What the World Was Watching: ECW Hardcore TV – February 28, 1995

Jason and Paul Lauria talk about how people are jealous of them in ECW. Lauria says 911 will never chokeslam him again because he is a giant.

A video package recaps the Raven-Tommy Dreamer feud to this point.

A video package recaps the Cactus Jack-Sandman feud.

Fans work up a loud “Hogan sucks” as Joey Styles introduces tonight’s show from the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Styles interview with Raven and Steve Richards at Return of the Funker is shown.

Styles encourages fans to order tickets ahead of time because they sold out the last ECW show. The company is offering a twenty percent discount on its merchandise if fans buy tickets to the next four ECW Arena events.

Footage of a masked man interfering and helping Paul Lauria and Jason defeat Mikey Whipwreck and Hack Myers at the last ECW Arena show airs.

The Triple Threat, who now hold all of ECW’s titles, brag about how brothers in the hood envy them for all the gold they have. ECW Champion Shane Douglas hypes the group as the next dynasty in professional wrestling, taking the old mantle of the Four Horsemen. Chris Benoit says that Sabu, the Tazmaniac, and Paul E. Dangerously were legends in their own imagination but realized that they were not true champions at the last ECW Arena card when they lost their titles. ECW Television Champion Malenko refuses to speak and just looks coldly at the camera.

The Extreme Encyclopedia segment returns to define Mystery Wrestler as “Sandman and Woman’s hired henchman. Purpose? Destroy Cactus. Identity? Unknown. Future? Unknown. Quite simply, a man with no name!!!!”

Styles interviews the Sandman and Woman. Woman is mad that Cactus Jack is running down her husband and giving her man the Sandman a concussion.

Cactus Jack’s match with D.C. Drake at Return of the Funker airs, along with the post-match antics that bring Terry Funk back to the promotion and align Shane Douglas with Jack.

The Last Word: Most fans could not attend the ECW Arena shows so the footage that aired was totally new to them and it is easy to see how fans would be amazed at the storytelling contained in the final segment. The twists and turns it utilized were why wrestling fans came to love ECW during this era as its layered storylines found little equal in the WWF or WCW.

The promotion ran one house show before the next episode of Hardcore TV in Philadelphia. Here were the results of that show courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Northeastern Catholic High School – March 3, 1995 (292): Tommy Dreamer pinned Steve Richards…Dino Sendoff & Don E. Allen beat the Tazmaniac via disqualification in a handicap match…Television Champion Dean Malenko wrestled 2 Cold Scorpio to a twenty-minute time limit draw…The Sandman beat JT Smith…Sabu pinned Osamu Nishimura…The Public Enemy defeated Hack Myers & Mikey Whipwreck…ECW Champion Shane Douglas pinned Tully Blanchard.

Backstage News*: Tully Blanchard did not want to lose to Douglas via pinfall at the Northeastern Catholic High School show, but Paul Heyman wants to avoid having count out and disqualification finishes to matches. It is unclear what made Blanchard change his mind, but his appearance on the show will probably be his last in the company.

*ECW had to cancel its planned house show at Cheyney College on March 4 because the college’s branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) never confirmed that they booked the appropriate building and a mix up left the company with nowhere to hold a show.

*ECW owner Tod Gordon is threatening to sue rival promoter Dennis Coraluzzo for allegedly trying to get venues to drop ECW events because of the hardcore nature of the product.

*Backstage news provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for March 13.

Up Next: ECW Hardcore TV for March 7!