David Hunter
Welcome back to another installment on ECW Hardcore TV as we close out 1993 and roll into 1994.
Tag Titles: Tommy Dreamer and Johnny Gunn(C) vs. Kevin Sullivan and Tazmaniac Taped 1993/12/04 and aired on 1993/12/14 Hardcore TV
Thoughts: Dreamer and Gunn won the belts on the 11/16 episode over Stetson and Hotbody. Sullivan and Tazmaniac earned a shot by beating the Bad Breed on last week’s episode. Gunn is apparently stranded in Puerto Rico but Tommy Dreamer doesn’t care, he’s willing to go at it alone! Now out comes Tod Gordon and The Franchise Shane Douglas is out! He wants to be Dreamer’s partner and we got ourselves a match.
Dreamer starts hot but Taz turns the tables with a belly to belly suplex. Dreamer plays a good face in peril in this match, selling well while showing enough physical aggressiveness to time his attempted comebacks well. Sullivan and Tazmaniac work well together too, constant tagging and keeping Dreamer by their own corner. HOT TAG to Douglas and Sullivan does a great job immediately backing up to his corner as Woman climbs up on the apron. Douglas is pulling a chain out and WHAM he hammers Tommy Dreamer over the skull with it! Tazmaniac makes the pin at 4:06 and we have new tag team champions! After the match, Shane tells Woman he did it for her in an attempt to try and win her over. The trio continue to assault Dreamer including whipping Tommy with the tag team title belts. Decent for what it was so ** and it mainly furthers the Shane/Woman angle while building Dreamer up babyface wise for revenge.
Terry Funk cuts a promo about his match with Sabu on December 26th and reckons he has just a few enemies who may try to take him out: Road Warrior Hawk, Abdullah the Butcher, Kevin Sullivan, and King Kong Bundy so he needs some backup of his own and out come the Bad Breed!
We open the next episode with Tommy Dreamer already calling out Shane Douglas!
Tommy Dreamer vs. “The Franchise” Shane Douglas Taped 1993/12/04 and aired on 1993/12/21 Hardcore TV
Thoughts: It’s a testament to Heyman’s booking and the wrestlers in general that this is only my third write up and I’m already invested in matches such as this one. We JIP to Douglas delivering a swinging neckbreaker and taking it to Tommy Dreamer already.
It’s clear to see why Douglas was pushed so hard, so fast when he came in as he offers a very polished and sound wrestling style while honing a character that can be brought by fans as a legitimate company heavyweight champion. Dreamer’s taped up his ribs thanks to the belt shots from last week and Douglas does a good job attacking them. Dreamer’s probably one of the better pure sellers in the company in this time and it’s easy to see how the fans could later get behind him so quickly as he just takes beatings nearly every week but never stops coming back to show he’s willing to fight alone if necessary.
Dreamer starts coming back with a pair of inverted atomic drops and a nice solid clothesline. Now we start getting some shades of the Innovator of Violence character as he chokes Douglas in the corner with his rib tape! Douglas pulls out a crazy Sgt. Slaughter bump over the corner and gets face planted on the timekeeper’s table by Dreamer before taking a chair shot. A body slam takes out the referee as Douglas inadvertently hits him with his boots! Out comes the chain and DOWN goes Tommy Dreamer! In an awesome cheat to win moment, Douglas wraps the chain around Tommy’s hand and pretends he’s still out. Referee comes to and spots the chain and Douglas wins by DQ at 8:12 although I don’t really understand why the chair shot outside didn’t get a DQ but whatever. Fun and enjoyable match gets *** from me. Dreamer again gets screwed by Douglas and Douglas furthers his veteran savvy vs Dreamer’s rookie awareness.
Terry Funk is in the ring with the Bad Breed beating up an impostor dressed up as Sabu. Out comes Paul Heyman and we get a great little exchange on the mic between them with the two stripping clothes off and Funk challenging Heyman to a fight right there in the ring. Heyman’s savvy though and promises that Sabu will take Funk apart on December 26th before departing to the back. Worth checking out for the skills of Funk and Heyman going at it verbally.
Terry Funk and Bad Breed (Ian and Axl Rotten) vs. The Sandman, JT Smith, and Sal Bellomo Taped 1993/12/04 and aired on 1993/12/21 Hardcore TV
Thoughts: Bellomo made his return a few weeks ago after Rockin’ Rebel had taken him out for months. Sandman is sporting some pretty ugly green tights. Match kicks off and its a pier six brawl going on as JT Smith immediately targets Terry Funk in a good call back to what’s been going the past month. Lights go out and Kevin Sullivan is here!
In a credit to how small the promotion was at the time, the lights went out in last week’s show after the production truck had tied themselves to the emergency generator of the local fire department. Now the lights are going on and off like a horror movie.
Funk takes out the referee and this match is just mayhem. No contest at 1:29 unfortunately so no rating but now we got bodies upon bodies piling up in the ring and brawls all over from corner to corner. Kind of a surreal sight, partly promoting the NO DQ Light Out Battle Royal for December 26th but still kind of neat to witness at the same time. Sal Bellomo is swinging away with a chair and Mr. Hughes has taken out Chad Austin with brass knuckles on the outside.
Bellomo and Rockin’ Rebel finally facing off in a chair vs chair swingfest! Good way to build up both the company and the show though. Funk slams JT Smith face first into a propped up table held up by the Bad Breed and Smith then takes a pretty sick Flair style face first bump into a steel chair on the mat. Ick. We close out with the ring filled with steel chairs and Bellomo calling out Rebel!
Really excited to kick off 1994 as the roster starts getting much deeper with a mix of proven names and names which would become company fixtures during its tenure. Unfortunately due to episodes not being up, I can’t catch the 45 minute draw between Terry Funk and Shane Douglas, boo.
Yay! Jay Sulli interviews Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge to inform them that their match is postponed to next week as a result of the time limit draw. Tod Gordon runs in and in a crazy(!) moment, Rocco Rock shoves Gordon up against the dressing room door with his hands around his neck. In a funny moment, the ECW and NWA board don’t scare Rocco Rock but he lets go when Gordon brings up going to the police instead. After the match, Gordon sets up a match for February 5th pitting Public Enemy against the Bruise Brothers (Ron and Don Harris) in a no rules match. In a fantastic line Rocco Rock remarks, “You may be big. You may be bad. They say the bigger you are, the harder you fall. And if we asked you, Bruise Brothers, you’ll say you hardly ever fall. But you do fall,” and Grunge finishes it out with, “One way or the other.”
Worth noting is Dreamer unveils a new finisher called the Dream Weaver in his win over Dr. Disaster, a Million Dollar Dream Russian Legsweep move. Neat little combination there.
ECW Title: Terry Funk(C) vs. Pat Tanaka Taped 1994/01/08 and aired on Hardcore TV 1994/01/25
Thoughts: Funk beat Sabu at Holiday Hell on 1993/12/26 to win the Title. This match should be great as Tanaka can work and Funk is Heel FUNK.
Funk ambushes Tanaka from behind and sends him outside where Tanaka starts limping around, favoring his right leg. Funk delivers a pretty sick looking piledriver but Tanaka remains alive at 2 and 3/4ths! Funk being his awesome self starts choking Tanaka with his wrist tape while staring down Tanaka’s tag partner Paul Diamond.
After a hilarious sell of a low blow from Tanaka’s comeback, Tanaka hits his backwards double chop but gets a 2 and 3/4ths cover out of it. Out comes Ian Rotten! Diamond is attacking Rotten on the outside and the two brawl to the backstage area. Now Tazmaniac and Kevin Sullivan are here and they take out Diamond! Funk rolls up Tanaka and wins it at 4:48 to retain his belt. A bit of a disappointing match partly due to how brief it was so it gets ** as it was solid stuff until the interference started.
911 debuted last week and he’s under Heyman’s control to keep Sabu in check. Heyman cuts another great promo hyping up the three way match between Douglas, Funk, and Sabu on February 5th.
Kevin Sullivan and Tazmaniac vs. Badd Company (Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond) Taped 1994/01/08 and aired on Hardcore TV 1994/01/25
Thoughts: Non-Title impromptu match as Badd Company come out to replace Don Allen and Duane Gill (who has a fantastic blond mullet). Awww yeah, geeked for this one as there’s no love loss for these two teams. Badd Company wastes no time just taking it to Tazmaniac and Sullivan. Diamond crotches Taz on the guard rail and then hammers Sullivan with a chair to the head twice.
Tanaka and Diamond keep the advantage going until a T-Bone suplex onto Tanaka by Taz stops that. Joey remarks that is why some call him, “The Tasmanian Suplex Machine,” in another nod to the future of Taz’s characterization from his generic caveman getup to his hard knocks Brooklyn style. Sullivan breaks up a pin after a solid sitout powerbomb by Tanaka and Diamond goes after Sullivan. Sullivan throws out Taz and does the no tag bit that classic heel teams should do forever and ever.
Taking on the role of face in peril, Tanaka gets a belly to belly suplex from Taz and Taz and Sullivan are a fun tag team to watch constantly tagging in and out and doing the little heel shtick. HOT TAG to Diamond! Double noggin knocker sends Sullivan to the floor. Sullivan and Tanaka are brawling into the street as Diamond hits a top rope back flying crossbody for a 2 and 1/2 count. Diamond reverses into a cradle and gets a 3 count at 6:31 despite Sullivan’s attempts to break it up. After the match, Taz and Sullivan take out Diamond with a spike piledriver(!) and Diamond is OUT. Good match gets **1/2 for it.
Wrestlers come out to assist Diamond as a result of his neck injury. Styles gets on the phone with Tanaka at the hospital and Tanaka gets pissed at Styles thinking Diamond can make it for the tag title match on February 5th. Tanaka promises to get even with Sullivan and Taz, especially Sullivan for dissing Tanaka’s father right after his passing. Tanaka announces his replacement partner as none other than The Sheik!
