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Post by misawamark on Jun 4, 2012 16:07:19 GMT -5
NWA ECW Viking Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Taped June 5th, 1992 Aired June 6th, 1992 -----  * The scene opens outside the ring, in the Viking Hall with Joey Styles and Superstar Billy Graham, mics in hand * Styles : Hello everyone, and welcome to the premiere of Eastern Championship Wrestling, here at the Viking Hall, in beautiful Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I'm Joey Styles, and alongside me here is former WWF World Heavyweight Champion, "Superstar" Billy Graham. Graham : Thank you, Joey. I'm excited to be a part of this. You see, I have very strong feelings that this ECW is going to be a driving force in the National Wrestling Alliance and I'm just excited to be a part of it. Styles : As am I, Billy. Fans, on today's program, we are going to be having our quarter final matches for the ECW Championship. Check out these matches .. I can still barely believe that we have these guys competing for this belt. Masked Superstar v Hillbilly Jim Shane Douglas v Tommy Cairo Tazmaniac w/ Kevin Sullivan v Tully Blanchard And in the fourth and final quarter-final matchup and our Main Event, Tiger Jeet Singh is going to be facing Nikita Koloff. And coming out now, we have two men and though I can't think of a introduction that does him justice, fans here is the "American Dream", Dusty Rhodes and with him, "The Russian Nightmare", Nikita Koloff  Rhodes : Joey Styles. Superstah Billy Graham. Let me say right now that I'm so happy to be here, Daddy. This man and myself have been up and down the road of the National Wrestling Alliance and the action starts here, Daddy. Ya see, we got a tournament here to crown a E C Dubbya Champion, if you wheel and my man here, Nikita Koloff, the Russian Nightmare, is in it to win it, Daddy. Tigah Jeet Singh, you an' I have done the tango all ovah the world and we've bled and fought all over the ring. But you've got a surprise comin', Tigah if you think fo' one minute that this man don't have your numbah. Koloff : Tiger Jeet Singh. You are hard man and vicious man. Dusty Rhodes tell me and he show me all you bring to ring and I am prepared. You stand in my way? Not for long, Tiger Jeet Singh. I defeat you and run through rest of competition and become first ECW Champion. ** Commercial ** Masked Superstar defeats Hillybilly Jim in a little over 5 minutes with the Cobra Clutch to win the first ECW event and advance onto the semi-finals next week. ** Commercial : Joey Styles' is heard hyping upcoming ECW houseshow events in the immediate future ** Shane Douglas defeats Tommy Cairo with the figure four leglock before smiling then mockingly performs a leg drop onto the the prone Cairo before calling for a mic  Douglas : Incase no one cared about what Hogan had to say a couple of weeks ago, let me indulge myself here and speak about it. Hulk Hogan. Let me see if I understand this. You plan on coming to Philadelphia to teach me a lesson? You plan on coming here to put me in my place? Well, why don't you come out now, Hogan? I'm here. I'm ready. Why not come out now? Oh, I'll tell you why. It's because he might want the world to think it's because he's at charity events or movie premieres. Yeah, those are great excuses but let me tell you folks out here WHY he isn't here in Philly to "teach me not to run my mouth". It's because he KNOWS BETTER. He knows that when he finally does have to put up or shut up that I'm going to send him right back to New York to hide behind Vince McMahon until Vince can't stand the whining anymore. "Vince, I'm scared of Shane Douglas. I've got it in my contracts that I can't face anyone who will beat the holy hell out of me so please don't bring him here." We'll, you WOULD have it in your contract if he was interested in your over the hill ass anymore. You are a has-been, Hogan. Hulkamania is over and it is done. I'M the new horizon. I'M the big thing now and the sooner you realize this, the better. Come and shut me up, Hogan. Like I said, this is MY house so I'm not going to be going anywhere. ** Commerical ** Tazmaniac w/ Kevin Sullivan, Axl Rotten & Woman d Tully Blanchard by CO when Sullivan hits Blanchard with a chair, knocking him senseless just long enough for the ref to count him out. After the match, Blanchard is livid and demands Sullivan and his charge to come back to the ring. 1/2 way to the back, the Dark Army comes back towards the ring, circling it. Tully Blanchard fights off the charge as they come back in and gets busted wide open for his trouble. Styles : I can't believe this is happening. Tully Blanchard is one of the most despised men in the NWA and I know there's no one who's going to help him here, regardless of this carnage. After a moment though, Dusty Rhodes has come out and cleared the ring, chair in hand. Sullivan and his men just look back at the ring and Sullivan orders his men to the back, for now. Rhodes and a battered Blanchard just stares bullets at one another before Tully says something that only Dusty can hear and leaves the ring. ** Commercial ** Nikita Koloff defeats Tiger Jeet Singh in the Main Event by pinfall at the 11 minute mark with a Russian Sickle in a bloody match. Styles : Fans, this has been one wild event and for Superstar Graham, I'm Joey Styles and we hope you folks will be back next week for the Semi Finals for the ECW Championship. Folks, I know it's short notice but I just found out that next week's main event is going to be fallout from that Blanchard / Tazmaniac event that we saw earlier. Blanchard has demanded that Sullivan face him in the ring in a NO DQ event and it's been signed. Next week, Tully Blanchard and Kevin Sullivan. No DQ. Fans, you have to come back next week but for now, we're out of time. |
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Post by appstorm on Jun 4, 2012 17:18:30 GMT -5
Rhodes bailing out Blanchard just oozes potential. I can't wait for Blanchard and Sullivan next week. The Superstar looked good in the popener. Douglas making reference to the contract stips Hogan might have to exercise is priceless. Shane had an impressive win over Cairo.
Good first ECW show.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2012 7:44:42 GMT -5
Interesting stuff. Feels a lot like the old MACW/Crockett as opposed to ECW. Nothing wrong with that as MACW had it's fair share of blood bath too when all was said and done.
Douglas using the figure four? MEH... Give me the Belly to Belly over that "generic heel" move any day man.
Really enjoyed the Tully/Sullivan stuff putting him with Rhodes is a nice angle.
Are you going to be running the Viking Hall every week? Or is this a taping for the next few weeks? 'Cause I've got tickets for bingo man, and if you're running every week when am I gonna get to play BINGO?
Fun show.
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Post by Grape Ape on Jun 5, 2012 17:07:34 GMT -5
I enjoyed this. It read somewhat like Tri-State with some of the higher priced older talent coming in for a few shows. Looking forward to what is to come down the pike.
How Hogan is going to fit in here remains to be seen and him in 92 versus the Shane of 92, I'm not seeing it. Shane/Tully, Nikita and/or Rhodes, I can easily see. But it all remains to be seen how you pull it off.
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Post by somethingsavage on Jun 8, 2012 13:54:04 GMT -5
Well I'm definitely on board for this experiment. Everyone makes valid points & takes fair criticisms with some of the roster, but I'm just not feeling that way. I seriously dig the blend of talent you're offering here. It's a fresh freaking approach to Philly, with just enough big names to make it feel bold & remarkably different. We've seen the "tried & true" style of ECW on other fantasy boards, left & right. All the time. Nothing wrong with that, as I think it's key to stay true to the roots of some territories. However, there is a time & a place for experimenting, and I think this project fits. I dig it.
Hogan is obviously the standout superstar on this roster. He's the odd man out, but I can't even lie. I'm stoked to see what you do with him. How you play his part in the thick of things is going to be crucial. I'm both eager & anxious to see what he does when he comes roaring into the promotion. One thing is for sure though - it's going to feel HUGE, man. It's going to be a milestone moment.
All in all, I really enjoyed this show. From top to bottom, it was evident that your promos & interviews are the backbone of your television. I'm a little disappointed that you didn't run the Pulp Fiction style quick-clips to close out the show though. Those are staples for the ECW telecasts, and you've already shown that you're capable of handling them just right. Why not include them in future episodes, man? I say, "Go for it."
The Shane Douglas promo was stellar stuff. It drew me in & captured my attention right away. I could practically hear his voice speaking those words. The same with Dusty. You nailed the dialogue for the American Dream & the Russian Nightmare, as well as the Franchise. Great job with all that, man. You seem to have a firm grasp on all the characters & personalities at play here. I'm liking that.
Douglas calling out Hogan is just vintage ECW. It's what propelled Eastern into Extreme when Shane was doing the same routine to Flair back in the day, so it's fitting to witness it at work here. The Hulkster is a prime target for Shane's wrath, so unleashing Douglas on the microphone is just an awesome way to go. Glad to see you're not rushing things with this grudge either. Hogan not showing up yet is a nice touch. Let it simmer for a bit. Keep Shane running his mouth. So far, you're handling it right.
Gotta agree with Drew about the Figure Four as Shane's signature move though. I'd take the Belly to Belly or (preferably) the Fisherman's Buster over that any day. Kudos on having Shane hit the Atomic Leg Drop of Doom though. Haha. Nice little touch to throw out there.
Other good stuff included the call-back to the Rhodes & Blanchard rivalry of the 80's, as well as the existing partnership between Dusty & Nikita. Nothing wrong with keeping continuity from another promotion. You have these guys signed to deals, so you might as well acknowledge their pasts. Plus, it's always cool to build off their established history & just watch their future developments intersect & intertwine. Liking all that.
Graham & Styles make for one heck of a unique announce team. Now that's part of what makes fantasy booking so much fun, in my book. An odd pairing, for sure. Graham was never much of a commentator, but he was one hell of a hype guy. Somehow, he could sell himself - and he did okay with making Hogan sound like a champ - but he never did much for the angles or anybody else, really. Not sure why. He just never made that transition in being able to make you care about other guys. Only Hogan and himself, really. But pairing him with Styles brings a unique balance to things, and Joey was excellent back in the day.
It's cool to see the Masked Superstar working in this area. I know he's on his last legs at this juncture, but I'm always a mark for the guy. He would have made for a fun fit here, even if it was just for a short veteran's tour that some of the older guys were doing in Philly. Thumbs up to that.
As I said, I'm definitely a fan of your work thus far. You've got some fun building blocks set in place. Can't wait to see you start stacking them together for us on future cards. Keep it coming, man.
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Post by wrestlingsickness on Jun 11, 2012 17:35:45 GMT -5
I like very much how you’re sticking with original Eastern Championship Wrestling business model by making the majority of your Main Event players old timers with star power winding down their careers. Dusty, Nikita, Tully Blanchard (I thought he retired in 1990, with only the occasion one shot returns after that), Masked Superstar, and even Hillbilly Jim are all perfect roster choices that can help use their name value to legitimize “the little promotion that could.” Also, as an old school fan, seeing things like Dusty and Nikitia reuniting as the Allied Powers and Dusty actually helping Tully Blanchard are all mark out worthy moments!
I absolutely love seeing Bill Eadie revive his Masked Superstar identity! The Masked Superstar is one of my all time favorite heels and, with Demolition all but dead at this point, donning the mask once again feels like the right way for Eadie to close out his career.
Kevin Sullivan’s new Army of Darkness, with Tasmaniac, Axl Rotten, and “oh Woman, oh Woman, won’t you marry me now?!” is actually pretty awesome! While I was never a big fan of the Tasmaniac gimmick, his tag team with Kevin Sullivan was pretty awesome. Heck, I wouldn’t mind seeing those two as Tag Champs at some point. A Sullivan/Blanchard feud with Dusty as the wild card has some great potential!
The first round of the ECW Heavyweight Title Tournament produced a really neat semi final bracket. We’ve got two old schoolers in Masked Superstar and Nikitia Koloff balanced out by young lions Shane Douglas and Tasmaniac. With Nikitia being the only face, it’s a given that he’ll make it to the finals, while all logic points to the Franchise as the other finalist given history and being thrust into your top program with Hogan. Of course this is ECW, so we could always see a swerve happen!
There were only two things that I didn’t like about this show, one small thing and one big thing. The small thing is Superstar Billy Graham as color commentator. I’m not against Joey Styles having a broadcasting partner, but Graham just stuck out like a sore thumb here and added very little to the broadcast. Plus having two face commentators in ECW is just plain boring. Most people tend to forget this, but when Joey Styles first debuted in ECW as a guest commentator (representing PWI) he was actually a heel…and wasn’t that bad at it, if I remember correctly. Whether you have Joey heel it up or replace Graham (heck, Bobby Heenan’s on your roster. A Joey/Weasel team would be awesome), something needs to be done to spark some life in your commentary.
The BIG thing, however is much more difficult fix, and that’s the Hulk Hogan/Franchise feud you’re setting up. A lot of people scratched their heads during the draft when you grabbed Hulk Hogan as your first draft pick, but with hindsight being twenty twenty I now see your logic. You WANTED Ric Flair so you could give the fantasy world a proper Nature Boy/Franchise feud, but when WCW snatched Flair before you could you went with Hogan as your second choice, since Douglas has equally put down the Hulkster. With equal hindsight, you may have been better off grabbing Hogan and Sting as your back to back first pick, and using one or both of them to broker a trade for Flair because putting Hulk in this position just doesn’t work…and I’ll tell you why.
1. There simply isn’t enough heat between Hogan and Douglas to make this feud strong. Yes, Shane took his shots at Hulk over the years, but unlike his digs at Flair those were never personal. Douglas didn’t know Hogan, so his disses were normally generic “you’re old and boring” kind of stuff. Likewise, Shane Douglas was and probably still is a pimple on Hulk Hogan’s butt and the Hulkster could care less what the man has said or has to say. Shane and Ric, on the other hand, knew one another and both had issues with the other, so Douglas’s rants were taken VERY personally to the point that they still have heat over it to this very day. While I could easily see the Nature Boy walking out on his big money WCW contract in order to take a pay cut at the bingo hall and shut the Franchise’s mouth as a matter of pride, it’s just completely unbelievable that Hulk Hogan would do so. If anything, Hogan would buy ECW with his petty cash, fire Douglas, then bulldoze Viking Hall and turn it into a parking lot.
2. Shane Douglas has no business being in the ring with a mega superstar like Hulk Hogan at this point in his career. Shane Douglas didn’t become the Franchise of ECW overnight. It took a year’s worth of pushing and continually allowing him to cut half hour long promos (seriously, I remember an episode of ECW TV where half of the show was a single Franchise promo) while putting him over every big star they had, then continuing to put him over everybody for another year during his first title reign while bringing in every big name they possibly could (Marty Jannetty, Tully Blanchard, Ron Simmons, etc) to lay down for him. At this point in 1992, Douglas has yet to achieve any real form of mainstream success to warrant such a high profile feud with the biggest star in this sport’s history. At this time in real life, he was only just returning to WCW and hadn’t even received his initial push of Magnum TA endorsing him by allowing him to use the belly to belly suplex. His World Tag Team Title run with Ricky Steamboat (the one that first put him on the map as an actual wrestling star) is still a year away, and his biggest claim to fame is STILL being one half of the Dynamic Dudes. Heck, I love Tommy Cairo, but defeating the Iron Man is hardly enough to build up Douglas as anything more than a minor annoyance to Hogan.
3. The history that this angle hinges on simply is not there yet. If you want to be technical, Douglas is still two years away from ever running his mouth and making the comments that would spur Hogan to come to ECW as part of this angle. It hasn’t happened yet, and you haven’t done any to make it happen in your fantasy universe. You had Hogan cut a promo saying “I heard what you said about me, brother!” The problem is…your audience hasn’t heard what Shane has said about him…because he hasn’t said it yet. As far as we know, Douglas’s promo on your first show IS the first time we’ve heard the man say anything about Hogan, and all he’s doing is responding to Hogan’s first shot.
4. As others have said already, this feud hinges on Shane being the heel. Part of the reason Shane became the Franchise is because he spent his entire career playing the good looking, squeaky clean babyface up to this point, and the Philly fans crucify the pretty boys (just ask Tommy Dreamer). Shane (or Heyman) was smart enough to realize this and instead debuted in ECW with a cocky “I’m better than everyone” attitude that only made the fans who already didn’t like him hate him even more. People became babyfaces in ECW because the fans hated Douglas and cheered whoever he was in the ring against, but there is no way the Philly fans are going to cheer Hogan over Shane. As much as the “smart” fans loved his Flair rants, those same fans would drop to their knees and bow if Flair were to ever set foot in the ECW Arena. Why? Because they, at the very least, respected his in ring ability. That kind of respect would be non existent for Hogan, and if fans don’t treat Hulk like a babyface then Shane will be incapable of becoming the Franchise character.
Despite my feelings about THAT, this was a solid, entertaining debut show for ECW! There was a whole lot of things to like about the product, but Hogan/Douglas is just the elephant in the room that needs to be addressed. Instead of debuting with this angle, you’d have been better off had you spent, say, three months building up Shane Douglas as “the Franchise” with win after win over the legends on your roster, all the while running down the tradition of the NWA as well as Hogan, and then had Hogan make a surprise debut in a “Holy Crap!” moment. Starting this angle cold on the back of things that happened in the past/our NWA’s future just isn’t going to work. Personally, I think you’d be better off focusing your show on the good stuff you were doing (Sullivan’s Army, the Dusty/Tully alliance, Nikita’s final run) and either forget about Hogan or try everything in your power to get Flair from WCW and do this angle the right way.
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Post by Grape Ape on Jun 11, 2012 18:21:15 GMT -5
Despite my feelings about THAT, this was a solid, entertaining debut show for ECW! There was a whole lot of things to like about the product, but Hogan/Douglas is just the elephant in the room that needs to be addressed. Instead of debuting with this angle, you’d have been better off had you spent, say, three months building up Shane Douglas as “the Franchise” with win after win over the legends on your roster, all the while running down the tradition of the NWA as well as Hogan, and then had Hogan make a surprise debut in a “Holy Crap!” moment. Starting this angle cold on the back of things that happened in the past/our NWA’s future just isn’t going to work. Personally, I think you’d be better off focusing your show on the good stuff you were doing (Sullivan’s Army, the Dusty/Tully alliance, Nikita’s final run) and either forget about Hogan or try everything in your power to get Flair from WCW and do this angle the right way. Or ... you could always use Tully as the "handpicked Flair guy" to take care of that "little problem up in Philadelphia". |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 22:14:25 GMT -5
re: Tully Blanchard
Although he wasn't active in '91 at all, he was used by Crocket's NWA promotion throughout '92 & '93 as one of the top heels. Promotion was run out of Texas, so I'm sure that's why.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 22:17:24 GMT -5
re: Tully Blanchard Although he wasn't active in '91 at all, he was used by Crocket's NWA promotion throughout '92 & '93 as one of the top heels. Promotion was run out of Texas, so I'm sure that's why. Correction that was '94. My bad. |
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Post by Grape Ape on Jun 13, 2012 22:28:25 GMT -5
If he hadn't failed a drug test while with the WWF in '90 and had received a bigger contract to rejoin the Horseman in '91, I think the end of his career would have played out differently and he would have been more active throughout the '90s.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 22:39:18 GMT -5
If he hadn't failed a drug test while with the WWF in '90 and had received a bigger contract to rejoin the Horseman in '91, I think the end of his career would have played out differently and he would have been more active throughout the '90s. And he negotiated with WCW for a return in 93 but didn't like the money offered to him. I think we're safe to use him till the end of 95 actually as that's when he left and became a minister. |
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Post by somethingsavage on Jun 14, 2012 4:31:40 GMT -5
Tully did show up in ECW in early '95... to face The Franchise. So the angle actually "sort of" happened there in real life. Sure, it wasn't played up as such - but they had Joey hype the whole, "the Horsemen ride again!" tag-line for it. So I guess it kind of fit with one of "Flair's boys" coming in to settle the score to some degree.
For me, I don't mind the reworking & tweaking on dates & history here. If the execution is right & the ride is thrilling enough, then I'm all in for it. Just continue to build Douglas with meaningful wins, (by ALL means) keep him talking trash, and let him sell the heat for this grudge.
By the time you bring in Hogan, it'll seem like a huge deal. From then on out, it's time to get creative. Call me crazy, but I think I'd much rather experience the ups & downs (and the unpredictability) of the Philly fans reacting to Hogan... rather than just then popping & "respecting" Flair's work-rate. Maybe that's just me. But part of the allure would be in the strange, Bizarro World reactions to the Hulkster act.
Say what you will, but Hogan could work. I know his match with Muta in '93 gets driven into the ground, but it's true. The guy could still go when he wanted to. And his promo from Japan that year shows he still respects the hustle of the game to an extent. I think he could make this work, hands-down. And if not? It's still more appealing to me than just another Flair/Shane rehash. I've seen that done to death in fantasy land, as well as a weak version in WCW 2000. I'm cool with this alternative.
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