Written by: Bob Colling
Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 4/4/1999
From: Binghamton, NY
Matches:
1.) Chris Chetti & Nova defeated Danny Doring & Roadkill
2.) Lance Storm defeated Tommy Dreamer
3.) Jerry Lynn fought Tracy Smothers to a no contest
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Bill Alfonso cuts a promo with Rob Van Dam and Sabu. Alfonso says that Sabu lied to him saying he was 70% when he was actually only 40%. Alfonso says that the Sheik told Sabu to sit down, but Sabu didn’t. Alfonso tells Sabu that he’ll quit if Sabu wrestles again. Sabu gives Alfonso the tag title and leaves the room. RVD says that Sabu worried too much about his match and notes that Jerry Lynn lost the match with him, which was the best on PPV. RVD tells us that the fans are calling him Mr. PPV now.
2.) We see footage of a tag match between the teams of Danny Doring/Roadkill and Chris Chetti/Nova from Living Dangerously. The match was a dark match on the event, which means it was originally done for only the live crowd. Nova hit a dive to the floor, but Doring and Roadkill came back with a Hart Attack on Chetti. Roadkill drives Chetti down to the mat with a side slam as the match got some order to it. Doring is taunting the crowd from the apron. Chetti head scissors Roadkill, but Doring gets involved to stop Chetti from tagging out. Chetti and Doring trade right hands until Doring drives Chetti down with the G-String Sweep. Doring crotches Chetti on the top turnbuckle and tries for a back suplex, but Chetti elbows Doring to the mat and misses a moonsault somersault leg drop. Doring plants Chetti with a leaping double arm DDT. Doring heads to the top rope and misses a leg drop.
Nova gets tagged in and hits a running bulldog out of the corner on Roadkill. Nova sends Doring chest first into the corner followed by a neckbreaker for a two count. All four men are in the ring brawling at this point. Chetti and Nova drive Doring and Roadkill to the mat at the same time and hit a leg drop/splash off the top to pin Roadkill. (***. I’m fairly certain that this match wasn’t a full match, but despite that this was presented incredibly well and these two teams did a great job.)
3.) Backstage, a bloodied Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney are cutting a promo. Rotten notes that the WWF has a hardcore title and that five years ago it wasn’t cool to be hardcore, but now it is. Rotten doesn’t need a belt to prove that he’s hardcore. They are going to always prove how hardcore they are. They will use a chair over your head instead of doing a headlock.
4.) Shane Douglas and Francine cut a promo with Douglas saying that he doesn’t like Tommy Dreamer and he doesn’t admire Dreamer. He doesn’t have to do either to team with Dreamer. However, he does believe in Dreamer as he’s seen Dreamer earn everything he’s accomplished in ECW over the past five years. Douglas focuses on Lance Storm and Justin Credible playing a mind game and wants them to think about who they are messing with. Douglas is always one step ahead of the mental game. Douglas has been successful to have his arm raised in the air. Douglas stepped into the ring to fight Taz with a bum arm and has done the same against Ric Flair and Scott Hall. Douglas was ready to handover the reign to lead ECW to Dreamer but Storm and Credible tried to steal that away. Douglas considers them nothing more than wannabes.
5.) Super Crazy cuts a promo in Spanish and he seems to be happy about being there.
6.) Sign Guy Dudley films Joel Gertner in the locker room for their promo time. Gertner is there to do some Gertner Vision. Gertner introduces Bubba and D-Von as the soon to be tag team champions. Bubba is annoyed sitting int he corner while D-Von is laying down. They have beaten every damn tag team in the company. They are focused on getting the titles back for a sixth time. Bubba says they love beating up Tommy Dreamer. Bubba says the Triple Threat means nothing to him and they are the greatest tag team in ECW history. Steve Corino enters the scene and the Dudley Boys have no idea who he is. Joel Gertner tells them that he has $5,000 and they change their tune and act interested. Corino needs a favor from the Dudley Boys for the $5,000. Corino recalls getting hit by Balls Mahoney with a chair in his PPV debut. Corino wants the Dudley’s to take Mahoney out for him. Corino has the money in cash and the Dudley Boys go searching for Axl and Mahoney.
7.) Danny Doring and Roadkill cut a promo and Doring wants Roadkill to speak. Roadkill clears his throat and just says chickens.
8.) Back to Super Crazy where Danny Doring dances by Crazy and that seems to upset Crazy. Crazy does a moonsault on the floor.
9.) Jerry Lynn cuts a promo saying that patience is no longer a virtue and is sure that RVD experienced that at the PPV. Lynn is pissed off. It’s kind of difficult to hear the promos with the music at the same time. Lynn is going to cancel RVD’s show and declares himself the new f’n show.
10.) Dudley Boys are talking with Steve Corino as they appear to be near Axl and Mahoney. Dudley’s enter the room and proceed to knockout Axl and Mahoney with a briefcase and chair shots. Bubba tells them that it isn’t personal and that it’s just business.
11.) Lance Storm and Justin Credible cut a promo about the Dudley Boys not getting the job done to take out Shane Douglas and Tommy Dreamer. They want their money back, too. Storm notes that they were left standing after the PPV. Credible and Storm argue over who is the future until Storm introduces Beulah, who is fake a Beulah and is Dawn Marie. She says that Dreamer ditched her when she needed him.
12.) Lance Storm and Beulah are in the ring to cut a promo. Storm says he was humbled at Living Dangerously because he realized he has limitations. Storm tells us that he isn’t capable of carrying Douglas and Dreamer to a great match on PPV. He’s cutoff by Dreamer’s music. Dreamer is with Francine and reminds Storm that he and Douglas won the match. Dreamer suggests that Storm get on the gas to carry his ass and Storm’s ego.
13.) Storm goes to the floor, but Dreamer sends Storm back into the ring to deliver a low blow and a forearm drop. Dreamer takes Storm over with a snap powerslam for a two count. Dreamer gets a chair from Francine and hits a side Russian leg sweep onto the chair. Dreamer leaps off the middle rope and elbow drops the chair. Storm stomps on Dreamer followed by elbow drops to keep control of the contest. Storm wedges the chair in the corner and beats on Dreamer with right hands. Storm is sent to the apron where Dreamer knocks Storm off the apron and chest first onto the railing. Dreamer sends Storm back first into the guard railing a few times. Storm sends Dreamer into the railing and is dumped over the railing into the crowd. Storm crotches Dreamer on the railing and knocks Dreamer down after a leaping clothesline off the railing as we go to commercial.
Storm dropkicks Dreamer as Dreamer returned to the ring. Storm has a steel chair and chokes Dreamer on the mat. Francine kicks Storm from the apron allowing Dreamer to hit a piledriver onto the chair for a two count as fake Beulah gets in the ring to break the pin. Naturally, that leads to a cat fight between Francine and fake Beulah. Justin Credible sends Dreamer face first into the chair in the corner and Storm is laying on top leading to a three count for the win. After the match, Justin Credible and Shane Douglas enter the ring with Douglas hitting an atomic drop and clothesline on Credible. Douglas press slams Storm into Credible. Credible nails Douglas with a kendo stick shot. Credible whacks Douglas over the head with the kendo stick. Storm and Credible stand tall to end the segment. (**. The action wasn’t all that memorable or entertaining, really. However, it’s a solid win for Storm as they need to get some steam following the PPV loss. The aftermath should lead to another match or perhaps a singles match between Credible and Douglas. That would appear to be the eventual plan is for Credible/Douglas to happen.)
14.) Joey Styles hypes up a weapons cage match where Mustafa teams with the Dudley Boys to take on Axl Rotten, Balls Mahoney and New Jack. Justin Credible and Shane Douglas will be squaring off in a singles match.
15.) Smothers goes after Lynn hitting a heel kick quickly. Smothers works over Lynn with strikes and chops in the corner. Lynn fights back with overhand chops of his own followed by a kick to the head. Smothers decks Lynn with a short arm clothesline and delivers a few stomps. Lynn takes Smothers down with a crossbody followed by a leg drop. Lynn heads to the top hitting a missile dropkick to send Smothers to the floor. Lynn takes Smothers out with a slingshot crossbody. Lynn rolls Smothers into the ring and we are joined by Rob Van Dam and Bill Alfonso. RVD kicks a chair into Smothers face. Tommy Rich comes in and is beaten down by Sabu with a spike. Smothers and Little Guido are now brawling on the floor, but here comes Big Sal. Sabu leg drops Rich through a table after a slingshot leg drop from the ring. RVD and Lynn have a stare down to end the program.
Final Thoughts:
The tag match they showed from the PPV was really fun to watch and I thought they all were made to look good in the ring. The episode was heavy on interviews and general hype for Cyberslam, which is fine. I’d say this was an overall solid week of TV.
Thanks for reading.