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/wrestling /Results /ECW in New York |
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/wrestling /Results /ECW in New York |
ECW in New York |
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| Guest columnist: Larry Musso | |
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Note from E.C. Ostermeyer: Once again, Wrestleline/Wrestlemanics Special Correspondent Larry Musso takes his life in his hands, and attends the gala two-night ECW debut in New York City, at the storied Hammerstein Ballroom, this past August 25th and 26th. The highlight of this two-day extravaganza was the tournament to crown the new ECW World Tag-team Champions. Anybody who attends one of these ECW functions knows that it's almost impossible to get a fix on all the action that's going on in the ring, much less take notes about what you're observing. Mr. Musso is one of that special breed of correspondent who, when confronted with the amazing product that ECW brings to the wrestling ring, is still able to recap the events exactly as he sees them. Remember, folks, what you read from him are events as they happened, interpreted on the spot, as it were. There is no rewind button to fall back on if you missed any of what goes on in the ring. And, since it's ECW, out of the ring as well. And now, here's Larry! I got to the Hammerstein Ballroom at about 5:15 PM, even though the doors didn't open until 7:15 PM. Got something to eat as soon as I arrived. While eating, I saw Spike Dudley, Sandman, and Bill Alfonso walk by the restaurant. After eating we got back in line just as they opened the doors. We took our seats in the first balcony, right next to a reporter from the (NY) "Daily News," who was doing a story on tonight's show. Let's hope it's positive. Match #1: Julio Dinero & EZ Money (w. Elektra & Chris Hamrick) d. Christian York and Joey Matthews. Before the match, Elektra was stuffing money down EZ's wrestling tights. Good opening moves in this match-up, and for a time, it appeared that York and Matthews were going to go all the way, with Matthews pinning Dinero in the ring. However, the referee was distracted by Christian York and EZ Money outside the ring, allowing Chris Hamrick to sneak in and nail Matthews with a guillotine leg-drop. Dinero gets the pin and the win. EX Money & Julio Dinero advance. Match #2: Danny Doring & Roadkill d. Da Baldies. Da Baldies got a huge pop when they were announced as being from the Bronx. A two-minute squash by Doring & Roadkill, ending with a "Buggy Bang" finisher for the win. Doring & Roadkill advance. Match #3: Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger (w/ C.W. Anderson) d. Nova & Chris Chetti. A decent match, with near falls occurring everywhere in the building. Swerve finish, however, with Chris Chetti's roundhouse kick getting ducked by Johnny Swinger and mistakenly connects with Nova's head. Double team by Swinger and Diamond nails Chetti with their "Problem Solver" finisher, getting the win. After the match, the New York crowd was raucously chanting "F*ck him up, Nova, f*ck him up!" Diamond & Swinger advance. Match #4: Yoshihiro Tajiri & Mikey Whipwreck (w/ Sinister Minister) d. the Full-Blooded Italians. If this match makes it to TV, folks, tape it! Easily the match of the night, as these guys tore the roof off the place! Guido and Tajiri started off the show with some great chain wrestling & mat moves, getting them a nice ovation. The live crowd atmosphere and all these appreciative fans are the reason I love ECW! After this, the fans were all on their feet and hollering for the rest of the match, and I couldn't take notes! Tajiri's kicks got an "Ooooohhhhh!, and "Holy Sh*t!" chants every time he connected! Tajiri won the match by pinning Guido, but I'm not sure how, as I was on my feet and cheering with everybody else! TNN opening: Joey Styles and Joel Gertner came out to start the TNN taping. Gertner's opening "monologue" went something like this: "I got my toes licked in the Bronx..." (Bronx fans cheered.) "I got my back rubbed in Staten Island..." (Islanders cheered.) "I got (blah, blah, blah) in Queens..." (More cheers.) "and (something that sounds disgusting) in Brooklyn..." (LOTS of hollering.) "... but the finest piece of ass I got, was right here in New York City..." (Crowd goes wild!) "...while looking for it with Mayor Rudy Giuliani!" (Crowd REALLY goes berserk!) Steve Corino came out to the ring, accompanied by Billy Corrigan of "Smashing Pumpkins." Taking the microphone, Corino said, " I cheated getting a pinfall victory over Tajiri, and I'm not gonna apologize for that. I cheated to get a pinfall victory opver Dusty Rhodes, and I'm not gonna apologize for that. I cheated to get a pinfall victory over Tommy Dreamer, and I'm NOT gonna apologize for THAT, either! And come tomorrow night, Justin Credible, I'm not gonna apologize for kicking your ass, right here in the middle of this ... very ... ring!" This brings out Lou E. Dangerously of Team Network, (to spoil my mark-out of Steve Corino.) Lou E. wallops Corrigan with the cell-phone, and is followed by Justin Credible, who punks out Corino with the Singapore cane. Match #5: Rhino & Justin Credible d. the Sandman & Willy Frazier. The Sandman's entrance and music RULES is all I have to say. Unfortunately, the music lasted longer than the match, and I couldn't see all of it, but Rhino gored somebody through a table, and got the pin pretty quick. Rhino & Justin Credible advance. Match #6: Jerry Lynn & Tommy Dreamer d. Rob Van Dam (w/ Bill Alfonso)& Kid Kash. A superb match, featuring each of the participants' signature move, except Kash's "Money Maker." Jerry Lynn got "Van Daminator-ed", Dreamer got the Five Star Frog Splash, but, unbelievably, managed to kick out! The match ended with Dreamer about to be "Van Terminator-ed", but Rhino and Justin Credible interfered, allowing Jerry Lynn to get the win with his Cradle Piledriver on RVD! Lynn & Dreamer advance. Semi-final matches are next. Match #7: Yoshihiro Tajiri & Mikey Whipwreck (w/ Sinister Minister) d. Julio Dinero & EZ Money (w/ Elektra & Chris Hamrick). Good match, noted for it's many double-team moves, along with the crowd being very into the participants. Hamrick took a hard bump onto the concrete floor at ringside. Again, Tajiri and Mikey tore the roof off the joint, and were the first team to make it to the final Three Way Dance. Outstanding! Match #8: Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger (w/ C.W. Anderson) d. Dany Doring & Roadkill. During this match, I was over talking to some friends from Poughkeepsie. Five minutes later, I got back to my seat the match was just finishing, and so I missed the whole thing! Simon & Swinger advance to the finals. Match #9: Tommy Dreamer & Jerry Lynn d. Rhino & Justin Credible. A decent match-up, with the crowd really getting into it. Rhino hit Dreamer with the piledriver through the table. Jerry Lynn got the win with his Cradle Piledriver on Justin Credible. Here's hoping we fans get to see a Jerry Lynn and Steve Corino bout at the "Anarchy Rulz" PPV! Belvis Wisley & the Wonder Twins came out, and got laid out, (all but the Prodigette) by a chair wielding Balls Mahoney! "ECW Hardcore TV" opening. Joey Styles came out by himself. He asked the crowd to cheer klike crazy so that they could show Madison Square Garden what they missed. We blew the roof off the place, just cheering like crazy! Styles also mentioned TNN, which got a "F*ck TNN! F*ck TNN!" chant going that everybody got into. Styles finished and left, as the ring crew completed setting up for the finale. Which was delayed as ECW Security ejected the whole top balcony. All of it! This prompted a spontaneous "Na na na naaa, na na na naaa, hey hey hey, Good-bye!" chant while the offenders were removed. Just remembered. There were these two kids who were assigned to clean the ring, and kept us entertained. One of them had to run around, cleaning all the ropes with a cloth. On every rope he cleaned, we all went "WOOOOOAAAAHHHH!" Then he tagged his partner with the ring-broom in! THIS prompted a "Sweep it up, asshole, sweep it up!" <Clap> <Clap> chant, that was so loud it made the ring sweeper more over then Justin Credible as far as crowd heat goes! (EC: Ouch! Hey, Larry, that'll leave a mark!) And finally, it was time for: Match # 10: ECW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Yoshihiro Tajiri & Mikey Whipwreck (w. the Sinister Minister) d. Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger (w/ C.W. Anderson) d. Tommy Dreamer & Jerry Lynn. (Use of "Three Way Dance" tag-team Rules.) Where to start?! They all took this match throughout the building, brawling through the crowd. Dreamer & Lynn were eliminated at about the ten-minute mark by Diamond & Swinger, when C.W. Anderson interfered with a chair shot. This left Diamond & Swinger facing Tajiri & Mikey Whipwreck for the Title belts. All the face wrestlers who were involved in the tag-team tourney came to ringside to watch, along with Jazz and EZ Money. Suspiciously, Nova failed to show. Tajiri blocked Anderson's interference, allowing Mikey to hit his signature "Whippersnapper" finisher for the win. The crowd was cheering like mad. After the match, all the faces entered the ring, and hoisted the victorious Tajiri and Mikey up on their shoulders! The crowd's cheers got even louder! A great finish to a great show! See you next time. Larry Musso
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