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The following ECW TV report and ECW Newswire were originally published in Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter #464 ten years ago...

KELLER'S EXTREME CHAMPIONSHIP TV REPORT -- 10/25

Rick Rude [artist Joseph Borzotta (c) PWTorch]

(Taped Oct. 16 in Queens, N.Y.)... Joey Styles introduced the program from mid-ring. He interviewed Shane Douglas and Francine. Fans cheered Douglas and he told them they weren't with him before and he didn't need the "f---in' inbred morons tonight." He ripped on the fans in the cheap seats and said it's unfortunate all the guys in the crowd had to be sitting next to other guys while he has Francine. He then introduced Rick Rude who would "hand deliver to him another lamb for slaughter." When Rude began his "What I'd like to have right now..." routine, fans chanted, "You f---ed Chyna." Rude listed other countries besides "China" where he's gotten some. Fans chanted, "Show your tits!" at Francine. She teased doing it, then laughed at the fans for thinking she really would do it. Rude said he is a free agent and can go wherever he wants whenever he wants. He said he found just the man for Douglas and said his hand picked opponent ran rough shod through the WWF. Douglas smiled and said, "You brought me the Boy Toy? All right!" Rude then said he ran through WCW. Douglas looked confused. Rude said he has also succeeded in Europe and Japan. When Bigelow's music began, Douglas freaked out and began shouting, "No way! No way!" The fans had no idea whose music it was. They had no reaction until Bigelow actually walked out, but when he did they popped. Candido and Sunny tried to stop Bigelow, but he shoved them aside. Bigelow stared down Douglas and Francine, Candido, and Sunny tried to convince him not to go through with the match... The ECW TV opening montage then aired...

(1) Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Shane Douglas (w/Francine) to capture the ECW Title at 6:46. The pre-match angle took up the first 15 minutes of the show. Candido and Francine yelled at Rude at ringside. Douglas got in his first offense at 3:30 after Bigelow threw him around the ring during the opening minutes. At 5:50 Bigelow gave Douglas a neckbreaker, but missed a top rope headbutt at 6:25. Douglas set up a suplex, but Bigelow turned it into a DDT followed by a powerbomb for a three count. The match itself was pretty disappointing at less than seven minutes with Bigelow dominating the first half, Douglas dominating the second three minutes, and then a decent final 45 seconds. Francine and Candido tended to Douglas at ringside after the match. Rude shook Bigelow's hand in the ring and announced him as the new ECW Champion...

(2) Sabu (w/Bill Alfonso) beat Mikey Whipwreck at 10:05. The match built with mat work for the first three minutes, then went to regular highspots for a minute. Alfonso then slid a chair into the ring and that became the dominant prop for the rest of the match. At 9:00 Van Dam tried to interfere, but Mikey leaped off the top rope and gave him a DDT through a table at ringside. Sabu then dove off the top rope, but landed on both Mikey and Van Dam at ringside. As Mikey returned to the ring Sabu gave him a flip knee to the back of his head and scored the three count...

(3) Justin Credible (w/Jason) pinned Great Sasuke. Styles billed it as Sasuke's first singles match in ECW and it would thus be a major story in Japan the next day (and he pronounced Sasuke's name correctly). Styles said that Sasuke pinned Taka Michinoku just a few weeks earlier in Japan while Justin, while less internationally significant, beat Jerry Lynn at ECW Arena a few weeks earlier. Justin gave Sasuke a low blow from behind at 4:30 to take over offense after several minutes of matwork by Sasuke. Justin then did the thigh chop to celebrate. Styles continued to sell what an upset it would be for Justin to win and talked about how he "won't go down lightly," that he basically telegraphed there would be an upset (that's the result of the first thing wrestling announcers learn at the Wrestling Announcer Academy: Whatever is the planned outcome of the match, be sure to shove down viewers' throats that the opposite result is inevitable so the viewers will be even "more surprised" by the real result). Jason roundkicked Sasuke off the top rope. Justin then gave Sasuke a tombstone piledriver for the three count. Styles declared the result was "just incredible." The match itself wasn't great, or even very good for that matter. The two didn't jell together and had a few mistimed moves. Justin shows potential, but is not ready to be pushed as being near the level of a world class worker yet... [WK]

ON THE ROAD

Oct. 17 in Downingtown, Pa. (850): Justin Credible beat Paul Diamond, Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon beat Mikey Whipwreck & Spike Dudley, Taz beat Danny Morrison to retain the ECW TV Title, Great Sasuke beat Lance Storm, Blue Meanie beat Jason, Shane Douglas & Chris Candido beat Sabu & Rob Van Dam, New Jack & John Kronus beat Buh Buh Ray & D-Von Dudley with tons of bleeding.

Oct. 24 in Waltham, Mass. (SRO): Bam Bam Bigelow beat Al Snow to retain the ECW Title, Justin Credible pinned Jerry Lynn, PG13 beat Blue Meanie & Super Nova, Paul Diamond beat Chris Chetti, Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon beat Mikey Whipwreck & Spike Dudley, Taz beat Wild Bill Wiles via tapout to retain the ECW TV Title, FBI (Tracy Smothers & Little Guido) beat Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney to retain the ECW Tag Team Titles, Chris Candido fought Tommy Dreamer to a no contest, Sabu & Rob Van Dam beat Shane Douglas & Candido, New Jack & Kronus beat The Dudleys in a weapons match.

Oct. 25 in Revere, Mass. at Wonderland (SRO): Bam Bam Bigelow beat Paul Diamond (w/Chastity) in the opener. Pretty much a squash. Bigelow gave Chastity a tombstone piledriver which popped the crowd. Justin Credible (w/Jason) pinned Chris Chetti. Good highspots throughout. Justin also won with a tombstone.

Jerry Lynn pinned Al Snow. Snow's persona was over big time. Between spots in the match he talked to a mannequin's head with a "J.O.B Squad" sticker on it. Lynn won with a small package. Afterward Snow beat up the ref. Good match. Axl Rotten pinned D-Von Dudley (w/Buh Buh Ray, Sign Guy, and Joel Gertner). A brawl, as expected. Afterward the Dudleys worked Axl. Balls Mahoney did a run-in. For his trouble, the Dudleys gave him the Dudley Death Drop.

Shane Douglas & Chris Candido (w/Francine) beat Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon. When Francine ran in Lafon gave him the belly-to-belly for the pin. A good match, but typically for Furnas & Lafon, slow paced.

The FBI beat Spike Dudley & Tommy Dreamer. Originally, it was Spike and Mikey Whipwreck, but they were jumped before the match. Heel ref Jeff Jones did nothing about it. Mikey went to the back. Spike came out with Dreamer, who worked with a bad foot, too. Tommy Rich got good heat at ringside, Spike pinned Little Guido, but his foot was on the rope. A restart, and Spike got schoolboyed. Ref Jim Mollino came out, and Jeff Jones slapped him. Beulah kicked Jones and gave him a DDT for a pop.

Super Nova & Blue Meanie beat PG13. After Rob Van Dam did a run-in and worked over the faces he called Wonderland Park the "WWF Arena." That led to the Taz vs. Sabu match.

Taz fought Sabu to a 30 minute draw. Said to be a great match, way ahead of their bout at Barely Legal. They brawled into the crowd, broke three tables, and worked their asses off. The crowd gave them a nice ovation afterward.

John Kronus beat Buh Buh Ray Dudley (w/D-Von, Sign Guy, and Gertner). Kronus won with a great 450 splash. The Dudleys worked Kronus over. New Jack ran in with a trash can full of weapons. The crowd went positively crazy. New Jack broke a toaster over D-Von's head and Kronus broke a computer keyboard over Buh Buh Ray's head. Fans chanted "New Jack" and shouted "Welcome Back," since it was New Jack's first appearance since slicing open Erich Kulas's forehead in the controversial incident late last year. Said to be the best ECW show in the area. [Mark Bryan]

ECW NOTEBOOK

Shane Douglas on Francine: "She's wetter than a river, hotter than hell, and so damn good that not one of these morons in the crowd could know what to do with her"... ECW returns to Revere, Mass. on Thursday, Dec. 4 and Waltham, Mass. on Dec. 5, followed by ECW Arena in Philadelphia on Dec. 6... There was serious talk of Jeff Jarrett showing up at ECW Arena on Oct. 18 as Rick Rude's mystery man and defeating Douglas for the belt, then defending it against Douglas at the PPV. That was contingent on the WWF negotiations either breaking down or the WWF approving the storyline after signing Jarrett. The idea was for Jarrett to be a prude and use his victory as proof that ECW's vulgar tendencies were inferior to his pristine nature... The line-up for Oct. 30 in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. has Douglas vs. Sabu vs. Dreamer (may be changed with Bigelow capturing the title), New Jack & Kronus vs. Balls & Axl, Van Dam vs. Lynn, Taz vs. Candido, Bigelow vs. Spike... The Oasis song on a recent ECW TV show was from their previous CD "Definitely Maybe," not their latest as originally printed... The Sept. 21 edition of the Herald in Florida had a feature on ECW, headlined: "Extreme Wrestling, Extremely Popular." It quoted fans saying ECW is the "greatest thing in the world, the most innovative concept with lots of action, blood, and guts." The article said ECW was created in 1993 as a contrast to the way the WWF and WCW promoted, but "now both have seen the success of mastermind Paul Heyman and have incorporated some of ECW's concepts"...

More details on the locker room fight between New Jack and Pitbull2 on Oct. 16 in Queens, N.Y.. New Jack told Gertner that he was going to have to blade in his angle later that night. Gertner had never bladed before and wasn't crazy about the idea. New Jack handed Gertner the blade. Pitbull2 stuck up for Gertner and got into a shouting match with New Jack, telling him that blading isn't allowed by the commission in New York. The rib turned into a legit war of words with Pitbull2 uttering the "n" word. Pitbull2 apparently then pounded his own chest (a la his gimmick persona) and went after New Jack. New Jack returned a few blows and then wrestlers quickly separated them. Pitbull2 was sent home and Heyman chewed out New Jack. They reluctantly shook hands the next day... Expect Lynn to get a decent push again now that he is back from is broken foot injury... Al Snow's "JOB Squad" gimmick that he is using at house shows has yet to be established at all on television... There was some interest, believe it or not, in bringing back Stevie Richards. He hasn't officially signed a deal yet with WCW... During the Oct. 24 Waltham event, Taz went into the crowd to go after a fan after verbal jabs and spit were exchanged. The fan ran quickly...


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