Hello and welcome back to the long running series in which this site latches on to the At Odds with Wrestling podcast to discuss assigned wrestling viewing. This week strays from this year’s themes to instead watch and discuss a classic episode of ECW on the air date anniversary. I knew we were watching ECW this week but otherwise began watching this episode with no information. I watched as much ECW as I could back then, so chances were I had seen this before but not in near 30 years. 

The episode begins with a Cactus Jack promo. Over recent episodes of the podcast, we have listened to previous promos from Cactus Jack so I knew there would be something good here. Over the years though I had forgotten how good it was about to be. 

“I made my bed of nails.” Damn. That’s such a hard line. That should be stolen for movies and brandished on t-shirts. I’m already enjoying the promo. Then a moment of deep memory washed over me. Holy shit, this is the “cane Dewey” promo. 

It still holds up. Nothing but goosebumps for this promo. The only negative thing that can be said is the damage this promo does when held up to promos today. I don’t care what company, nothing feels this raw or real from anyone. This is supposed to be the villain, and yet he is now the most sympathetic character in the company. Burn down a house, break a bracelet, but threatening to cane a three year old will solicit more emotions than property damage ever could. 

The ECW opening comes on and it’s still amazing. There was many a night that I had already fallen asleep but this theme music woke me back up. I also always set up a recording on the VCR to watch the next morning. Despite knowing how the sausage of ECW was made, it’s still an awesome opening. 

Joey Styles opens the show and catches us up on all things ECW. Last week, news, matches, etc. Last week the Pitbulls said if they lose their match this week they will split up. Also, Big Dick Dudley was hit by a truck? Or he was in the truck? Or he was the truck? Either way, his leg is going to be messed up for a long time. 

3 Way Dance commercial. I never ordered directly from the TV show but I did get a catalog in the mail and picked up some tapes along the way. 

Tommy Dreamer promo. Someone really needed to tell Tommy how to dress. He looks like a big country dude from NXT when this promo starts. He’s trying to match Cactus’s promo but that is an impossible task in this rivalry. Tommy still looks like the pretty boy here. He’s showing passion and clearly loves ECW, but something is falling flat. 

However, here comes the magic of ECW. This promo highlighting everything happening with Tommy, Cactus, and Raven set to a grossly underrated song, “I Don’t Know Anything” by Mad Season makes Dreamer an icon. The beaten down every man, the last hope against evil, the by-God I’m starting to believe Innovator of Violence. 

Also, damn Beulah was so hot. 

Shiwala commercial. 

“Dudley. It’s not just a name, it’s a way of life.” Dudley Dudley is talking about the family. Big Dick Dudley growls. Sign Guy Dudley is there but never named. This is the debut of Dances with Dudley. There’s some clips of the Dudleys as this, I guess you can call it a promo, continues on. The Dudleys aren’t yet what they would become. This feels like filler, and I believe it’s only here to remind the audience of who the Dudleys are before they show up later. 

Hype Central with Lance Wright. “That’s not hype. That’s a fact.” This sounds similar to that’s not a prediction, it’s a spoiler. 

Alright, it’s time for the main event of the show. Also the only match on the show. It is a two out of three falls match though, so does that count as three matches? I fell for all of this when I was younger and as much as I am enjoying it now there is definitely a feeling of “do not look behind the curtain”. 

Raven comes out with Beulah. The Pitbulls are out next. Beulah says that Stevie Richards broke his arm last night so to make this match fair it should be two out of three falls. I’m not sure I get the logic there. If Raven is wrestling solo or Stevie is injured, do they have a better chance of winning if the match is not one fall to a finish? Were they hoping to make the Pitbulls tired? Sometimes the set up doesn’t matter. The action is what’s important. This stipulation is really just a McGuffin for the more important events of the match. 

Oh shit, I forgot this is the double dog collar match. 

Raven and Pitbull #2 are chained up. Pitbull #1 runs to the locker room. #2 is choking Raven over the top rope. Joey Styles is calling the action on his own, and there’s a ton of action to call. #1 finds Stevie Richards in the back and brings him out. Stevie is already bleeding. There’s a table in the ring. Raven piledrives #2 through a table in the ring. Raven gets the first fall. Wow, that was quick. 

Hostile City Showdown 95 commercial. 

Back to the ring for the second fall. The chains attaching all four men keep getting crossed. This gets more and more dangerous as the match goes on. #2 is on the top turnbuckle. #1 feeds Stevie to #2. #2 powerbombs Stevie off the top rope though the table, while still chained up too! The Pitbulls get the second fall. 

Is this match edited or were the two falls actually that fast? 

There’s a commercial for a weed trimmer, which seems relevant to advertise on a show with so many trimmed bushes. 

ECW instant replay of the first two falls. There’s not a ton of wrestling on this one hour show but they make what is on here count. 

The match spills out into the crowd, which has to be incredibly difficult to do safely while attached with the chains. Stevie is bleeding all over the place. Someone is setting up a table for Pitbull #2. Raven shoves #2 into the referee. That ends up being a big bump. The Dudleys come out to beat up the Pitbulls. The Dudleys set the Pitbulls up for super power bombs, but the referee is out. The Pitbulls pop right back up. Each Pitbull grabs one tag team champion each and one Dudley each and they hit double DDTs. Dudley Dudley and DW Dudley take successive super bombs. Raven gets a super bomb that is supposed to put him through the table but instead he cracks his skull against the side of that same table. That was horrible to watch. The referee wakes up but his delay has given Raven time to kick out. I keep seeing these two police officers in the crowd and I can’t imagine a more difficult assignment. Raven pulls out a rag and Styles implies that it is full of ether. “Take that crap to Smokey Mountain.” You know, no one keeps chanting for that promotion but I bet there was some stuff that would be fun to watch now. Raven hits a leg drop off the top and #2 is on top of two tables on the floor. They don’t break and both men slide off. Raven gets up again and puts #2 through the bottom (second) table with an elbow drop. #2 is out but could Raven get back into the ring while still attached to #2? Oh, Raven unhooks himself. Well, that solves things. #1 suplexes Stevie through a table but Raven breaks up the count.  

Beulah gets into the ring. The paramedics come out to check on #2. Francine comes out of somewhere and jumps in to attack Beulah. Raven pulls Francine away and hits her with a DDT. Everyone is down. #2 is leaving on a stretcher. Tommy Dreamer comes out. Dreamer gets in and puts one of the dog collars on, the one also attached to Raven. They brawl. Dreamer hits Raven with a DDT and makes the pin. Is this a dream fulfilled? Do we have new tag team champions? 

Bill Alfonso comes out. Big Dick Dudley lumbers to the ring. Alfonso says this match is over because the Pitbulls can’t continue. Tod Gordon comes out and says the match is still on. Tod restarts the match. Big Dick with one arm and one leg choke slams Dreamer. Bill says its okay because the chokeslam is legal for tonight. This immediately brings out 911. 911 hits a massive chokeslam on Alfonso. Pitbull #2 is back out. The Pitbulls get both Raven and Richard’s up for a super duper bomb. Tod counts the pin. Both Raven and Stevie are pinned. We have new tag team champions. 911, Tommy Dreamer, and the Pitbulls pose to celebrate. 

This might be a perfect ECW episode, because it encapsulates what ECW really offered. There is a ton of filler here. Commercials for themselves, promos that mean nothing, recaps, plus commercials for other products. There is an all time great promo that resonates through the ages. There is an over booked, violent, absurd and yet engrossing exciting title match. A generation later, fans remember a crazy match ending and cane Dewey. All of the filler, all the stuff that didn’t matter, is forgotten. Thus leaving only positive memories. As long as the car drive home is spent discussing the awesome things that took place, the “mid” stuff is irrelevant.  No show can be or has to be perfect. Only the memories have to hold that distinction.