Dark Pegasus Video Review: ECW Hardcore TV (01.07.96)

ECW Hardcore TV (01.07.96) by J.D. Dunn More from “Holiday Hell.” January 7, 1996 From Queens, N.Y.. Your host is Joey Styles. Recap of the Raven-Dreamer feud in 1995. Raven brings in former fat girl Beulah McGuillicutty as part of the Nest. Stevie strangles her, but it’s all just a ruse to get Dreamer to come out and save her, so Stevie can superkick him. Dreamer piledrove Beulah to get revenge. That led to Raven breaking Dreamer’s fingers. The feud continued with “the Chairshot Heard ‘Round the World” and various other things. Recap of Cactus Jack helping Mikey Whipwreck win the TV and Tag Titles and then helping himself to the other half of the tag titles. He offers Mikey a spot in Raven’s stable, but neither Mikey nor Raven want that. Taz (w/Bill Alphonso) vs. Koji Nakagawa. Nakagawa is from FMW. Alphonso slaps Nakagawa in the face, knowing Taz has his back. Taz no-sells EVERYTHING and drops Nakagawa on his neck with a Tazplex. Won’t be seein’ him no more. He adds a Half-Nelson Suplex (also called the Tazplex by Styles) and finishes with the Tazmission at 2:28. Total destruction. This was entertaining like a Goldberg squash. Just total annihilation. Fonzie tries to pick a fight with a fan and gets dragged away by Taz. 3/4* Upcoming show hype! Bruiser Mastino vs. El Puerto Ricano. Mastino is the former Mantaur in the WWF. The crowd is all over him, of course. He’s actually not a bad wrestler for a big guy. By that, I mean he does actual wrestling moves like suplexes instead of just fat-guy stuff. PR hits a series of missile dropkicks, but Mastino won’t go down. He catches Ricano on the fourth try and powerslams him for the win at 3:13. The slaughter continues after the bell, so 911 comes out and chokeslams Mastino. Fonzie runs out to chastise 911 drawing out Todd Gordon to brawl with Fonzie. Taz returns to separate them, and Taz goes toe-to-toe with 911. That should have been a big money match, but ego got in the way. 1/2* A bunch of guys come out to separate Mastino, Gordon, Taz, Ricano, Fonzie and 911. When the smoke clears, the Dudleys, Richards and Meanie are the only ones left. Bubba dances for the fans. He should do that more in TNA. See, the Dudleys were followers of Raven too, but Richards and Meanie didn’t like them. We fade out with no idea what’s going on. I guess that’s Paul’s idea of “episodic TV.” Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven (w/Stevie Richards, the Blue Meanie & Beulah McGuillicutty). Richards comes out to tell Dreamer that Raven can’t wrestle because he broke his… um — let’s see, what would be a good excuse – his leg! Tommy ain’t buyin’ it, though. Meanie attacks Dreamer but eats a DDT and gets pinned. Stevie gets more of the same. Dreamer goes after Beulah, but Raven emerges and jumps him from behind. I know. I’m shocked too. Raven puts Dreamer through a table with a running plancha. Tommy goes nuts on Raven and Stevie with DDTs. That leads to a brawl all the way out to Queens Boulevard. I AM QUEENS BOULEVARD! Both guys are bloody. Nothing happens out on the street, so they brawl back to the ring. The ref gets bumped on a flying forearm. Well, at least it was a manly bump. Beulah tries to spray Dreamer in the face, but he ducks out of the way, and Raven takes a faceful of hairspray. Stevie goes to check on Raven and gets DDTd because Raven can’t see who he’s hitting. DDT to Raven. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Dreamer puts him in the tree-of-woe and starts punching him in the nuts. That sets up a piledriver as the ref recovers. Dreamer gets a chair from the audience and tries a Stinger Splash with it. Raven pulls the ref in the way *again*. Stevie runs in and Steviekicks Dreamer, setting up a Meaniesault. Dreamer rolls out of the way, but Raven jumps him and hits the Raven Effect DDT for the win at 12:20. The match is just okay, but all the stuff surrounding it with the feud and booking make it the spotlight of the show. **3/4 Various promos from everybody. Shane Douglas suddenly pops up to correct Stevie Richards’ grammar. See, he used to be Dean Douglas in the WWF and… well. You know the rest.

The 411: Ah, now this is more like it. The Dreamer-Raven feud is the signature rivalry throughout ECW's history, and it's no surprise that things went south once it was over. This match was just a blip on the radar, but an entertaining blip.
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]