Written by: Bob Colling
Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 5/3/1997
From: Waltham, MA & Revere, MA
Matches:
1.) Tracy Smothers & Little Guido defeated Blue Meanie & Nova
2.) Rob Van Dam defeated Spike Dudley
3.) Louie Spicolli defeated Chris Chetti by disqualification
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Nova and Guido start the tag match. Nova rolls Guido up from the middle rope for a two count. Guido gets a headlock on Nova and pulls Nova’s hair to keep the advantage. Guido shoulder blocks Nova and goes back to the headlock. Nova takes Guido over with a hip toss followed by a dropkick sending Guido into the corner. Meanie splashes Guido and Nova hits a cross body for a two count. Smothers flips into the ring from the apron and taunts the fans. Smothers wants Meanie into the match and he gets his wish. Smothers shoulder blocks Meanie and plays to the crowd. Meanie comes off the ropes with a shoulder block and dances for the crowd while Smothers begs off on the mat. Meanie hip tosses Smothers followed by an arm drag and the same for Guido. Meanie does the Bad Guy taunt as we go to commercial. Guido dumps Nova to the floor as we return from the break. Tommy Rich crotches Nova on the guard railing and Smothers drops Nova throat first across the guard railing. Guido stomps away on Nova followed by a back elbow strike. Guido blows snot at Meanie and double teams Nova with Smothers as Meanie distracts the referee. Smothers clotheslines Nova for a two count. FBI hit a double elbow drop for a near fall on Nova. Nova fights back on Guido with right hands but Guido connects with a dropkick to keep Nova on the mat. Guido sends Nova into Smothers boots in the corner and Smothers delivers a few more strikes. Smothers goes for a slam but Nova counters with an inside cradle for a near fall. Smothers clotheslines Nova for a near fall. Smothers heel kicks Nova and tags in Guido who manages a two count. Guido slams Nova and tags in Smothers. Guido misses a top rope splash as Nova rolls out of the way. Smothers misses a splash in the corner and here comes Meanie cleaning house with right hands. Meanie ducks a double clothesline to deliver a clothesline of his own. Nova missile dropkicks Guido and Meanie hits a top rope moonsault on Smothers, but the referee was distracted. Tommy Rich hits Meanie with a chain or something and Smothers gets his arm over Meanie for the victory. (*1/4. It felt rather limited as to what they could do here, but the FBI needed the win to regain momentum following their loss from last week.)
2.) ECW Tag Team Champions the Eliminators telling us that they are three time tag team champions. Saturn says to be champions you have to beat the best tag teams. They are an obstacle that can’t be passed. That obstacle is Total Elimination. Kronus tells a stupid Tootsie Roll pop joke before leaving. Saturn tried really hard to sound intimidating with his promo and it looked rather weird.
3.) Bill Alfonso is with Rob Van Dam and Sabu to cut a promo saying that his team has gotten screwed over each time they compete in Queens, NY. Sabu is ready to explode and is going to put people through tables. Alfonso can’t stand Taz. RVD says that while he’s in New York is going to expand his search for employment. RVD knows that the company is busy and promises to still be there for ECW on weekends. RVD always has Sabu’s back. RVD is playing his role very, very well.
4.) RVD kicks Spike in the midsection followed by an axe kick to knock Spike down to the canvas. RVD scoop slams Spike and delivers a spinning leg drop. RVD gets tripped down and Spike delivers an elbow drop. Spike takes RVD down with a few head scissors sending RVD over the top to the floor. Spike jumps off the apron to deliver a somersault dive on the floor. Spike sends RVD into the guard railing but is met with a spin kick. RVD lays Spike over the railing before hitting a leg drop. RVD grabs a steel chair but doesn’t use it and instead drives Spike down with a double under hook. RVD goes to the top hitting a frog splash. RVD punches Spike into the corner followed by a few kicks to the midsection. RVD gets kicked in the corner by Spike. Spike comes out of the corner dropping RVD with a running bulldog. Spike goes to the top and takes RVD over with a flying hurricanrana. RVD crotches Spike on the top to counter a bulldog attempt. RVD knocks Spike off with a springboard kick to knock Spike to the canvas. RVD smashes Spike’s face with a chair. RVD kicks a chair into Spike’s face for the win. (*1/2. Mostly a match to put over RVD, which makes perfect sense to me. Spike losing here isn’t going to damage him.) After the match, RVD puts Spike in the tree of woe. RVD smashes Spike’s face with a running dropkick. Sabu comes to the ring and they hit a leg drop/splash combo. Spike is put on a table and Sabu puts Spike through it with a leg drop.
5.) Joel Gertner cuts a promo insulting Terry Funk saying that we aren’t going to see footage of Funk since the networks don’t want black and white footage. Gerner also says that Beulah is loose. Tommy Dreamer confronts Gertner until Louie Spicolli comes over and wants a “too sweet” but doesn’t get one.
6.) Chetti pits a top wrist lock on Spicolli and follows up with a hip toss and arm drag. Chetti dropkicks Spicolli to the floor. Dreamer shares his opinion on Louie and the “too sweet” signal saying that he doesn’t respect Spicolli. Spicolli hits the Death Valley Driver on Chetti and does the signal again. Here comes Tommy Dreamer to attack Spicolli causing the disqualification. Spioclli attempts the Death Valley Driver but Dreamer counters with a DDT. Dreamer breaks Louie’s fingers! Tommy puts Louie’s hand in a chair and delivers a leg drop to damage the hand some more.
7.) Raven cuts a promo saying that he has dealt with more pain and more suffering than any other person. He has suffered from the hands of his friends. He is sick and tired of hurting. He is sick and tired of the agony and anguish. Raven isn’t going to go anywhere and starts to yell for Stevie Richards. Raven shoves Meanie away and confronts Stevie Richards. Raven attacks Richards and he yells at Richards to take him out. Raven is begging Richards to end his life for him. Raven yells at Richards to take him out. Richards is hurt in the corner of the room as Raven begs for Richards to end his misery and pain. Raven cradles Richards against his chest softly saying “end my pain”.
Final Thoughts:
The wrestling wasn’t overly strong this week, but Rob Van Dam is being presented well and I really enjoyed the Raven/Richards angle to end the show. I’d say this week was an average week for TV.
Thanks for reading.