ECW Hardcore TV #36 14/12/1993

Sal Bellomo vs Don E Allen

Thankfully brief Bellomo squash. Even as a heel, he still resorts to cheap tactics, filling the match with chokes and slams. He hits an admittedly decent dropkick before finishing Allen with a splash. I hope Sal is gone soon.

Tommy Dreamer & Shane Douglas vs Kevin Sullivan & the Tazmaniac

Dreamer’s partner Johnny Gunn isn’t here, so Douglas comes in to replace him in this tag title defence. It’s easy to see why Dreamer didn’t endear himself to the ECW faithful in the early days, his suspenders-on-long-tights look making him look like the third, wimpiest American Male. He looks decent here though, hitting a really nice diving clotheslines and nicely stumbling from the corner into a Taz overhead suplex. Dreamer lands on his shoulder on a Sullivan belly-to-back suplex in an awkward landing, as he plays face-in-peril. Douglas hasn’t tagged in at this point, which gets your spider-senses tingling, as the seemingly reformed heel not tagging into the bout feels like a tried and true set up. Indeed, this is the case, as Dreamer makes the hot tag, only for Douglas to level him with a chained fist to allow Sullivan and Tazmaniac to win the titles. Decent enough.

Tony Stetson vs The Sandman

I wonder how far Stetson could have got in wrestling if he didn’t have such a terrible look, as he manages to work a decent bout against a perpetually terrible Sandman. Stetson’s offence always looks good, here sinking in his corner shoulderblocks and hitting a nice running clothesline in the corner. Sandman hits a nice top rope back elbow, and I loved Steton sliding backwards out of the ring, keeping his eye on Sandman and luring him to the floor for a cheapshot. Nice powerbomb only gets a two, before Sandman rolls through a top rope crossbody for the win. 

WWF Madison Square Garden 20/03/1983

Baron Mikel Scicluna vs Mac Rivera

Joined in progress opener. Scicluna controls the majority of this with some unconvincing offence, mainly weak blows. Rivera makes a comeback after Scicluna misses a wild swing that was obviously nowhere near Rivera’s head, and Rivera isn’t particularly dynamic on offence either. Rivera at least plays to the crowd. The Baron does hit a nice knee lift before a Rivera hits a sunset flip to give him the win.

Tony Garea vs Johnny Rodz

Liked Rodz throughout this one, especially at the start where he ducked around and tried antagonise Garea, begging off and then hitting a sucker punch. Rodz misses a splash, fully committing to the miss, and Garea takes him down with an armdrag. Garea holds onto the arm for A LONG time. Just holding Rodz on the mat and armdragging him back down every time. Rodz continues to enhance the match with a nice leaping forearm, decent legdrop and a hilarious bump into the ropes where he just gets totally caught up. The end of this got quite exciting, back and forth shifts in momentum that make both guys feel like believable winners, before Garea gets an O’Connor roll for the win.

Superstar Billy Graham vs Jules Strongbow

Is it wrong that I actually enjoyed this match. Took me by surprise how much I dug this, all pretty simple stuff that told a simple story. Strongbow works the arm of Graham, in a far more interesting manner than Garea did in the previous bout, actually making it seem like he was trying to hurt the limb. Graham grabs him in a bearhug…then has to release it as his arm is too damaged to maintain the hold. Loved that. Graham has a brief period of control before Strongbow fires up with a war-dance and locks on a sleeper to a giant pop. The crowd honestly went nuts for it. Graham escapes though, and hits an illegal karate chop to the throat to get the victory. Totally effective.

Salvatore Bellomo vs Ray Stevens

Thankfully, a chunk of this is clipped after we endure a lengthy Sal headlock. Stevens bumps around a bit to try and fire this bout up, but Sal offers very little here, going back to the headlock at the earliest opportunity. They exchange fists and end up fighting on the apron, leading to both men getting counted out. That’s it? Stevens tried to make this interesting, but there’s basically zero content here.

Bob Backlund vs Don Muraco

World champion vs IC champion, though only Backlund’s world strap is on the line. This is billed as a Texas Death match by Monsoon, but this just means there has to be a winner by pin or submission. Though it only seems to be Monsoon who knows this, as he chastises the ref for counting for rope breaks and breaking holds. This starts with some fun schtick based around Backlund holding and maintaining a headlock on Muraco. He works the hold too, which at least keeps it interesting for a while. There’s a great spot where Muraco finally breaks a headlock and wearily climbs the rope, only for Backlund to leap to the top and take him back down with another headlock. This does go on too long though, nearly ten minutes, and it gets tiresome after a while. It finally picks up when Muraco takes control, dropping Backlund headfirst on the steel railing and hitting a legdrop on the ring apron. Muraco wastes some time celebrating though, and gets rammed into a ringpost and busted open. Backlund works the cut, before Muraco hits a sudden powerslam from nowhere. He’s too worn down to make the cover though, selling the bloodloss and the lengthy headlock. The ending is pretty great, nice back and forth as Backlund gets an Argentine backbreaker, Muraco uses his feet on the top rope to flip out, Backlund locks in a chickenwing, Muraco gets the ropes and Backlund finally hits a German suplex for the victory. The overlong headlock spot was really tedious, but the second half of this really delivered.

WWF Philadelphia Spectrum 19/02/1983

Jose Estrada vs Curt Hennig

Pretty decent opener. Hennig is really early into his career here, and is obviously lacking some of the polish he’ll have in in just a few years time. A lot of the early stages of this match are based around front facelocks, with Hennig grounding Estrada for a long time with one, and later Estrada holding one of his own. Outside of the front facelocks, both guys looks pretty fired up. Loved the short knee to the head hit after Estrada placed Hennig on the top rope and Estrada catching Henning with a big shot on a leapfrog. The end sees Estrada roll through a top rope crossbody to win.

Mac Rivera vs Johnny Rodz

Rivera jumps Rodz to start here, and even cheapshots him over the refs shoulder, but Rodz controls the majority of the bout. Really liked Rodz on offence here, thought his execution was excellent. Lovely diving fist from the second rope and I loved him causally stepping over a dropdown in order to attack. A stomp to the throat from the second rope looked nasty. They maybe throw in a few too many headlocks, seems to be peppered in between every 2-3 moves, but the meat of this was good. Rodz wins after side stepping a backdrop and hitting a back elbow for three.

Tony Garea vs Charlie Fulton

Like the Hennig match, Garea is more than happy to hold onto a headlock for a while. It takes Fulton cheapshotting on a break to take over. Nothing Fulton does is fancy, but it provides a welcome change of pace and his focus on Garea’s back is nicely done with Irish whips to the corner and a bearhug. Garea takes a big bump over the top to the floor and there’s a mix up on commentary as they think Garea has won it with a sunset flip. He hasn’t, but an O’Connor Roll gets the win moments later.

Swede Hanson vs SD Jones

Bit uncomfortable to watch in places, as you watch a tubby looking redneck, who’d come to the ring with the Confederate flag, slapping about SD. There’s some neat strikes by both, some nice kneedrops and Jones hits a nice diving headbutt as he gets up. The end sees Jones going for an airplane spin, but Hanson holds the ropes and falls on top for the victory.

Baron Mikel Scicluna vs Eddie Gilbert

Interestingly, Gorilla Monsoon says on commentary that the Baron has the flu, giving him a bit of an out for the upcoming result. Slightly clunky match, early on Baron gets caught up in the ropes Andre The Giant style, and Gilbert doesn’t really do anything, which kinda deflates the crowd. Scicluna controls with some weak blows, but Gilbert is at least fired up on his comeback. He misses a crossbody, but gets a sunset flip to win.

Bob Backlund vs Big John Studd

Not a great match, but a fun Backlund performance. He works an enjoyable cat and mouse sequence with Studd early on, ending with a leg lock on the big man. Studd doesn’t offer much offensively, aside from a nice elbow, but Backlund works the crowd nicely, getting them fired up for a near slam. He also really works a hammerlock, torqueing the arm. Studd controls a good chunk of the match, not particularly memorably, but Backlund fires back, locking on the crossface chickenwing from the apron, and climbing back into the ring just a second too late and getting counted out. Match result keeps both men strong and builds to a rematch, but it felt like it dragged when Studd was in control

The Wild Samoans vs the Strongbow Brothers

This is 2/3 falls and a bit of a mess. It really feels like the Samoans should just be able to wipe the floor with the unimpressive Strongbows, but instead they get controlled by the Strongbows ineffectively working an arm on Afa. The Samoans eventually work heat on Jules Strongbow, choking him out with wrist tape, hidden from the ref. Eventually Jay Strongbow has enough, and chokes both Samoans with their sarongs, getting disqualified for the first fall. The second fall sees the brawl continue and Jay getting choked on the outside. The Samoans crotch Jules on the top rope for the win in two straight falls. Not much to enjoy here.

Andre the Giant, Jimmy Snuka, Rocky Johnson, Pedro Morales & Sal Bellomo vs Buddy Rose, Mr Fuji, Ray Stevens, Billy Graham & Don Muraco

This, on the other hand, is a total crowd pleaser of a main event. It’s 3/5 falls, which allows for a lot of possibilities and fun nearfalls. The tone is set as Rose and Stevens pinball all around the ring for Johnson’s armdrags. The crowd is hot for everything, and everyone involved seems to be motivated, which is great. Muraco takes a big dive over the top from an Andre boot, only to be awkwardly shoved back in by his partners. Lots of goofy selling, Graham takes a tree fall bump from an Andre chop, whilst Muraco makes himself really dizzy hitting an airplane spin on Bellomo. A belly to belly on the hapless Bellomo by Fuji gives the heels a one fall lead and a bit of heat is worked on Sal after that. The falls are equalised when Fuji tries to slam Bellomo, but Snuka dropkicks Sal on top for three. The end comes quickly as everything breaks down. Snuka hits a sunset flip on Rose to make it 2-1, before Andre rampages everyone, hitting Rose with a big boot and buttdrop for the victory. Immensely enjoyable.

ECW Hardcore TV #25 28/09/1993

Tony Stetson vs Tommy Cairo

Another solid Stetson performance here, though this dragged a bit more than their previous match. Cairo is a guy who can throw some nice suplexes but not much else, so Stetson is kinda forced to work around those limitations. It works when Stetson is in control, as he heels it up nicely. Nasty looking chop to the throat, grinding his boot into Cairo’s face and stalling outside the ring when Cairo gets any advantage. It’s when Cairo is in control that it drags a little, as he’s not really sure how to fill the void. I liked his flying leg lariat here, but only because it came across like Cairo just hurling his body at Stetson rather than specifically his legs. Stetson hits a nice flying clothesline and uses his Pennsylvania title for the match winning belt shot.

Salvatore Bellomo vs the Wolfman

Hilariously, Joey Styles uses this match to illustrate how much the ECW crowd love Bellomo, as he wrestles to not much reaction. This was terrible, two lumbering oafs throwing weak blows, exchanging some scarcely applied holds (witness Bellomo’s Camel Clutch where he can barely be bothered to hold Wolfman’s head) and the Wolfman adds some ineffectual biting. Just so bad, but thankfully short before Bellomo gets the win with a splash.

ECW Hardcore TV #22 07/09/1993

Stan Hansen vs Don E Allen & Herve Renesto

Allen and Renesto are billed here as Twisted Steel & Sex Appeal. They get utterly destroyed by Hansen, who doesn’t go easy on them. Short lariat on Allen gets the win.

The Headhunters & Freddy Krueger vs The Super Destroyers & Salvatore Bellomo

We’re joined in peril, because I guess time constraints meant we had to keep the opening ten minute skit with Eddie Gilbert’s increasingly terrible King of Philadelphia skit rather than show this in full. It makes total sense to fly in these WING guys to show a sub-five minute clip of their match. Liked the Headhunters doing some basic cheating, swapping over a chinlock on Bellomo behind the referee’s back, before we get a stupid ending. Super Destroyer #1 gets tagged in, and gets ganged up on by all three opponents….then Super Destroyer #2 joins in to make it 4-on-1. I mean, it’s good they’re continuing the storyline from the previous show, but why would SD1 still team with his partner after getting betrayed the previous week? It makes no sense.

JT Smith vs Masayoshi Motegi

This is for Motegi’s WING Jr Heavyweight title. Odd one this, I assume that neither party wanted their man doing the job, so we get a time limit draw that Motegi totally dominates from beginning to end. Smith is allowed the odd mat counter and I think one suplex, but the rest is just Motegi totally controlling him on the mat, locking in a nice Indian Deathlock and two STF’s. Motegi finally looks to have it won with a German suplex, and the time runs out. I guess the idea was it made Smith look tough hanging on despite being put in all manner of holds, but it just made it look like he couldn’t hang with this guy half the audience didn’t know.

Eddie Gilbert & the Dark Patriot vs Salvatore Bellomo & the Sandman

Two Bellomo matches on one show? These are blessed days indeed. Basically a team of two of the best guys in the promotion vs the two dirt worst. I like the irony, in hindsight, of Gilbert taking control of the Sandman by hitting him in the head with an empty can as a cheapshot. Dark Patriot bumps about for Sandman’s terrible offence, really putting in a good shift. We get another match cut off halfway through for a Abdullah the Butcher promo piece – this is the third main event in a row to suffer this fate, really stupid programming. Patriot looks good on offence when we return, and I dig the heels constantly distracting the ref in order to cheat. Sandman gets the hot tag and has some good energy, even if his missile dropkick is super sloppy. The heels finally get the win with a shot from Paul E Dangerously’s phone, and this was the best you’re going to get from Sandman and Bellomo at this point. Not terrible.

ECW Hardcore TV #21 31/08/1993

The Koloffs vs The Sandman & Sal Bellomo

Pity poor Ivan, having to sell being outwrestled by the bumbling duo of Bellomo and Sandman. Vladimir has looked actively good on these shows, really nice looking kneedrops and his overhead belly-to-belly on Sandman looks great. Sadly, Bellomo takes off his boot and nails Vlad behind the referees back to get the win.

The Super Destroyers vs Eddie Gilbert & the Dark Patriot

We’re joined in progress here, with one of the Destroyers just making the hot tag. The fresh Destroyer loads up his mask to headbutt Gilbert, but his partner turns on him, headbutting him from behind to give Gilbert the win.

The Headhunters vs Miguel Perez Jr & Mitsuhiro Matsunaga

This is a real change of pace from regular ECW stuff, and this is a real sign we’re heading into new territory for the promotion. This is a big brawl, with action spilling out of the ring right from the get-go. Lots of big spots here, with one Headhunter hitting a powerbomb on Matsunaga early on. Perez hits a superplex on a Headhunter, to a huge pop, and then a missile dropkick before nailing a plancha to the outside. This is really short, but all four guys get over in the time despite the terrible ending – one Headhunter nails a moonsault and big splash on Perez, while Matsunaga rolls up the other Headhunter for a double-pin. Cop out ending, but a really fun match.

Don Muraco & Shane Douglas vs Tito Santana & Stan Hansen

This is really promising, but the bizarre decision to cut the match with the faces in control, show a random video hyping Abdullah the Butcher, then cut back with the heels dominating, ruins the flow. Tito is fun as the face-in-peril, really good at working from underneath. The hot tag is made to Hansen, and the top rope breaks off almost straight away as Muraco runs the ropes. Sadly, the Dangerous Alliance runs in straight away, ending the match. Eddie Gilbert throws a fireball in Hansen’s face to end the episode.

WWF Prime Time Wrestling 05/05/1986

The Funk Brothers vs Ivan McDonald & Jeff Gripley

Mildly disappointing squash, with the Funks not looking as impressive as you’d hope. It’s not so much their execution, as I dug Terry’s headbutts whilst holding onto the hair of Gripley, it’s more to do with the layout. The Funks seem to have Gripley done, after a big piledriver by Dory and a neckbreaker by Terry, but then Dory just puts him into an armbar. Feels odd after two moves designed to impact the neck, and it’s not like they’re building to anything with it – just feels like padding to draw out the match time. In the end, Terry works over Gripley’s leg and Dory locks in a Texas Cloverleaf to win

Bobby Heenan vs Sal Bellomo

My old nemesis Bellomo, here a clean shaven face, is put into an odd situation, facing off against Heenan in a rare match that he hasn’t been coerced into. Even more oddly, Heenan gives a clean handshake to start. I enjoyed this more than I expected, as both guys exchange some cheapshots despite the handshake, and both are bumping big. Bellomo takes a backdrop bump bigger than all the ECW one’s I’ve seen so far combined. I also liked Bellomo’s JYD headbutts in the corner from his knees. The end sees Heenan sit down on a sunset flip for the clean win. Man, Bellomo was low on the jobber chain here.

B Brian Blair vs Iron Mike Sharpe

No complaints with this one, really enjoyed it. Sharpe is so fun to watch, allowing Blair to make him look a total goon on a criss-cross and fleeing into the crowd to regroup after a flying headscissors. He’s also got these great looping punches. His backbreaker is sloppy, but Blair seems to be a big bumper to compensate for Sharpe’s lesser offence. Really enjoyed the spot where Sharpe refused to let Blair back into the ring, so Blair crawled underneath to surprise him from the backside. Thought Blair looked really good here, just crisp looking offence, nice punches and it kind of man me want to see more of a guy I’d previously barely registered. The ending was a disappointing double-count out, but this was fun.

Lanny Poffo vs The Gladiator

Gladiator is a pudgy guy in amateur wrestling tights and a faux-Kendo Nagasaki mask. Just a generic 80’s jobber costume. This is worked one the mat for the most part, and is quite nicely competitive there. Loved Poffo trying to escape by rolling out of an armbar, but remaining grounded. The Gladiator tries to change the style by punching Poffo in the corner, but he’s soon slammed and takes a moonsault for the Poffo win. If it ain’t broke, shouldn’t have fixed it…

Donna Christanello vs Linda Gonzalez

Christanello has one of those surnames that I’ve seen countless different spellings off, so apologies if I’m wrong. This is also worked primarily on the mat, but you don’t get the impression either lady is technically proficient, and instead it’s just something to do before being told to end the bout. I at least appreciated Donna pulling the tights of Gonzalez to give her leverage on a leglock. This isn’t very exciting, despite Gonzalez’s impressive bumping off a dropkick, and it’s a relief when Linda picks up the win with a decent bridging O’Connor roll.

Tony Atlas & Tony Garea vs Steve Lombardi & the Menace

The Menace is the least threatening jobber name I think I’ve heard. Lombardi really looks poor here, messing up a knee-to-the-gut sequence with Garea and having to readjust his footing so as not to arrive too early for an Atlas monkey flip. Atlas looks good here though, really nice agility, and his press slam and splash gets the win over the Menace. This was short and a bit pointless.

The Hart Foundation vs Ron Dee & Mario Mancini

The Harts look great here, really nicely executed squash. Bret nails a sharp looking back elbow on Mancini and Neidhart follows up with a big slam. Just competently breaking down the jobbers. Dee only tags in at the end, and is almost immediately met with a killer Hart Attack, as Anvil whips him off the rope and lifts him JUST in time for the Bret clothesline. Perfect timing, made the move look even deadlier.

Ted Arcidi vs Chuck Simpson

Not much to this. Arcidi can’t really do much, and for such a muscly guy, his power spots looked pretty lame. A beal across the ring on Simpson looked more like his opponent stumbling over his feet. Arcidi doesn’t have much offence, beside a nice clothesline, and Simpson doesn’t bump well enough to compensate. An overhead backbreaker gets the submission to not much reaction.

King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd vs Jim Powers & Mike Saxon

On commentary, Vince is very keen to highlight that Saxon isn’t Michael Jackson. Another disappointing squash, sadly, as the big lads are mainly content to whip Saxon into the ropes and let him run into them. I did love how nasty Bundy’s kneedrop looked, just a big weight falling directly onto Saxon’s chest. Studd contributes little, until an assisted avalanche and an elbow gives Bundy the three (or five). Powers was barely involved.

ECW Hardcore TV #19 17/08/1993

Sharp eyes will notice we've skipped two episodes, the reason being that they were recap shows, and I'm not sitting through Glen Osbourne matches for a second time. This episode features two matches from the tag titles tournament, as the Suicide Blondes have been stripped of the belts.

The Koloffs vs The Headhunters

Really violent brawl to start this, spilling outside the ring. This is really short, though we do get enough time to see Vladimir hit a really impressive belly-to-belly on a ‘Hunter. It all breaks down again, ending in a double DQ. The Koloffs progress to the next round via coin toss.

Don Muraco vs the Metal Maniac

Maniac seems to get fed up on listening to Muraco on the mic as he jumps him during an interview. His advantage doesn’t last long, and Muraco actually seems fired up. Maybe it’s the prospect of facing someone in worse shape than him. Muraco hits a big powerslam and a piledriver, before finishing with a tombstone.

The Sandman & Sal Bellomo vs Richard Michaels & Tony Stetson

The face team is really a pairing of the two worst guys in ECW. The producers seem to know this, as we cut away 45 seconds in to see a video about Abdullah The Butcher. When we return, it feels like a heat section is just finishing on the faces. The end sees Sandman hitting a facebuster so bad that it isn’t obvious who is supposed to be hurt. Stetson sneaks in to replace Michaels behind the refs back, but Bellomo does the same to Sandman, and rolls up Stetson for the win. Barely anything to rate, but I’m not complaining.

Stan Hansen vs Jimmy Snuka

Hansen is a welcome addition to the show, and his wild presence seems to blow the cobwebs out from Snuka. Superfly seems more energised than he has in a long time. Another big brawl for the episode, as they exchange punches and weapon shots outside the ring. Hansen hits a DDT and a lariat to seemingly win, but Eddie Gilbert is in for the DQ ending. Still, looking forward to a few more Hansen appearances.

ECW Hardcore TV #14 06/07/1993

Super Destroyers vs Richard Michaels & Johnny Hotbody

This has the added stipulation of the Destroyers putting their masks on the line vs the Suicide Blondes’ tag titles. The Destroyers control early doors, with one of them hitting a nice looking enzuigiri. Michaels hits a really shitty looking bulldog (looks like the Destroyer went down too late) to take over, and the energy really goes up when Hotbody gets in. I’m far from convinced that he’s a great wrestler or anything, but he always seems more motivated than the wrestlers around him. The ending here is terrible. A ref distraction allows Chris Candido to come out and swap places with Michaels (despite looking nothing alike – even down to the colour and length of their trunks), and this happens right in front of a Destroyer who does nothing. The other Destroyer rolls up Candido for an absurdly long cradle – the referee still being distracted – then when the ref turns round, he reapplies the cradle to Candido for the three count. So amateur.

Ivan Koloff vs The Sandman

I’m glad we live in a world where such an odd pairing happened. The early stages are spent on the mat, and are surprisingly not bad. Koloff is always one step ahead, but Sandman doesn’t look too bad. Sandman ups the tempo with a terrible crossbody. Koloff goes up top, but gets caught by the Sandman, who throws him off. Rockin’ Rebel comes out and hurls a green liquid in the eyes of Sandman’s manager, Peaches, but oddly this doesn’t play into the distraction finish. Instead, Sandman gets distracted by Vladimir Koloff on the opposite side of the ring and takes a weak knee to the back to give Ivan the win. This was a #1 contenders match, which is going to lead to a heel vs heel match with Koloff taking Muraco, assuming this goes ahead.

Dark Patriot, Eddie Gilbert & Don Muraco vs Glen Osbourne, Tommy Cairo & Larry Winters

The graphics announce an 8 man tag is coming next, but this is quite clearly only 6 men. We don’t exactly have the cream of the face workers in ECW here, but there is one great piece of schtick here, where the faces hold an armbar on Gilbert and swap places behind the refs back, infuriating Paul E Dangerously on commentary. Even better, Gilbert manages to tag Muraco, but because the ref was distracted by the faces, he doesn’t see it and refuses to let Muraco in. Nice, simple comedy spot. Also, Tommy Cairo hits a full-force shoulder block that looks terrific. As far as the heels go, the lazy offense or Muraco is really highlighted by how crisp the Dark Patriot is, as he finishes off Osbourne with a great diving shoulderblock for three.

Sal Bellomo vs Chris Candido

Hey, Bellomo hit a dropkick in the first few minutes here, might be the best looking thing he’s done in his ECW run. He then bites Candido’s arm to block a clothesline. He’s a like a hairy, shit Pete Dunne. The ref of the Blondes run in to cause a DQ, and we get a big brawl to close the show as the Super Destroyers make the save. In the melee, the Destroyers seemingly break Candido’s arm, which is the image we close the show on

ECW Hardcore TV #13 29/06/1993

The Koloffs vs Herve Renesto & Glen Osbourne

The Koloffs consist of Ivan and his nephew Vladimir. This is quite possibly my favourite Osbourne match so far in his ECW run. Vladimir goes right after the arm of Renesto, and Ivan keeps it up, holding Herve up in the air with a bearhug, incorporating a hammerlock. Vlad has a nice belly-to-belly suplex, and an overhead hammerlock forces Renesto to submit. Osbourne never gets in.

Larry Winters vs Tony Stetson

Fun little brawl, and despite Winter’s having a few soft looking blows, he also isn’t afraid to lay in the chairshots. Loved that Stetson used an eyerake to take control, and then lays in some stiff shots. Stetson is swiftly becoming a highlight on Hardcore TV. Sadly, this is a shortly lived affair, as both end up pushing the referee in a melee, and both guys get disqualified. The locker room has to empty to keep both guys in line. Best I’ve seen from Winter so far, Stetson brought the best out of him.

Jimmy Snuka vs Tommy Cairo

Solid, if pretty pedestrian stuff, but far from the worst Snuka match in ECW. Snuka hitting a high leg lariat looked pretty decent. Cairo always seems pretty watchable, and he made Snuka look good here. The end did Cairo no favours though, as he gets tripped by Don Muraco and then has to lie dead on the floor for ages whilst Snuka hits the Superfly splash. Really made Cairo look weak.

Sal Bellomo vs Richard Michaels

Michaels is another guy who seems pretty decent, but is done no favours by being paired with Sal. I did enjoy Bellomo breaking Michaels’s run of control with a simple eyepoke. There’s an odd spot where Michaels sticks a chocolate bar in Bellomo’s mouth, and Bellomo regain control and returns the favour. Michaels takes some big bumps to make Sal look decent, and I dug him flying over the top rope to get caught in an out-of-ring Tree of Woe after a missed butt-butt. Michaels tries to pin Sal with his feet on the ropes, but gets caught by the ref. In a poetic irony, Sal pins Michaels and puts HIS feet on the ropes to win. I appreciate the attempt to push Bellomo as a likable crafty cheating vet, but he’s still a woeful wrestler.

ECW Hardcore TV #12 22/06/1993

Don Muraco vs Tommy Cairo

Man, this is probably Muraco’s worst performance in ECW to this point, and he really looks past his prime. He takes a stumbling slow motion bump off a Cairo crossbody and barely gets over on a backdrop. Cairo looks decent here, but he’s really facing a guy who’s just stumbling through the match. Amusing scene as a kid in a “We Can’t Dance” Genesis shirt steals Eddie Gilbert’s cap at ringside. The end is all sorts of terrible, as Cairo suplexes Muraco, but Muraco just rolls him over on the pin attempt and gets the three. Not even a hint of struggle from Cairo. Really odd ending that makes everyone look stupid.

JT Smith vs Dark Patriot

Patriot looks really good in the early stages, really solid execution of his moves with a nice punch and real snap to a back elbow. Smith isn’t very crisp, but he is very willing and looks like he’s putting some effort in. Still, his flying headscissors is sloppy and he barely glances Patriot with a moonsault for two. There’s a ref bump and the two battle to the commentary balcony. In an insane bump, Patriot knocks Smith to the floor a good 15-20 ft below and then dives off onto Smith. Patriot gets back in the ring and wins by countout. Nutso bump from both guys, and there are signs that things are getting a bit closer to the familiar ECW style

Rockin Rebel & Tony Stetson vs The Sandman & Larry Winters

The heel team are substantially better than the faces here, so it’s good that Rebel and Stetson control the majority of the bout. Stetson bumps about to make Winters’ floaty offence look good, despite there being so much air shown on a kneelift. Stetson’s offence isn’t flashy, but it at least looks effective and like it would actually cause pain. Sandman tags in and hits a dreadful DDT on Stetson before another crap ending (this episode is rife with them). Peaches gets on the apron to distract Rebel, openly slaps him in front of the ref and Sandman rolls him up to get the win following what feels like a REALLY fast count. Good match until the end.

The Suicide Blondes (Chris Candido, Johnny Hotbody & Richard Michaels) vs The Super Destroyers & Sal Bellomo

Surprisingly fun 6-man, due to more fun bumping and stooging by the Blondes. They make the basic offence of the Destroyers look deadly. Hotbody eats an ugly looking powerbomb from a Destroyer, but the Destroyers seem to want to beat up all three Blondes, and force the tag to Michaels. Michaels takes an amazing bump when he misses a top rope splash that gets insane height. Even Bellomo does the first cool thing I’ve seen from him in ECW, putting Hotbody in a figure-four legvine, then leaping down on his legs, which looks painful. The Blondes finally get control, but their cheating mean things quickly break down. In the melee, Paul E Dangerously gets involved to check on injured Blondes manager Hunter Q Robbins III, but gets levelled by a Destroyer. This lures out the Dangerous Alliance with weapons, and a big brawl kicks off to end the episode. 

ECW Hardcore TV #9 01/06/1993

Super Destroyer #1 vs Sal Bellomo

If you thought a face turn might make Bellomo into a more interesting wrestler, you’d be wrong. He’s still letting rip with some terribly weak looking offence, and SD#1 seems more than happy to play along. Just nothing here looks like it may hurt, epitomised by Destroyer “wrenching Bellomo’s leg around the bottom rope”, where he’s just about holding onto it. Bellomo hits a truly appalling slam and a low-altitude splash, before Super Destroyer #2 comes in for the DQ.

Eddie Gilbert & Jimmy Snuka vs Tommy Cairo & Glen Osbourne

Gilbert takes Osbourne to the floor early, where they have a brawl in the crowd, which feels like the only way Gilbert can make Osbourne interesting. Keeps him from having to try to wrestle. I dug Gilbert going to the floor to escape Tommy Cairo, and then hugging Snuka in a cowardly moment for big heat from the crowd. Snuka controls Osbourne with some so-so offence, though Gilbert cheapshotting Glen with a can of soda looks good. Gilbert pins Cairo with a Hotshot following some Paul E Dangerously interference. Gilbert is the only guy here you’d actively call good, but this was inoffensive.

Max Thrasher vs JT Smith

This was odd on many levels. It starts with Thrasher downing Smith with 3 headbutts whilst wearing a hockey mask, before cutting to a special announcement. The announcement basically gives away loads of spoilers for the next few weeks, before coming back to the end of the bout: Thrasher getting caught by the ref trying a pin with his feet on the ropes, before Smith gets the win doing the same thing. So baffling.

Don Muraco vs The Sandman

This is for the ECW title, and it feels odd not seeing Sandman defend against Rockin’ Rebel. Sandman controls early with some basic offence, not crisply executed, but at least hit enthusiastically. Muraco turns the tide following a distraction, hitting a shitty second rope fistdrop and a surprisingly good backfist. Sandman reversing a tombstone looks pretty awkward, before we get a big clusterfuck finish, with Dangerously, Rockin’ Rebel and Peaches all getting involved. This hubbub allows Dangerously to nail Sandman with his phone, and there’s a new ECW champion. Not a bad bout, but utterly pedestrian.

ECW Hardcore TV #8 25/05/1993

HD Ryder vs Super Destroyer #3

 SD3 is a barely disguised Sal Bellomo, who even takes his mask off for breath throughout the bout. This is played for comedy, which is about the best use of Sal. Bellomo’s offence is super soft, the only highpoints being a decent standing dropkick and Ryder selling an eyerake by wildly swinging at the air. A splash gives Bellomo the win, at which point the real Super Destroyers come in and obliterate him.

Suicide Blondes vs Tony Stetson & Larry Winters

Good to see the Blondes rewarded for their clean loss in a non-title match with a title shot. This isn’t great, though I really liked Stetson’s full-force flying clothesline. Winters is briefly worked over as face-in-peril, but when he hits a DDT, he opts not to tag out. This sets alarm bells ringing, and Hotbody causing a ref bump moments later do nothing to silence them (though Hotbody is dumb enough to try a small package on Winters, despite knowing he caused the ref to be down). More shenanigans lead to Hotbody nailing Winters with a chain to pick up the titles. Winters & Stetson being used as transitional champs to transfer the belts to the Blondes makes sense, as Hotbody and Candido are the best team in the company at this juncture.

Ernesto Benefico vs Don Muraco

Benefico is someone I’ve never seen look competitive and has zero chance. Muraco knows it too, as he plays this for laughs, barely putting any effort in. Muraco kind of awkwardly drops Ernesto over his head, then catches him coming off the top rope with a piledriver for the win.

JT Smith & Tommy Cairo vs Max Thrasher & the Canadian Wolfman

This was set up by Thrasher abandoning Smith the previous week, though given that he’s now paired with the obese, slovenly Wolfman, it looks a short-sighted decision. Enjoyed Cairo and Smith here, as they work as a knock-off Steiner Brothers, even down to the colourful singlets and Stevie Wonderful comparing Cairo to Rick Steiner on commentary. They both hits some nice suplex variations on the shambolic Wolfman, with Thrasher deciding to stay out of the match, before finishing with a nice Cairo powerslam and a Rocket Launcher sending Smith on top for 3. This was pretty fun.

Jimmy Snuka vs Glen Osbourne

TV title defence, though given that Osbourne’s offence is almost entirely monkey flips and snapmares, you don’t see the title changing hands. Snuka sells a clothesline in an embarrassing manner, taking a soft limb to the chest and turning to slowly leap over the top rope. An Osbourne roll up after Snuka misses a corner charge is SO close and actually had me going for a second. After Osbourne controls the bout, a soft Snuka backbreaker seems to put him out of action, giving Snuka time to slowly climb the ropes and hit a Superfly Splash for 3.

ECW Hardcore TV #6 11/05/1993

The Super Destroyers vs Tony Stetson & Larry Winters

This is hair vs titles, with Tommy Cairo handcuffed to the Destroyers’ manager Hunter Q Robbins on the floor. It’s also no DQ, which Jay Sulli on commentary seems to keep forgetting. The opening stages where they brawl outside are actually pretty exciting, and the Destroyers actually look like big killers for a change. The camera cutting regularly to Cairo and Robbins makes the match harder to follow, but then it transpires there’s no real match structure anyway, so we’re not missing anything. No real heat worked on the faces, just guys getting in and out of the ring, and no transitions to offence, just guys deciding it’s their turn to go on the offensive. Winters has the wimpiest kicks to the head I’ve ever seen. Thankfully the end soon comes, as Robbins throws his cane into the ring (good job stopping that Tommy Cairo!) and Stetson intercepts it and crowns a Destroyer for the title

Jimmy Snuka & Eddie Gilbert vs JT Smith & Max Thrasher

The formatting of this show continues to suck, as they book two tag matches back to back. There’s bits of this that are good: Gilbert continues to impress and has some nice offence, and I dug this cool reverse slam Smith did. The rest is pretty meh, with Thrasher’s sole contribution being to tag in, eat a Gilbert backbreaker and a Superfly splash for the loss.

Sal Bellomo vs The Canadian Wolfman

Wolfman is just an obese bald man with regrettable tattoos in jeans. He’s utterly terrible, starting the match by just looking at Bellomo, who just wanders up and punches him. He also can even take a snapmere bump, which is unfortunate as Bellomo seems to want to use quite a few. Bellomo splash finishes this quickly.

Jonathan Hotbody vs Tommy Cairo

This is a lumberjack match, and is probably match of the show. I liked Hotbody’s continued attempts to cower away from Cairo, despite the match stipulation, and especially how his partner Chris Candido was complicit in that, trying to provide him shelter outside the ring. There’s a nice bump when Hotbody throws Cairo to the floor and the Cairo/Robbins story from the start of the episode is paid off when it’s a Robbins cane shot that provides the knockout blow to put Cairo out. Call this a mild win.

The Sandman & Miss Peaches vs Rockin' Rebel & Tigra
This doesn't even get a finish. The main story is that Tigra wont tag in, forcing Rebel to wrestle all the match. This means he has to take Sandman's terrible looking offence. Honestly, becoming drunken hardcore Sandman gave him a career, because surfer Sandman is just a mess of sloppy looking spots and weak offence - his grazing dropkick here being a case in point. Rebel does take a big bump over the top to the floor to become the worker of the match. Tigra and Peaches finally get in...and the show ends just as they hook up. Excellent work lads.

ECW Hardcore TV #5 04/05/193

Eddie Gilbert & Don Muraco vs JT Smith & Glen Osbourne

Gilbert really feels like a breath of fresh air in these shows, as his execution is far crisper and his movement far better than anyone else in the promotion. Liked a few bits from Muraco here, his slingshot of Smith that sends Smith throat-first into the bottom rope is pretty good. Hotstuff International target Smith’s head and throat, with a neckbreaker and a loaded thumb to the throat from Muraco. Osbourne is tagged in to no reaction, and hits an admittedly sweet tombstone to Gilbert, but a debuting Paul E Dangerously clubs him with his phone and Gilbert picks up the pin. This wasn’t too bad.

Super Destroyers vs Tony Stetson & Larry Winters

The more I watch of Stetson and Winters, the more pronounced the gulf in ability becomes. Winters looks pretty poor here, stumbling over when trying to hiptoss a Destroyer, whereas Stetson has some nice touches. Dug the thrust headbutt to the Destroyer’s arm to continue his team’s basic armwork, and he gets nice height on a flying forearm. The Destroyers work a dull heat segment on Winters, including some truly terrible chokes, where the Destroyer waggles his elbow about in an unconvincing attempt to make it look like he’s adding more pressure. Stetson is tagged in, but gets caught with a loaded punch when trying a back suplex, giving the Destroyers the pin.

The Sandman vs Sal Bellomo

This was terrible. Bellomo is a terrible offensive wrestler, all chokes and wimpy looking stomps. Sandman here has an odd habit of trying roll ups that only manage to send Bellomo into the ropes. Bellomo locks in a terrible submission, where I honestly thought he was trying a sloppy pinfall. Sandman only looks mildly inconvenienced. The end is a special type of dreadful, as Sandman clotheslines Bellomo from the ring, and Sal decides to wander about talking to the crowd and gets counted out. An absolutely abysmal match.

Rockin’ Rebel vs Ernesto Benefico

Very quick squash. Liked the cockiness of Rebel taking Benefico’s legs out and casually slapping his face. Big elbow drop, powerslam and a spinebuster wins it for the Rebel

Johnny Hotbody vs Tommy Cairo

This is billed as a grudge match, so of course they give it less than 5 minutes. Hotbody looks really good in places here, and then absolutely shocking. Loved how he stumbled into Cairo armdrags, made it look really natural as if he was being caught unawares. He also hits a lovely diving elbow from the ring apron to the floor. But then, there’s his superplex. Honestly, it takes so long to get into place that it feels almost inevitable that Cairo will reverse it. They go for the move and it looks like Cairo has reversed to a top rope spinebuster, but no! The commentary, and Cairo’s selling, tells us that Hotbody did indeed hit his superplex. Absolutely dreadful. Cairo rolls up Hotbody, ramming his head into an interfering Chris Candido, and gets the win.

ECW Hardcore TV #1 06/04/1993

Given that I love undertaking watching projects that I don't keep up with very quickly, I thought I'd start watching the ECW footage on the WWE Network. Never been a big ECW fan, so didn't know where a good starting point would be - why not the beginning? Why not start with a show where commentator Terry Funk essentially says "We know this isn't very good, but we'll try and get better" to close the show out?

The Super Destroyers vs The Hell Raisers

The Destroyers are the ECW tag champs, two big guys in masks. The Hell Raisers aren’t as fearsome as their name might suggest, as they get squashed here, despite jumping the Destroyers to start. This is some slow, low-impact brawling which the Destroyers win with a flip senton on EZ Ryder.

Tommy Cairo vs Salvatore Bellomo

This is part of the TV title tournament. Two matches in, and the early ECW isn’t feeling like an exciting hot product. Giving a featured role to long-time WWF jobber Bellomo isn’t necessarily a bad thing if he was able to bring something to the table to mark him as underrated, but he’s very uninteresting here. Sal isn’t afraid of a rest hold, put it that way. Cairo makes a comeback out of the blue with no build, before Johnny Hotbody tries to interfere. This backfires and Sal is counted out. Very not good.

Tony Stetson vs the Rockin’ Rebel

This is better match, and it’s amusing to see my favourite guilty pleasure CZW wrestler the Rebel here with long mullet and actual wrestling tights. He’s the #1 contender to the ECW title, which feels so wrong. Stetson is nicknamed “Hitman”, which feels pretty misplaced given the best wrestler on US soil at the time also used that nickname. Probably best not to share a nickname with one of the biggest stars in the business, you’ll only suffer in comparison. Rebel’s control is very basic, albeit with nothing wrong with it per se. Just not very exciting. I actually dug Stetson’s comeback, enjoyed his top rope legdrop. Rebel takes Stetson down in the corner and pins him with his feet on the ropes.

Jimmy Snuka vs Larry Winters

Snuka is working heel here, with Eddie Gilbert his cheapshotting manager. Snuka looks muscular, but isn’t in great shape ringwise, as proven by his falling over whilst giving a back bodydrop. Winters seems pretty dreadful, taking an over-the-top leap in the air from a Snuka chop and hitting a crossbody where his feet barely leave the floor. Another quick bout, with Gilbert tripping Winters from the floor, and Snuka nailing the Superfly splash. Real nice impact too, best thing about the match.

Salvatore Bellomo vs Ernesto Benefico

Oh great, another Bellomo match. Benefico isn’t announced, as Bellomo just barges in and slams him for the three count. Just a simple powerslam. Poor Ernesto.