ECW House Show 11/1/1996

Written by: Bob Colling

Extreme Championship Wrestling House Show
Date: 11/1/1996
From: Staten Island, NY

Opening Contest: Bubba Ray Dudley & Spike Dudley vs. D-Von Dudley & Rick Rage: D-Von gets a good amount of heat from the crowd before the match even starts. Spike starts the match against Rage delivering right hands and attempts a cross body but is caught. Rage takes Spike down with a fallaway slam to gain control of the match. Rage rams Spike head first into the corner. Rage plants Spike with a power slam as he came off the ropes for a near fall. D-Von tags into the match and works over Spike for a few moments. D-Von decks Spike with a clothesline. Spike ducks a clothesline to take D-Von down with a hurricanrana. Bubba tags in and slaps D-Von followed by right hands. D-Von cuts Bubba off with an eye rake but Bubba is able to hit an ace crusher for a two count. They boot each other in the midsection. D-Von hits a Fame Asser on Bubba and has a chair. D-Von heads to the top rope but is crotched by Bubba. D-Von still breaks the plastic chair over Bubba’s head. D-Von comes off the middle rope but Bubba dropkicks the chair into D-Von’s face. D-Von blocks a chair shot but gets stopped by a low blow. Bubba whacks D-Von with the chair over the back before tossing him over the top to the floor. Spike is brawling with Rage until Bubba clotheslines Rage. Bubba plants Rage with a side slam and Spike jumps off of Bubba’s shoulders on the middle rope to splash Rage for the win. After the match, D-Von attacks Spike and Bubba with a chair. Rage power bombs Spike and here comes the Gangstas to make the save and brawl. The attack continues for a few minutes as Jack comes off the top to hit Rage with a chair. D-Von and Big Dick Dudley brawl toward the backstage area. (*1/2. It was an alright opening match with the right team going over. I was glad they kept it relatively short.)

Second Contest: Devon Storm vs. Pitbull #2: Doug Furnas is on the promo sheet to be wrestling here instead of Storm, but I don’t know why he didn’t compete. Storm attacks Pitbull before the bell and hits a somersault dive to the floor. Storm uppercuts Pitbull a few times before sending him into the guard railing. Storm sits Pitbull on a chair and chokes him with a sleeper hold. Storm comes off the apron to hit a clothesline. Storm continues to work over Pitbull with a chair shot over the back before getting back into the ring. Storm drives Pitbull down with a side slam and comes off the top hitting a moonsault. Pitbull decides to no sell it and Storm tries to escape but fails. Pitbull press slams Storm followed by a clothesline. Pitbull clotheslines Storm over the top to the floor and falls outside with him. Storm tries a cross body off the top but is caught and put on the top turnbuckle where Pitbull hit a fallaway slam for the win. (*1/2. It wasn’t too bad but it clear that it was just going to put Pitbull over. Storm looked good and fits the ECW style, so surprises me that he didn’t stick around longer for ECW.)

Third Contest: Mikey Whipwreck & Davey Taylor vs. the Erotic Experience: Well, the Erotic Experience is Chris Chetti and another guy that I’ve never seen before. The fans have no idea who they are either. Davey Taylor would be better known as Kid Kash. I even tried to find out who teamed with Chetti and apparently nobody knows. This went about nine or so minutes and Whipwreck got the win following a top rope hurricanrana on Chetti.

Fourth Contest: Tod Gordon vs. Bill Alfonso: Alfonso goes on the attack and beats Gordon down on the floor. Gordon gets up and enters the ring where Alfonso delivers a clothesline. Gordon pops up and low blows Alfonso followed by another clothesline. Gordon gets kicked away but blocks a right hand and chops Alfonso in the corner. Gordon chops Alfonso several times, which just didn’t look very manly or firm. Gordon beats on Alfonso around ringside with a chair and Alfonso is busted wide open. Alfonso is able to dump Gordon through the ropes to the floor. Gordon comes back with a cooking sheet and whacks Alfonso over the head with it. Taz punches Gordon from the floor to help out Alfonso. Alfonso covers Gordon for the win. (NR. I can’t give this a rating since it was just comically bad. The finish is fine since Gordon isn’t a wrestler and getting knocked out by Taz is realistic.) After the match, Taz get a microphone and thinks that ECW has a conspiracy against him and that Gordon just experienced karma. He calls Sabu a pussy. He knows that Sabu won’t come out and face him. He believes that Sabu doesn’t have a heart.

Fifth Contest: Steve Williams vs. 2 Cold Scorpio: Neither man can get a clear cut advantage in the early moments of the contest. Scorpio gets control of the left arm of Williams and the fans don’t seem overly excited about the action. Williams decks Scorpio with a right hand to break free from the hold. Williams shoves Scorpio and gets slapped for doing so. Scorpio tries a shoulder block but Williams doesn’t budge until Scorpio hits a leaping shoulder block. Williams catches Scorpio with a power slam for a two count and Scorpio rolls to the floor. Scorpio comes back in and controls Williams on the mat focusing ion the knee but Williams counters with an arm bar. Fans are really crapping on the match for being slow. Scorpio kicks Williams out of the corner and super kicks Williams to the floor. Williams landed on the announcers table and the cameraman thought that was hilarious. Scorpio sends Williams over the railing into the crowd. Williams sends Scorpio into the guard railing before returning to the ring. Williams runs into another super kick in the corner. Scorpio slams Williams and hits a twisting splash off the top for a near fall. Scorpio continues with a knee drop and a top rope moonsault but Williams kicks out again at two. Scorpio signals for a 450 it looks like. Williams catches Scorpio with a power slam in midair for a near fall. Williams rams Scorpio into the corner and hits a running power slam for a two count. Williams finishes Scorpio off with a sit down power bomb. (*1/2. The early part of the match wasn’t all that good and rather boring. Scorpio doing some aerial stuff helped the match and the closing few moments ended the match on a good note. It looked like they won over the fans by the end of it.)

Sixth Contest: ECW Television Champion Shane Douglas vs. Louie Spicolli: Spicolli controls Douglas early on with a headlock but Douglas gets out of it rather quickly. Douglas is sent to the floor as Spicolli gets out of a hammerlock. Spicolli hip tosses Douglas but Douglas bails to the floor to regroup. Douglas blows snot on a few fans from the apron as they were taunting him. Douglas pokes Spicolli in the eyes and delivers several right hands to get control. Douglas attempts a belly to belly suplex but Spicolli blocks it. Douglas settles for a headlock on the canvas. Spicolli drives Douglas down to the mat with a back suplex and a clothesline. Spicolli tries for the Death Valley Driver but Douglas held onto the referee. Spicolli clotheslines Douglas to the floor and hits a baseball slide. Spiclolli rams Douglas onto the announcers table head first and flips the table over. Spicolli shoves Francine away on the floor and Douglas cheap shots Spicolli. Francine kicks Spicolli on the floor several times while the referee was distorted. Louie appears to be bleeding from the head. Douglas rams him head first into the post for good measure. Douglas goes for a cover but Spicolli kicks out. Spicolli hammers away on Douglas but Douglas comes out of the corner with a swinging neck breaker. Douglas sets Spicolli up and hits a delayed vertical suplex for a two count. Douglas continues with a standing dropkick as Spicolli appears to be losing a good amount of blood as it’s all over Douglas too. Douglas removes the top turnbuckle pad and rams Louie face first into the steel. Spicolli nearly wins the match with a quick rollup but Douglas gets up and stops him with an elbow strike. Douglas sets up two chairs in the ring and power bombs Spicolli onto them! Douglas has the cover but Spicolli kicks out at two! Spicolli plants Douglas with a spine buster! Douglas pokes Spicolli in the eyes but Spicolli connects with a fisherman suplex for a near fall. Louie backdrops Douglas followed by a belly to belly suplex but Francine distracts the referee. Spicolli would have had the victory but he gets up and Francine gets powder out of her dress. Spicolli tries for the Death Valley Driver but the powder is thrown in his face. Spicolli plants the referee with the move instead on accident. Here comes Pitbull #2 to chase off Douglas after Douglas hit a tombstone on Spicolli. So, this match ends in a no contest. (***. I enjoyed this quite a bit, actually. There was some good action going on and they told a good story. These two worked well together and I think Spicolli would have been a really good choice to win the TV Championship at some point. Easily the best match on the show to this point.)

Seventh Contest: Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. Perry Saturn & John Kronus: RVD and Sabu shove each other before the match. Saturn hammerlocks Sabu to start the match but they trade a few hip tosses and arm drags before having a standoff after failed dropkicks. Kronus tags in to try his luck against RVD. RVD works over Kronus with a few strikes and a strike to the midsection followed by a scissors kick for a two count. RVD ducks a clothesline but is soon met with a power slam for a two count. Kronus shoves RVD into the corner and delivers a spin kick. Kronus tosses RVD with a pump handle suplex. Kronus tags in Saturn who connects with a scissors kick of his own for a two count. Sabu gets tagged in as RVD quickly bails to the floor. Sabu hammers away on Saturn before taking him down to the canvas. Saturn fights out of a leg lock and clubs away on Sabu’s back. Eliminators hit a double dropkick on Sabu as Kronus legally tags in to slam Sabu. Kronus connects with a moonsault off the middle rope. Kronus continues with a snap suplex for a near fall. Sabu sends Kronus into the corner and attempts a springboard but they mess that spot up. Sabu ends up hitting a springboard leg drop and RVD messes up leaping off the top rope to clothesline Kronus. This is all kinds of messy. RVD hits a rolling thunder leg drop for a near fall on Kronus. RVD heads to the top and leg drops Kronus for a near fall as Saturn broke up the cover. RVD comes off the ropes with a spinning heel kick. Sabu is nailed by a spinning heel kick and Saturn drops Sabu across the top rope. Saturn hits a springboard clothesline to knock himself and Sabu to the floor. Kronus takes them out with handspring moonsault to the floor.

RVD takes the Eliminators out with a somersault dive to the floor. Sabu tosses a chair into the ring and gets a table as well. Sabu tries to springboard off a chair but Saturn jumps and destroys the chair. They battle on the apron where Saturn wants a German suplex through the table. Sabu counters with a tornado DDT to put Saturn through the table instead. RVD comes off the top to kick Kronus for a near fall. Kronus handspring elbows RVD in the corner for a near fall as Sabu breaks up the pin attempt. Kronus kicks RVD in the ribs but RVD kicks him to the corner. Saturn and Sabu tag in with Saturn hammering away on Sabu. Saturn dropkicks Sabu in the corner. Sabu stops Saturn with a jaw breaker followed by a split legged moonsault. Sabu slams Saturn and hits a slingshot splash while RVD hit a slingshot leg drop for a two count. RVD drop toe holds Saturn and puts a surfboard on Saturn. Kronus stomps on RVD to save his partner. Saturn clotheslines RVD followed by a few strikes. Saturn slams RVD and goes to the top rope. Saturn hits a diving elbow drop and tags in Kronus who hit a big splash for a two count. Kronus tosses RVD across the ring. Kronus continues with a double under hook sit down power bomb. Saturn enters without a tag and stomps on RVD before getting a rollup for a two count. Saturn plants RVD with a power slam for a near fall. Sabu punches Saturn to allow RVD to deliver a leg sweep, but RVD gets dragged to the corner. Eliminators hit a double spinning heel kick for a near fall. Kronus and RVD collide on double clothesline attempts.

Saturn and Sabu tag in and Sabu works over Saturn in the corner. RVD steals Sabu’s thunder kicking Saturn from the middle rope followed by a splash for a two count. Kronus scoop slams RVD for a near fall. Sabu has a chair and tries for springboard but completely loses balance and falls tot the floor. Sabu kicks both Kronus and Saturn followed by a scoop slam on Kronus. Sabu hits a triple jump moonsault but Saturn makes the save on the cover. Saturn plants Sabu with a sit out vertical suplex. RVD nails Saturn with a spinning heel kick and Sabu connects with a splash. Sabu gets kicked by both Saturn and Kronus before being dumped to the floor. RVD ducks a double clothesline but Saturn comes off the ropes with a kick. Sabu comes off the top to hit a double DDT for a near fall. The bell sounds and it appears the match ends in a draw. Both teams want five more minutes. All four men brawl in the ring with Sabu hitting Saturn with a standing hurricanrana. RVD power bombs Kronus and Sabu uses a chair on Saturn. Saturn kicks Sabu to the floor and decks RVD from behind. Saturn press slams Sabu followed by a springboard moonsault for a two count. RVD hits a split legged moonsault on Kronus with a chair on him. They are all trying to pin each other but unable to get a three count. All four men are in the ring brawling where RVD and Saturn have rollups but the bell sounds again. So, this is going to end in a draw for real this time. (*1/4. Aside from a few spots, this was a sloppy match and just didn’t click well at all. They were just doing stuff for the heck of doing stuff and the continued draw nonsense was annoying. I don’t understand why some people love these matches because it just fails to deliver more times than not.) After the match, they brawl backstage to end nonsense as Saturn and Kronus declined the offer.

Main Event: ECW World Champion The Sandman & Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven & Brian Lee in a steel cage match: Stevie Richards, Super Nova and Blue Meanie attack Sandman and Dreamer on the floor before the match starts. Lee sends Dreamer face first into the cage and Meanie does the same to Sandman. Lee rams Dreamer into the steel cage door. Lee whacks Sandman and Dreamer over the head with an object. Lee tosses Sandman into the cage while Raven works over Dreamer in the ring. Lee sends Sandman into the cage again. Now all four men are in the cage. Raven sends Dreamer into the cage. Sandman gets rammed into the cage, too. Lee big boots Dreamer and does the same to Sandman as Raven held him. Raven gets a two count for a near fall. Raven and Lee take Dreamer down with a double suplex. The same happens to Sandman. Sandman’s music has played the entire time the match has been going on. Dreamer gets rammed into the cage shoulder first. Raven dumps Dreamer through the cage door to the floor. They finally turn off the music as Raven sends Dreamer into the guard railing. Raven works over Dreamer hitting him over the back with a chair. Raven sends Dreamer into the guard railing and plants him with a DDT on the floor. Raven gets into the ring and that has Sandman battling a 2 on 1 situation. It looks like Sandman is busted open in the cage. Raven kicks Dreamer to prevent him from getting into the cage. Raven sends Sandman into the cage head first. Lee tosses Dreamer into the guard railing. Dreamer sends Lee into the railing followed by a chair shot. Raven works over Sandman until a low blow stops that. Dreamer gets crotched on the railing by Lee.

Sandman sends Raven into the cage face first. Lee continues to brawl with Dreamer on the floor for a few moments. Blue Meanie gets into the cage to splash Sandman from behind and Raven has the cover but Sandman kicks out at two. Raven whacks Sandman over the head with a kendo stick several times. Raven misses a kendo stick shot and Sandman plants him with a DDT for a near fall. Lee misses a clothesline and goes for a choke slam but Sandman hits him with the kendo stick. Sandman plants Raven with another DDT but Raven kicks out at two. Lee boots Sandman and here comes Stevie Richards to help out. Richards hammers away on Sandman as Lee holds the champ. Richards super kicks Dreamer against the cage. Richards misses a super kick and nails Lee on accident. Raven almost pins Sandman after another DDT. Nova is in the cage stomping on Sandman. Dreamer gets into the ring with a kendo stick and whacks the heels with it. Lee choke slams Dreamer and Raven almost pins Sandman. Raven is sent into the referee in the corner and Lee splashes everyone in the corner. A table is brought into the cage. Lee sets up the table and grabs Sandman. Raven puts Sandman on the table and puts the champ through it with a piledriver. Dreamer plants Lee with a choke slam of his own. Dreamer takes Raven down with a DDT. Sandman rolls over and covers Raven to win the match. After the match, Brian Lee decks Sandman with a kendo stick several times. Raven tosses Dreamer through the table. Lori and Tyler are at ringside rooting this all on, I should note. Raven tosses Sandman into a chair in the corner. Sandman and Dreamer are left laid out to basically end the show. (**1/2. A solid cage match that had some good brawling. I didn’t mind the interference and whatnot. Some people might be annoyed with there being brawling at ringside and not sticking to the cage, but I liked it here. Plus the hardcore aspect and blood made it enjoyable.)

Final Thoughts:
It’s basically a two match show with neither of the two good matches being must-see. The Eliminators tag match with Sabu and RVD took forever and was just really sloppy. Despite that, I’m left here not comfortable saying it was a bad show. I’ll say it was an average house for ECW.

Thanks for reading.