Written by: Bob Colling
Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 1/17/1995
From: Philadelphia, PA
Matches:
1.) Paul Lauria defeated Mikey Whipwreck
2.) Al Snow defeated Osamu Nishimura
3.) The Pitbulls defeated Bad Breed in a losing team breakups match
Angle Developments:
1.) Raven starts the program with a promo. He says that the world of kings and queens will steal your dreams. Kurt Cobain left behind tortured souls and suggests Tommy Dreamer be aware.
2.) Lauria is jealous of what Whipwreck has accomplished in wrestling as they were once tag partners. Early on, Whipwreck dominates Lauria with backdrops and they both go flying over the top with a clothesline by Mikey. While on the floor, Whipwreck uses a chair on Paul until the referee stops him. Whipwreck charges towards Lauria but is dropped throat first across the guard railing. Lauria kept control with a gut buster in the ring. Whipwreck plants Lauria with a bulldog and gets a near fall with a rollup but that momentum ends with a low blow. Lauria tries to get a submission with a bow and arrow dragon sleeper but Whipwreck refuses to give in. Mikey is sent to the floor where Jason nails Whipwreck with a kick to the face. Lauria leaps off the apron to splash onto Mikey. Lauria misses a splash against the railing and flies into the crowd. Whipwreck goes to the top rope and leaps off to dive onto Lauria who is standing in the third row! Back in the ring, Whipwreck nearly wins with a side Russian leg sweep. Mikey rams Lauria groin first into the ring post. Jason is punched off the apron by Whipwreck. Jason kicks Whipwreck from the apron and Lauria goes to the top to hit a bulldog. Lauria covers and gets the three count. (**. It could have been a lot worse. I’m kind of surprised that Whipwreck lost the first match he was not an underdog in. Obviously, Mikey would recover from this match pretty well.) After the match, Whipwreck attacks Jason until Paul stops that with several chair shots.
3.) Extreme Encyclopedia covers the Bad Breed and Pitbulls. They just put over their brawling style and thirst for blood.
4.) Joey Styles gives us a rundown of the Chris Benoit/Sabu feud. Benoit broke Sabu’s neck at November to Remember. Along with Dean Malenko, Benoit separated the shoulder of Ron Simmons.
5.) Snow and Osamu shake hands prior to the bell to show respect for one another. They start off with some mat wrestling, which Snow got the better of the exchange. Osamu gets some offense in as he focuses his offense on the left leg with kicks. Osamu locks in a figure four but Snow isn’t interested in giving up. Snow mounts Osamu and they trade stiff forearm shots on the canvas. Osamu nearly wins with a German suplex but Snow kicks out at two. Snow comes back with a wheelbarrow suplex! Snow plants Osamu with a sit out spine buster and the fans appreciate the action as Snow gets a near fall on the cover attempt. Osamu fights back with a dropkick followed by a missile dropkick from the top. Osamu heads to the top a second time to deliver a second missile dropkick but only gets a near fall. Osamu gets another near fall following a German suplex. Snow drops Osamu across the top rope and heads to the top to deliver a guillotine leg drop which is good enough for a three count. (**1/2. Some decent action between these two guys. Snow doesn’t have a personality at this point for ECW, but he can certainly wrestle and Osamu was a solid performer as well.)
6.) Outside somewhere, ECW World Tag Team Champions Public Enemy cut a promo. They shoutout Sabu and Taz, who could never beat them. They also provide a shoutout to Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko, because they don’t mind being the second team behind them. They claim to be the New Generation and thank Vince for the shoutout. They taunt Paul Heyman as well.
7.) All four men in the main event quickly start brawling on the floor and Axl Rotten uses a frying pan on Pitbull #1. Axl breaks a hockey stick over Pitbull #1 back. In the ring, #1 uses a chair on Axl to gain control of the match but misses a splash in the corner and crashes to the floor. Axl whacks #1 over the head with a steel chair a couple of times followed by a cookie sheet. Ian clotheslines #2 for a near fall as they are finally focused on in the match. Ian and #2 are beating each other up with weapons on the outside. #1 nearly pins Axl after an elbow strike from the middle rope. Axl delivers a big clothesline to #1 while #2 whacks Ian with a chair in the corner. Ian plants #2 with a DDT onto a chair. Bad Breed have #2 alone in the ring but #2 counters a power bomb from the top with a hurricanrana and pins Ian as Axl is oblivious to it! Bad Breed has to breakup. (1/2*. It’s a garbage brawl and that’s all it is.) After the match, Ian clotheslines Axl on the floor and attacks his brother with a steel chair. The show goes off the air with Ian destroying his brother and former partner.
Final Thoughts:
A couple of solid matches on the program made it an easy watch, though the main event was pretty bad. Should be interesting to see how ECW develops that they do have a talented roster by this point.
Thanks for reading.