[1997-04-13-ECW-Barely Legal] Stevie Richards vs Terry Funk vs The Sandman / Raven vs Terry Funk

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes of the three-way match, just before Stevie Richards gets eliminated. Doesn't look like that good of a match. Funk pins Sandman after some weird barbed wire spots and we have our main event. Funk is a bloody mess. More of an effective angle than a match. REGGIE BENNETT? Raven calls out Tommy Dreamer at the booth and Big Dick Dudley ends up attacking him from behind. Huge pop for the finish, and Funk wins the ECW title, which is a great finish for the first pay-per-view.

[soup23]

I thought the three way was a lot better than the last couple minutes made it look. Sandman especially was embarrassing. Funk wins after his moonsault. Raven comes out and I like his attack as it was focused. Then the shenanigans start up. Reggie Bennett comes out and the crowd is completely befuddled. We also get Big Dick Dudley attacking Dreamer but ended up falling through the stacked up tables which he comically jumps into the spot when Tommy can get him up. Joey was able to scream his oh my god. Funk ends up winning the title with an inside cradle in a cool moment to sort of salvage it all. I don't think this PPV really holds up at all.

[Kevin Ridge]

Richards elimination was deflating for the live fans. Bennett’s interference was ridiculous since she is not a known name. Funk has a huge gash on his torso. This show did need a send the fans home happy moment and they get it with Terry winning the title. Dreamer’s chokeslam of Big Dick looks awful but the fans eat up the table bump.

[Robert S]

The finish of the first part looked horrible as Funk initially put Sandman completely out of position for the moonsault so Sandman tried to readjust his positioning, something I really hate seeing. Furthermore Funk was not aware of Sandman doing so therefore he tried to readjust his jump as well which resulted in a horrible landing.

That Raven vs. Funk part was overbooked and the content did screw up the great build up by Funk a bit. Also Reggie Bennett's powerbomb looked horrible,

[peachchaos]

There was no need for Reggie Bennett or Big Dick Dudley to be involved in this. Brian Lee should've been used here instead of earlier in the show. Dreamer should've put Lee through the tables and that could've been a nice sendoff.

 

Worth noting that the 3 way ran long and Funk-Raven went on with about 5 minutes left of the PPV, which is probably why it looks so convoluted. There's a great segment from Beyond the Mat which includes a scene backstage of Heyman and the rest of the crew watching the closing moment of Funk-Sandman-Richards. Heyman's freaking out but Raven points out that they're going for the finish. He must have ran out right after that.

 

For years and years I thought the crowd was chanting "HARD-WAY" as some stupid smark nod to Terry's cut. Having seen the build-up and Funk's promos, its pretty amazing to hear them clearly saying "OUR WAY". What a moment.

 

Of course the power goes out right after the show went off the air.

[Cox]

If I recall correctly, I think Brian Lee was supposed to be in Big Dick Dudley's spot here but supposedly had a neck injury and couldn't take the bump, so he was turned babyface instead and they put Dudley in his spot.

[Migs]

I still think they'd have been better off putting Dreamer over here. Funk as champion was a pretty bad flop creatively, and the Funk's last stand gimmick always felt a bit cloying to me. Dreamer winning would have been a much more natural and earned emotional moment.

[chrislatimer]

I still get goosebumps watching it now when terry funk pins raven to win the ecw title. the crowd reaction is one of the most emotional i have ever heard and joey styles puts the cherry on top with his in my opinion perfect announcing of the whole raven/funk match and funk winning

[PeteF3]

Pretty horrible action to finish off the 3-way, with the crowd deflated after Stevie's elimination. Then, even though Funk is a bloody mess (and for God's sake, did anyone REALLY buy that they were going to do a blood stoppage finish here?) and out of it, Raven feels the need to have his Nest continue to run interference and to beat up ring doctors and referees. Reggie Bennett (??!!) randomly runs in and is presumably never seen in ECW again. Big Dick Dudley, out of jail, attacks Tommy Dreamer at the commentary booth, then flings himself off the eagle's nest with Dreamer sort of holding onto him. Dreamer then lays out Raven and Funk gets a hot near-fall, the effect of which is ruined because the timekeeper jumps the gun and rings the bell. Funk then gets a small package for the title to a monster pop, and Styles actually does a good job of selling the moment on commentary. The payoff is nice but what a fucking mess leading up to it.