven left the ring. Todd Gordon and Paul E. argued in the ring for several more minutes no doubt in disagreement over the situation.

2. In the opening bout of the night, the newly crowned ECW Television Champion Taz was able to defeat Chris Chetti. Not only did he defeat Chris Chetti but, he in fact destroyed him. The match went nearly three minutes long until Taz made Chetti tap out to the Tazmission. In his victory, he grabbed his belt from the referee and marched up the walkway with his manager Bill Alfonso. (2:47)

3. Saturn Interview: “After taking care of business with Tommy Dreamer this past weekend, Saturn is shifting his focus from Kronus and Brian Lee to the new Television Champion, Taz. Let me tell you something Taz, you may have faced some bad dudes in your time, hell, you may even be a bad dude yourself, but you’ve never faced a bad ass dude like me. Get ready to earn every second of being champ, because I’m coming straight for you. Nobody is safe from Saturn, not even a ‘Human Suplex Machine'”. With a sarcastic smirk, the video faded out.

4. Commercial break + Recap video showing highlights of Wrestlepalooza 1997.

5. In a grudge match from Wrestlepalooza, “The Franchise” Shane Douglas was set to face off against the man that eliminated him to win the Four-Way Dance, Mikey Whipwreck. Instead, Lance Storm came down to the ring with Mike Awesome. Confused and visibly annoyed, Douglas asked for a mic from ringside. “What the hell are you two doing down here? I’m getting really sick of your sh**, Storm… Awesome, did he put you up to this?” Douglas pointed to Storm. “… Look, either way, the Triple Threat has some issues. I know it. You aren’t helping a damn bit by coming down here like this though, I’ll tell you that. First Candido tries to move in on Francine and now, what the hell are you trying to pull?” Lance Storm calmly brought a microphone to his mouth and began. “Douglas, Mike and I have had it with you. Newsflash, okay. You’re a loser. 1997 has not been the year of “The Franchise” what so ever. You’re bringing us down and we refuse to go down with you. Listen, Whipwreck isn’t coming out here. You’re not facing him tonight. Tonight, you’re facing the man that picked Rob Van Dam apart last weekend, the man that is standing right next to me, Mike Awesome! …And Shane, if you can’t beat Mike, you’re out. You will be replaced with somebody who can easily fill your position and then some.” Douglas flew off the handle and began to yell. “YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME! I AM THE TRIPLE THREAT YOU SONS A BI*****! WHO DO YOU TWO THINK YOU ARE!? I’M THE F*****’ FRANCHISE!” As Douglas continued, Storm dropped to ringside and the bell rang. Awesome would catch Douglas in his fit of rage with a huge clothesline. The match ended up being pretty back and forth, to the point where both men were almost counted with their shoulders to the mat. Finally, after Douglas made a small mistake, Awesome was able to capitalize in the ultimate way by hitting an Awesome Bomb on him. He would pick up the win and as soon as the match closed, Lance Storm returned inside the ring with his microphone. “Shane, no longer will you disgrace the good name of the Triple Threat, and Francine if you know what is good for you, you’ll drop this loser too. Before we leave though, I want you to meet the newest Triple Threat member Douglas… Come on out!” Just then former-WWF superstar Bam Bam Bigelow rushed down to ringside. He proceeded to pick up a still groggy Shane Douglas, military press him, and heave him from the ring to about the third row of the crowd. After the new Triple Threat told the fans where they could shove it, they left the barrage of garbage being tossed and headed to the back. (13:55)

6. Danny Doring Interview: Without hesitation, Doring addressed the camera positioned slightly below him. “I know all the common street trash out there in the crowd have been on my case as to why I don’t wrestle unless theirs a TV camera floating around. They say, ‘Oh, well, he wouldn’t really be undefeated if he wrestled on EVERY ECW show just like everybody else…’ Blah, Blah, Blah cry me a river! Because the fact of the matter is this, is that Danny Doring is TV, baby. If it ain’t TV, it ain’t for me. Now, stop your little complaining Save it up, because next week I’ll be six and zero. Then, ya’ll can complain about that!”

7. Commercial break + ECW Hype Central for merchandise information.

8. ECW cameras picked up on a fight that had been going on backstage involving Kronus and Brian Lee against Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten tonight. The two teams began their brawl in the locker room of the arena and ended up all the way in the parking lot. It seemed that Kronus and Lee were able to hold their own pretty well against the obviously more hardcore duo of Balls and Axl. Kronus and Lee had been still patched up from their cage match at Wrestlepalooza, so it was obvious they weren’t fighting at their one hundred percent. The group made it to the bathrooms where Axl flushed Kronus’ head in the toilet in one of the stalls at the same time Brian Lee was trying to drown Balls in the sink. After brawling through the narrow halls, the bathroom and the locker room, the teams found themselves in the summer heat outside. After bouncing each other off a few cars, tossing a few full garbage cans and breaking a window of the arena, Balls and Axl were tossed into a dumpster unconscious, complements of Kronus and Lee. (12:20)

9. “Ravishing” Rick Rude Interview: “Hello, ECW parasites. The “Ravishing” one here with an update on my client. It seems as though my client has decided that who ever is able to win the Three Way Dance for the ECW belt at ECW Barley Legal on the fifteenth, will also have the pleasure of facing him for the championship at a later date. At the end of August, my client’s contract with Extreme Championship Wrestling is officially up, so before then, he will face whoever the champion happens to be after Barely Legal. Once that is done, we bring the Extreme Championship Wrestling Heavyweight belt up to the big leagues and let them do whatever that want with it! I’m grooming him to make millions for a billionaire in Atlanta and I’m sure that having the ECW belt in a grocery bag on the plane down will only sweeten the deal! Special delivery Ted, complements of Rick Rude!”

10. Commercial break + Reminder that ECW is holding it’s FIRST EVER pay-per-view, Barely Legal, on June fifteenth. Be sure to call your cable provider for ordering and start times!

11. Sabu defeated former ECW Television Champion Chris Candido in a good showing for both men. Candido was able to hang in there pretty steadily with the champ for the duration of the contest. The ending would arrive when Candido would underestimate a downed Sabu. As Candido went to the top turnbuckle, Sabu popped up and grabbed a chair from ringside. He threw the chair right into Candido’ face, who then lurched forward. Sabu then positioned himself on the apron next the corner that Candido had been sitting upon. Taking the chair, which had stayed around Candido’s head as it blew right threw the seat, he closed it again and leaped onto the top rope with the chair under his legs. Hitting an inverted Arabian Facebuster on the back of Candido’s head, he fell to the mat at the same time his opponent did. Following it up with an immediate Camel Clutch is would ultimately do Candido in, who became unresponsive due to the submission hold. Sabu would celebrate his victory with a classic of his, not performed in quite some time. He grabbed the bell keepers table, tossed it into the ring, set it back up in the middle of the ring and proceeded to dive on top of it from the top rope until it broke. Satisfied with his work, he taunted with his championship and left.

12. Joey Styles closed the show tonight by reminding the fans to tune in to Resurgence next week, as Bam Bam Bigelow is officially scheduled for action! Plus, the ECW Tag Team Champions return to action after their successful championship defense at Wrestlepalooza! All that and more in just one short week, when ECW Resurgence is back for some extreme action!