ECW Hardcore TV 1/16/1996

Written by: Bob Colling

Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 1/16/1996
From: Philadelphia, PA

Matches:
1.) Rey Mysterio Jr. & 911 defeated The Eliminators
2.) Bubba Ray Dudley defeated Jimmy Del Ray
3.) 2 Cold Scorpio defeated ECW Television Champion Mikey Whipwreck to regain the title (match was heavily clipped on TV)

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) The show kicks off with ECW’s favorite and only host at the time, Joey Styles standing in the ring at the ECW Arena welcoming us to House Party 1996. Styles is quickly interrupted by Bill Alfonso who goes on a tirade and makes no sense, yet is very entertaining at the same time. Alfonso asks for mic time for Taz, for better signs in the crowd and apparently he hates Joey Styles, Tod Gordon, the fans….oh and 1976?!? Actually it’s a funny bit, until Styles can take no more and begins to yell at Alfonso, leaving him at a loss for words…but not long. The two begin to argue until Taz enters the ring and corners Styles. Taz makes some threats to Joey until 911’s “Frankenstein” theme begins to play. Out comes 911 AND Commissioner Tod Gordon. Tod decks “referee” Bill Alfonso, and as Taz goes to deck the Commish, 911 catches Taz in mid swing. Before we can get an epic Taz/911 altercation the wrestlers from the back break it up. (Credit: Inside Pulse, House Party ’96 Review)

2.) Misterio tries a bodypress on Kronus but is caught & slammed. Kronus misses a moonsault on Rey, then Saturn tries and he too misses on Misterio. Rey Rey fires back with a springboard moonsault onto both Eliminators. Misterio walks the ropes and delivers a simultaneous headscissors and armdrag to take both Eliminators to the floor. Misterio now delivers a moonsault to the concrete and nearly cracks his skull in the process. Back in Rey hits a series of Luchadrags and Head scissors on Saturn. This is the longest 911 has ever sold, but it’s probably because he’s blown out quite frankly. Rey is finally cut off and thrown to the floor where the Elim’s manager Jason Knight delivers a few shots. In the meantime Taz has returned to the ring and chokes out 911 with a towel. The crowd chants for Sabu but will have to wait another 10 months for that altercation. Saturn throws Misterio bak inside and Kronus delivers a standing moonsault on Rey for a 2 count. 911 by this point is humiliated and pissed. 911 gets to his feet and throws Saturn across the ring. Kronus powerbombs Rey Rey while 911actually hits a SUPLEX on Saturn. The Eliminators regroup and yet again hit TOTAL ELIMINATION on 911. Taz again attacks 911 and chokes him with a towel. I believe somewhere around here Rey or Kronus goes through a table but the camera guy misses it. Saturn now powerbombs Rey. The Eliminators shoot Misterio off but he counters with a double DDT. All 4 men are back up and Rey climbs onto 911’s shoulders and challenger the Eliminators to a chicken fight (kinda gay if you ask me). The Eliminators accept (of course they would), and this all sets up Rey leaping off of 911’s shoulders and hitting a huracan rana on Saturn off of his own partners shoulders. Definitely a site to see. Misterio covers Saturn while a groggy Kronus stumbles around the ring and we have a 3 count. After the match, Rey Mysterio Jr. falls victim to Total Elimination. Taz brawls with 911 again and the Pitbulls toss Jason Knight out of the ring before attending to Francine who was hurt during the segment.

Thoughts: Kinda Messed up to push Rey in a Tag Team match and kind of kill the Eliminators heat at the same time. But then again at this point Paul didn’t know Rey was WCW bound. This match was all Rey vs.Eliminators, 911 was as minimal as it gets. He was there to put over his upcoming feud with Taz which never got off the ground, because he too would work a few matches for WCW.

Rating: Good spotfest by Misterio, but the Eliminators were still far from the team they would become. Too short to be anything more than ** (Credit: Inside Pulse, House Party ’96 Review)

3.) After the Bubba/Del Ray match… Mr. Hughes is now on the mic talking to the Dudley’s. Hughes says he had someone who can teach Buh Buh proper English and out comes the Dean…er I mean “The Franchise” Shane Douglas mocking his English Teacher gimmick from the WWF. Shane throws up the Triple Threat sign and I know he is NOT saying Del Ray & Hughes are his Triple Threat, that’s like Paul Roma in the Four Horsemen bad. Anyhow Shane slaps Buh Buh for his bad English then tells the crowd the Franchise is back to a large pop. This was a really strange segment and way to bring Douglas back but eh well. (Credit: Inside Pulse, House Party ’96 Review)

4.) The next segment see’s Joey Styles interview “Dancing” Stevie Richards,the Blue Meanie & Beulah McGuillicutty. Stevie states he is no longer “Dancing” but now “Studly” and “The King of Swing” after being kissed by Missy Hyatt just weeks before. Stevie talks a bit more and tries to hit on Beulah. McGuillicutty pushes Stevie away and Richards asks her why. She states the reason why is because she’s pregnant. This brings Raven back out. Raven calls Beulah an idiot for getting pregnant to which she replies “What do you care, it’s not yours!”. Raven quickly looks at Stevie and attacks him until Beulah tells him it’s not Richards either….it’s TOMMY DREAMER’S!!!

Holy Shit, Raven flips out and goes after Beulah only to be saved by Tommy Dreamer. Beulah lays out Stevie and the Meanie with a baking sheet while Tommy nails Raven with a cardboard sign….but not just any sign…it’s a stop sign wrapped in cardboard. Dreamer then piledrives Raven on a blueberry pie and the new couple go off to celebrate. Good twist to the nearly year long feud. (Credit: Inside Pulse, House Party ’96 Review)

5.) Tommy Dreamer closes the program with a promo on Raven. He learned how to love Beulah and will be there for his kid. Dreamer is up one when it comes to their game. Dreamer enters the hotel room and Beulah is laying in bed saying “I wanna feel your pain.” Oh dear lord, that was great.

Final Thoughts:
Well, it’s obviously a memorable episode in large part to the bombshell by Beulah that she is pregnant and it’s Tommy Dreamer’s the hated rival of Raven. Scorpio winning the TV title back is perfectly fine since Whipwreck will be busy with the tag titles and the TV strap doesn’t need to be lost in that, really. A very solid episode once again for ECW, I’d say.

Thanks for reading.