[1996-04-20-ECW-Hostile City Showdown] Raven vs Shane Douglas

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Not much of a match, thanks to crazy overbooking, but lots of booking significance, as Douglas turns heel, setting up a feud with Scorpio.

[Tim Evans]

Man Shane Douglas matches haven't aged well at all. This was pretty bad but I guess it made sense being on here thanks to the angle. Raven took a pretty sick bump to the outside that had to hurt.

[PeteF3]

Douglas is pretty frisky for most of this, busting out two big dives to the floor. They brawl outside and back in, and then it's run-in city. Brian Lee! Dreamer! Meanie! Richards! A Bruise Brother! Raven clobbers Douglas with the loaded orthopedic boot to escape with the title. God help me but I liked this better than RVD/Sabu. The number of run-ins were excessive but at least they were well-timed, and it was a high-energy match. I just wish Styles, to repeat myself, would STOP FUCKING TELEGRAPHING ALL THE KICKOUTS.

 

Douglas missed Brian Lee's interference and only saw Dreamer distracting the ref earlier, so he took Tommy out to cement the heel turn that everyone knew was coming. At least they didn't try to cover for or hide it--he was still the same Franchise the whole time. It barely even qualifies as a turn. Afterward, Douglas laments that the only belt that means anything to him is still in Raven's hands, which draws out Scorpio. Douglas tries to back off, then clobbers Scorp from behind and whips both him and Sandman with the TV belt. Good segue of an angle.

[soup23]

Solid action but nothing exceptional. Douglas turns heel and sets himself up for a feud with Scorpio. Raven feels a bit lost in the shuffle throughout all of this. ECW has some high points around this time but is in a weird position where stuff seems to be settling. **1/4

[tim]

Douglas' extended run of offense was pretty damn good I thought, especially his two big dives which were pretty unexpected. The first one especially came out of nowhere and looked pretty wild. Action was pretty solid throughout, and the overbooking toward the end kept it interesting. Entertaining match and actually did have a feel of a big main event in ECW context.

 

Post-match angle ruled. I guess this is a double-turn with Scorp and it works very well and feels natural.