Mike Reviews: ECW Hardcore TV #391 (21/10/2000)

Hello You!

Back with more Hardcore TV, as we’ll soon be into single digits as far as remaining episodes. Can I power through to the end? Let’s find out!

This week’s matches were taped from Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Calling the action are Joey Styles and Joel Gertner

We open up with footage of Rhino destroying Tom Marquez and then beating up the referee for good measure. The referee being a pretty large guy we’d never seen before kind of gave away that he was actually a wrestler there to do a spot.

Opening Match
EZ Money Vs Rob Van Dam w/ Bill Alfonso

It’s the battle of cocky flippy dudes who do MOVEZ! RVD shines on Money to start, controlling things both inside and outside. Eventually Money is able to knock RVD off the top rope down to the arena floor, and that allows him to work some heat, even beating on Fonzie also. I wonder why Money’s back up is for this show actually. Normally he has Chris Hamrick and Julio Dinero watching his back.

Money gets the Buckshot Lariat and then goes to a chin lock, before ship canning RVD to the floor, as this heat segment has been kind of aimless on Money’s part. Like, you’d think that a match between these two guys would be a wild battle of big moves and outrageous spots, but they’ve kind of just had a match, which is neither man’s strong suite.

RVD makes the comeback, with Money bumping and selling well for it all, and that leads us into RVD doing some attacks with a chair. We head into the closing stretch, with RVD getting some near falls, and the crowd seems strangely subdued outside of certain pockets who are really digging RVD and his chair based move set. RVD gets the Van Daminator and heads up with the Five Star Frogsplash to pick up the three.

WINNER: ROB VAN DAM
RATING: *1/2

Not much of a match really, with Money getting very little

CW Anderson cuts a backstage promo, referencing the other Andersons, saying he’s going to bring home the ECW Title to the Anderson Family.

Match Two
Balls Mahoney Vs Yoshihiro Tajiri

This is certainly an odd combination of guys, but it could be good. Balls has an eye patch here due to a Spanish Angel staple gun attack. We get the handshake to start, with Balls selling that his lack of vision is making it difficult to perceive depth, and that leads to Tajiri running wild with kicks and mist. Tajiri locks in the Tarantula, but The FBI and Big Sal run in to attack both men, due to The FBI facing Tajiri and Mikey Whipwreck at November to Remember on the 5th of November. Chilly Willy runs down for the save, fighting off The FBI so that Balls can brain Sal with a chair shot.

WINNER: NO CONTEST
RATING: N/A

These sort of finishes always annoy me in ECW, because it was one of the few places you could usually expect a pin or submission, regardless of how screwy.

Da Baldies run down to attack Balls and Nippy Bratwurst, but Balls chairs them and then tries to put Tony DeVito through a flaming table. Angel stops that though and Balls ends up going through the table instead to set up a match for the pay per view on 05/11/2000.

Main Event
ECW Title
Champ: Jerry Lynn Vs Steve Corino w/ Jack Victory (HIGH SPOT)

Corino was busted open earlier in the taping and is still showing the effects of it here. These two had a match at Heatwave 2000, where Lynn wrote the word “DIE” on his chest in Corino’s own blood. Before the match can start, CW Anderson comes down to the ring with a mic to insult both men, so Lynn decides to add him to the match to make it a Three Way Dance.

All three of these guys are good workers, so the action is to a high standard and they keep the standard triple threat match spots of “two guys go at it whilst another sells” to a minimum. Instead they do a lot of spots where all three are going at it at the same time, including a three way brawl in the crowd, which I must say I really prefer, especially considering that WWE has run the triple threat formula into the ground these days, to the point that every triple threat match they do often ends up feeling the same. All three guys are going at in the crowd as we take a break.

COMMERCIAL

Back from the ads, Lynn is trying to use Corino’s blood as war paint again in the ring, but CW super kicks him and then starts working over both men, targeting both of their arms in classic Anderson style. Both of the faces are able to survive CW’s arm based assault and things break down into all three guys getting near falls, with each one taking it in turns to get roll ups and pinning holds in a neat spot. Eventually Lynn counters CW fireman’s carry into a DDT, but Corino gets hit in the face on the way down, and thus we get the triple down, which isn’t something you see every day.

All three men fight up from their knees, trading strikes, which leads to Corino taking both men down with the Dusty Rhodes like Bionic Elbow, before dropping another Elbow on Lynn for the two count. CW chairs Victory in the face outside the ring, whilst Corino and Lynn trade near falls. Justin Credible runs down and canes everyone but CW, who manages to take Credible out with an Anderson left. That leads to Lynn getting the Cradle Piledriver on Corino to eliminate him, leading to CW getting an immediate school boy roll up for two in a good near fall.

That’s twice in a matter of months that Corino has failed to win the belt, which is doing a fantastic job of derailing his momentum, especially as he wasn’t even the final elimination. Lynn and CW do a good closing stretch, with CW getting his fair share of near falls in an effort to elevate him. He’s looked good in this match and the other two guys have sold well for him, but eventually he gets piledrove too and Lynn retains.

WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: JERRY LYNN
RATING: ***

Good match

Danny Doring and Roadkill cut a promo backstage, they want The FBI’s Tag Titles.

Jerry Lynn says he’ll take on anyone and remain ECW Champion.

Justin Credible cuts a promo with Francine. He wants his ECW Title back from Lynn. Francine reminds him that there’ll be no nookie unless he wins the belt back.

This felt like a Pulp Fiction Montage without the music actually, as we get a bunch of other promo’s, done in the quick cut style. I guess they just forgot to dub the music over? In fact, just for a giggle I played the music myself over the promo’s and it totally fit, so that seems to be what happened.

The promo montage ends with Rhino snorting about RVD.

In Conclusion

Good Main Event this week and a big heat angle (Quite literally) to set up the Balls/Willy Vs Da Baldies match for the pay per view. Aside from that, it was mostly just a show, which is a problem these Hardcore TV’s are having now, but at least they have some matches booked a few weeks out from the pay per view.