ECW House Show 2/2/1996

Written by: Bob Colling

Extreme Championship Wrestling House Show
Date: 2/2/1996
From: Reading, PA

There were two matches that weren’t recorded from this show. The first bout was the opener that saw Mr. Hughes team with Bad Crew to defeat Axl Rotten, Hack Myers & El Puerto Ricano in a six man tag match. The second bout was a match between ECW TV Champion 2 Cold Scorpio and ECW Tag Team Champion Mikey Whipwreck. Scorpio won the bout.

Opening Contest: Taz vs. The Shark Attack Kid: It’s basically an exhibition for Taz as he dominates Kid throughout the match with submission holds and suplexs. Kid hits a dropkick and tries to get some momentum, but the fans aren’t buying into that at all. Taz hits a middle rope overhead belly to belly suplex and locks in the Taz Mission to win the match quickly. After the match, Taz taunts some fans after they chant for 911. Tod Gordon comes out to ringside to confront Taz and Bill Alfonso.

Prior to the next match, Stevie Richards, Blue Meanie and Cactus Jack do some strutting until Shane Douglas and Tommy Dreamer get the match started.

Second Contest: ECW World Champion Raven & Stevie Richards vs. Shane Douglas & Tommy Dreamer: Dreamer power slams Richards and Douglas hits a sloppy looking middle rope clothesline. Richards gets control driving his head into the lower midsection of Douglas. Raven enters and works over Douglas with strikes in the corner. Douglas stops Raven with a big boot and Dreamer tags in but Raven bails to the floor. Richards tags in to try his luck and kicks Dreamer in the midsection. Richards hits a sit down splash but Dreamer gets up and takes Stevie over the top with a clothesline. On the floor, Douglas sends Richards face first into a steel chair. Douglas drops Richards throat first across the guard railing. Dreamer low blows Richards and tags in Douglas where they double team Richards briefly. Richards gets low blowed by Douglas and Douglas hits a pump handle slam for a two count. Douglas continues his offense with a fallaway slam. Dreamer tags in and spikes Richards with a piledriver for a two count. Raven enters and Dreamer gets pulled to the floor by Meanie. Dreamer sends Meanie into the railing and sends Raven into Meanie. Richards gets met with a double backdrop in the ring.

Douglas heads to the top rope and hits a big splash onto Richards before tagging in Dreamer. Dreamer delivers a knee drop to Stevie’s groin. Richards hammers away on Douglas until an atomic drop stops that. Raven enters and nails Douglas with a clothesline for a two count, despite not being tagged in. Raven drives his head into Shane’s groin for a two count. Richards tags back in and knee lifts Douglas to the mat. Raven tags back in and hits a running bulldog on Douglas for a two count. Douglas has a pin on Raven but Cactus Jack distracted the referee. Raven drives Douglas face first into the canvas. Douglas is sent to the floor and sent into the railing. Douglas low blows Raven but Jack delivers a chair shot over the back. Richards scoop slams Douglas and heads to the top rope missing a swanton bomb. Raven controls Douglas with a fist drop but misses a middle rope attempt. Douglas tries to tag in Dreamer but continually gets stopped. Douglas plants Richards with a belly to belly suplex and manages to tag in Dreamer. Dreamer has a cooking sheet and knocks the heels out with it. Richards boots Dreamer but runs into a power slam which gets a two count. Dreamer has a piece of wood and plants Stevie with a DDT onto it for a near fall. They are brawling on the floor with Dreamer hitting Raven and Meanie with a metal object. Richards is in the ring with Douglas and Shane manages to hit a piledriver onto the wood for the win. (**. This is very basic with minor usage of weapons. There wasn’t much crowd enjoyment in this one, either.)

Third Contest: The Pitbulls vs. The Headhunters: Well, this should be mostly a brawl and weapon shots, right? The Pitbulls are controlling the match with weapon shots on the floor and Pitbull #2 hitting a dive onto one of the Headhunters. This is rather brutal to sit through as neither team is all that great when it comes to actually having to wrestle. Headhunters hit a big splash/leg drop combo but Pitbull #1 breaks up the cover to save his partner. Pitbull #1 tries a scoop slam but can’t lift the Headhunter completely. Headhunter with a power bomb and gets a two count on the cover attempt. Headhunter misses a middle rope elbow drop and Pitbull #2 gets the hot tag. Pitbull #2 power slams both Headhunters. Pitbull #1 attempted a middle rope back suplex but gets landed on by the Headhunter instead. Francine gets involved on the floor and is met with a headbutt a couple of times. Pitbulls are trying for a Super Bomb in the ring but are having trouble with the big man so they barely hit the move and were better off not doing it anyway. (1/2*. This went on forever it felt like. The ending got some heat on the Headhunters, but the action here was pretty bad.) After the match, the Headhunters attack the Pitbulls and hit a moonsault on Pitbull #2 followed by a big splash onto Pitbull #1.

Fourth Contest: Bubba Ray Dudley vs. JT Smith: Dudley attacks Smith from behind after trying to pronounce his name. Dudley hits a dropkick and plays to the fans. Dudley misses a splash in the corner and is nearly pinned by a rollup. Smith clotheslines Dudley over the top to the floor. On the floor, Smith whacks Dudley over the head with a steel chair. Dances with Dudley stops another chair shot and hits Smith over the head with it. JT tosses Dances over the railing into the crowd. JT takes Bubba over with a gut wrench suplex. Bubba runs over Smith with a clothesline for a two count. Bubba misses a splash off the middle rope. Smith leaps off the top to hit a spinning heel kick. JT attempts a piledriver but Bubba backdrops out of it. Bubba drives Smith down with a power bomb for the win. (*. It wasn’t all that exciting or all that fun here. Some decent moves but it was complete filler for the show.)

Fifth Contest: The Eliminators vs. Chris Jericho & Rob Van Dam: Jericho and Saturn kick off the bout with Saturn slapping Jericho and taunting him afterward. Jericho gets a two count on a rollup and soon trades arm drags with Saturn leading to a standoff, which the fans appreciate their speed. Jericho tags in Van Dam who works over Kronus with a few strikes. Kronus handstands to avoid RVD and they have a standoff. All four men are involved now as Jericho takes Kronus out with a cross body to the floor. Jericho is sent into the guard railing. Van Dam and Jericho taunt the Eliminators and their taunt in the ring. Kronus works over Van Dam with kicks in the corner and hits a suplex for a two count. Van Dam takes Kronus down but gets stomped by Saturn. Jericho gets into the match to help but Saturn hits a swinging neck breaker for a two count. Van Dam with another suplex and tags in Jericho who hits a top rope splash for a two count on Saturn. Jericho sets Saturn up and hits a vertical suplex. Saturn drops Jericho with a spinning heel kick. Saturn drops Jericho gut first across the top rope. Eliminators drive Jericho down to the canvas for a two count. Jericho fights back with a few kicks and tags in Van Dam. Kronus is met with a double clothesline and gets dropkicked. Van Dam with a series of kicks to drop Kronus to the canvas. Jericho whacks Saturn with a few weapons from the floor.

Van Dam focuses his offense on the left knee of Kronus. Jericho tags in and continues the same offensive focus. Jericho has the left leg trapped in a leg lock in the middle of the ring but Saturn enters only for Van Dam to stop him in the corner. Van Dam distracts the referee to allow Saturn to hit Jericho with a metal weapon. Saturn uses Kronus to hit a standing moonsault on Jericho and a slingshot back suplex. Eliminators nail Jericho with a double leaping shoulder block for a two count. Kronus slams Jericho and hits a somersault leg drop. Eliminators hit a top rope cross body double team move. Saturn plants Jericho with a double under hook power bomb for a two count on Jericho. Saturn has a leg submission on Jericho but Van Dam enters to stop Saturn from getting a tap out. Jericho hits a German suplex on Saturn for a two count. Jericho decks Saturn with a clothesline for another near fall. Jericho hits a springboard moonsault for a near fall as Kronus broke up the pin attempt. Kronus tags himself in and keeps control of Jericho until Jericho kicks Kronus in the head. Van Dam leaps off the top to deliver a kick and a moonsault for a near fall. Van Dam slams Kronus and this another split legged moonsault for a two count. Eliminators hit a side slam/leg drop combo on Van Dam. Jericho knocks Saturn off the top and Van Dam nearly pins Kronus with a rollup. Van Dam slams Kronus and both Jericho and Van Dam head to the top both hitting splashes but Kronus kicks out at two. Kronus hits an overhead belly to belly suplex on Jericho for a two count. Total Elimination to Jericho and that’s good enough for a three count. (**1/2. An average match that I was hoping to be a lot better than what was provided here. Eliminators going over is the best option considering they are an actual team and are going to be an important act by the end of the year.)

Main Event: ECW Tag Team Champion Cactus Jack vs. Sabu: Jack controls Sabu on the canvas early on as the fans voice their displeasure with Cactus leaving ECW for the WWF soon. Cactus keeps a front face lock on Sabu for a few moments before dropping back down to the canvas. Fans are not liking this start, and I’m right there with them. Cactus continues to take Sabu down to the canvas and they aren’t doing a lot here. Cactus stomps on Sabu to keep him on the mat. Sabu dropkicks Cactus to the floor and goes for a dive but Cactus decides to go under the ring to avoid that. Cactus misses a clothesline and goes over the top to the floor. Cactus still avoids another dive attempt by Sabu. Cactus gets on the microphone and says he isn’t going to risk a million dollar contract with this freak and decides to leave. Cactus is brought back to the ring by Shane Douglas and Sabu hits a springboard heel kick. Sabu hits a moonsault as well. Cactus stops Sabu with a power bomb, and that’s all there is for the match. Yeah, that’s just great…. Anyway, Cactus would win.

Final Thoughts:
As you can tell I’m not thrilled by the tape not including the full Cactus/Sabu match, but it wouldn’t have saved the show from being one of the worst ones I’ve watched. The crowd didn’t seem into much of what was going on and action was certainly lackluster here.

Thanks for reading.