NWA (ECW) Eastern Championship Wrestling (March 15, 1994)

 

Original Airdate: March 15, 1994

Your Host is Joey Styles from the studio

Paul E Dangerously promises that Sabu will defend the ECW Television title against his ‘old nemesis’ Tazmaniac tonight. He’s already an old nemesis by 1994? What was he by 1997? Ancient?

Shane Douglas introduces Public Enemy as his backup against Terry Funk

Sandman and Jimmy Snuka v Tommy Cairo and Tommy Dreamer: From Philadelphia Pennsylvania on March 6 1994. Sandman starts with Cairo, and immediately pounds him into the heel corner for a tag to Snuka. Snuka comes in with a clothesline, but loses a criss cross, and Cairo throws a clothesline of his own, followed by a bodyslam. The video quality here is terrible, with everything having a pinkish glow. Cairo with a takedown for two, and a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Cairo lands a spinheel kick, but he fails to cut the ring in half as he passes to Dreamer, and Snuka is able to tag as well. Dreamer takes his frustration at that out on Sandman for a bit, but gets distracted by Snuka, and Sandman clips his leg. That allows the heels to take control, and they work on Dreamer. Dreamer fights Sandman off with a belly-to-belly suplex to allow the tag to Cairo, and Cairo comes in with another spinheel kick. Cairo with his own belly-to-belly suplex, and a German suplex gets him two when Snuka breaks the count. That draws Dreamer in, and Roseanne Barr the door! Dreamer holds Snuka in a sleeper, but fails to help Cairo, who Sandman clobbers for the pin at 5:30 - despite Dreamer looking right at them. This was mostly a professional level match. ¾*

Tod Gordon is at the Valley Forge Music Fair, doing what anyone does there: talk ECW

Matty in the House catches up with Mr. Hughes, who doesn’t say shit. Did he think he was a cop?

Mr. Hughes v Billy Firehawk: From Philadelphia Pennsylvania on March 6 1994. I get why the WWF took a shot on Hughes in 1993, but why the hell they brought him back in 1997 becomes increasingly confusing after watching this run. Hughes with a scrapbuster at 1:55. Someone order squash? DUD

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Rocco Rock, Johnny Grunge, and Shane Douglas v Terry Funk, Kevin Sullivan, and Crash the Terminator: From March 6 in Philly. After much debate, Rock and Sullivan start. Kevin hammers him, but Rock counters a tilt-a-whirl with an armdrag. He wastes time gloating, however, and Sullivan hits him with a few clotheslines to put Rocco on the outside. Tag to Crash for a powerslam on an incoming Rock, and tag to Funk for a bodyslam to set up a flying moonsault, but Shane knocks him off the top before he can dive. Crash goes up with a flying moonsault of his own (though only his head actually connects to any part of Rock’s body), and the heels continue to brutalize Rocco. Funk with a piledriver for two, but Terry gets caught in the wrong corner, and clobbered. The heels work Terry over, and Douglas spams piledrivers, but Funk just keeps coming. Everyone comes in, and Roseanne Barr the door, we’ve got a kettle on! Sullivan hits Grunge with a piledriver at 9:24. If you played a piledriver drinking game, this match would have killed you. ¾*

Matty is at the Music Fair as well, cosplaying as Bret Hart cosplaying as Tod Pettengill

ECW Television Title Match: Sabu v Tazmaniac: From March 6 in Philly. They brawl on the floor right away, and Tazmaniac sends him into the guardrail. Inside, Tazmaniac keeps unloading, but a charge misses, and the challenger takes a spill to the outside. Sabu is on him with a springboard moonsault press into the crowd (with Tazmaniac kindly moving the rail to accommodate his dive, what a nice guy), but a corner splash misses on the way back in, and Tazmaniac overhead suplexes him over the top. Tazmaniac follows for a whip into the rail, and a headbutt gets him two on the way back in. Tazmaniac with a snapmare into a cross-armbreaker, but he can’t hold him, and Sabu fights to a vertical base. Sabu grabs a side-headlock, but Tazmaniac quickly side suplexes his way out. Elbowdrop, but Sabu dodges, and hits a slingshot legdrop for two. Sabu goes to a front-facelock, then shifts to a reverse chinlock, but Tazmaniac uses an electric chair to escape for two. Sabu tries another headlock, but Tazmaniac is ready with the side suplex again, only for Sabu to topple him for two. Sabu with a springboard leg lariat in the corner, but an attempt to use a chair gets reversed, and Tazmaniac goes to a grapevine. Sabu counters to a stepover toehold, but Tazmaniac escapes, so Sabu bodyslams him. Again, setting up a springboard somersault senton splash, but it misses. That allows Tazmaniac a suplex, but he’s too battered to follow up, and Sabu dropkicks him. Sabu dumps him to the outside to put on a table, but a somersault plancha misses, and Sabu goes through it. Inside, Sabu tries a moonsault, but Tazmaniac superplexes him to win the title at 7:08. This felt like it might have been heavily edited, but if it was, the final product was a good match, especially for this promotion in this period. ***

BUExperience: Can’t complain about the main event this week.