Written by: Bob Colling
Extreme Championship Wrestling House Show
Date: 4/27/2000
From: Utica, NY
There is a dance contest between Steve Corino and Chilly Willy to start the show. Honestly, Corino probably won the contest and he was treating it like a joke while Willy seemed to casually dance. Naturally, the crowd sides with Chilly. Corino wants a second round and the sound raining men plays causing the referee to fall down. Corino dances anyway and again does better than Willy, in my opinion.
Opening Contest: Steve Corino vs. Chilly Willy: Corino tries to attack Willy, but Willy decks Corino with several right hands and a backdrop. Willy struggles to lift Corino up for a press slam, but slams Corino to the mat. Corino goes to the floor and walks up the aisle way to regroup with Jack Victory. Willy comes out and rams them into each other before carrying Corino back to the ring. Corino begs off in the ring but Willy punches Corino anyway. Victory grabs Willy’s foot from the floor and that distracts Willy. Corino connects with a superkick and taunts the fans afterward. Willy goes for a sunset flip and pulls down Corino’s tights. Corino is oblivious to that until Victory lets him know. Corino decks Willy with a clothesline. Willy comes off the ropes with a jumping butt splash to knock Corino off his feet. Willy side slams Corino and plays to the crowd. Corino distracts the referee to allow Victory to hit Willy with a cowbell from behind. Corino delivers an elbow drop for the win. (*1/4. There were a few funny moments, but this was just baffling to me. Corino being presented as one of the top heels in the company and needed that kind of help from Victory to prevail over Chilly Willy. I was truly baffled by it. I was just glad that Corino won.)
Second Contest: Kid Kash vs. Johnny Swinger: Early on, Swinger takes Kash down to the mat and then taunts him by moving his hips. Kash monkey flips Swinger followed by an arm drag. Kash avoids a monkey flip by stomping on Swinger’s face. Kash takes Swinger out with a dive to the floor. Kash misses a running splash and slides through the middle rope crashing to the floor. Swinger sends Kash back first into the guard railing and rams Kash throat first onto a chair. Swinger drives Kash down to the mat with a side Russian leg sweep. Swinger taunts the crowd on the apron while choking Kash over the middle rope by sitting on his head. Swinger stops Kash with a quick powerslam for a near fall. Swinger elbows Kash in the corner to stop his momentum. Swinger leg drops Kash on the lower midsection. Kash takes Swinger out with a double springboard crossbody for a two count. Swinger plants Kash with a sit down powerbomb for a two count. Swinger tosses Kash across the ring and gets his opponent hat to taunt the crowd. Swinger slams Kash and connects with a middle rope twisting leg drop for a two count. Swinger comes off the middle rope and simply lands on his feet in an awkward moment. Kash head scissors Swinger but is met with a low blow. Swinger messes up a powerbomb and Kash hits a double under hook piledriver for the win. (*1/2. That was a rough last few minutes for Swinger. The match was going along at a decent pace and then Swinger just seemingly lost his ability to not mess up in the match. It started off promising and ended just horribly.)
Third Contest: Tommy Dreamer vs. Simon Diamond: Dreamer drops Diamond with a right hand and uses the microphone to low blow Diamond after avoiding a dropkick. Dreamer sends Diamond into the guard railing back first. Dreamer crotches Diamond over the railing and hits Simon with a drink. Dreamer gets the ring bell and rings it on Diamond’s groin. Dreamer decks Diamond’s misfit off the apron and continues to work over Diamond. Dreamer is sent into Tom Marquez and met with a clothesline. Diamond sends Dreamer into the railings back first a few times. Diamond connects with a side Russian leg sweep and tries to get a submission on the mat. Diamond gets out of a rollup and clotheslines Dreamer. Diamond takes Dreamer over with a few snap suplexs. Dreamer crotches Diamond on the turnbuckle and puts him in the tree of woe. Dreamer stands on Diamond’s groin as a misfit gets in the ring. Dreamer low blows him with an umbrella. Another misfit enters with a sword and Dreamer fights him off with the umbrella. Dreamer hits the Death Valley Driver on the misfit. Diamond low blows Dreamer and gets an inside cradle for a two count. Diamond scoop slams Dreamer and the female Prodigy misses a moonsault. Dreamer plants Diamond with a DDT for the win. (*. As basic of a match as it could possibly get.)
Fourth Contest: Little Guido & Big Sal vs. Danny Doring & Roadkill: Doring and Guido start the match with Guido taking Doring down to get the early advantage. They run the ropes for a few moments until Guido gets a backslide for a two count and Doring comes back with a clothesline, dropkick and a backdrop. Sal tags into the match and the fans want Roadkill. Roadkill tries to slam Sal, but that doesn’t work. Sal lands on top of Roadkill to keep control of the match. Sal misses a splash in the corner and Roadkill delivers several right hands. Roadkill comes off the ropes to hit a clothesline and Doring drops Guido with a jaw jacker. Roadkill leaps off the apron to take out Sal on the floor. Roadkill and Doring hit the Hart Attack on Guido. Sal enters and drops Roadkill with a belly to belly suplex as the referee was distracted by Doring. Guido almost gets a three count on a pin attempt. Guido hits a middle rope leg drop to a hunched over Roadkill. Guido sends Roadkill to the floor where Sal sends Roadkill into the railing and delivers a splash. Roadkill side slams Guido and makes his way towards Doring, but Guido dropkicks Doring off the apron. Guido takes Roadkill down with a side Russian leg sweep. Sal has Guido on his shoulders and Guido elbow drops Roadkill.
Sal leaps off the middle rope to deliver a headbutt for a two count. Roadkill side slams Guido after sending Guido into Sal on the apron. Roadkill is bleeding from the face as Doring gets tagged in. Doring cleans house with strikes and plants Guido with a front sweep. Doring low blows Sal and, along with Roadkill, hits a missile dropkick from opposite corners. Guido is met with a slam/leg drop combo and is pinned. After the match, the Baldies enter the ring and attack Roadkill and Doring. Roadkill is driven down to the mat gut first. DeVito hits a top rope moonsault, too. Balls Mahoney comes out and cleans house on the Baldies. (**1/4. I thought it was a decent tag match and had some good action throughout.)
Fifth Contest: Balls Mahoney vs. Spanish Angel: The attack from the last match has apparently led to a singles match. Angel splashes Mahoney in the corner but misses a kick. Angel drops Mahoney with strikes for a two count. DeVito slams Mahoney to the mat while the referee was distracted. Mahoney kicked out and he’s busted open. Mahoney comes out of the corner with a clothesline and jabs Angel several times. Angel tosses Mahoney with a backdrop for a two count. Mahoney superkicks Angel coming off the top rope and nearly wins the match. Angel stops Mahoney on the top rope and hits a superplex for a two count. Mahoney grabs Angel off the top rope and hits the Nutcracker Suite, but DeVito breaks the count. Mahoney superkicks DeVito and grabs a steel chair. Mahoney whacks Angel over the head and wins the match. (*. Well, I didn’t see this on the original card and would have been fine had it not happened.)
Fifth Contest: ECW World Champion Justin Credible vs. Jerry Lynn: Credible decides to leave the ring sand says he’s not going to defend. The referee tells Credible that he doesn’t run things here. The referee threatens to count Credible out and give the belt to Lynn. Credible runs back to the ring and Lynn hammers away on Credible causing the champ to bail to the floor. Credible jabs Lynn in the corner and bails to the floor again. Lynn pummels Credible in the corner with right hands. Lynn head scissors Credible and keeps the champ on the mat with a headlock. Credible works over Lynn in the corner with chops but Lynn fights back with several of his own. Lynn avoids a dropkick and catapults Credible over the top to the floor. Lynn takes Credible out with a slingshot crossbody to the floor. Lynn tosses Credible into the crowd and takes the champ out with a somersault dive. They brawl in the crowd for a few moments,. Credible rams Lynn face first onto the merchandise table. They return to the ring where Credible plants Lynn with a reverse DDT. Credible stomps Lynn in the corner and taunts the fans. Credible gets a steel chair and rams Lynn face first onto the chair. Lynn nearly wins with a rollup out of the corner. Credible stops Lynn with a swinging side slam for a two count. Lynn plants Credible with a DDT onto the steel chair and they are both laid out on the mat.
Lynn delivers a spinning elbow shot and hammers away on Credible in the corner for a few moments. Credible goes upside down in the corner and Lynn connects with a bulldog for a two count. Lynn tries for the cradle piledriver, but Francine gets in the ring and decks Lynn. Lynn responds by kissing Francine and then tries for the cradle piledriver. Credible gets up and spikes Lynn with the That’s Incredible for a two count. Lynn plants Credible with a tornado DDT for a near fall. Credible superkicks Lynn after Francine hit Lynn with a kendo stick on the floor and is able to pin Lynn. (**1/2. A solid enough match with the expected interference by Francine. I find myself always interested in seeing Lynn vs. Credible as I feel like they usually have enjoyable matches. While this was enjoyable, it never got out of first gear and felt like they were kind of going through the motions.)
Sixth Contest: Bill Wiles & CW Anderson vs. Chris Chetti & Nova: Wiles and Nova start the match with Wiles controlling the match in the early moments. Nova fights back by walking the ropes and delivering an axe handle after tagging in Chetti. Wiles quickly tags in Anderson. Chetti flips off Anderson and works over CW with strikes in the corner. Anderson low blows Chetti coming out of the corner but Chetti returns the low blow by avoiding a leap frog. Chetti atomic drops Anderson a few times followed by a heel kick. Nova gets tagged in and Anderson gets clotheslined. Nova works over Wiles with strikes but Anderson tosses a chair to hit Nova over the back and Wiles drops Nova with a kick. Wiles keeps control with basic strikes in the corner. Wiles connects with a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Anderson tosses Nova with an overhead suplex for a two count. CW slams Nova and Wiles leaps off the middle rope to hit an elbow drop for a near fall. Wiles has Nova on the top rope but Nova fights off and drops Wiles onto the chair with a Flatliner.
Chetti and Anderson get tagged into the match with Chetti hammering away on Anderson followed by a scissors kick. Chetti kicks Anderson several times followed by a superkick for a two count. All four men are going at it in the ring until Anderson dumps Chetti to the floor. Wiles catapults Nova into a superkick from Anderson for a near fall. Lou E. Dangerously slides a table into the ring for Anderson to use. Chetti heel kicks Anderson and avoids a suplex attempt by Wiles by hitting his own. Nova leaps off the top to Swanton Wiles for a two count. Electra gets in the ring and attacks Nova. Jazz slides into the ring and strips Electra by ripping her jacket off. Lou E. Dangerously tries to get involved but Sinister Minster distracts her. Anderson gets powder thrown into his eyes and plants Wiles with a spinebuster on accident. Nova puts Anderson through the table with a tornado DDT for the win. (*1/2. I’m really not a fan of these kind of finishes where the heels can’t interfere correctly and it ends up costing them the match. Chetti and Nova are a fun team and should be used to showcase that skill instead of using a comedy finish to protect Wiles and Anderson.)
Prior to the main event, Steve Corino talks to Tajiri and tells him that people make mistakes and that they don’t have to do this match.
Main Event: ECW Television Champion Rhino vs. Tajiri: Tajiri kicks Corino off the apron and drops Rhino with a spinning heel kick causing Rhino to bail to the floor. Tajiri slides to the floor and brawls with Rhino for a few moments dropping the champ with a kick. Tajiri continues with a springboard moonsault to the floor. Tajiri kicks Rhino to the mat with a spin kick to avoid a chair shot. Rhino misses a shoulder ram in the corner and Tajiri puts him in the tree of woe. Tajiri stands on Rhino’s groin followed by a baseball slide dropkick. Rhino clotheslines Tajiri and hits a sit down powerbomb for a near fall. Tajiri staggers Rhino with a handspring back elbow. Rhino stops Tajiri with a power slam for a two count. Rhino dumps Tajiri to the floor where Corino and Victory get several cheap shots in. Rhino goes under the ring to grab a table. Rhino sets the table up in the corner but gets mist spat into his face. Tajiri dropkicks Rhino after a few kicks. Tajiri sets the table up and kicks Rhino to stagger the champion again. Tajiri lays Rhino onto the table and climbs to the top rope hitting a double stomp to put Rhino through the table! Tajiri tries for a tornado DDT, but Rhino shoves him away and tosses a chair into Tajiri’s face. Tajiri kicks a chair into Rhino’s face and manages to hit a tornado DDT for a near fall. Tajiri gets hit by Victory with a cowbell and is gored by Rhino. Rhino finishes Tajiri off with a piledriver for the win. After the match, Tajiri gets attacked by the heels. That is until the Sandman comes out. Sandman hits Victory, but Corino superkicks him. Rhino misses a gore and goes through the table in the corner. Sandman whacks Corino with a kendo stick and the same for Victory again. Sandman hits Rhino and Tajiri kicks the champ. Sandman whacks Rhino over the head to send Rhino to the floor. (**. Not bad of a match as the action was solid enough. I’m continually disappointed that ECW has to use some level of interference for people to lose. Isn’t that the same thing they’d mock WCW and WWF about? Tajiri is a top guy in ECW and I’d give him a run with the top title.)
Final Thoughts:
There were a couple of decent matches this time around but nothing overly memorable or enjoyable. ECW house shows tend to be really hit or miss as they focus largely on TV and PPVs. I can’t give this a recommendation unless you’re a huge ECW fan and need to watch every show the company ever put on.
Thanks for reading.