-Today, we finally made it folks. Project 45 concludes with an episode from the day I turned 18 as we look at the ECW Hardcore TV episode from January 16, 1996.
-ECW Hardcore TV was shown on January 16, 1996 from the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, PA.
-The show starts out with highlights of Shane Douglas returning to ECW and interrupting a Stevie Richards and Blue Meanie promo.
-ECW Intro.
-Joey Styles is in the ring and as he introduces himself, he gets cut off by Bill Alphonso and his whistle. He screams that he hates everything and asks Joey why he doesn't do more interviews with Taz. Alphonso then gets mad at Anti Fonzie signs that fans are holding up in the crowd. Styles finally tells Alphonso to shut up and that he has had enough of Alphonso. They start arguing. Taz comes in and tells Styles to keep his hands off Alphonso. He then tells Styles not to disrespect Alphonso ever again as a Sabu chant goes out from the crowd. They get interrupted by 911. He gets in the ring and Alphonso gets in his face and screams at him. Tod Gordon comes out and decks Alphonso taking him out. Taz grabs Gordon only to get stopped by 911. They are face to face. Alphonso and Gordon separate the two men. Other referees come in to help separate the two men. The crowd chants let them go. Wrestlers then come in and separate the two and the crowd boos. The ring empties except for one wrestler who Alphonso berates and Taz hits a vicious looking suplex on. Styles says stop it Taz, you're going to break his neck. Taz goes after Styles again until 911 gets in the ring and I feel like we've seen this. 911 gets clipped from behind and beaten down by the Eliminators, who then do Total Elimination on 911. Jason and Alphonso hug and apparently it has all been a set up. Rey Mysterio comes off the top rope onto Kronus, who catches Mysterio and slams him. Both Eliminators miss the moonsault when Mysterio moves. Mysterio with a springboard moonsault onto both Eliminators. Mysterio grabs Kronus by the wrist, goes up top, and hits the Eliminators with a headscissors/arm twist combo to take them both out. Mysterio takes off his football jersey, gets back into the ring, and Saturn goes to hit Mysterio with a powerbomb, but Mysterio reverses it into an arm drag. Saturn reverses an Irish whip and Mysterio turns it into a headscissors on Saturn. Mysterio then with a springboard enziguri to Saturn. Kronus then grabs Mysterio from behind and Saturn goes to clothesline Mysterio, who ducks and Saturn takes out Kronus. Mysterio rolls up Saturn for a two count. Mysterio runs the ropes. Saturn grabs him for a press slam and Mysterio reverses into a headscissors. Mysterio attacks Saturn in the corner and Saturn kicks Mysterio down. Saturn throws Mysterio out as 911 has gotten back on his feet in the corner, so Saturn attacks him. The Eliminators attacking 911 on the inside while Jason attacks Mysterio on the outside. Taz comes back in and starts choking 911 with a T-shirt. The crowd chanting Sabu. Mysterio battles Saturn on the outside and hits Saturn with a cookie sheet that someone hands him from the crowd. The Eliminators get Mysterio back in the ring and scoop slam him. Kronus with a standing moonsault to get a two count as 911 brings Saturn back into the ring. 911 with a suplex to Saturn. Kronus powerbombs Mysterio. Saturn then hits a low blow on 911. They then hit Total Elimination on 911. Taz then comes back to choke 911 with the t-shirt again. Taz drags 911 out to the floor with the t-shirt around his neck, but 911 will not go out. Mysterio thrown back in the ring and Saturn powerbombs him. The Eliminators with a double Irish whip to Mysterio, who comes back with a double DDT to the Eliminators. 911 gets back in the ring and Mysterio climbs up on 911's shoulders and challenges the Eliminators to a chicken fight. So Saturn gets on Kronus's shoulders. Mysterio then hops up on 911 and hurricanrana's Saturn off Kronus's shoulders. Mysterio then pins Saturn. The Eliminators attack 911 and Mysterio after the match and do Total Elimination on Mysterio. The Pit Bulls come out and go after the Eliminators and Francine goes after Jason. 911 going after Taz in the aisle. The Eliminators get The Pit Bulls down, pull Francine off Jason, and hit her with Total Elimination. The Pit Bulls come in to check on Francine and Jason comes in with a chair and hits one of them, so they attack Jason. They throw him out of the ring onto the Eliminators. Francine is taken away on a stretcher.
-Joey Styles hypes the House Party 96 video. He then recaps what we just saw.
-Styles then talks about Shan Douglas returning and previews Jimmy Del Ray with Mr. Hughes vs. Bubba Ray Dudley with Sign Guy, DW, Chubby, and Big Dick Dudley: This is the early stuttering hickish version of Bubba Ray. He grabs the mic and the crowd chants what's your name? He starts to go into his stuttering routine and Del Ray dropkicks him from behind. Back and forth and Bubba Ray gets Del Ray into the corner. Del Ray begs off. Styles making references to Tom Prichard becoming Zip of the Bodydonnas on commentary. Bubba Ray with a series of forearms to Del Ray in the corner. He follows that up with an Irish whip and a dropkick to Del Ray. Bubba then mocks Del Ray. Del Ray comes back with a strike to Bubba Ray. Bubba reverses a corner whip and hits Del Ray with a corner splash. Del Ray down on the mat. Bubba gets a two count. Bubba arguing with the ref over the count. Del Ray with a low blow kick to Bubba. He follows that up with a scoop slam. He then hits a swinging DDT off the second rope on Bubba. This match is clipped and next shows Bubba go for the Bubba Bomb and Mr. Hughes gets up on the apron and Bubba goes after him. Del Ray takes advantage and gets an Irish whip, but he drops his head too early and Bubba comes back with a DDT to get the pin. Hughes gets in the ring and they cut to him with a mic and he tells Bubba that he can teach him proper English. He says come on out here and Shane Douglas comes out. He gets a good ovation. He gets in the ring and grabs the mic. He mocks Bubba's stuttering and says what in the hell is that? He then says there are a whole lot of things that need fixing around here. He says he is the world's greatest wrestler and the world's greatest English teacher. He then says he is going to teach Bubba some proper English and slaps Bubba. He said that there are a lot of things to fix around here and it starts tonight because the Franchise is back.
-Rey Mysterio with a promo in Spanish, but he gets cut off by DW Dudley. He talks in a mixture of Spanish and English about how great Mysterio and Psychosis are while Mysterio keeps trying to leave.
-Joey Styles is in the ring to interview Stevie Richards who has The Blue Meanie with him. Richards says he is now Studly Stevie Richards and the King of Swing. They then showed Beulah in the ring. The entire show is only 37 minutes long on the network so there had to have been some music cut. They show Missy Hyatt making out with Richards and he tells Styles that he is the original babe magnet. He then says that Beulah has been neglected by Raven. He says that right here Studly Stevie Richards is going to be kissed by Beulah but Beulah says no, she doesn't want to be touched. He says oh come on and she says she is serious, she doesn't want to be touched. He tells her she is making him look bad in front of everybody and she says he doesn't understand. She doesn't want to be touched. He tries to kiss her and she pushes him away and screams no. Stop it and this is uncomfortable to watch. He says oh, whats the matter, is it because you're Raven's girlfriend? She says no, I'm pregnant. The crowd is shocked. Richards starts screaming this is awesome and jumping up and down. Raven gets in the ring, pushes Richards, and says you're what to Beulah. He says what are you, stupid? The pills say one at a time moron. Are you an idiot? She says what do you care, it's not yours and Raven immediately attacks Richards thinking it must be his. Beulah says stop it, it's not his either. She says it's Tommy's and Raven grabs her by the throat and pushes her into the corner. Tommy Dreamer comes into the ring and attacks Raven from behind and gives him the DDT. Dreamer then attacks Richards and Meanie and clotheslines Raven over the top rope and they both spill out to the floor. One of the fans gives Beulah a frying pan and she hits Meanie and Richards with it as a Beulah chant goes out. Dreamer grabs a chair and hits Raven with it. Dreamer then runs Raven into the barricade. He then hits Raven with a metal sign and throws him back in the ring. He grabs a sign that says Tommy, use my sign, hits Raven with it, and tears away the sign to reveal a stop sign underneath. He then DDTs Raven on the sign. He grabs a slice of pizza from someone, takes a bite, and piledrives Raven onto the slice. Beulah then comes back into the ring and they hug.
-They cut to a shot of Dreamer in what looks like a hotel hallway. He says he can learn to love Beulah and he will be there for his kid. He then says not like Raven, who abandoned Dreamer. He says you want to play a game of one upmanship, well he is up one. He goes into a room and Beulah is there in bed. She says she wants to feel his pain. Dreamer then tells the camera operator to go and they back out of the room and the door closes as the credits come up.
-Final Thoughts: ECW was very much of its time. A lot of this stuff didn't age well, but it was worth seeing Shane Douglas return to ECW.