Re-Booking ECW PPV Cards

[peachchaos]

Barely Legal - ECW Arena; Philadelphia, PA 4/13/1997
- ECW Tag Titles: The Eliminators vs. The Dudley Boyz©
- Rob Van Dam vs. Lance Storm
- The Great Sasuke, Masato Yakushiji, & Gran Hamada vs. Taka Michinoku, Dick Togo, & Terry Boy
- TV Title: Shane Douglas© vs. Tommy Dreamer
- Grudge Match of the Century: Taz vs. Sabu
- Three Way Dance (Winner Faces Raven): Terry Funk vs. The Sandman & Stevie Richards
- ECW Title: Terry Funk vs. Raven©

 

This is one of my favorite shows ever, so there's only two things I would change. First of all, the TV title match with Douglas against Pit Bull #2 was putrid and soul-crushing. I know Dreamer could have worked a better & shorter match with Douglas. It works in my mind since they were feuding around the time and you have Beulah and Francine ready for a cat fight. The post-match angle would work similar, but I would have Brian Lee come out to help Douglas win the match and then brawl to the back with Dreamer. Then it's Pit Bull #2 under the mask instead. The only other thing I would change is at the end of the show, Dreamer and Lee continue their brawl during the main event and Dreamer gets comeuppance on Lee by chokeslaming him from the Eagle's Nest instead of Big Dick Dudley for a little added continuity.

 

Heat Wave - War Memorial; Ft. Lauderdale, FL 8/17/1997
- ECW Tag Title: The Dudley Boyz© vs. Tha Gangstas

- Chris Candido vs. Lance Storm

- The Cam-Am Express w/ Jim Cornette vs. Kobashi/Misawa
- Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Spike Dudley
- Shane Douglas vs. Al Snow w/ Rick Rude

- TV Title: Taz© vs. Rob Van Dam
- Tommy Dreamer vs. Jerry Lawler
- No-Ropes-Barbed-Wire-Match for the ECW Title: Terry Funk© vs. Sabu

 

This show actually wasn't a complete stinker, but on paper it's one of their weakest cards. It should have been called Heat Wave, since it was in FL in the middle of the Summer.

 

I really liked how the Dudleyz opened the show at the first PPV, so I'd continue that here. I think Mustafa actually left the company by this point, so either bring him in for one last Gangstas match or just send New Jack out there alone, either way it would be a garbage squash opener where the Dudleyz get all there spots in and it ends quickly.

 

I'd give Candido and Storm the singles match that was originally booked for Barely Legal here.

 

To make up for the loss of the M-Pro guys to Vince, I'd have Paul bring in Kobashi and Misawa from AJPW and match them against a team Vince threw to the water, The Can-Am Express. I'd bring in Cornette to put some heat on the WWF guys (he should have been paired with them anyhow). So you'd have WWF vs. AJPW on an ECW PPV, with four guys who could absolutely go and win over the crowd.

 

I'd let Snow and Douglas have a match here to continue the feud with WWF/Rick Rude. They had a really good match on ECW TV later in the year so this would work here too.

 

Taz drops the TV title to RVD on pay per view with some assistance from Fonzie and Sabu, continuing their feud and setting up a final blow-off for later. RVD begins his TV title reign on PPV.

 

I really think for ECW to be a hit on PPV, they needed to have barbed wire and they needed to have the Terry Funk-Sabu barbed wire match on PPV. We get a title change and Sabu and Van Dam have both singles titles and the feud with WWF continues.

 

November to Remember - New York, NY 11/30/1997

- ECW Tag Team Titles: The Dudley Boyz© vs. The Pitbulls

- The Great Sausuke vs. Justin Credible

- Chris Candido & Lance Storm vs. The Can-Am Express w/ Jim Cornette

- Shane Douglas vs. Flash Funk w/ Rick Rude

- The Sandman vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

- Dream Partners Tag Team Match: Tommy Dreamer & Terry Funk vs. Rob Van Dam & Jerry Lawler

- Falls Count Anywhere for the ECW Title: Sabu© vs. Taz

 

Yep, I changed the whole card and even the location of the event. N2R is the flagship event for ECW and to make this a special night, I'd book the Manhattan Center in NYC where ECW invaded RAW earlier in the year.

 

Continuing their dominance as Tag Champs in the opening match, The Dudleyz would crush a surprise Pit Bulls in their comeback.

 

Having the M-Pro guys at Barely Legal was just such a cool addition to the card, so I'll continue the tradition of Japanese talent and bring in Sausuke to do the job to Credible. They had several good matches in ECW and one of them should have been on PPV.

 

Storm and Candido debuted their team shortly before this, and the angle here would be that this is both Storm's try-out for the Triple Threat and the match is also for a Tag Title shot. Cam-Am's lose and ditch Cornette in the post match.

 

Scorpio didn't come in til the next PPV, but this would be the perfect blow-off the the Rick Rude-Shane Douglas feud.

 

Sandman and Bigelow had an awesome match on WCW ppv and it's a shame they never went at it for ECW. Sandman could make the save for Funk since they were partners. Easy money.

 

N2R was usually headlined by a big crazy ECW tag match, so I'd let the WWF vs. ECW/Lawler vs. Dreamer feuds come to a completion here with an added twist: since Funk was headed to the WWF anyway, I'd have him turn on Dreamer here and set up a huge grudge match for the next PPV.

 

Sabu and Taz have an epic final match for the ECW title and Taz gets the belt to end the WWF vs. ECW feud once and for all.

 

Looking forward to tackling '98 later on. I know a lot of this stuff isn't plausible and it might be more interesting to book the cards using the talent that was actually on-hand, but hind-sight being 20/20, there's a lot more they could have done with the WWF talent and there were plenty of Japanese guys to come fill the void of Taka and Kaientai.

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Barely Legal 2 - Convention Center; Asbury Park, NJ 3/1/1998
- ECW Tag Team Titles: The Dudleyz© vs. Rob Van Dam & Sabu

- Three Way Dance: Jerry Lynn vs. Little Guido vs. Mikey Whipwreck

- Masato Tanaka vs. Ballz Mahoney

- Shane Douglas & Chris Candido vs. Lance Storm & Al Snow

- Justin Credible vs. The Sandman

- ECW TV Title: Rob Van Dam© vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

- Exploding-Barbed-Wire-Board-Death-Match: Tommy Dreamer vs. Terry Funk

- ECW Title: Taz© vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

 

This was a decent show, but it could have been so much better. I'd keep the Barely Legal name for the 2nd year in a row. I'd still put Bigelow over Taz in the main event, but it would be for the ECW Title and would close the show.

 

This is the last time I would have the Dudleyz in the opener and I'd have them drop the belts to Sabu and Van Dam. The running story throughout the night is that RVD and Sabu wanted a Tag Title show, but Heyman is still mad about their jump to WWF last year that he's making Van Dam defend his TV title later in the night. RVD/Sabu win in basically a showcase squash similar to how the Eliminators went over at the first Barely Legal.

 

Next I'd give three juniors a chance to shine in a Three Way Dance spot-fest. Guido could put it all together, this could be awesome.

 

I'd feed Mahoney to Tanaka here instead of Doug Furnas and let them beat the shit out of each other with chairs for Tanaka's debut.

 

The Triple Threat vs. Lance Storm stuff can play out just as it did on the actual PPV, that stuff was all gold.

 

Continuing Credible's meteoric rise to the top, he really needed to go over The Sandman on PPV and beat him to death with his own cane.

 

Oh, man. Terry Funk and Tommy Dreamer blow off their imaginary feud in a Japanese-style hardcore death match. Pretty please? With sugar on top?

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Hardcore Heaven - Mid-Hudson Civic Center; Pughkeepsie, NY 5/3/1998

- ECW Tag Team Titles: Rob Van Dam & Sabu © vs. Chris Candido & Lance Storm
- Little Guido vs. Jerry Lynn
- Spike Dudley & Mikey Whipwreck vs. The Dudleyz
- Shoot Fight: Taz vs. Al Snow
- Stairway to Hell Ladder Match: The Sandman vs. Justin Credible
- ECW TV Title: Ron Van Dam © vs. Shane Douglas
- ECW Title: Bam Bam Bigelow© vs. Sabu

 

Another unique card here, as the original event was viewed as one of the worst ECW PPV efforts, so it took some great re-structuring to do this any kind of justice. I didn't keep a single match that occurred on the actual event. Alrighty then.

 

Continuing the trend of making RVD/Sabu uber-fan favorites, I'll force them to once again wrestle twice on this PPV. First, to defend their tag team titles, they have to wrestle the hot-and-cold team of Storm and Candido. This is Storm's final chance to be a Triple Threat member; if they don't win the titles, Storm is officially out. Later in the night, RVD & Sabu will face off against the remaining Triple Threat members in singles matches for the TV and ECW titles respectively. This gives the Triple Threat the edge since RVD & Sabu will wrestle twice but Douglas and Bigelow will be fresh. In the end, no titles change hands and Storm is out of the Triple Threat but gives a beating to Candido.

 

Lynn and Guido get another chance to shine, this time in a singles match.

 

I always enjoyed Spike and Mikey bumping around for The Dudleyz. Tommy Dreamer will make the save after the match, looking to get revenge for what the Duds did to Beulah and setting up a grudge match for the next PPV.

 

I'm not exactly sure what to do with Al Snow in ECW. He got so over with the fans with the Head gimmick, but the matches were bad and eventually he just went back to WWE. For his final match with the company, I'd have him give a serious effort in an MMA Shoot Fight with Taz but have him lose convincingly.

 

Stairway to Hell Ladder Match to blow-off the Justin Credible-Sandman feud, with Credible keeping the cane gimmick from now on.

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Heatwave - Hara Arena; Dayton, OH 8/2/1998
- Justin Credible vs. Jerry Lynn
- Chris Candido vs. Lance Storm
- Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome
- ECW Tag Titles: Sabu & Rob Van Dam© vs. Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki
- ECW Title: Taz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow©
- Dudleyville Street Fight: Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman & Spike Dudley vs. The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh/D-Von/Big Dick)

 

What can I say? This show worked and generally receives positive reviews. I'll keep everything the same, except in my universe, Taz-Bigelow II is for the ECW Title (the FTW title never existed). I'd have Bigelow hold onto the title with some help from Shane Douglas, setting up the big money match Taz-Douglas for further down the line and saving Taz's big title grab for N2R.

 

November to Remember - Manhattan Center; New York, NY 11/1/1998
- The FBI vs. Doring & Roadkill
- Lance Storm vs. Jerry Lynn
- Chris Candido vs. Spike Dudley
- Shane Douglas vs. Ballz Mahoney
- Justin Credible vs. Jake Roberts
- ECW TV Title: Rob Van Dam© vs. Masato Tanaka
- Non-Title Grudge Match: Tommy Dreamer & Terry Funk vs. The Dudley Boyz©
- Three Way Dance for the ECW Title: Bam Bam Bigelow© vs. Taz vs. Sabu

 

Once again, we're in NYC for N2R. I enjoyed the Lynn-Storm match that made the real event, so let's keep that but without all the extra people involved. We'll get the FBI and Doring & Roadkill on PPV for some fresh faces. Candido and Douglas get some singles wins in competitive matches. I'll let Justin Credible kill another legend in Jake Roberts. RVD and Tanaka had the legit ECW MOTY in 2000, so let's jump the gun and let them do their thing on PPV. The "dream" tag match at N2R tradition continues, with Funk reuniting with Dreamer after their feud to help him finally take down the Dudleyz. The show closes with Taz finally pinning Bigelow after Bigelow eliminates Sabu, with Taz going over as a 2-time ECW champion. Douglas looks on from the ramp, building to the big Taz-Douglas match at the next PPV.

 

So I realize the Taz-Douglas feud doesn't have quite the same build in my universe, since Taz is now the champion and Douglas is the challenger. There are a few different ways it could be built to still be a huge main event. Taz has essentially been feuding with the Triple Threat all year, albeit with Bigelow as the champion, and you have to figure Douglas would be the mouth piece for Bam Bam the whole year. Douglas could say throughout the year that he held the ECW title for so long that he doesn't need the belt, only to have Taz finally beat Bam Bam for the title here, sending Bigelow packing and leaving Douglas to desperately try to regain the title himself.