Cup of Joe Wrestling Show

A Wrestling Podcast for your commute.

Episode 198 Notes

-RIP Adnan Al-Kaissie and Brett Sawyer.
-I had a relaxing weekend which was just what the doctor ordered.
-Today we look at Heat Wave '94 from ECW.
-ECW Heat Wave '94: The Battle for the Future took place on July 16, 1994 from the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There were 850 in attendance. We get the viewer's discretion and presented in the most complete form intros. We then get the Heat Wave Intro.
-The Bad Breed Ian and Axl Rotten vs. The Rockin' Rebel and Hack Meyers: Meyers and Rebel out first as Joey Styles welcomes us to Heat Wave '94. Axl and Meyers start and Meyers slaps Axl. Not what I would have done, but I'm not in there with them. Axl returns the favor and they lock up and battle for position. Up on the ropes and the referee is trying to force a break. I would just let them go for it. They shove the referee away and go at it again. Meyers with a series of left hands to Axl. He finally knocks Axl down and the crowd seems to enjoy that. YMMV. Then a series of left hands and headbutts to Axl. Axl fighting back with a series of left hands of his own. Axl with a side headlock. Meyers shoves off and Axl comes back with a shoulder block. Meyers back to his feet and tries to hip toss Axl, who blocks it and Meyers gets tossed instead. Axl follows it up with a nice looking arm drag. Meyers gets back to his feet and Axl transitions to a wrist lock. Ian tagged in and Axl with a drop toe hold to Meyers and Ian follows it up with a splash and that was a nice double team move by the Bad Breed. Ian with a corner whip and dropkick to Meyers. Rebel breaks up the pin attempt. Rebel tagged in. He gets quite a few cheers. The same wouldn't be true today, but the less said about that the better. Moving on. He shoves Ian away and goes back to posing for the fans. Another shove off. Another lock up and Ian scoop slams Rebel and then mocks him by posing. Ian with a series of moves to keep Rebel down. Axl tagged in. Axl does his best Dusty Rhodes impression with some bionic elbows and Rebel comes back with an Irish whip and a knee to the midsection of Axl. Rebel drops an elbow and covers, but changes his mind and tags Meyers in. Double Irish whip and back elbow to Rebel. Meyers covers and gets a two count. The referee is distracted, allowing Ian to come in and break up Meyers choking Axl. While the referee is getting Ian out, Rebel does the phantom tag spot and comes in. Rebel with an Irish whip and a back elbow to Axl. He follows that up with a leg drop. Arrogant cover with Rebel just laying back on Axl with his hands behind his head, but he only gets a two count. Axl with an Irish whip, but drops his head too early and Rebel hits him with a swinging neck breaker. He gets a two count. Meyers tagged back in and Rebel taunts Ian in and the heels double team Axl while the referee is trying to get Ian out. Meyers attacking Axl with punches and kicks to knock him down to the mat. He gets another two count and the heels just can't seem to put the Bad Breed away. Meyers runs Axl face first into a turnbuckle. He hits Axl with some vicious looking elbows in the corner and Rebel comes down the apron to help Meyers after Ian is stopped from coming in to help by the referee. They do the phantom tag spot again and the referee asks the crowd if there was a tag and they say yes. Well, it is Philly and they are like that. Styles says the same thing on commentary. Rebel with a corner whip and Axl gets his boot up on the charge. Another boot to Rebel when he tries for another charge. Axl with a clothesline from the second turnbuckle. Ian tagged in. Ian cuts off a tag attempt from Rebel. Ian with a gut wrench suplex with a bridge for a two count and that was impressive coming from Ian because I quite frankly did not know that he had that in him, but to be fair to him, I have not seen that much of his work. Ian with an Irish whip, Rebel ducks a clothesline attempt, and comes back with a clothesline of his own. Meyers tagged in. Double Irish whip and a double kick to Ian. Meyers with an Irish whip, but ducks his head too early and Ian hits him with a double underhook DDT. Axl tagged in and he hits Meyers and Rebel with forearms. Axl cleaning house on the heels. He's fired up. He hits them head-to-head. He throws Rebel out of the ring, picks Meyers up, and tags Ian in. Axl hits an inverted atomic drop and Ian hits a bulldog off the top rope to Meyers and pins him. Meyers and Rebel start to argue before making up, but then Rebel clotheslines Meyers and you can't find loyalty in wrestling anymore. They start to fight in the center of the ring. Back and forth and Meyers starts to get the upper hand. Rebel blocks being thrown out and throws Meyers to the outside instead. They fight back to the locker room.
-ECW Television Title Match. Mikey Whipwreck vs. Chad Austin: Austin out first and the crowd boos him heavily. Whipwreck out and gets a respectable ovation from the crowd. They dub his music over because Vince McMahon is never going to recoup the cost of licensing all the music that they used in ECW. I know the music was an important piece to what they did folks, but it's the wrestling business. Emphasis on the second word. Austin gets the mic and introduces his new manager, Jason. You knew that there had to be a flaw in the slaw somewhere folks. Styles says this is the official announcement, since he had told us about this just before it was announced. That's a big oops moment here. The crowd doesn't give Jason a rousing reception and he is milking it for all he is worth. Austin goes out to the apron and holds it open for Jason and I'm wondering if Whipwreck vs. Jason is going to become the Jimmy Valiant vs. Paul Jones' Army of ECW. Jason gets up in Whipwreck's face and says something before the match and I'm sure if wasn't how are you, nice to see you this evening, my best to your family. The referee checks both wrestlers and holds the belt up high. The bell rings and the referee tells Jason to get out of the ring. The two wrestlers circle each other. They lock up and drive to the ropes. Clean break. Styles is surprised and I am too as Austin goes and gets instructions from Jason. Another lock up and Austin with a side headlock. Whipwreck goes to push off, but Austin keeps the hold on. He pushes off a second time and is successful. Austin comes back with a shoulder block. Austin runs the ropes and Whipwreck avoids him several times before getting caught in midair and slammed down by Austin. Austin with an Irish whip and a clothesline. Austin follows that up with a wrist lock and an elbow by Austin. Whipwreck reverses the wrist lock. Austin with a series of flips and a bounce off the top rope to get out of the move and goes to hip toss Whipwreck, but Whipwreck blocks it and hip tosses Austin. Whipwreck with a dropkick to knock Austin out of the ring. Austin goes over to regroup with Jason as the crowd cheers Whipwreck. A Mikey chant goes out as the referee tells Austin to get back in the ring and Jason tells the referee to hold on a minute. Austin gets back in the ring and corner whips Whipwreck. He tries for a charge, but Whipwreck moves and Austin goes spilling to the outside again in a nasty looking bump. That had to hurt. Whipwreck comes out after Austin and chases him outside the ring. Austin gets back in the ring and as Whipwreck goes to follow him. Austin jumps him as soon as he gets in the ring. Austin with an uppercut. He then hits a brain buster on Whipwreck. He gets a two count, but Whipwreck gets his foot on the ropes. Austin also picked Whipwreck up simultaneously. It was very confusing. Austin with an Irish whip, Whipwreck comes back with a sunset flip for a two count. Whipwreck follows that up with a slam and an arm bar to Austin. He then drops a let on Austin before going back to the arm bar. Whipwreck with an Irish whip and a backdrop that Austin sold so hard, the Rock would have told him that it was too much. He gets another close two count. Whipwreck with a rear chin lock and Austin reaches out for Jason. Austin gets to his feet and hits Whipwreck with some elbows to try and get out of the move. Austin off the ropes, Whipwreck drops his head and Austin hits him with a wicked looking power bomb. Austin gets another two count and picks Whipwreck up again. The crowd chants one more time to Austin and he goes for the power bomb again, but Whipwreck reverses it into a hurricanrana for a two count. Whipwreck follows that up with a corner whip and clothesline to Austin. Then a leg drop to Austin. He gets another two count. Austin throws Whipwreck out of the ring and distracts the referee for Jason to pick Whipwreck up and kick him in the side of the face. He then picks up a chair and hits Whipwreck with it. Austin picks Whipwreck up and runs him into the apron. He then brings Whipwreck into the ring and scoop slams Whipwreck. Austin then goes up top and comes off with a double ax handle, only to get hit in the midsection by Whipwreck. Whipwreck follows that up with a rolling snap mare. He only gets a two count. Austin reverses an Irish whip and goes up to maybe catch Whipwreck in a hurricanrana, but Whipwreck grabs his legs and slams him down in sort of a modified power bomb. He covers Austin, but Jason breaks up the pin attempt. Whipwreck goes up top while the referee is over admonishing Jason. Whipwreck hits a high crossbody and gets a close two count. Austin then spears Whipwreck into the corner and that looked brutal. Austin then throws Whipwreck out of the ring, where Jason attacks Whipwreck again. Jason picks Whipwreck up and slams him face first on a table at ringside. Austin picks Whipwreck up by the hair and drags him back through the ropes. Austin with a slingshot suplex to Whipwreck, who lands on the mat face first. Austin puts Whipwreck on his back and goes back up top and hits a top rope leg drop on Whipwreck and pins Whipwreck to become the new ECW Television Champion. Austin is presented with the belt and gets a chorus of cheers and boos from the crowd. Austin gives the belt to Jason to hold and gets on the mic. He says that if the crowd cheers him, he has let them down. He says Whipwreck was a heck of a champion and to beat him, he had to use these and shows a pair of brass knuckles. Joey Styles is confused and so am I. Styles says that he beat him clean with the leg drop. The referee reverses the decision and gives the belt back to Whipwreck as Styles and Jason wonder what Austin is doing. Austin throws the referee out of the ring and Austin and Jason both attack Whipwreck. This makes absolutely no sense. Someone make it make sense to me. Jason piledrives Whipwreck on the TV title belt. Referees come out and check on Whipwreck as Austin says listen up Jerkies, I hate you. Jason starts whipping Whipwreck with the TV title. Austin says he wants Jason to have the belt. Jason says that Whipwreck has the belt now, but he wants Whipwreck to have it the hard way and he hits Whipwreck in the stomach with the belt and Jason and Austin then leave.
-Challenge match. Tommy Dreamer vs. Steve Richards: Richards is just Steve here and he is very much an early Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels clone at this point. Dreamer comes out to a good ovation. He is still clean-shaven and wearing suspenders, but Styles says he is really starting to come into his own. Richards has Angel with him, but you wouldn't know it from the graphic. I had to look it up online. Bob Artese does give her a ring introduction at the start of the match. The referee checks both men and the bell rings to start the match. They circle each other and the crowd starts an Angel sucks chant. Richards goes outside and yells at the fans. Dreamer comes over and leans on the ropes and tells Richards to come on. Richards finally gets back in the ring. He puts his hand out for Dreamer to shake. Dreamer backs Richards into a corner and puts his finger in Richards' face to yell at him. Richards suckers Dreamer in and kicks him in the midsection. Richards then goes for some corner mounted punches and Dreamer just shoves Richards off. Richards starts to beg off and then goes to kick Dreamer again, but Dreamer grabs his leg and kicks Richards instead. A body press gets Dreamer a two count. Dreamer then chokes Richards on the top rope. He then hits a delayed vertical suplex on Richards. Dreamer then get an arm bar on Richards. Richards up and pushes off. Dreamer comes back with a shoulder block. Dreamer off the ropes and reverses a hip toss and hits Richards with a snap mare. Dreamer goes for another arm drag and Richards blocks it, so Dreamer just punches Richards in the face. Dreamer with an Irish whip, Richards comes back with a sunset flip. Dreamer grabs the legs and gets a two count. Dreamer with an Irish whip. Richards tries to hold on to the ropes, but Dreamer does manage to catch Richards with a back elbow and Richards lands out on the apron where Angel comes over and checks on him. Dreamer comes outside and grabs Richards. Richards reverses an Irish whip and runs Dreamer into a guardrail. Richards rushes Dreamer, who catches Richards and hits a Stun Gun on him on the guardrail. Dreamer throws Richards back in the ring. Richards reverses an Irish whip, but drops his head and Dreamer hits him with a swinging neck breaker. Dreamer gets Richards in the corner and starts chopping him. Dreamer with a corner whip and Richards hits a super kick when Dreamer charges. Richards with an inverted atomic drop and another super kick to Dreamer. Richards then sets Dreamer up and hits a nice standing dropkick. Richards then chokes Dreamer on the bottom rope, but breaks on the four count. The referee gets Richards away, allowing Angel to come over and choke Dreamer. Richards backs Dreamer into a corner and starts chopping him. Richards with a corner whip, but waits a second too long and Dreamer gets his foot up on the charge. Dreamer then hits a belly to belly suplex on Richards. Dreamer follows that up with a leg drop and gets a two count. Dreamer with an Irish whip and a double clothesline and both men are down in the center of the ring. Dreamer up first and scoop slams Richards. Dreamer misses a splash. Richards goes up top and comes off with a fist drop to Dreamer that only gets a two count. Richards says one more time and goes back to the top again. He comes off, but Dreamer has gotten to his feet, catches Richards with a sleeper, and wins the match when Richards goes out. Dreamer gets on the mic and calls Angel a slut and I know this is in the past, but ECW is determined that I have to use the explicit label aren't they? He tells Angel that if she wants Richards, she can have him and Dreamer throws Richards out of the ring.
-Dreamer says they have other business to take care of. He says everyone came to see who will be the future of wrestling, Shane Douglas or Sabu. He says he doesn't care who wins the match. He then calls Douglas out using language that I won't repeat here. Douglas comes out and he is being held back by Mr. Hughes. Dreamer tells him to bring it. Douglas tells Hughes to take care of Dreamer. Hughes gets in the ring and Dreamer immediately jumps him. Back and forth in the center of the ring. Hughes then gets Dreamer in the center of the ring and starts pounding Dreamer with his right hands. Dreamer falls to the mat and is hanging on to the second rope as Hughes starts to kick him. Hughes with a corner whip, but Dreamer gets his boot up on the charge. Back and forth in the corner. Dreamer starts to go after Douglas on the outside, but Hughes grabs Dreamer and runs him into the turnbuckle. Hughes hitting Dreamer with some shots. Hughes with an Irish whip. Dreamer comes back with a crossbody and Hughes catches Dreamer and hits Dreamer with a backbreaker. Dreamer hits Hughes with a couple of low blows. Dreamer follows that up with an Irish whip and a hip toss. Hughes blocks a suplex attempt and gets an Irish whip. Dreamer comes back with the sleeper. Hughes gets out and Irish whips Dreamer, who ducks a couple of clothesline attempts before Douglas hits Dreamer with a chair from outside and Hughes hits the sidewalk slam to pin Dreamer. Douglas gets on the mic to gloat. He then calls out Angel, who was helping the other officials get Richards to the back. Douglas calls Angel into the ring. Douglas says he can take care of Sabu and he has Mr. Hughes to take care of 911. He then offers Angel the opportunity to be in his corner to take care of Paul E. She agrees. Douglas then says he is the future of wrestling, not Ric Flair or Hulk Hogan. Douglas calling out Ric Flair in a promo? TASIYDAH. The trio then leave the ring.
-The Pit Bulls with Jason vs. The Tazmaniac and a Mystery Partner: The Pit Bulls out first and Jason has them by dog collars around their necks leading them to the ring. An unflattering chant that rhymes with Pit Bulls goes out towards them and I trust you all to be smart enough to figure it out on your own. Taz comes to the ring by himself. Tod Gordon is in the ring and says that Taz's mystery partner had transportation problems, so they are going to postpone the match. The Pit bulls instead jumped Taz and beat him down in the corner. They clothesline Taz and beat him with a chain. Gordon runs to the back. They are brutalizing Taz in the center of the ring. It looks like several wrestlers are trying to get to the ring, but Mr. Hughes is standing in the aisle and preventing them from getting to the ring. The fans start chanting 911. The Pit Bulls continue to punish Taz in the ring. Now it looks like the Rockin' Rebel and Hack Myers are fighting, continuing their issue from earlier in the night. 911 comes out to a big pop and he gets into Mr. Hughes' face in the aisle and Mr. Hughes starts hitting 911 with punches. He gets past Hughes and grabs Rebel and Chad Austin, who were at ringside beating up Myers. 911 goes to give them chokeslams, but he is hit from behind by Hughes. They beat 911 down to the ground with the chair as the beat down of Taz continues in the ring. Hughes then comes over to Jason, who hands Hughes some money. It looked to me like Paul E came out to check on 911, but got jumped by Jason, but you can't tell because they only had that one camera and the fans were in the way. Taz still getting beat up by the Pit Bulls in the ring, so not much has changed there. Sabu finally comes out and he is a house of fire. I believe he kicks Jason, throws a chair towards the ring, and then slides into the ring. Sabu and Taz start to fight back against the Pit Bulls. The Pit Bulls reverse corner whip, and Sabu and Taz run into each other. They look at each other briefly before they attack the Pit Bulls again. Taz belly to belly suplexes one of the Pit Bulls out of the ring over the top rope. Sabu then jumps out over the top rope onto the Pit Bulls and hurricanranas him out on the floor. The crowd cheers. Taz hits a belly to belly suplex on the other Pit Bull to get the pin. The crowd chants Sabu as he goes to the back with Paul E and 911.
-Dueling Singapore Cane match. The Sandman with Woman vs. Tommy Cairo with Peaches: Sandman and Woman out first and Sandman has his cane and is smoking. They get in the ring. Cairo and Peaches come out and he also has his cane and she is looking determined. As Cairo gets to the ring, Sandman takes a swipe at him with his cane from the turnbuckle, but doesn't hit Cairo. The referee makes Sandman get back. Sandman menaces Peaches and Cairo as they go around the ring and Cairo gets up on the apron. Cairo get into the ring and they are face to face. Bob Artese makes the ring introductions. Sandman helps Woman out of the ring and then goes after Peaches. Cairo is there to stop Sandman. This continues for several minutes and I just want to get this thing started. The bell rings and Sandman is on the outside. He slides in and Cairo immediately starts to hit him, which is what I would do. It's a smart strategy. Sandman gets back in. Cairo blocks a shot with the cane and starts hitting Sandman back. Sandman bails to the outside again and Cairo even hits him there with a shot over the top rope to Sandman and Cairo has got some reach. Sandman walks around the ring and is doing something to the end of his cane. The referee is slow counting Sandman because count outs isn't something they really do in ECW. He gets back in the ring and the two men stare at each other before Sandman rushes Cairo. He takes a wild swing at Cairo and misses and Cairo hits Sandman in the stomach with the cane. He hits Sandman across the back several times and then pulls Sandman's shirt up and hits him several more times across the back. Sandman takes his shirt off, which both Styles and I think is a bad move, so both of the Joey's are in agreement here. He goes outside and Cairo follows and hits Sandman some more across the back. They exchange blows with the canes and Sandman rolls back in the ring. Sandman taking swings at Cairo as he tries to get back in the ring and the crowd chants we want blood. That's on brand for ECW. The referee is trying to keep Sandman away so that Cairo can get back in the ring. The referee finally gets Sandman into a corner so that Cairo can get back in the ring. The two men take swings at each other and Cairo finally gets Sandman in the corner and hits him repeatedly with the cane. He hits Sandman until Sandman falls down-and-out of the ring where he falls on the timekeeper's table and turns it over. Cairo follows Sandman outside and the two men continue to cane one another. Sandman has been busted open and throws a chair at Cairo. Cairo responds by hitting Sandman repeatedly with shots from the cane. They get back in the ring and exchange blows with the cane there. Cairo is getting the better of the exchange. Sandman bails to the outside again. Sandman is walking around the ring and he is stalking Peaches again as she goes around the ring to get away from Sandman. Sandman then goes to his own corner to confer with Woman. Sandman gets back in the ring and Cairo hits him with the cane and drives Sandman down to his knees. He falls out of the ring and knocks the timekeeper's table over again as he falls. I know that guy must be getting pissed off. Unless they planned that spot out in advance. I know I would be getting pissed off if it were me. Cairo comes out after Sandman and hits him several more times until Sandman gets back in the ring to get away from Cairo. Cairo then goes up top, but misses Sandman when Sandman moves out of the way and Cairo crashes to the mat. That was the first halfway wrestling move of the match. Styles says that this is the opening that Sandman was looking for as they exchange shots with their canes and both men are now bleeding. A double shot and both men fall back to the mat. Both Peaches and Woman come in the ring and Peaches takes the cane from Cairo and threatens Woman with the cane. Peaches goes to hit Woman with the cane. As she swings back, she hits the referee and knocks him out. Sandman then grabs Peaches and runs her head first into a turnbuckle. He turned around and Cairo was about to cane Woman. Sandman hits Cairo from behind with the cane. He canes Cairo down, covers him, and gets the pin. Sandman lights up in the ring after the match. Sandman gets on the mic after the match and starts that stupid pay your bills crap towards Cairo.
-The battle for the future. Sabu with Paul E. Dangerously and 911 vs. Shane Douglas with Angel and Mr. Hughes: Sabu makes quite an entrance as he crashes through the wall and comes towards the ring. Paul E and 911 rush out after Sabu to try and calm him down. Paul E introduces Sabu. Douglas then comes down with Mr. Hughes and Angel. Sabu starts diving to take down Douglas as soon as he gets in the ring. Douglas trying to stay away from Sabu. Douglas keeps managing to elude Sabu as a 911 chant goes out from the crowd. That guy was extremely over in 1994 and would go on to win the PWI Rookie of the Year award. Douglas is the one who eventually gets a single leg takedown on Sabu. Sabu quickly kicks Douglas off. Douglas then gets a front face lock on Sabu. Sabu gets back to his feet and pushes Douglas back to a corner and Douglas breaks clean. Sabu takes a swing which Douglas ducks and Douglas hits Sabu with a series of right hands. Sabu rolls out of the ring. Douglas goes out to the apron and kicks Sabu, who is on the floor. He then launches himself at Sabu head first into the barricade, throws Sabu back in the ring, and then hits Sabu with a double ax handle from the top rope. He covers Sabu, but only gets a two count as Sabu gets his foot on the ropes. Douglas tries again and gets another two count. Douglas gets Sabu up and in a front face lock. Paul E pounds the apron and gets the fans to chant Sabu as Sabu tries to get out of the front face lock. Sabu with some right hands to Douglas to get out of the hold and get Douglas in a side headlock. Douglas with a backdrop to get out of the move, but Sabu lands on his feet. He grabs Douglas from behind, but Douglas does a standing switch and tries a belly to back suplex on Sabu. He can't get him over, and Sabu switches it to a roll up for a close two count. Douglas comes back with a nice delayed vertical suplex to Sabu. Douglas follows that up with a headscissors to Sabu. 911 threatening Douglas from the apron, but Douglas has the headscissors locked in tight on Sabu. Paul E and 911 get the Sabu chant going again as Sabu is trying desperately to get out of the hold. Sabu finally gets out of the move and gets back to his feet, only to get rocked by a clothesline from Douglas. Douglas gets a two count. He tries again and gets another two count. I like that Douglas is trying for multiple covers. Douglas with an Irish whip and a backbreaker to Sabu. He then gets Sabu with a camel clutch. The crowd is encouraging Sabu as he fights to get out of the hold. Douglas grabs the nose of Sabu and pulls back and it looks like he is trying to rip the nose off. He breaks on the four count. He pushes referee Pee Wee Moore for counting, and poor Pee Wee can't catch a break, first being choke slammed multiple times by 911 and now this. Douglas with an Irish whip, misses a clothesline attempt, comes off the ropes himself towards Sabu, and Sabu kicks Douglas and hits a powerbomb on Douglas. He gets a close two count. Douglas gets back to his feet, but he is unsteady and tumbles back to the floor. Sabu goes out after Douglas and hits him with a chair. Douglas tries to get away, but Sabu grabs him, puts him in the chair, and starts punching Douglas in the face. Paul E comes over to hold Douglas for Sabu to get in the ring and hit Douglas with a suicide dive through the ropes. 911 and Paul E then distract the referee and Sabu brings the chair into the ring and hits Douglas with it when he gets back in the ring. He hits Douglas with the chair several times and then goes to set the chair up so that he can springboard off it onto Douglas, but the chair won't stand up since it is broken. Sabu just throws the chair at Douglas in the corner. Sabu gets another chair and sets it up and springboards towards Douglas in the corner, but Douglas moves out of the way and Sabu hits the corner and falls onto the first chair on the mat. Douglas picks Sabu up and atomic drops him onto the second chair. Douglas with a scoop slam to Sabu and then goes out to the apron and hits Sabu with a slingshot splash and covers Sabu, but Sabu gets his foot on the ropes almost immediately. Douglas then hits a piledriver on Sabu in the center of the ring for a 2.5 count. Then another two count. They exchange punches in the center of the ring. Douglas with an Irish whip. Sabu jumps to the second rope and comes back with a back elbow to Douglas. He slams Douglas down and goes out to do a 450 splash from the apron, but misses it when Douglas moves out of the way. Douglas rolls Sabu up and gets a two count. Douglas with a rear chin lock to Sabu. Sabu responds with an elbow to break the hold. Sabu goes for a hurricanrana, but Douglas grabs him and slams Sabu down for a powerbomb instead. He hits an elbow drop on Sabu from the top rope. Douglas turns Sabu over in a single leg crab. Savu trying to get out of the move while trying not to pass out from the pain. Douglas switches around and puts the STF on Sabu. 911 gets on the apron. Douglas lets go of the STF and puts on a rear chin lock. He then yells at Hughes to take care of 911, so Hughes gets up on the apron and yells at 911. The fans chant 911 and want to see the two big men go at it as Sabu gets back to his feet and mule kicks Douglas to get out of the hold. Sabu goes up top and hits Douglas with a spinning heel kick that knocks Douglas to the floor. Douglas gets back to his feet and Sabu goes to launch himself onto Douglas, who moves out of the way, so Sabu lands on the apron instead and runs and cannonballs himself onto Douglas on the floor. Both men get back to their feet and Sabu throws a chair at Douglas. Sabu then picks Douglas up by the head and runs and launches Douglas over the barricade and into the crowd. Sabu then launches himself from the barricade onto Douglas. They start to fight out into the crowd, but because of the one camera shot, you can't see everything. Douglas throws Sabu back over the barricade to ringside. Douglas then grabs a fans' sign and rips it up. Douglas then Irish whips Sabu into the barricade again. Douglas goes to suplex Sabu, but Sabu reverses it and crotches Douglas on the guardrail. Both wrestlers on the ground now as this match has taken its toll on both men. The crowd then breaks out into a scream of approval as 911 brings out a table and sets it up at ringside. Sabu grabs the table and leans it up on the guardrail. He grabs the table and as he does, the lights go out in the arena. The match is then edited to Douglas in the ring and Sabu has him in a sleeper. It looks like a spotlight or a flood light has been set up to provide light for the match. Sabu with a rear chin lock and the lights come back on. Paul E gets on the mic and tells Sabu to show that piece of crap who the future of wrestling is. Just as he does that, Douglas hits a jaw breaker to Sabu to get out of the chin lock. Douglas then runs Sabu into a turnbuckle and starts hitting Sabu with a series of jabs. They go to reverse a corner whip on each other and Douglas finally gets the better part of the deal with Sabu hitting the turnbuckle back first. Douglas with another corner whip and goes for what Styles calls a flying headscissors, but Sabu ducks and Douglas falls out of the ring to the floor. Sabu leans Douglas against the set up table. Sabu with a springboard moonsault, but Douglas moves and Sabu grazes the table and falls to the floor and the table doesn't even break. 911 and Paul E over to check on Sabu and Styles says that the referee is over counting out Sabu. Did the referee forget that this is ECW? Douglas comes over a couple of times and Styles says it's to look at Sabu, who may have knocked himself silly. Douglas climbs back in the ring and tells the referee to count Sabu out. Paul E screams at Douglas and the referee that Sabu may have broken his neck and knowing Sabu, this may be true. Douglas makes the referee count saying he doesn't give a damn if he is hurt and the referee counts Sabu out. Hughes gets in the ring and he and Douglas are over talking to the referee. Paul E comes from behind and hits Hughes with the phone. Hughes goes down, but immediately gets back to his feet. Hughes blocks another shot from Paul E and hits Paul E with a shot that Paul E sells like he has been shot. Paul E trying to get away from Hughes as the EMTs have carried Sabu away at this point. 911 gets in the ring and chokeslams poor Pee Wee Moore again. He then grabs Douglas by the throat and chokeslams him as Hughes is busy beating Paul E down in the corner. 911 then shoves Hughes, who slowly turns around and 911 says you and me to Hughes. Hughes takes down his suspenders and hits 911 and it looks like it doesn't even phase 911. 911 grabs Hughes by the throat and gets him up and chokeslams Hughes to the crowds delight. Angel comes from behind and hits 911 with a wooden chair. 911 doesn't go down. He indicates that he is going to chokeslam Angel, who backs away and begs off in the corner. He chokeslams Angel to the crowds delight. Douglas grabs Angel and gets her out of the ring as the crowd cheers 911. 911 gets Paul E back to his feet and the crowd is chanting 911. 911 raises his arms to the crowd as Douglas has to hold Hughes out of the ring to prevent him from going after 911.
-Barbed Wire Match. Terry and Dory Funk vs. The Public Enemy Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge: The Funk Brothers come to the ring as Joey Styles explains that the ring ropes have been removed and barbed wire has been strung up around the ring and I will take things I wouldn't do for $100 dollars please. The Funk Brothers get a respectable reaction when they are introduced. The Public Enemy out next. They get almost to the ring and throw a couple of chairs into the ring. They run back from the ring and head towards the Eagle's Nest, which makes no sense to me. They get up there and a spotlight is thrown on them and fans start to toss chairs up at them. The camera pans out and you see that it is actually the Funk brothers who are below Public Enemy and throwing chairs. Terry gets on the mic and tells them they were the ones who wanted a barbed wire match so come on. He then calls them assholes. The crowd starts chanting assholes at Public Enemy and this is why we have explicit labels folks. The Public Enemy finally started to climb down from the Eagle's Nest. They get in the ring and they are pretty well covered up top, but still wearing those long basketball shorts as pants and if it is me, I'm covering up everything that I have on me. But as I said before, I wouldn't even do this match in the first place, so I guess this is a moot point. All four in the ring and the Funk brothers look ready and Rock tells them just to hold on for a minute. All four start to go at it and I don't know how I am going to keep track of all that is happening since this is not a traditional match, but I will do my best. They square off. Dory with an uppercut to Grunge in a corner as Rock scoop slams Terry a couple of times. The Public Enemy then double Irish whip Dory, but he slides down to the mat instead of going into the wire. All four facing each other again and the Funk brothers backing the Public Enemy into a corner and towards the wire. Terry scoop slams Rock while Dory is scoop slammed by Grunge. Terry then gets Grunge away from Dory with a clothesline. Dory back to his feet and the Funks corner whip the Public Enemy into each other. Grunge rolls to the outside at the Funks attempt to Irish whip Rock into the wire, but he slides down to the mat and rolls to the outside. Public Enemy on the outside and the fans start with the asshole chants again. Dory comes out after the Public Enemy and they jump him and start punching Dory. Terry comes over and attacks Public Enemy with a chair. Terry throws Rock back in the ring. Rock takes Terry and forces him down on the top strand of barbed wire. He gets Terry caught up in the wire and goes to jump on Terry, who moves out of the way and Rock lands up in the barbed wire. Grunge pulls Rock out over the wire to try to get him untangled. All four back out on the floor again and exchange blows. Terry runs Rock into the wire and runs Rock's face into the wire. Dory has a cowboy boot and is hitting Rock with it. Terry grabs a wooden chair and bashes it against a corner to break it apart and then starts hitting Grunge with the broken chair. Both Funks go after Grunge and start hitting him. Rock falls over the barricade to the crowd and Dory climbs over after him. Terry throws Grunge back in the ring and Grunge and Rock are both bleeding. Grunge attacks Terry with punches as soon as he tries to get in the ring, which considering the circumstances is actually a sound strategy on Grunge's part. Terry caught up in the wire and Grunge is now choking him. Grunge then kicks Terry repeatedly in the midsection. Rock comes over and tries to tie up Terry in the barbed wire. Rock rolls inside the ring and as the camera pans back, you see Dory already in the ring and he is bleeding from the head. Rock goes after him and Terry falls to the mat and Grunge goes after him. Rock drops Dory throat first across the barbed wire. Dory blocks it some with his hand, but you know it had to hurt. Grunge on top of a prone Funk hitting him in the face as Rock goes after Dory and they exchange blows in the corner. Dory gets his boot and hits Grunge to get him off of Terry. Rock goes to run Terry into the barbed wire, but Terry runs Rock into the wire instead. Rock gets to his feet, but he is tied up in the wire. Dory ties Grunge up in the wire as well as the fans in the front row are screaming at The Public Enemy like they are deranged. The Public Enemy must have really pissed off the fans. Terry takes the opportunity to hit The Public Enemy with Dory's boot. Public Enemy get themselves out of the wire, but they seem out of it with Rock taking wild swings at the air and Grunge crawling on his hands and knees before collapsing on the mat. Dory hits Rock with a butterfly suplex and Terry hits Grunge with a piledriver. Dory and Rock fight out into the crowd. Terry hits Grunge with another piledriver. Terry signals for the fans to throw chairs in. Poor Grunge! All he can do is cover up at this point. Don't do this at home kids! Terry piledrives Grunge onto the pile of chairs. Terry goes out of the ring as Bob Artese gets on the mic and tells the fans to stop throwing chairs. He should have told Funk that before the match. The fans should not be throwing chairs, but when it's celebrated and a clip of fans throwing chairs in the ring is on the opening of your TV show for years, what else are you going to expect? It's a wonder that ECW lasted as long as it did. Terry, Dory, and Rock fight out in the crowd and into the parking lot where you can't see anything because of the one camera shoot. They eventually made their way back towards the ring as referee Jim Molineaxu has subtlety started to slip some of the chairs out of the ring. I admire what he's trying to do, but to me, it's like throwing a deck chair off the Titanic. Dory and Rock get in the ring and Dory is holding a dented aluminum trash can. Dory hits Rock with the can as the fans chant Terry at something Terry is doing, but you can't see it as he is off camera. Dory beating Rock with the trash can in the corner. He then hits the referee when the ref tries to stop him. Grunge grabs Dory and Dory drops the trash can and punches Grunge. Grunge throws Dory out of the ring as Rock hits Terry repeatedly with the trash can. Grunge gets some wire cutters and cuts the wire strands on one side of the ring and Rock is wrapping Terry up with the strands at ringside. Rock then hits Dory with a chair at ringside. The Public Enemy then take the barbed wire wrapped Terry, throw him in the ring and throw the trash can on top of him and then cover him to get the pin. Dory comes in and hits The Public Enemy with a trash can and his face is a bloody mess. Dory keeps hitting them with the chair when they try to get up until Terry makes it back to his feet and runs his body with the wire and the trash can on it into Public Enemy. Terry signals to the fans again and you now what that means. It means that ECW can't have it both ways. I'm sick of the hypocrisy. It's time to end this. Public Enemy has been buried in chairs. Styles runs down what we have seen as the Funk Brothers throw chairs at Rock. Rock caught up in the wire as Dory throws another chair at him. Dory and some of the fans cut the barbed wire off Terry and I can't believe the ridiculousness of the statement that I just wrote in my notes. They can't get it off so Terry still has it on as he makes his way back to the dressing room as they sign off.
-Final Thoughts: A good show with a horrible ending. The throwing of the chairs is too much. The Sabu/Douglas match was very good though.