Written by: Bob Colling
Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 1/30/1999
From: Philadelphia, PA
Matches:
1.) ECW Tag Team Champions Rob Van Dam & Sabu defeated Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney to retain the titles
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) ECW World Champion Taz cuts a promo from somewhere outside of the arena, I’m assuming. Taz says that he worked hard to win the title and says he isn’t anyone’s role model. He’s a miserable, mean and nasty man. Taz shouldn’t be your neighbor because one bad look and he’ll toss your garbage can through your window. He’s a tiger who worked hard to catch is prey. Everyone else is coming after his title. He’s 5’8’’ 248lbs and isn’t some big guy loaded up on steroids. He bust his ass for twelve years to reach this point. Taz calls The Rock a spoiled green wrestler. Taz didn’t have his entire family wrestling. He’s not a spoiled rich kid from Hawaii. Taz promises he’d fix Rock’s good looks if he came here. Taz focuses on Hulk Hogan and asks if Hogan could actually beat him with the title on the line. He’s real and he’s pissed. Taz is always ready to go and says he’s ready for literally anyone to challenge him. By the way, he was just in a darkened room.
2.) They showed clips from last weeks match between Taz and Shane Douglas for the ECW World Championship. Joey Styles says that both God and devil have dibs on Shane’s soul.
3.) Mahoney works over Sabu with strikes and tags in Axl allowing Mahoney to hit a leg drop off the ropes. RVD enters and hammers away on Rotten until Mahoney catches RVD with strikes. Mahoney has RVD over his shoulder and Rotten comes off the top to deliver a strike as Mahoney slams RVD to the mat for a two count. All four men are brawling as Mahoney splashes Sabu in the corner. Rotten dumps Sabu to the floor and Mahoney slams RVD before putting a Boston Crab on. Rotten hits a leg drop for a two count. Rotten continues to hammer away on Sabu in the corner. Alfonso tries to whack Mahoney with a chair shot, but that doesn’t work. RVD kicks a chair into Mahoney’s face and Rotten is worked over in the corner. Sabu splashes Rotten in the corner. Rotten clotheslines the champs to clear the ring. Sabu springboards off the top to take Rotten and RVD out with a moonsault to the floor! Rotten puts RVD on the top turnbuckle, but RVD knocks Rotten off and proceeds to leap off the top and take Mahoney out with a somersault dive into the crowd!
Sabu returns to the ring and is worked over by Rotten until a dropkick to the knee stops Rotten’s momentum. Mahoney takes RVD over with a side suplex for a near fall. Mahoney scoop slams RVD while Sabu hits Rotten with a chair. Mahoney and RVD go to the floor. Sabu takes Mahoney out with a running crossbody and they go through a table. Rotten has a cover on Sabu for a two count. Alfonso holds a chair and RVD kicks a chair to the back of Rotten’s head. Mahoney superkicks RVD for a two count. Mahoney scoop slams RVD and goes to the top rope. Sabu has gone to another corner and after Mahoney hits a splash on RVD, Sabu hit a chair assisted leg drop for a two count. Sabu and RVD hit a rolling thunder/slingshot leg drop combo for a two count on Mahoney. Sabu sets a table up in the middle of the ring. They hit stereo top rope leg drops to put Mahoney through the table and win the match. (**. That was much better than I ever would have expected. It likely helped that the match had very little rules attached to them and it was just four guys brawling non-stop.)
4.) Backstage, Steven Prazak is talking about how his job is to get news, but he can’t get an interview in ECW. Prazak asks Super Crazy if he knows what he is talking about. Crazy responds in Spanish and Prazak acts like he knows what he’s talking about.
5.) Joey Styles promotes the Public Enemy and how they have not accepted the challenge by the Dudley Boys to appear in ECW. Styles doesn’t think they are going to arrive.
6.) Joel Gertner and Sign Guy Dudley are in the ring and they say that the Dudley Boys have left the building. They were disgusted with Public Enemy not showing up that they had to leave the arena. Gertner Vision is what we’ll be getting instead of a match. Gertner describes what it was like in 1995. Gertner has many memories of Public Enemy in ECW back then. Gertner would have Grunge walk past him in desperate need of a shower and rips Grunge apart. Joey Styles cuts away from this and says we’ll be back with something better than Gertner.
7.) Well, back to Joel Gertner saying they have wasted five hours waiting for Public Enemy. Public Enemy’s music begins to play causing both Gertner and Sign Guy to panic. Well, it’s actually D-Von and Bubba Dudley dressed as Public Enemy and mocking them. Big Dick Dudley is with them. Bubba starts talking like he’s Johnny Grunge, which is rather funny. Bubba says he doesn’t see the same girls they use to sleep with but the fans point out that she’s still there and Bubba wants to see her at the Travel Lodge. Remember, they are acting like Public Enemy. Bubba turns serious and says this is the closet they will get to see Public Enemy. Bubba says that Public Enemy was afraid to show up and get fired by Bischoff or not get hired by Vince McMahon. Bubba says Public Enemy couldn’t stomach not being welcomed back. Bubba proclaims that Public Enemy is dead.
Public Enemy’s music plays, and Bubba thinks the jokes still going on. Well, it’s actually Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock! They storm the ring and they take out the Dudley Boys!
Final Thoughts:
The return of Public Enemy is cool, but I’m not all that interested in them back in ECW. It’s an average week of television since there was only one match shown from House Party. Looks next week is back to original programming.
Thanks for reading.