ECW Hardcore TV 11/29/1997

Written by: Bob Colling

Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 11/29/1997
From: Queens, NY

Matches:
1.) ECW Television Champion Taz defeated Bubba Ray Dudley to retain the title
2.) ECW World Champion Bam-Bam Bigelow defeated Sabu by disqualification

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Dudley Boys are in the ring with Joel Gertner and are getting some heat from the crowd. Gertner puts over Bubba’s accomplishments in Dudleyville, which include boxing, chess and being a Heritage Champion. Bubba is wrestling ECW Television Champion Taz tonight.

2.) Bubba goes after Taz in the corner with right hands to get the early advantage. Bubba works over Taz with overhand strikes to the back followed by a back elbow strike. Bubba scoop slams Taz and comes off the ropes to deliver an elbow drop. Bubba comes off the ropes to clothesline Taz and sends the champ to the floor. Bubba sends Taz back first into the guard railing. D-Von and Big Dick attack Taz on the outside while the referee is distracted. The referee demands that Bubba put a stop to it and Bubba refuses to do it. The referee calls out for officials to come out and it’s Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney with chairs! They destroy the Dudley’s with chairs. Bubba continues to beat on Taz with strikes in the ring while Mahoney brawls with Big Dick to the backstage area. Taz goes after Bubba with strikes in the corner followed by a drop toe hold and several crossface strikes. Taz tries for a t-bone, but Bubba counters. Taz tosses Bubba with a t-bone suplex. Taz works over Bubba with stomps in the corner. Bubba tries for a hip toss, but Taz blocks it. Joel Gertner jumps into the ring and distracts Taz. Taz plants Bubba with a cutter and focuses on Gertner in the corner. Gertner is panicking and Taz hits a t-bone suplex to drop Gertner on his neck. Bubba gets up and tries for a powerbomb, but Taz hits an overhead suplex. Taz locks in the Taz Mission after a botched leapfrog and wins the match by submission. (*1/2. It was a little clunky towards the end and they really didn’t present a competitive match by any means.)

3.) ECW Television Champion Taz grabs a microphone after the victory. Taz notes that he was born and raised just twenty minutes down the road. Taz says he’s going to commit the most violent act on the PPV because that’s what he can do. Taz is going to show the wrestling world what a shoot really is. Taz dismisses the Montreal Screwjob as being a shoot and suggests we watch November To Remember to see one for real.

4.) Joey Styles introduces Shane Douglas and Francine for an interview in the ring. Douglas notes the last time he was here, he lost the ECW World Championship to Bigelow. Douglas continues to use Philadelphia as a way to get heat with the Queens crowd. Francine is sporting crutches. Wait, Douglas says that Queens puts Philadelphia to shame every night. Douglas puts over the women in New York, too. Douglas puts over Pittsburgh as the number one for women. Douglas is switching from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. Douglas goes back to calling Queens a piece of shit. Douglas says that Pittsburgh is less than a day away from seeing the biggest event in history. Douglas continues to insult the fans and they all go nuts for it. Douglas has Francine announce him as the new ECW World Champion, since that’s what will happen at November To Remember.

5.) Chris Candido cuts a promo saying he’s 25-years old and he’s in the best shape of his life. His first match was when he was 14-years old. Candido mentions various wrestlers that don’t have bad matches and he agrees with all of that. Candido puts over Bigelow as being the best big man in the business. Candido says that Shawn Michaels steals the show and he can put his opinions behind him. Candido says people are going to talk about him and people will remember his performance. Candido is the best performer in the business going today. Candido says that from here on out he’s the show stealer.

6.) Sabu starts off with a few strikes in the corner, but Bigelow fires back with right hands in the corner and delivers a big splash. Bigelow goes for a press slam, but Sabu counters and is met with a sit down splash. Sabu avoids a baseball slide and hammers away on Bigelow outside the ring. Bigelow places Sabu onto a table, but Sabu nails Bigelow with a chair shot. Sabu baseball slides Bigelow into the guard railing. Sabu baseball slides Bigelow over the railing into the crowd. Sabu takes Bigelow out with a springboard dive into the crowd. Bigelow tosses Sabu onto the table again, but Sabu delivers strikes. Sabu punches Bigelow and the table breaks. Sabu hits a slingshot leg drop onto Bigelow and the broken table. Bigelow shoulder rams Sabu from the apron and delivers a powerbomb onto a chair. Bigelow climbs to the top rope missing a diving headbutt and lands onto the chair. Sabu springboards off a chair to splash Bigelow in the corner. Sabu springboards off the chair to crossbody Bigelow over the top to the floor. Sabu nails Bigelow with a chair shot a few times from the floor. Sabu comes off the top to deliver another chair shot for a near fall. Sandman appears in the balcony.

Back from commercial, Sandman is standing there with a kendo stick as RVD enters the ring and dropkicks Bigelow on the knee to throw out the match. Sabu and RVD hammer away on Bigelow. Tommy Dreamer runs into the ring and helps Bigelow fight them off. Shane Douglas appears and brawls with Bigelow. RVD stomps on Dreamer’s heel and Douglas delivers a chair shot to the heel. Sabu smashes Dreamer’s heel with a chair. Alfonso lays a ladder over Dreamer’s heel and Sabu hits a top rope leg drop from one corner with RVD coming from another side. Sandman finally enters the ring to make the save. Sandman checks on Dreamer. (*1/2. This wasn’t anything special by any means and it didn’t come across as if it was designed to be. They promoted several of the top feuds for the PPV while putting a high profile match on the show. It served its purpose.)

7.) Rob Van Dam and Sabu are pissing on a ECW flag. RVD would love to hang the WWF flag up on a ECW show. They have much bigger plans at November To Remember. RVD sets the flag on fire! Sabu had to jump of the flag to avoid getting burned.

Final Thoughts:
An average week for TV as it was the second week in a row where the focus here was to sell the PPV. They did a good enough job to keep my interest in the PPV.

Thanks for reading.