ECW TV

taped 8/27/94

911 vs. DOINK THE CLOWN

Doink avoids him a couple of times, so it takes 911 a minute to grab him, but, once he does, Doink is finished. The first chokeslam was enough to do the job, but 911 adds two more, just for kicks.

TOMMY DREAMER vs. THE SANDMAN (Loser Gets Caned)

These two went on to become two of the biggest bump-takers in ECW, but they hadn’t reached that point yet, and it shows with the shape they’re in here, compared to a few years later. This is unique for a 1994 TV match. The WWF was a couple of years away from putting on matches of this sort (the closest from 1994 was probably Savage/Crush from WrestleMania X), and WCW saved this sort of stuff for PPV matches with Cactus Jack. This is over pretty quickly, although the commercial break may have chopped out a huge chunk of it. Sandman takes a few gratuitous bumps from Dreamer, but, the ref goes down and Woman gets involved, which leads to Sandman stealing the win. The caning segment lasts longer than the match. This is often cited as a landmark moment in ECW, and an important part in Dreamer’s career, but, it doesn’t really feel all that special.

Before the main event, we’re treated to a quick recap of how the finals came to be. Shane Douglas beat Taz and Dean Malenko. Scorpio beat Benoit, and beat 911 by count out. There’s not nearly enough of anything shown to gauge how good, or not-so-good it may have been, but, it’s safe to assume that Scorpio/911 wasn’t exactly a classic.

SHANE DOUGLAS vs. TOO COLD SCORPIO (NWA World Heavyweight Title Tournament Finals)

Considering that this was their third match of the night, it’s understandable that this doesn’t go for very long, and that neither really has a whole lot in the tank. Their mat sequences and wrestling exchanges show that they were specifically going out of their way to make this into a wrestling match, rather than the brawling, blood, and props that ECW was more famous for. They don’t do anything outright bad, nor stupid, but neither of them is very good either. The finish is fine, for the most part, although blowing off the Scorpio’s Tombstone leaves a bad taste. Rather than going right for the belly to belly after he wipes out on the moonsault, Shane could have sold the Tombstone longer before going for the finish. Shane wins the title, and then throws the belt down while giving the interview of his career.

Conclusion: For historical value, this is hard to steer clear of. But, it’s not exactly a shocker that it doesn’t live up to its reputation.