Written by: Bob Colling
Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 5/14/2000
From: Poughkeepsie, NY
Matches:
1.) Little Guido defeated Johnny Swinger
2.) Nova & Chris Chris Chetti defeated CW Anderson & Bill Wiles
3.) Danny Doring & Roadkill defeated Spanish Angel & Tony DeVito
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) ECW World Champion Justin Credible cuts a promo on Tommy Dreamer to start the show. Credible recalls cutting off a ten bell salute for Dreamer’s grandfather. Credible recalls hitting Dreamer with a kendo stick to an inch of his life. Credible took away the championship from Dreamer after working seven years to obtain it. Francine chimes in saying Dreamer lost her and the gold. Credible turns his attention to Lance Storm and asks if Storm is truly a mark to believe he carried their team. Credible says he’s the most controversial wrestler in sports entertainment. Francine is going to show Dawn Marie at Hardcore Heaven why she’s the queen of extreme. Credible is defending against Storm and Dreamer at Hardcore Heaven in a three way. (I believe the build has suggested it was Storm vs. Credible and that Dreamer is a last minute addition.)
2.) Joel Gertner provides a poem taking shots at TNN for not promoting them and not treating them right. Gertner puts over the network they are on now for being a “real network.”
3.) Guido takes Swinger down to the mat with a go-behind, but Swinger counters and Guido bails to the floor after reaching the ropes. Guido and Swinger slap each other until Guido goes for a backslide managing a two count. Swinger tries for a hip toss, but Guido counters with a strike to midsection. They trade arm drags and then mess up a spot, which the fans let them hear about. Guido bails to the floor to regroup. Guido clubs away on Swinger and delivers a chop in the corner. Swinger plants Guido with a powerslam out of the corner for a near fall. Guido wants to shake hands, but Swinger declines. Guido holds the ropes to avoid a dropkick and nails Swinger with a seated dropkick. Guido misses a slingshot crossbody to the floor. Guido sends Swinger into the railing and Big Sal splashes Swinger against the railing. Guido tries for a cover, but Swinger kicks out. Swinger plants Guido with a neckbreaker for a near fall. Swinger heads to the top rope, but Guido locks in an arm bar until Swinger reaches the bottom rope. Guido hits a side Russian leg sweep and goes to the corner leaping off of Sal’s shoulders to hit an elbow drop. Guido distracts the referee to allow Sal to hit a middle rope diving headbutt for a near fall. Guido chops Swinger against the ropes, but Swinger delivers a botched looking full nelson front slam. Swinger almost wins following a cobra clutch leg sweep. They begin to trade strikes until Guido plants Swinger with an Un-Prettier for the win. (*1/4. That was a little too sloppy and botchy for me to enjoy. I don’t think these two meshed very well, at all. Swinger should be working with bigger guys and Guido should continue to work the usual mix of Crazy, Tajiri, Kash and Nova. I can appreciate the effort to do something different, but this was a swing and a miss.)
4.) Sinister Minister and Mikey Whipwreck are talking about Hardcore Heaven. Minister says that Hardcore Heaven is going to be hotter than hell. They proceed to have uncontrollable laughter.
5.) Lou E. Dangerously is in the ring with the Dangerous Alliance and Electra. They tease Electra taking off her jacket and reveal her body. Of course, Electra doesn’t remove her jacket. Lou says that the people are pathetic punks who don’t deserve it. Lou tries to do his catchphrase, but the fans chant to prevent him from saying it. Lou introduces the Dangerous Alliance tag team to boos as the show goes to commercial.
6.) Chetti and Anderson start the tag match with Chetti rallying the crowd. Chetti hammers away on Anderson with chops in the corner. Anderson low blows Chetti coming out of the corner. Chetti low blows Anderson and ducks a wild strike. Chetti atomic drops Anderson a few times followed by a leaping side kick. Chetti tags in Nova and they back elbow Anderson followed by fist drops. Wiles is kicked a few times by both men to the mat. Nova misses a clothesline and is jabbed by Wiles several times. Nova drops Wiles with a right hand. Nova is distracted by Dangerously, but Wiles connects with a spinning heel kick. Wiles can’t keep Nova down long enough. Anderson punches Nova and Wiles hits a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Nova punches Anderson several times, but Anderson tosses Nova overhead with a suplex. Anderson slams Nova and Wiles hits an elbow drop off the middle rope for a two count. Wiles sits Nova on the top rope looking for a suplex, but Nova slams Wiles off with a front suplex. Wiles blocks a tornado DDT, but Nova plants Wiles with the Novacain. Anderson and Chetti tag into the match with Chetti hitting a scissors kick. Chetti kicks Anderson several times leading to another near fall. Nova and Chetti control both men in opposite corners. Anderson sends Chetti into the guard railing. Anderson superkicks Nova after a catapult by Wiles. Chetti cleans house, but Anderson delivers a left hand. Chetti heel kicks Anderson, but Wiles hits a neckbreaker. Nova hits a top rope Swanton for a near fall as Dangerously pulled the referee out and sends the referee into the guard railing. Chetti grabs a table and slides it into the ring. Nova lays Dangerously over the table, but Wiles cuts Nova off. Dangerously hits Wiles with the phone on accident. Chetti sends Anderson into the railing. Nova and Chetti hit the Tidal Wave through the table on Wiles for the win. After the match, Wiles and Anderson attack Nova Chetti until New Jack makes his way out to make the save with his usual weapon shots. Da Baldies make the save after Electra got her jacket ripped off. Jack is beaten down by Angel in the corner. Doring and Roadkill make the save leading to the next match. (*1/2. A decent match with it being noticeable that Wiles really brings down the match with his obsession to be a fake Elvis. That is just driving me nuts as he continues to become closer and closer to a Elvis impersonator. Chetti and Nova are a fun team and could be a good option to be tag champs along with Doring and Roadkill.)
7.) Angel sends Doring into the corner, but misses a splash and lands on the top turnbuckle. DeVito is sent into Angel, who is in a tree of woe. Roadkill splashes both men in the corner. Doring hits the Bareback on DeVito and Roadkill slams Angel. Doring leaps off the top to elbow drop Angel. The show goes to commercial.
Baldies hit a double flapjack on Doring to keep control of the contest upon returning from commercial. DeVito slides a table into the ring and Angel sets it up in the corner. Roadkill nails DeVito with a top rope clothesline. Doring clotheslines Angel while Roadkill lifted Angel into the air. Roadkill has a wheelbarrow on Angel and Doring hits a leg drop through the table for a three count. After the match, Grimes attacks Doring and Roadkill. Grimes scoop slams Roadkill and DeVito hit a Samoan Drop on Doring. DeVito hits a top rope moonsault on Roadkill. Grimes nails Roadkill with a top rope elbow drop. Balls Mahoney makes his way out to make the save with a steel chair. (1/2*. A short contest, but at least the right team went over. Baldies do no interest me at all.)
8.) Backstage, Sandman is smoking while cutting a promo about the grueling matches he’s been in the past. He’s wrestled Cactus Jack and Sabu and survived them. He wonders what makes Rhino think it will be any different. He’ll be in heaven against Rhino.
9.) Backstage, Swinger walks into Kid Kash’s promo segment. Swinger says that he’s from Atlanta and tells Kash to stay out of his way. Swinger flicks Kash’s hat and walks off. Kash picks up his hat and calls Swinger a homo.
10.) Joey Styles notes that some people are seeing this before the PPV and some are seeing it after the PPV airs. Styles runs down the card for the majority seeing the show before the PPV aired.
11.) ECW Television Champion Rhino cuts a promo to finish the show. He has a problem with Sandman saying the beer drinks Sandman. The other problem is Rhino himself. Rhino hypes up the pay per view as the craziest one of the year. Rhino notes that it is Mother’s Day and wants Sandman to bring his mother to the PPV. Sandman will always remember the name RHINO!
Final Thoughts:
They did a couple of interviews to promote the bigger matches at the PPV, but this was a lackluster show as a lead in to the pay per view or as a show coming out of the PPV depending on where you lived. There wasn’t much here to keep me interested and it felt like it took a while to get through. I shouldn’t be surprised that minimal effort would be put into a show that would be aired at different times centering around a PPV. So, I’ll give them a pass on this one for that reasoning.
Thanks for reading.