ECW House Show 8/28/1998

Written by: Bob Colling

Extreme Championship Wrestling House Show
Date: 8/28/1998
From: Atlantic City, NJ

Opening Contest: Tracy Smothers & Little Guido vs. Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney: Guido and Rotten start the match off with Guido showing his speed by avoiding Rotten and taunting the crowd and Mahoney. Rotten tosses Guido to get out of a headlock to showcase his strength advantage. Rotten complains that Guido was humping him on a go-behind and Guido is denying that claim as the fans chant accordingly. Rotten proceeds to spank Guido causing Guido to bail. Rotten humps Tommy Rich and we get a standoff. Rotten tags in Mahoney and Mahoney hits a leg drop after a drop toe hold by Rotten. Guido goes to the corner and puts his head in Smothers groin to continue the chants. Smothers gets in the ring and taunts the fans. Rotten and Mahoney also play to the crowd. Smothers beats on Mahoney with strikes in the corner. Mahoney cuts Smothers off with a short arm clothesline and jabs. Mahoney catches Smothers in the corner, but Smothers ducks a clothesline and hits a heel kick.

Mahoney clotheslines Smothers and continues with a superkick and jabs. Mahoney plants Smothers with a powerbomb. Mahoney charges, but Smothers ducks and Mahoney goes to the floor. Tommy Rich drops Mahoney chest first over the guard railing and face first into the ring post. Mahoney continues to be triple teamed in the corner. Mahoney is sent to the mat with a double leg sweep and a double elbow drop leading to a two count. Smothers heel kicks Mahoney and Guido almost gets a three count. Smothers works over Mahoney in the corner, but Mahoney fights back with strikes and elbows. Smothers trips Mahoney allowing Guido to hit an elbow drop for a two count. Mahoney hits a back suplex to stop Guido and tags in Rotten. Rotten cleans house with strikes and a double clothesline. Rich is knocked off the apron. Rotten hits a lifting reverse DDT on Guido and Mahoney hit the Nutcracker Suite on Smothers for a double pin. (*1/2. Well, at least we got Axl Rotten out of the way early in the show. The comedy wasn’t very funny and the action was fairly basic.) After the match, tensions are rising between Rich and Smothers but they eventually makeup and hug it out.

Second Contest: Mikey Whipwreck vs. Jerry Lynn: Lynn arm drags Whipwreck to start the match and Whipwreck comes back with a hip toss. Lynn takes Whipwreck down to the mat to keep some control on the mat. Lynn arm drags Mikey, but Whipwreck comes back with another hip toss and we get a standoff. Whipwreck works over Lynn with strikes in the corner. Whipweck dropkicks Lynn for a two count. Whipwreck drives Lynn down with a backbreaker. Whipwreck chops Lynn in the corner several times, but Lynn fires back with overhand chops and a kick to the head. Lynn locks in a Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring, but Mikey manages to reach the ropes. Lynn shoulder rams Mikey from the apron and they go to the floor. Lynn rams Whipwreck into the railing, but Mikey sends Lynn back first into the railing. Whipwreck sends Lynn again back first into the railing. Whipwreck hits a spinning elbow strike in the ring for a two count. Whipwreck hits a side Russian leg sweep for a near fall. Lynn counters a reverse DDT with a back suplex. Lynn hits a middle rope leg drop for a near fall. Lynn sits Whipwreck on the top turnbuckle and hits a hurricanrana for a two count.

Lynn sits Whipwreck on the top turnbuckle and tries for a middle rope stunner, but Whipwreck shoves Lynn off and misses a diving headbutt. Lynn goes to the top, but Whipwreck stops Lynn and hits a stunner. However, Lynn falls on top of Whipwreck and wins the match. (**. Well, that was a weird finish. The fans didn’t seem to be interested in this at all and there were a few people chanting boring during the match. It wasn’t anything special, but I wouldn’t say it was boring by any means.)

Third Contest: Big Sal vs. Spike Dudley: Spike low blows Sal and wins the match with the Acid Drop. That’s all it was.

Fourth Contest: Masato Tanaka vs. John Kronus: Tanaka takes Kronus down to the mat, but Kronus is able to counter to get control briefly. Tanaka stomps on Kronus’ left knee and keeps leg control on the mat. Kronus hammers away on Tanaka and plays to the crowd. Kronus leg sweeps Tanaka for a near fall. Kronus slams Tanaka down with a Rock Bottom for a near fall. Kronus slams Tanaka but misses a somersault leg drop attempt. Tanaka misses a clothesline and powerslams Kronus leading to a near fall. Tanaka forearms Kronus and delivers a clothesline. Tanaka sends Kronus into the railing and delivers a running chair shot. Kronus has a chair and they do dueling chairs. Tanaka no sells a chair shot and forearms Kronus for a two count. Tanaka plants Kronus with a tornado DDT onto two chairs for the win. (*. The crowd seems to be kind of lifeless for these random matchups. It was a quick match and they didn’t really do anything to keep your attention on the match, really.)

Fifth Contest: FTW Champion Taz vs. Chris Chetti: Chetti hammers away on Taz in the corner but runs into an overhead belly to belly suplex. Taz comes off the ropes to boot Chetti in the head. Chetti hits a springboard heel kick for a near fall. Chetti somersaults off the top and is met with a clothesline from Taz. Taz demands that Chetti hit him and returns the strikes. Chetti delivers a few kicks, but Taz hits a leg trapped overhead suplex. Taz tosses Chetti with another suplex. Chetti fights back with a powerslam for a two count. Chetti nails Taz with a superkick. Chetti misses a double springboard moonsault and Taz locks in the Taz Mission to win the match. (*1/2. Not bad for what it was. Chetti worked well and had a few moments to shine, but there was never a doubt that Taz was going to destroy Chetti.)

Sixth Contest: Chris Candido vs. Lance Storm: Candido works over Storm in the corner with chops, but Storm fights back with chops of his own. Storm clotheslines Candido in the corner but Candido sends Storm over the top to the floor. Candido takes Storm out with a crossbody on the floor. Candido sends Storm into the guard railing. Storm misses a strike and Candido head scissors Storm. Storm dropkicks Candido and manages to hit a suplex from the apron to the floor. Storm hits a crossbody to take Candido out on the floor. Storm chokes Candido over the railing as fans are taking pictures of Candido. Storm hits a springboard clothesline back into the ring for a near fall. Storm powerslams Candido managing a two count. Candido hooks Storm, but Storm gets out of a suplex. Candido counters a superkick with a clothesline and a kick to the head for a near fall. Candido boots Storm in the corner and runs into a superkick for a near fall. They collide on a double clothesline. Candido takes Storm down with a swinging neckbreaker. Candido hits a middle rope leg drop for a two count. Storm goes to the top, but Candido stops Storm with strikes. Candido hits a hurricanrana and a top rope diving headbutt for a near fall. Storm nails Candido with a springboard back elbow for a near fall. Storm slaps Candido but Candido delivers a strike to the lower back. Candido sits Storm on the top and tries for a powerbomb. Storm breaks free and hits a powerbomb in midair for a two count. Storm hits a handspring splash, but takes the referee out. Shane Douglas gives Candido a chain and Storm avoids a strike with it. Well, he avoided two strikes and the third one connected. Candido covers and wins the match. (**1/2. A decent match that didn’t really ever get going. The finish is lame but it protects Storm, which I guess is fine enough.)

Seventh Contest: Tommy Dreamer, Blue Meanie & Super Nova vs. Jack Victory, Danny Doring & Mike Lozansky: Well this started off as being a match between Dreamer and Victory but it didn’t take long for interference to take place with Doring and Lozansky. Dreamer grabs himself a couple of partners and it’s Blue Meanie and Super Nova. Meanie splashes all three men in the corner. Lance Wright and his bodyguard get splashed, too. Dreamer leg drops Wright and Meanie hits a splash after Nova hit a leg drop, too. All six men are on the floor brawling around ringside. Meanie and Lozansky brawl into the crowd for a little bit. Dreamer sends Victory over the railing to the ringside area. Victory works over Meanie at ringside. Dreamer hits Doring with a drink on the floor as they continue to brawl. Meanie almost pins Victory after a splash, but Doring made the save. Doring hits a crossbody on Dreamer for a near fall. Dreamer takes Doring down with a neckbreaker. Lozansky dropkicks Nova followed by a leaping clothesline. Dreamer whacks Doring over the back with a chair. Nova boots Lozansky in the corner and connects with a clothesline. Victory hits Nova with a chair and Lozansky delivered a clothesline. Doring drops a few elbows and stomps on Nova. Nova is triple teamed in the corner.

Lozansky nails Nova with a jump kick and a snap suplex. Victory returns to deliver a right hand to Nova on the mat. Doring stomps on Nova followed by a knee strike to the back. Nova hits a powerbomb/elbow drop on Doring and looks to tag out. Dreamer gets tagged in and hammers away on the heels. All six men are in the ring brawling. Dreamer plants Victory with a DDT. Meanie has Doring and that allows a double DDT and a three count. (*1/4. Not a good brawling match and was rather boring overall.) After the match, Tommy Rogers takes Jeff Jones out with an Un-Prettier.

Eighth Contest: Justin Credible vs. The Sandman: Credible arm drags Sandman because we always start off with basic wrestling holds in matches that shouldn’t have them. Sandman misses a splash attempt and is taken down to the mat again. Sandman bails to the floor to regroup for a moment. Sandman wants to see if Credible can brawl. Sandman hammers away on Credible with strikes in the corner. Sandman tosses Credible over the top to the floor. Sandman sends Credible into the guard railing back first. Sandman slams Credible on the floor. Sandman slams a table onto Credible at ringside. Sandman sends Credible into the corner hard back first. Sandman continues with another scoop slam and goes to the top hitting a leg drop but the referee is distracted. Chasity enters and is chased around ringside. Credible forearms Sandman in the ring and has a kendo stick. Jason grabs Sandman and Credible whacks Jason over the head. Sandman hits a side Russian leg sweep. Sandman misses a kendo stick shot and is knocked down by Jason. Credible has a chair and Sandman bulldogs Credible onto the chair. Nicole Bass enters with a kendo stick and confronts Sandman. Sandman decks Bass to the mat. Sandman hits Jason with the kendo stick, but Jason knocks Sandman down anyway. Credible taunts Sandman on the microphone and wants to brawl. Credible misses a clothesline and is met with an elbow strike. Sandman hits a slingshot leg drop, but Chasity gets involved again. Sandman spanks Chasity only for Jason to deliver kendo stick shots. Credible hits That’s Incredible and pins Sandman. (*. Yeah, that was just a bad wrestling match. It’s good that Credible won, but it was not a entertaining brawl.)

Main Event: ECW Tag Team Champions Sabu & Rob Van Dam vs. Bubba Dudley & D-Von Dudley: Sabu and Bubba start the match with Bubba beating on Sabu with strikes and chokes Sabu under the ropes. Bubba rams Sabu into the corner and Sabu delivers a dropkick to Bubba’s knee. Sabu smashes Bubba with a chair shot and springboards off the chair to splash onto Bubba in the corner. Sabu dropkicks Bubba followed by a moonsault for a two count. Sabu springboards off a chair, but is caught and slammed to the mat by Bubba. D-Von tags in and works over Sabu with a strike. Sabu smashes D-Von with a chair allowing RVD to be tagged in and kicks D-Von a few times. RVD takes D-Von down to the mat and delivers a kick to the face. D-Von hits a neckbreaker off the middle rope to drive RVD down to the mat. D-Von tries for a swinging neckbreaker, but RVD counters with a northern lights suplex for a two count. RVD backdrops D-Von to the floor. Sabu baseball slides Bubba into D-Von and RVD takes them out with a dive over the top rope. Sabu springboards to the floor to take everyone out. Bubba drops Sabu onto a chair from a wheelbarrow position. RVD hits a crossbody on Bubba. Alfonso hits Sign Guy with a sign. D-Von stops RVD with a reverse DDT.

Sabu has gotten a table and sets it up in the ring. Bubba places Sabu onto the table and goes to the middle rope. Sabu stops Bubba with a hurricanrana. It looks like the table broke without contact. RVD hits the frog splash on Bubba, but Big Dick enters and chokeslams the champs! RVD is backdropped by the challengers and Bubba delivers an elbow drop. RVD kicks Bubba to the mat, but Bubba forearms D-Von accident. RVD drop toe holds both men, but Bubba recovers and powerbombs RVD through a table. D-Von elbow drops RVD but can’t keep him down long enough on the cover. D-Von nails RVD with a spinning strike and tags in Bubba. Bubba knocks Sabu off the apron and sends RVD into the corner. D-Von slams RVD and comes off the ropes to deliver a headbutt. Sabu stomps on D-Von to break the cover. Bubba slams RVD and D-Von comes off the ropes to deliver a big splash.

D-Von works over RVD in the corner with strikes to maintain control of the contest. D-Von blocks a boot in the corner and misses a clothesline. RVD gets a rollup on D-Von for a two count after Sabu delivered a punch,. Sabu splashes Bubba in the corner and clotheslines D-Von. Sabu decks Bubba with a clothesline. Dudley’s hit a back suplex/neckbreaker combo for a two count. Bubba comes off the ropes to deliver a splash. Bubba slams Sabu and taunts the crowd. Alfonso slides a table into the ring. Sabu hits a springboard DDT on Bubba. Sabu plants D-Von with a DDT and RVD delivers a spin kick to D-Von. The Dudley’s are laid onto the table. Sabu hits a leg drop on Bubba but D-Von delivers a chair shot. RVD leaps off the top to kick the chair into D-Von’s face and wins the match. (**1/2. That was better than most matches these two teams have had that I’ve seen thus far. They worked a good pace and the action was entertaining. That was a pleasant change from the usual for these two teams.)

Final Thoughts:
There are a couple of decent matches, but this was a lackluster overall house show. The crowd was a bit of a disappointment, too. The card looked kind of strong and it failed to deliver for me. That’s a trend for these shows. Sometimes they hit and often times they miss.

Thanks for reading.