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ECW FLASHBACK
Foley's Greatest Interview and Raven-Richards/Pitbulls Double Dog Collar Match
First off, thanks to everyone who sent in positive feedback for my
review of the Three Way Dance. If you want a copy of the review, let me
know.
A little background on this show. At the Three Way Dance, the
Pitbulls earned the right to become the lackeys of Raven. They attacked
the Public Enemy after the PE won the titles, but in the following weeks
they couldn't win the belts. But Raven and Stevie Richards ended up
winning the belts thanks to referee Bill Alphonso (more on him in a
second). Then Raven left the Pitbulls during a tag match, which didn't
sit too well with the Roid Boys. They had several title matches with
the champs, but Raven and Richards always escaped with the belts by the
skin of their teeth . So the Pitbulls wanted one final match, and if
they didn't win, they'd split up as a team. Meanwhile, Raven enlisted
the Dudleys as his new lackeys.
Meanwhile, Raven was still warring with Tommy Dreamer. During an 8
man tag match, Dreamer looked like he was about to finally pin Raven,
but Cactus Jack turned on Tommy during the match and helped Raven get
the win.
And before Shane Douglas left for the WWF, he left a present for ECW
in the form of Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission sanctioned referee
Bill Alphonso. Alphonso was probably the most hated man in ECW history,
simply because he enforced the rules at random times, resulting in
decisions like Raven and Richards winning the belts. This didn't sit
well with Paul E. Dangerously, who sent his monster 911 after the errant
referee. Alphonso responded by saying that if anyone laid a hand on
him, he would shut down the promotion. Alphonso also banned the
chokeslam, which was 911's big (and only) move.
The following was an episode of ECW TV shown sometime in August '95.
We start off with a little bit of history with an interview from Cactus
Jack. This was transcribed in Foley's book on page's 343-4, but here's
the whole thing should you not own the book. What's in brackets is what
was left out of Mick's book.
["More than anyone else in that ECW dressing room Tommy Dreamer, maybe
more than anybody else in the wrestling industry, you are willing to pay
the price, to sweat, to bleed, to suffer. You're willing to bear that
cross, and I say Tommy, don't do it! Because, you see, in order to
sacrifice and bear that cross for them, it means I've got to suffer, and
I'm telling you from the voice of experience, that they're not worth it,
Tommy. They're not worth it! You see, you've got the choice, not me. I
made my bed of nails, and now I've got no other choice than to be
powerbombed on it. But you see Tommy, the world is smiling on you, the
wrestling business is smiling at you, and don't you frown back on it!]
I'm going to take you back to a very deciding point in my life - a time
when I believed in something. A time when I thought my face and my name
made a difference. Do you remember the night, Tommy Dreamer, because
it's embedded in my skull, it's embedded in my heart, and it's embedded
in every nightmare that I will ever have again. As Terry Funk took a
broken bottle and began slicing and dicing Cactus Jack, the pain was so
much, Tommy, I'll be honest with you, Tommy. The pain was so much that
I wanted to say, 'I quit, Terry Funk, I give, I wave the flag, and I'm a
coward - just please don't hurt me anymore.' Then I saw my saving grace.
You see, Tommy, I looked out in that audience, my adoring crowd, and I
saw two simple words that changed my life. 'Cane Dewey.' Some one had
taken the time and the effort and the thought to make a sign that said,
'Cane Dewey.' And I saw other people around, as every moment in my life
stopped and focused in on that sign and the pain that shot through my
body became a distant memory - replaced by a thought which will be
embedded in my skull until my dying day. Cane Dewey. Cane Dewey.
Dewey Foley is a three-year-old little boy - you sick sons of bitches.
You ripped out my heart, you ripped at my soul, you took everything I
believed in, and you flushed it down the damn toilet. You flushed my
heart--you flushed my soul - and now it sickens me to see other people
making the same mistake. You see, Tommy Dreamer, I have to listen to my
little boy say every day, 'Daddy, I miss Georgia,' and I say, "That's
too bad, Son, because your dad traded in the Victorian house for a
sweatbox on Long Island. Your dad traded in a hundred-thousand-dollar
contract, guaranteed money, insurance, respect, and the name on the
dotted line of the greatest man in the world - to work for a scumbag who
operates out of a little pissant pawn shop in Philadelphia.' You don't
expect me to be bitter? Tommy, when you open up your heart, when you
open up your soul, and it gets shit on, it tends to make Jack a very
mean boy. And so I say to you - before I take these aggressions out on
you, to look at your future and realize that the hardcore life is a lie,
that these letters behind me are a blatant lie, that those fans who sit
there and say, 'He's hardcore, he's hardcore, he's hardcore,' wouldn't
piss on you if you were on fire, you selfish son of a bitch! But I want
you to understand, Tommy, though he's hurt you time and time again,
Raven wants you to understand that the hatred I have in here is not for
you. No, no - far from it. You see Tommy, I'm not doing this because I
hate you - I love you, man! I only want the best for you - but when I hear
that WCW called up your number, and you said, 'No thank you' - well, it
makes my blood run cold. As cold as that night in the ECW arena. And
so I've got a moral obligation - you see, Tommy, I'm on the path of
righteousness, and righteous men wield a lot of power. So, if I've got
drag you by your face to that telephone and dial collect and say, 'Hello
Eric [Bischoff], it's me, Cactus, and though I know I've burned my
bridge, and I'll never be taken back with open arms - I've got a wrestler
who would gladly trade in his ECW shirt for a pair of green
suspenders.' And Tommy, just think of that sound when Uncle Eric says,
'Welcome home, Tommy Dreamer, welcome home.' [I love being right."]
Wow. That's probably Mick's best promo and the best interview I've
ever seen. Mick mentioned in his book that he was soaked in sweat and
in a state of exhaustion after cutting these interviews, and I believe
it. The amazing thing is, Foley would cut some astoundingly funny
interviews not too long after this, including the famous "Christmas with
the Foleys" promo.
Opening. ECW used to used the 'heartbeats' from Nine Inch Nails'
"Closer" followed by "Thunderkiss '65 " from White Zombie as the opening
music. I always liked it better than the generic theme they have now.
Joey Styles introduces the show. He announces that Big Dick Dudley
was run over by a truck. He suffered a fractured kneecap and broken
leg. The truck however, was totaled. We cut to Dudley Dudley, who
points out all the metal in Big Dick's knee. Umm, thanks.
Tommy Dreamer offers a rebuttal. He defends hardcore and says that
Cactus is lying to the people. Hardcore got him to the dance, and
hardcore's not about swinging chairs, it's about trying your hardest,
you know. And the fans are saying 'thank you' when they chant "ECW."
Not everyone in ECW has been in main events or earned the big money, but
they deserve it. Tommy mentions Taz, Mikey Whipwreck, and the Public
Enemy, all of whom ended up jumping to the Big Two at some point. Of
course, Tommy stayed in ECW and now wrestles with two herniated disks
in his back and will probably wrestle until he's crippled. You think an
"ECW" chant is worth that?
Nice little video package of the Raven/Dreamer/Cactus issue, set to
Mad Season's "I Don't Know Anything." Includes Raven breaking Tommy's
fingers, The Chairshot Heard 'Round the World, and the Cactus turn.
Promo for the Dudleys. No, Bubba's not here. No D-Von either. Not
even Little Spike. These are the Dudleys that The Rick discussed in a
recent "Ask the Rick" segment. There's Dudley Dudley, Dances With
Dudley, Sign Guy Dudley, and Big Dick Dudley. Only Sign Guy remains
with the fed as Lou E. Dangerously. Big Dick still wrestles in
independents, and I'm guessing that Dudley Dudley and D.W. Dudley
retired. Trust me, it's no big loss.
Raven and Beulah comes out first with no Stevie. Joey speculates if
Beulah will be Raven's partner. Joey goes over the match stipulations
and emphasizes that all stipulations are adhered to in ECW (of course,
Raven lost a loser-leaves-town match to Tommy Dreamer, and he came
back...). Beulah gets on the stick and says that Stevie broke his arm, so
she asks that the match be two out of three falls (huh?). Pitbull #2
chains himself to Raven while Pitbull #1 heads off to the back. Raven
charges but gets caught with an inverted atomic drop from Pitbull #2.
Raven falls outside and gets hung with the chain. Pitbull #2 hops
outside and waffles Raven with a chair. He throws Raven back in the
ring as Pitbull #1 drags a bloody Stevie out from the locker room. As
they brawl in the aisle, Pitbull #2 brings a table into the ring. As
he's setting it up, Raven jumps him from behind, and then rudely
piledrives him through the table. Nasty spot. Raven covers for the
three count and the first fall (2:09). Guess that 2/3 falls stip wasn't
the best idea, huh?
We start the second fall with Raven and Stevie hitting a double DDT on
Pitbull #1. Raven covers, but Pitbull #2 makes the save. Stevie tries
a superkick that clearly misses by a good six inches, but Pitbull #1
sells anyway. Raven gets dragged out of the ring by Pitbull #2 as
Stevie goes for a cover, but Pitbull #1 kicks out at two. Stevie tries
again and gets another two. PB #2 brings a table into the ring as PB #1
rakes Stevie's eyes. They set up the table, and in a memorable moment,
Superbomb Stevie right through it. And I'm not talking a Dudley
sit-down Superbomb that protects the victim, I mean they just heaved him
through it. The pin's academic after that (1:48). That image showed up
in the opening credits the next week and stayed there for a few years.
Replays show us the first two falls. We come back as both teams are
brawling on the outside. Pitbull #2 then brings Raven into the ring and
gets another table. But Raven throws Pitbull #2 into referee Jim
Molineaux for an unnecessary ref bump. And wouldn't you know it, the
Dudleys (Dudley Dudley and D.W. Dudley) run in and jump the Pitbulls
Raven and Stevie both go to the top and both Pitbulls eat a simultaneous
Superbomb. The Flock celebrates, but the Pitbulls hulk up and hit
simultaneous double DDTs on all four men. Dudley Dudley eats a
Superbomb, and D.W. Dudley gets the same as Joey makes a Tatanka
reference. The Pitbulls set up the table again and set Raven up for a
Superbomb. But instead of driving him through it, they bonk his head
off the end of the table in a spot that still makes me cringe. Pitbull
#2 goes for a cover, but Raven kicks out at two! Crowd chants
"Pitbulls." Pitbull #2 stacks up two more tables on the outside , but
Raven pulls out an ether rag ("Takes that crap to Smoky Mountain!" says
Joey) and chokes out Pitbull #2, who conveniently passes out on top of
the tables. Raven climbs to the second turnbuckle and legdrops Pitbull
#2 through the top table. He then climbs up again and drops an elbow to
drives #2 through the second table. Pitbull #1 suplexes Stevie in the
ring Stevie goes to the top rope but gets yanked off by and crotched on
the top rope) Raven unhooks his chain as Pitbull #1 suplexes Stevie
through another table. He covers Stevie but Raven breaks it up.
Paramedics come out to take Pitbull #2 away. Beulah gets in the ring
and gets jumped by Francine. Raven breaks up the catfight and hits a
DDT on Francine. Pitbull #2 gets stretchered out as Tommy Dreamer comes
down the aisle He chains himself up to Raven and they start going at
it. Dreamer drops a knee on Raven's groin and DDT's him. He covers
and scores the pin. Joey wonders if the champions are the Pitbulls or
Pitbull #1 and Dreamer. Oh, but we're not done. Bill Alphonso and Big
Dick Dudley comes out. Alphonso gets on the mic and says that Tommy
Dreamer was not scheduled to be in the match. So his pinning Raven
doesn't count, and the Pitbulls have to break up because Pitbull #2
couldn't continue. Now Todd Gordon comes out and restarts the match.
Alphonso decks Gordon, and Tommy comes over to intervene but gets
chokeslammed by Big Dick Dudley. But chokeslams are banned, right?
Alphonso gets on the mic and says that chokeslams are legal tonight.
Cue up "Frankenstein" as 911 comes out. Alphonso tries to beg off, but
is met with a hand around his throat. 911 picks up Fonzie, and finally
plants him with the chokeslam, and finally, finally, FINALLY Bill
Alphonso gets what coming to him. Pitbull #2 runs back out Pitbull #1
sets up Raven for a Superbomb, and 911 stacks Stevie on top of Raven for
a Super Duper Bomb. Well, it looked kinda botched, but hey...The Pitbulls
cover, Todd Gordon counts three, and we have new champions (14:35)! The
'bulls celebrate as we fade out.
I'm not giving the match a rating because no matter how many times
I've seen it I'm still torn. If someone told me it was the coolest
thing they've ever seen, I could see their point. If someone told me
it was an overbooked spotfest, I could see their point. So I dunno.
You should definitely check it out and see for yourself; it's worth
tracking down, as is the Cactus Jack interview.
The next week, ECW TV featured the debuts of the Eliminators, Rey
Mysterio Jr., Psicosis, and some guy, you may have heard of him...named
Steve Austin. Clearly, ECW was on a roll.
Send feedback to bwo@telegram.infi.net I've got plenty of old ECW stuff
to review, and if there's anyone you'd like to see spotlighted, let me
know, 'kay?
Joe Gagne
freelance
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