ECW House Show 3/14/1998

Written by: Bob Colling

Extreme Championship Wrestling House Show
Date: 3/14/1998
From: Poughkeepsie, NY

Opening Contest: Super Nova & Boogaloo Bill Wiles vs. Tracy Smothers & Little Guido: Nova and Guido kickoff the match with Guido shoving Nova in the corner and backing off taunting Nova. Nova gets a full nelson on Guido, but Guido reaches the ropes quickly. Guido yanks Nova down to the mat by his hair. Guido controls Nova with a headlock and pulls his hair to hold on. Nova hip tosses Guido and continues with an arm drag. Nova wrenches Guido’s arm before tagging in Wiles to deliver a drop toe hold and double elbow drops. Wiles gets a two count on Guido. Wiles takes Smothers down to the mat with a drop toe hold. Smothers arm drags Wiles across the ring and does a moonwalk. Smothers elbows Wiles and continues with right hands. Wiles counters a hip toss with a side slam for a two count. Wiles tags in Nova and they elbow strike Smothers followed by a running clothesline. Nova leg drops Smothers for a two count. Nova slams Smothers and hits a middle rope elbow drop for a two count. Wiles tags in and works over Smothers with basic strikes. Wiles arm drags Smothers and does the same to Guido a few times. Wiles hits a double Japanese arm drag to send them to the floor. Wiles hits a slingshot crossbody to the floor. Nova takes everyone out with a somersault dive to the floor! Wiles gets a rollup on Smothers, but Guido enters to send Wiles to the floor. Tommy Rich cheap shots Wiles on the floor. Smothers goes for a cover, but Wiles powers out. Wiles is dropkicked by Guido and Smothers leading to a near fall. Wiles continues to be double teamed against the ropes.

Rich delivers more cheap shots from the floor on Wiles. Wiles tries for a sunset flip, but Guido helps Smothers until the referee breaks them apart. Smothers heel kicks Wiles to keep control of the contest. Wiles continues to be double teamed and Guido nearly wins with a rollup. Guido stomps on Wiles followed by a back elbow for a near fall. Smothers has his feet out and Wiles gets rammed into the feet. Wiles is chopped to the mat followed by a double elbow drop. Guido continues to stomp on Wiles before tagging in Smothers. Wiles fights out of the corner, but Guido keeps Wiles on the mat and Smothers delivers a strike. Guido knee drops Wiles before tagging in Smothers. Smothers works over Wiles against the ropes with strikes. Wiles takes Smothers over with a snap powerslam. Guido and Nova get the hot tags with Nova cleaning house hitting dropkicks. Nova tries for a backdrop, but switches with a leg drop to Smothers. Nova drops both Smothers and Guido to the mat managing a near fall on Smothers. All four men are going at it with Rich entering the ring, but so does Blue Meanie. Meanie beats on Rich. Jeff Jones hits Nova from behind and allows Smothers to get the win. (*1/2. Bill Wiles surprised the hell out of me with some of the moves he performed here. I don’t think he did anything near the move set he pulled off here on any other night in his entire career. The overbooked finish didn’t seem to be necessary at all. This also didn’t need to go nearly twenty minutes.)

Second Contest: Danny Doring & Roadkill vs. Chris Chetti & Jerry Lynn: Doring and Lynn kickoff the tag match. Doring shoves Lynn against the ropes and backs away. Doring shoves Lynn to the mat and taunts the crowd. Lynn scoop slams Doring and taunts Doring by dancing a bit. Chetti enters the match and works over Doring against the ropes. Chetti tries for a rollup, but settles for a belly to belly suplex for a two count. Doring clotheslines Chetti and misses a splash in the corner leading to a near fall. Lynn tags into the match and beats on Doring with a shot to the ribs. Lynn knee drops Doring and delivers a few chops in the corner. Lynn hits a dropkick in the corner but Doring avoids a suplex attempt. Roadkill gets tagged in and easily scoop slams Lynn. Roadkill continues with strikes in the corner. Lynn tries for a rollup out of the corner for a two count. Lynn dropkicks Roadkill to the floor. Lynn takes Roadkill out with a top rope crossbody to the floor. Lynn forearms Roadkill after returning to the ring and gets kneed by Doring from the apron. Roadkill continues to work over Lynn with strikes to the back. Roadkill drives Lynn down with a side slam and Doring connects with an elbow drop. Roadkill stomps away on Lynn to keep control of the match. Roadkill chokes Lynn over the middle rope for a few moments. Doring tags back in and clubs Lynn over the back before hitting a gut wrench suplex. Doring slams Lynn and misses a bottom rope elbow drop. Chetti tries to get involved but distracts the referee.

Roadkill continues to beat on Lynn with right hands. Roadkill and Lynn trade right hands and Roadkill prevents Lynn from getting to his corner. Doring hits a snap suplex on Lynn for a near fall. Roadkill holds Lynn to allow Doring to hit the Hart Attack. Roadkill comes off the top rope, but misses an elbow drop. Chetti and Doring get tagged in with Doring begging off. Chetti backdrops Doring and keeps control with a big boot. Chetti spin kicks Roadkill. Chetti springboards off the ropes to heel kick Doring for a two count. Roadkill works on Chetti in the corner while Doring beats on Lynn. Chetti clotheslines Doring and Lynn plants Roadkill with a DDT. Doring sends Lynn to the floor. Chetti works over Roadkill with strikes. Roadkill powerslams Chetti to the mat. Roadkill climbs to the top rope and hits an elbow drop on Chetti but Lynn breaks the cover. Doring chops Lynn in the corner a few times and Roadkill misses a splash. Lynn clotheslines Doring but is met with a clothesline by Roadkill. Roadkill goes to the top, but Lynn stops Roadkill with an elevated DDT off the top for the win. (**. Again, this one went nearly twenty minutes and there’s simply no reason for it. The action was decent throughout, but if this match is cut in half it’s likely much better. The right team went over and all four men looked good in there.)

Third Contest: Doug Furnas vs. Rob Van Dam: They start off avoiding each other and stalling for a bit. Furnas elbows RVD to break free but RVD bails to the floor to regroup. Furnas grabs a fans sign and taunts RVD with it. Furnas tosses RVD overhead with a belly to belly suplex followed by a kick to the chest. Furnas sends RVD into the apron face first and into the guard railing. Furnas drops RVD back first to the mat with a modified slam. Furnas sends RVD into the guard railing back first. Furnas rolls RVD back into the ring to keep control of the contest with stomps against the ropes. Furnas slams RVD to the mat and taunts RVD. Furnas locks in a Boston Crab. Furnas kneels down and it’s a great looking Lion Tamer. Furnas leg drops RVD for a two count. Furnas misses a splash in the corner and RVD delivers a middle rope kick. RVD slams Furnas and hits a rolling thunder splash for a two count. RVD stomps on Furnas to keep control of the contest followed by a kick to the jaw. RVD continues with strikes as Furnas hit a snap powerslam. Furnas stomps away on RVD in the corner. RVD boots Furnas in the corner and delivers a slam in the corner. RVD hits a split legged moonsault for a two count. Furnas plants RVD with a powerbomb, but Sabu comes out and whacks Furnas with a chair from the apron. Sabu threatens to get involved and hits both Furnas and RVD with the chair. Sabu may have accidentally hit RVD with the chair. RVD covers Furnas for the win. (**. Man, I would have really liked these guys wrestling for 15-minutes with no bullshit and instead we got maybe half that time and the bullshit finish. A disappointing match simply because it wasn’t developed to be a strong undercard match.)

Fourth Contest: Spike Dudley vs. Bubba Ray Dudley: Bubba slaps Spike to start the contest but Spike doesn’t backdown and Bubba bails to the floor. Bubba shoves Spike to the mat a few times but Spike comes back with strikes. Spike ducks a clothesline and forearms Bubba to the mat. Spike punches Bubba and gets dropped over the top turnbuckle. Bubba sends Spike chest first into the corner and taunts the crowd. Bubba kicks Spike on the mat and tells the crowd to shut up. Spike punches Bubba a few times in the midsection. Bubba clotheslines Spike coming out of the corner. Bubba controls Spike with a sleeper. Spike elbows free from the hold and is met with a knee lift to the midsection. Bubba continues with a dropkick to a seated Spike. Bubba takes Spike over with a backdrop to maintain control of the match. Spike fights back with a shoulder strike and right hands. Spike tries for a hurricanrana, but Bubba counters with a powerbomb out of the corner. Bubba delivers a falling headbutt to keep Spike on the mat. Bubba sends Spike chest first into the corner, but Spike dropkicks Bubba into the corner followed by shoulder rams. Bubba splashes Spike in the corner. Bubba press slams Spike to the mat after faking as if he was going to toss Spike into the crowd. Bubba continues to beat on Spike as Joel Gertner got on the apron. Bubba puts a chair over the top turnbuckle, but Spike counters and drops Bubba face first over the chair. D-Von Dudley gets in the ring and beats on Spike with strikes. D-Von accidentally hits Bubba with Spike’s legs and Spike hits the Acid Drop on D-Von before managing to pin Bubba. (*1/2. There were a couple of good spots, but a lackluster overall match, really. I wasn’t a fan of the finish. People kick out of unprotected chair shots but can’t kick out of swinging legs to the head?)

Fifth Contest: Justin Credible & Jason Knight vs. Mikey Whipwreck & Tommy Dreamer: Dreamer and Whipwreck crotch Credible and Knight on the railing and deliver chair shots. Knight is sent into the railing shoulder first. Dreamer hits Credible on the groin with the ring bell. Dreamer sends Credible chest first into the railing. They brawl towards the stage and the lighting is rather awful. Credible gets shoved off and hits the railing ribs first. Jason gets sent into a chair held by Beulah. Dreamer catapults Credible face first into the ring post. Dreamer hits a wheelbarrow facebuster on Credible and puts Knight in the tree of woe. Dreamer puts a chair in front of Knight’s face. Dreamer hits a dropkick, but gets speared by Credible. Credible taunts the crowd as Knight puts a chair in the corner. Credible hammers away on Dreamer in the corner and sends Tommy back first into a steel chair. Knight elbows Dreamer and at this moment I just realized this is a tag match. Knight nails Dreamer with a kick to the head for a two count. Knight dropkicks Dreamer after a snapmare. Knight hooks Credible to deliver a splash to Dreamer. Credible drop toe holds Dreamer face first onto a steel chair.

Nicole Bass runs over and taunts Dreamer for having his face smashed with a chair. Credible plants Dreamer with a lazy looking spinning DDT. Credible works over Dreamer with chops in the corner. Dreamer sends Credible back first into a chair in the corner. Whipwreck gets the hot tag and cleans house with punches. Whipwreck kicks Credible on the leg and sends Credible upside down in the corner. Knight and Credible are sent Into each other. Dreamer hits a Death Valley Driver on Credible. Beulah has a cat fight but low blows Credible leading to a triple stunner and double pin to end the match. (*1/2. The closing moments seemed to be clipped for some reason, but it was the typical finish for these guys it seems. I feel like Credible should be winning more of these matches against Dreamer on the house shows.) After the match, Dreamer attacks Nicole Bass but is met with a chair shot by Credible and is triple teamed. Bass has a full nelson on Beulah in the corner. Credible spikes Dreamer with That’s Incredible. Knight plants Whipwreck with a front slam. Bass drops Beulah to the mat. That was needed to keep their heat, I’d say.

Sixth Contest: New Jack vs. D-Von Dudley: As per usual with New Jack matches, Jack uses a bunch of weapons on Dudley. Dudley hits Jack with a sheet. They brawl to the floor and continue to trade strikes. Jack chokes D-Von with a chain in the middle of the ring and it feels like a murder is happening. Jack whacks D-Von in the groin with a kendo stick. D-Von fights back to drop Jack with a chain shot. D-Von runs the ropes and collides with the referee. Jack plants D-Von with the Rock Bottom. Jack grabs a steel chair and climbs to the top rope. Jack gets shoved off by Bubba and Bubba enters the match. Bubba splashes Jack and chokes Jack on the mat for a bit. Bubba hits Jack over the back. Dangerously hits Jack but tosses powder into Bubba’s face on accident. Bubba is blinded and hits the 3D on D-Von allowing Jack to win the match. (1/2*. I’m not sure I understand the perhaps of the referee bump since disqualifications rarely ever happen in this company. It was just a mindless hardcore brawl.)

Seventh Contest: ECW World Champion Shane Douglas, ECW Television Champion Bam-Bam Bigelow & ECW Tag Team Champion Chris Candido vs. John Kronus, Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney: Candido and Kronus start off the match with Kronus backing Candido into a corner and backing off. Candido shoulder blocks Kronus and ducks a spinning heel kick. Kronus scares Candido into the corner. Kronus kicks Bigelow a few times, but Bigelow drops Kronus to the mat and delivers a few right hands. Bigelow sends Kronus into his corner and Douglas works over Kronus with strikes and a vertical suplex. Kronus gets control and tags in Axl, who jabs away on Douglas and delivers punches in the corner. Axl backdrops Douglas coming out of the corner followed by a clothesline to send Douglas to the floor. Bigelow misses a strike and Axl hammers away on Bigelow. Bigelow takes Axl down to the mat. Candido beats on Rotten with right hands on the mat. Rotten low blows Candido followed by a clothesline. Mahoney gets tagged in and jabs Candido followed by a scoop slam. Candido works over Mahoney in the corner with right hands. Mahoney has Candido over his shoulder to hit a powerslam. Mahoney goes to the top rope missing a moonsault. Candido tags out to Douglas. Douglas atomic drops Mahoney and Bigelow enters to stomp on Mahoney. Bigelow plants Mahoney with a vertical suplex.

Candido returns to the match working over Mahoney with strikes and stomps. Douglas beats on Mahoney with strikes. Douglas taunts Mahoney asking if he wants to be world champion. Candido covers Mahoney but can’t keep him down. Bigelow returns to the match and collides with Mahoney on clotheslines. Mahoney falls onto Bigelow’s groin. Kronus gets the tag and cleans house which leads to all six men brawling inside and outside the ring. Mahoney beats on Douglas outside the ring. Douglas sends Mahoney into the railing while Bigelow hits the Greetings From Asbury Park on Kronus. Bigelow hits the move a second time. Taz’s music hits and stops Bigelow in his tracks. Taz appears in the crowd, but he’s stopped by security. It looks like the match is over with. Al Snow’s music hits….

Snow enters the ring and superkicks Douglas followed by clotheslines. Candido and Bigelow brawl with Rotten and Mahoney at ringside. Snow hits a middle rope crossbody on Douglas and plays to the crowd. Snow heads to the top and hits an axe handle. Douglas stops Snow with an atomic drop but misses a clothesline. Snow spikes Douglas with the Snow Plow to win the match. (*1/4. It took forever to get to where we got. Snow probably should have just been involved in the match from the start. Snow is super over with the crowd.)

Main Event: Sabu vs. 2 Cold Scorpio: Alfonso gets on the apron and is scared off by Scorpio. Scorpio avoids Sabu’s attempted takedowns to start the match. Scorpio works over Sabu with overhand strikes and a knee strike to the chest. Sabu hits a springboard heel kick and a dropkick. Sabu tries to take Scorpio down and hits a German suplex. Sabu keeps a chin lock on Scorpio but doesn’t get a submission. Sabu works over Scorpio with stomps in the corner. Scorpio hip tosses Sabu out of the corner. Sabu drops Sabu with a quick clothesline. Sabu backdrops Scorpio over the top to the floor and tosses a chair into the ring. Sabu baseball slides Scorpio on the floor and hits a triple jump dive to the floor. Sabu keeps an arm lock on Scorpio on the mat, but Scorpio delivers a few clotheslines in the corner. Sabu comes off the ropes with a spinning heel kick. Scorpio stops Sabu with a heel kick. Scorpio hits a vertical suplex to drive Sabu to the mat. Scorpio leg drops Sabu for a near fall. Scorpio comes off the ropes with a heel kick and taunts the crowd. Scorpio plants Sabu with a powerbomb. Scorpio hits a middle rope somersault leg drop. Scorpio slams Sabu and hits a springboard senton for a two count. Scorpio sits Sabu on the top turnbuckle. Sabu crotches Scorpio on the top rope and hits a hurricanrana. Sabu clotheslines Scorpio from behind after sending Scorpio into the corner chest first. Sabu has a steel chair and springboards off the chair to splash Scorpio in the corner. Sabu stomps on Scorpio and hits a springboard moonsault for a near fall.

Sabu sits Scorpio on the top turnbuckle and proceeds to screw up a springboard. Scorpio clotheslines Sabu off the top rope to the floor. Scorpio takes Sabu out with a slingshot crossbody to the floor. Scorpio slams Sabu and grabs a chair. Scorpio hits a top rope moonsault for a two count. Alfonso trips Scorpio and Sabu clotheslines Scorpio to the floor. Sabu takes Scorpio out with a dive. Sabu sends Scorpio into the ring post and lays Scorpio onto a table across the apron and railing. Sabu tries for a springboard, but messes up and puts himself through the table since Scorpio sat up. Scorpio superkicks Sabu and signals for the crowd. Scorpio drives Sabu down with a powerslam. Scorpio goes to the top and hits a 450 splash, but Alfonso distracts the referee. Scorpio accidentally spin kicks the referee. Rob Van Dam runs out and hits the frog splash on Scorpio. Sabu gets on top, but Scorpio kicks out at two. Sabu hits a springboard tornado DDT to win the match. (*1/2. Classic case of these guys doing moves just to do moves. Sabu messed up a few times that really hurt the flow of the match. You’d think these guys would have killer matches and then each time they have lackluster bouts it’s seemingly always in the main event.)

Final Thoughts:
Well, that was a not a good house show this time around. I’m a huge fan of the Mid-Hudson Civic Center and this kind of show would make me question if I’d go back to an ECW show at the venue the next time they came to town. It was a decent card, but nothing really delivered and there weren’t any surprises. Recommendation to avoid.

Thanks for reading.