ECW Cyberslam 1996 2/16/1996

Written by: Kyle

Cyberslam 1996
02.16.96
Queens, New York
Your Host: Joey Styles

Opening Match: Bad Crew, Don E. Allen, the Dirt Bike Kid and Dino Sendoff.
This match basically is nothing and ends with Bad news crew hitting a chokeslam on Don E. Allen. Sandman hits the ring, and canes everyone as the crowd goes wild. Sandman grabs a mic, and says, “Let’s get extreme!”

Pablo Marquez v. Spiros Greco.
I looked up Spiros Greco online to see if there was any information about him, but they only thing mentioned is this match. Pablo hits a vertical dropkick, but Spiros gets the advantage, and stomps Pablo. Spiro hits a flying closeline, but only gets a two. Spiros hits a double chop that looked very weak, and I do not know if their giving him X-Pac heat or heel heat. “Who are you” chant breaks out. However, Spiros dominates the match. Hey, hat guy is there. Spiros hits a shoulder block followed by a side stretch, and with that, he gets the win @ 4:06. Nothing much to say about this one; it was just an extended squash.

Taz vs. Joel Hartgood
“Taz is going to kill you” chants break out. Taz does a beat down on this jobber. Taz hits a vicious closeline, and then a belly-to-belly Tazplex. Joel gets a sunset flip, but can’t remain on offense. The head drop tazplex, and then the tazmission ends it. Taz beat everyone down as they try to help this guy.Whipreck hits the ring and nails Fonzie. Mikey then beats down Taz, but goes to the top rope, and Taz hits a taxsuplex. Mikey gets put in the Tazmission. @ 2:30. Another match that makes Taz look strong for his year a waited match with Sabu at Barely Legal 1997 ½*

Joey is doing the TV intro, when the lights go out, and we are re-introduced to.Brian Pillman! He complains about being fired from WCW. He says that Eric Bischoff is each one of these smart marks rolled up into one. Pillman then says “smart marks”. He says what is a smart mark…A mark with a high IQ? He says a mark is a guy that believes that OJ didn’t do it, and a mark is each and one of you sorry bitches. Pillman says he is going yank out his Johnson and piss this entire place. Pillman goes to, but everyone hits the ring. He calls Heyman the “booker man”. They then say, “He’s shooting, he’s shooting. Pillman spits on a fan, and the fan goes for a punch, but Pillman duck, and then beats the shit out of him. Shane Douglas hits the ring, but Pillman runs. Douglas gets on the mic—and says, “Get that blonde piece of shit out of WCW—or I will beat his ass tonight”. One of the best promos I have ever seen. Pillman delivered that promo better than anyone ever could. They also did a great job of making this really look real as possible. Pillman got some great heat—and they did an excellent job with the beat down on the “fan”. Awesome delivery and truly one of the best segments I have ever seen.

Mr. Hughes vs. Buh Buh Ray Dudley.
This was the stuttering gimmick of Dudley in ECW. The match was very short, and ends with Big Dick jumping Hughes—and Ray hitting a top splash from the top @ 0:30. DUD

The Headhunters vs. The Bruise Brothers
They announced before the match that New Jack would not be here. They fight outside for a bit, then we head into the ring as a Headhunter hits a moonsault on Bruise Brother while the other Bruise Brother does something to the other Headhunter that the camera misses. Bruise Brothers are announced as the winners at 4:15. DUD

Tommy Dreamer and Beulah come out. Tommy says that Raven hurt his shoulder. Raven and his flock hit the ring. Raven says Dreamer should prepare to die. The bruiser Brothers come out to help Dreamer, but end up turning on him by joining Raven’s flock. They crotch Dreamer a few times on the ring post; then they leave.

JT Smith v. Axl Rotten
They brawl to the outside; Axl nails him with some weapons in the head. Axl chokes JT with a rope. Axl is nailing him with wood and other objects. JT smith recovers and hits Axl with a blind-sided chair shot. JT attacks hat-guy. Axl gets back on the offense, but misses with a big splash in the corner. Axl comes back, but JT fires back. JT hits a scoop slam, and struts around. He grabs a chair, and goes up to the top. He trips, but it is on purpose. Axl turns his back—and JT Smith nails him with the chair. JT then does a beatdown after the match—and hits the moonsault with the chair perfectly. Hack Myers makes the save. @ 8:30. Garbage brawl as you expect. Axl dominated most of the match by using weapons. I loved the finish, and it showed how much of a genius Heyman was. *3/4

Dog Collar Match: The Eliminators/Stevie Richards vs. Pitbulls/Francine.
Richards takes the chain off, and attacks Pitbulls. Richards hangs Pitbull II. Elim. hit a superplex followed by a big splash from the top. Richards goes for a cover, but doesn’t get it. Double leg sweep on Pitbull by Eliminators. Pitbull tries coming back, but Stevie Kick to the back of Pitbull’s head. Pitbull tries to establish another comeback, but Stevie-kick to the head. On the outside, Pitbulls take control of the match Pitbull II. They do some more garbage brawling on the outside. They go out in the crowd. Later on, the Eliminators get the pin @ 12:00. Not a bad brawl. They did a good job of letting the heels get some heat by beating up women, and getting a 3-2 advantage on it. I really thought Stevie Richards gimmick was great at this time. The Eliminators were a good tag team, and in my opinion one of the best overall tag-teams in ECW. They had a great character—being these sick-os, psychotic, do not give a crap heels—that got them good heat with a hard crowd to get over. **

TV Title: Sabu vs. 2 Cold Scorpio
Sabu tries to get an advantage, but 2 cold kicks him in the face. Sabu then gets a chair, and uses it to hurt 2 Cold. Sabu sets up the chair as 2 Cold is on the outside, and Sabu uses the chair to jump out of the ring. Back in the ring, Sabu goes for a cover, but only gets two. Scoop slam by Sabu followed by springshot knee-drop. 2 Cold escapes a powerbomb; then hits one of his own. Scoop Slam followed by a big top rope leg drop. 2 Cold talks some crap to the fans, and gets a chair. Back in the ring, 2 Cold beats down Sabu, and sets up a chair. 2 Cold hits a bulldog onto the chair. Both men exchange blows, but 2 Cold gets the advantage. 2 Cold goes for a bulldog, but Sabu counters. Sabu then uses the chair, jumps off and closelines 2 cold over. Back to their feet, Sabu hits a senton off the ring. Sabu grabs a chair, and clocks him with it. Back in the ring, Sabu hits a springboard kick to the face, but only gets two. 2 cold recovers, and hits a super kick. 2 cold grabs the chair, and runs into Sabu with it. 2 Cold works over Sabu, but Sabu counters a Rockbottom. Sabu hits a victory road. ONE-TWO-THRE-NO. Sabu puts in the camel-clutch. 2 Cold battles back, but Sabu hangs on. 2 Cold drops him, but Sabu puts in a sleeper hold. 2 Cold gets out and kicks him in the nuts. 2 Cold hits him in the nuts, again. 2 Cold hits him with a pizza pan, and then smashes him with a set up table. 2 Cold sets up for a superplex, and delivers, but only for 2. Sabu makes a comeback, and hits a splingshot moonsault. 2 Cold goes up and hits moonsault, but Sabu got his knees up. 2 Cold still makes a pin, but gets two. Sabu hits him with a chair; then puts the chair under his but. 2 Cold recovers, and drills him with the chair. 2 Cold calls for a TS Piledriver, but plants him forward. 2 Cold then hits a run in rebound of the top rope splash. 2 Cold pulls Sabu’s nuts into the rope. 2 Cold plaints Sabu with two boots to the face. 2 Cold misses a splash from the top. Both wrestlers are down. Sabu tries going up, but 2 Cold hits a sunset flip. ONE-TWO-NO. 2 Cold goes up to the top rope—but Sabu cuts him off. Sabu is going and hits a victory roll from the top. ONE-TWO-THR-NO. 2 Cold still remains on the offense. Irish whip, but Sabu holds on. Sabu throws 2 Cold over. Suicide-dive to the out side. Sabu hits a couple closelines, and then puts in an armbar. 2 Cold then gets another advantage, and starts working over Sabu. Sabu hangs on from the F-5 and both go to the floor. Sabu hits a moonsault, but Sabu catches the guardrail. Sabu gets the table and puts 2 Cold on it. Sabu goes in the ring, sets up the chair, jumps on the chair, and then jumps on 2 Cold. Huge ECW chant breaks out. 2 Cold is back up, and hits Sabu with a chair. 2 Cold goes for cover, but only gets 2. 2 Cold brings him back up, and sets up for a powerbomb. Sabu tries to block it, and flips in Franken Steiner. Sabu hits a moonsault press, but only gets two. Sabu goes for a moonsault, but misses. 2 Cold is back on offense and hits a powerbomb. 2 Cold goes for a moonsault into a leg drop, and gets it. ONE-TWO-THRE-NO. 2 Cold goes for a top rope leg drop and hits it with the chair on his face. ONE-TWO-THRE-NOOOO! 2 Cold goes up but catches a chair to the face. Sabu hits a Frankensteiner, but only gets another nearfall. Double closeline. 2 Cold gets up, and hits a 450 splash, but doesn’t go for a cover. He goes back up to the top with the chair, but misses. Sabu goes for a springboard with the chair on the face, and nails it. 30 seconds remain. Slingshot summersault. Sabu sells the left leg. ONE-TWO-THRE-NO. 2 Cold hits out, and there is the bell @ 30:00. When I saw this match, I was very little so I did not remember how great it was, but I heard tons of praise of it on the Internet. At first, the match was slow—and the pacing felt like it was going nowhere. 2 Cold was just hitting a couple moves; then Sabu would get some offense, but 2 Cold would get back on the offense and hit a move pause hit a move pause and so on. But once they got in the groove it was all smooth sailing from there. So many great spots in this match, that it would be hard to name them all. Sabu was excellent in the role he played, and he did not botch once. Sabu sold the knee effectively all the way through the course of the match. I did not really like how 2 Cold sold, though; all he did was get hit by Sabu’s moves, and get up before him. I do not think that selling is that believable. However, 2 Cold and Sabu clicked at the end, and put a good string of dramatic near-falls and counters at the end to get you on the edge of your seat. ****

Shane Douglas vs. Cactus Jack.
We start with Shane attacking Jack right of the bat. Shane Douglas hits a closeline with the necktie. Shane Douglas keeps beating down Foley. Foley tries to walk it off, and grabs a crutch and nails Douglas with it. Douglas beats down Douglas some more. Foley is reppin’ the cowboy boots tonight. Shane Douglas then goes up and flies Macho Man style with the double-axe-handle. Douglas is taking it to Jack. Shane Irish whips Jack into the corner and beats the crap out of him. Douglas hits a leg drag on Foley. The crowd wants Foley to die. Douglas blocks a suplex; then hits one, and crashes Foley into the guardrail. Douglas goes high and over the guardrail. OH MY GOD!!!!! Back in the ring, Douglas is a snapmare take over, and traps the chair in his foot. Off the top the rope, and onto the chair. Douglas works over the right knee, and hits elbow to the head. Foley comes back elbow to the chin, boot to the face and a chair to the back. Foley walks around, but then attacks Douglas. Slingshot into the ropes. Foley drives an elbow to the throat to Douglas, followed by another. Foley is working him over with boots to the temple. Styles says you can smell that hatred these two have for each other. Foley is driving some forearms to the end. Finger nails across Douglas’ back. Foley works over Douglas some more with some forearms. Douglas falls outside. Foley uses the table to trap Douglas, and drives an elbow. Foley hits drop toehold into the chair, but only gets a dos. Foley hits a Piledriver. ONE-TWO-NO. Douglas hits Foley with handcuffs, and Douglas set up his Best Friend not for Life. Douglas uses the chair to kill Douglas. He gets on the stick, and tells Foley to get up, so he can kick his ass. They ask if he wants to quit, and he says no. Foley tells Whipreck to get his ass out here. Douglas puts in the figure four. Mikey comes in—and knocks Foley out with the chair. Douglas gets the pinfall @ 15:45. This would end up setting up Whipreck-Foley for his farewell match. Not the best technically sound match, but they got the point of the match over well. This match just proves that Foley can put a good match on with just about anyone. Foley really did a good job of adding some drama in the match; he also took some really brutal chair shots at the end, which would be later copied by WWF in Rumble 1999.*** ¼

ECW Championship: Raven vs. Sandman.
Raven attacks Sandman off the bat. Raven knocks Sandman over, and jumps on him. Raven hits him with a chair, but Sandman reverses and Irish whip into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Sandman hits a delayed vertical brain buster. The whole flock comes in the match; they bump the ref twice. Richards hits a Stevie kick, but only for two. Raven botches a move, but pushes Sandman into the chair. Raven DDT on the chair. ONE-TWO-THREE. @ 8:30.Post match beatdown occurs. Heyman knew he needed to overbook this one because there was no way Sandman and Raven could have put off anything other than a DUD. However, this was not much better than a DUD. They tried the bag-of-tricks to add drama, but it really did not add much drama into the match. It was just excessively sloppy to get into at all. Too bad these two never clicked in the ring because the rivalry was booked great, but when it came time to deliver in the ring, it failed badly. 1/4*

Going Home: A huge mix bag tonight, but the good was remembered more in my head than the bad. I loved and thought the Pillman worked-shoot was done perfectly. I really enjoyed the Sabu-2 Cold match, and thought the Foley-Douglas match was great also. Their was some crappy stuff in the midcard, which is an easy pass, and the mainevent was an epic fail, but I still think there is enough good stuff to give this a solid thumbs up.