Written by: Bob Colling
Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 5/16/1995
From: Tampa, FL
Matches:
1.) Raven defeated Tommy Dreamer in an extreme death match
2.) ECW World Champion The Sandman defeated Cactus Jack to retain the title
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Cactus Jack comes over and is interviewed by Joey Styles. Jack will get another shot at ECW World Champion Sandman this week with Shane Douglas as the special referee. Jack talks about Shane Douglas having a broken heart since losing the championship and thinks that Douglas is a broken man. Jack says that Douglas has a weakness for the gold and says that Douglas is the link to his journey to the ECW World Championship. Cactus compares him winning the title to Douglas being mad that Jack screwed his ex-girlfriend and was able to do it better.
2.) Raven hits a quick dropkick to knock Dreamer off the apron and works over Tommy on the floor with several chair shots. Dreamer sends Raven into the railing and hits a bulldog on the floor. Dreamer whacks Raven over the head with a cooking sheet. Dreamer smashes Raven with eggs as the fans are going nuts for the action. Dreamer whacks Raven with a pan but is stopped by a low blow from Raven. Raven drops Dreamer throat first across the guard railing. They brawl towards the backstage area with Raven hitting various shots and a dropkick as they head to the bleachers. Raven is busted open as he attempts a piledriver on the floor but Dreamer counters with a backdrop and whacks Raven over the back with a steel chair. Dreamer sends Raven over the railing as they are back at ringside.
Dreamer uses a cheese grater on Raven on the floor and sets a table up on the floor but Raven sends Dreamer into the table and hits a suplex on the floor. Dreamer low blows Raven with the cheese grater in the ring and sets up a chair in the ring. Tommy goes for the DDT and plants Raven on the chair! Dreamer knocks Stevie Richards off the apron and gets a two count on Raven. Raven runs into a big boot in the corner but hits a power slam onto the chair and pins Dreamer. (**1/2. As per usual, it’s a decent brawl with these two, but the finish just seemed a little dull to me.) After the match, Stevie Richards spits on Dreamer, but Tommy gets up and plants Richards with a DDT! Dreamer plants the referee with a DDT as well. Beulah gets up and confronts Dreamer hitting him with a slap. Dreamer plants Beluah with a piledriver! Raven gets up and whacks Tommy from behind with a chair! Raven hits the DDT on Dreamer! Tommy fights back with several strikes on both Raven and Richards. Luna Vachon enters the ring and attacks Richards to help Dreamer! Dreamer backs into Luna but Luna makes out with Dreamer!
3.) Backstage, Tommy Dreamer and Luna Vachon cut a promo. Dreamer says he sees fear in Raven’s eyes because he has someone from his past in Luna Vachon. Dreamer says that Luna has always been hardcore. Vachon says she is the woman who has stood in the shadow of many men. She is going to now stand next to her man. Luna says her rage will be taken out on Raven and Richards. She is rather difficult to understand.
4.) Shane Douglas is the special referee for the main event between Cactus Jack and ECW World Champion The Sandman.
5.) Jack backs Sandman into a corner and backs away due to Douglas counting to five. Sandman knee lifts Jack but is met with right hands from Cactus. Jack sends Sandman to the floor and quickly goes out to follow ignoring Shane’s direction. Jack nails Sandman over the head with a trash can to drop the champion. Jack has a chair as well and whacks Sandman over the head with it. Douglas comes to the floor and grabs the chair to allow Sandman to hit Cactus with a trash can. Shane prevents Sandman from using the kendo stick. Cactus takes Sandman down to the canvas and hammers away on Sandman followed by a leg drop for a one count. Sandman sends Jack to the floor and they brawl on the outside for a few moments. Sandman drops Jack with a back elbow and chokes the challenger to maintain control of the bout.
Woman is choking Jack with the kendo stick from the floor. Sandman takes Jack over with a vertical suplex and dumps Cactus to the floor. Sandman chokes Cactus over the bottom rope but is backed away by Douglas and Woman hits Cactus in the face with the kendo stick. Woman continues to use the kendo stick on Jack, but Douglas sees her and ejects her from the match. Cactus sends Sandman over the top to the floor and hits Sandman over the back with a chair. Sandman nails Jack with a trash can on the floor. They return to the ring as does Douglas. Cactus rams Sandman head first into the corner but Sandman low blows Cactus. Jack comes back and drops a leg across Sandman on the apron for a two count. The fans think that Douglas was doing a slow count.
Jack hits a swinging neck breaker but Douglas clearly delivers a slow count as Jack only gets a two count. Cactus plants Sandman with a piledriver but Douglas continues to screw over Jack on the cover attempts. Cactus hits the double arm DDT but Shane finds a way to delay the count and Sandman kicks out at two. Jack hammers away on Sandman in the corner and the bell has been called for by Douglas. Douglas tells the ring announcer that Jack has been disqualified for not backing out of the corner due to constant right hands. (**1/4. The finish makes sense since they are going with the three way feud, but the fans weren’t happy with it. The action was okay, but it’s just the typical brawl you’d expect. I’m far more interested in a Douglas/Jack match than I have been for the Sandman/Jack matches.)
Final Thoughts:
Two strong matches and two strong feuds advanced on the program this week. This was a fine episode of ECW Hardcore TV, I thought.
Thanks for reading.