ECW on MTV #4
Friday, May 26th, 2001
Attendance: 959 – Michigan State Fairgrounds – Detroit, Michigan, USA
TV Rating: 0.77 on MTV
DARK MATCH:
DANNY DORING & ROADKILL DEF. DANNY DOMINION & DERRICK NEIKIRK – PIN – 6:10
RATING: 35
FULL-SHOW RECAP»» A SPECIAL ENFORCER, BUT FOR WHICH SIDE?»» The show opened with Paul Heyman in the ring. There, the ECW matchmaker said what everyone thought: Shane McMahon’s group needs to be stopped and he must not spoil the ECW World Title Tournament – to his credit, so far he didn’t… – so, tomorrow at Hardcore Heaven, there will be a special enforcer in the Final: none other than…
»» Shane McMahon interrupted Paul Heyman right when he was delivering the final line, and he had an announcement himself: as the owner of ECW, he’s the one that needs to assure everything runs smoothly in the Tournament, as that’s his own interest. So, he’s the one who needs to announce a special enforcer: someone that contacted him after being contacted by Heyman: ‘The Franchise’, Shane Douglas! He joins the other Shane, laughing at Heyman. The former ECW World Champion has double-crossed ECW! Honestly, Heyman was the fool here for trusting him, wasn’t he?
MATCH #1
AIR PARIS & AJ STYLES & ELIX SKIPPER vs. KID KASH & SPIKE DUDLEY & SUPER CRAZYA fun 6-man tag team match in which the former WCW Cruiserweights squared off against ECW’s more established ones. There were some flash aerial moves by Skipper and Aerial Assault, but ultimately they weren’t able to stop their opponents from taking the win. Super Crazy pinned Air Paris following a Trifecta Moonsault.
RESULT: CRAZY DEF. PARIS – PIN – 6:51
RATING: 47»» MCMAHON’S LAUGHING GANG»» In the locker room, Shane McMahon was getting along with his buddies: Rhyno, Chris Candido and Simon Diamond (along with their valets Dawn Marie and Tammy Lynn Sytch) and, of course, Shane Douglas. They were laughing it out about double-crossing Paul Heyman and the ECW fans.
»» Amidst that talk, McMahon named Candido and Diamond’s team: Diamond Bodies. They loved it, of course, and so did… Sunny Dawn, that being the way he baptized the Dawn and Tammy’s duo.
MATCH #2 – ECW WORLD TITLE TOURNAMENT 2nd ROUND
STEVE CORINO vs. TERRY FUNKCorino was probably the favorite in the odds, given that Funk is 56 and Corino is a hell of a wrestler himself. The thing is ‘The Funker’ is one of the most passionate men in wrestling and will bleed for ECW any day. He feels like he needs to get to the Final and be the one to take the World Title away from Rhyno.
Both guys were close to take the win in various occasions and weren’t shy in using weapons, including a bullrope, a nod to Corino’s former feud with fellow Texan Dusty Rhodes. Funk was bleeding in the end, but he was aware enough to roll Corino for a surprising three count. The old man advances!
RESULT: TERRY FUNK DEF. STEVE CORINO – PIN – 9:36
RATING: 48»» CORINO TO GET TESTED AT HARDCORE HEAVEN»» After the bell, Terry Funk waited for Steve Corino with his arm extended, thinking ‘The King of Old School’ would shake his hand again. He didn’t. Corino was visibly pissed and shouted at Funk, who threatened to punch him and continued to doubt Steve’s solo run and no-affiliation with McMahon. Corino maintained his position and things got even more heated.
»» Paul Heyman interrupted the scene, also doubting Funk due to Corino’s past. So, he said that tomorrow, at Hardcore Heaven, Corino will have another exhibition match against an ECW original: Balls Mahoney.
»» I.Q., MEET THE ‘GANGSTAS’»» Backstage, Chris Kanyon, C.W. Anderson and Sean O’Haire, the Insurance of Quality, were hanging out, talking trash about ECW, with Kanyon saying that he needs Anderson to properly introduce him to the gangster-filled jungle that ECW is.
»» «Did I hea’ a dam’ thing about gangstas?», the accent left no room for wondering: the F.B.I. were around: Big Vito, Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke confronted the I.Q. Things didn’t get physical but insults were thrown, with the two factions agreeing about facing each other tomorrow at Hardcore Heaven.
MATCH #3 – ECW WORLD TITLE TOURNAMENT 2nd ROUND
LANCE STORM vs. ROB VAN DAMAn absolute banger between two of ECW’s finest in-ring performers. RVD had the crowd in his favor, but he was also aware that Storm’s recent reunion with Justin Credible could mean that him or Francine could interfere in the match. Nonetheless, the two had a great technical bout with some fast counters and RVD’s touch of high-flying action, with only a chair being used in the mix, for Van Dam to hit his Van Daminator.
Near the end, Francine did try to interfere, but she was stopped when getting to the apron by… Mikey Whipwreck, who simply pulled her off, allowing RVD to capitalize with a Flying Thrust Kick and a Five Star Frog Splash to advance to the semis.
After the match, Justin Credible tried to get to Mikey, but RVD and Tajiri fended the Impact Players off.
RESULT: ROB VAN DAM DEF. LANCE STORM – PIN – 12:37
RATING: 74MATCH #4 – ECW WORLD TITLE TOURNAMENT 2nd ROUND
MIKE AWESOME vs. MIKEY WHIPWRECK (w/SINISTER MINISTER)Awesome was not in the mood to play. Or, at least, he was fully committed to book a spot in the semis. He dominated ECW’s underdog, getting most of the offense after almost being surprised by him in the beginning. The match ended after an Awesome Bomb through a table while Awesome looked dead in Minister’s eyes.
RESULT: MIKE AWESOME DEF. MIKEY WHIPWRECK – PIN – 5:19
RATING: 36»» DORING & ROADKILL: CHASING CHALLENGERS»» After the match, Awesome left and the Impact Players made their presence felt, jumping Mikey Whipwreck with a cane in hand. To the rescue, of course, came Yoshihiro Tajiri once again, armed with a chair, being partially able to even the ongoing brawl between the Players and the Unholy Alliance.
»» They were interrupted by… ECW World Tag Team Champions, Danny Doring and Roadkill, who called for attention and noted that some of the fire of that brawl should be saved for Hardcore Heaven, because the tag team division needs to be set on fire.
»» Paul Heyman didn’t need to hear more and came to scene, booking a 3-Way for the titles: tomorrow, we will see Doring and Roadkill defending against the Impact Players and the Unholy Alliance.
MATCH #5 – ECW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP - TOURNAMENT 2nd ROUND
RHYNO © vs. TOMMY DREAMERA PPV-worthy main event and a proper title defense. Dreamer, breathing ECW like no other, stood face-to-face with Rhyno and had full crowd support. The match was the usual between the two: violent, with Dreamer fighting with guts above anything else and Rhyno fueling off his raw power. Some weapons were used: Dreamer tried to “take the trash out” with a trashcan, Rhyno used some chairs and kicked out of a Piledriver that saw Dreamer putting his hands to his head in desperation.
In the end, some stiff chair shots and powerful moves set up for the trademark Gore through a cornered table. Rhyno finished the whole thing off with a Rhyno Driver onto the remains of said table and he goes to Hardcore Heaven as the ECW World Heavyweight Champion.
RESULT: RHYNO DEF. TOMMY DREAMER – PIN – STILL CHAMPION! – 10:57
RATING: 46»» THE CHAOS AND THE SWERVES»» After the bell, Shane McMahon came to the ring, cheering for Rhyno with a microphone in hand. The boos echoed and they became even louder when McMahon teased the rebranding of the championship to WWF Extreme Championship once again. Ugh… then, the low points became even lower as the… Diamond Bodies… stormed the ring, attacking a downed Tommy Dreamer.
»» That caused the ECW Originals: Rob Van Dam, Terry Funk and The Sandman to come to Dreamer’s rescue, creating a huge brawl between the three and McMahon’s side composing of Rhyno, Chris Candido and Simon Diamond. McMahon tried to evade chaos and then… Shane Douglas!
»» ‘The Franchise’ acted as McMahon’s bodyguard for some seconds before swerving everyone and hitting him with a Franchiser! Douglas stuck his middle fingers to McMahon, revealing that he’s in ECW’s side after all. The distraction created some room for the Originals to get the upper hand and Douglas was about to leave…
»» Until he was stopped by… Mike Awesome! Awesome hit him with a big Lariat and the brawl shifted to team McMahon again. Finally, Awesome and Shane shook hands and his team got the hell out of there. Swerve after swerve, one can’t surely predict what’s to happen at Hardcore Heaven!
FINAL RATING: 56
TOURNAMENT BRACKET
BOOKER'S TAKEAWAYFun fact: I'm liking the diary, hating the game save. I admit to not being a huge fan of the TEW angle mechanic and saves like the AJPW one were great for me because the angles were far more generic. Plus, the ratings seem really off here, but we'll see how it goes.
ECW Hardcore Heaven - Saturday, May 27th 2001 - Philadelphia, PA
Match card for predictionsECW World Heavyweight Championship - Tournament FinalWinner of Semi-Final #1 vs. Winner of Semi-Final #2
ECW World Title Tournament Semi-FinalMike Awesome vs. Terry Funk
ECW World Heavyweight Championship - Tournament Semi-FinalRhyno (c) vs. Rob Van Dam
ECW World Tag Team Championship - 3-Way DanceDanny Doring & Roadkill (c) vs. Justin Credible & Lance Storm [Impact Players] vs. Mikey Whipwreck & Yoshihiro Tajiri [Unholy Alliance]
Singles MatchBalls Mahoney vs. Steve Corino
6-Man Tag Team MatchBig Vito & Little Guido & Tony Mamaluke [F.B.I.] vs. Chris Kanyon & C.W. Anderson & Sean O'Haire [I.Q.]
Bonus:Will there be any other matches in the card? If you think so, name them and their result.
