ECW Hardcore TV 6/25/2000

Extreme Championship Wrestling presents Hardcore TV
Date: 6/25/2000
From: Danbury, CT

Matches:
1.) Scotty Anton defeated Pitbull #1
2.) Kid Kash defeated Chris Hamrick
3.) Simon Diamond defeated Danny Doring
4.) Johnny Swinger defeated Roadkill
5.) Bill Wiles & CW Anderson defeated Chris Chetti & Nova

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Pitbull is hammering away on Anton in the corner and delivers a big boot to stop Anton. Pitbull delivers a clothesline in the corner and continues with right hands. Pitbull comes off the ropes to kick Anton on the chest. Pitbull delivers a weird looking spinning back fist to the gut and connects with a powerbomb for a near fall. Pitbull ducks a clothesline, but Anton drives Pitbull into the corner back first and taunts the crowd. Anton rams Pitbull into the corner face first followed by a high knee strike in the corner. Anton knee lifts Pitbull to the mat and tries for a backdrop, but Pitbull gets a sunset flip for a two count. Anton stops Pitbull with a clothesline and taunts the crowd. Anton nails Pitbull with a standing dropkick. Pitbull takes Anton down with a Thez Press and right hands. Pitbull plants Anton with a spinebuster for a near fall. Pitbull spikes Anton with a Death Valley Driver for a two count. Pitbull heads to the top rope, but Anton crotches Pitbull to the mat. Anton chop blocks Pitbull and locks in The Clapper (sharpshooter). Pitbull is forced to submit. (*1/2. That wasn’t too bad, actually. Anton is doing well with his heel work and honestly his character is something Russo in WCW would probably love to book. I mean, being able to reference an STD is probably a dream come true for Russo. Anton is thriving in ECW and I’ve been enjoying his work thus far.)

2.) Hamrick controls Kash with a wrist lock in the opening moments of the match. Kash is elbowed by Hamrick a few times, but Hamrick monkey flips Kash, who lands on his feet. Kash arm drags Hamrick a few times. Hamrick gets a headlock on Kash, but Kash breaks free with a head scissors. They both miss dropkick attempts and they have a standoff. Hamrick wants to shake hands, but Kash doesn’t trust him. Kash flips Hamrick off and EZ Money causes a distraction on the apron. Hamrick drop toe holds Kash on the middle rope and misses a dive crashing to the floor. Kash takes Money out with a top rope somersault dive to the floor. Hamrick stomps on Kash back in the ring, but that doesn’t last long as Kash connects with a sit out slam. Kash chops Hamrick in the corner a few times. Hamrick avoids Kash in the corner to deliver a superkick. Hamrick strikes Kash into the corner and continues with stomps. Kash connects with a springboard moonsault for a two count. EZ Money trips Kash and allows Hamrick to regain control of the contest. Hamrick drops Kash face first over his knee out of a suplex position for a two count. Hamrick pulls on Kash’s face while taunting the camera and delivers a leg drop. Kash hits a double springboard hurricanrana and heel kicks Hamrick into the corner. Money attacks Kash and drops him over the top rope to allow Hamrick to hit a top rope leg drop for a near fall. Kash dropkicks Hamirck into Money and hits the Money Maker for the win. (**1/2. I enjoyed these two working each other. Hamrick is similar to Mamaluke for me in the sense that they are both underrated. They did enough big spots to keep me invested.) After the match. Money powerbombs Kash and hits a top rope moonsault. That leads to New Jack making his way out to make the save. Jack uses various weapons to lay out the heels. Nee Jack climbs a ladder to the top of ledge and dives off to put Hamrick through a table to end the segment.

3.) Backstage, Prodigy and Prodigette are arguing and the Musketeer is singing. Simon Diamond is livid and wants to be more than a comedy act. Diamond is begging someone to get a clue so that he and Swinger can get to the top. Diamond storms through a door and they see Electra, who tries to flirt with them. They meet the Dangerous Alliance, and they are offended by being called freaks. CW Anderson promises to go freak on Diamond’s ass. Diamond goes to confront Anderson, but Swinger decides to bail with Diamond.

4.) Backstage, Francine says that ECW World Champion Justin Credible hates going to the ECW Arena and will not be addressing the fans. Francine brings up July 8th and says she’s going to smack all the perverts. She knows they all want her, but they can’t have her.

5.) Backstage, New Jack cuts a promo about Heatwave taking place in his hometown. Jack is excited to wrestle where he started his career. Jack wants everyone to come out and see him get loose. Jack promises someone is going to get hurt and he’s going to kick ass. Jack doesn’t care about championships and only cares about violence.

6.) Doring avoids Diamond in the corner to deliver right hands. Doring backdrops Diamond out of the corner and delivers a clothesline. Doring dropkicks Diamond coming off the ropes and Diamond bails to the floor to regroup. Doring hits a slingshot crossbody to the floor to take out Diamond and his entourage. Doring is pulled off the apron by Tom Marquez and is met with a clothesline. Diamond takes Doring out with a dive to the floor. Diamond clotheslines Doring coming off the ropes to keep control of the contest. Doring fights back with strikes, but Diamond cuts Doring off. Diamond rams Doring into the corner face first and Doring fights back with chops. Diamond hits a side Russian leg sweep for a two count on Doring. Diamond connects with the Simon Series, but Doring hits the Bareback to stop Diamond. Doring blocks a few right hands and punches Diamond in the gut before hitting a Stroke. Doring low blows Diamond and hits a superkick. Doring heads to the top rope hitting a leg drop, but the referee is pulled out to the floor. Tom Marquez tries to interfere, but Doring hits a DDT. Swinger decks Doring from the floor allowing Diamond to hit the Simonizer for the win. After the match, Roadkill slides into the ring to make the save as Swinger and Diamond attacked Doring. (*1/2. Diamond getting a singles win is fine, but Diamond and Swinger need tag team wins to gain some momentum. The match was okay, but the interest for me comes from a tag team point of view.)

7.) Roadkill splashes Diamond and Swinger in the corner. Roadkill slams Swinger and hits an elbow drop off the middle rope. Roadkill misses a clothesline and Swinger low blows Roadkill. Swinger hits a side Russian leg sweep followed by a leg drop to the groin. Swinger pummels Roadkill with right hands on the mat and chokes Roadkill. Roadkill connects with a side slam and decks Musketeer off the apron. Roadkill plants Swinger with a TKO. Roadkill heads to the apron looking for a top rope clothesline and nails Swinger with it. CW Anderson comes in and decks Roadkill with a cellphone. Swinger is put on top and pins Roadkill to win the match. After the match, Roadkill is beaten down by the Dangerous Alliance and Diamond’s entourage. Chris Chetti and Nova make the save. (1/2*. Hardly a match to give Swinger momentum since the Dangerous Alliance provided the help. This felt like a filler match to lead into the next match.)

8.) Nova leaps off the top to take Anderson and Wiles out with a crossbody on the floor after returning from a commercial. Chetti hammers away on Anderson a few times. Anderson misses wild strikes and Chetti hits a sit out slam. Wiles side slams Chetti to the mat. Nova kicks Wiles in the corner and hits a tornado DDT. Nova is pulled out by Anderson and Chetti leg drops Wiles for a two count as Anderson makes the save. Chetti decks Anderson and almost hits Dangerously. Chetti plants Anderson with a slam and goes to the top with Nova. Diamond shoves Chetti off the top and Anderson plants Nova with a spinebuster. Wiles covers and pins Nova for the win. (*. I’m not sure if this was heavily clipped, but it was okay for such a short match. I do like that the heel teams got a lot of momentum in the quest of winning the tag titles.)

9.) Backstage, Cyrus is with Scotty Anton. Anton is rubbing his hands as Cyrus promotes Heatwave in Los Angeles. Of course, they talk about how popular the Clap is in LA. They clap their hands and the lights go on and off. Cyrus promises that Rob Van Dam will catch the Clap at Heatwave. Anton didn’t like being RVD’s best friend as his gimmick. Anton promises that RVD will tap out at the PPV. Anton is going to reign supreme all of LA.

10.) Backstage, Bill Alfonso and Rob Van Dam cut a promo about being in Poughkeepsie. RVD broke Lynn’s face in Poughkeepsie. RVD knows that the people in Poughkeepsie what to expect when he’s there. They know to expect the whole F’n show.

Final Thoughts:
The focus on the vacant tag team titles can be appreciated. I’m glad they haven’t just been forgotten and then a random tournament pops up. There’s actual meaning behind the tournament and the teams involved. The show continues to be solid in recent weeks and the undercard wrestlers are holding my interest. I’m kind of glad they don’t overuse main event wrestlers on Hardcore TV. Allow the midcard acts to get some time on Hardcore TV and build them up. That’s what they are doing and it seems to be successful.

Thanks for reading.