[NWA] ECW House Show 001

[Grape Ape]

NWA: Eastern Championship Wrestling presents ...
An Evening at the Original Sports Bar!
11.25.1993
from the Original Sports Bar

ECW returns to the Original Sports Bar with a small show before the Terror in Tabor. A solid crowd for the ECW return. A welcome from the hosts Jay Sulli and Stevie Wonderful as they introduce "The Man", Tod Gordon. Short but sweet speech as well as a plug for the Terror in Tabor show from Gordon, in order to get things underway.

Opening match finds the Cosmic Commander with the Canadian Wolfman taking on JT Smith. The babyface Smith puts the Wolfman through the wringer in a highly one-sided affair despite the Commander getting involved. A dropkick from Smith for his troubles puts an end to his part in this match. A bulldog off the middle rope puts the Wolfman down and a moonsault puts him out.

Preppy little guy in a pink Izod shirt and shorts comes to the ring, making fun of the fans. That comes to an end very quickly as the Boston Bad Boy, Tony Rumble brings his Tazmaniac Mako to the ring. The announced Joe College wants no part of the face painted freak and does his best to beg off before trying to hightail it out of there. Rumble let's Mako go and it is on. The Tazmaniac is all over him, throwing his opponent around the ring like a ragdoll. Rumble is pleased with what is going on and the Philly faithful seem so as well. A little comeback from Joe College ... well, not much of a comeback as opposed to College getting in a few shots that don't seem to affect the Tazmaniac. Big overhead belly to belly suplex and no one is getting up from that. Rumble brags about Omar Atlas being next, right after the Tazmaniacs take the belts off the Dreamers.

Tag team action is next with Professor Falk and former student, Jimmy Stone. Falk gets a little mic time explaining the next graduating class of Falk U! coming to ECW very soon. Their opponents ... JC Ice and Wolfie D of PG-187! Ice is given the mic and goes to town on anything and everything not nailed down and then some. No one is safe from Ice's tirade ... ECW, Philadelphia, the Original Sports Bar and their opponents. The bar patrons are solidly behind Falk and Stone, chanting "Falk U!" as the good guys go on the attack. Pretty good action with the faces putting a hurt on JC Ice with their amateur wrestling style, both Falk and Stone twisting him up. The bigger Wolfie D jumping in several times for the save. Back and forth action that spills to the outside. ECW with it's lenient rules, referee John Finnegan allows them to duke it out. PG-187 thrives in this environment, running Stone into the ring post and steps. Stone takes the brunt of the beating before it gets back into the ring. More Stone beating but he nearly gets the last laugh with a roll-up of Ice who barely kicks out before the 3. Double team action and Stone is busted open. Taunting from Ice while D gets in a few shots on Stone. Falk only makes it worse by trying to get into the ring. After D dropped Stone on his knee, JC Ice with the leg drop is able to hook the leg for the pinfall.

Sandman with his valet, the Beach Babe seems to be popular with the crowd and the mullet sporting Rockin' Rebel isn't. A little play for the Beach Babe before the match starts and we have words between the two. Lots of pointing at Sandy's valet by the Rebel before a few obscene gestures and it is on. Sloppy brawl with neither man much interested in the win, as things escalate. Sandman is beaten around the ring and Rebel drags him before the Beach Babe, showing his handiwork. The response is a slap to the face. An angered Rebel grabs at her but the Sandman has recovered and opens up on his opponent. Right hands in the corner shakes up the Rebel as the fans count along with each blow. Rebel escapes the corner following a low blow. With Sandman down, Rebel starts running the ropes which is foiled by the Beach Babe as reaches in and trips him up. Both men are down and the ref starts counting. Sandman is first up, using the ropes. A stumbling boot to Rebel's head puts him back down before the staggering Sandman starts up the ropes. One sloppy leg drop later and the Sandman more or less rolls on top of the Rebel to pick up the victory. With help from the Beach Babe, Sandman staggers out of there.

Our main event is Tony Rumble out once again, this time with the Tazmaniac Noga versus the ECW Heavyweight Champion, Omar Atlas. The only chatter is Tony Rumble flapping his gums while the two combatants go nose to nose. No love lost here between the two as they come out and go to war. Similar styles and sizes with the wild man and ring vet throwing each other around the ring with big moves, somehow, each time being thrown being able to come back. A little no selling by both as the match goes on and gets stiffer. Ten minutes turns to twenty, runs into thirty in an exhaustive match that starts to wear both men down. Fifteen minutes to go when the two fall through the ropes to the outside. Atlas is busted open after being run into the ring barrier. Setting up a chair, Mako lifts the champion up and drops him across the chair that breaks. Some boots to the back before the ref steps in, big mistake as he is shoved out of the way. Atlas rammed into the ring apron but fires back with an elbow. Some shots from the champ before he brings it back into the ring. Setting up for a belly-to-belly, Atlas takes a headbutt. Mako wraps his arms around Atlas and lifts him for a throw when the bell sounds, ending the match.

Adjusting the weight, Mako drops the champion on his head while Tony Rumble is yelling at his man to take the pinfall. Referee Finnegan calls for the bell again in front of the arguing Rumble, declaring the match over as a time limit draw. An exasperated Rumble starts motioning for the back and out comes the Tazmaniac Noga. Both Tazmaniacs in the ring start to stomping on the downed champion. Rumble in the rings directs the pair when the Sandman, carrying a surfboard, hits the ring. Using it, he is able to put both Tazmaniacs down who quickly bail. Rumble pulls his pair away, despite them wanting back in. Lots of smack from Rumble who says this is far from over.

The show ends with the Sandman and Omar Atlas in a staredown.

[Deleted]

Short, but sweet. I like the bar setting for a show of this length as it feels more like an attraction with a bunch of drunk people watching, it probably is not exactly going to be judged on athletic prowess or match quality, and 5 matches is all they would need to get what they were looking for.

Might need a lot more than parental guidance for a 187. I liked the name in 1997 USWA or whatever it was as a play off PG-13, but without that gimmick first existing, there really is no need for the PG at all in there and something totally original would be better suited. I think that in itself was a play off "PC 187" so maybe that would be more appropriate as a name than PG. Just a thought. Whatever the case, I would get used to it, just giving a first impression. Either way, they were a great indy tag team and glad to see them getting some use.

Both Tommy Dreamer and The Tazmaniac were still quite lame in gimmick, so putting them as tag teams to start is not a bad way to go vs starting them solo. You seem to be good at that, building guys up that way to develop their personas. And I like these a lot more than the Douglas Brothers of old.

Omar Atlas was a surprising choice as a first champion in a Philadelphia indy since I think he was pretty over the hill here, and I do not really remember him as much by this point, more as a journeyman 80s wrestler. I guess you are a fan of his? If the point is just somebody to drop the belt to The Sandman though, I guess pretty much anybody could fill that role for a couple shows at the beginning.

Nice start. Definitely has my interest more than the previous Main Event Wrestling did off name value at the beginning. Hopefully you stay with this long enough that we can get the morph into "Extreme" from "Eastern".

[somethingsavage]

Fun stuff. Love the sports bar atmosphere. Picture perfect environment for the ground floor building phase of a promotional project like the early Eee See Dubbya. You've captured and channeled the craziness of Philly extremely well in the past, and this time's no exception. Ya bring just the right splash of hokey '93 elements into the mix also, so it makes for a truly tremendous little offering in my eyes.

Not real big on the Tazmaniacs as a team. Not gonna lie. I was stoked to see ya launch Taz into his own solo stint the last time ya handled him, so hopefully you'll bring that avenue back at some point. He felt a tad out of place in Texas, but surely having him back on his home turf can't hurt here. It's an understandable move to cast him in this position, as JP noted - but, at the end of the day, this IS fantasy booking.

Unfair as it may seem, in hindsight and retrospect, we're kind of biased towards some of our favorites in that light. Dreamer and Taz come to mind as those personal pick types. So again, it's an understandable maneuver. But it's still something I'm hoping will change sooner than later.

Cool to see ya pick up where you left off (kind of?) with Omar Atlas. Solid enough selection for right now. Equally satisfied to see JT Smith having a decent platform as a bit of a showcase player again.

Falk U, the ultra 80's "Radical!" style Sandman, and his Beach Babe are all welcomed additions to the overall package here. It's still really earlier obviously, but I'm thinking you've found your niche in ECW as far as all your little small-time indie projects go. You find stopover success here & there with the other attempts, don't get me wrong. They're by no means seen as failures from my perspective. But ya just always seem to have the most fun & be REALLY at your best when it comes to handling Philly. Texas, too. But Philly is a consistent home run from you, man.

[Grape Ape]

Thanks for the comments.

On Atlas ... reading about the guy, he struck me as a very capable grappler, having wrestled all over the world. As an amateur wrestler, he won a Silver Medal in the '58 Pan-American games before embarking on a professional career. A short, stocky guy with his background, he became the perfect analog for Taz when I wrote ECW elsewhere and as enhancement talent for much of his career is a perfect guy to carry Mr. Sandman in match who is pretty bad, if you ask me.

At this point in his career, Omar Mijares is ready to "hang'em up" but gets that last veteran hurray in this version of ECW.

I had to laugh at the Douglas Brothers being brought up. I was hoping when I originally wrote that, they would be hated for the gimmick rather than their actual ability together. I guess in that case, I got what I wanted. And ... if you noticed, assuming you had a peek at the Terror in Tabor results Chris "Douglas" made an appearance. Fun little storyline that I want to finish that didn't see the light of day from KAW.

As noted for Dreamer and Taz, I think you'll be happy with how that all turns out.

JC Ice/Jamie Dundee is a favorite of mine. I could write promotions running around him as the top guy because I think he is just that interesting. I like the name of PG-187 to give them a little more a Philly vibe and you are right, they would need more than a little more than parental guidance but at the end of the day, they are "stupid Southerners in Yankee-Land" and the name can come off as sounding stupid and in need of being mocked.

I hope to stick around and get things into the Extreme. As it is, I have a 3-stage plan that gets me to the Extreme point 6-months down the road when that happens.