Written by: Bob Colling
Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 10/25/1997
From: Queens, NY
Matches:
1.) Bam-Bam Bigelow defeated ECW World Champion Shane Douglas to win the title
2.) Sabu defeated Mikey Whipwreck
3.) Justin Credible defeated The Great Sasuke
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Joey Styles is in the ring and welcomes everyone to the program. ECW World Champion Shane Douglas and Francine make their way down to the ring. Douglas says that he doesn’t need the fans because they weren’t with him before. Douglas tells Styles that he smells like the rest of Queens. Douglas insults the fans for a few moments. Douglas brags about having Francine while the guys in the crowd are sitting next to each other. Douglas calls out Rick Rude to deliver him another lamb for slaughter.
Rude takes his time with his catchphrase as the crowd gives him heat. The are chanting that Rude has slept with Chyna. Rude lists the various countries he’s had sex in and that pops the crowd. Francine teases to show her breasts, and then flips off the crowd. Rude notes that he’s found another opponent to reach Douglas to his limits. Rude mentions he dominated the WWF and Douglas thinks it’s Shawn Michaels. Douglas is confused when Rude mentions WCW. Rude says he’s needs no introduction. The music hits and Douglas freaks out when it’s revealed as being Bam-Bam Bigelow! Bigelow has left the Triple Threat! Candido is trying to stop Bigelow, and is shoved down. Douglas begs Bigelow but that’s not going to work.
2.) Bigelow decks Douglas with a right hand and delivers more strikes in the corner. Bigelow splashes Douglas in the corner followed by more right hands. Bigelow hip tosses Douglas out of the corner. Bigelow hip tosses Douglas out of the corner a second time. Bigelow tosses Douglas off the apron onto the mat. Douglas fights back with right hands to stagger Bigelow. Bigelow ducks a few strikes and hits a press slam to drop Douglas over the top rope and the champ crashes to the floor. Candido rolls Douglas back into the ring. Bigelow press slams Douglas over the top to the outside. Bigelow stomps on Douglas in the corner. Douglas comes out of the corner to stagger Bigelow with clotheslines. Douglas dropkicks Bigelow and leaps off the top to hit a twisting crossbody for a two count. Douglas headbutts Bigelow on the lower midsection. Douglas continues to work over Bigelow with strikes. Douglas hooks Bigelow with a vertical suplex and drives Bigelow down to the mat. Bigelow recovers first and nearly pins Douglas. Douglas low blows Bigelow in the corner to keep control of the contest. Douglas chokes Bigelow over the middle rope in front of Rick Rude. Douglas continues to chop Bigelow tries for a backdrop, but Bigelow hits the Rude Awakening! Bigelow delivers a falling headbutt to keep Douglas on the canvas. Bigelow heads to the top rope and misses a diving headbutt. Bigelow plants Douglas with a DDT to counter a suplex attempt. Bigelow hits a powerbomb and pins Douglas to win the championship! (**1/2. I love the swerve and turn by Bigelow here. That makes the most sense for the angle they were doing between Rude and Douglas. The action was solid and the crowd was eating this up. It made for a great segment, really.)
3.) Whipwreck takes Sabu down to the mat, but Sabu reaches the ropes quickly. Sabu takes Whipwreck down to the mat again with leg control. Sabu clotheslines Whipwreck for a two count. Sabu keeps arm control for a few moments. Whipwreck counters to get arm control for a moment until Sabu breaks free and stomps on Mikey. Sabu hits a springboard crossbody for a two count. Mikey takes Sabu over with a hurricanrana. Sabu smashes Whipwreck with a chair. Sabu stomps on Whipwreck and rams Mikey into the corner face first. Sabu crotches Whipwreck on the top turnbuckle. Sabu takes Whipwreck off the top with a hurricanrana for a two count. Sabu hits a triple jump dive into the crowd to take Whipwreck out. Sabu grabs a table and sets it up over the apron and railing. Sabu sends Whipwreck into the railing ribs first. Whipwreck is put onto the table and Sabu tries for a splash, but Mikey tosses a chair into Sabu’s face instead. Sabu fights with Whipwreck on the top, but Mikey hits a top rope bulldog! Sabu stops Mikey on the middle rope, but Whipwreck hits a tornado DDT for a two count. Whipwreck hits a top rope hurricanrana for a two count. Sabu avoids a moonsault attempt and Sabu hits a triple jump moonsault for a two count. RVD gets on the apron and gets kicked by Whipwreck. Mikey puts RVD through the table from the apron with a bulldog! Sabu takes both men out with a moonsault to the floor! RVD holds Mikey’s leg on the apron to allow Sabu to hit a springboard moonsault to the back of Mikey’s head for a three count. (***. It was a car crash kind of match with plenty of big spots and Mikey looked really good in there. A fun TV match for ECW.)
4.) Sasuke tries for a few wild kicks, but Credible avoids them. Credible has a head scissors on the mat and prevents Sasuke from bridging up. Sasuke breaks free and gets a headlock on Credible. Credible takes Sasuke down to the mat with a top wrist lock. Sasuke keeps Credible on the mat with a leg lock. Sasuke locks in a half Boston Crab, but Credible reaches the ropes quickly. Sasuke takes Credible down to the mat and controls Credible with a leg lock. Credible reaches the ropes to break the hold, again. Credible runs the ropes and Sasuke hits a hip toss to send Credible begging off in the corner. Sasuke stomps on Credible in the corner and yells at the referee. Credible low blows Sasuke and delivers a few strikes in the corner. Credible dropkicks a seated Sasuke and taunts the crowd. Credible kicks Sasuke and delivers a swinging DDT for a near fall. Credible works over Sasuke in the corner with chops. Credible sends Sasuke flipping into the corner. Sasuke misses a knee strike in the corner and Credible connects with a clothesline for a near fall. Credible sits Sasuke on the top rope and hits a hurricanrana for a near fall.
Credible heads to the top rope, but Sasuke dropkicks Credible to crotch him. Sasuke hooks Credible, but Credible eye rakes Sasuke to hit a sunset flip powerbomb. Sasuke hits a crossbody off the middle rope and a springboard moonsault for a two count. Sasuke tries for a piledriver, but Credible backdrops free. Sasuke dropkicks Credible to the floor. Sasuke comes off the ropes and takes Credible out with a somersault dive! Sasuke rolls Credible into the ring and scoop slams him. Sasuke goes to the top, but Jason kicks Sasuke off to the mat. Credible picks Sasuke up to hit the That’s Incredible and wins the match! (**1/2. That’s a huge win for Justin Credible having just entered ECW. I think it’s evident already that Credible is being put into a spot to be the next big heel for the company. Sasuke looked pretty solid in there and hit his big spots. I enjoyed the action.)
Final Thoughts:
I thought it was a great show as it was heavy on action and all three matches shown all had entertaining qualities to them. We have a new champion and I’m interested to see how Bigelow/Douglas plays out. I’m also curious to see how quickly Justin Credible elevates up the card.
Thanks for reading.