NWA (ECW) Eastern Championship Wrestling (March 8, 1994)

 

Original Airdate: March 8, 1994

Your Hosts are Joey Styles and Shane Douglas from the studio

Handicap Match: 911 v Mikey Whipwreck and Paul Lauria: From Philadelphia Pennsylvania on March 5 1994. 911 hits them with a double chokeslam right away, and pins Whipwreck with an arrogant cover at 0:18. Afterwards, 911 chokeslams a few ring crew guys, as the crowd loses their minds. 911 was a such a limited, nothing worker, but Paul Heyman’s booking of him was so good that he made him into an act people were going crazy for. He literally had one move! DUD

Ian Rotten and Axel Rotten v Johnny Hotbody and Tony Stetson: From Philly on March 6. Tony tries controlling early, but gets dumped, and the Rotten’s work him over. He looks for a tag, but Hotbody is annoyed with him, and refuses it. Hotbody finally accepts it, but only after Stetson rakes Axel’s eyes. Hotbody with a nice clothesline for two, but Axel manages a drop-toehold, and he passes to Ian. Ian with a double-arm DDT, and a side suplex follows. Good execution on both moves. Ian dumps him to the outside and dives from the apron, but Hotbody dodges, and Ian hits the guardrail. That allows Hotbody a suplex on the floor, and inside, Hotbody works a camel clutch… though Ian is so fat that he can’t really properly take it. Hotbody with a front-powerslam for two, and a vertical superplex follows. Tag to Tony, but they waste so much time talking about it that Axel makes an illegal switch, and hooks Stetson in a schoolboy at 7:43. This was a lot better than I expected it to be, with hard work all around, and some surprisingly good execution from Bad Breed. * ½ 

Sandman likes to smack his woman around

Sandman v Chad Austin: From Philly on March 5, and presented in sepia tone. Odd. Sandman is now dressed more closely to the iconic version of the character, but still no cane, beer can, or the entrance spiel. Sandman with a DDT at 0:14. They announce it as ‘nine seconds,’ so clearly they hired the WWF’s old timekeeper. Afterwards, Peaches is out to try and stop Sandman from continuing the attack, so he threatens to slap her around again. That draws Tommy Cairo out to try and cool things down, but Sandman drops him with a DDT, as Peaches begs for mercy. DUD

The Bruise Brothers v Hack Meyers and Bob Starr: From Philly on March 6. The action starts in the aisle, as the Brothers attack with chairs before their opponents even get to the ring. Inside, the beating continues, and a double big boot finishes at 1:17. DUD

ECW Tag Team Title Match: Kevin Sullivan and Tazmaniac v Public Enemy: From March 6 in Philly. A big brawl right away, no surprise. Sullivan finds a hammer to beat on Rocco Rock with, and Tazmaniac slams Johnny Grunge through a table, as Douglas calls for ‘four or five’ referees for tag matches. No wonder Gorilla ruled that Shawn Michaels should forfeit the Intercontinental title to him. The champs dominate, but the Bruise Brothers run out, and Rock ends up pinning Sullivan in the chaos to win the title at 2:36. A real epic. DUD

Outside the building, the Enemy dive into a car, and drive off into the night

Backstage, Sullivan and Tazmaniac are fuming, and introduce Crash the Terminator as their backup. I never realized Hugh Morrus wrestled in ECW

Road Warrior Hawk music video

Pitbull music video

Road Warrior Hawk v Pitbull: From Philly on March 6. Hawk shoves him around, and lands a jumping shoulderblock early. A gutwrench slam sets up a fistdrop for two, so Pitbull throws a clothesline. He hammers Hawk, but a cross corner whip backfires when Hawk rebounds with a clothesline. Hawk goes up with a flying clothesline from there, and good night at 1:51. Afterwards, Public Enemy run in to attack Hawk, but Sullivan and Tazmanaic are out with weapons to continue their assault. And then Douglas runs in to attack them, but Terry Funk shows up with a ladder, and it’s a big brawl. I’m having trouble remembering who is a heel and who is a babyface with this promotion. DUD

BUExperience: This show regularly varies wildly in quality, but this was one of the good ones.