Written by: Bob Colling
ECW on TNN
Date: 7/14/2000
From: Philadelphia, PA
Matches:
1.) Tajiri defeated Mikey Whipwreck
2.) The Sandman & Jerry Lynn defeated Rhino & Steve Corino
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Joey Styles and Joel Gertner open up the show at the ECW Arena. Gertner delivers his usual sexual poetry and the fans eat it up. Raven comes out at the conclusion and is met with a good crowd reaction. The fans are chanting that Raven sold out, which he did again, by signing with the WWF. Raven simply says thank you and hugs the guys and is going to leave but Cyrus and Scotty Anton come out and stop that from happening. Cyrus says the speech brought a tear to his eye. Cyrus notes that Raven made the fans happy in this building and the fans respond with a “thank you Raven” chant. Cyrus believes that Raven stole his gimmick from the Jackal, which was the gimmick Cyrus used in the WWF. Cyrus says that Raven conceded to the Network and prevents him from leaving. Scotty Anton attacks Raven and apparently it is a match. Raven plants Anton with a DDT and Cyrus is unaware. Cyrus begs off but Raven has him and avoids a GORE from Rhino, but not a second one. Rhino attacks Raven with several stomps and a table is brought into the ring and Rhino GORES Raven through the table in the corner when the Sandman enters and whacks Rhino with a kendo stick several times. Sandman’s wife is in the ring and attacks Cyrus as well! Anton has the Clap on Raven on the aisle way and taunts the fans. That was an explosive start to the show, honestly.
2.) Backstage, Bill Alfonso and Rob Van Dam hype up a new move that RVD will debut a new move. The move is named the VanTerminator and Anton will be the first to feel it.
3.) Backstage, Gary Wolfe says he is back in ECW and says that while Rhino beat him up he showed he is badder than he was before. We see Blue Meanie and Jasmine St. Claire in a bathroom stall and they leave the stall. Blue Meanie has changed his name to Blue Boy and he begins to make fun of Gary Wolfe. Blue Boy calls Wolfe fat and thinks that Wolfe has been giving birth to some puppies. Wolfe calls Jasmine a whore shoves Boy into the stall. Wolfe threatens Boy but Jasmine low blows Wolfe and Gary is on the bathroom floor. Jasmine says she needs a shot after touching Wolfe.
4.) Whipwreck hammers away on Tajiri to open the bout but is soon met with a quick kick to the jaw. Tajiri counters a Whippersnapper but Whipwreck follows up with a side Russian leg sweep. Tajiri avoids a slingshot leg drop on the apron and Tajiri kicks Mikey off the apron and onto the railing. They brawl on the floor sending each other into the railing. Whipwreck hits a slingshot elbow drop into the ring and has a wrench in his mouth. Tajiri hits a handspring back elbow and delivers a kick to the head that knocks Mikey out for a moment. Whipwreck counters a tornado DDT but get green mist to the face and Tajiri nearly wins with an inverted tornado DDT. Tajiri locks in an octopus and Whipwreck gives up. (**. A fast pace match and a good showcase of Tajiri being a dominating force with his quick kicks. It’s clear that these two have some chemistry and a longer match could provide some great results.)
5.) Backstage, Francine is with ECW World Champion Justin Credible to cut a promo. Francine teases the fans with her breasts and strokes a kendo stick when Credible cuts a promo about the Stairway to Hell. Credible says they are going to get hurt and they are going to bleed. Credible reminds us that he will beat Tommy Dreamer and walk away with the ECW World Championship. Credible’s face looked rather swollen for some reason.
6.) Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger cut a promo about being sick of being treated as a joke. CW Anderson enters the ring and suggests they get rid of the comedy. Anderson shows them how he takes care of comedy. CW proceeds to take out Simon’s group of misfits and decks a chick with a left hand and a spine buster. Diamond and Swinger turn on their crew and side with Anderson. Anderson calls out anybody that wants a piece of them and here comes Roadkill and Doring. Roadkill and Doring clean house with strikes. Swinger nails Doring with the Swing Thing but Roadkill continues to fight until Anderson nails Roadkill with a chair and Doring is planted with the Problem Solver. The same happens to Roadkill. Bobby Eaton runs down into the ring and cleans house on Diamond and Swinger with swinging neck breakers. CW challenges Eaton and they trade a few strikes. Eaton gets stopped with a super kick by Anderson. That’s an effective way to make the trio a serious group.
7.) Backstage, Simon Diamond and Swinger are ready to talk about what just happened. Diamond asks how many more times do they need to beat Doring and Roadkill. Swinger says they have beaten them so many times that their wives don’t want to choke their chickens anymore. CW Anderson says that the comedy is over and suggests we find out what happens when a tag team associates themselves with an Anderson.
8.) The main event is billed as a dream partner tag team match. Rhino and Corino attack Lynn and during the attack Lynn reveals a beer in his towel. Lynn kicks the heels away and opens the beer to hit Rhino with it and that leads to the Sandman running out with a kendo stick but Corino delivers a super kick and Rhino whacks Sandman several times with the stick. Lynn clotheslines Corino to the floor and baseball slides a chair into Corino’s face. Lynn takes Corino out with a slingshot cross body to the floor. Sandman sends Rhino into the guard railing and all four men brawl on the floor. Lynn is brawling with Corino in the crowd and whacks Corino over the head with a steel chair. They are back in the ring where Lynn plants Corino with a reverse DDT onto a chair for a near fall. Rhino spikes Lynn with a piledriver but Sandman makes a save on the cover attempt. Sandman whacks Rhino over the head with a kendo stick and hits a white Russian leg sweep. Corino delivers a reverse neck breaker onto Sandman for a near fall. Cyrus enters and hits Lynn with a microphone to allow Corino to deliver a super kick for a two count. They go to the apron where Corino hits a reverse DDT off the apron and onto a table, which doesn’t break. Corino comes off the apron with an elbow drop. Spike Dudley comes out and hits a 3D with Sandman on Rhino and Sandman pins Rhino! (*1/4. A rather uninspiring match as they never found a groove and it felt like a brawl that didn’t have any sort of direction. The finish felt out of nowhere as Spike has been off TV for a few months with a broken leg, which is in a brace on this show. Nonetheless, I think Sandman needed a pin fall on Rhino to continue their feud or give fans hope head into the PPV.)
Final Thoughts:
They did a fine job of getting Diamond, Swinger and Anderson to be more serious acts. The in-ring stuff this week wasn’t all that good, but I felt like the show did a solid job of hyping up the pay per view.
Thanks for reading.