ECW: Barbed Wire, Hoodies, & Chokeslams
June 17, 1995
Philadelphia, PA
ECW Arena

The current ECW Champs were as follows:
ECW World Champion: The Sandman (4/15/1995)
ECW World Tag Team Champions: Public Enemy (4/8/1995)
ECW World TV Champion: Eddie Guerrero (4/8/1995)

Your host is Joey Styles.

• The Broad Street Bully vs. The New Jersey Devil
  

This is shortly after the 1995 NHL eastern conference finals when the NJ Devils defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in six games, so Paul E offers their city some release. BSB is Tony Stetson, in case you care. It’s a REAL short hockey fight as Stetson pins the devil after a good pummeling in 17 seconds. The NJ Devil attacks the BSB afterwards with a hockey stick, so 911 helps him out with a CHOKESLAM or two or three or four.

• Mikey Whipwreck vs. Val Puccio
  

The skinny on Val Puccio is that he’s just a very large man. I know, puns are not my specialty. Since Mikey can’t really do anything with this guy, Whipwreck kicks him in the balls six times and drops him for a DDT to get the win in 3:11.

• Hack Meyers vs. The Vampire Warrior
  

Since when did Hack Meyers adorn the gay biker look? Anyways, Vampire Warrior is the future Gangrel in his ECW debut. All I knew of him before this was that he was the Black Phantom jobber over on Raw. I guess he’s part of a package deal – you want Luna, you got to bring David Heath along too. Right? I mean, that’s GOT to be the only reason he’s here. Strong tie-up to start. Warrior dumps out Hack for a big dive off the top. Back in, Meyers mounts his comeback and legdrops Vampire on the bottom rope. Now Meyers misses a corner charge and takes the IMPLANT DDT for the win. (2:41) Just a quick semi-squash to put over the WO-YAH. Joey Styles says the only two men who know how to do the DDT that well are Tommy Dreamer and Raven. Hmmm. ½*

Next thing we know, Vampire Warrior is hanging around Stevie Richards. Tommy Dreamer doesn’t exactly care for this pairing. Vampire Warrior actually admits that Luna is his wife and that he’s here to get Dreamer’s hands off his woman. YEEEEEEEE! And so, an impromptu match begins.

• Tommy Dreamer (w/Luna Vachon) vs. The Vampire Warrior
  

VW beats Dreamer up the aisle and gives him a bulldog on the concrete. Luna tries to save her new fella by swinging a chair at V-dub, but it doesn’t really work out. Back inside, Dreamer whacks WO-YAH in the nuts and the face with a skillet. Joey – “Welcome to ECW!” Dreamer beats Robert Pattinson with weapons all over the ECW arena. They even head over to the Eagle’s Nest for a spell. Back to the ring, Bela Lugosi IMPLANT DDTs Dreamer on a flattened table. He wants to DDT Dreamer on a unfolded chair, but Dreamer backdrops out and then uses the chair to spring off for a terrible-looking DDT to get the win. (7:06) So long, Vampire Warrior. *½

Elsewhere, Todd Gordon and Bill Alfonso get into a shoving match. The crowd EATS it up.

• 911 (w/Paul E. Dangerously) vs. Jungle Jim Steele
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Beulah McGillicutty (w/Raven & Stevie Richards) vs. Luna Vachon
  

Beulah comes out of her shirt and the flannel wrapped around her hips to reveal an Everlast leotard. Stevie completely flips out. She’s also said to have come from the pages of Penthouse magazine. After the bell sounds, Stevie comes up from behind and decks Luna with a chair to give Beulah the easy pinfall in a matter of seconds. With that over with, Raven gives Luna a DDT and continues the beatdown, which brings out Tommy Dreamer. He’s already in bad shape after his match with Gangrel, so he’s no match for a fresh Raven. After a DDT, it looks like Raven even breaks some of Tommy’s fingers. Raven is STILL not done. He handcuffs Luna crucifixion-style to the middle rope and as he goes to whack her with the chair, he notices Dreamer as slid over to protect and whacks Tommy anyways.

• 2 Cold Scorpio & the ALL-NEW Taz (w/Paul E. Dangerously) vs. The Pitbulls & Raven (w/Stevie Richards)
  

Dreamer was supposed to team with Scorpio and Taz, but obviously that can’t happen now. Hack Meyers comes out and cleans house on the heels before Scorpio and Taz arrive, but senior ref Bill Alfonso tells us that Meyers can’t compete since he is not scheduled to be a part of this match. SHAZAM! Taz takes his time getting out to the ring leaving Scorpio alone with Raven and the Pitbulls, but makes up for lost time by showing us he’s a suplex machine. Once things settle down, Scorpio tries to do some of his signature moves and can’t because Pitbull #2 isn’t very good at taking them. Moving on. Taz becomes *your* face-in-peril. He low blows Raven to get close to a tag, but Pitbull #2 cuts him off just in time. He powerslams Taz and lets Raven cover him for two. Taz-Plex sets up the HOT TAG TO SCORPIO! SAVATE KICKS FOR EVERYBODY! Beautiful Moonsault on Pitbull #2 gets 1-2-NO! Meanwhile on the floor, Paul E points out some chick at ringside that we will come to know as Francine holding a I <3 Stevie Richards sign. Back in the ring, Taz picks up Pitbull #2 for a release German suplex while Scorpio is up top calling for the 450 Splash. That’s not cool, bro. Taz gets decked from behind by the Pitbulls, but Scorpio flies down with a clothesline to take them both out. Elsewhere, Raven sees Stevie talking to Francine and slaps him across the face. He grabs Beulah by the hair and takes her with him and Stevie backstage. The Pitbulls look to finish off Taz, but they can’t stop wondering what happened to their master Raven. With Pitbull #2 up in the corner, Taz backdrops Pitbull #1 away and gives #2 a belly to belly superplex for 1-2-3. (12:50) Very angle-driven match, which was nice because the Pitbulls really aren’t that good for long matches. And yes, 13 minutes is long for the Pitbulls. **

• ECW World Tag Team Champions The Public Enemy vs. Bad Breed
  

Ian Rotten was supposed to the mystery partner for Axl, which reunites Bad Breed despite the fact that they have been beating the heck out of each other for six months. Unfortunately, Bill Alfonso sticks to the rules and states that Axl and Ian CANNOT team up together since they lost a match to the Pitbulls where the stipulations said if they lost, they could no longer wrestle together in ECW. That happened way back in November 1994 = an incredible seven months ago! That’s a really long time! Since Fonzie won’t let them battle TPE, Axl decides to fight Ian again. They brawl through the crowd and just as it appears we are done here, the Gangstas New Jack and Mustafa Saed make the jump from SMW to ECW to attack Public Enemy leaving them in a bloody mess! Finally, Todd Gordon and Philly’s finest come down to arrest the Gangstas and they immediately assume the position. HA! This draws a huge amount of boos from the crowd, showing us that ECW just might have found its latest babyface tag team.

• ECW World Champion The Sandman (w/Woman) vs. Cactus Jack – Barbed Wire Match

Cactus wears a cool Bruiser Brody and Stan Hansen t-shirt under his flannel. Sandman is a little reluctant to join Cactus inside the ring, but who can blame him. When he finally gets inside, they tie-up and Cactus tries to use Sandman’s own momentum to send him into the barbed wire. Somehow, Sandman has enough of his wits to avoid the wire. Cactus attempts to just whip him into the wire, but Sandman slides out and meets with Woman for a beer and a smoke. Back inside, Cactus nearly gets Sandman’s face on the wire when Woman whacks him in the ankle he hurt LAST MONTH with the Singapore cane. Cactus takes the first plunge into the wire. Sandman picks him up and hangs Cactus out to dry on the barbed wire. ECW! ECW! ECW! With the wire hanging low towards the mat, Sandman drapes Cactus on the wire and delivers a legdrop. Now they start ripping up each other’s bicep with the wire. Sandman gets his shirt torn off and takes a chairshot to the skull. That just pisses off Sandman as he wraps some wire around Jack’s face. Somehow, a cheese grater comes out and helps Cactus. Sandman low blows Cactus to come back and atomic drops him on the barbed wire. Cactus rallies back with a quick DDT on the chair and then legdrops the chair on Sandman’s face. What’s left of the barbed wire roll comes out where Sandman misses an elbow drop. Cactus cuts off some barbed wire and wraps it around his arm for the Cactus Elbow. Back in, a series of chairshots put Sandman down and exhausts Cactus to the point he collapses as well. Cactus barely gets up just before the ten count and is announced as the winner and NEW ECW champion at 17:31. A Dusty Finish in ECW? Here comes Bill Alfonso to say that the title can’t change hands on a ten-count. Therefore, he orders this match to continue! This leads to a ref fight that when Cactus tries to break up, Sandman comes up from behind and chokes Cactus down to the mat with the same piece of barbed wire Cactus had around his arm earlier. The original ref wants to call for the bell, but Bill Alfonso lets the choking continue a LITTLE too long there. When Cactus won’t pass out, Sandman heaves him out to the floor where Bill Alfonso concludes that Cactus can no longer continue awarding the match to the Sandman. (19:47) ECW Commissioner Todd Gordon finally has had enough of Alfonso. He’s ready to fight, but gets blindsided with a clothesline. Once they all leave, Cactus is left wobbling around in the ring wrapped in barbed wire. He gets a standing ovation from the crowd as he walks to the back on his own. Not a very good match by Ricky Steamboat standards, but the story told is definitely VINTAGE ECW, and the story is what I enjoyed here. *½

Final Thoughts: This was interesting angle development-wise, but sorely lacking in the in-ring department. There’s no Eddie, Dean, or Shane around to pick things up asterisk-wise. Anyways, an interesting and somewhat entertaining two-hour program. That’s really the best way I can put it. Thumbs in the middle for Barbed Wire, Hoodies, and Chokeslams.