ECW Hardcore TV – Episode #37 – 12/20/93

From the WWE Network Vault, it’s episode #37 of Eastern Championship Wrestling.

Original air date was December 20, 1993.

Tommy Dreamer is already in the ring to kick things off, with Joey Styles here to tell us that Dreamer has called out Shane Douglas. Shane is out, and they don’t want to wait for Holiday Hell on December 26………1993. We’re going to have this match, RIGHT NOW! By right now, Joey means RIGHT AFTER THE OPENING CREDITS! It’s NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling!

Match #1: Tommy Dreamer vs. Shane Douglas.

Joined in progress, Douglas hits a swinging neckbreaker. Douglas suplexes Dreamer and drops him across the top rope and he hits the floor. Douglas follows him out and rams him back first into the apron. Back in the ring now, Douglas whips Dreamer to the ropes and hits the abdominal stretch. Dreamer hip tosses out and misses and elbow drop coming off the ropes. Douglas takes Dreamer to the corner. Whip to the opposite corner and Dreamer hits hard and goes down. Douglas with a rib breaker, and then drops the hammer coming off the ropes. That gets 2. Douglas comes off the ropes and hits another forearm. Back suplex for Douglas. Douglas now gets a scissor lock, as Dreamer is selling the ribs. Dreamer starts to rally, picks Douglas up and drops him to break the hold. Dreamer tries a slam, but Douglas falls on top for 2. Douglas with a whip, reversed by Dreamer who hits an inverted atomic drop. A second one now. Off the ropes and Dreamer hits a clothesline. Dreamer peels tape from his ribs and chokes Douglas with it. Then a whip to the corner, and Douglas flips out of the ring. Dreamer follows him out and whips Douglas on to the timekeeper’s table. Dreamer hits him with a chair shot. Back in the ring, a whip by Dreamer but Douglas catches the foot, but Dreamer hits an enzuguiri! Dreamer goes to cover but picks him up instead. Whip to the corner, and Dreamer gets a slam out of the corner, but takes the referee down in the process. Meanwhile, Douglas takes out a chain from his trunks and when Dreamer turns around and Douglas nails him. Douglas puts the chain around Dreamer’s hand. The referee comes to, sees Dreamer with the chain….and calls for the bell! WTF? **1/2

WINNER: By disqualification, Shane Douglas. Well, the finish here made no sense. Douglas hits Dreamer with the chain, and instead of going for the easy pin, he opts for the DQ win? That just makes Douglas look silly. As far as the match goes, it was solid. Dreamer showed up moreso than Douglas did, as Douglas went for rest holds in a couple of spots.

In the Eagle’s Nest, Joey recaps the whole Dreamer-Douglas back story, including Shane rejecting Woman’s managerial services, only to swerve us by turning on Dreamer during a tag title match, giving the title’s to Woman’s team of Kevin Sullivan and The Tazmaniac. It’s Tommy Dreamer vs. Shane Douglas at Holiday Hell. Also at Holiday Hell, Terru Funk vs. Sabu for the ECW Heavyweight Championship, Badd Company vs. Public Enemy in a Body Count Match, The Sandman vs. Mr. Hughes and more! Apparently, there isn’t enough internet in the world to uncover footage of that Body Count match.

Jay Sulli is backstage with ECW owner Tod Gordon. Gordon has a major announcement, but before we get to that we recap last week’s power outage, and the huge brawl that had almost the entire roster brawling at ringside. Gordon announces that there will now be a Lights Out Battle Royal at Holiday Hell with the winner receiving a turkey stuffed with hundred dollar bills. I did not make that up, as per my reputation lately. Also announced is a match for the ECW Tag Team Championship, pitting the champs Kevin Sullivan & The Tazmaniac against J.T. Smith and a partner of his choice. Gordon reveals that Smith’s partner is Jimmy Snuka, as we hit the video package for Snuka. Tod Gordon PROMISES….he absolutely PROMISES that someone is going to get blown up at Holiday Hell.

Terry Funk makes his way to the ring, and chases Joey out. He demands that Sabu be brought out. After a break, we come back to The Bad Breed throwing “Sabu” into the ring. It’s a guy in Zubaz pretending to be Sabu. Funk whips him to the floor, but he’s thrown back in by the Rottens. Paul is out to interrupt things, as he calls Funk a “son of a BLEEP”. WHAT IS HE SAYING? Funk and Paul go back and forth verbally, talking over each other. Funk requests that Paul take off his coat, which Paul obliges. Then Funk requests Paul take off his shirt. I do not like where this going, as I hope he doesn’t request Paul take off his pants. Funk comes over to Paul, who leaves. Now Funk is getting into it with a fan, and we’re out. That was some disorganized promo work there between Funk and Paul, who are both pretty good talkers. I don’t know how this puts heat on the Funk-Sabu match.

Match #2: Mike V & “Stormin” Mike Norman vs. Kevin Sullivan & The Tazmaniac (c).

Non-title here of course. Taz starts off by dumping Mike V outside. Sullivan is out there with a chair shot. Taz hits a clothesline on Norman coming off the ropes. Norman reverses a whip to the corner but hits boot. Sullivan tagged in, and he hits the double stomp coming off the ropes. Taz back in, and he hangs Norman in the Tree of Woe, as Sullivan rams him a couple of times. Mike V has thrown in the towel, and this match is over! 1/2*

WINNERS: Kevin Sullivan & The Tazmaniac. The champs came off as a wild team here and just tore these guys apart. They defend against Jimmy Snuka and J.T. Smith this Sunday! Well…..not THIS Sunday, but this Sunday in 1993. I hope you didn’t book your seat at the arena. You’ll look stupid.

We go to Paul E. Dangerously performing an a cappella parody of “Silent Night”, summing up Funk’s chances against Sabu. Now, this was better as a promo.

Match #3: Salvatore Bellomo, The Sandman & J.T. Smith vs. Terry Funk & The Bad Breed (Axl & Ian Rotten) in a Six Man Tag Team Match.

The faces are already in the ring, with Gladiator Sal once again delivering teddy bears to all the good little boys, as there are no girls in the audience. The faces charge the heels and it’s on! Funk is to the floor and he pulls Smith out with him. Now the lights begin to go off and on, and now we have the ring filling up with more bodies, as it appears we are not having a six man anymore. I find it hard to keep a straight face as Joey tells us that there will be a Lights Out battle royal for a turkey stuffed with cash. I’m sure Paul used that excuse a lot when it came to payday: “I entrusted it to the turkey, and he left town. I don’t know where he is, but I have my people on it.”. Meanwhile, Funk and the Rottens are taking it to J.T. Smith in the ring, while the brawl continues on the floor. Sal Bellomo and the Rockin’ Rebel have found each other. Chairs are flying into the ring. There is not much of a barricade between the fans and the chair-wielding maniacs on the floor. Bellomo is throwing all the chairs he can find into the ring. Fans are literally handing him the chairs. Now Jason gets on the house mic, and asks everyone “How do you like my suit?”. HA!

Joey hard sells the Holiday Hell show, as we close out another week.

Post-Game Opinion: It started off with a decent match between Dreamer and Douglas, which had a stupid finish. Then it devolved from there with a rambling Funk and yet another “lights out” brawl with the entire roster. I’ll give it a pass, as they were trying to push the big ECW Arena show that weekend. The Network vault skips about three episodes, so we’ll head to 1994 with the next recap. Thanks for reading.