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Post by maddog1981 on Dec 26, 2011 18:36:28 GMT -4
ECW Hardcore TV Episode 1:
Results:
ECW Tag Team Champions Super Destroyers d. Hell Riders w/ a running senton splash in a non-title match Tommy Cairo d. Sal Bellomo by count out - TV Title Tournament Rockin' Rebel d. Tony Stetson w/ a roll up with his feet on the ropes Jimmy Snuka d. Larry Winters w/ the Superfly Splash - TV Title Tournament Sal Bellomo d. unknown w/ a slam
General Thoughts:
I was pleasantly surprised by this show. I expected it to be rough to get through but it was actually a mostly enjoyable 45 minutes. The matches weren't anything to seek out but minus the opener most of the matches were solid bouts.
I really wanted to hate the Cairo/Bellomo match but it won me over. Sal is a pretty solid worker even if the gimmick of a wildman Roman centurian is kind of stupid.
The announcers are the fucking worst. Jay Sulli and Stevie Wonderful are the worst announcers I've ever heard. Jay is PBP and barely talks for the entire show. Wonderful is a little better but essentially has to be the PBP man while doing his heel stuff. He's also pretty useless. They couldn't remember what was going on with the TV Title tournament at any given moment. Funk was the third man in the booth and sounded like he really didn't want to be there. Todd Gordon had to correct him at one point on the tournament.
Funk tried to interview people at really weird times. He wanted to interview Tommy Cairo before his match while Sal Bellomo was standing in the ring and awkwardly waiting.
Sal Bellomo's manager is the Cosmic Commander and he's trying really hard to rip off the Grand Wizard.
Snuka turned heel on the show and became the first member of Hotstuff International. Gilbert came out and said Snuka was going to be the next TV Champion. That really didn't make sense considering both men are in the tournament.
The Hell Riders might be the most useless wrestlers I've ever seen.
The Super Destroyers aren't the Irwins, they're two local guys that are mostly known for being a bit of trivia for being early ECW Tag Team Champions.
You can really see the Memphis flavor on this show. They did a music hype video that was straight out of the Memphis book.
The booking in general was good for the show. They made sure to point out that Rockin' Rebel was the No. 1 Contender for the ECW Heavyweight Title and that Tony Stetson and Larry Winters were the No. 1 Contenders for the ECW Tag Team Titles. They did a good job introducing their main players and have 3 feuds right off the bat as they had Terry Funk and Eddie Gilbert exchange words and then Funk jawed about Gilbert for the rest of the night.
Overall, a solid effort of a show. I wanted to start ECW from episode 1 and was kind of dreading the early episodes but now I'm actually kind of looking forward to the next episode. I'll be interesting to see how the promotion unfolds over the next year of television.
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Post by maddog1981 on Dec 26, 2011 19:33:27 GMT -4
Watching episode 2 right now. The Sandman as a surfer is fucking creepy as hell. He's a smiling do-gooder of a babyface.
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Post by maddog1981 on Dec 26, 2011 19:40:51 GMT -4
Jay Sulli: "He's a fine wrestler that goes both ways!" in reference to the Sandman.
Wonderful: "Goes both ways huh?"
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Post by lwffantrav on Dec 26, 2011 20:41:05 GMT -4
Watching episode 2 right now. The Sandman as a surfer is fucking creepy as hell. He's a smiling do-gooder of a babyface.
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Post by maddog1981 on Dec 26, 2011 21:24:43 GMT -4
ECW Hardcore TV Episode 2:
Results:
Glen Osbourne d. Johnny Hotbody w/ a top rope splash Larry Winters and Tony Stetson d. Chris Michaels and Samoan Warrior w/ the Veg-O-Matic ECW Heavyweight Title Match: the Sandman (c) d. the Kodiak Bear w/ the Sandman Sleeper Eddie Gilbert d. J.T. Smith w/ a pair of knuckles Tommy Cairo d. Super Ninja w/ a German suplex
General Thoughts:
Holy shit the announcers are brutal. Funk isn't much better on commentary but Sulli and Wonderful are terrible. They really derail the product. It's like they know what they're supposed to be doing but they're so terrible they fuck it up.
Lot of outside interference this week. 2 of the matches had outside interference and Gilbert needed nefarious methods to win. It was a little excessive considering this is just the second episode of the show.
The jobbers were really useless this week. Chris Michaels was doing some weird shit in his match and was trying to steal some heat for himself during the match.
There was some weak follow up on the angles. Snuka joined Hotstuff International last week and it was mentioned in passing during Gilbert's match.
Glen Osbourne was doing an Ultimate Warrior rip off gimmick right down to his interview style. He unfortunately doesn't wrestle like it.
They've done a pretty good job of showing off some of the more local names. Stetson, Winters and Cairo have all benefitted from some good showcase matches. Stetson and Winters lost in singles matches last week but got built back up this week with a nice tag tam squash victory.
This show was really kind of uneventful. They seemed more content to push things with interference in matches and brief interactions more than really going anywhere with the angles. That's okay for an hour show but I think a little hard to sit through for episode two.
No Rockin' Rebel at all. Kind of surprising since he's the No. 1 Contender for the ECW Heavyweight Title.
Overall, this episode was okay. I enjoyed last week's show a little more as it felt like there was more content. This week's show felt more like a filler episode. The big strength through the first two episodes is they've built about 5 feuds with a minimal amount of effort. I'm still more enthusiastic about these early episodes than I was before.
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Post by maddog1981 on Dec 27, 2011 20:00:57 GMT -4
Rockin' Rebel just broke the surfboard over Sandman's head... nice!
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Post by maddog1981 on Dec 27, 2011 20:21:27 GMT -4
ECW Hardcore TV Episode 3:
Results:
ECW Tag Team Title Match: Super Destroyers (c) d. Super Ninja and the Canadian Wolfman w/ a standing senton splash Jimmy Snuka d. Tommy Cairo w/ the Superfly Splash Glen Osbourne d. Eddie Gilbert by DQ Rockin' Rebel d. unknown w/ a spinebuster ECW TV Title Match: Jimmy Snuka d. Glen Osbourne w/ the Superfly Splash
General Thoughts:
Snuka either had too much coke before the show this week or not enough... I can't really tell...
Jay Sulli and Todd Gordon should never be allowed to be the only two men in the booth. Actually, they shouldn't be allowed near the booth period.
Jay Sulli sounds like Daffy Duck when he says "despicable".
Way too much Eddie Gilbert this week. He cut like three promos, wrestled a match and got involved in both of Snuka's matches. None of it was bad or anything but he was just a constant throughout the entire show and it got tiresome.
Rockin' Rebel really seems like a quality worker from top to bottom.
With that said, Rebel's stuff this week was great. His confrontations with Peaches were great and smashing the surfboard over the Sandman's head was highlight reel quality stuff. I think I'll be rooting for him in the Sandman feud just because he's fucking awesome.
The Funk/Gilbert stuff was pretty good. Funk's crazy old man promo was great.
Great episode this week. The wrestling was kind of stinky but the angles were great. I'm really hyped up for episode 4 now.
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Post by maddog1981 on Jan 3, 2012 9:05:29 GMT -4
ECW Hardcore TV Episode 4:
Results:
ECW Tag Team Title Match: Larry Winters and Tony Stetson d. Super Destroyers (c) by DQ Suicide Blondes d. Tommy Cairo and J.T. Smith when Candido rolls up Smith Don Muraco and Jimmy Snuka d. Hell Riders with a diving headbutt ECW Heavyweight Title Match: Sandman (c) d. Rockin' Rebel by DQ
General Thoughts:
Really bad episode this time out. The matches were weak and the angles were weak.
Don Muraco and Jimmy Snuka cut two promos and I couldn't understand what either were talking about. There's a reason Don Muraco always had managers in the WWF. I think they were trying to talk about how it was a big deal that they were teaming together.
Blondes vs. Smith/Cairo was almost completely derailed by Cairo. He was just off his game and made things look weird. They was a spot where Candido missed a dropkick and Cairo just kind of awkwardly stood around and it looked like a blown spot. Cairo also just kind of awkwardly hung out on the apron while J.T. Smith was getting pinned.
Jay Sulli pops his "P"s and it's really distracting.
The announcers announced Tommy Cairo vs. Sal Bellomo and it was actually Glen Osbourne vs. Sal Bellomo. Eddie Gilbert interrupted that match and it never happened.
They pick really weird spots for promos. Guys will just walk out while two unrelated guys are getting ready to wrestle and just start yapping. It's kind of annoying.
Nothing really happened. Don Muraco debuted and that was really it. This was kind of a weird follow up to last week where tons of stuff happened.
Both title matches ended in DQs... boo...
Larry Winters is kind of awkward in the ring. All of his moves look really low impact.
Overall, the worst episode of the first 4.
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Post by maddog1981 on Jan 11, 2012 21:47:52 GMT -4
ECW Hardcore TV Episode 5:
Hosts are Jay Sulli and Stevie Wonderful
Results:
Eddie Gilbert and Don Muraco d. J.T. Smith and Glen Osbourne when Paul E Dangerously ran in. ECW Tag Team Title Match: Super Destroyers (c) d. Tony Stetson and Larry Winters when Destroyer uses a weapon and falls on top for the pin. ECW Heavyweight Title Match: the Sandman (c) d. Sal Bellomo by count out Rockin' Rebel d. Ernesto Benefico w/ a spinebuster Tommy Cairo d. Jonathan Hotbody with a roll up
General Thoughts:
I think Jay Sulli and Stevie Wonderful have either gotten a little better or beaten me down greatly. I can't think of anything they did that was completely awful this episode and they even had a couple of moments of good banter. They still suck though.
God is Tommy Cairo worthless. He blows most of the spots he's involved in or just looks awkward as hell most of the time.
Hotstuff International is getting interesting. Paul E. Dangerously, Eddie Gilbert, Jimmy Snuka and Don Muraco. That's quite the heel group for ECW. Solid enough debut for Dangerously. Historically huge moment here as ECW gets it's main piece to becoming big.
Funk cut a pretty good promo as he was talking to the ass of a horse like it was Eddie Gilbert. Funk's been cutting good promos since Gilbert attacked him a few weeks back.
Sandman/Bellomo was brutally bad. I mean just absolutely brutal. Sandman's gimmick doesn't really work. He's trying to be a technical wrestler and just doesn't have the skills for it. This also had a BS count out as Sal just walked away.
Robbins got a little arrogant thinking Stetson/Winters were going to put their hair on the line to get a rematch and eagerly signed the contract. He didn't realize there was also a stipulation for him to be handcuffed to Tommy Cairo.
Rebel and Hotbody have been the stand outs of these episodes. Both are really solid in the ring and I had really never seen any work much before.
Overall, bad episode. The angles were solid but the matches just sucked ass.
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Post by wildfire on Jan 11, 2012 22:09:57 GMT -4
Really enjoying reading your summaries
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Post by maddog1981 on Jan 22, 2012 18:26:18 GMT -4
ECW Hardcore TV Episode 6:
Hosts are Jay Sulli and Stevie Wonderful
Results:
ECW Tag Team Title Match (hair vs. titles): Larry Winters and Tony Stetson d. Super Destroyers (c) when Stetson hits a Destroyer with the cane to win the ECW Tag Team Titles Eddie Gilbert and Jimmy Snuka d. J.T. Smith and Max Thrasher with the Superfly Leap Sal Bellomo d. Canadian Wolfman with a big splash Lumberjack Match: Jonathan Hotbody d. Tommy Cairo after Hunter Q. Robbins III interfered. The Sandman and Peaches vs. Rockin' Rebel and Tigra was cut off by the end of the show.
General Thoughts:
Paul E. Dangerously sat in as the color commentator for like 3/4 of the show and it dramatically improved things. Dangerously really put in solid effort and it even lifted Sulli a few degrees.
Funk cut another great crazy old man promo on his farm this week. He ended up running over a dummy on his tractor.
Look of recaps this week. This is only episode 6 and it feels like they're throwing a lot of filler in.
Stetson/Winters vs. Super Destroyers was a fun match. A lot of brawling as Stetson/Winters had enough of the dirty tactics and just took it to the Destroyers and won the belts this time out.
Jimmy Snuka wasn't trying at all this week.
It looks like they're starting to give Sal Bellomo a bit of a push on tv. He cut another promo this week. It was kind of wacky but I enjoyed it.
The Sandman really sucks when he's trying to be a standard wrestler in the ring. He just doesn't execute well and it feels like he gets lost easily in the ring.
Paul E. Dangerously did a great promo to start the show. He ripped Todd Gordon pretty hard with "the only person that's ever disappointed me was your wife last night." Nice...
Boy, I've said this before but I'll say it again, Tommy Cairo sure does suck and he's managed to be completely useless for like 4 straight episodes worth of this tv.
It's kind of stupid to introduce the Suicide Blondes as a brand new tag team 3 weeks ago and then have them involved in singles matches for 2 of the next 3 weeks. Just saying.
This was the last episode of the current tv tapings so they were pushing the next tv tapings extra hard. They announced that Jimmy Snuka is defending the TV Title against Road Warrior Hawk. Wow, that's going to be brutal unless Snuka is excited to work with a big name opponent. The Sandman vs. Don Muraco and Ivan Koloff and his nephew were announced to be taking on Tony Stetson and Larry Winters. Don't get excited, it's the shitty nephew that worked with him in SMW.
Overall, this was a pretty good episode. The inring stuff wasn't good or anything but it wasn't the garbage of previous weeks. Honestly, Dangerously alone knocked this show up several notches with his promos and commentary. The angles are moving along nicely too as I'm looking forward to Funk and Gilbert finally squaring off.
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Post by maddog1981 on Dec 8, 2013 13:15:22 GMT -4
I'm rewatching these and I'm going to pick up with episode 7 when I get there. That will probably be Tuesday or Thursday when I get there.
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Post by maddog1981 on Dec 8, 2013 13:17:21 GMT -4
For a little tease here's the card for ECW Hardcore TV #7:
Eddie Gilbert and Jimmy Snuka vs. JT Smith and Maxx Thrasher
ECW Tag Team Title Match: Tony Stetson and Larry Winters (c) vs. Suicide Blondes
Glenn Osbourne vs. Don Muraco
ECW Heavyweight Title Match: Sandman (c) vs. Rockin' Rebel
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