[2000-03-03-ECW-Asbury Park, NJ] Vic Grimes vs Balls Mahoney (Exploding Barbed Wire Bomb Death)

[soup23]

Pretty extreme stip for ECW actually that doesn’t usually do fire, bombs or light tubes. Im really surprised how light this crowd is now with this unique match happening. So this started out with some actual decent wrestling from Balls. He has a good back heel kick as well. Then we move to the slice and dice portion which consists of Vic using a pizza slicer and Balls a fork. I can already see Loss checking out of this match because of that. I liked the spinebuster that Balls delivers right after that for a nearfall. They actually showed some good restraint before teasing the boards but after 7 or 8 minutes, it is long enough for Balls to retrieve the first one. Gabe or whomever is taping retreats to the stage to get out of the way. Grimes is able to push Balls off the second rope into the board and it looks impressive with the smoke going up in the air and the barbed wire sticking to Balls. Vic thinks he has it in the bag but Balls kicks out to a huge pop and cheers for Balls. The second board comes in and this time Vic takes the same bump. This one doesn’t explode like the previous one which is unfortunate. Balls quickly grabs a chair and hits a legdrop with it to pick up the win. This was the type of garbage brawl that I enjoy as I thought the spots were built too well. ***

[Loss]

I thought this was solid. Nothing great, but the first of its kind in the U.S. and an impressive outing. I actually didn't mind all the gore because there was plenty of wrestling to build to those moments, and also because they didn't overstay their welcome. I have to wonder why ECW did this here instead of at Living Dangerously where they might have been able to draw with it. ***

[Robert S]

I have to wonder why ECW did this here instead of at Living Dangerously where they might have been able to draw with it.

I suppose that might have to do with what you can get away in Pennsylvania compared to Connecticut.

I vaguely remember that the backstory of this match was that they wanted to bring in Onita for this gimmick which somehow fell through. Then CZW announced their exploding something match and to be first ECW did this match here on a short notice. Though looking at cagematch CZW did their exploding cage match only in June.

[Migs]

My memory suggests that Grimes' slot might have initially been Kintaro Kanemura. They definitely hyped this pretty heavily on the TV.

 

The early part is a pretty slow brawl as they cut each other open. It's like they know they have to build to the explosion spots, but also that these fans will not tolerate a long wait for blood. Grimes busts out a frog... elbow? Certainly different.

 

The first big spot looked... okay? I'm unclear on what the explosion is supposed to add beyond the falling into barbed wire. The second one lacking the explosion feels like a bummer, though - the visual of the explosion is fun.

[Laney]

The crowd is really into this one which helps make it a lot more fun and enjoyable. If you came to see dudes get blown up then this is a disappointment. Only one of the two bombs go off and it blows in a way that is relatively safe and leaves Balls unfazed. Still, this is a fun brawl with the crowd eagerly anticipating somebody's destruction.

[GSR]

Never knew that ECW ran this match and we see security carefully bringing out the explosive barbed wire boards. Grimes’ cohorts of Angel and DeVito head out as the introductions are made, but they stay at the top of the entrance aisle. Balls ducks a clothesline and start jabbing Grimes while the crowd chant his name. Irish whip reversal, Grimes with a powerslam followed by a senton. ‘You fat fuck’ chants aimed at him. What a nice bunch the ECW crowd are! A back elbow sends Balls through the ropes and he only justs holds on and avoids falling into the barbed wire board. Grimes grabs a pizza cutter and uses it to slice Mahoney’s forehead. Balls reverses a whip to the corner then nails Grimes with a lovely superkick. Now it’s his turn to carve up his opponent, stabbing him in the head with a fork. Spinebuster for two before he misses an elbow off the middle. Grimes with a Samoan drop, he then heads up top hitting a frog splash elbow. Lackadaisical cover sees Mahoney kick out. He goes up a second time, but Balls is back to his feet, takes his legs out from under him and with Grimes crotched on the top turnbuckle, clocks him full force in the head with a chair. Balls steps outside and with the help of Jim Molineux brings the barbed wire board into the ring. Grimes blocks the superplex, fires back with some punches and then pushes Balls backwards into the board and we get a small explosion. The subsequent pin sees Balls kick out and Grimes goes to collect the other explosive board. He unloads with punches in the corner and then climbs to the middle turnbuckle so he can punch him some more. Grimes plays to the crowd though, Balls with a low blow and a powerbomb onto the board. Unfortunately though the explosion doesn’t go off this time. Balls has to improvise and puts a chair over his opponents head, drops the leg and gets the win.

 

I thought this was okay, but I didn’t really get into the match and it felt a lot like ‘wrestling by numbers’ (a bit of basic action, the ‘gore’ section and then the finish). I don’t know what I was expecting when it came to the explosions, but I think I was expecting something on a par with the FMW matches so this looked disappointing. I suppose they achieved what they wanted out of the match and going the gimmick, even if the finish was anti-climactic with the second explosion not working.

[klhare]

It's really interesting to see a match like this in ECW. It is very much not the type of hardcore match I'd expect there. Much slower than most in the promotion and typical deathmatch tropes like the pizza cutter are used. It's pretty much the template for the US indy deathmatch scene and is a bit fascinating to me. There's a lot of talk about what ECW would have looked like if it continued, with guys like Low Ki, Daniels, Punk and Danielson always mentioned as the potential next wave. This match made me think about the possibility ECW would have gone in a different direction than that, focusing more on the next level of deathmatches. Would have been interesting to see the style evolve more in front of a more mainstream audience.