ECW on MTV #9
Friday, July 5th, 2001
Attendance: 820 – Dartmouth Alumni Gymnasium – Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
TV Rating: 0.92 on MTV
DARK MATCH:
CROWBAR DEF. CHAZ TAYLOR – PIN – 5:04
RATING: 31
FULL-SHOW RECAP»» TAG TEAM TITLE PICTURE: CHALLENGERS TO BE DECIDED TONIGHT»» Paul Heyman came to the ring to start tonight’s ECW on MTV and his announcement made the people sure the night will be very eventful. Heyman said that the situation regarding the ECW World Tag Team Championship contendership must be resolved… and that will be tonight!
»» Heyman announced a Beat The Clock Jeopardy for tonight. Both the Diamond Bodies and The Sandman & Tommy Dreamer will be put to test against two other teams. The one with the best winning time gets a title shot at Heat Wave! If any of the two can’t win, the team who beat them or the one who prevent them to beat the clock will get a title shot too.
MATCH #1 – ECW WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP – 10-MIN. TIME LIMIT
MIKEY WHIPWRECK © (w/SINISTER MINISTER) vs. DANNY DORING (w/ROADKILL)Doring was the first challenger in Mikey’s TV title reign and it was a nice agitated match. Neither got a definitive advantage and the bout was open until the end. Relutantly, Sinister Minister let Mikey use the scepter but some other objects were used. In the end, Mikey hit a Whipper Snapper to retain his title.
RESULT: MIKEY WHIPWRECK DEF. DANNY DORING – PIN – STILL CHAMPION! – 6:49
RATING: 50»» ROADKILL IS NEXT»» Mikey Whipwreck will have another challenger next week and his name is… Roadkill! Danny Doring’s partner helped his buddy after the loss, but since he was in the ring, he challenged Mikey, who didn’t thought much of it… but Sinister Minister accepted it anyway. Then, Minister talked Mikey into shaking hands with Roadkill and Danny, which he did, unlike the week before.
»» RVD: SERIES STARTS IN THE MAIN EVENT»» On Video, Rob Van Dam once again apologized for being on his way out of ECW. However, he claimed to be very excited for his Last F’N Show Series that starts tonight. During the promo, RVD also announced who he’s facing for the first match in the main event: none other than Billy Kidman! Van Dam made the promise: «Oh, we’re blowing the damn roof tonight. You can mark the words of Rob… Van… Dam!»
MATCH #2 – BEAT THE CLOCK JEOPARDY
BALLS MAHONEY & SPIKE DUDLEY vs. CHRIS CANDIDO & SIMON DIAMOND [DIAMOND BODIES] (w/SUNNY DAWN)The Diamond Bodies trash-talked their way into the ring and were interrupted by Balls and Spike before trash-talking in the ring too. What followed? The usual Bodies’ shenanigans with their valets stealing the attention and, somehow, being saved each time the victims tried to get their revenge.
Diamond bled after denting Balls’ custom chair with one of his stiff chair shots that shocked Dawn. In the end, Spike tried to hit an Acid Drop on Candido through a table, which Candido avoided. Later, with Chris on top, he went for a Super Frankensteiner, but ultimately ended up taking a huge Blond Bomb that exploded the table. Diamond hit Balls with a trashcan. 1…2…3! Candido pins Spike at 7:28, which is the time to beat.
RESULT: CHRIS CANDIDO DEF. SPIKE DUDLEY – PIN – 7:28
RATING: 54»» DIAMOND BODIES + I.Q. = JEOPARDY SUCCESS?»» After the match, the Diamond Bodies took a microphone and verbally bashed Paul Heyman (of course) for the Beat The Clock Jeopardy idea, claiming they called their shot and deserve to face the Impact Players for the belts first. They were not interrupted but joined… by The Insurance of Quality.
»» Kanyon rejoiced about seeing Balls and Spike beaten and let Candido, Diamond and Sunny Dawn know they’re facing Sandman and Dreamer. The Bodies’ confidence rose, because, according to them, they know the I.Q. will take care of business.
MATCH #3 – BEAT THE CLOCK (7:28) JEOPARDY
C.W. ANDERSON & SEAN O’HAIRE [INSURANCE OF QUALITY] (w/CHRIS KANYON) vs. THE SANDMAN & TOMMY DREAMERThe match started as a regular one, without much chaos, but it evolved into exactly what we expected. The crowd was very happy watching Sandman cane the life out of Anderson and O’Haire and even Kanyon at ringside got some. Sandman and Dreamer got aware that they had a time to beat, so they tried a lot of pin attempts.
Near the end, they seemed to have a big chance, managing to neutralize O’Haire before Dreamer hit a DDT on Anderson! 1…2…, but no! And then things went south, as Sunny Dawn appeared at ringside to distract the referee, HC Loc. Sandman was at the top to hit a Rolling Rock, but he saw Sunny Dawn doing their thing. They were able to run away, but Dreamer and Sandman couldn’t beat the clock, as the time expired soon after.
RESULT: TIME LIMIT DRAW – NEW CONTENDERS: DIAMOND BODIES, INSURANCE OF QUALITY – 7:28
RATING: 57»» MAKING AN IMPACT TO STOP THE BRAWL»» After the match, The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer were… pissed! HC Loc was the first to pay, being caned by Sandman. The I.Q. were having a blast as they secured Diamond Bodies a shot at Heat Wave, but also a title shot for themselves. But a brawl erupted as Sandman and Dreamer wanted their revenge.
»» Sooner, rather than later, it became a huge brawl as Candido, Diamond, Balls and Spike joined the fray to side with their respective allies. With some cheap shots, it seemed like the bad guys were going to come out out top, but then… Francine showed up on the stage.
»» And then… Justin Credible and Lance Storm jumped the Diamond Bodies from behind! Stereo Piledrivers ended the brawl as the I.Q. thought it was better to run as they could, separated and through the crowd. The Impact Players, Dreamer and Sandman traded stares, but the moment was respectful, as somehow the champions are making themselves be respected and fan favorites themselves.
»» AWESOME: ALWAYS READY FOR CORINO»» Mike Awesome was the star of a video promo. In the video, the ECW World Heavyweight Champion criticized Steve Corino’s confrontational ways of last week and claimed to be ready to give Corino another title match whenever he wants to. The champion even said he doesn’t have a title defense scheduled for Heat Wave just yet.
»» A CRUISERWEIGHT TOURNAMENT? NO!»» Paul Heyman returned to the ring and he had another very important announcement! First, he addressed Awesome’s promo, though, hinting that «(…) we’ll have to see» about another Awesome vs. Corino at taking place at Heat Wave.
»» Then, Heyman announced that next week, we’ll witness the beginning of a tournament to stop all the talk and actually name the best “cruiserweight” in ECW. Plus, Heyman announced that the winner of the 12-man tournament will be crowned the first-ever… not ECW Cruiserweight Champion… but ECW Junior Heavyweight Champion! The finals take place at Heat Wave.
MATCH #4 – THE LAST F’N SHOW SERIES 1/5
BILLY KIDMAN vs. ROB VAN DAMWhat a match we got to watch in the main event! The two teamed up last week, but this week Kidman had the honor of facing RVD in one of his last ECW bouts. The two had a back-and-forth counter and pace-filled encounter that got extreme thanks to… Kidman, who grabbed the first chair, “sabu-ing” it against Van Dam.
The match continued and the two high-flyers needed something to fly high: a ladder (with two sides of stairs!!!) got into the equation. BK was the first to dive from it with a Crossbody, but the count only got to two. Then the bout spilled to ringside and when we got back to the ring, Van Dam thought he had Kidman done, so he got on top of the ladder for a high-footing Five! Star!... Kidman wasn’t there anymore and he met RVD at the top. After some battle, RVD hit a huge Sunset Flip Powerbomb! 1…2… Kidman showed guts and kicked out!
Nothing was at stake, but it surely looked like it. The two kept fighting but the Powerbomb had taken a toll on Kidman. RVD got the better of a sequence with a Neckbreaker and he Scoop Slammed BK on the ladder, then climbing the top corner to hit the… FIVE! STAR! FROG! SPLASH! 1…2…3! RVD won a fantastic match.
RESULT: ROB VAN DAM DEF. BILLY KIDMAN – PIN – 12:35
RATING: 66»» RVD: WHO’S THE FINAL DANCE WITH?»» After the match, Rob Van Dam thanked Billy Kidman for a hell of a match while the crowd gave them a standing ovation. And then, he proceeded to make a big reveal to close a night full of them. He announced who will his Last F’N Show Match 5 opponent at Heat Wave:
»» «Truth be told, man, I look at the amazing f’n roster we have… but there’s one guy that stands out and that’s the guy I want to have my final match with… we had 30 singles matches in this damn ring… four of them on pay-per-view…». The crowd knew exactly who RVD was talking about: Jerry Lynn will be the fifth opponent of Van Dam in the series.
»» Lynn came out and got face-to-face with RVD in the ring and he claimed he’s already looking forward to Heat Wave. The two shook hands after Van Dam extended his hand, but RVD knows Jerry all too well, so he asked him not to spoil any of his matches until Heat Wave.
FINAL RATING: 65
BOOKER'S TAKEAWAY:Happy with the show. It was, admittedly, a super-filled one, with lots of announcements and every match meaning something. I thought about saving the RVD vs. Lynn reveal for next week, but it seemed to make sense to do it after the first match of the series.
Ratings continue to go up, both quality and tv-wise, which is great.
ECW Heat Wave - Saturday, July 27th 2001 - New York, New York, USA
The card so farECW World Tag Team ChampionshipJustin Credible and Lance Storm [Impact Players] (c) vs. Chris Candido and Simon Diamond [Diamond Bodies]
ECW Junior Heavyweight Championship - Tournament FinalWinner of Semi-Final #1 vs Winner of Semi-Final #2
Singles Match - The Last F'n Show - Match #5Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn
