Extreme Championship Wrestling House Show
Date: 5/9/1997
From: Dowington, PA
Opening Contest: Mikey Whipwreck vs. Chris Candido: Whipwreck shoves Candido to the mat and Candido recovers in the corner. Candido backs Whipwreck into a corner and is met with a slap. Candido backs of into another corner and complains about the slap to the referee. Candido gets a side headlock on Whipwreck and shoulder blocks Whipwreck to the mat. Whipwreck hip tosses and arm drags Candido to the floor. Candido nearly falls over the railing into the crowd selling the offense by Whipwreck. Whipwreck gets a headlock on Candido and shoulder blocks Candido to the mat again. Whipwreck dropkicks Candido into the corner. Candido decks Whipwreck out of the corner as the referee got in the way. Candido strikes Whipwreck several times in the corner. Candido sends Whipwreck into the corner, but Whipwreck comes back with a kick to the head. Candido bails to the floor where Whipwreck hits a somersault dive! Whipwreck continues to strike Candido on the floor and sends Candido over the railing into the crowd. Whipwreck strikes Candido against the railing and Candido falls into the crowd. Candido has a chair wrapped around his head, but sends Whipwreck into the railing. Candido falls into the ring as Whipwreck staggers holding his back. Candido baseball slides Whipwreck off the apron to the floor. Candido hooks Whipwreck to hit a suplex from the apron into the ring and leaps off the middle rope hitting a leg drop for a two count.
Candido controls Whipwreck on the mat with a sleeper. Whipwreck elbows free and ducks a clothesline to head scissor Candido into a corner, but they messed it up and the crowd lets them know. Candido works over Whipwreck with strikes in the middle of the ring. Candido eye rakes Whipwreck into the ropes and delivers a scoop slam. Candido heads to the top and leaps into an atomic drop. Whipwreck strikes Candido followed by a backdrop. Whipwreck dropkicks Candido coming off the ropes. Whipwreck kicks Candido and hits a splash in the corner. Whipwreck sits Candido on the top turnbuckle as Francine comes out. Whipwreck hits a hurricanrana for a two count. Whipwreck chases Francine around ringside until she gets in the ring and Candido tries to slam Whipwreck, but fails. Candido rolls through a rollup and holds the ropes for leverage to steal the match. (*1/2. A bit sloppy of an opener, but it’s clear that these two are capable of having a good match if they tuned up their offense. The finish was a bit weak and felt like something you’d see on a WWF show.)
Second Contest: Taz vs. Corporal Punishment: Taz pummels Punishment are the start with strikes and delivers a clothesline after sending Punishment into the ropes. Taz strikes Punishment several times and misses a clothesline. Punishment strikes Taz and delivers a couple of elbow drops. Punishment continues with strikes to the back and scoop slams Taz. Punishment heads to the top rope missing an elbow drop. Taz stomps Punishment on the head and hits an exploder suplex. Taz stomps Punishment on the mat. Taz plants Punishment with a German suplex and signals for the end. Punishment gets a sunset flip, but Taz kicks out and locks in the Taz Mission to win the match. (DUD. Punishment is not good, but Taz kicking ass is very good at kicking ass.)
Third Contest: Raven vs. Chris Chetti: Chetti controls Raven on the mat, but Raven counters with a hammerlock until Chetti counters and Raven reaches the ropes quickly. The fans are chanting that Raven sold out. Chetti takes Raven down with a wrist lock and leg drops Raven on the left arm. Chetti backs Raven into a corner, but Raven strikes Chetti. Chetti sunset flips Raven for a two count. Chetti puts a headlock on Raven and delivers a shoulder block for a near fall. Chetti gets an inside cradle Raven, but Raven breaks free and goes to the corner to regroup. Raven kicks Chetti in the midsection and snapmares Chetti. Chetti backslides Raven for a two count. Raven kicks Chetti followed by strikes and stomps Chetti on the mat. Raven tosses Chetti through the ropes to the floor. Raven sends Chetti into the guard railing ribs first a couple of times. Raven tosses a chair into the ring and drop toe holds Chetti face first onto the chair. Chetti avoids a slam and plants Raven with a DDT. Stevie Richards makes his way down to the ring with his nose taped. Richards grabs a microphone and tells Chetti that he’s not there to offend Chetti. Richards turns his attention to Raven, but the rest of the BWO makes their way out to join the segment. Blue Meanie confronts Richards about business being attended to. Meanie thinks the BWO business is a bit more important. Meanie notes that Richards wasn’t anywhere around for their issue with the FBI. Richards admits that Meanie is right. Richards attacks the BWO and they fight backstage. Raven almost pins Chetti with a rollup during the commotion. Chetti sends Raven into the corner, but is met with a boot. Chetti drop toe holds Raven and hits a standing hurricanrana, but Raven’s lackey got on the apron. Chetti strikes Raven against the ropes, but Raven comes off the ropes and spikes Chetti with the DDT for the win. (*. I feel like Raven should be doing jobs at this point since he’s going to WCW and everyone knows about it. I didn’t like Richards and the BWO coming out and taking away from the match. This was a disappointing match.) After the match, Chetti attacks the lackey and spanks Raven’s girl.
Fourth Contest: FBI (Little Guido & Tracy Smothers) vs. Spike Dudley & Tommy Dreamer: Smothers and Spike kickoff the match. Smothers yells at the crowd after failing to lockup with Spike. Smothers fireman carries Spike to the mat and taunts the crowd. Smothers puts a headlock on Spike and delivers a shoulder block off the ropes before taunting the crowd again. Smothers offers Beulah to get in the ring, but doesn’t have any luck. Spike shoulder blocks Smothers and heads to the top rope hitting a missile dropkick for a two count. Spike arm drags Smothers and keeps arm control. Smothers forearms Spike into the corner, but Spike backs away and tags in Dreamer to try his luck against Guido. Guido shoves Dreamer, but is shoved back. Guido puts a headlock on Dreamer and shoulder blocks Dreamer. Guido runs the ropes and tries for a waist lock, but Dreamer low blows Guido and delivers a clothesline. Dreamer and Spike dropkick Guido and Smothers to the floor. They hit stereo baseball slides on the floor. Spike climbs to the top to hit a crossbody onto both Guido and Smothers on the floor. Dreamer whacks Smothers over the back with a chair and sends Smothers into the railing back first. Smothers sends Dreamer into the ring post and misses a clothesline. Dreamer sends Smothers into the post before returning to the ring. Smothers knee lifts Dreamer in the ring, but Dreamer comes back with a sunset flip for a two count. Dreamer pummels Smothers with right hands, but is dumped to the floor. Tommy Rich crotches Dreamer onto the railing and Guido delivers a few strikes on the outside. Guido shoulder rams Dreamer and Rich jabs Dreamer with a chair shot.
Smothers spikes Dreamer with a DDT for a two count. Dreamer comes off the ropes to be met with a double elbow strike and double elbow drop. Guido knocks Spike off the apron and Dreamer is double teamed in the corner. Smothers taunts the crowd as Dreamer struggles to find the corner. Dreamer ducks a clothesline and nails Guido with a clothesline. Rich cheap shots Dreamer with strikes from the floor. Guido locks in a figure four, but doesn’t get a submission. Smothers puts a figure four on Dreamer, but doesn’t get a submission. Dreamer counters with an inside cradle for a two count. Smothers dropkicks Dreamer for a two count. Dreamer comes off the ropes and is met with a double dropkick. Guido rams Dreamer into Smothers knee in the corner. Smothers snapmares Dreamer to the mat and keeps control with a sleeper. Dreamer powers to his feet and elbows Smothers to break free. Smothers stops Dreamer with a low blow to stop the momentum. Guido returns to the match and kisses Dreamer, but accidentally clotheslines Smothers. Dreamer avoids elbow drops and tags in Spike.
Spike cleans house on both Smothers and Guido. Spike head scissors Smothers and hits a hurricanrana on Guido before being knocked to the mat. Dreamer plants Guido with a DDT, but Smothers makes the save. Spike clotheslines Smothers over the top to the floor. Spike leaps off the top with help from Dreamer to hit a splash onto Guido. Tommy Rich hits Spike with a flag, but Dreamer gets involved and hits Guido with the flag to allow Spike to pin Guido for the win. After the match, Louie Spicolli runs into the ring and hits a Death Valley Driver on both Dreamer and Spike. (*1/2. A standard tag match for the most part, but I do like the idea of a Dreamer/Spike tag team. They seem to be a good combo.)
Fifth Contest: The Sandman vs. Louie Spicolli: Spicolli puts a headlock on Sandman followed by a shoulder block. Sandman hip tosses and arm drags Spicolli to the mat to keep arm control. Spicolli tries to arm drag free, but Sandman keeps hold of Louie’s arm several times. Sandman avoids a splash in the corner and regains arm control on the mat. Spicolli boots Sandman in the corner and grabs the kendo stick to whack Sandman over the head for a two count. Spicolli whacks Sandman with the kendo stick several times leading to a near fall. Spicolli whacks Sandman with the kendo stick for a two count. Spicolli grabs a beer and dumps it on Sandman followed by right hands before dumping Sandman to the floor. Spicolli sends Sandman into the railing upside down. Spicolli laid a table over the apron and railing, but Sandman fought back to avoid it. Spicolli slams Sandman coming off the ropes for a two count. Spicolli continues to hit Sandman with the kendo stick. Sandman spikes Spicolli with a DDT to win the match. (*. Sloppy and mostly uninteresting action.) After the match, Spicolli plants Sandman with the Death Valley Driver and then slams Sandman onto the table from the ring, but the table didn’t break. Spicolli puts Sandman through the table with a piledriver. Spicolli calls out Dreamer afterward.
Sixth Contest: ECW Television Champion Shane Douglas vs. Balls Mahoney: Mahoney shoulder blocks Douglas into the corner to start the match. Mahoney shoulder blocks Douglas again sending the champion to the corner to regroup. Douglas forearms Mahoney several times , but Mahoney powerslams Douglas followed by an arm drag and keeps control on the mat. Mahoney leg drops Douglas on the left arm and keeps wrist control. Mahoney lifts Douglas up by the arm and drops Douglas to the mat to deliver elbow strikes. Douglas backs Mahoney into a corner to deliver a few strikes, but misses a charging elbow and Mahoney arm drags Douglas to maintain the advantage. Douglas eye rakes Mahoney and delivers several strikes. Mahoney nails Douglas with a right hand and misses a crossbody crashing to the floor. Douglas baseball slides Mahoney on the floor and sends Mahoney into the ring post. Douglas takes Mahoney out with a slingshot crossbody to the floor. Douglas gets in the face of a fan in the front row. Mahoney punches Douglas several times, but Douglas sends Mahoney into the railing ribs first to regain control of the match. Douglas rolls Mahoney back into the ring and covers Mahoney for a two count. Douglas spikes Mahoney with a piledriver for a near fall.
Douglas keeps Mahoney on the mat with a sleeper. Mahoney fights free with strikes, but Douglas stops Mahoney with a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Douglas chokes Mahoney over the bottom rope and Francine gets a cheap shot in on Mahoney as the referee is distracted. Mahoney elbows Douglas in the corner a few times before hitting a middle rope clothesline for a near fall. Mahoney heads to the top rope, but is crotched by Douglas. Douglas superplexs Mahoney off the top for a near fall. Douglas keeps control with a chin lock, but doesn’t get a submission. Mahoney strikes Douglas in the corner, but Douglas sends Mahoney into the corner and sits Mahoney on the top turnbuckle. Douglas eye rakes Mahoney before trying for a superplex, but Mahoney blocks the attempt. Mahoney slams Douglas off the middle rope and leaps off the middle rope to axe handle Douglas. Douglas misses a knee drop and Mahoney takes Douglas down to lock in a figure four leg lock. Francine gets in the ring and eye rakes Mahoney. Rick Rude comes down to ringside and abducts Francine by putting his face between her legs as she’s upside down. Mahoney almost pins Douglas with a rollup and delivers a superkick for a near fall. Mahoney backdrops Douglas coming off the ropes. Chris Candido runs down to the ring as Mahoney slams Douglas. Candido leg drops Douglas on accident and Mahoney superkicks Candido to the floor. Douglas hits a belly to belly suplex and pins Mahoney to retain the title. (*1/2. The crowd didn’t seem to care much for this until Rude made his appearance. As soon as Rude came out it was obvious where they were going to go with the finish. The action was okay, but it was a repetitive finish.)
Seventh Contest: Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. The Pitbulls (#1 & #2): All four men start the match brawling in the ring. #1 hits a snap suplex on Sabu and #2 hits a pop up sit down powerbomb, which was almost botched. #2 press slams RVD and taunts the crowd before getting a two count. Sabu sends #1 into the corner, but runs into a boot. #2 strikes RVD in the corner as #1 works over Sabu. #2 misses a spinning heel kick in the corner on RVD and crashes to the floor. RVD takes #2 out with a crossbody to the floor. Sabu also hits a dive to the floor on #2. RVD heel kicks #1 to the mat. RVD hits a somersault dive onto #2 to the floor. Alfonso brings a table to ringside. #1 avoids a double team and clotheslines both RVD and Sabu. RVD works over #1 in the corner. #1 is met with a double springboard heel kick. RVD leg drops #2 from the top rope. Sabu is given a chair and leg drops #1 over the back before doing the same #2. #2 powerbombs Sabu out of the corner. RVD smashes #2 with a chair shot. RVD delivers a swinging neckbreaker to #1. Sabu slams #1 off the middle rope after a chair shot by RVD and that’s good enough for a three count. (*. Sloppy, as expected. They seemingly rushed through their spots and the wild nature of the match likely made it come across better than it would have been otherwise.)
Prior to the main event, the Dudley’s brawled with Sabu and Rob Van Dam.
Main Event: ECW Tag Team Champions The Eliminators (Kronus & Saturn) vs. Big Dick Dudley & D-Von Duldey vs. The Gangstas (New Jack & Mustafa) in an elimination match: Eliminators comes out and dropkick D-Von. Saturn clotheslines RVD (who isn’t in the match.) Taz comes out and brawls with Sabu and RVD on the floor until Candido comes out and brawls with RVD. Taz and Sabu fight into the crowd. Back in the ring, the Eliminators are getting beaten down by the Dudley’s. D-Von works over Saturn as Kronus fights back, but Bubba hit a cutter on Kronus. Saturn drops Bubba with a cutter, too. The Gangstas make their way out to join the match. Mustafa works over Kronus while Jack focuses his attack on D-Von outside the ring into the crowd. Jack tosses D-Von into several chairs in the crowd. D-Von hits Jack with a guard railing. The cameraman is focusing solely on the Jack/D-Von brawling in the crowd. Total Elimination is hit on both Big Dick and Mustafa leading to a double three count and that’s the end of the match. (1/2*. One of the worst main events I’ve ever seen for ECW house shows.) After the match, Saturn walked to the backstage area with a noticeable limp.
Final Thoughts:
These are the kind of shows that make me roll my eyes when someone tries to claim that ECW brought a revolution to the style of wrestling. Sure, some of the shows they produced had some wild moments, but you can’t possibly maintain that every time and this is a prime example. This is a incredibly boring and disappointing show. The action was lackluster and not very compelling. I’m sure it’s because the show took place in a small market that they didn’t care to produce a great show. This easily gets a thumbs down. ECW house shows can be hit or miss, but when they are hit they are really good hence why I put myself through the bad ones.
Thanks for reading.