ECW House Show 3/18/2000

Written by: Bob Colling

Extreme Championship Wrestling House Show
Date: 3/18/2000
From: Salem, NH

ECW has gotten a significantly higher attendance for this show compared to their show last night in Worcester. It’s reported to have 3,000 fans in attendance and is an ECW on TNN taping. There were two matches on the show that were aired on ECW television so I won’t cover them here. Those matches were…

ECW Television Champion Super Crazy vs. Tajiri in a death match
Tommy Dreamer vs. Vic Grimes.

Have no fear though. Those matches have been reviewed and can be found HERE. Lets check out the rest of the show, shall we?

Steve Corino and Jack Victory make their way down to the ring to open the show. Corino has a bull rope and cuts a promo about destroying Dusty Rhodes on pay per view. Corino believes he is the new American Dream in ECW. Corino said that the PPV should have been the greatest night of his career. He notes that Dusty has gotten 53 stitches to due his beating. Corino gets in HC Loc’s face and says he’s going screw with him everyday. Loc isn’t afraid of Corino because Dusty Rhodes kicked his ass as did New Jack. HC Loc wants to kick Corino’s ass too. The fans wanna see Loc kick Corino’s ass tonight but that’s not going to happen tonight. Well that’s not going to happen and instead Chilly Willy is going to compete against Loc. This is interesting since last night Willy was a face and now he’s a heel.

Opening Contest: Chilly Willy vs. HC Loc: Loc is competing in his referee clothing and gets dropped with a short arm clothesline. Willy takes some time to taunt the fans. Willy plants Loc with a sit out scoop slam. Willy chokes Loc over the middle rope and Corino gets a few cheap shots in from the floor. Willy scoop slams Loc and heads to the top rope but Loc press slams Willy to the canvas. Loc connects with a spinning heel kick followed by a power slam. Loc comes off the middle rope but misses an elbow drop. Willy gets the cowbell from Corino. Loc avoids a shot and whacks Willy with it before counting his own pin for the win. (*1/4. Unlike the previous night, if you’re going to do this kind of segment then the good guy has to go over. Judging by the rest of the card this is how they used Corino who is probably the top heel or close to it and it has to be seen as a waste of usage for him.)

Second Contest: Chris Chetti & Nova vs. Prodigy & Mikey Whipwreck: Prodigy attacks Chetti before the bell but gets dumped to the apron. Whipwreck jabs Nova but is left in the ring and Chetti hits a scissors kick after Nova delivered an atomic drop. Nova takes everyone out with a cross body on the floor. Prodigy gets hip tossed and splashed by both Chetti and Nova. Simon Diamond runs away from Nova but doesn’t get involved in the match. Nova gets tripped by a guy on the floor and taken to the mat by Diamond on the other side. Prodigy hammers away on Nova until Whipwreck drops Nova chest first across the guard railing. Chetti kicks away Diamond’s manager to help Nova on the floor. Prodigy continues to control Nova with a clothesline and stomps in the ring. Whipwreck jabs Nova against the ropes and drop toe holds him across the bottom rope. Mikey follows up with a slingshot leg drop over the bottom rope. Mikey nearly wins the match with a side Russian leg sweep. Prodigy tags back in and works over Nova with basic strikes. Nova drops Prodigy with a power bomb turned elbow drop. Chetti and Whipwreck get tagged in with Chetti clearing the ring with kicks to both opponents. Chetti hits a sit out vertical suplex on Prodigy for a near fall. Chetti drops Prodigy with another kick. Chetti hits a sit out Death Valley Driver. Nova comes off the top with a swanton. Chetti baseball slides a chair into Diamond’s manager on the floor. Mikey has left the ring to leave Prodigy by himself. Chetti crotches a guy and Nova hits a sit down backpack driver for the win. (*1/2. They had some good pacing and kept my interest although it’s a completely forgettable match.)

Third Contest: Kid Kash vs. Little Guido: Early on, Guido takes Kash down to the canvas but Kash is able to quickly get out of any mat wrestling holds and they have a standoff. Kash delivers a boot to the midsection and shoulder blocks Guido. Kash is met with an elbow strike but comes back with a dropkick to regain control. Guido gets backdropped to the apron and Kash decks Guido to the floor. Kash takes Big Sal out with a springboard somersault dive to the floor. Guido stops Kash on the apron and drops Kash face first off the top to the canvas for a near fall. Kash baseball slides Big Sal and goes to the top attempting a cross body but Guido counters with a cross arm breaker for a near fall. They begin to trade chops with Guido driving Kash down with a back suplex. Guido works over Kash with chops against the ropes. Kash nearly wins with a springboard cross body for a two count. Guido boots Kash in the corner and comes off the middle rope to hit a leg drop for a near fall. Guido charges the corner and monkey flips Kash. Kash takes Guido down with a snap power slam. Kash gets distracted by Big Sal and gets dropped across the top rope. Guido takes Kash down with a side Russian leg sweep. Guido leaps off of Sal’s shoulders to deliver an elbow drop. Sal leaps off the bottom rope to hit a diving head butt and Guido hits a splash but Kash kicks out at two. Jazz slides into the ring and gets on Sal’s back. Guido clotheslines Jazz and elbows Kash. Kash attempts a reverse DDT but Guido counters with the Un-Prettier for the win. (**. Guido gets another win over Kash and seems to be building some momentum. The action was decent enough and Kash had some exciting moments.)

Fourth Contest: Danny Doring, Roadkill & Dusty Rhodes vs. Erik Watts, Bill Wiles & CW Anderson: Watts shoves Doring away a few times at the start of the match so Dusty decides to get in the ring and Watts hammers away on Dusty. Dusty slaps Watts causing Watts to bail to the floor. Anderson misses a clothesline and Doring takes him down with a head scissors. Watts dropkicks Doring into the corner and Roadkill tags in. Roadkill hammers away on Wiles hitting a power slam moments later. Doring tags in and hammers away on Wiles. Wiles stops Doring with a powerslam after Dangerously distracted Doring from the floor. Wiles decks Doring with a right hand and tags in Anderson to keep control of the match. Roadkill takes them both out with a springboard clothesline off the top. Roadkill is met with a super kick from Anderson for a near fall. Watts gets slapped by Anderson to enter the match and works over Roadkill with belly to bely suplex. Watts doesn’t go for the cover and tags in Anderson instead. Anderson kicks Roadkill and connects with a single arm DDT for a near fall. Anderson can’t hit a backdrop as Roadkill soon counters with a side walk slam. Wiles gets the hot tag as does Dusty. Dusty cleans house with elbow strikes on all three heels. Dusty grabs Lou E. Dangerously to deliver an elbow strike, too. Doring and Roadkill hit a slam/leg drop on Watts for the win. (*1/4. This has to be considered a waste of time for Dusty Rhodes to work a six man tag match with guys that have zero direction. The finish was flat and nobody really cared for the action. I suppose matches not being recorded for TV weren’t given a lot of time for a reason.)

Fifth Contest: Rhino vs. Balls Mahoney: Mahoney jabs Rhino several times and elbow strikes Rhino to the floor. Mahoney sends Rhino back first into the guard railing. Rhino hammers away on Mahoney around ringside. Mahoney pokes Rhino in the eyes and sends him into the guard railing. Mahoney rolls Rhino into the ring and Rhino keeps control of the mach with strikes. Mahoney plants Rhino with a sit out spine buster for a near fall. Mahoney beds to the top hitting frog splash for a two count. Mahoney punches Steve Corino off the apron. Mahoney misses a top rope leg drop. Rhino hits the GORE! Rhino gets a table and sets it up in the corner. Mahoney clotheslines Rhino and delivers a super kick. Mahoney has a chair but Steve Corino prevents a chair shot and Rhino GORES Mahoney through the table for the three count. (*. Basically just getting Rhino over as a force with a dominating victory and that’s cool with me.)

Main Event: ECW World Champion Mike Awesome & Raven vs. ECW Tag Team Champions Lance Storm & Justin Credible: Awesome clotheslines Storm in the ring while Raven brawls with Credible on the floor. Awesome hits an overhead suplex on both Storm and Credible. Awesome rams Credible into the corner and tags in Raven. Raven knee lifts Credible followed by a punch to the midsection. Raven uses his snot rag before tagging in Awesome who splashes onto Credible for a near fall. Awesome misses a splash in the corner and Credible tags in Storm. Awesome takes them both down with a spear and wants a table. Jeff Jones sets a table up on the floor and Awesome has Storm set up for a power bomb. Credible hits Awesome with a kendo stick and Storm takes Awesome down with a neck breaker. Credible works over Awesome in the corner with strikes. Credible rams Awesome face first into Storm’s boot. Storm tags in to deliver a dropkick for a near fall. Credible tags in and works over Awesome with a double axe handle strike. Credible nearly wins after a seated dropkick on Awesome. Storm works over Awesome with a few more strikes upon getting tagged in. Awesome gets chop blocked by Credible on a press slam attempt. Storm works over Awesome in the corner and avoids a splash by getting his boot up. Awesome plants Storm with a sit out spine buster. Raven gets the hot tag and cleans house on the tag champs. Raven works over Credible with strikes in the corner. Raven has a steel chair and drop toe holds Credible onto the chair. Raven has the cover but Storm breaks it up. Awesome clotheslines himself and Storm over the top to the floor while Raven hits a stunner on Credible.

Francine and Dawn Marie have a cat fight as per usual. Francine hits a bronco buster on Marie in the corner. Storm comes over and attempts a piledriver on Francine but Awesome saves her. Awesome stops Storm on the top and hits a running power bomb for a near fall. Credible gets met with a low blow from Raven and a right hand. Awesome hits a top rope big splash onto Credible for a near fall. Awesome sends Credible over the ropes in the corner and Awesome springboards to the floor where Jason completely misses catching Aweosme and Awesome hit the floor hard. Francine accidentally throws powder into Raven’s face and Storm delivers a super kick. That allows Credible to roll Raven up for the win. (**. It had constant action, which is always a good thing. It makes sense that Raven would eat the pin here. It was a decent main event that was probably the best thing on the show that wasn’t for TV.)

Final Thoughts:
Well, the live audience was treated with a rather lackluster show. Dusty Rhodes gets wasted in a six man tag match and most of the matches weren’t given much time to really develop into anything. The matches for TV were solid matches, but judging it as solely a house show this doesn’t get a recommendation. Just watch what they put on TNN and save yourself 90 minutes.

Thanks for reading.