ECW: Hardcore Heaven
August 13, 1994
Philadelphia, PA
ECW Arena

The current ECW Champs were as follows:
ECW Champion: Shane Douglas (3/26/1994)
ECW Tag Team Champions: The Public Enemy (3/6/1994)
ECW TV Champion: Mikey Whipwreck (5/13/1994)

Your host is Joey Styles.

• Rockin’ Rebel vs. Hack Meyers
  

Rebel turned on Hack Meyers at the Heat Wave show to begin this little feud. Pretty pedestrian match as Rebel keeps lifting Hack up off the pin. It appears Hack is actually starting to get over with the crowd yelling “SHAH!” along with his chops. Hack falls back on Rebel when he tries a back suplex for the pin. (4:35) What more can I say. ½*

• Chad Austin vs. Tommy Cairo
  

Austin starts posing like he’s got a great physique so Joey makes a “Vince on Trial” joke. Cairo destroys Austin for several moves with basic power moves. He makes a mistake by going to the top and misses a flying spinning heel kick. Cairo kicks out of a flying sunset flip, so Austin cradles Cairo near the ropes and uses them for leverage to get the cheap 1-2-3. (4:41) Alright. ¾*

• ECW TV Champion Mikey Whipwreck vs. Jason – No DQ Match
  

Jason finally gets his shot to beat up Mikey. Despite being a manager with a bod, Jason can wrestle. He lets his cockiness get in the way of the match early on though and that allows Whipwreck to deliver a rare offensive flurry. The crowd eats it up as Mikey baseball slides Jason into the guardrail. He tries a double sledge off the apron, but Jason kicks him on the way down. Jason legdrops Whipwreck through a table and suplexes Mikey back into the ring from the apron. Whipwreck fights out of a bunch of chinlocks and gains several nearfalls. He plays dead when Jason thinks he’s countered an O’Connor roll and gets another nearfall with an inside cradle. Pretty cool. Lots of back and forth advantages in the small package ends with an enziguri to Mikey. Doctorbomb sets up a running elbow drop for 1-2-NO! Jason dumps Whipwreck on the floor, but Mikey reverses a whip into the guardrail. Whipwreck has some fun with a chair, but misses a flying body press back inside. He kicks away a chairshot and grabs the chair, but Jason ducks and the ref gets decked. He covers Jason as the ref crawls and counts to three. Okay, Mikey retains, right? Nope, Jason’s henchmen The Pitbulls attack and crotch Mikey into the ringpost. They put Jason on top and wake the ref up who counts another 1-2-3. This time he calls for the bell and the TV title goes to a battered and bloody Jason. (12:13) Funny how Mikey became the underdog in a match against a manager. For them being able to make that happen alone, this was a good match. **½

• The Tazmaniac & Jimmy Snuka vs. The Pitbulls
  

Taz and Snuka storm the ring to get at the Pitbulls. Before the Pitbulls can do anything, Taz overhead suplexes Pitbull #2 for a SUPERFLY SPLASH from Snuka, which gets the three-count. (0:40) Only in ECW. No rating.

• 911 (w/Paul E. Dangerously) vs. Mr. Hughes (w/Shane Douglas & Angel)
  

Big staredown to start. They both run the ropes and collide – nobody moves. Hughes delivers a chokeslam to 911 and since he’s not the master of said move, 911 kicks out at two. Hughes goes for the ANGRY BLACKMAN SLAM, but 911 refuses and gives Hughes the CHOKESLAM. That gets the three-count. (3:38) Afterwards, Angel receives a 911 CHOKESLAM. Paul E tells Shane Douglas to come and get his smelly dead fish out of the ring. Oh, Paul. Aside from the misogynistic ending, not that bad to watch. *

• Tommy Dreamer vs. The Sandman (w/Woman) – Singapore Cane Match

   

Dreamer comes up from under the ring and destroys everybody with the Singapore cane, including the ref, which gets him DQ’ed. (1:00) DQ’s in weapons matches? Yeah, that makes sense. Woman lights up and sticks the ciggy poo in Sandman’s mouth to revive him. Okay, that was kind of cool. CRAP

• ECW Tag Team Champions The Public Enemy vs. Axl & Ian Rotten – Basebrawl Match
  

Okay so, the team who makes the other team stay down for a ten-count gets to use a baseball bat in order gain the pinfall to win the match. LOTS of stalling to start as Public Enemy teases a walkout when the crowd won’t stop chanting “jailbird” at Rocco Rock. Not sure what that’s about. Ian takes a couple moonsaults from Rocco. He comes back and cleans house on Public Enemy to allow Axl to backdrop him out on top of them. Rocco tries to walk on the guardrail and of course gets crotched. Chairs and skillets get involved. Finally we see something from Johnny Grunge as he takes on Axl. He delivers a Curt Hennig neck snap and tags in Rocco for a jumping heel kick. Axl blocks a sunset flip and tags Ian. PE give him Demolition’s finisher. Even though it looks like Grunge could just pin Ian, he settles for a six-count. Axl gets the hot tag and Rocco takes a whip into a chairshot. BRITISH INVASION (doomsday device) earns Bad Breed the ten-count they wanted and now they got baseball bats! Grunge and Axl basebrawl it out in the ring while Rocco puts Ian presumably through a table as he jumps off a scaffold. More mindless brawling. Back in the ring, PE puts Axl away with the DRIVE BY for the win. (19:53) Typical ECW brawl where it might come across better in person than it would on TV. Otherwise, kind of a junk match. *½

• Sabu (w/Paul E. Dangerously & 911) vs. Too Cold Scorpio
  

ECW starts Scorpio’s run with the company the right way with a match with their top draw. Scorpio tries to just keep a grasp hold of crazy Sabu to start. Sabu tries a sunset flip powerbomb to the floor and fails, so Scorpio kicks him back into the guardrail and hits a pescado. Back in, a slingshot splash gets two. Scorpio drops Sabu right on his head with a nasty piledriver. Somersault legdrop from Scorpio connects for two. Sabu brings his knees up to block a flying splash and delivers a split-legged moonsault for two. Slingshot legdrop earns another nearfall. Sabu hits a terribly slow rana on Scorpio. How much effect could that really have on him? Scorpio comes back with a sitout powerbomb for 1-2-NO! Scorpio whiffs on a flying forearm and rolls out to the floor. Paul E tosses in a chair, so Sabu springs off the chair and somersault dives on Scorpio. Sabu follows that up by putting Scorpio through a table with a tope suicida. He tries it again with Scorpio sitting in a chair, but Scorpio moves at the last second. Back inside, Sabu reverses a tombstone piledriver onto the chair! Sabu misses a Moonsault, allowing Scorpio to regroup and connect with a slingshot 450 splash for 1-2-NO! Scorpio hits the TUMBLEWEED! Cover, 1-2-NO! Now Scorpio misses a Moonsault and takes a CANNONBALLLLLL from Sabu. Down on the floor, Sabu gives Scorpio a piledriver and then splashes him through a table all while Paul E distracts the ref. 911 rolls both men back in as Sabu covers for 1-2-NO! This time, 911 distracts the ref as Paul E helps out with the ARABIAN FACEBUSTER. That will do. (18:29) Sabu is really lucky that Paul E books him with such talented people. Otherwise, I can’t imagine him ever having a good match with anybody who wasn’t already something special. ***1/4

• Cactus Jack vs. Terry Funk
  

Cactus Jack considers having a wonderful scientific match with Terry Funk because lately he values family entertainment. You know what, nahhhhh. It’s a friendly “punch you in the face now, shake your hand later” brawl that only Cactus and Funk could have until Public Enemy run in and spoil the show. (4:46) Since they despise Terry Funk so much, they put Cactus on top of him so he can get the pinfall, except Johnny Grunge is the one counting the pin since he’s already decked the ref so it’s completely unofficial. Cactus denies the win and gets clobbered by the PE. They think they’re done, so Cactus and Terry head to the back and beat them back into the ring. DOUBLE-ARM DDT to Johnny Grunge! PILEDRIVER to Rocco Rock! Ha, Terry puts Rocco on top of Grunge and counts the pin. Terry calls for a chair and everybody in the ECW Arena starts throwing in their chairs into the ring on top of the defeated Public Enemy. This is one of those classic ECW moments that you’re either a fan or not. *

In two weeks, Shane Douglas would make history by winning the NWA world title and then abandoning the most respected belt in the business in favor of his own ECW heavyweight title. On the same show, Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck would defeat Public Enemy for ECW tag team belts. Anybody know why Cactus won the belts with Mikey Whipwreck instead of Terry Funk?

Final Thoughts: Not too much to love here aside from the Scorpio/Sabu match. Whipwreck/Jason was good and worth a look too. It’s a quick show and two likeable matches is better than some ECW shows. I’ll go with a kind ‘thumbs in the middle’ for Hardcore Heaven ’94.