Hardcore TV (Episode #133)

November 7th, 1995

Do you remember where you were in November 1995?

This is getting pretty close to WWF Survivor Series(Diesel vs Bret in the MOTY), and WCW World War 3. Mikey Whipreck ended the Sandman's six month title reign at the last show with a little bit of help from Steve Austin(Carried Woman out of the Arena on his shoulders). We're getting real close to ECW November To Remember 95, which very well may be the best ECW show of all time, and one of the best wrestling shows of 1995 period. Lets turn the TV up real loud, and check this bad boy out.

We start off with a "Last week on ECW" segment showing highlights of Mikey winning the strap.

White Zombie intro video.

El Puerto Ricano vs. JT Smith

JT Smith comes out to the theme song from Rocky. I love it. Styles says that this is Ricano's second ECW match. Ricano is a jobber, and he was a pretty good one too. He always did his job, and made the main guys look really good.

JT Smith tries to catapult himself into the ring, but he stumbles and falls face first into the canvas.

Ricano hits a really good looking springboard moonsault off of the top rope. Smith stumbles out of the ring, and Ricano springs himself up to the top rope. Ricano leaps off with a nice suicide splash.

So far so good.

JT Smith with the low blow. Body Slam. JT tries to go up top for a moonsault, but he slips and falls.

He makes it look good. That was actually pretty funny.

Ricano tries a Thesz press, but Smith catches him in mid air. Smith tosses him over his head with a nice belly to belly. Smith lifts Ricano up into a powerbomb, bounces his body down off of the top rope, and then slams him down into the mat. Pretty cool version of the powerbomb, but that has to be VERY dangerous.

1, 2, 3 for JT Smith.

Out comes The Sandman. Sandman beats the shit out of everyone with the cane, pissed about losing his belt.

7/10

It was short, and it was a squash, but it was a different squash, and it was a fun little match. JT's slapstick antics were actually quite funny here. He made the slip ups look good. I laughed. Ricano looked pretty decent early on too. Not a bad match at all, but as short as it was this is about as high of a score as I can give it. Random Sandman cane down doesn't hurt it either.

Here we go with the commercial for the Enter Sandman vhs tape. Pretty cool little highlight that shows the double overhead belly to belly on the two jobbers from Taz, and clips of the Guerrero vs Jannetty match that wasn't even included on the tape.

Hardcore Hotline commercial. Like no other hotline in professional wrestling.

Lance Wright EC F'N W T-shirt commercial.

Dances with Dudley vs. Hack Meyers

Here we go with Dances with Dudley. He comes out to AC/DC's Highway to Hell. This is the Indian Dudley, who speaks fluent Spanish. The Storyline was that daddy Dudley was a traveling wrestler that got around. He supposedly made a stop at an Indian reservation, and begat Dances with Dudley.

Hack Myers is billed from the Last House on the Left.

It doesn't take long, and we have the classic "SHAH!" vs "SHIT!" exchanges. The crowd screams "SHAH!" along with every offensive maneuver from Myers, and "SHIT!" for every offensive move that Dudley does. Pretty funny stuff. Myers weathers a brief storm of punches and chops, and dominates Dudley for the clean win after about 3 minutes.

The Sandman comes out, and canes both men down with two canes in his hand. The Sandman asks the crowd if they want to see extreme. Sandman then screams out "SHAH!" into the microphone just before nailing Myers in the back with the canes. Sandman screams "SHIT!" into the microphone before cracking Dudley with the canes. He goes back and forth with this several times.

Sandman throws the canes down in anger, and turns around looking at the fans with that classic look on his face. The fans start chanting E! C! DUB!.

4/10

The match was really short with nothing going for it other than the crowd's antics. Sandman saved the day, and kept the score from dropping any lower for this segment. He's on a rampage after losing his belt. Woman is nowhere to be found yet in this episode.

Gangstas Paradise VHS commercial. I wish this was on youtube so I could show you guys how awesome this video is. The clip of 911 finally chokeslamming Bill Alphonso is just an epic moment. I should have rated that segment higher than what I did.

ECW Hardcore Hotline spot again.

The show cuts away to a clip of November to Remember 1994 to get us ready for the upcoming show. This is just too awesome to put into words. They show a clip of the opening ceremonies where a guitar player is opening the show with the National Anthem. The guy keeps messing the song up, and the crowd lets him have it. 911 comes out with Paul Heyman. 911 takes the dude's guitar, and gives it to Heyman, who jumps around acting stupid with it while 911 chokeslams the dude down into the floor. I love it.

Guns N Roses November Rain starts to play on as highlights play of the 1994 November to Remember. The Pitbulls beating Bad Breed, 2 Cold Scorpio defeating Mr. Hughes with a 450, Shane Douglas getting beat down by Ron Simmons, Dean Malenko going at it with the Tasmaniac(Awesome!), and Chris Benoit dropping Sabu on his head, breaking his neck.

911 chokeslams Chris Benoit. Nice.

The clip shows Public Enemy winning the Tag Straps from Mikey and Cactus, and Sandman in his blind angle where he canes the fuck out of Dreamer in the back of the head.

Lance Wright hyping up November to Remember. This guy is just fucking terrible, and was not a good fit in ECW at all. He looks like Richie Rich all grown up.

Guns N Roses plays on as Public Enemy cut a promo about an upcoming house show match. The Ultimate Jeopardy 95 show on Thanksgiving night, which I think was cancelled.

Graphics flash across the screen with the card for November to Remember, Raven & Cactus Jack against Tommy Dreamer & Terry Funk is advertised as the main event. They also plug Steve Austin's return to the ring from his injuries that ultimately led to him being fired by WCW. They replay Austin's excellent promo from atop the ladder at the last show.

They continue to plug and advertise November to Remember as Guns N Roses "November Rain" plays on through it's entirety. They advertise special guest ring announcer Buh Buh Ray Dudley. It's crazy how far Bully Ray has come. This was really his start.

Beulah's box commercial. Some kind of deal where you wrote letters to Beulah. Ok.

Hardcore Hotline spot again. Jesus.

Joey Styles goes over the stipulations for the next match as this song plays on in the background:



I love it. It doesn't get anymore 1995 than that my friends.

Ok, so the tag titles, and the TV title is all on the line in this match. It takes Joey Styles about 2 minutes to explain that somehow.

Alright, so "This is how we do it" is apparently Public Enemy's new entrance music. Grunge comes out waving his hands back and forth to the tune. Sandman comes to the ring. Johnny Grunge brawls with the Sandman to the back. Scorpio comes out with the TV belt around his waist. The TV belt was really the premier belt in ECW if you really think about it. Guys like Scorpio, Malenko, Guerrero, Jericho, and RVD dominated the TV title scene, where as guys like The Sandman and Raven were usually holding the World Title. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing really.

Flyboy Rocco Rock vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

Rocco Rock shines early on with a series of Swinging arm drags that send Scorpio to the outside. Scorpio misses a dive over the top. Rocco Rock with the frying pan. They take into the crowd hitting each other with drinks. They make their way to the Eagles Nest soundstage balcony.

Scorpio moonsaults Rocco Rock through two tables stacked on top of each other.

Yeah, this match is clipped all to hell.

They cut to the ring where Scorpio lands a belly to back suplex off the top. Scorpio with the Tombstone.

Scorpio lands a backflip legdrop, and gives up the pin after 1. Scorpio tries a Superplex, but Rocco pushes him off. Rocco lands a Shoulder Block off of the top for 2.

They clip away to later in the match. Rocco Rock Superplexes Scorpio off of the top down onto a table in the ring. The table doesn't break all the way through, and holy shit that looked like it really hurt bad.

Scorpio kicks out at 2.

The match cuts away again to later on in the match. Now we have a flaming table in the ring. Rocco does his "Drive By" Somersault Senton, but Scorpio moves out of the way. Rocco goes through the flaming table.

Scorpio helps put a fire out on Rocco Rock's back. They stop the match. Scorpio hands Rocco Rock his tag strap, and raises his hand like they are done, then all of a sudden Scorpio nails Rocco with a Lariat. Scorpio pins Rocco Rock to win the tag team titles.

Scorpio stands in the ring with The Sandman and Woman. Scorpio is holding three belts. The TV belt, and both tag belts. Scorpio gives Sandman the other tag team belt, and changes his name to 2 Gold Scorpio.

5.7/10

I kind of don't like this. Sandman and Scorpio are a pretty random pairing, not to mention Sandman was just given the belt without doing anything to earn it. Stuff like this is why I'm not a real big fan of tag titles changing hands in singles matches. On top of that the actual finish to this match was just a bit screwy to say the least. As for the match itself, it's hard to tell due to it being highly edited. They cut out a lot of this match I'm sure. What little bit there was(about 7 minutes), wasn't anything impressive at all.

Enter Sandman vhs commercial again. This show wasn't all that great, I wonder why they keep plugging it. Haven't seen any ads for Hostile City Showdown yet, which has been the best show I've reviewed so far. The Taz double belly to belly spot never does get old though.

Lance Wright EC F'N W shirt ad again. This fucking guy.

Metallica's "Sad But True" blasts through my TV as the graphics flash across the screen plugging November to Remember and various other November shows.


Joey Styles plugs away for November to Remember. Public Enemy will get shot at tag titles against Scorpio and Sandman. The man that scores the pinfall in the match gets to go on to face Mikey Whipreck for the ECW World strap in the main event. Styles plugs Whiprecks title match against Rey Mysterio at the show on the day before November To Remember. This is a match that they would air on Hardcore TV after November to Remember, and it's a pretty damn good match.

They re-play the Austin "Monday Nyquil" promo.

They show a clip of Beulah interviewing ECW Commissioner Todd Gordon. Gordon challenges Bill Alphonso to a fight at November to Remember. Alphonso nails Gordon from behind with a chair. Beulah scolds Fonzie for interrupting her segment. Fonzie's reaction to her is abso-fucking-lutely roll on the floor hilarious.

Fonzie says "A SEGMENT!?!" "You're a woman, you're lucky to even be in Bill Alphonso's ring!". He's just the perfect sleaze bag heel. He's hilarious to me for some reason. They show more clips of Gordon being pulled apart from Beulah and Todd Gordon in a scuffle in the ring. They show Fonzie cutting a pretty hilarious promo about his upcoming fight with Gordon at November to Remember.

The thing with Fonzie's angle here is that it was pretty much dead. He didn't get nearly as much heat in the footage they showed. His Pennsylvania State Athletic Commissioner angle was on fire earlier on in 95. It lost a bit of steam when Shane Douglas left for the WWF, and then it pretty much died out when 911 chokeslammed Fonzie into oblivion at Gangstas Paradise. Early on in this angle it seemed like this crowd actually believed this guy was from the Penn State Athletic Commission, sent there to tame the wild ECW shows down. The heat was tremendous. The match at November to Remember would be the official end of the angle, but Fonzie would be reborn into a new role. That's for another show though.

Pulp Fiction Promos

Just like I described in my last review, these "Pulp Fiction Promos" were a series of promos by various ECW wrestlers cut in various locations all edited together into one steady highlight reel that plays along to the tune of Dick Dale's "Miserlou", which was the song used in Pulp Fiction.

First they show Public Enemy outdoors somewhere in a public park or something. They go over the complicated stipulations for their upcoming tag match against Sandman and 2 Cold Scorpio. The thing with Public Enemy here is that they were in their final days in ECW. They were being heavily recruited by WWF and WCW at this time. They would end up wrestling in a series of matches in WWF in late 95, including a dark match against the Smoking Gunns at Survivor Series, which was a couple of weeks after this show. PE would end up surprising a lot of people by accepting an offer from WCW in early 1996.

Buh Buh Ray Dudley is shown having a hard time saying his name.

Steve Austin shown sleeping at his desk dressed as Eric Bischoff from the "Monday Nyquill" promo.

Public Enemy walking through the streets of Philly going over the stipulations for their upcoming match. These promos haven't aged well.

Buh Buh Ray stuttering his name again.

Cactus Jack is shown holding a pill bottle, and he says the following:

"You know I think back to my high school years, when my friends were the biggest druggies in school. Even though I had a lot of peer pressure, never once did I ever...

*Simulates smoking a joint*

Smoke one joint....

I think back to college, when my roommate was the biggest coke head on campus, and never once did I...

*Closes one nostril with hand, and simulates snorting*

Snort one line....

After a 10 year career that was filled with pain, I look at these pain killers, and it says take one by mouth, every four hours as needed for pain. I look at the date, and it says 1993, and I want you to realize THAT I DON'T NEED YOUR DRUGS!

I DON'T NEED YOUR DRUGS.

Cause I'm a junkie all the same. And my arms are free of needles, but my body shows the track marks of 10 years of falling on concrete floors. 10 years of abusing my body.

Herniated disks.

Broken bones.

Missing body parts, and I'm here to tell you that I can't help myself.

But I tried didn't I Tommy?

I made a real effort to clean up my act.

To say...BANG! BANG!

To all the little Cacti out there.

And I was this close.

But you know what I didn't count on?

1,500 fans that every time I entered the ECW Arena were saying GO AHEAD CACTUS! KILL YOURSELF FOR US!

Do bad things to your body so that you won't live, but we can say.....He's hardcore.....

He's hardcore....

Are they right?

I AM HARDCORE!

HARDCORE TO THE BONE, AND HATING EVERY SECOND OF IT!

Hating you for forcing me into this position.

Hating Terry Funk for putting up so many damn road blocks.....On my road to righteousness.

And I have every one of those blood thirsty, blood sucking asswhole freaks at the Arena with their mass murderer t-shirts saying "We're hardcore!".

YOU DON'T KNOW THE MEANING!"

Man, that was such a great promo. Cactus' heel turn here in late 95 had a lot of substance to it. It went pretty deep, and his promos are hailed by many to be some of the best promos in wrestling history. I'd be hard pressed to argue. Foley is without a doubt one of the finest actors in pro wrestling history in my opinion. This is the extremes he had to take the Cactus Jack character in order to draw heat from the Philly fans, who adored him. It was a bold, risky move to do such a "shooty" heel turn with such a beloved face, but Foley's mic skills really put it over. I think these promos may have been the catalyst to Foley being signed by the WWF in early 96(and cast as Mankind).

The promos carry along to Terry Funk and Tommy Dreamer. Funk says wrestling is a sport, and it will always be a sport. Funk says the sport is his life, and it's Tommy Dreamer's life.

Cactus says it will come down to Raven and him beating Dreamer down as Funk lays down helpless because now he's a washed up old man. Cactus says that they pushed him and pushed him, and now's he's over the edge, BANG! BANG!

Public Enemy goofy antics somewhere out in the streets. Corny.

Buh Buh closes the show bumling around like one of the loony tunes.

Overall Show Rating: 6.8/10

This was obviously a big filler show, and it just felt like a big infomercial for November to Remember. A bunch of commercials. The Cactus promos were absolute gold, but the matches here were not too good. This show just didn't have much going for it at all other than getting me hyped up to review November To Remember. The JT Smith squash match was ok. The Sandman stuff was kind of funny at times, even though I have my complaints about the way he was given one half of the tag team titles, and thrown into a tag team with Scorpio. Other than the Cactus promo, the rest of this is nothing to get excited about.