A guitar screeches and images flash on the screen – girls in bikinis, guys jumping off high places, a wild-eyed Terry Funk choking a guy out, a scarred-up guy with baggy shiny pants named Sabu diving into a crowd. This is Eastern Championship Wrestling, motherfucker. ECW in late-1993 and early 1994 is a decent indy company with a couple fun stories and some stars on the rise. By mid-1994, ECW has become a panoply of interesting things that were going on in wrestling at the time that weren’t WWF or WCW – Terry Funk, Cactus Jack, 2 Cold Scorpio, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and homegrown stars like Sabu, Tazmaniac, The Public Enemy, Tommy Dreamer and Mikey Whipwreck all make for a pretty awesome cast of characters, there’s wild brawls, hardcore wrestling, and long technical matches to give the wrestling fan looking for something different exactly that. And it all seemed weirdly poised to get even bigger. The houses seem larger, the shows are starting to move out of Philly. And a big angle and change in the summertime really gets things moving.
The WWE Network recently added some patches into their Hardcore TV 1993 and 1994 and now has the entire run up. 1994 is basically the build-up to ECW really catching fire from 1995-1996, as all the puzzle pieces start coming together. It gives interesting insight on Paul Heyman’s vision for a growing company and has a bunch of great talent doing their thing along with some really awesome angles and promos. While ECW in 1993 was more about finding diamonds in the rough, ECW 1994 is more of a complete awesome package. It’s not all good and there’s definitely some trash, but what is good is really good and the trash becomes a little more charming.
To understand some things that clicked about ECW it helps to think about 1994. President Bill Clinton was still getting accused of sexual harassment, Newt Gingrich got sworn in as Speaker of the House, OJ Simpson maybe murdered two people, John Wayne and Lorena Bobbit went to trial, and an American got hit with a cane as punishment in Singapore. Shit was getting weird. In wrestling, business was taking a hit with WWF having Bret Hart on top along with a couple Undertaker gimmick feuds with Yokozuna and himself, along with cameos from Leslie Nielsen and Chuck Norris. Sparky Plugg, Kwang and the Men on a Mission were rounding out undercards. In WCW, stale babyface Hulk Hogan showed up in June and completely enveloped the organization with gimmicks and matches against Brutus Beefcake, while Ric Flair clung to his dwindling relevance. For the burgeoning Internet Wrestling Community, companies like All Japan and FMW were gaining buzz, with All Japan’s Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi classics and FMW’s Electric Swimming Pool matches.
The presentation of ECW has always been its’ strong suit. With Heyman now fully entrenched as a booker and performer, you really see it. Jay Sulli has almost disappeared and Joey Styles is now on commentary, reporting not from ringside or the ECW Control Center but from the “Eagle’s Nest” above the ECW Arena. There’s aggressive house show promotion with multiple promos, usually involving Heyman himself screaming at the camera how important it is that you see this card in person. There are plenty of political references, with Heyman soapboxing about OJ Simpson, Bill Clinton and motherfucking society. ECW is interesting in that it kind of had its pulse on the culture, so it’s an interesting snapshot of the era – i.e.: Public Enemy saying they’re a part of the first generation that’s more afraid to live than to die. Paul E rants about the future of wrestling (Hardcore TV #65), being “mad as hell” at the NWA (Hardcore TV #70), and always seems to be all fired up about what he is doing for YOU to make ECW a better show. Actually, if you watch all the Paul E. Dangerously promos on ECW Hardcore TV 1994 back-to-back, you might just come out with a manifesto of Paul Heyman’s view on professional wrestling.
While there were definitely some long-term angles (Sandman vs. Dreamer, Douglas vs. Funk), programs tended to change quickly in ECW as guys rotated in and out, but the TV always did a good job hyping the next live show and every feud that was going on. Things ranging from the first Cactus Jack/Sabu showdown to a Bruise Brothers vs. Public Enemy feud all feel like a major deal. A lot of stories were interwoven beautifully, like a Douglas/Dreamer brawl leading to 911 and Douglas’ heavy Mr. Hughes having a staredown leading to Sabu attacking Douglas on Hardcore TV 65, or a Douglas/Hawk feud moving to a Hawk/Hughes feud, or the closing angle of Hardcore TV #83 where Sabu & Tazmaniac face The Malenko Brothers, Jason attacks Sabu’s manager Paul E. Dangerously, 911 chokeslams Jason’s boys The Pitbulls, The Public Enemy brawls with Sabu/Taz and the Malenkos, and The Public Enemy put Paul E (!) and Sabu (!!) through tables.
They moved from thing to thing logically, and they made every outsider coming in seem like a big deal. Even nobodies started to seem like stars with this setup. They find a way to make “Ironman” Tommy Cairo a totally compelling part of the show. There are a ton of music videos to hype matches and recap feuds, all now with hilariously overdubbed generic music (check out the Shane Douglas sax jam on Hardcore TV #75). Most of these are pretty funny as it’s just really poorly edited video clips, but maybe showing an extended bodyslam by The Sandman did do more to get him over than a dime a dozen WWE “And this Sunday, I’m… gonna end… YOU” type of video package. The big shows are hyped relentlessly – before they happen with extended feud recaps or Matty in the House and Joey Styles running down the card or Paul E hyping up his match… and then after they happen with clips from the show and sometimes actual matches. The go-home shows for promoted cards become so much fun that it’s kind of a buzzkill to not see the big shows in full on the Network. You get to see a lot of great angles, but you don’t always get to see the payoffs. Transitioning from 1993, everything becomes a lot more fun and important, and though Dangerously starts the year as a dickish heel and continues to be an ass, he brings such awesome to the company that the crowds are chanting “Paul E!” by March.
Tod Gordon as President is still around promoting things, and it’s really him and Matty in the House doing the show hype more than Paul E for the first half of the year (Paul E disappears for so long at one point that Joey Styles asks where he’s been when he pops up on Hardcore TV #53). Gordon seems pretty out of his depth, though it adds to the show in a weird away, as if he’s the pencil pusher who had no idea what wrestling was and now has to take control of these misfits. Paul E is an interesting contrast to it. Jay Sulli is only around for a few interviews – praise be.
The crowd and commentary both service the show well. Watching the crowds slowly get bigger and hotter from 1993 to the end of 1994 is a wonderful thing. They love the ECW regulars, react to things accordingly, pop for all the cameos, and mark out for chain wrestling. They would only get bigger, louder, and at times more annoying, but they are a fun part of these shows.
Joey Styles is firmly established as show host and lead commentator outside of a few shows from May to June where Willie “The Scoop” Watts (and sometimes Jay Sulli NOOOO) acts in his absence and is never heard from again. Styles is already pretty solid … it seems like he got what Heyman was going for immediately. He says all the lines he’s fed like “Remember there are no pretty blue mats here in ECW – this is hardcore! That’s concrete!” (Hardcore TV #53 during Funk/Sabu) with the same “we’re in this together, fellow smarks!” type of attitude that began later in 1993. His disgust with Jason, panic during crowd brawls, and fear of Mr. Hughes are all highlights. He starts reporting from the “Eagle’s Nest Above the ECW Arena” a bit towards the end of 1993 and permanently at the start of 1994, which is much better than Jay Sulli in the ECW Control Center. This isn’t WWF LiveWire, god damnit.
What struck me a lot, especially thinking about today’s WWE, was how carefully Heyman crafted language. If you think WWE buzzwords and promotion is obsessive, check out ECW. In mid-1994, Gallup ran a poll that ranked Philadelphia as the most hostile city among the 10 major cities in the nation. It got some press. So Heyman and Matty in the House spend a whole TV show describing things as “hostile,” then name an event after it: Hostile City Showdown. And they repeat the name of that. A lot. They use a lot of buzzwords, but also hype things in this way where there’s a little wink to the side saying, “YOU understand why we’re doing this.” Taglines for some of the cards are great, including “March 5 – Funk’s Revenge – It’s Just That Simple.” After the impressively shitty “ECW – it’s not for everyone!” slogan from 1993, they try and push “It’s not a secret anymore!” in early ’94 and eventually “Experience the difference.” Also – REPEATING OF DATES!!! SO MANY REPEATING OF THE DATE THAT A SHOW IS TAKING PLACE. MARCH 5TH. NOVEMBER 19TH. These days are burned into my brain and I don’t want them to be.
There are a lot of references to the WWF and WCW, including Joey Styles hyping up Mr. Hughes on commentary by associating him with Lex Luger and The Undertaker and Heyman hyping up a 911 match with “This is gonna be more torturous for the two of you than a night of WCW pay-per-views.” Chad Austin at one point takes up a gimmick where he tells the crowd they should go to a Smoky Mountain Wrestling or WCW show instead. Tod Gordon buries WWE doing entertainment at the Royal Rumble on #42 – “You want to see a guy levitating? We have fighting!” Dangerously hilariously says his boys Sabu and Tazmaniac will never work in WCW on Hardcore TV #82 – I’m sure they appreciated that. Shane Douglas really takes it to Ric Flair on promos, calling himself a real World’s Champion and straight-up saying Flair can’t satisfy Sherri Martel in bed. The crowd goes along with chants of “FLAIR IS DEAD” – this whole thing is fun, and while it’s not something that’s going to immediately draw anything outside of wrestling geeks, what is does is create good old-fashioned BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
ECW continued to play with TV convention, sometimes in modern ways and sometimes bringing out old school wrestling favorites like “We’re gonna waive our final commercial break!” on Hardcore TV #79 for Tazmaniac vs. Chris Benoit… I know it’s all a work brother but it’s wonderful as it adds some urgency while taking away nothing. They play around with Styles broadcasting and putting together a TV show while a live show is going, with a match taking place on the monitor that you never actually see (see Hardcore TV #53 and #86). Not to say Heyman invented any of this, but he used it to great effect.
The matches get longer and there’s a lot more going on – nothing seems like an undercard feud anymore and it’s all more interesting, more fun. The feuds and gimmicks get weirder – guys bleed more, the Singapore cane becomes a frequent gimmick, brawls through the crowd are more common (stuff like this was happening in wrestling, but not as a main centerpiece of the show), The Sandman gets blinded by a cigarette, Shane Douglas calls out Ric Flair, Public Enemy become straight-up street thugs, Matt Borne comes in and becomes half-clown/half-psychopath. It’s less old guys mailing in and more guys who are excited to be there. The Pit Bull (of the Pitbulls) makes his debut and he’s not the best wrestler in the world, but man is he fired the fuck up – moreso than a Tony Stetson or Larry Winters, at least, or even a Jimmy Snuka. Snuka is around to about August, and Hawk makes a couple appearances, but as fun as it was to see those two and Muraco and Koloff working in high school gymnasiums, it’s a lot more fun to see new characters and eventual smarky favorites at the ECW arena. And to Snuka’s credit he does put Dreamer and Tazmaniac over huge. There’s more Terry Funk, more Sabu, more Shane Douglas, and more prominent roles for Cactus Jack, Dean Malenko and 2 Cold Scorpio. Paul E. and Jason are your Big Bad managers, though Dangerously takes on more of a tweener role. Woman is tremendous as Sandman’s manager as well – hot as hell and knew how to cut promos, get heat, put over her dude, etc.
There are a lot more standout awesome matches, and the TV matches vary – sometimes they are fun and get their point across; other times they are either short, not notable, or sometimes terrible. Some are so short that all you get is like two poorly performed moves, and some are inexplicably long too (check out Dreamer and Badd Company vs. Sullivan, Taz and Johnny Hotbody on Hardcore TV #40… or don’t). But the atmosphere, promos, angles, even the introductions by Joey Styles make the whole presentation fun. At the very last, there’s a hook to them. There are a few questionable characters that ECW finds interesting ways to use – Hack Meyers becomes the Shah of ECW (see Hardcore TV #79), Chad Austin becomes a heel who wants to jump to another company. A lot of the weak points from 1993 either disappear or are transitioned into enhancement talent roles.
You know what else improves? The camera quality. Feels like we go from a VHS overdubbed like five times from a VHS overdubbed like two times as the year goes on.
The stuff you actually remember about ECW starts this year. Sabu continues to be incredible, and has his neck broken by Chris Benoit. Public Enemy, Kevin Sullivan and Taz bring the brawling/weapon style around. Dreamer gets hardcore. Sandman becomes crazy Sandman. Cactus Jack, Terry Funk and the crowd fill the ring with chairs. Cactus and Mikey Whipwreck start teaming up. 911 chokeslams people. Shane Douglas throws down the NWA belt. Eastern is replaced with Extreme.
To encapsulate ECW in 1994 with a few threads, I would choose these: Shane Douglas is World Champ, The Sandman turns heel, The Tazmaniac and Tommy Dreamer get pushes, Cactus Jack debuts, underdog TV Champ Mikey Whipwreck goes hardcore, 911 chokeslams fools, Scorpio/Malenko/Benoit straight-up wrestle, and everybody hates The Public Enemy. Oh and Sabu.
The year really gets started with a 90-minute episode for Hardcore TV #40 where Terry Funk and Shane Douglas have a 45-minute draw for the ECW Title with Paul E and Joey Styles talking it up like it’s some classic 70s match and really harping on Shane holding his own. Funk sells the shit out of his arm in this one and eventually blades it and I talk about it more down below. They go on to have a 60-minute draw along with Sabu at The Night The Line Was Crossed and whether it’s because of the promotion or the legitimate historical context, that show really feels like the big jumping off point. They show clips from the match and tag them with “ECW – It’s not a secret anymore!” and Funk and Douglas end the show with a heated confrontation and brawl that includes a lot of swearin’ and bleepin’. On the undercard, 911 squashes Mikey Whipwreck and Tommy Dreamer kicks out of the Superfly Splash.
The first half of the year is more about puzzle pieces falling into place. Paul E. Dangerously hypes stuff and Terry Funk cuts promos. Funk and Shane Douglas feud with the purpose of putting Douglas over. Mikey Whipwreck debuts and despite losing a lot is actually pushed. Jimmy Snuka puts over Dreamer by letting him kick out of the Superfly Splash on Hardcore TV #43, and feuds with him for a bit. Stetson and Hotbody break-up a short-lived tag team and disappear. The Sandman turns heel and feuds with Tommy Cairo in late-March. Mikey wins the TV Title on Hardcore TV #58 in late-May. Cactus is revealed as Sabu’s opponent on #59. 2 Cold Scorpio debuts (vs. Sabu) on #61. Douglas runs around in the spring with Mr. Hughes as his heavy and starts to look like the king, with a pretty sweet show-closing promo on #64 standing over Dreamer. The Funk Brothers team up a bit. Snuka “passes the torch” to Tazmaniac on #67. Jason builds his army and is a legit great addition to the midcard. By the summer of 1994, Scorpio, Malenko, Benoit, and Cactus Jack have shown up and things are starting to get pretty awesome.
Hardcore TV #49 is a nice strong sell for the Ultimate Jeopardy show and match and also has a pretty sweet Pat Tanaka vs. Shane Douglas Match (along with pretty terrible Taz vs. JT Smith and squashes for The Bruise Brothers and Rockin’ Rebel/Pitbull). Ultimate Jeopardy was a neat gimmick where it’s an 8-man tag and everyone has something on the line – Shane’s hair, Funk’s title, Hawk’s name, Public Enemy’s employment, Sullivan/Taz split-up, Jason in the cage with Sullivan/Taz/Funk/Hawk for 5 minutes. It also has a pretty awesome closing angle/brawl with all the Ultimate Jeopardy competitors – a nice snapshot of where ECW was at in early 1994.
Hardcore TV #53 is an awesome, awesome show. It starts with a Funk/Douglas feud recap that has clips of all their major interactions, and then has an inexplicably great Kevin Sullivan & Tazmaniac vs. Jimmy Snuka & RJ Powers match that I talk about more below, and ends up a pretty sweet statement on ECW’s priorities at the time – this is hardcore wrestling, not bodybuilding bullshit. It also has a great angle where Mr. Hughes is supposed to wrestle Terry Funk but Hughes gets involved with a Bruise Brothers/Public Enemy match from earlier. So the Bruise Brothers lay out Mr. Hughes when he enters and Paul E announces Sabu as Funk’s opponent. Sabu attacks, but not before Funk puts a plastic bag over Paul E’s head. Then the match is fucking awesome, and Sabu’s masked handlers keep interfering on Sabu’s behalf. One reveals themselves to be Bobby Eaton who gets a BIG OL pop, and then ARN ANDERSON runs in and plays FIRED UP BABYFACE ARN MOTHERFUCKING ANDERSON. Crowd goes APESHIT. It’s incredible. Go watch it.
Back to August, Hardcore TV #69 has one of the legendary worst TV lineups ever – The Bad Breed faces THE SPIDERS, The Sandman faces Surfer Ray Odyssey in a Worst Main ECW Wrestler vs. Worst ECW Jobber match, and a Chad Austin squash. But between some solid Paul E and Public Enemy promos, a couple Funk/Cactus and Mikey music videos, Bad Breed suplexing the shit out of the Spiders, and Chad Austin randomly becoming a high-flyer, it ends up a pretty fun show.
The run of shows from like Hardcore TV #70 on are pretty awesome as things really start to come together. Hardcore TV #70 has clips of the Terry Funk/Cactus Jack/Public Enemy chairs-flying-in-the-ring incident at Hardcore Heaven, the announcement of the NWA World Heavyweight Title Tournament, Paul E. Dangerously’s “mad as hell” promo on the NWA, Shane Douglas cutting promos on other World Champions… plus Mikey losing the TV Title to Jason and Snuka & Tazmaniac vs. The Pitbulls – buzz is peaking, baby. #71 has highlights of the Sandman/Dreamer Singapore Cane Match at Hardcore Heaven, Dean Malenko’s debut promo (IN A SALMON-COLORED T-SHIRT!), 911 vs. Mr. Hughes (in a disappointing but well-hyped match), everybody talking about the title tournament, a great Cactus Jack promo on Terry Funk’s influence on him (“Terry, people think you see yourself in Cactus Jack” “I don’t see shit in him”), and a great angle where Taz and a mystery partner are set to face the Pitbulls, but Mr. Hughes and Rockin’ Rebel block off the aisle and attack everyone who tries to enter – 911 comes down and brawls with Hughes but gets beatdown, and then Sabu joins Taz to a big pop.
And then there’s Hardcore TV #72. This is THE show to watch and a legendary episode of ECW television. Everything that is famous about ECW seems to be on this show. It has a recap of the Sandman/Dreamer feud and The Sandman/Dreamer Singapore Cane Match and caning angle (“May I have another?”), clips of the NWA World Title tournament, the NWA World Title finals with Shane Douglas vs. Scorpio which isn’t that great but leads to a major moment with Shane throwing down the NWA Title and cutting a classic promo. There’s chaos afterwards with NWA promoter Dennis Corraluzzo interviewed about Douglas, Gordon interviewed about Corraluzzo, and at the end The Public Enemy replaces ‘Eastern’ on the ECW signage with ‘Extreme.’ Oh, and it opens with 911 vs. dirty-ass DOINK!!! An amazing, monumental hour of television.
From there, #73 has Cactus Jack and Mikey Whipwreck winning the ECW Tag Titles, Chris Benoit’s TV debut vs. Chad Austin, and Jason continuing to be a fuck. Plus now Matt Borne is with Shane Douglas and called Borne Again. #74 has Cactus and Mikey’s first defense and brawl with The Public Enemy, a 2 Cold Scorpio squash, Jason vs. Rockin’ Rebel in one of Rebel’s last ECW matches, Douglas vs. OSAMU FUCKING NISHIMURA, a Tazmaniac squash, and 911 chokeslamming everybody. #75 has Tazmaniac starting a feud with Jason, The Pitbulls and Dean Malenko, Cactus Jack dragging Mikey into a brawl with The Public Enemy (so great), and Nishimura vs. BENOIT (not so great). #76 has the aforementioned Sandman/Dreamer hospital deal which was amazing shit for October 1994, along with a Dean Malenko 2-on-1 squash. #77 has Scorpio/Borne Again, The Public Enemy being scary, and Dreamer being sad. #78 has Cactus Jack’s debut vs. Sabu which is so fucking great along with more Sandman/Dreamer stuff.
#80 has a pretty trash Public Enemy/Bad Breed “Brawl Game” match which is a crappy brawl that doesn’t even end when Rocco Rock loses, as we get more match plus baseball bats. But the Brawl Game match from November to Remember II on #82 between Public Enemy and Cactus/Mikey is good stuff… Mikey’s selling is so great (more on the Mikey/Cactus dynamic below), and since Rocco Rock uses a table, Sabu gets pissed and puts Rocco through a table. The November to Remember build and card so hype – Night 1 has the Sabu/Cactus rematch with Falls Count Anywhere, Shane/Simmons, Scorpio/Hughes, and Borne/Benoit, and Public Enemy/Pitbulls. Night 2 has Shane/Simmons for the ECW World Title, Cactus/Mikey vs. Public Enemy Brawl Game match, Sabu/Benoit in an ECW Death Match, Tazmaniac/Malenko, Scorpio/Borne, Dreamer/Cairo, Woman’s announcement who she’s managing AND Sandman’s farewell to fans. WHOA!!!!!!!
The show open of Hardcore TV #83 with the fans chanting “ECW” over a black screen with “Experience the Difference” in white lettering is so great… and then it transitions into a Hack Meyers/Chad Austin vs. Stevie Richards/JT Smith match LOL. But then Scorpio wins the TV Title from Jason, Douglas defends the ECW Title, and Sabu and Taz beat The Malenkos leading to an awesome angle where Paul E and Sabu get put through tables by The Public Enemy and you’re fucking SOLD.
As the year ends, Sandman/Dreamer are still feuding but Cactus is about to get involved, Mikey & Cactus continue to team, Shane’s still champ and fedends against a rotating cast of characters like Ron Simmons, Paul E hates Public Enemy (who are being pushed even harder), Sabu and Taz have formed a power couple, Benoit and Malenko are being pushed as a team, Scorpio and Malenko bring credibility to the TV Title (their match on Hardcore TV #84 is so good), and Malenko is TV Champ. They’re not only promoting shows at the ECW Arena but house shows in Florida.
There’s a tribute to Art Barr at the end of Hardcore TV #88 (the final show of the year), where he says he and Eddie Guerrero would’ve liked to wrestle The Public Enemy. IT HURTS SO BAD.
The ECW roster really upped their game in 1994 – presentation was everything, but the ECW originals (Sabu, Taz, Sandman, Dreamer, Douglas, Public Enemy) stepped up and the new recruits were ready from day 1 (Cactus, Scorpio, Malenko, Benoit). There was certainly some crap – the enhancement talent tended to be bottom of barrel, and I’m not going to say Sandman and Dreamer were great in the ring but Dreamer’s booking and Sandman’s promos were pretty awesome. When viewed with the benefit of hindsight, some of this is not high quality stuff, but it does give you a peak at what got The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer over as stars within the confinements of ECW. Guys played their roles well which made the shows a lot more pleasant to digest, and the good stuff was really really good. Plus it’s just interesting to see all the pieces coming together – whatever you think of ECW, it made a mark on THIS. BIZ-NESS.
Sabu is the true revelation of watching early ECW. Guy is one of the the best wrestling characters ever and at this point for me a top 10 guy when thinking “Who could I watch if I could only watch 10 wrestlers?” There’s such a sense of danger and chaos any time he’s around… he’s still carried to the ring strapped to a gurney, brawls all over when he’s unleashed, does dives that nail their mark maybe half the time, and sometimes he just puts himself through an empty table because fuck it. He transcended “wrestling is fake” – even if he fucks up a spot it adds to the spectacle of the whole thing. He had a couple stinkers with Pat Tanaka (Hardcore TV #45) and Mike Awesome (#50), but otherwise his presence is mostly felt through Paul E promos hyping him up like the attraction he is. He has a bunch of fun chaotic brawls with Terry Funk (Hardcore TV #53), Cactus Jack (#78), another one with Tazmaniac (#48), and a couple wacky tags with him and 911 vs. Bad Breed (#46) and him and Taz vs. The Malenko Brothers (#83). The match with Bad Breed is like 5 minutes and has Sabu breaking free from his gurney, doing a springboard moonsault into the crowd, taking a back body drop on the floor, and then Ian does a somersault dive off the damn apron. The infamous neck/spinal cord injury against Benoit is on Hardcore TV #82… and then he wrestles the Malenko Brothers like a couple weeks later wearing a damn neckbrace. Was that a work? Was it not? I DON’T KNOW!!!
Later in the year Sabu comes to Tazmaniac’s rescue in a match vs. The Pitbulls (Hardcore TV #71) and they form a team that feuds with The Public Enemy (originally started because Sabu was pissed they stole his gimmick of using tables – YUP) and it’s just a great way of making everyone feel like a big star. Sabu is also the guy used to put debuting guys over – he has a high-flying match with debuting high-flyer Scorpio (#61), a brawl with debuting brawler Cactus Jack, and his neck broke vs. Chris Benoit. He isn’t on a ton of shows, but when he shows up it’s almost always great. I probably wouldn’t want to have a night on the town with Mr. Sabu, but pro wrestling is a lot better with nutjobs like him around.
Taz, then known as Tazmaniac, gets a big push in 1994 and becomes a real player. He continues his team with Kevin Sullivan early in the year, holds the TV Title for a week of TV (a day in reality), squashes a couple fellas (including a poor sap that gets a table just dropped on his face that’s replayed in the show intro), feuds with Jason, The Pitbulls and Dean Malenko, gets put over by Jimmy Snuka, and eventually becomes a big enough deal that it seems kinda huge when he joins up with Sabu. The Tazmaniac/Sullivan deal (managed by Woman until she moves on to Sandman) is alright… some of the brawls can be garbage, but they have a pretty fun squash on Hardcore TV #42 that sees Mikey Whipwreck taking a great ass-kicking. The match with Snuka and RJ Power on Hardcore TV #53 (see below) is a weird highlight too. While Dreamer got to kick out of the Superfly Splash, Taz goes over Snuka CLEAN on Hardcore TV #65, and on #67 Snuka turns on Hunter Q. Robbins III (who’s still around in a very limited role) and has a pretty funny staredown with Tazmaniac leading to them raising hands in what Styles calls Snuka’s “passing of the torch.” Savage weirdo’s, baby! They team up once against The Pitbulls on Hardcore TV #70 in a pretty crap match, though the T-bone suplex and Superfly splash combo is pretty neat. Snuka disappears after that and Taz continues feuding with Jason, The Pitbulls, and eventually Dean Malenko who he has a couple fun brawls with on Hardcore TV #75 and #76. Styles starts calling him “Taz” towards the end of the year, though he’s still listed as Tazmaniac.
There are, as always, a ton of great Paul E. Dangerously promos here, initially in front of the “NO Press Allowed! Go Away” backdrop and then the new ECW backdrop. As discussed above, he basically turns babyface by making awesome. He’s at his best hyping up Sabu’s collisions with Scorpio and Cactus Jack. There’s an amazing one on Hardcore TV #62 where he hypes Sabu/Cactus while Sabu is held back by 911, looking ready to be unleashed. Witness him waxing poetic under dark lighting on #79. He starts to grow a beard later in the year and continues to look completely psychotic – “psycho yuppie” is the term, I think. Outside of Sabu’s pitch man, he’s 911’s manager which he’s pretty great at – hyping him to the crowd, reacting to all the chokeslams, getting down over 911’s victims and using his phone. There’s a hilarious promo with him dressed in “hood” gear trying to recruit The Public Enemy to hurt Terry Funk on #56. The “who is this man” promo on Funk on #57 is epic. The “future of wrestling” and “mad as hell” promos mentioned above. Witness him talk for like 10 minutes straight to hype up November to Remember II on #79. Or rant about The Public Enemy and SOCIETY as they start to feud with Sabu on #86. The way he puts over Public Enemy (Sting and the Road Warriors couldn’t take me out, but you did), Chris Benoit (how dare you hurt Sabu!), and Dean Malenko (how dare you challenge Taz!) on #88 is sooo hype. Some of the phrases he chooses to use are pretty terrible – Sabu is “meaner than a biker bitch on PMS” on #50 and he straight-up calls Angel a porn star wannabe bitch on #67. But, yanno. Wrestling.
Terry Funk doesn’t wrestle a whole lot and disappears by September, but as always the work is strong. The Funkster continues to be living breathing art, transitioning from a fired up middle-aged guy ready to fight and build-up this company “for the hardcore fan” to an old man reflecting on his life and legacy that’s still ready to defend himself before he hangs it up for good. He feuds with Shane Douglas early in the year (see Hardcore TV #53 for the digest), continues to spar with Sabu and Paul E, does a bit with The Public Enemy, and puts over Cactus Jack as a successor on the way out. There are a lot of tremendous promos here with him bandaged up and caked in blood… Hardcore TV #43, #57. He slaps Paul E for mentioning his daughters on #56. The 45-minute draw with Douglas on #40 is excellent as is the confrontation and pull-apart brawl after the 60-minute draw with Douglas and Sabu at The Night The Line Was Crossed. The infamous chair incident with the crowd throws a bunch of chairs in the ring at him and Cactus is here on #70. Funk is a guy where almost anything he does is a highlight, even random squashes vs. Hack Meyers (#59) or Keith Sheara (#66). The show-closing brawl on #65 between most of the roster has Funk punching at nobody for a hot second which is amazing. He has a match with Pat Tanaka on #41 which is pretty good with Tanaka being athletic and doing some good comebacks. Terry’s brother Dory Jr. comes around for a bit in the summer too and it’s fun seeing him do his thing at the ECW Arena. They squash Hack and Stevie Richards on #63 and it is such a solid dang squash.
Cactus Jack gives a shot in the ass to the company, with amazing psychotic promos and being one of the only guys that could go toe-to-toe with other top star Sabu as far as pure spectacle goes. For his debut (Hardcore TV #59), they hype all night the mystery of who will be Sabu’s next opponent, and at the end of the show Heyman asks the fans to boycott the ECW Arena because the match he has booked is just too dangerous – they cut to a door and Cactus Jack, wearing a WCW shirt, walks out. It’s tremendous. Cactus’ run here is great – epic promos, great brawl with Sabu, brief feud/team with Terry Funk (just videos on TV – matches happened at the big shows), and eventual tag team with Mikey Whipwreck that’s so awesome.
The Cactus Jack/Mikey Whipwreck team starts on #73 where they win the Tag Titles and the use of Mikey is so great – going hardcore to win the Tag Titles, scared to death that he’s teaming with Cactus, getting dragged into a brawl with The Public Enemy on #75. Mikey is all over these shows and great. The undersized nervous guy who ends up in this extreme promotion is one of my all-time favorite gimmicks. He wins the TV Title in May from The Pit Bull on Hardcore TV #57 with Tazmaniac’s help (Pit Bull’s shoulder is clearly up but what can ya do?) and week after week he’s put in matches with guys like Mr. Hughes and Kevin Sullivan, so he tries to drop the title and keeps the belt despite his best efforts. Whipwreck played it all up perfectly, and his selling, stares into the camera (see the promo on #73), reluctant walks to the ring, and willingness to take punishment in all his matches is awesome. The promo on #58 after he wins the title where he’s told Sullivan is his first opponent is so great, with a great ‘oh jeeeeeez’ reaction. Whipwreck’s debut vs. Mr. Hughes on #41 is an awesome little match too, though their rematch for the strap on #60 is only like 30 seconds.
Shane Douglas is all over these shows and as a top heel and guy designed to usher in a new era of ECW, he works really well. Guy finds his voice right away in 1994 and just lets loose on his promos, man. The feud with Funk early in the year is good stuff, with the 45-minute draw and intense pull-apart brawl. Sherri Martel, Mr. Hughes and Matt Borne (as Borne Again) act as his valet/heavy at different points. The NWA/ECW Title promo on Hardcore TV #72 is of course legendary. Check out his fun match with Pat Tanaka on #49, the aforementioned promo standing over Dreamer on #54, and a digest of his promos on #84. He cuts a promo in a god damn SHOWER on Ron Simmons and Ric Flair on #86 that’s pretty great. He really lays it in to Flair, leading to “FLAIR IS DEAD” chants sometimes from the crowd, which is a pretty awesome little snapshot of pro wrestling smarkdom in 1994. He has a couple one-shots with Road Warrior Hawk and Ron Simmons, some random title defenses against guys like Chad Austin, Jim Powers and Osamu Nishimura. Dug his fake congratulations shtick after some of his matches – “how blessed you are to have been beaten by me.” Here’s the thing though – in-ring, outside of the Funk match, he really is a third rate top heel, aping shtick that’s been done a million times better, with really really bad punches. The match with Scorpio in the NWA Title Tournament finals, while super interesting, is a really weak attempt at a “we’re gonna be serious wrestlers and work the mat” match and barely notable. The gimmick is great, but the matches do not hold up at all.
The Rise of the Sandman is really one of the more long-running things in ECW 1994. At the start of the year he’s feuding with Jason and Mr. Hughes, and there’s a silly angle on Hardcore TV #39 where he jumps on Jason’s car that’s speeding off and wildly punches at it as Peaches hilariously screams at the camera for help. His heel turn (and feud with Tommy Cairo) starts on Hardcore TV #44 where Rockin’ Rebel throws something in his eyes and he mistakenly hits Peaches and Sandman’s pal Cairo carries Peaches to the back. Sandman takes this as confirmation that they are fucking, so goes radical. By Hardcore TV #45 he’s cutting promos on Peaches – “Life’s a bitch, and then you marry one.” He beats up Chad Austin on #47, rips up Sal Bellomo’s toys on #51, takes on Woman as his new manager, and of course starts the Singapore canin’. He shows a new attitude, chain smokes on-camera, talks about women being bitches. Some of this can be fun; some of this can be lame as hell – especially the matches with Cairo, like the Falls Count Anywhere Match on #61. Some of the promos are pretty awesome though – guy canes himself and bleeds on #65.
Around Hardcore TV #66 in July, Sandman transitions into a feud with Tommy Dreamer. Though some of its’ cheesy it’s really a well-done story that got both guys’ characters over. TV #48 actually has a tease of it where Dreamer and Cairo take on Snuka and Sandman, with Dreamer feuding with Snuka and Cairo feuding with Sandman. Sandman/Dreamer is actually the highlight and seems weirdly compelling, with Sandman spitting in Tommy’s face and Tommy getting payback (they also hilariously cut to Tod Gordon in aviators outside a music store when Dreamer’s about to hit the Superfly Splash.) #48 also has a solid 6-man and Sabu vs. Tazmaniac – WATCH IT! Anyway, Sandman brutally attacks Mikey Whipwreck with a cane on #66 after a TV Title match and a bunch of guys try to make the save but get overwhelmed. So Dreamer runs in and kisses Woman like the pervert he is. So Dreamer canes the fuck out of him and they cut promos on each other leading to a Singapore Cane Match at Hardcore Heaven in August. Then they do the incredible Sandman caning of Tommy Dreamer angle (“Thank you sir, may I have another?”) on #72 and extend the feud with a sweet show-long angle on #76. Joey Style opens the show reporting from outside a hospital and says a wrestler finally took it too extreme. The main event of the show is Dreamer/Sandman in an I Quit Match but they don’t really reveal it’s either of them until the end of the show after the match, which ends when Dreamer mistakenly flicks a cigarette in Sandman’s eye. Dreamer becomes depressed and dedicates his matches to Sandman, and then on #81 (in November) it all clicks. Dreamer has a match with Tommy Cairo that shows him being a hardcore freak – he breaks a frying pan over Cairo’s head, then grabs an OAR from somebody in the crowd. “Somebody brought an oar to the ECW Arena!?” Dreamer uses a cane in tribute to Sandman and busts Cairo open … on a sidenote, the use Cairo for all of 1994 was very impressive. Then Sandman has his “Farewell Ceremony” due to being blinded, and wears aviators with bandages all over his eyes. Peaches forgives him, Woman threatens to cane Sandman, Dreamer defends Sandman… and Sandman reveals he can see and canes Dreamer. Sandman and Woman then brag about using Dreamer to take care of Cairo as Sandman smokes three cigarettes at once. Sandman feuds, man – the matches weren’t any good, but the promos and angles were hot, and super fun in a rednecky kinda way.
Tommy Dreamer is around a lot too – feuding with Sandman, getting caned, teaming with the Funk brothers, going extreme… and kind of getting over. There are a couple Dreamer/Douglas matches and those two just didn’t have any chemistry – not at Holiday Hell, not on Hardcore TV #42, not on #66. Dreamer tries to do his best Terry Funk by challenging for the World Title after getting hurt and it’s garbage. He kicks out of the Superfly Splash on #43, which is put over huge. There’s a super hilarious and awkward face-off between him and Snuka before their match too. He starts the all-black look and does more brawling as the year goes on, though he’s still wearing the god damn suspenders. The Tommy Cairo match on #81 is alright and has Dreamer starting to go hardcore with Cairo bleeding, and Dreamer’s promo with his bruised back to the camera after getting turned on by Sandman at November to Remember (also on #81) is solid.
The Public Enemy is still kinda annoying but man are they all over these shows. The highs are pretty good and the lows are dirt awful. The match with The Bruise Brothers on Hardcore TV #50, while not great, provides an early glimpse at the crazy tag style ECW would become known for, with brawling all over the arena, Styles flipping the fuck out (and getting beat up), and chatter from production guys trying to keep up with them. They feud at different points with Badd Company, The Bruise Brothers, the Funk Brothers, Funk/Cactus, and Paul E/Sabu/Taz, though most of the actual matches happen on the big shows. The lows have got to be a pretty terrible “Human Cage Match” with the Bruise Brothers on #56, their visit of Terry Funk’s Double Cross ranch on #60, and any of their squashes in the fall which are all sooooo bad. The sheer amount of annoying promos – “JOHNNYYY!!” – can be grating too.
But the highs are there too… sometimes simply thanks to the presentation – the one-show initiation of Hack Meyers as the “Hopeless Hoody” for a tag vs. Dreamer and the Funk Brothers on #65 is pretty funny, the show-closing angle on #84 is awesome, and they do happen to be the guys who spraypaint “Extreme” over “Eastern” on #72 (complete with a SLOOOWWW paintjob). The work with Cactus and Mikey is strong, there’s a freakin’ promo where they sing on #69, and Rocco Rock cuts a great serious promo on Terry Funk on #70.
911 is on a lot of these shows giving big ass chokeslams to a lot of people, and he was a big ass stiff presented perfectly. This is like the #1 example that should be used when talking about Paul Heyman’s ability to accentuate strengths and hide weaknesses. Initially being Sabu’s handler, he begins competing at the start of the year in squash matches (and I mean SQUASH matches – bell, chokeslam, finish). He never leaves his feet, guys bump like crazy for him (the value of a jobber in ECW is congruent with how big they bumped for a 911 chokeslam), and Heyman gets down on his ass and dials 911 next to his victims. There’s an AMAZING camera shot of him lifting up a cameraman at the end of Hardcore TV #69. They build to a Mr. Hughes match which is great – there’s an INCREDIBLE 911/Hughes staredown on #64 – but the match is short and terrible. Cause here’s the kicker – 911 really sucks, just so bad and uncoordinated and can’t even really play the simple big guy role well. But he chokeslams Santa Claus, referees, a guitar player, and Duane Gill, and sometimes it feels like he’s more over than Hulk Hogan. He couldn’t work but man did it work anyways.
Mr. Hughes is a motherfucking treasure. He starts off as Jason’s heavy early in the year and soon becomes Douglas’. The Whipwreck debut on #41 is fun, match with Scorpio on #81 is solid, and the PROMOS, man. So many good promos, just screaming at the camera and looking like the scariest dude on the planet. #68 has a nice digest of some of them, but go look at the matchlists and watch every single one. The squashes are all short but effective and he throws a mean-ass dropkick. Plus a big scary guy working in business professional attire is wonderful. And he wore sunglasses while wrestling. Sunglasses.
Jason is still around with his crew and even has a run with the TV Title. He really figures out playing to the hard camera in 1994 and magic happens. I could see a real serious rasslin fan finding his shtick to be garbage, but it’s a really awesome midcard act. He’s really obnoxious, gets guys working with him (Malenko, Pitbulls) and against him (Sandman, Mikey, Taz) over, and his interactions with Joey Styles are pretty great. Plus he has a pretty amazing serious promo on Hardcore TV #46 where he goes off on Road Warrior Hawk for hurting him on a Doomsday Device when he was a WCW jobber. Jason feeding for Mikey on #70 is SOOOO over too. The TV Title run with all his goons helping him win is pretty wonderful, highlighted by him pinning Keith Sheara as a warm-up for the title match with Mikey, where all his guys beat up Keith before the match then count the 3 with the ref and put Jason on his shoulders like he just beat Harley Race. He takes on Dean Malenko as his bodyguard later in the year too which is just great.
Dean Malenko has his start with ECW in August as a part of the NWA World Title tournament. He first acts as Jason’s bodyguard, hurting anybody that messes with him – even a job guy like Dino Sendoff on Hardcore TV #75. Has a neat 2-on-1 squash against Sendoff and Don E. Allen on #76, and just generally gets put over as a killer. Malenko just seems head and shoulders above most guys in ECW at the time – a slick, dangerous professional athlete. The match with him and brother Joe vs. Sabu & Tazmaniac on #83 is a super fun 5-minutes and the match with Scorpio where he wins the TV Title on #84 is great and one of the first real technical workrate type of matches ECW did. He starts a team with Benoit as we head into ’95 too.
The Pit Bull and eventually The Pitbulls (Pitbull #2 starts on Hardcore TV #64) hang around Jason too, and they’re pushed and presented pretty well even if they kinda seem like goofs. The matches aren’t much but they’re impactful and charismatic and that’s half the battle. The Training of the Pitbulls on #88 is SO insane and worth checking out.
2 Cold Scorpio shows up in June once he’s released by WCW and adds some talent to the show. Guy is just so smooth and solid, and one of the best high-flyers ever. He has good matches with Sabu (Hardcore TV #61) and Malenko (#84) and gives a bit more than usual to some of ECW’s job guys like Stormin Mike Norman (#74) and Hack Meyers (#79). The feud with Jason (and match on #83) and Malenko is brief but produces some quality stuff. He feuds with Borne Again and teams with Ron Simmons briefly too. Scorpio and Hughes get a lot out of a little on Hardcore TV #81 as well… it’s nothing fancy but it works, and Scorp kicking out of the sidewalk slam feels like a big deal. Of course Hughes kicks out of the finish before 3 but I’m not gonna critique Curtis fucking Hughes.
That prick Chris Benoit is here a bit and has a couple decent squashes with Ray Odyssey (#78), Chad Austin (#73), Hack Meyers (#88) and Nishimura (#75, sounds cool on paper – isn’t). He vs. The Tazmaniac on Hardcore TV #79 is listed as “The Tazmaniac in singles action” and sure is Suplex City, though it’s also kind of heatless and goes to a 10-minute draw. And of course there’s the start of The Crippler moniker when he throws Sabu really high up and Sabu lands on his head. Overall the run is kinda underwhelming – he has reliably solid matches but isn’t in a position to do anything impressive and nothing is really worth seeking out, outside of him just going HARD on Odyssey which is so great.
“I could clown around, and I could still kick your ass.” Matt Borne, coming off the Doink run and wearing clown facepaint with his stringy blonde hair replacing the wig, is around in September/October as Shane’s heater and cuts some awesome promos. He’s fucking incredible here as a character – guy was legitimately creepy. Does a gimmick where he puts a clown mask over Scorpio’s head on Hardcore TV #77. It’s a short run and there’s legit like one match on TV (vs. Scorpio in an underwhelming match) but it’s great while it lasts.
Johnny Hotbody and “Hitman” Tony Stetson feud in like February and it’s really not that bad but they disappear shortly after as fresher acts come in.
As I did in the 1993 ECW reflections, I should probably mention JT Smith, though I’m again not quite sure what to say about him. Funny bit on Hardcore TV #49 where he has a music video and it’s all him taking moves or falling off high places – also has what I believe is the only footage of the Mike Awesome tope bump on TV. he wins the TV Title in a real bad match on Hardcore TV #49 and isn’t around much… when he is the matches are just no good, no good at all.
Bad Breed has some sporadic appearances – love them passing Ian and Axel off as punks from England. They suplex and clothesline the shit out of Don E. Allen and Joel Hartgood on Hardcore TV #67 and THE SPIDERS #69, have the fun short match with Sabu and 911, a pretty crap Brawl Game match with the Public Enemy, and feud with The Pitbulls going into 1995 which leads to their break-up and a couple crazy-ass death matches.
Badd Company is around ever-so-briefly and Pat Tanaka has a couple decent singles matches with Shane Douglas and Terry Funk.
The Harris Brothers as The Bruise Brothers ain’t very good but “The Bruise Brothers are not waiting for our television cue!” was a great gimmick and the Hughes beatdown on #55 was a solid angle. They have a couple wacky brawls, but anyone can do that shit.
There are all kinds of random 1-2 show appearances by Road Warrior Hawk, Osamu Nishimura (spelled Nishimoura), Bill DeMott (as Crash), Ron Simmons (with some fired up promos highlighted by one on #83), Mike Awesome (before his actual ECW run), Arn Anderson (AMAZING run-in on #52), Bobby Eaton, and Brian Pillman (a replacement for Stunning Steve Austin – witness him get SO MUCH much out of taking a spinebuster from Ron Simmons on #85) and others. The three latter guys were part of a brief working agreement ECW had with WCW to promote a WCW PPV in Philly. A young Chris Kanyon appears twice as a jobber (#74 and #75). Plus there’s a couple Terry Funk and Arn Anderson promos on #54 and #55 which are just too cool.
Chad Austin gets a little push with wins over Hack Meyers and Johnny Hotbody and a hilarious music video (check the hysterical Sabu vs. CHAD AUSTIN hype video on Hardcore TV #64). He acts as an enhancement talent, briefly aligns with Jason, has the gimmick of promoting SMW or WCW shows for heel heat, and does some really random but awesome high-flying and bumping (check out his sweet dropkick through the corner ropes bump and 450 on #69, or his somersault plancha on #42).
Kyle and Keith – the Sheara brothers – were awesome jobbers. Yeah I said it.
Oh – THE HARDCORE PHONELINE!!! Ran by GABE SAPOLSKY, it’s $1.99 for the 1st minute, and 99 cents for each additional minute. Witness obvious ECW employees calling in to comment on Sandman/Dreamer on Hardcore TV #79.
Stevie Richards makes his first appearances, first as job guy Steve Richards (Hardcore TV #63, #68 and #83). He and Mikey actually tear it up on #68. Later in the year, he gets a new gimmick by becoming Stevie Flamingo (#87) and Stevie the Body (#88) in tribute to his “hero” Scotty Flamingo/Scotty the Body, who Joey Styles hypes up on the last couple episodes as coming in soon. This of course is the start of Raven.
Also, The Virgin Princess Angel is the name of a valet. So.
You can find detailed matchlists and recommendations on the ECW page. Below are some quick reviews of a few highlighted matches.
Mikey Whipwreck (debut) vs. Mr. Hughes w/ Jason (Hardcore TV 1/25/94) – One of those weird dynamics that only professional wrestling can bless us with – Mr. Hughes, 300 pounds wearing a cut-off white dress shirt, black tie and sunglasses, against the 180-pound outmatched and nervous underdog wrestling in a tie-dye t-shirt, Mikey Whipwreck. This is a fun 5-minute big guy/small guy match and Mikey takes some nasty bumps. The perfect way to set the tone for Mikey’s run that year.
ECW Heavyweight Title: Terry Funk [c] vs. Shane Douglas w/ Sherri Martel (1/18/14) – This is a 45-minute draw that has most of it shown on TV. It’s pretty damn good and just a little bit boring, and for going 45 that’s really an impressive feat. Funk and Shane work HOLDS, man. Then Douglas takes over by hurting Funk’s arm and watching Terry Funk sell an arm for 30 minutes is as fine an example as any of understanding the awesomeness of Terry Funk – it’s not just “I’m gonna stretch it out” type of stuff – he pulls his hair, convulses, looks exhausted. He eventually BLADES HIS ARM. At the finish Funk just swats away from ringside at Douglas’ thighs on the apron with no regard for his arm’s health and after that can only slap and backhand Douglas around with his good arm. Bunch of hijinks for the finish, some brawling around the crowd… this is the good stuff.
Shane Douglas & The Public Enemy vs. Terry Funk, Kevin Sullivan & Crash (Bill DeMott) (3/15/94) – Witness Terry Funk work face-in-peril. Plus fat boy armdrags, fat boy moonsaults, and FUNK HULKING UP. What a weird match on paper too.
ECW TV Title: Sabu [c] w/ Paul E. Dangerously vs. The Tazmaniac w/ Woman (3/15/94) – WOOOO! AGAIN! Sabu moonsaults into the crowd! Taz belly-to-bellys Sabu on the concrete! Sabu gets suplexed on his head! Two times! Three times! Paul E screams at Taz as he’s in the camel clutch! They randomly work the mat after using a chair! Sabu plancha’s through a table! Woman attacks Dangerously!! Sullivan attacks Dangerously!!! Huge reverse suplex off the top for a new champ!!!!! And Joey Styles is going crazy the whole time, barking about how you can’t see this anywhere else. E. C. W.
Shane Douglas w/ Sherri Martel vs. Pat Tanaka (3/22/94) – I might just have this here cause I love a good “heel smiles and turns around into a kick” spot. This isn’t an amazing match or anything but there are a lot of highlights here – Shane slaps Tanaka around, they run the ropes, Tanaka martial arts the fuck out of Shane, Sherri yells “he pulled his hair dumbass!” at the ref. Tanaka is pretty awesome with the bumping and the selling too. Shane and Sherri cheat their asses off and at the end Pat Tanaka kicks Sherri in the pussy, because of course. A high-end Heel Shane Douglas match.
Kevin Sullivan & The Tazmaniac vs. Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka & RJ Powers w/ Hunter Q. Robbins III (4/19/94) – RJ POWERS!! So here’s the story. Hunter Q. Robbins is struggling. After being the top heel manager in ECW in 1993, he has been overtaken by Paul E and Jason. The Suicide Blondes are gone, Sabu is with Paul E, The Lumberjack did not pan out. All he has left, somehow, is Jimmy Snuka. And so he brings in RJ Powers, a nondescript muscular black guy. So RJ starts the match, gets the better of Taz, and flexes. And then Taz and Sullivan proceed to just destroy RJ with chairs and a hammer, and put him through a table. RJ later tags back in and isn’t cocky anymore. Sullivan proceeds to powerbomb him on his head. He somehow gets a 2-count on a crossbody, so he goes: how about I try that again? And he misses, gets a Tazplex, and it’s over. Snuka also randomly decided to bump like crazy here including a HUUUGE one over the top rope. A hilarious match that felt like the chaotic response to WWE body guys. “These fans are cheering Sullivan on for using a hammer or a spike or whatever – he’s got a hardware store down there in his trunks.” Does any quote better describe ECW?
Terry Funk vs. Sabu w/ Paul E. Dangerously (4/19/94) – Sabu chaos plus a guy like Funk is a recipe for a masterpiece. A great angle starts this off with Mr. Hughes not able to compete against Funk, so Paul E brings out Sabu as his replacement – but not until Funk puts a damn plastic bag over Paul’s head. Sabu flies around and uses chairs while Funk just wobbles around, at one point stumbling into a headbutt. There are two incredible neckbreakers by Funk here – I know it’s just a neckbreaker, but seriously – seek out these neckbreakers. Story is Funk is somehow overwhelmed by Sabu so he goes crazy. He aggressively pushes a photographer out of the way, bleeds from his eye, does a Vader Bomb to the outside, grabs the ring announcer and drags him inside to use as a shield, and PILEDRIVES HIM OFF THE TOP ROPE ONTO A STEEL CHAIR. I mean sure – that ain’t gonna happen today, gotta protect the boys and whatnot, but as a spot in a gritty-ass ECW Arena main event in 1994 it’s incredible. Sabu follows all this up with a legdrop through a table on the outside, and Funk tries to bring the broken table into the ring, eventually needing a ring attendant’s help. Neat spot here in between all the chaos as Sabu gets up…….. then falls down. Then Paul E punches out the ring attendant who helped Funk and has Sabu’s masked handlers put him through a table. Funk fuckin’ DDT’s Sabu through a table and beats both Sabu and himself up with the broken pieces. And then he tries to end it all with a SPINNING TOE HOLD. And after all this madness… one of Sabu’s masked handlers attacks Funk leading to the finish, and reveals himself to be Bobby Eaton! And then Arn Anderson makes the save to a HUUUUUGE pop and does his version of Randy Orton’s “overly fired up babyface” routine. Guy practically does a fucking cartwheel. This is another big Sabu match where so much crazy shit happens that it just becomes overwhelmingly awesome.
2 Cold Scorpio vs. Sabu w/ Paul E. Dangerously and 911 (Hardcore TV 6/14/94) – They do some SUPER impressive high-flying here, though the brawling and mat stuff in between isn’t much. Highlights are Sabu trying his best to mat wrestle, missing a sunset flip on the floor, and a springboard moonsault through a table in the CROWD. It’s a solid match between two of the more interesting talents of the 90s, so worth at least checking out.
ECW Tag Team Title: The Public Enemy [c] vs. Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck (Hardcore TV 9/6/94) – More of an angle than a match, but a great angle, with Mikey selling everything perfectly and the crowd being all about him. Mikey sells big, runs away, Cactus gets beat up, and Mikey returns with a broken table and beats up the Public Enemy to a huge pop. Then Mikey gets beat up until… redemption. As good a tale as any.
ECW World Heavyweight Title: Shane Douglas [c] w/ Borne Again vs. Osamu Nishimoura (Hardcore TV 9/20/94) – This is Young Lion on an Excursion Osamu Nishimura, and a cool example of where ECW was at at the time: a nobody from New Japan comes in and is treated as a star, and faces top bad guy Shane Douglas who is managed by the former Doink the Clown, who now has a nightmarish half clown/half lumberjack look. It’s an okay match, and cool to see Shane work a very basic match around young Osamu, who’s already working like a catch-as-catch-can motherfucker.
Cactus Jack vs. Sabu (Hardcore TV 10/18/94) – The endless promos before this match hyping up their various showdowns are great in that they build to this as an epic, hardcore collision. And it actually lives up to the hype – this is just a crazy, crazy brawl, like Bruiser Brody vs. Abdullah the Butcher with more highspots. This one has a bunch of classic Sabu dives including one where he moonsaults to the outside, completely missing Cactus and landing his ribs on the guardrail. This thing goes all over the arena, has a bunch of interference from Paul E and 911, ends with a bottle being broken over someone’s head, and is fucking awesome.
Sabu & The Tazmaniac w/ Paul E. Dangerously and 911 vs. Dean Malenko & Joe Malenko w/ Jason (Hardcore TV 11/22/94) – This is under 5 minutes, but is a lot of fun, with colorful ECW characters Tazmaniac and Sabu going up against the clean-cut Malenkos. For a family known for technical wrestling, the Malenkos can brawl and bump like champions. Just non-stop fun here. Sabu’s wearing a fucking neckbrace due to the Benoit bump, and at one point flies into a table set up against the guardrail.
ECW TV Title: 2 Cold Scorpio [c] vs. Dean Malenko (Hardcore TV 11/29/94) – The first of the ECW workrate matches to hit TV I think, 15 minutes of two of the best. This has a fun little setup, as weasel champ Jason loses the title to Scorpio, then Jason’s backup “The Shooter” Dean Malenko attacks Scorpio and challenges him for the title. I think this happened on the same night but aired a week later. They take it to the mat early and it’s tremendous, a damn grappling contest with early smarks popping for all of it in the crowd. There’s a lot of holds that seem taken for granted today that here somehow had extra legitimacy, as everything was worked for. Sweet front handspring by Malenko into a kick by Scorpio too. Solid, well-worked professional wrestling, like an amateur contest with a plancha into the guardrail.
Handicap Match: 911 w/ Paul E. Dangerously vs. The Pitbulls w/ Jason (Hardcore TV 12/20/94) – Possibly the best 911 match ever? The show this is on starts with 911 chokeslamming Santa Claus. Then the Pitbulls attack 911 from behind and beat him up as the crowd non-stop chants his name. Chokeslams and pops for everybody!!!
