Mike Reviews ECW in St. Petersburg (27th January 2000)

Happy Extreme Saturday Everyone!

Today we’ve got some ECW for you, as I found fan cam footage of this show from January 2000 and decided to give it a review.

We’ve got Mike Awesome, Masato Tanaka, Tommy Dreamer and Sabu all in action, which is a decent amount of top guys for ECW at the time.

I’m quite nostalgic for this period of ECW, even though the company was near death due to the TNN TV deal not working out and stars like The Dudley Boyz and Taz jumping over to the WWF. There should hopefully be a few enjoyable matches on this one.

You can view the full card for this ECW event by clicking below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=47749&page=3

The event is emanating from St. Petersburg (apparently the arena in Otisburg was already booked), Florida on the 27th of January 2000

All of the wrestlers step into the ring before the show starts and Tommy Dreamer grabs a mic so we can have a ten bell salute for Bobby Duncan Jr, as he had recently passed away. It’s fully observed.

Opening Match
CW Anderson w/ Lou. E Dangerously and Beautiful Billy Vs Mikey Whipreck

Mikey had recently returned to ECW following a stint in WCW, whilst CW was starting to get a bit of a push as part of Lou E. Dangerously’s new Dangerous Alliance. I think it’s Gabe Sapolsky doing the filming here, based on Lou E saying how much of a jackass Gabe is on his phone during his entrance. I mean, it could also just be Lou E trying to make us all aware of Gabe’s general jackassery of course. I’ll leave it up to you dear reader to decide which one it is.

Billy attacks Mikey during the intros, but some Heel miscommunication outside of the ring allows Mikey to give CW a Ukrainian Leg Sweep into the metal railings at ringside. Eventually the numbers game becomes too much for Mikey though, leading to CW cutting him off with a Super Kick before working some heat, targeting the arm with the usual arm based submission stuff you’d expect from an Anderson.

Mikey of course sells all of that well and eventually makes a comeback, heading up top with a nice clothesline for two in a good near fall. Mikey gets The Whippersnapper (Stunner) following that, but Billy distracts the referee and that allows Lou E to clock Mikey so that CW can follow up with the Spine Buster for two in a great near fall. CW and Billy continue to use the numbers game, but Mikey sends Billy into CW and then follows up with a Whippersnapper off the top onto CW for the three count.

WINNER: MIKEY WHIPWRECK
RATING: **1/2

Thoughts: This was a fun opener, with some good selling from Mikey and a hot closing stretch

Match Two
Simon Diamond and The Dupps (Bo and Jack) Vs Kid Kash, Chris Chetti and Nova

Diamond had come into ECW during the second half of 1999 and was doing a cocky character who tried to talk down to others due to his superior intellect. The Dupps are redneck characters who would end up being part of the early days of NWA:TNA. Kash would also end up in TNA, and would precede to burn bridges with most major companies due to his spiky attitude. Chetti had graduated from ECW’s wrestling school and was the nephew of Taz, and he was doing a kind of ladies man gimmick at the time. Nova had first entered ECW in 1996 as a lackey for Stevie Richards, but over time he became his own man and got more of a push.

Simon does some pre-match mic work, where he laments not having either his manager, Mitch, or his bodyguard, Dick, with him tonight. This leads to Simon introducing The Dupps as his backup for the evening. Simon is a good loud mouthed Heel once the match starts, talking trash whenever he gets the better of an exchange with one of the babyfaces and then bumping and stooging well when it’s time for him to be on the back foot. The babyface trio shine on Simon and The Dupps to start, with it being decent action and the Heels being there they need to be in order to take the required bumps for it. Nova and Kash seem a tad sharper than Chetti, possibly because Chetti was having back issues at the time and wasn’t moving as smoothly.

Kash and Nova actually work really well together as a team, with their timing often being spot on. Eventually Nova gets cheap shotted and worked over in the Heel half of the ring, with the Heels looking okay on offence and Nova selling everything well. I haven’t seen The Dupps actually wrestle that often, but they’re fine here, with Jack I’d say being the slightly better wrestler than Bo. Nova eventually manages to catch Simon with a desperation move and it’s hot tag Chetti. Chetti smartly stays mostly in the middle and lets and lets the Heels come to him rather than chasing them all over the place, leading to a smooth hot tag segment. Kash ends up diving out onto The Dupps, and that leads to the babyfaces piling on Simon for the three count.

WINNERS: NOVA, KASH & CHETTI
RATING: **1/2

Thoughts: Another decent match, with them working it at a quick clip and nailing the shine -> heat -> hot tag formula well

Match Three
Extreme Three Way Dance
The Japanese Buzz-Saw Yoshihiro Tajiri Vs Little Guido w/ Big Sal Vs The Insane Luchadore Super Crazy

These three wrestled each other for most of 1999 and 2000 in some form or another. Tajiri is the crazed violent mist spitting man from Japan, Guido is the Billy Robinson trained spunky spitfire and Crazy combines the Lucha style with hardcore elements to create a more hybrid style unique to himself. I was so sick of this match by the time 2001 rolled around, but it’s been a while since I watched one so hopefully it will feel a bit fresher now. Sal seems to be getting into it with the fans early on, which means some of them are more focused on that than the wrestling in the ring, but they eventually redirect their attention.

The wrestling itself is really good here, with all three of the wrestlers involved knowing the others like the back of their hands by this stage in the feud. Guido takes most of the punishment in the early going, with both Tajiri and Crazy dishing it out to him until it’s time for Tajiri to hit an impressive looking Asai Moonsault onto both of his opponents and Sal also. Guido tries forming a friendship with Tajiri following that so that they can both work over Crazy together, and that seems to work briefly until Tajiri ends up hanging Guido in the Tree of Woe and then standing on his Italian Sausage for good measure. Surprisingly it is Tajiri who is the first to go however, as Crazy attacks Tajiri whilst he’s working over Guido and that leads to Guido getting the Unprettier/Tomikaze and Crazy getting a Moonsault straight after in order to send Tajiri for an early bath.

Tajiri Eliminated by Super Crazy – Moonsault

So now it’s Guido and Crazy going at it, although the crowd is annoyed that Tajiri has been eliminated so quickly. Sal gets involved and that leads to Guido getting a very nice looking Ukrainian Leg Sweep from the second rope for the cut off, leading to Sal squishing Crazy outside the ring for good measure. Guido’s offence looks good whilst he works over Crazy and Crazy takes some nice bumps for him. Guido keeps trying to put Crazy away with high impact moves such as Powerbomb’s, but Crazy keeps kicking out and then DRILLS Guido with a Swinging DDT. Guido took an incredible bump from that. Crazy tries to put Guido away with a Moonsault following that, but Guido gets his knees up and then follows up with the Tomikaze for three.

Super Crazy Eliminated by Little Guido – Tomikaze/Unprettier/Killswitch

WINNER: LITTLE GUIDO
RATING: ***

Thoughts: An abbreviated version of their usual match, but it was fun whilst it lasted

Match Four
The Man Beast Rhino w/ Steve Corino and Jack Victory Vs The Angry Amish Warrior Roadkill w/ Danny Doring and Elektra

Rhino was just starting to get a decent sized push, and would be the TV Champ by the time the spring came around. Roadkill was often tagging with Danny Doring and his gimmick was that of a large Amish man who was obsessed with plucking chickens. Elektra wouldn’t be managing the team for much longer as she’d dump them for CW and Bill in March. Roadkill and Elektra allegedly didn’t like one another, due to Roadkill being a bit of a diva, so it was probably a good thing that they ended up parting ways. I think Doring was often stuck in the middle trying to stop them from killing one another, both onscreen and off.

I’m not sure why they didn’t just do a Rhino and Corino Vs Doring and Roadkill tag team match here seeing as they are at the venue. Maybe one or both of them was injured? Roadkill runs wild on Rhino to start, looking quite good in the process, with Rhino bumping around for his opponent in an effort to make him look good. Rhino eventually fights back outside the ring, leading to the two wrestlers brawling out there and Roadkill clobbering Rhino with a chair. Roadkill misses a springboard move back inside the ring though and Rhino takes over, delivering a GORE into the corner for two before applying a chin lock.

Corino is doing a good job outside the ring of riling up the crowd, leading to them chanting “Dusty” as Corino was feuding with The Dream at the time. Rhino thankfully delivers his excellent looking Belly to Belly Suplex during the heat, with Roadkill taking a lovely bump from it too. Rhino and John Tenta both delivered that move really well, with Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock also being good practitioners of it. Roadkill eventually fights back with a clothesline and Powerslam before heading up top for a Big Splash. This leads to Corino breaking up the count and Doring coming in to help his partner. Victory and Corino deal with Doring relatively easy, but Roadkill manages to take out Corino when Doring trips Victory. However, that gives Rhino a window to blast Roadkill with a Piledriver for three.

WINNER: RHINO
RATING: **

Thoughts: Decent under-card action there, as Rhino gave Roadkill a reasonable amount of offence and they protected Roadkill in the finish by having Corino and Victory getting involved. I think a few months later that Rhino would have bulldozed Roadkill far more convincingly, but they hadn’t quite reached that point of his push yet

Match Five
The Manager of Champions Bill Alfonso Vs Bubba The Love Sponge w/ Sabu

Alfonso was the manager of Sabu and Rob Van Dam, whilst Bubba is a local radio DJ who was known for being a close friend of Hulk Hogan’s until a sex tape of Hogan having some fun with Bubba’s wife got into the public sphere and almost ended Hogan’s career. I don’t think they talk that much anymore to be honest. Hogan was able to sue the website that published the video though and ended up making not only a lot of money for himself but also putting the website itself out of business. Bubba enters to Marilyn Manson here and has Sabu with him for some reason.

I’m thinking Bubba is supposed to be the babyface here due to having his radio show in Flordia, but the fans seem to be giving both competitors mixed reactions. Bubba overpowers Alfonso to start, which seems to establish Bubba as the babyface. I’m guessing Alfonso talked some crud on the radio in order to set this one up? Bubba delivers a passable body slam at one stage, but his clotheslines look significantly worse. Alfonso goes to the eyes to get the heat, and even brings a chair into the ring, but Bubba knocks the chair into Alfonso’s face and Alfonso ends up blading from it. Yes, Bill Alfonso decided to bleed in THIS match on a House Show in Florida against a Radio DJ.

The fans decide to chant that the match is “boring”, even with Alfonso slicing himself open for their amusement, which I bet had to make him feel just great. Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been remotely good, but they are at least trying in there, so to chant that it’s boring seems a bit unfair. Alfonso goes low on Bubba at one stage and puts a table into the ring, as Alfonso is doing absolutely everything he can in order to make this entertaining. Sadly that table has a broken leg and won’t set up properly, so Alfonso has to go outside and get ANOTHER one, as this match is getting to the point that Maffew might need to be sent footage of it. Sabu ends up coming into the ring to put Alfonso through his own table (I bet it felt like rain on his wedding day) and Bubba follows up with a Pump Splash for three.

WINNER: BUBBA THE LOVE SPONGE
RATING: ¼*

Thoughts: Alfonso was trying really hard to make this watchable, but the crowd wasn’t especially interested in for the most part

Sabu attacks Alfonso following the bout until Little Spike Dudley runs down to make the save, although he has a notable limp going on due to him carrying a leg injury at the time that he’d eventually need some time off for.

Match Six
Special St. Petersburg Street Fight
Da Baldies (Spanish Angel and Vic Grimes) Vs The Original Gangsta New Jack and Balls Mahoney

Da Baldies are a street gang that really raised New Jack’s ire by stapling him in the eye, which has led to New Jack seeking revenge ever since. Da Baldies have fantastic entrance music, and in-ring they were an okay act too owing to Tony DeVito being a slept on good worker and Angel being a reasonable brawler, with Grimes able to do wacky high spots that guys his size didn’t always do. Unfortunately they were often treated as boobs by New Jack, with most of his matches with them usually involving him killing them easily until he slipped up like Steven Gerrard giving the ball to Demba Ba and somehow got pinned. As a result, the fans only ever saw Angel as a weakling and his stablemates as a Putty Patrol, meaning that they were lower mid-card for life once the feud finally concluded later in 2000.

This is the usual New Jack match, in that guys walk around hitting each other with weapons whilst Natural Born Killaz plays in the background. Our weapons this evening include a computer keyboard and a traffic sign of some kind. It wouldn’t shock me if ECW just pilfered that from a nearby crossing in all honesty. Poor Gabe has to hop the rail and follow Angel and New Jack into the crowd at one stage, which I’m sure he was thrilled about. At one point Angel and New Jack brawl amongst the seats and you can clearly see one guy trying to get his coat off of the back of his chair before it gets covered in the bodily juices of two hefty violent fellers, but he alas can’t get there in time and New Jack ends up getting the jacket doused in some kind of liquid when he clobbers Angel with a paper cup of something-or-other. Bad luck dude, but shizzle can hizzle sometizzle.

We do eventually get to see that Grimes and Balls have been fighting in and around the ring whilst Angel and New Jack have been battling in the crowd, with Grimes bleeding as a result of something. I’m amazed that neither Angel or Balls appear to be bleeding yet, as restraint isn’t something you always expect from ECW. Grimes and Balls appear to be having a decent little match actually, busting out actually wrestling moves and stuff off the top. New Jack manages to smash the keyboard right into Angel’s nether-regions with a crutch and then comes off the top with a chair shot onto his nemesis for the rare three count, seeing as the feud mostly involved New Jack losing around this time.

WINNERS: NEW-BALLS
RATING: NEW JACK MATCH

Thoughts: This wasn’t going to win any technical wrestling awards, but if you like watching people brutalise one another with weaponry whilst an angry rap song plays in the background, then this is the match for you! Otherwise you probably won’t enjoy this one, and that’s fine. The live crowd seemed to dig it at least and popped big for the finish

Match Seven
Lance T. Storm w/ Dawn Marie and Jason Knight Vs The Innovator of Violence Tommy Dreamer w/ Francine

Storm and his partner Justin Credible had been feuding with Tommy Dreamer and his partner Raven at the time, so this is just a continuation of that. Dawn looks resplendent in a little maroon number here, although she might be showing a tad too much mid-section for some of the more prudish in the arena. I don’t think we can be far from Francine ditching Dreamer for Raven in storyline, and she’s rocking a nice outfit as well, going for 90’s Era Coventry City blue. Gabe of course makes sure to get a very good view of Francine leaving the ring, because this was the year 2000 and the Attitude Era was in full flow. Francine says to the camera that Raven couldn’t be bothered to make his flight, which is why he isn’t here tonight in a funny moment.

They actually head straight out of the ring for a brawl here, possibly because Dreamer was really hurting at the time, so walking around and brawling means he doesn’t have to take as many bumps. Normally I think Dreamer would have actually tried to do some wrestling with Storm, but needs must. It’s amazing that Dreamer can still wrestle occasionally today because he was in genuine threat of never wrestling again during this time-frame due to just how badly he was beaten up and the fact he couldn’t really take time off due to ECW having such a depleted roster after guys like Taz and The Dudleyz jumped ship. They eventually make it back to the ring, where Dreamer gets a Spicolli Driver, only for Dawn to attack him. This of course brings Francine into the ring so that we can have a our contractually mandated Cat-Fight, which the horny crowd of course loves.

2000 really was a different time guys. Anyway, after the two scantily clad women have rolled around for a bit, Dreamer introduces a ladder into things, as the parade of shortcuts continues. Dreamer ends up doing the Terry Funk spinning spot with the ladder around his neck, but Storm manages to survive that, only to then end up getting DDT’ed, which means it’s time for Knight to get involved. Knight puts a beat-down on Dreamer, with his offence showing why he became a manager and not a regular wrestler, but Heel miscommunication between Knight and Storm leads to Dreamer getting another DDT and that’s enough for three.

WINNER: TOMMY DREAMER
RATING: **

Thoughts: I was kind of in two minds about this one. It was a match full of distractions and shortcuts due to the fact that Dreamer’s body was so thrashed that he couldn’t really have a normal match. As a result; there was very little good wrestling going on and the match suffered a bit as a result. However, there’s no denying that what they did worked for the live crowd, as the fans loved pretty much all of it, with the two women rolling around getting the biggest pop of the show thus far, because 2000. As a result, the match was technically a success as it achieved what it sought out to achieve, even though it’s not one I think I’ll care to revisit anytime soon. Part of it as well may be that we just had a walk and brawl match with the previous bout, so I wasn’t really in the mood for another one straight after. That’s more down to the match placement than the wrestlers themselves though

Match Eight
The Suicidal, Homicidal, Genocidal, Death Defying Madman Sabu Vs Little Spike Dudley

Sabu had been feuding with Rob Van Dam recently, whilst Spike had been going after Mike Awesome following an assault from Awesome on Spike’s girlfriend. We of course got that angle earlier in the night with Spike saving Bill Alfonso from Sabu’s attack. The poster for this show seemingly had Rob Van Dam advertised as appearing, so I’m wondering if Spike is subbing for RVD and it would have actually been RVD who would have saved Alfonso and then wrestled Sabu here? I’m not sure if RVD had broken his leg yet, but he would at some point between the January and March pay per views and that would lead to him having to vacate the ECW World TV Title, just after they’d shot a hot angle where Sabu and Mike Awesome had beaten him up on TV.

Sabu tries to bludgeon Spike with an actual spike before the match, but Spike dodges the attack and the ref disposes of the weapon. The fans don’t seem to have got the memo about Sabu’s Heel turn, as they are very much cheering for him here. Sabu and Spike actually do some wrestling to start, and it’s quite fun in all honesty. Sabu could do that stuff if he wanted to, even in 2000 after years of injuries had blunted his wrestling skills somewhat. Sabu eventually decides to start throwing punches and we head out to the floor. That was a subtle way of Sabu saying that Spike was actually a better wrestler than him though, as he essentially conceded the wrestling battle in order to turn it into a brawl because Spike was getting the better of him.

Spike fights back and manages to come off the top with a dive to the floor at one stage. Spike Dudley would work his keester off as best he could, even when banged up like this, and that work ethic played a big role in him eventually making his way to the WWF. Normally a guy his size would have been enhancement talent and nothing else, but he got to the win the Tag Team, European and Cruiserweight belts during his time there due to his talent eclipsing his size limitations. A table ends up getting set up in the ring by Sabu and Spike tries to give him an Acid Drop through it, but Sabu blocks it and flings Spike onto the table, only for it not to break. Under the ancient Roman decree of Botchae-Manaeus, I must now post the following MEME.

Normal service will now resume. Sabu decides that Spike is going through this table one way or another, and props it in the corner before laying Spike on and leg dropping him through the table. This succeeds in getting an “EC-DUB” chant from the crowd, with Sabu adding an extra leg drop just to make sure that Spike is good and dead. Spike kicks out at 2.99999, which makes the crowd think that the ref messed up, but I think Spike just about got out of the pin in time. Either way, it was close enough that I wouldn’t quibble with the ref saying it was two. Sabu tries to win with an arm bar following that, but Spike manages to fight out of the hold and then clatters Sabu with a chair for a two count of his own when Sabu gets his foot on the ropes.

Spike comes off the top with the chair, but Sabu is again able to kick out. Another table gets brought into the ring by Sabu, only for Spike to cut him off before it can be used. In a moment that makes me wonder if the crowd even understand wrestling, Sabu gets a big Triple Jump Moonsault onto Spike’s legs, which Spike has already shown are hurting, and the crowd chants that he messed up. Err, no guys, he’s deliberately targeting an injured part of Spike’s anatomy, with Spike selling that his legs are in a lot of pain once he does it. As much stick as Sabu can get for being a bit botchy sometimes, I don’t think that one qualifies as something for the botch category. Sabu tries to do another Moonsault following that, but Spike trips him and Sabu goes face first onto the chair for two. Spike gets another near fall from a Rude Awakening, but Sabu puts him through another table and that’s three.

WINNER: SABU
RATING: **1/4

Thoughts: Going in to this one I didn’t know the winner, but from the early stages I thought that Sabu was taking it, just because there were lots of subtle things in the match where Sabu was presenting the idea that Spike was better than him, such as Spike out wrestling Sabu at the start and then kicking out of a big table bump before making a comeback and having Sabu on the ropes with some near falls of his own. It seemed like the archetypal example of shining your opponent up so that they look strong in defeat and you look good for being able to best a worthy foe. And so it proved. The match itself was reasonably entertaining, although it was pretty sloppy at points and the tables going into business for themselves didn’t help things

Main Event
ECW World Title
Champ: Mike Awesome Vs Masato Tanaka

These two had many a great match together both in Japan and America, so hopefully this will be another one. Tanaka had won the Title briefly from Awesome in December, but Awesome had managed to win it back a week later. Awesome gets a pop for being from Florida, but I think more of the crowd would like Tanaka to win. This match only lasts about 8-9 minutes, so they got at it full bore from the opening bell, with Awesome sending Tanaka to the floor and then following up with his Undertaker WrestleMania dive. Sadly Awesome barely manages to complete it and looks to land on his head. However, Awesome is made of stern stuff and they just keep wrestling, with Awesome throwing Tanaka into the front row and then following up with a dive over the metal railings.

We of course get Tanaka taking some sickening unprotected chair shots to the head at one stage, with Tanaka then no selling them and continuing to fight. How on Earth did Masato Tanaka survive the year 2000?!?! Awesome tries to Powerbomb Tanaka through a table after that, but Tanaka slips out and then DDT’s Awesome off the apron through the table for another “EC-DUB” chant. Tanaka then gets his awesome run up chair shot before heading back in for a Missile Dropkick for two. Tanaka was one of the very best on any continent during this period. Dude could brawl, wrestle and scary high spot with the best of them. Tanaka lays some chairs on the mat and gets a Tornado DDT onto them, but Awesome kicks out of that also.

Awesome unloads with some big power moves following that in the hope of getting the win, but Tanaka manages to kick out of every attempt, although some of the reactions for the near falls aren’t really what you’d like or expect them to be in a big Title match. Awesome eventually manages to give Tanaka a HUGE Powerbomb from the top rope into the middle of the ring and that’s enough for three. I should say so!!!!

WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: MIKE AWESOME
RATING: ***1/4

Thoughts: Have these two ever had a bad match? This had all the crazy violence you’d expect from these two, although the match was on the shorter side than you’d usually expect for a World Title match and I don’t think the crowd ever really bought that Tanaka might win, which hurt some of the drama of the near falls. Still though, it was Mike Awesome Vs Masato Tanaka, so it was always going to be at a certain level of good regardless of those particular issues

In Conclusion

Nothing amazing here, but I found it to be an easy enough watch, with it coming in at almost bang on 2 hours and featuring mostly solid to good matches. If you like ECW from this time frame, then there should be something here that you’ll enjoy.

Mildly recommended show