| East Coast Wrestling Association - November 25, 2000 - Newark, DE |
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| Friday, November 24, 2000 | |||
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The induction of the "Hero of the heart" into the East Coast Wrestling Association's Hall of Fame and a joyous celebration of the winning of the ECWA title were tempered by ominous warnings about what is to come in 2001 at the ECWA's eagerly-anticipated "Battle at the Bob" held on November 25 at the Bob Carpenter Center on the campus of the University of Delaware in Newark, DE. Official paid attendance was 1471. ECWA promoter: JIM KETTNER. Commissioner emeritus: RICHARD NAEGELE. Ring announcers: CHUCK RISTANO and MATT DeSANTIS. Condolences to announcer BILLY K (who works at the Carpenter Center), who was unable to attend due to a death in the family. Timekeeper at the bell: JEFF AMDUR. Manning the Ovaltron screen: "FLYIN" RYAN. Referees for the evening: BOB DENSMORE, LARRY PEACE, PAUL TURNER, and (returning for this one night after a six-year absence): ROY JONES. Journalists and photographers in attendance: from the PWI group, BRANDI MANKIEWICZ, DAVE LENKER and WILL WELSH; from the WWF, FRANK VITUCCI; from WOW: JOE ZANOLLE and, making a brief pre-card appearance, BILL APTER; from 1wrestling com: JESS McGRATH; from the Philadelphia Daily News, MICHAEL "MAD DOG" TEARSON. Also in attendance: promoters BLAINE DeSANTIS, JIM BARNETT and DENNIS CORALLUZZO; wrestlers CORPORAL PUNISHMENT and QENAAN CREED; JOHN BAILEY and the HAWAIIAN HAT ENTOURAGE; Internet types BRETT SCHWAN, JIM "IN DIRE NEED OF RITALIN" BRAMBILLA, and BERNIE "NO PICTURES TONIGHT" DIEHL; longtime behind-the-scenes indie handyman GREG GREENLAND; and the forever-hard-to-categorize BOBBY BAUM. Serving as emcee for the evening was WWF announcer MICHAEL COLE, who stirred the fans to a frenzy during his warmup before introducing announcers MATT DeSANTIS and CHUCK RISTANO. BARRY KNIGHT sant a truly superior version of the National Anthem in 1:29. MATCH 1: LOW-KI pinned "THE BLACK NATURE BOY" SCOOT ANDREWS in 9:39. Low started with some leg sweeps before Scoot countered with a skull crusher and some Flair chops. Low retailiated with some slaps and a head scissors. Then Scoot hit Low with a tope off the top rope. Andrews hit a neckbreaker and haughtily lay one foot on Ki to get a 2-count. From the down position, Low hit a twirl kick. Scoot came back with a chin lock that didn't get Low to submit. When Scoot missed a top-turnbuckle sit-in, Low hit the target with a spin kick. Low charged Andrews in the corner, but Scoot moved and stomped on the dazed Low. Scoot then hit a tombstone and covered Low; but he pulled Low up at the 2-count. Low then hit a spinning ddt and covered for the pin. MATCH 2: "MAXIMUM" JOHNNY MAXX & VINCE GOODNITE & THUNDER pinned "FABULOUS" MOZART FONTAINE & PERSIAN PRINCE & MONSIEUR OOH LA LA (with E.S. EASTON & BARRY CASINO) in 6:32. In the crowd, JIM BRAMBILLA was waving dollar bills at Ooh as the Frenchman performed his customary strip-tease (thankfully, mostly tease) before the match. There was a bit of friction between managers Easton and Casino after E.S. retrieved Ooh's pants while Ooh was standing on them. Maxx and Fontaine started out, with Johnny hurling Mozart out of the ring while Easton argued with the Hat Guy folks. Vince and Prince tagged in, and Prince also found himself tossed out of the ring. Mozart came back in only to be hit with Goodnite's atomic drop and slam. Ooh then tagged in and found himself victimized by Goodnite's leg sweep and clothesline. Prince came back in only to become the wishbone as Vince and Johnny made a wish. PP recovered to slam Vince and get a 2-count. Goodnite then found himself triple-teamed as the referee was occupied with keeping Thunder and Maxx out of the ring. Thunder finally made the hot tag and cleaned house. He gorilla pressed Fontaine and threw him onto Prince and La. The proverbial pier six brawl developed in and out of the ring among all the participants, with Thunder finally pinning Ooh after slamming him. MATCH 3: STEVE BRADLEY retained his Memphis Championship Wrestling Southern Heavyweight title by scoring the pin over INFERNO and SIMON DIAMOND (with DAWN MARIE) in 11:57 of their three-way dance. After some exchanges of hip tosses and body slams, Diamond found himself slammed by both opponents but recovered to throw them out of the ring. Back in the ring, Steve and Inferno continued the double teaming with stomps, a clothesline, slam and elbow drop. Inferno covered Diamond for a 2-count, being pulled off him at the last second by Bradley. Simon then hit a double ddt. He charged Bradley in the corner, but Bradley met him with a foot. Inferno covered for another 2-count as Bradley again pulled him off. More double teaming as Steve and Inferno pummeled Diamond with chokes, a clothesline and elbow drops. Inferno and Bradley each got 2-counts on Simon, pulling each other off at the last second. At this juncutre, the frustrated Steve and Inferno started to slug each other, and Simon hit both of them with a facebuster. Diamond hit Bradley with a spinebuster and clothesline, and various pin attempts were then made by all three wrestlers, the sequence stopping when Inferno super kicked Bradley off Diamond. Inferno then pulled Dawn Marie into the ring, and set her up for a Samoan drop before a Diamond stare made him reconsider. Dawn then drop kicked Inferno. Diamond then covered Inferno but then found himself schoolboyed by Bradley for the pin. As Diamond and Dawn Marie walked back to the locker room, the crowd chanted "Lance! Lance!", remembering his longtime ECWA persona. The Ovaltron then played a message from SCOTTY 2 HOTTY in which the former Super Eight participant recalled his association with JIM KETTNER and the ECWA. He mentioned the big tournament being one of his first big breaks, and fondly reminisced about the backstage at St. Matthew's, where he could "get dressed and cook French fries at the same time." MATCH 4: In a chain match, GLEN OSBOURNE held on to his Mid-Atlantic title by touching the four corners to beat PATCH (with BARRY CASINO) in 9:18. Oz found himself bloodied early on. Patch hit a snap suplex and touched three corners before Glenn pushed him back to prevent the victory. Glenn retaliated with some Flair chops before Patch hit a body slam and touched two corners. Patch then threw Glenn out of the ring, and Glenn wound up pulling Patch out with him by the chain. The battle ensued out of the ring, with Osbourne yelling at one point to manager Casino, "You stay out of my business, you fat load!" Patch climbed to the top turnbuckle but found himself carried by Osbourne as Glenn touched three corners easily. Not even a Patch clothesline could deter Glenn from getting to the fourth corner for the win. MATCH 5: BOOGIE WOOGIE BROWN (with "CAPTAIN" LOU ALBANO) pinned VIPER (with CARNAGE and THE MASTER) in 3:16. This match marked the one-night return of The Master and his "Master plan". Viper and Carnage stomped Boogie upon his entrance. Boogie stomped back but found himself chopped by Viper in the corner. Brown then powered his way out, delivering an elbow to Master on the ring apron before elbow dropping Viper for the pin. The Ovaltron showed MICHAEL COLE interviewing his WWF colleague and mastermind of the "Connecticut Connection" KEVIN KELLY, asking how Kevin could have gotten himself booked in a "Prince of Darkness" blindfold match against TY STREET. Kelly responded by saying that his victory tonight would be the "greatest moment of Kevin Kelly's life". Another Ovaltron interview followed with TY STREET telling MATT DeSANTIS that tonight he would exact his long-sought-after revenge on Kelly, who had lit his face with fire several months back. MATCH 6: In the "Prince of Darkness" blindfold match, TY STREET pinned KEVIN KELLY in 7:45. Ty made it to the ring first and was blindfolded by the ref. When Kelly came in, rather than get himself blindfolded, he immediately pummeled the helpless Ty and then started to walk back to the locker room area. Fortunately for the fans (and unfortunately for Kevin), he was met on the way back by DAWN MARIE and SIMON DIAMOND, who grabbed and blindfolded him, then led him back to the ring. There were various miscalculations caused by the blindfolded state, the most prominent of them being when Kelly grabbed referee Peace and whipped him into Street, with Ty trying to pin the ref. With the ref in Never-Never land, the HAAS BROTHERS came out and pummeled Ty. Kelly splashed Ty and got a 2-count but subsequently couldn't locate Ty. Ty landed a punch on Kelly. Then, Kevin hit the referee with an inadvertent flying Lewinsky. With the ref writhing in pain and oblivious to anything else, MICHAEL COLE came out and plonked Kevin with a chair. Ty then went to the top turnbuckle and, with the aid of the fans, was able to locate Kelly to leg drop him and then cover for the fall. The intermission was then well under way before the ring crew could help the fallen Kelly back to the lockers. The second half started with MICHAEL COLE and former ECWA commissioner RICHARD NAEGELE presiding over the induction of JEFF PETERSON into the ECWA Hall of Fame. A video montage was shown of the 19-year-old wrestler's accomplishments and his current fight against cancer was cited. Jeff came out and accepted the plaque. Out from the back to congratulate Jeff came ECWA heavyweight champion J.J. (THE RING CREW GUY). The two embraced. Then J.J. hoisted Jeff up to accept more cheers from the fans. Suddenly, J.J. took Jeff and put him in a painful chicken wing, rendering the young gladiator unconscious. As the referees and ring crew helped Jeff to the back, the fans that had been cheering J.J. booed him lustily (with the exception of the blue-t-shirt clad J.J. Fan Club section. The Ovaltron then played a tribute from former ECWA champion and WWF tag team titleholder CHRISTIAN. MATCH 7: "FALLEN ANGEL" CHRISTOPHER DANIELS pinned RECKLESS YOUTH in 14:24. Chris took the mike and harangued the ECWA management for having made Jeff Peterson the HOF inductee rather than himself, the "King of the independents". It was for that reason that he decided that he wanted to wrestle against Reckless rather than tag with him as had originally been scheduled. Reckless came out, defended the Peterson induction, and vowed to give Daniels "a lesson in respect." Some opening chain wrestling was followed by Reckless doing a sit-in on Daniels's arm before applying an arm bar. Daniels countered with a hip toss, then found himself caught in an arm drag as he bounced off the ropes. Youth then ddt'd Daniels off the ring apron, then did a tope off the ropes onto him. Back in the ring, Daniels got 2-counts after, respectively, a spin kick and spine buster. As Fallen Angel climbed to the middle turnbuckle to taunt the fans, Youth yanked him down with a snap suplex. Chris did a baseball slide that dropped Reckless to the floor, then springboarded off the ropes onto him. Rather than submit to Chris's chinlock, Reckless hit a modified stunner and then moonsaulted onto him. Youth then hit a scissor drop from the top turnbuckle, then did a top-rope body press, getting a 2-count. Back on the turnbuckle, Reckless fell victim to a Daniels thrust slam. Daniels then got 2-counts after a moonsault and reverse ddt. Reckless then hit a suplex. The two then exchanged various rollups and cradles in their quest for a pin fall. Several 2-counts occurred before Daniels was able to hold Reckless for the 3-count. The Ovaltron showed an enraged CHEETAH MASTER looking for J.J. MATCH 8: The "ECWA Legends and Rookies Rumble", featuring current, past, and future (WrestleTech trainees) ECWA wrestlers as well as a couple of disc jockeys from local station WRDX, was won by CARNAGE in 14:46. The participants, in order of entry, were: DR. DESTRUCTION (with his TWIN SONS), BENNY STOLZFUS, JAPANESE POOL BOY, NIGEL FAIRSERVICE, IRON MAN (with his SONS), CARNAGE, SEBASTIAN NIGHT, WRDX G. MONEY, WRDX BRIAN DiMARIO, BUCK WYLDE, SCOTT FURIE, JEFF PORTER, MIKE MAYHEM, THE COMMANDO, "DAZZLING" DONNY LOVE, MAXIM, OMEGA, E.S. EASTON, JOE POWERS, MARK "THE SHARK" SHRADER, and J.R. RYDER. The last three in the ring were Carnage, Shrader and Ryder. As J.R. picked Shark up and was ready to toss him out of the ring, Carnage managed to throw both of them over the ropes to get the win. Once again, the Ovaltron followed CHEETAH MASTER backstage, still seeking out J.J. MATCH 9: WWF-bound (Memphis, in particular) RUSS & CHARLIE HAAS, in their last independent appearance, retained the tag team titles by pinning JAY & MARK BRISCOE in 13:27 with some unscheduled outside help in a match that stipulated that KEVIN KELLY would be barred from ringside. Before the match, Charlie announced that this would be their last appearance here, as they were going to the WWF, and that consequently, this would also be the last time the ECWA fans would see a tag team championship, as they were planning to take the belts with them. This obviously didn't set well with the Briscoes, who charged the ring to the frenzied cheers of the busloads of schoolmates and other fans that had made the trip up from Laurel. The youngsters did a double plancha through the ropes onto the Haases, then followed up with a double somersault over the ropes. Russ mounted some offense by slingshotting Jay off the top rope, and Charlie followed with a flying Lewinsky. Russ got a 2-count on Jay after a snap suplex. Mark tagged in and found his testicles on the short end of Charlie's fist. A lengthy period of double teaming followed as the ref was occupied with keeping Jay in the corner. Mark couldn't get to the corner for a tag even after hitting Charlie with a neckbreaker, as Charlie reached Russ first and Russ kept Mark away from the corner. Charlie came back in and got a 2-count after both Haases hit Mark with a double dropkick. Mark then rebounded off the ropes to kick Charlie and finally tag his brother. Jay hit a vicious spin kick that send Charlie ricocheting off Russ. As Jay covered for a fall, the referee was not around, as he was halfway up the entrance ramp keeping the barred KEVIN KELLY from coming to ringside. Various subsequent covers for falls by both Briscoes were equally futile. MICHAEL COLE came to ringside once again carrying a chair. He stared at Russ but rather than plonk him, he plonked Jay with the chair. The referee, no longer hindered by Kelly, came back to the ring in time to make the three count. Russ and Charlie keep the titles--will the belts be absconded to Memphis? After the match, WWF announcers Kelly and Cole joined the Haases in stomping the Briscoes until SIMON DIAMOND, TY STREET and DAWN MARIE made the save. Dawn Marie hit Kevin with a vicious spear and the the two of them fisticuffically rolled around the mat (I guess we can't really call it a "catfight"). MATCH 10: CHEETAH MASTER (with "CAPTAIN" LOU ALBANO) won the ECWA heavyweight title from J.J. JOHNSTON (THE RING CREW GUY) in 28:31. At the beginning, J.J. refused to come to ringside, saying he would not allow Cheetah to fight for the belt. He instructed referee Turner to start the match and count to ten, allowing Cheetah to win by disqualification but not get the belt. Turner ordered me to ring the bell but did not complete a ten count as Cheetah went to the back to get J.J. When we saw the two next, they were brawling from the entranceway up to the ringside table, where J.J. smashed Cheetah right in front of the announcers and myself. Back in the ring, J.J. continued with some stomps. Cheetah retaliated with a flying burrito. CM grabbed his "special chair" (always provided for his use by one of his fans) and set it up against the turnbuckle; but his plans went awry as the chair fell and J.J. reversed a whip, thus smashing Cheetah into the ring post. J.J. then grabbed announcer Chuck Ristano's chair and threw it into the ring. Cheetah grabbed the returning J.J. and put him in the tree of woe. After stomping J.J., Cheetah set up the metal chair in front of J.J.'s face and did a baseball slide into it. He then hit a back suplex. J.J. mounted his offense with a springboard face buster. Cheetah kicked a charging J.J. and then got a 1-count after an off-the-ropes body press. Cheetah delivered a couple of northern lights suplexes, then did an 180-degree body press off the top rope for a 2-count. J.J. countered with his own 2-count after a reverse tomikaze. Cheetah hit a super kick and got a 2-count after a frog splash. J.J.'s surfboard couldn't get Cheetah to submit. The champ then hit a series of shoulder blocks to CM's legs, then took the chair (still in the ring) and ko'd ref Turner. With the chair, he then worked on that knee that Cheetah had taken so long to rehabilitate. As substitute referee Peace made it to the ring, J.J. continued to hit Cheetah's knee with the chair, then plonked him on the head. J.J. put on a figure-four leg lock, getting several 2-counts but neither pin nor submission. Cheetah reversed the leg lock, and J.J. made it to the ropes. J.J. grabbed the chair once more, but this time the alert Cheetah kicked it and J.J. fell victim to that Van Cheetahnator and the pin. After the match, the locker room emptied. Most of the evening's wrestlers surrounded the ring as Cheetah thanked the fans for their support and for making this a memorable evening. Suddenly, the arena went dark and the "Eye" that had been beguiling the ECWA for several months made yet another appearance on the Ovaltron. The Eye demanded the arena's undivided attention and announced that for ECWA fans and workers, 2001 would be the worst year of their lives. An unfamiliar logo, with the inscription "Alliance of Defiance" appeared on the Ovaltron as KEVIN KELLY was seen on the stage along with MICHAEL COLE, RUSS HAAS, CHARLIE HAAS, INFERNO and STEVE BRADLEY. Kelly revealed that he--Kevin Kelly--was the mastermind behind the mysterious Eye, and that the Alliance of Defiance was coming to the ECWA in the new year. The ECWA's next show is going to be the fifth annual Super Eight tournament on Saturday, February 24 at the home base, the St. Matthew's Parish Center in Newport, DE, with the usual 7 pm bell time. Keep tuned to www.ecwaprowrestling.com for news on the participants.
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