Joey Styles recaps the heel beatdown of Tommy Dreamer, the Pitbulls, and the Public Enemy on last week’s broadcast. He hypes a “Beulah’s Box” segment tonight where Beulah McGillicutty will talk with the Heavenly Bodies.
Opening Contest: Buh Buh Ray Dudley & Dances with Dudley (w/Chubby Dudley, Sign Guy Dudley & Big Dick Dudley) (0-1) beat the Bad Crew (w/Damien Kane & Lady Alexandra) when Buh Buh Ray pins a Bad Crew member after a Buh-Buh Bomb at 6:37:
The Bad Crew, billed from Badstreet, USA, were a decorated tag team on the East Coast independent circuit, holding the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championship. They are managed in this match by Damien Kane, a Killer Kowalski trainee who worked in Memphis in the 1980s and the Buffalo-based National Wrestling Federation (NWF). Kane makes fun of Buh Buh’s stutter, triggering a Dudley attack to a huge pop since the crowd loves the character. Styles never gives the members of Bad Crew names but despite that they go fifty-fifty with their opponents. Buh Buh gets an unceremonious hot tag, offers a handshake to a Bad Crew member, and after the Bad Crew member takes it, Buh Buh uses his finisher to give his team the victory. Rating: *½
Buh Buh Ray wants to dance after the match since the crowd chants “Dance, Buh Buh, dance!” but Big Dick will not let him.
Stevie Richards, arm in a sling, asks the Heavenly Bodies if they will ask Beulah McGillicutty if she likes him more than Raven. Richards offers to get them beers, but runs into the door frame. The Bodies roll their eyes at how stupid Richards is.
Triangle Match for the ECW Championship: The Sandman (w/Woman) defeats Steve Austin to win the title at 20:03:
Other Elimination: Mikey Whipwreck is eliminated by Steve Austin with the Stun Gun at 12:34
Austin has a shaved head and wrestles in short tights, adopting the look he would have a month later in the WWF as the Ringmaster. The match is billed as a triangle match, but it is really a three-way dance since it functions under elimination rules. The Sandman takes his time getting to the ring, so Austin and Whipwreck battle over headlocks for six minutes. Whipwreck recovers from an Austin piledriver on the concrete to floor his opponents with dives, but he eventually succumbs to another piledriver in the ring and the Stun Gun from the former WCW star. After that, Austin and the Sandman brawl around ringside and Austin flattens his foe with a face-first suplex, drinking some of his opponent’s beer in the process. Woman revives the Sandman with more beer and the referee gets bumped on an Austin slam attempt. Austin blasts his opponent with brass knuckles, but the Sandman gets his foot on the bottom rope to break the count. Austin argues with the referee and the Sandman gets the brass knuckles for himself, blasting Austin the back of the head and pinning him since the referee is loopy and does not see that Austin has his foot on the bottom rope. The closing minutes were good, but this lacked the chaos one would come to expect from a three-way dance in ECW. Rating: **¼
A promo montage sees ECW Champion the Sandman repeat how politically correct he is and Dances with Dudley fail to control Big Dick Dudley’s anger. Beulah McGillicutty talks with the Heavenly Bodies. Dr. Tom Prichard does not see her box as a big deal, while Jimmy del Ray makes an advance. It is then implied that McGillicutty slept with the Bodies as she tells them Raven will approve of them being cooperation, while Prichard asks her “Who will be in your box next week?” Referee Bill Alfonso screams about how every holiday is hell for him because all the massage parlors in Mexico close down. He says his run in ECW has just started as he wants to make Gordon wear a hairpiece and McGillicutty wear a bag over her head. Buh Buh Ray Dudley crosses his eyes. And the Pitbulls say that they are too much for the Eliminators, while Francine calls Jason a bitch.
Styles says that the Sandman broke his hand in the triangle match when Steve Austin went to give him the Stun Gun on the guardrail. This creates problems because the Sandman is signed to defend the ECW title twice on the Holiday Hell ‘95 Tour. One of those defenses is against Austin and another is against Cactus Jack.
The Last Word: The Dudley Boys started as a jobber faction but the creative booking of Big Dick Dudley, who is protected by not having to do anything other than chokeslams and growl, and Buh Buh Ray Dudley is elevating them on the card. Mikey Whipwreck’s title run was short but that was to be expected since he is not someone to build a promotion around for the long-term. As one example, Smoky Mountain Wrestling tried to run for several months in 1995 with an underdog champion in Bobby Blayze and it did not work. This was a decent show as the title change gave fans a reason to tune in.
Backstage News: ECW is anticipating its Holiday Hell show in Queens, New York to be the best attended show in the history of the company. Paul Heyman is reportedly trying to find celebrities to attend. ECW fans made their presence felt at the WWF’s In Your House 5 pay-per-view in Hershey, Pennsylvania on December 17. Signs facing the hard camera had lots of ECW slogans such as “We’re Hardcore,” “Gangstas Rule,” “Mikey Rules,” and “Hello ECW Fans.” When Bret Hart did a big bladejob against the British Bulldog in the main event that also got “ECW” chants going in the building.
*Konnan will make his final ECW appearance on January 5, wrestling the Sandman for the ECW Championship. Rey Misterio, Jr. is also scheduled to be on that show in a six-man tag.
*In talent relations news, Tom Prichard is heading to the WWF to team with Chris Candido as the Bodydonnas. He wrestled in a dark match at In Your House 5. The Bruise Brothers will be coming in soon after having worked in the WWF during the year as the Blu Brothers. The Headhunters of IWA Japan will also start working dates in late January.
*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for December 26.
Up Next: ECW Hardcore TV for December 19!