[2000-02-25-ECW-TNN] Raven & Tommy Dreamer vs Impact Players (Lance Storm & Justin Credible)

[soup23]

Corporal Robinson is Extreme is the first sign you see as Dreamer comes out. ECW is in Milwaukee for the first time. Dreamer is asking for Raven. I find it hilarious that he says lets forget the soap opera bullshit and out comes Francine for soap opera bullshit. She talks and the crowd only chants about her puppies. Impact Players interrupt and challenge Dreamer to a tag title match right here right now. I liked Dawn Marie telling Tommy to put on Francines skirt. Raven comes out in his street clothes and looking huge. Typical garbage brawl results but it has a ton of heat. Dreamer gets a row of chairs and Raven and Dreamer do stereo drop toe holds. Dreamer hits the Holy Driver through a table. CATFIGHT!!!! James Mitchell shows up and gives Raven powder. Raven throws it for Storm but he ducks and Dreamer gets hit with it. A blinded Dreamed DDT’s Francine. Raven carries Francine out leaving Dreamer on his own. Spike That’s Incredible onto the chair allows the Impact Players to get the win. Some convoluted stuff and it does feel like were trying to reach back to the glory days of 1995 and they aren’t coming but much like what is happening in parts of WCW, the energy is still there from the crowd and I do enjoy how much of a local babyface Dreamer can become. ***1/2

[Loss]

The pre-match promo comes every bit off as scripted and fake as any modern WWE promo written by a team of writers, with everyone taking their turn to say their perfectly witty lines. Dreamer starts the match fighting on his own, but Raven quickly comes out. These WWE Network soundalike overdubs of ECW songs never cease to amuse me. I'm pretty over a lot of the ECW mainstays at this point, so it's hard for me to enjoy this old hat stuff. I did like watching Raven wrestle in street clothes instead of, uh, street clothes, though ... just for something different. Watching this match, especially when seeing what the indies are doing at the same time, ECW comes across as a company that has run out of ideas. Guys like Low Ki, Da Hit Squad, Homicide, Billy Reil, Corporal Robinson, Derrick King, CM Punk, Colt Cabana, American Dragon, Spanky and others are floating around on small shows, and ECW is still leaning on Tommy Dreamer. I realize not everyone of those guys was available to them and some were literally in their first few months in wrestling, but it still makes ECW seem pretty badly out of touch.

[Migs]

This was like a weird ECW version of the Mega Powers exploding, down to Raven carrying off Francine. At least they get the direction of the turn right - walking away from your partner is the heel's move.

[GSR]

Dreamer heads to the ring on his own and there is someone in full view of the camera with a ‘Corporal Robinson is extreme’ sign! It’s the first time ECW have been to Milwaukee and when Dreamer enquires if this is WCW or WWF territory and both questions get booed, he determines it must be EC ’FN’ W territory! He calls out Raven, but a rather skanky looking Francine is out instead. She tries to cut a serious promo about how Raven was blinded and DDT’d her by accident, but the audience are more concerned with chanting ‘we want puppies’ at her. Footage of the DDT airs and it backs up what Francine was saying, before they get interrupted by the Impact Players and Dawn Marie. Dreamer insults Dawn and challenges either of them to step in the ring with him. Storm says that they are the World tag team champions, which means they’re a team and if Dreamer wants a fight he better find his fat ass a partner and they’ll give him a tag title shot because they like kicking his ass. Dreamer gives the impression he’s about to pick someone from the crowd to be his partner, when Francine announces Raven as his partner. Dreamer’s not happy and turns to confront her, but that leaves him opened to be attacked from behind by the Impact Players. Double back bodydrop, the Players put the boots to Dreamer and this horrid ripped off version of ‘Come Out and Play’ starts playing. Raven is out and wearing black jeans and a black sweater. Knee lifts all around and the snot rag on Justin Credible. Storm goes to superkick him, but he moves and hits his own partner instead. DDT to Storm and Credible makes the save just in time. ‘That’s Incredible’ on Raven and this time its Dreamer doing the saving. He throws Credible to the floor and then over the guardrail as they go for a walk around the building. No fighting, just walking. Storm and Raven slug it out in the ring while Dreamer and Credible continue their walk. Raven with a drop toehold that sends Storm crashing head first into a chair. As Dreamer and Credible head back to the ring it looks like a fan pushes or takes a swing at Credible as he appears to throw a jab at them before the camera quickly cuts away. Raven wedges a chair between the turnbuckles and whips Storm into it, before Dreamer hands him an entire row of seats. Stereo drop toeholds on the Players into those wooden seats. Credible goes flying over the top rope to the floor after being whipped into the turnbuckles, Raven goes out after him and levels him with a Singapore cane. Dreamer with an awesome Death Valley Driver off the middle through a table. Dawn makes the save and we get the ‘catfight’ spot. Jim Mitchell is out (in Sinister Minister gear now), Francine with a bronco buster but Dawn gets her feet up. Mitchell hands Raven some powder, Dreamer has Dawn set up for a piledriver, Raven throws the powder at Storm who ducks and he hits Dreamer instead. Francine goes to check on him and a ‘blinded’ Dreamer DDT’s her. Raven tends to Francine and carries her to the back leaving Tommy all alone. He goes for a DDT on Storm but Credible nails him with one of the belts for a nice near fall. Storm with a spinning heel kick from the top, spike ‘That’s Incredible’ onto a chair and the Impact Players retain.

 

There was almost a ‘soap opera’ feel to this match with the various storylines: you had the reluctant partners, the appearance of Jim Mitchell and the Dreamer ‘blinding’ and DDTing of Francine playing off the Raven/Mikey match where Raven DDT’d her. It suffered a bit in the middle as the camera was jumping around between Dreamer and Credible in the crowd and Raven and Storm in the ring, but that was sandwiched between a hot opening (I especially liked the early pin attempts after the wrestler’s had hit their finishers) and a very strong closing stretch. I couldn’t work out whether the audio had been sweetened or not, but if not, the crowd were super into this (much more than you would expect). The years haven’t been kind to Francine who just looks rough out there in next to nothing playing this ‘sex symbol’ role and it’s weird seeing Raven wrestle in his streetwear, although this protects the Kayfabe in that he wasn’t scheduled to wrestle so why should he be in his ring wear?