ECW House Show 9/19/1997

Written by: Bob Colling

Extreme Championship Wrestling House Show
Date: 9/19/1997
From: Blackwood, NJ

Opening Contest: Jerry Lynn & PJ Walker vs. Little Guido & Tracy Smothers: Guido and Smothers go on the attack before the bell but that doesn’t last too long as Walker and Lynn hit dropkicks. Lynn leaps off the top to cross body Guido on the floor and that fires up the crowd. Lynn hits a tilt a whirl back breaker on Guido for a two count. Lynn attempts a dropkick but Guido holds onto the ropes and Smothers gets the tag but is taken down to the canvas. Walker tags in and hip tosses Smothers. Walker hits a springboard forearm shot for a near fall. Credible leaps off the top to hit a cross body. Lynn enters and they hit a double dropkick on Smothers for a two count. Lynn accidentally knocks Walker off the apron sending PJ to the floor. Guido and Smothers hit a side Russian leg sweep combo. PJ seems to be upset with Lynn for that. Guido scoop slams Lynn and tags Smothers back into the ring. Smothers slams Guido onto Lynn. Lynn continues to be double teamed by Guido and Smothers. Smothers hits a leaping spin kick while Walker is upset on the outside still. Guido hits a slingshot splash onto Lynn for a two count. Lynn dropkicks Smothers from the middle rope and goes to tag Walker, but Walker pulls his hand back. Smothers misses a splash in the corner and Lynn goes for the tag but Walker flips Lynn off and leaves the ringside area. Lynn hits a leaping clothesline on both Guido and Smothers. Lynn dropkicks Smothers and takes Guido over with a hurricanrana. Guido hits a side Russian leg sweep while Smothers delivered a super kick and that’s good enough for a three. (**. The turn by Walker was rather evident just based on his body language. Some decent action, but more of an angle advancement between Lynn and Walker instead of a stellar match.) After the match, Lynn challenges Walker to a singles match tomorrow night.

Second Contest: Chris Candido vs. Chris Chetti: Candido is taken down to the canvas and Chetti plays to the crowd. Chetti takes Candido down to the canvas again until a rope break ends the momentum. Chetti hip tosses and arm drags Candido a few times keeping control of the left arm. Chetti hammers away on Candido and hits a standing hurricanrana. Candido stops Chetti in the corner with a few rights but Chetti battles back with strikes. Chetti hip tosses Candido out of the corner and wrenches on Candido’s arm. Francine grabs Chetti’s leg but Chetti takes Candido out with a cross body to the floor. On the floor, Candido sends Chetti into the guard railing. Candido takes Chetti over with a snap suplex and gets a two count. Candido plants Chetti with a gut wrench slam for a near fall. Candido stops Chetti with a quick clothesline after getting out of a sunset flip pin attempt. Chetti hits a cross body but Candido kicks out at two and kicks Chetti to the canvas. Chetti fights back with a power bomb but doesn’t go for the cover. Chetti heads to the top and misses a somersault leg drop attempt. Chetti spikes Chetti with a sick piledriver and heads to the top rope. Candido misses a diving head butt and Chetti hammers away on Candido before hitting a backdrop. Chetti dropkicks Candido and hits a swinging neck breaker for a two count. Chetti splashes Candido in the corner and crotches Candido on the top rope. Chetti hits a superplex but only manages a near fall. Chetti goes to the top but is crotched by Francine. Candido hits a double under hook suplex from the top and wins the match. (***. There was some good action here and it’s competitive which is always a good thing. They kept the action constant and I enjoyed the action provided.)

Third Contest: ECW TV Champion Taz vs. Roadkill: As you might expect, Taz controls the bout taking care of business on Roadkill, which is exactly what the fans want. Naturally, as soon as I type that sentence Roadkill tosses Taz into the guard railing and ring post to get the advantage. Roadkill gets a few near falls including one after a snap power slam. Roadkill heads to the top rope and hits a big splash for another two count. Taz fights back with an exploder suplex and a German suplex. Taz locks in the Taz Mission and wins the bout.

Prior to the next match, Jerry Lynn runs down and attacks PJ Walker and Jason Knight. Lynn takes Walker and Knight out with a cross body on the floor.

Fourth Contest: Jason Knight vs. Blue Meanie: Jason returns to the ring and is pinned by Meanie in three-seconds.

Fifth Contest: ECW Tag Team Champions Dudley Boys vs. Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney: Rotten and Mahoney go right after the Dudley Boys before the bell. Mahoney knocks Bubba down in the ring and on the floor Rotten brawls with D-Von. Axl whacks D-Von over the head with a steel chair. Mahoney super kicks Bubba and D-Von gets another chair shot over the head. Balls misses a cross body and goes over the top to the floor. Bubba and Mahoney brawl in the crowd with Bubba getting the better of the exchange. Bubba hits Mahoney with a trash can but is met with a low blow. Mahoney whacks Bubba with a steel chair. Mahoney plants Bubba with the Nutcracker Suite in the ring and Axl hit a frog splash for a near fall. The referee is taken out with a splash in the middle of the ring. Mahoney and Rotten whack the champs with chairs but there isn’t a referee to count the fall. Sign Guy Dudley throws powder in the challengers face. Big Dick drops both men with a choke slam. Mahoney suffers the 3D moments later. Rotten avoids the 3D and jabs the champions a few times followed by a clothesline. Big Dick choke slams Axl. Here comes New Jack to make the save along with John Kronus. It’s apparently turned into a three way tag match as Rotten and Mahoney are brawling with Jack and Kronus. I don’t believe there was a finish to the match as they brawled to the back and Jack cuts a promo. Kronus: “I don’t give a fuck about Perry Saturn.”

Sixth Contest: Bam-Bam Bigelow vs. Spike Dudley: Bigelow tosses Dudley across the ring. Bigelow sends Spike chest first into the corner and taunts the fans. Bigelow takes Spike down with a vertical suplex. Bigelow goes for a press slam but Spike lands on top and hits a DDT. Spike leaps off the top to hit a bulldog and dropkicks Bigelow over the top through a table on the floor. Spike attempts a cross body but is caught and Bigelow rams Spike back first into the ring post. Bigelow leaps off the top and splashes onto Spike for the win. (**. Yeah, that was a very quick match but highly entertaining.)

Seventh Contest: ECW World Champion Shane Douglas vs. Mikey Whipwreck: Douglas works over Mikey in the corner with strikes but Mikey battles back with chops and a backdrop. Douglas rolls to the floor to regroup. Mikey takes Douglas out with a slingshot cross body to the floor. Mikey sends Douglas through the middle rope to the floor. Mikey baseball slides Douglas chest first into the guard railing. Mikey continues with a slingshot rolling neck snap back into the ring. Douglas leapfrogs over Mikey and acts like he just hurt his knee. Mikey doesn’t care all that much as he goes on the attack on the left knee. Whipwreck has an Indian death lock on the champion but isn’t able to get a submission. Mikey continues to work over the knee by locking in a figure four leg lock, but isn’t going to get a submission. Mikey gets a few quick near falls after a cross body. Douglas drives Mikey down to the canvas with a vertical suplex. Douglas continues his offense with a neck snap. Douglas drives Mikey down to the mat with a gut wrench slam. Douglas continues to control the match with a back suplex. Douglas goes to the top but is crotched by Mikey. Whipwreck gets control and brings Douglas to the mat with a superplex for a near fall. Mikey nearly wins with a standing hurricanrana. Mikey gets another two count following a leaping forearm smash. Mikey knocks Douglas to the apron with a super kick. Francine tries to get involved but is knocked down by Mikey. Whipwreck hits a missile dropkick and almost gets a three on the cover attempt. Douglas sends Mikey into the corner and hits a belly to belly suplex to retain the title. (***. I liked the match as Mikey had some entertaining offense and believable near falls. Yeah, the finish was anticlimactic considering Douglas didn’t have much offense, but I was entertained by the whole bout.)

Main Event: The Sandman & Tommy Dreamer vs. Rob Van Dam & Sabu: Sabu runs down to attack Sandman and give RVD the cheap advantage. Sabu puts a chair on Sandman and along with RVD hit a splash/leg drop combo. They do another one this time from the top rope. Tommy Dreamer comes out and makes the save brawling with RVD. Dreamer is splashed in the corner by both Sabu and RVD. Dreamer recovers and splashes Sabu in the corner. Dreamer dropkicks the chair into Sabu in the corner. Sandman and RVD are brawling on the floor. Dreamer clotheslines himself and Sabu over the top to the floor as the match has become a tag team brawl. Dreamer clotheslines Sabu out of a chair. Sabu hits a split legged moonsault on Dreamer for a two count. Sabu kicks Dreamer off the top rope to the floor. Sabu dives off the top rope and onto Dreamer in the crowd. Sabu places Dreamer on a table across the railing and apron. Sabu springboards off the top rope and splashes Dreamer through the table! Sabu tosses a chair at Dreamer in the corner and hits a splash in the corner. Dreamer nails Sabu with a clothesline off the middle rope to counter a springboard splash attempt. Dreamer plants Sabu with a Death Valley Driver and heads to the top rope. Dreamer hits a top rope frog splash but here comes RVD and he accidentally hits a frog splash on Sabu. Dreamer has the cover but RVD pulls him out of the ring. RVD kicks a chair into Dreamer’s face and Sabu hits the triple jump moonsault to get the victory. (**. It’s fine for what it was, but I was kind of disappointed that we didn’t get the advertised Sandman/RVD singles match as this was mainly just Dreamer/Sabu, which was originally advertised anyway. You’ve probably seen this hardcore stuff a million times and it’s not all that exciting.)

Final Thoughts:
There’s some decent action on this one and it’s a strong lineup with all of the top guys being used, and the crowd was rather vocal for the action, making this an easy watch. Candido/Chetti and Douglas/Whipwreck stand out as the best matches, but they aren’t must-see.

Thanks for reading.