It’s a Sunday and you know that means! One of the “Trifecta of Retro” (Marc Madison, Clint Dye, and myself) has a great retro piece for you. And today you lucky so and so’s, it’s ME! I’m back with your E-C-DUB fix! We’re still in the hazy days of 1995, April ’95 to be exact. And this week I’m reviewing ECW Three Way Dance.
Before we start, a quick catch up and some back story to get you all caught up…
In the history of ECW, this is a famous, well infamous, event. The main event three-way dance for the ECW Tag Team Championships was supposed to be Public Enemy vs Taz & Sabu vs the current champions Dean Malenko & Chris Benoit. And as you’ll read later on, Sabu is inconspicuous by his absence. Legend has it that Sabu no-showed this event as he knew he would get a bigger payday in NJPW. And thus, Sabu is replaced by a mystery partner and is fired by Paul Heyman…But not for long 😉
Ok you’re all caught up, let’s crack on with the action!
*Within these reviews, there will be some matches on certain shows that won’t be covered. Pretty much any Chris Benoit matches. I’m sure I don’t have to explain myself as to why*
ECW Three Way Dance
April 8, 1995
ECW Arena, Philadelphia, PA.
ECW Three Way Dance 1995 | RetroView
The Pitbulls vs The Broad Street Bullies
Before the match, Stevie Richards wanted Johnny Hotbody and Tony Stetson to prove themselves to Raven. If they don’t, they’re gone! And what better way to prove themselves than against the most dominant tag team on the roster, The Pitbulls!
Hands up who remembers how I opened the last ECW preview? For those that remember, well done, gold star! It started with The Pitbulls vs a jobber team, and I’m hoping you can sense a theme. Raven’s new boys, The Broad Street Bullies, were totally squashed here. Now, these aren’t some local talent that has no name value. These are former ECW Tag Team Champions. And they were mauled like a lion playing with its wildebeest dinner.
The match went all of 57 seconds (yup, I went back and timed it). And hot damn if that Superbomb from doesn’t look damn impressive even now!
Winners – The Pitbulls
With Hotbody and Stetson gone, The Pitbulls are brought in by Raven to fill the void. Not a bad swap if you ask me!
Stevie then talks to Raven about a girl that he and Tommy Dreamer knew from summer camp. Richards then proceeds to tell him that he’s invited her to the arena tonight. She’ll actually be ringside for the next match. This pissed Raven off and he begins to slap Stevie, saying she was a fat and disgusting girl. Why would he want to see her. Stevie assures him that she’s not the girl he used to know…And so begins one of the greatest storylines & feuds in the company’s history!
ECW Three Way Dance 1995 | RetroView
Raven (w/Richards & Beulah) vs Tommy Dreamer
Now, this is one of the reasons why I’m reviewing these old school ECW shows. Storylines like this, and Taz vs Sabu (in the future folks!) gave ECW more than it’s hardcore origins.
It’s not long before all hell breaks loose and both these guys are brawling around the ring and through the crowd. The helpful fans are handing weapons like chairs and cheese graters to Raven and Dreamer. You know, just for kicks. And it’s not long before both men are bleeding.
They brawl over to the Eagles Nest, where Joey Styles calls the action from. From here Tommy Dreamer climbs to the top of a ladder and splashes Raven. Yup, that’s a great Holy SH#T moment! He drags Raven back into the ring and hits his patented piledriver, but can only muster a two count. On the outside, as all this is happening, Stevie tries to plant a kiss on Beluah. But she’s having none of it and slaps the taste right out of his mouth! Richards then proceeds to take this rejection by CHOKING her out! WTF?! This wouldn’t fly in this day and age.
Seeing Beulah in trouble, Tommy (ever the hero) slides out of the ring to interject, but as she frees herself, she sprays hairspray into his eyes! Which then leads to a Stevie Kick into Raven’s EvenFlow DDT finisher. 1-2-3.
Winner – Raven
Mikey Whipwreck vs Ron Simmons
I admit I let out a huge DAMN when I saw Ron Simmons here. I was not expecting that! Totally forgot that he spent nine months in the promotion. A great surprise.
I’m kinda expecting another squash here…I mean it’s Ron Bloody Simmons. But once again, Mikey is showing that world-famous heart of his. He really didn’t back down, even under the huge offense that Simmons was punishing him with. Ron was in power mode here, every move was impactful and full of purpose.
That was until Mikey hits Ron with a questionable gutshot/low blow. He backs that up with a missile dropkick, but unfortunately, that’s all she wrote. And incensed Simmons chokeslams the bejeezus out of Whipwreck, and then continues to do so. The ref has to step in, but he gets a chokeslam for his trouble too! That’s it, DQ finish folks!
Winner – Mikey Whipwreck
911 has seen enough and runs out for the save as Heyman pulls Mikey out the ring and helps him to the back. But Ron beats 911 to the punch and chokeslams the big guy to the mat! The crowd is in shock and awe! Some of the boys run out from the back to make sure 911 is ok. But they too are chokeslammed for their troubles. All of this makes Ron look super strong and I love it! Even if the match was a bit so-so.
Interview time folks and usually I wouldn’t cover this but it’s an important part of the show, so here goes…
Joey Styles and Dean Malenko’s tag partner are ringside, and Joey asks the partner for his thoughts on the Sabu situation. He calls Sabu a total pussy for running away to Japan but asks if Taz is. This brings the crowd to its feet as they chant the infamous “Fuck Sabu” chant over and again. This brings out Taz but before he gets a chance to speak, Dean Malenko jumps him and a beat down ensues.
That is until Rick Steiner makes his way out and helps Taz! The crowd comes unglued! Rick cleans house and makes it known (by his crawling on the mat like a dog) that he’s Taz’s partner tonight! Two suplex machines, oh yes!
ECW Three Way Dance 1995 | RetroView
ECW World TV Championship
Too Cold Scorpio (c) vs Eddie Guerrero
Those that know me, know that I’m a HUGE Eddie fan. So when I saw this match come up I knew we were in for a treat. And BAH GAWD what a match! Just remember that this was Eddie’s debut in ECW, and I think was only his second televised match on US TV. He wanted to put on a show.
A display of mat wrestling begins the match, and both men hold their own. Eddie wants a handshake but gets pushed onto his back by Scorpio. Eddie immediately kips up and pretty much cements himself as a fan favourite judging by their reaction! From then on it’s Guerrero all the way. Raising the tempo and making Too Cold wrestle his match.
A Brainbuster and a Frog Splash from Eddie only garner a two count, much to my dismay. I honestly thought that was it! Scorpio takes the match to the outside but refuses to wrestle in the hardcore style. Settling for whipping Eddie into guardrails instead and rolls him back into the centre of the ring. Eddie fights back again and it looked like he was going to hit a plancha over the top rope to Scorpio outside. But he stops himself and instead dives pretty much halfway across the entrance way to land a huge splash! Guerrero then gets Scorpio in the ring for a Tornado DDT but it’s a two count! A Hurracanrana yet again gives Eddie another two count!
Scorpio comes back with a flying crossbody and a Moonsault which gives him two very close near falls. The crowd is eating this up folks! A vicious Powerbomb again only nets a two for Scorpio. What a frickin match! He picks up Guerrero and sends him into the ropes via a Superkick, but as he’s coming back Eddie quickly rolls up Scorpio for the 1-2-3! New champion!
Winner – And NEWWWW ECW World TV Champion, Eddie Guerrero
That was 15 minutes of pure enjoyment. If you can, go out of your way to watch this match. Just incredible! The chemistry they had…amazing!
ECW Three Way Dance 1995 | RetroView
Hair vs Hair Match
Ian Rotten vs Axl Rotten
So we go from the sublime in the last match, to the downright ridiculous here in the match up. The ever feuding Rotten brothers are back again. And after their “classic” barbed wire baseball mat match, they’ve “upped the ante” even more here – hair vs hair. I’m not sure what Paul Heyman was thinking with his booking here. But hey, let’s go with it folks!
I’m not going to go in depth here. You’ve read my last two match recaps between these two. Here’s it’s just another simple rinse and repeat. Walk and brawl in the crowd. Beat the ever living crap out of each other. Bleed profusely.
Axl gets the win when he hits a running chair shot to the head of Ian. Seriously, that looked brutal.
Winner – Axl Rotten
Axl grabs some scissors and cuts the mohawk from Ian’s head. Erm…hair vs hair and one has a mohawk? I feel cheated…Anyway, Ian battles back and hits Axl with a pan before using said scissors on his brother, and then leaves to chants of “SID, SID, SID”. I’m not going into it here, but Google Sid Vicious and scissors to understand that chant. All I will say is that the crowd were clued up back then, waaaay before the internet was prevalent.
ECW Three Way Dance 1995 | RetroView
Hack Meyers vs Dino Sendoff
Since I began writing these Retroviews, one of my guilty pleasures has been watching Hack Meyers. He is an anomaly. I honestly thought he would be booed out the building back in my Double Tables review. Instead, he was revered! The crowd love and I’ve grown to love him. I’m even watching current wrestling yelling SHAH to every blow I see. And yes, I get funny looks from my wingman when I do. Anywaaaaay….
Squash match number two of the show. But did you think anything else would happen? Lots of clotheslines and huge blows from Hack set up a Brainbuster finish. Short sweet and simple.
Winner – Hack “SHAH” Meyers
ECW World Heavyweight Championship
Shane Douglas (c) vs The Sandman (w/Woman)
Screw job city folks! Another short match here as Sandman is well and truly turned over by Woman.
Basically Woman refused to harm Shane in any way. She didn’t want to slap him when given the chance, and when Sandman asked for his Singapore cane, Woman grabbed it and slid it over to Douglas. He then lowblowed Sandman with it and retained his title with an inside cradle.
Winner – And STILLLL ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Shane Douglas
Now before you all have a go at me, I know. This version on the WWE Network has only shown the tiniest portion of the match. But I can only review what’s in front of me, so there we go.
We’re suddenly transported to the back for a Sandman promo. Long story short, he’s only to beat Shane Douglas to within an inch of his life. And in true retro fashion, we then see Shane’s retort. He says that Sandman doesn’t have what it takes to beat him. Woman remarks that she was the power and brains behind the pairing of Sandman and Woman. And now he’s on his own, Sandman has nothing.
ECW Three Way Dance 1995 | RetroView
ECW World Tag Team Championships
Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko (c) vs Public Enemy vs Taz & Rick Steiner
As I said in the disclaimer at the very top, I try not to cover many Benoit matches. But as this is the main event, I feel like it should be covered. But this will be a very short, abridged, version. So here goes…
We are told at the top of the match that this is an Elimination Match. They clear the ring quite a few times as the match begins. Steiner and Taz work really well together I think, showing their superiority. Steiner is really throwing his weight around with Steinerlines and Bulldogs ahoy!
But it’s not long before they’re sent packing to the back as Dean Malenko rolls up Taz for the quick elimination. I can see why they looked so strong to begin with. They didn’t have enough time to get their “shit” in. This leaves Malenko and partner vs Public Enemy. But not before Taz and Steiner layout everyone in and around the ring. Cool moment there.
The match carries on with both teams battling for supremacy. And in the end it’s Rocco and Grunge that walk away victorious. A double DDT from Grunge onto Malenko and partner, followed by a Cannonball Splash from Rocco makes them champions for the third time.
Winners – And NEWWWWW ECW World Tag Team Champions, Public Enemy
A running theme throughout my look back onto ECW is that these shows are like a rollercoaster. The ups here were that ECW TV Title match (wow!) and Raven vs Dreamer. The downs were pretty much everything else. But I can forgive that. I can see what Paul Heyman was trying to do here and as a wise man once told me –
The secret of good booking is to give the fan what they want while taking away something they like too…
Long term booking is Heyman’s plan here, and with 20-20 hindsight you know it’s going to work. So yeah, I’ll give him and ECW a pass for matches like the Hair vs Hair match (ugh!)and such like.
Up next on my ECW Retroview journey is Hostile City Showdown 1995. And oh my what a card! More Dreamer vs Raven. Eddie Guerrero vs Dean Malenko for the TV title. Sandman vs Shane Douglas for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. And Terry frickin Funk vs Cactus frickin Jack!!! Oh I can’t wait to cover that!
So until then amigos….ADIOS!
