Written by: Bob Colling
Extreme Championship Wrestling House Show
Date: 11/1/1997
From: Elizabeth, NJ
Opening Contest: ECW Tag Team Champions Tracy Smothers & Little Guido vs. Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney: Rotten scares Guido off with a chair so Smothers starts off the title match with Mahoney. Smothers shoves Mahoney and gets shoved to the canvas for doing so. Smothers knee lifts Mahoney followed by a series of strikes. Mahoney plants Smothers with a power bomb for a two count. Smothers ducks a clothesline to spin kick Mahoney for a near fall. Mahoney super kicks Smothers coming out of the corner for a near fall. Rotten decks Smothers from the corner and tags into the match. Rotten rams the champs head first into each other before bringing Guido into the ring to deliver a scoop slam for a near fall. Rotten blocks a boot and decks Guido with a short arm clothesline for a near fall. Rotten drop toe holds Guido and Mahoney hits a leg drop for a near fall. Mahoney plants Guido with a spine buster and Rotten delivers an elbow drop for a near fall. Mahoney jabs Guido several times to keep control of the bout. Tommy Rich trips Mahoney and Guido knocks Mahoney to the floor. Rich drops Mahoney throat first across the guard railing and Guido stomps on him. Smothers goes for the cover managing a near fall back in the ring. Smothers jabs Mahoney several times and boots Mahoney in the corner before connecting with a clothesline. Guido tags in and Mahoney gets chopped by the champs before getting dropped to the mat and the champs hit a double elbow drop for a near fall. Rich punches Mahoney from the floor to help the champs keep the advantage.
Smothers keeps Mahoney on the mat with a sleeper hold. Smothers decks Mahoney with a backhand punch and Guido comes in to deliver chops again. Mahoney cuts them off with a double clothesline and looks to tag out but Guido hits Rotten and the referee is distracted. Guido works over Mahoney with shoulder rams and strikes. Guido goes to the top but Mahoney comes over and takes Guido down with an electric chair slam. Smothers and Guido both miss elbow drops and Rotten tags in clotheslining the champs followed by jabs and elbow strikes. Rotten hits a double clothesline and hammers way on Smothers. The champs are sent into each other and the challengers hit stereo back suplexs. The referee got knocked down, though. Jeff Jones is making his way towards the ring as the challengers lay out the champs. Jones has an FBI shirt on underneath. Rich whacks Rotten over the back with a chair and Guido steals the match with a rollup and a fast count. (*1/2. The dirty finish was kind of lame and the setup for it was quite obvious. The action was decent match and went by rather quickly, which is good since I usually dread having to watch Rotten matches.) After the match, Rotten and Mahoney are not happy about the screw job that just occurred.
Second Contest: Paul Diamond vs. Chris Chetti: Diamond has Chastity with him for the match. Diamond comes off the ropes to shoulder block Chetti and taunts the fans. Diamond counters with a clothesline to counter a hip toss attempt. Diamond drives Chetti down with a backbreaker. Chetti head scissors Diamond and continues with a dropkick before sending Diamond down to the floor with a clothesline over the top. Chetti takes Diamond out with a slingshot cross body to the outside. Diamond stops Chetti by dropping him throat first over the top rope. Diamond counters a suplex and hits a front slam. Diamond backdrops Chetti to the apron where Chetti slips on a springboard and hears it from the fans. Chetti gets distorted by Chastity and is knocked to the floor by Diamond from behind. Diamond drops Chetti groin first on the guard railing. Diamond uppercuts Chetti on the floor to keep control and slaps him a few times. Chetti fights back sending Diamond back first into the guard railing. Chastity gets involved and Diamond decks Chetti on the floor. Diamond scoop slams Chetti on the floor. Chastity beats on Chetti while the referee is distracted. Diamond nails Chetti with a spinning heel kick in the corner before hitting a rolling fireman’s carry for a near fall. Chetti plants Diamond with a power bomb for a near fall. Chetti fights back with right hands and rolls through a cross body for a two count. Diamond springboards off the middle rope to hit a bulldog but Chetti kicks out on the cover. Diamond goes to the top rope but is crotched by Chetti. Chetti takes Diamond over with a superplex but Diamond just manages to get his shoulder up. Chetti slams Diamond before hitting a double springboard moonsault for a near fall as Chastity gets in the ring. Chetti slams her down and is slapped. Chetti scoop slams her to a good pop but Diamond low blows Chetti and messes up a float over DDT rather badly. So, he does it again and pins Chetti. (**. A little better than the opening match, but Diamond’s botch at the end really hurt the momentum of the match. They got a good pop for the finish and he just screws it up. It was a decent enough match, though. Chetti continues to show his promise.)
Third Contest: Phil Lafon & Doug Furnas vs. Mikey Whipwreck & Spike Dudley: Lafon and Whipwreck start the tag match with Lafon shoving Whipwreck into a corner before taking him down by the arm. Lafon continues with a standing heel kick. Lafon chops Whipwreck in the corner followed by a knee lift. Whipwreck takes Lafon over with a hurricanrana and a couple of dropkicks to stagger Lafon. Furnas tags in but Whipwreck gets out of the corner to avoid a double team. Whipwreck drop toe holds Furnas and nearly wins with a rollup. Dudley gets tagged in and dropkicks a seated Furnas for a two count. Spike elbow strikes Furnas followed by a neck breaker for a two count. Furnas cuts Spike off with a spine buster. Furnas kicks Dudley against the ropes. Spike comes off the ropes and is backdropped by both Lafon and Furnas. Lafon legally enters and hits a running power bomb out of the corner. Lafon slams Spike by his hair for a two count. Spike boots Lafon in the corner and hit a missile dropkick but Lafon recovers to put a front face lock on Spike. Furnas tags in and plants Spike with a snap power slam. Furnas locks in a Boston Crab but Spike doesn’t give up. Furnas twirls Spike around by his legs for a near fall. Lafon enters and spits at Whipwreck but Spike gets an inside cradle. However, the referee was distracted by Whipwreck. Spike kicks Lafon and comes out of the corner with a bulldog. Whipwreck gets tagged in and takes Furnas over with a standing hurricanrana. Whipwreck takes both opponents down with a headlock/head scissors combo. Whipwreck plants Furnas with a tornado DDT out of the corner for a two count. Lafon tosses Spike to the floor to focus on Whipwreck. Spike knocks Lafon off the top and dropkicks Furnas from the top allowing Whipwreck to get a rollup for a two count. Spike comes off the top with a bulldog on Furnas for another near fall. Spike heads back to the top but gets caught. Furnas holds Spike to allow a clothesline off the middle rope from Lafon for a near fall. Lafon dumps Whipwreck over the top to the floor. Lafon puts Spike on the top turnbuckle hitting a back suplex for the win. (**1/4. A better showing for Furnas and Lafon then I have seen from them in recent outings for ECW. I kind of expected a little more here, but they kept a good pace and I enjoyed the action provided.)
Fourth Contest: Tommy Rogers vs. Justin Credible: Rogers pulls Credible off the middle rope and tries to piledrive Jason but Credible is able to kick Rogers to get the early advantage. Credible comes off the ropes to hit a spinning DDT. Rogers avoids being dropped across the top rope and connects with a springboard back elbow. Tommy decides to chase Jason around ringside until Credible clotheslines him on the floor. Jason connects with a short arm clothesline, too. Credible drops Rogers throat first over the guard railing. Credible rolls Rogers into the ring and stomps on him a few times. Credible scoop slams Rogers and taunts the fans. Credible goes to the top but is dropkicked by Rogers. Rogers goes to the top rope driving Credible down to the mat with a back suplex for a two count. Rogers scoop slams Credible but gets stopped by Jason on the apron. Rogers knocks him to the floor and leaps off the top to big splash Credible across the ring! Rogers slingshots Jason into the ring and hits an Un-Prettier. Credible gets up and tries for the That’s Incredible but Rogers counters. Credible counters Tommy’s counter to hit the That’s Incredible for the win. (*1/2. For a match that went less than four minutes, it was pretty good. I’m finding myself looking forward to seeing Tommy Rogers on ECW shows even if he has a small role. I really enjoy his style and work. Credible didn’t have much offense which probably adds to his heat.)
Fifth Contest: ECW Television Champion Taz vs. Jerry Lynn: Taz takes Lynn down with a snap mare and tries to get an arm submission but Lynn reaches the ropes quickly. Taz takes Lynn down to the mat again and goes for an ankle lock but Lynn grabs the ropes again. Lynn shoulder blocks Taz followed by a hip toss and dropkick to send Taz to the floor. Lynn runs the apron to somersault dive onto Taz. Lynn sends Taz into the guard railing back first before returning to the ring. Lynn slams Taz and heads to the top rope. Lynn leaps off hitting a leg drop for a two count. Taz plants Lynn with a double leg slam out of the corner and Lynn rolls to the floor. Taz works over Lynn with stomps against the ropes. Lynn sunset flips Taz for a two count. Taz clotheslines Lynn to regain control of the match. Taz clubs away on Lynn delivering a clothesline. Taz hits an overhead belly to belly suplex tossing Lynn across the ring. Lynn gets an inside cradle for a two count. Taz misses a clothesline and Lynn comes off the ropes to hit a bulldog. Lynn follows up with a clothesline. Lynn rams Taz into the corn rand puts Taz on the top turnbuckle. Lynn hits a top rope hurricanrana for a near fall. Lynn tries for a German suplex and nearly gets a three count. Lynn comes off the ropes looking for a wheelbarrow but Taz counters with a wheelbarrow suplex. Taz hits a t-bone suplex and signals for the end. Taz locks in the Taz Mission and wins the match. (**. It figures that I was expecting this to be like two minutes and they instead made it a rather competitive match for Lynn to showcase some stuff. I enjoyed it and thought Lynn looked pretty good here even in defeat.)
Sixth Contest: Al Snow vs. Rob Van Dam: Snow waits on the top turnbuckle and takes RVD out with a cross body to the floor during RVD’s entrance. Snow clotheslines RVD on the floor and delivers a few strikes. Snow rolls RVD into the ring and connects with a clothesline. Snow takes RVD down with a suplex. Snow works over RVD in the corner with chops. RVD comes off the ropes with a spinning heel kick and crotches Snow over the top rope where he hits a springboard kick to knock Snow to the floor. RVD baseball slides Snow chest first into the guard railing. RVD takes Snow out with a somersault dive over the top to the floor! RVD kicks Snow against the railing before returning to the ring. RVD dropkicks Snow in the corner after flipping into the ring. RVD gets sent into the corner but power bombs Snow and catapults him into the corner. RVD slips on a springboard attempt and Snow hits a back suplex. It seems like ECW fans are far more interested in chanting “you fucked up” to the wrestlers than enjoying the action. Snow attempts a power bomb but RVD lands on top for a near fall instead. Snow plants RVD with a power bomb. RVD counters another power bomb with a hurricanrana. Snow connects with a super kick and RVD rolls to the floor. Snow follows to the floor and hits RVD with a chair. Snow works over RVD against the railing with a few chops. RVD kicks Snow but gets crotched on the railing. Snow gets crotched, too. Alfonso holds a chair in front of Snow’s face as RVD springboards off the railing to kick the chair into Al’s face.
They trade a few strikes on the floor before returning to the ring. RVD hits a rolling thunder splash for a two count. RVD slams Snow and heads to the top hitting the Five Star Frog Splash for a near fall. RVD gets crotched on the top rope by Al who delivers a few strikes. Snow drives RVD down with a superplex for a near fall. Snow hits a German suplex with a bridge for a near fall. Snow slams RVD and heads to the top rope hitting a moonsault. Snow goes to the top again but this time misses a moonsault. RVD gets a chair tossed to him and he misses a chair shot. Snow whacks RVD over the head two times with the chair. Snow spikes RVD down with the Snow Plow but Alfonso comes in and accidentally hits RVD with a chair. Snow has Alfonso but RVD kicks a chair into his face for the win. (**1/2. The most exciting match that I’ve seen on the show thus far. There were a few botches, but it was still a decent match. There’s no question that Snow was quite successful in ECW and had a career rebirth here.) After the match, Al Snow has a microphone and yells at Head for letting him down. Snow proceeds to leg drop Head and hits a top rope moonsault.
Shane Douglas comes down to the ring with Chris Candido for the ECW World Championship match. Douglas is dressed in his wrestling attire, so he might be up to something here. He does the ring introduction for Candido calling him loyal and the real king of New Jersey. Rick Rude makes his way out to the ring to confront Douglas and isn’t wearing a mask of any sort by this time. Francine is afraid of Rude as she goes to the corner with Douglas. Rude calls the trio pieces of shit before introducing the new ECW World Champion Bam-Bam Bigelow. Douglas is giving Candido pointers on the floor including telling Candido that Bigelow’s knee is bad. Douglas is actually sent backstage, but I’d assume he’ll be back. Rude is sent backstage, too.
Seventh Contest: ECW World Champion Bam-Bam Bigelow vs. Chris Candido: Bigelow shoves Candido down at the start and Candido has his legs up against ropes to get a few laughs. Bigelow shoulder blocks Candido coming off the ropes before controlling Candido with a headlock. Bigelow power bombs Candido to counter a hurricanrana attempt. Bigelow splashes Candido in the corner and plays to the crowd. Bigelow lifts Candido up for a delayed vertical suplex and plants Candido with it for a near fall. Bigelow works over Candido with a chop but gets kicked in the head. Candido battles back with right hands on the champ. Bigelow connects with an awkward looking dropkick for a near fall on Candido. Bigelow beats on Candido with boots but Candido eye rakes him and chops the champ in the corner. Bigelow dropkicks Candido from the corner to regain control of the match. Bigelow sends Candido into the corner and soon backdrops Candido over the top putting Candido through a table at ringside. Francine grabs the ECW World Championship as Shane Douglas has returned with a piece of guard railing and tosses it into the ring. Douglas sets it up in the corner as Candido tries to send Bigelow into it. Bigelow counters and sends Candido into it. Bigelow goes for a press slam but Douglas chop blocks Bigelow and they slam the railing onto Bigelow’s injured knee. Candido works over the right knee splashing down onto Bigelow’s leg. Candido brings Bigelow to the corner and wraps his leg around the ring post. Candido whacks Bigelow over the back with a chair and a shot to the knee. Candido sends Bigelow into the guard railing gut first, too.
Candido rams Bigelow face first into the railing as they continue to brawl around ringside. Candido puts Bam-Bam through the broken table before getting back into the ring and focuses his offense on the injured knee. Candido comes off the ropes missing a knee drop and Bigelow misses a leaping kick attempt. Candido stomps on the knee of Bigelow. Candido continues his offense with a knee breaker. Bigelow takes Candido over with a snap suplex. Candido dropkicks Bigelow in the corner and puts the champ on the top turnbuckle. Candido takes Bigelow over with a top rope hurricanrana for a two count. Candido comes off the top missing a diving headbutt. Bigelow dropkicks Candido in the corner as Francine has a bag of powder on the floor. Candido low blows Bigelow but Bigelow plants Candido with a power bomb. Shane Douglas gets in the ring and Bigelow has him for a slam but Francine throws powder into his eyes! Douglas low blows Bigelow and Candido comes off the top looking for a cross body but a blinded Bigelow catches him to hit the Greetings From Asbury Park for the win. Rick Rude had some down to ringside to punch out Douglas. (***. They told a story here and the finish was nicely done. Bigelow overcame the odds and comes across like an unbeatable force since the heels couldn’t figure out a way to dethrone him.)
Shane Douglas remains in the ring and voices his displeasure with what just happened and puts down the state of New Jersey. Douglas puts down the WWF and various other national wrestlers. HBK’s music hits and Douglas is shocked. Of course, it’s not Shawn Michaels but rather the Blue Meanie pretending to be the Heartbreak Kid. Nova is playing the role of Hunter Hearst Helmsley and another guy is playing the role of Chyna. It’s actually kind of funny. Douglas and Candido don’t find it funny as they attack Meanie and Nova. Candido elbow drops Meanie from the top and they taunt the fans and Rick Rude. Douglas hits the neck breaker on Meanie to lay him out.
Eighth Contest: Tommy Dreamer vs. Shane Douglas vs. Sabu in an elimination match: They start off with a triple lockup and nobody gets the clear advantage. Sabu gets worked over with double wrist lock but Sabu ducks a double clothesline and attempted a springboard cross body but gets slammed. Sabu manages to hit a springboard leg drop on both men after failed elbow drops. Sabu elbow strikes Douglas but Dreamer elbow strikes Sabu. Dreamer dumps Douglas and Sabu to the floor. Sabu hammers away on Douglas on the floor. Dreamer gets sent into the railing back first by Douglas. Dreamer drops Douglas chest first across the railing. They all drop each other over the railing chest first. Douglas drops Dreamer throat first across the top on the apron. Sabu hits a springboard heel kick on Douglas for a two count. Douglas puts a sleeper hold on Sabu but Sabu counters with a sleeper of his own. Dreamer gets in and Francine gets involved too. Sabu whacks Dreamer with a chair and tosses a chair into Shane’s face. Sabu tosses the chair at Dreamer but it looks like Douglas might be a little out of it. Sabu hits a springboard hurricanrana on Dreamer for a two count. Douglas gets sent into Dreamer in the corner and Sabu springboards off a chair to hurricanrana Douglas for a two count. Douglas connects with swinging neck breakers on both Dreamer and Sabu. Douglas hits a front slam on Sabu landing him onto Dreamer. Douglas puts Sabu down with a face buster but Dreamer stops Douglas with a strike to the midsection. Sabu heads to the top rope but Dreamer punches him down. Douglas gets to the middle rope and Dreamer comes over to power bomb Douglas to the mat. Sabu leaps off hitting a splash off the top onto Douglas for a near fall.
Sabu baseball slides Dreamer and Douglas into the front row. Sabu hits a triple jump dive into the crowd! All three men are brawling up in to the crowd. Dreamer gets tossed down the bleachers crashing down to the floor. Sabu tosses Douglas down the bleachers a little bit. They make it back to the ring where Sabu hits a springboard double clothesline. Sabu puts them both on a table and heads to the top rope. Sabu misses a leg drop and breaks the table. Alfonso low blows Dreamer and Douglas causing Beulah and Francine to low blow Alfonso and they have a cat fight. Dreamer sends Sabu to the floor but Douglas leg sweeps Dreamer onto the chair. Douglas hits a belly to belly suplex on Sabu landing on the chair. Dreamer plants Douglas with a DDT onto the chair. Sabu leg drops Douglas from the apron and Dreamer covers Douglas to get a three count to eliminate Douglas.
Sabu drives Dreamer down with a bulldog and sets a chair up to hit a triple jump moonsault for a near fall. Sabu goes to the top with a chair but gets the chair kicked back into his face. Dreamer outs Sabu in a tree of woe with a chair in front of his face. Dreamer connects with a dropkick to knock Sabu down in the corner. Dreamer goes for the Death Valley Driver driving Sabu down into the canvas. Dreamer brings a table into the ring. Dreamer puts Sabu on the table with one side collapsing. Sabu tosses a chair into Dreamer on the top to knock him off. Sabu delivers a stunner to Dreamer’s leg. Sabu goes to the top rope and hits a leg drop through the table. Sabu has the cover and wins the match. (***. They got plenty of time and I was honestly surprised that Douglas would be the first guy to lose the match. I didn’t understand why they would breakup pin attempts early in the match, but that is a common occurrence in these matches. I enjoyed the brawling and it kept my interest throughout which is kind of tough when it goes a long time.)
Main Event: New Jack & Kronus vs. The Dudley Boys: Jack tosses a trash can full of weapons into the ring and the start is basically Jack and Kronus beating on the Dudley Boys with various weapons. Bubba and D-Von get control of the match and they hit Jack and Kronus with the same weapons. This match doesn’t really have much substance to it and is just weapon shots. Kronus hits a handspring back elbow on Bubba in the corner. Jack is sent into the crowd by D-Von as they brawl on the floor. Kronus is busted wide open. Big Dick Dudley is involved in the match working over Jack on the floor. Jack sends Big Dick into the crowd and they brawl in the crowd. Jack sends Big Dick into empty chairs in the crowd. Big Dick tosses Jack back towards ringside where D-Von gets sent into the railing by Jack. Bubba clotheslines Kronus in the ring while Big Dick hits Jack with a chair on the floor. Kronus nails Bubba with a spinning heel kick. Bubba and D-Von hit stereo power bombs. Kronus is bleeding a lot at this point. The referee has been knocked down after Bubba is sent into him. Kronus hits a 450 splash on Bubba but there isn’t a referee for the count. Big Dick enters the ring and attacks Kronus planting him with a choke slam. D-Von sends Jack to the floor. Jeff Jones tries to make a fast count but Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney prevent that. Tracy Smothers and Little Guido come out as well and this is just a huge fight now. Bubba hits an ace crusher on Jack and Jeff Jones tries another fast count but the original referee prevents that and they brawl in the ring. Bubba chokes Jack with a wet floor sign. Jack avoids a 3D by hitting Bubba with the sign. Neither referee is allowing a count to be made. Kronus clotheslines D-Von to the floor and goes to the top. Kronus hits a 450 splash on Bubba for the win. (*. I mean if you like just weapon shots and typical brawling then this is the main event match for you. Kronus lost a lot of blood and it just seemed completely random to bleed that much.)
Final Thoughts:
A pretty good overall house show for ECW this time around. The second half of the show delivered some quality action. The early matches weren’t overly long and they held my interest. There was a pretty good crowd on hand for the event and the guys gave a good effort. A thumbs up from me.
Thanks for reading.