Written by: Bob Colling
Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 11/13/1999
From: Dayton, OH
Matches:
1.) ECW Television Champion Rob Van Dam defeated Little Guido to retain the title
2.) Danny Doring & Roadkill defeated Bill Wiles & CW Anderson, and Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney
3.) ECW World Champion Mike Awesome defeated Taz to retain the title
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) The show starts with Paul Heyman talking off camera as Raven is sitting in the parking lot. Heyman sits next to Raven and asks why did he bring back Sandman. Heyman notes that Dreamer is complaining about teaming with Raven and the Impact Players want more title shots. Heyman says that he’s as miserable as Raven is. Raven asks why he’s telling him that. Raven laughs at Heyman saying “Quot the Heyman, nevermore.”
2.) Joey Styles talks about November to Remember where Raven accidentally hit Sandman with a kendo stick and that allowed the Impact Players to win the six man tag match.
3.) Backstage, Tommy Dreamer is sitting on the bathroom floor and cuts a promo on Raven. Dreamer says that Raven fits in with them and nobody is perfect. Dreamer asks what Raven could do to him that he hasn’t done before. Dreamer rams his head into the wall a few times. Dreamer says they are bound by something stronger than love and hate. They are bound by blood. Dreamer wants Raven to do the right thing.
4.) Footage of a match between Sandman and Rhino is shown where Rhino was nailed by a kendo stick several times. Justin Credible came in from behind and hit Sandman over the head with his kendo stick several times. Tommy Dreamer slid into the ring and made the save. Raven was watching backstage and ran towards the ring. Raven saved Sandman and Dreamer by decking Credible off the apron and hit Rhino over the head with a chair shot. Raven helped Dreamer up, but Sandman attacked Raven with several kendo stick shots. Dreamer and Sandman rolled to the floor to stop a further beating on Raven.
5.) Backstage, Raven cuts a promo saying that he did the right thing, but wonders why Dreamer let the drunk beat him up. Raven recalls his father beating him up after school and was told that he wasn’t good enough. Raven continues to repeat that he did the right thing.
6.) RVD backs Guido into a corner, but doesn’t take control of the match. Guido gets away and they have a standoff for a few moments. Guido gets a go-behind takedown on RVD and they roll around for a second leading to another standoff. Guido controls RVD with a side headlock, but Guido doesn’t let go. Guido stomps RVD as the champ did a split. Guido arm drags RVD and they counter each other again leading to another standoff. Guido dropkicks RVD into the corner followed by elbow strikes. Guido hits a side Russian leg sweep and a dropkick to knock RVD down. Guido ducks a kick and locks in an arm bar on RVD as the show goes to commercial.
RVD gets a two count following a northern lights suplex. RVD continues with a spin kick and corkscrew leg drop for a two count and Guido bails to the floor. RVD follows to the floor with right hands and sends Guido into the guard railing back first. RVD charges at Guido against the railing to deliver a spinning heel kick. Guido fights back with right hands on the floor, but RVD atomic drops Guido and puts him over the railing. RVD leaps off the apron to hit a corkscrew leg drop. Guido sends RVD into the railing and Big Sal splashes the champ against the railing. Sal rolls RVD into the ring and Guido gets a two count. Guido has an arm bar on RVD, but doesn’t get a submission. Guido delivers a couple of knee drops to keep control of the match. Guido goes to the apron and hits a slingshot elbow drop for a near fall. Guido tosses RVD through the ropes to the floor. We go to another commercial as Big Sal delivers a few strikes.
Guido plants RVD with an Un-Prettier onto a steel chair. Guido goes for a cover, but RVD manages to power out at two. Guido hammers away on RVD with forearm strikes. RVD dropkicks Guido in midair after lifting Guido into the air. RVD tries for a cover, but Guido kicks out at two. RVD hits a cartwheel splash for a two count. RVD puts Guido in the tree of woe in the corner. RVD kicks Guido in the midsection and grabs a chair to hit a running dropkick. Big Sal shoves Alfonso but splashes Guido in the corner. RVD spin kicks Sal and delivers a chair shot to Sal in the corner. RVD dropkicks two chairs into Sal’s face with help from Alfonso. RVD hits the rolling thunder on Guido for a near fall. RVD is given a chair by Alfonso, but Guido drives RVD face first onto a chair. Guido misses a middle rope leg drop onto the chair for a near fall. Guido goes to the top rope and is kicked by RVD. RVD hammers away on Guido managing to crotch Guido over the top rope. RVD proceeds to kick a chair into Guido’s head with help from Alfonso. RVD goes to the top rope and hits the Five Star Frog Splash for the win. (***. They got plenty of time as it’s a rarity for a Hardcore TV match to get multiple commercial breaks. Guido looked good in there for the most part, but it’s really difficult to find someone that is a viable contender to RVD on the undercard. RVD has been presented so strongly that virtually nobody comes across believable.)
7.) Anderson and Wiles attack before the bell to get the advantage. Roadkill splashes Wiles in the corner as Anderson moved. Doring head scissors Anderson to the floor. Doring elbows Wiles followed by a clothesline and a dropkick. Wiles plants Doring with a tilt a whirl slam. Anderson decks Roadkill on the apron and drops Doring with a front suplex. Wiles delivers a rolling neck snap followed by right hands to Doring. Doring is double teamed in the corner for a few moments. Anderson hits a rolling neck snap and Wiles connects with a leg drop for a two count. Doring plants Wiles to the mat with a modified Fame-Asser. Roadkill gets the tag and cleans house hitting a slam on Wiles. Roadkill drops Anderson with a TKO. Roadkill side slams Wiles and Doring goes to the top only to be crotched by Anderson. Doring low blows Wiles on the middle rope to hit a middle rope Bareback for a near fall. Doring is met with a superkick by Anderson and Wiles gets a two count. Roadkill comes off the top to hit a double clothesline. Roadkill sends Wiles to the floor and plants Anderson with a side slam. Doring comes off the top to hit a leg drop on Anderson. Roadkill comes off the top to hit a splash and wins the match. (**. It would appear that Doring and Roadkill have switched to being faces and they have connected with the fans in that role. This was a good spotlight match for them and I’m interested to see them moving forward in the tag division.)
8.) Taz attacks Awesome on the apron and they trade right hands before dropping to the floor to continue the brawl. Awesome sends Taz into the guard railing a few times back first. Awesome dives over the railing to take Taz out with a dive in the crowd. They continue to brawl in the crowd and work their way backstage towards the concessions. Awesome sends Taz into one of the vendors. Awesome hits Taz with a trash can and they continue to trade strikes. Taz sends Awesome into a few chairs in the crowd. Taz and Awesome continue to trade strikes in the crowd as they head towards the entrance way. Awesome slams Taz on the floor, but is met with a low blow. Taz rolls Awesome into the ring and delivers stomps in the corner. Awesome splashes Taz in the corner, but Taz delivers a clothesline. Awesome big boots Taz followed by a clothesline. Awesome signals for a table on the floor. Judge Jeff Jones gives Awesome a table in the ring. Awesome nails Taz with another clothesline. Awesome tries for a powerbomb, but Taz breaks free and hits a t-bone suplex. Taz sits Awesome on the top rope and tosses Awesome with an overhead suplex. Jeff Jones is on the apron and is grabbed by Taz. Awesome powerbombs Taz through the table and only gets a two count. Awesome drags Taz out of the table and goes to the top hitting a splash for the clean win in the middle of the ring. (*1/2. Well, I wasn’t really a fan of the brawling in the crowd to start the match as that’s not the kind of match I wanted from these two. I wanted a competitive in-ring bout. So, I’d say this was a quite disappointing match. This would be the final TV appearance for Taz as a regular in ECW.)
Final Thoughts:
A good episode of Hardcore TV despite a disappointing main event. It’s the era of Mike Awesome and I’m looking forward to his title defenses. He comes across like a big deal in ECW. RVD/Guido was solid and I enjoyed the Doring/Roadkill showcase. The Raven/Dreamer stuff isn’t really entertaining to me at this point, though. I want something fresh for them both.
Thanks for reading.