ECW House Show 1/21/1999

Written by: Bob Colling

Extreme Championship Wrestling House Show
Date: 1/21/1999
From: Grand Rapids, MI

Looks like they were able to fill the floor, but the upper deck is looking empty.

Opening Contest: Tommy Rogers vs. One Man Gang: The crowd doesn’t give Rogers a positive reaction. Meanwhile. Gang is welcomed with cheers. Of course, Rogers is the face and Gang is the heel, but it is ECW and this is to be expected.

Gang shoves Rogers to the mat early on and taunts Tommy. Gang works over Rogers with strikes in the corner to keep the early advantage. Gang misses a splash in the corner and Rogers hammers away on the big man. Rogers backdrops Gang over the top to the floor. Rogers leaps off the top to take Gang out with a crossbody on the floor. Gang sends Rogers into the railing but misses a splash and goes into the crowd. Rogers chokes Gang over the railing before delivering an elbow strike. They brawl into the crowd with Rogers hitting Gang with a trash can and hits Gang over the back. Gang tips a table over on the floor and Roger stomps on Gang in the ring. Rogers drives Gang down with a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Rogers goes to the top rope hitting a missile dropkick. Rogers pummels Gang on the middle rope with right hands. Gang splashes Rogers in the corner and taunts the crowd. Gang comes off the ropes to hit a big splash for the win. (*1/2. It wasn’t too bad of a match to start the show. The crowd was heavily behind Gang, but Rogers had a few moments to shine and his offense was enjoyable. This was better than I was expecting. The crowd would have crapped on this had Rogers won the match.)

Second Contest: Spike Dudley vs. Ulf Herman: Shockingly, this match isn’t just an Acid Drop and pin. Dudley trips Herman and nearly wins with a rollup in the opening moment of the match. Spike forearms Herman to the floor and drops Herman chest first over the guard railing. Herman tosses Spike into the crowd with a fallaway slam. Herman drops Dudley gut first down to the mat. Herman drives Dudley down to the mat with another slam. Herman sends Dudley back first into the guard railing. Dudley gets out of a chokehold with a dropkick. Dudley avoids a splash in the corner and pummels Herman with right hands. Spike takes Herman over with a hurricanrana. Spike tries for an Acid Drop, but Herman connects with a clothesline instead. Spike counters a press slam for a two count. Spike low blows Herman and wins the match with the Acid Drop. (*. Honestly, they wasted time here. They would have been better off keeping this to thirty-seconds with Dudley winning and marching his way backstage.)

Big Sal comes out to try and take out Spike Dudley. Sal avoids a low blow and slams Spike. Spike plants Sal with the Acid Drop and pins him. That wasn’t a real match, but was exactly what the match with Herman should have been.

Third Contest: Little Guido vs. Antifaz Del Norte: Del Norte gets the early advantage with a hammerlock until Guido reaches the ropes. Guido delivers a few leg kicks and keeps arm control on the mat. Del Norte quickly counters with a leg lock until Guido reaches the ropes. Del Norte side slams Guido followed by an overhead suplex. Del Norte scoop slams Guido before going to the top rope and hitting an elbow drop for a two count. They begin to trade several chops. Guido plants Del Norte with a powerbomb and a few elbow drops. Del Norte springboards off the top to hit a somersault dive. Del Norte takes Guido and Smothers out with a dive to the floor. Del Norte hits a spinning heel kick and plays to the crowd. Del Norte powerbombs Guido for a near fall. Tracy Smothers enters the ring to attack Del Norte allowing Guido to hit a middle rope leg drop for a two count.

Nova slides into the ring to make the save. Nova clotheslines Guido and hits a powerbomb/elbow drop combo. Nova drives Smothers down with a sit out spinebuster. Nova continues with a middle rope Samoan Drop on Guido. Nova botches a tornado DDT attempt on Smothers. Nova plants Guido with a double under hook face buster. Del Norte missile dropkicks Smothers to the floor. Nova dives onto Smothers while Del Norte pins Guido after a Michinoku Driver. (*1/2. When Nova came out the match got a little better, but they didn’t really allow the singles match to develop into anything good, which isn’t normally the case. This whole segment felt a little flat to me.)

Fourth Contest:Tajiri vs. Super Crazy: Early on, they do some counters on the mat and the crowd shows their appreciation. Tajiri head scissors Crazy followed by a cartwheel strike and fakes a dive to the floor. Tajiri arm drags Crazy and rolls around on the mat before dropkicking Crazy’s left knee. Crazy counters a rolling submission by putting a half Boston Crab on Tajiri but isn’t able to get a submission. Crazy stomps on Tajiri’s left knee a few times. Crazy puts a surfboard on Tajiri before switching to a dragon sleeper. Tajiti fights back with an overhead suplex and monkey flips Crazy over the top to the floor. Tajiri with a baseball slide and a springboard moonsault to the floor. Tajiri delivers a kick on the apron and locks in the tarantula. Tajiri lets go to deliver another kick to the head. Crazy leaps off the top with a springboard dropkick and a moonsault. Tajiti kicks out of a powerbomb pin attempt. Tajiri plants Crazy with a tornado DDT and almost wins with a German suplex. Tajiri is able to keep Crazy down with a hurricanrana for the win. (**. There were a few bright spots in this match, but it was lesser than their other TV matches or house show matches. They incorporate the same moves almost at the same point every match. Noticing that really takes me out of their matches sometimes.)

Fifth Contest: Balls Mahoney vs. Rod Price: Fans quickly start to chant that they want blood. So, they naturally start the match with traditional offense. Mahoney gets control with a dropkick and keeps arm control. Price sends Mahoney to the floor and they begin to brawl in the crowd. Mahoney nails Price with a fans drink. Price hits Mahoney with a trash can and sends Balls into the wall. Price tosses Mahoney face first into the garage door. Mahoney fights back with a trash can shot. Mahoney continues to work over Price with strikes in the crowd. Price whacks Mahoney over the head with a steel chair. Price lays a table against the railing. Mahoney whacks Price over the back with a chair. Price tosses Mahoney through the table on the floor. Mahoney whacks Price over the head with a piece of broken piece of table. Mahoney slams Price before going to the top rope. Mahoney leaps off hitting a splash for a two count. Price slams Mahoney for another near fall. Mahoney superkicks Price in midair to avoid a double axe handle. Mahoney smashes Price with a chair shot for the win. (*1/4. The fans didn’t get the blood they had requested, which was a disappointment. This felt like a filler match leading into the final three matches of the show, which feature the bigger names.)

Sixth Contest: ECW World Champion Taz vs. Skull Von Krush: Early on, Taz keeps Krush on the mat until Krush reaches the ropes to break the hold. Krush works over Taz in the corner with several strikes. Taz knocks Krush to the floor and follows to continue his attack. Taz rams Krush onto a table causing that to break. Taz beats on Krush with a broken piece of table. Krush hip tosses Taz and hits a leg drop for a two count. Krush scoop slams Taz before coming off the middle rope to hit an elbow drop for a near fall. Taz no sells a few stomps and strikes to the head. Taz backdrops Krush and yanks Skull out of the corner. Taz clotheslines Krush followed by an exploder suplex. Taz avoids a leapfrog and locks in the Taz Mission to win the match. (1/2*. A weak challenger for Taz, but the whole idea is to present your champion as an unbeatable guy. I just don’t think anyone wanted to see Krush in this spot and I can’t blame them for that.)

Lance Storm comes out and wants to save the town from a Tommy Dreamer singles match with Justin Credible. So, Storm volunteers to carry Credible to a good match. Dreamer decides to make it a triple threat match. Dreamer insults Jason, Jazz and Tammy Bytch. Francine comes out and is wearing basically a small pajama dress. Storm prevents Francine from showing her tits.

Seventh Contest: Lance Storm vs. Justin Credible vs. Tommy Dreamer in an elimination match: Credible works over Dreamer with strikes in the corner but is met with a low blow. Dreamer sends Credible flipping into the corner and knocks Credible off the apron onto the guard railing. Dreamer and Credible trade chops on the floor. Dreamer sends Credible flipping into the corner, but Storm slides into the ring to save Credible. Storm nails Dreamer with a high knee lift. Storm and Credible decide to work together and beat on Dreamer with Storm sending Dreamer into the guard railing. Credible comes off the apron with an axe handle. Storm crotches Dreamer over the guard railing. Credible drop toe holds Dreamer face first onto a steel chair. Dreamer drop toe holds Storm onto the steel chair but misses a chair shot on Credible. Dreamer tries for a slam, but Credible counters with a reverse DDT to drop Dreamer onto the chair back first. Storm drives Dreamer down to the mat with a vertical suplex and Credible hits a middle rope forearm drop. Storm clotheslines Dreamer in the corner a few times followed by a dropkick to a seated Dreamer. Credible clotheslines Dreamer in the corner but misses a baseball slide and Storm nails Credible with a heel kick on accident.

Credible superkicks Dreamer to knock him down. Dreamer low blows Credible as Justin taunts the crowd. Storm saves Credible from a Death Valley Driver and Credible delivers a DDT. Storm and Credible turn on each other after a pin attempt. They drive each other down to the mat face first and all three men are laid out. Actually, Dreamer has returned with a ladder to use in the match. Dreamer nails both men with the ladder on the floor after avoiding a double baseball slide. Dreamer kicks the ladder into Jason on the floor. Jason has been busted wide open. Dreamer catapults Credible into the ladder in the corner and atomic drops Storm. Dreamer catapults Storm into the ladder in the corner. Dreamer slams Credible onto the ladder. Dreamer walks the ropes but misses an elbow drop hitting the ladder. Credible and Storm lay the ladder over the middle rope in the corner. Dreamer hits the ladder back first. Credible taunts Dreamer while Storm holds him. Credible slaps Storm on accident and Dreamer DDTs Credible onto Storm’s groin for a two count as Jazz and Tammy Bytch get in the ring.

Dreamer grabs both women and gets met with a double low blow. Jazz and Bytch end up fighting each other. Credible misses a kendo stick shot. Storm hits both men with a kendo stick. Dreamer rolls Credible up for an elimination. Dreamer hits a side Russian leg sweep with the kendo stick to pin Storm. (**. A decent match, but the finish felt a little flat to me. It’s kind of annoying to have Dreamer go over two heels and do so with back to back eliminations in the way he did. I understand that Dreamer is one of the most popular guys in ECW, but this kind of stuff just makes him look like a guy who needs to go over all the time.) After the match, Dreamer dedicates the match to Beulah.

Main Event: ECW Tag Team Champions Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley: Ssbu and Bubba start the match with Bubba shoving Sabu to the mat but is met with a baseball slide to the leg. Sabu hits a springboard heel kick after Bubba is sent chest first into the corner. Sabu hits a somersault leg drop from the apron into the ring for a two count. Bubba catches Sabu on a springboard to hit a back suplex. Bubba nails Sabu with a big boot and an elbow drop for a two count. Sabu nails the Dudley’s with a springboard clothesline before tagging in RVD. D-Von and RVD are the legal men and they start with some basic holds. RVD kicks D-Von several times and gets a rollup for a two count. D-Von punches RVD several times to get the advantage. D-Von plants RVD with a sit down powerbomb. RVD comes back with a standing hurricanrana. RVD counters a neckbreaker with a fisherman suplex for a two count. RVD nails D-Von with a spin kick followed by a rolling thunder splash and Sabu hits a leg drop. Bubba misses a clothesline and is taken over with a double suplex. Sabu baseball slides Bubba into the guard railing. Sabu springboards off the top to splash onto Bubba and D-Von. RVD leaps off the top to hit a somersault dive to the floor.

Bubba tries for a powerbomb on Sabu, but Sabu breaks free to deliver a few clotheslines. Bubba stops Sabu with a powerbomb. RVD spin kicks Bubba in the corner and Sabu leaps off RVD’s back to hit a splash in the corner. Sign Guy gets involved until Alfonso puts him on a table and Sabu splashes Sign Guy through the table. D-Von takes RVD off the middle rope with a neckbreaker. Bubba comes off the middle rope to hit RVD with a diving headbutt. Bubba takes RVD over with a hip toss turned into a neckbreaker for a near fall. D-Von nails RVD with a spinning back elbow strike. D-Von decks Sabu off the apron while beating on RVD. D-Von decks RVD with a clothesline and knocks Sabu off the apron with another strike. D-Von slams RVD and Bubba comes off the middle rope to hit a back splash for a two count. Bubba avoids Sabu getting involved by kicking Sabu to the floor. Bubba drives RVD down to the mat with a delayed vertical suplex. D-Von stomps on RVD in the corner followed by several right hands.

RVD and Bubba begin to trade several strikes until Bubba gets the advantage. RVD drops Bubba with a standing spin kick. Sabu leaps off the top to clothesline Bubba and hits the challengers with a steel chair several times. Sabu gets a table from Alfonso. Bubba lays Sabu onto the table before going to the middle rope. RVD stops Bubba and Sabu hits a top rope hurricanrana on Bubba. RVD hits the Five Star Frog Splash, but D-Von plants Sabut with a reverse DDT for a two count. RVD crotches D-Von over the top rope and hits a chair into D-Von’s face. Bubba has been laid onto the table, and so is D-Von. Sabu and RVD go to opposite corners. Sabu splashes Bubba, but RVD settles for kicking a chair into D-Von’s face for the win. (**. Not much of a surprise here. This felt like all their other matches. It wasn’t bad, but felt mostly like it was an average match. I’m always hoping for more when these two teams meet but they never really reach my expectations.)

Final Thoughts:
A show filled with a bunch of average, at best, wrestling. I can’t recommend this show.

Thanks for reading.