[1996-07-13-ECW-Heatwave] Shane Douglas vs 2 Cold Scorpio vs Chris Jericho vs Pit Bull #2

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Ugh, do I have to?

 

I'm sorry, I can't watch this again. I just can't. This is a widely praised match, and one of the more significant ones in ECW history with the Francine/Shane Douglas tandem being formed, but I just can't. Too long, and I really despised this match the last time I watched it. Maybe someday, but not today.

[Ditch]

Hey, someone else thought this was way overrated. Glad I'm not alone. The part before Douglas vs Pitbull is utterly forgettable, and the finish is total crap due to Douglas having a weak/anticlimactic finisher.

[Tim Evans]

I think I had this in the top 5 on my ECW Ballot for Smarkschoice. The match is still good but that's thanks mostly to Scorpio and Jericho. Once they get eliminated in drops in quality before the turn. Way too overbooked.

[PeteF3]

Well, by gum, I mostly really liked this. Not as much as the Double Dog Collar Match, but I would probably put it ahead of Scorpio/Douglas. It certainly isn't perfect--it is overlong, and overbooked, and Jericho is a weak spot with a few really horribly blown or mistimed spots. But I liked Douglas as a ratfuck heel tagging out at the first sign of trouble and manipulating everybody else, I liked his offense which was a surprise as I usually find him stiff and with way too much daylight, and I liked Scorpio. Having Francine turn heel AND immediately blowing the payoff by having her eat a Superbomb was absurd and probably a sign that Paul E.'s booking was starting to lose its fastball. And yeah, the belly-to-belly is a pretty middling finisher considering what else the promotion offers up, but at least they sold it as sort of a flash pin/roll-up type pin with Douglas cradling Pitbull up tightly. There are other marathon matches on these Yearbooks that I've liked a whole lot less than this. This is probably a top-5-worthy ECW match and one I'm glad I finally saw.

[soup23]

Not quite as high as Pete but I did like this more than the last time I watched it. The blown spots are really hilariously bad here but some of the action before it is really good. The Pitbull vs. Douglas finale is the certain bloated overblown stuff that personifies ECW main events at times. Pitbull gets turned on by Francine but fights back from that, a chain, high impact moves, and everything else before finally being put away. Francine gets powerbombed through the table to a huge pop from the ECW faithful. ***

[Matt D]

And yeah, the belly-to-belly is a pretty middling finisher considering what else the promotion offers up, but at least they sold it as sort of a flash pin/roll-up type pin with Douglas cradling Pitbull up tightly.

 

Nothing says "ECW" like reverence to Magnum TA.

[tim]

This whole this was SO ECW. As a piece of wrestling it's really something from the wrestling to the big angle at the end. All in all, I loved it. As a match is sort of peaked toward the end of the first "fall", losing a bit of steam after that until the big angle. But up to that point I thought it was really, really good as a match. Some rough patches here and there but nothing that detracted from the match I felt. Douglas worked the heel opportunist role really well, and I was wanting to see him get his comeuppance all match. Scorpio is the first one to really take it to him and it's a great moment. Some really cool spots and exchanges, especially Scorpio's kick off the Lionsault. Jericho as champion gets pinned first, sort of a Heyman booking favorite it seems. Douglas and Pitbull on paper seems like the one on one match you'd least want to see of all the combinations, but this match succeeded in making me want to see Pitbull get the chance to take it to Douglas one on one. The angle was really well done and surprising for me, and Francine going through the table vies for biggest pop of the year so far. Cool ending with Pitbull kicking out of a bunch of big moves and the crowd totally behind him before Douglas puts him away.

 

As the culmination of everything going on with the TV title for the last couple months this felt like a really big match, and it really felt like it elevated the TV title.

[Beast]

Disappointing and overlong.

The big angle/finish is memorable and there are some hot moments throughout, but overall it felt very messy and random. I get what they were going for with Douglas as the one guy everyone hates, but there were long periods where nothing was done with it. And also times where the interactions felt totally improvised, like no one had laid out the goal of the match other then take the title off of Jericho and have Francine join Douglas. So you're left with blown opportunities and things that didn't build to anything like the various refusals to tag Douglas or vice versa.

Excited to the see the followup nevertheless, but this is a forty minute slog with maybe 10 mins tops of fun stuff.

[Superstar Sleeze]

ECW World TV Champion Chris Jericho vs Shane Douglas vs 2 Cold Scorpio vs Pitbull #2 - ECW Heat Wave 1996

A pretty famous ECW match and generally considered one of their best. I have seen this before on a WWE Comp and thought it was really long and boring, lets see.

I watched the first 15 minutes and the only person with any semblance of a character is Shane Douglas. He is playing the rat bastard opportunist that only tags in when another guy is beaten up. Pitbull #2 is the wrestler who beat him for the TV Title after after Douglas ran a gauntlet of jabronis a couple shows back. Douglas sneaks attacks him on Pitbull's entrance with a steel chair. For those keeping track at home Francine is still the Beastmaster. She is actually probably the most effective person at getting crowd heat during the match constantly leading the Mutants in cheering for Pitbull #2. 

We get every combination besides Douglas/Scorpio in the first 15 minute. Jericho is such a 90s workrate try hard. He does all the tropes from the stiff chopping, athletic sequences and big bombs. I wold have liked to seen what Douglas could have done with him one-on-one based on the Scorp match not much as Douglas is a legend only in his own mind. Scorp/Jericho is the best pairing of the bunch because of that 90s workrate style. Pitbull#2's heat segment drags even though Francine does her best. I ended my viewing with Jericho hitting a Standing Top Rope Frankensteiner which is still one of the most insane moves in history. I think he tried that against Benoit or Gedo in a couple months in WCW almost killed himself. Douglas tags himself in and tries to cover Scorpio for 2. Joey's righteous indignation actually makes sense here.  It is slightly better than I remembered not much though. 

I see why I thought this was horrible. The middle 15 minutes is an absolute slog. I dont know if Jericho was selling fatigue or blowed up but he was lethargic and blowing spots left right and center. The "Tiger Suplex" was so pitiful. The best spot of this slog was Scorpio dropkicking Jericho mid-air in a Lionsault that was crazy. Jericho is definitely reckless but makes for great TV. Scorpio was easily the best wrestler in this. His punches especially on The Franchise looked great. The whole point of this match is Douglas vs Pitbull and they pissed it all away. Douglas tags in a fallen Scorpio when Pitbull has him covered. Why? Douglas has been a total coward. Why attack now when Pitbull is in a position of dominance? This is not even the Cardinal Sin. The Cardinal Sin is Pitbull gets up and very cooperatively lets Douglas Irish Whip him. FUCK THAT SHIT! You get up there and slug him in the eyes like a man. Aint nobody wanna see an Irish Whip. BRAWL! Fucking horseshit. Scorpio and Douglas use a pincer attack on Jericho trapping him and Douglas tags Jericho back in. Scorpio Tombstone and then Drops Da Bomb (it may be Tumbleweed I can never remember) to eliminate Jericho. Jericho was very over in WCW with his Lionheart gimmick he looked like someone ECW would hate a pretty boy with Sebastien Bach Hair in 1997 but it was probably the Japanese/Mexican/Hart Dungeon connection that got him over. The Mutants lapped that shit up with a spoon. He would not fare as well in WCW until he came up with the Crybaby/Conspiracy Victim gimmick which I still think is his best work ever.

Douglas wants to create an alliance with Scorpio to take out Pitbull #2. Scorpio balks at this offer and unleashes a great series of right jabs. Scorpio's punch was on point in this and a couple weeks later his kicks looked great against Jericho. It is too bad Scorpio didnt get a signature run in WWF or WCW or just stay longer in ECW. I get it. You gotta get paid. Belly 2 Bell Suplex and then Scorpio hits a Sunset Flip Powerbomb, transition could have been better. Liked the finish on this elimination. Scorpio misses a moonsault that would have taken out both guys and he is out could. Douglas convinces Pitbull #2 to hit a Superbomb to eliminate Scorpio. Thats twice Douglas has used someone else to eliminate an opponent. Nice story. Scorpio was by and away the best wrestler in this match. I think we have another 7-10 minutes left in the match so things do not look promising. 

Well this was bad in a different way. I thought it was going to be boring bad. It was bad in a shitty booking way bad. If Francine was going to turn why fucking interrupt when Douglas has the cover on a Belly 2 Belly his finish? Because you need to SWERVE~! Lame. If Pitbull kicks out on his own, then Francine becomes worried and comes in the ring makes a lot more sense. Francine throws powder in the Pitbull's eyes, but it looks like they were running low on powder because it is not much. Douglas hits a tremendous ballshot. It is NOT the 90s if the turn is not punctuated with a wardrobe change. They raise the bar from a simple T-Shirt change to revealing that Francine is wearing Franchise bikini bottoms! OH SNAP! In probably the fastest comeuppance in the history of storytelling, the Pitbulls immediately Superbomb her through a table. What the fuck!?! The Mutants POP Huge! The Pitbull were fucking over for a good two years...what happened to them that they never made it to WCW or WWF? Douglas hits a Single Arm DDT on Pitbull #1 that takes him out. It takes a belt shot, table shot, brass knux,  a chain, a missed Hashimoto spinning wheel kick and a Belly 2 Belly Suplex to put Pitbull #2 down. Hogan eat your heart out that's fucking protection. Gotta love that's the Belly 2 Belly that gets it done just like HHH who believes that it is all about the Pedigree. 

The whole thing is not terrible. It is long. Scorpio is the bright spot and all the Douglas storytelling stuff with him being a cowardly, mastermind heel works but it could have been done more efficiently and a little more thought down the stretch. I cant believe they already Superbombed her. ***

 

 

[Superstar Sleeze]

On 6/4/2015 at 8:06 AM, Matt D said:

 

Nothing says "ECW" like reverence to Magnum TA.

 In fairness, Paul E was always very respectful of legends and the traditions of the business. He just hated what wrestling had become. In a lot of ways, ECW was what Paul E thought the natural progression of Southern Wrestling was supposed to be in the 90s. WWF/WCW had gone too commercial and sanitized. He was bringing 80s pro wrestling into the 90s by supping up the violence and the sex. It made for incredibly addictive TV. I have been watching for the past month or so random episodes of Hardcore TV and it is great. It feels must-see because it is episodic. It is not like today's RAW or Smackdown where nothing fucking happens ever. There a lot of angle some good, some bad, some just poorly planned but at least they are trying. I think I have seen it said before that ECW is just Memphis on crack and that sounds just about right to me.