March 17, 2009
Matt Peddycord

ECW: Heat Wave 1994
July 16, 1994
Philadelphia, PA
ECW Arena

The current ECW Champs were as follows:
ECW Champion: Shane Douglas (3/26/1994)
ECW Tag Team Champions: The Public Enemy (3/6/1994)
ECW TV Champion: Mikey Whipwreck (5/13/1994)

Your host is Joey Styles.

The Bad Breed vs. Rockin’ Rebel & Hack Meyers
Quite the odd tag team pairing of Rebel and Meyers. Just so we’re clear, Bad Breed is Axl & Ian Rotten. I guess that sounds better than the Rotten Brothers or the Rotten Boys. Early on in the match, what physical contact isn’t punching looks absolutely terrible as Axl tries a hiptoss and an armdrag on Meyers. Ian hits a dropkick in the corner on Meyers for two. Tag to Rebel, who spends a lot of time showboating. Ian slows him down with a pair of clotheslines. Axl tags in and delivers an even more ridiculous-looking Flip Flop and Fly to mock Dusty Rhodes. Rebel comes back with a kitchen sink on Axl for two. Meyers tags in for a chinlock. Back to Rebel. He levels Axl with a clothesline and a legdrop for 1-2-NO! Swinging neckbreaker gets another two. Meyers tags and stomps the daylights out of Axl for two. More of the chinlock. Rebel comes in for the illegal switch and the Philly crowd convinces the ref that he made a tag. Axl catches Rebel with a boot in the corner and a clothesline off the middle rope. Tag to Ian, he attempts a Northern Lights suplex, but he’s TOO FAT. Rebel hits a clothesline and tags Hack for the double big boot. Meyers ducks low off a whip for a double-arm DDT from Ian. Here comes Axl. Double noggin knocker on the heels. Axl gives Hack an inverted atomic drop to set up a flying bulldog from Ian for the 1-2-3. (9:45) Rebel gets all mad at Hack for losing the match, but they hug it out. OH NO! Rockin’ Rebel pulls Hack Meyers into a clothesline and they fight up the aisle way. If there had been one more clothesline in this match, even the Ultimate Warrior would have to tell them to calm it down. *

ECW Television Champion Mikey Whipwreck vs. Chad Austin
Chad Austin introduces his new manager…Jason! The man is obsessed with taking the ECW TV belt off Whipwreck. They run the ropes a bit to start – culminating in Austin catching Whipwreck for a one-handed powerbomb. Out of a wristlock exchange, Whipwreck dropkicks Austin to the floor. Back in, Austin misses a corner charge and flies back out to the floor. Austin baits Mikey to the floor and into the ring to stomp him in the back of the head. Brainbuster by Austin gets 1-2-NO! Whipwreck gets a sunset flip and snaps off an ugly armdrag into an armbar. From there, Mikey backdrops Austin back over onto his face in a pretty neat spot. Austin elbows out of a chinlock and hits a powerbomb. Delayed cover gets 1-2-NO! The crowd wants one more, so Austin gives it to them. Only this time, Mikey counters with a headscissors for two. Austin dumps out Whipwreck for Jason to have some fun with a roundhouse kick to the face. Back in, Austin gets caught on the way down when he tries a double-sledge. Whipwreck follows up with a Curt Hennig neck snap for two. Mikey blocks a hurracanrana with a powerbomb for 1-2-NO! He comes off the top with a flying crossbody on Austin for 1-2-NO! Austin hops up and spears Mikey into the corner so he can send him back out to Jason. He proceeds to front suplex Whipwreck on a table! Inside the ring, Austin delivers a slingshot front suplex and a flying leg drop for 1-2-3. (9:12) Looks like Jason finally got his wish! Maybe not. Chad Austin admits he used brass knuckles to win the match. Now that the ref knows this thing that never happened to begin with, he reverses the decision and gives the match to Whipwreck via DQ. Jason has to be SO confused. He attacks Mikey after the final decision for a piledriver on the TV belt. OK match though. This leads to Jason taking matters into his own hands and just beating Whipwreck for the TV belt himself. Of course, not without some help from the Pitbulls, but you know what I’m saying. **½

Tommy Dreamer vs. Steve Richards (w/Angel)
Yes, it’s Stevie Richards when he looks like a terrible Rockers wannabe. Not sure who Angel is. It’s not the same one in ECW from the late ’90s. Dreamer continues to shed that pretty boy image by wearing all black. Richards messes with Hat Guy and Sign Guy at ringside for a little bit. In the ring, Dreamer doesn’t take any BS from Richards. He kicks Richards in the balls and nails him with a crossbody for two. Dreamer follows up with a suplex and an armbar. He blocks a sunset flip from Richards for two. Back elbow puts Richards on the floor to get beat up some more. Richards reverses a whip into the guardrail, but charges into a hotshot on the railing. Back in, Dreamer catches Richards with a swinging neckbreaker. Dreamer runs into a boot and then eats a Stevie Kick. Angel takes the opportunity to choke Dreamer in the ropes. Dreamer comes back with a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Double-KO ensues. Richards avoids a splash and heads up top for a flying fist drop. He goes up again, but jumps down into a Dream Weaver (sleeper) for the submission. (7:46) About what you would expect. Anybody know how long he used the sleeper as a finisher? Dreamer calls out ECW champion Shane Douglas and gets Mr. Hughes instead. **

Mr. Hughes (w/Shane Douglas) vs. Tommy Dreamer
Dreamer PULLS DOWN THE SUSPENDERS! You know he’s getting serious now. Hughes beats the crap out of Dreamer for a while until he goes low on him. Dreamer can’t suplex Hughes though, but he can lock in the Dream Weaver! Hughes shoves him off into a chairshot from Douglas which staggers him into the ANGRY BLACKMAN SLAM! That will do. (2:58) Angel is just now leaving with Richards, but she’s stopped by Douglas who asks her to join his crew. He wants her to watch over Paul E. Dangerously tonight in his title match. She’ll be there. Just so you know – Sabu, Hulk, Flair and Bret are not the future of wrestling because it’s Shane Douglas. ¼*

The Pitbulls (w/Jason) vs. The Tazmaniac & His Mystery Partner
Apparently, ECW Commissioner Todd Gordon already knows who it is and tells us that they’re going to postpone the match due to some transportation problems. Oh but Jason can’t hold the Pitbulls back any longer as they explode on Taz! They double-team the heck out of him with their chains while Mr. Hughes waits for 911 to appear in the aisle way. He evens beats up Jason’s guys who come down just to keep himself ready. Finally, 911 shows up and punches Hughes towards ringside. He double goozles Chad Austin and Rockin’ Robin as Hughes comes up behind him with a steel chair. Chairshot after chairshot by Hughes! HERE COMES SABU! Taz tosses Pitbull #2 out with an overhead belly to belly suplex, so Sabu follows him out with a slingshot hurracanrana on the floor! In the ring, TAZZ-PLEX to Pitbull #1 for 1-2-3! (0:51) Bell to bell, it was only that long. Altogether, the whole segment was maybe three or four minutes. ** for the whole fun thing.

The Sandman (w/Woman) vs. Tommy Cairo (w/Miss Peaches) – Dueling Canes Match
Probably the only time you’ll ever hear Elton John and Queen played in the same match ever. These two have been fighting for months and I believe this is the final blowoff match. Pretty bland weapons match as they both take turns walking around on the floor waiting for a chance to get into the ring to whack the other guy. Both guys bleed a little bit. Sandman is the “worst for wear” as he’s bleeding on his head, arm and his protruding belly! The finish comes when both men are down and Peaches gets in the ring to cane Woman. Peaches swings back and hits the ref, allowing Sandman to grab her by the hair. Now Cairo wants to cane Woman, but Sandman saves her by caning Cairo in the back of the head. One good whack on the head gets the three-count for everybody’s favorite low-life. (7:25) Before he and Woman leave, Sandman tells Cairo he’s now paid in full for Woman’s extracurricular deeds. Ahem. ½*

ECW Champion Shane Douglas (w/Mr. Hughes & Angel) vs. Sabu (w/Paul E. Dangerously & 911)
The tagline to promote the title match was, “Who will be the future of wrestling?”. Funny how that worked out. Sabu makes a really cool entrance by busting through a wall as he got away from his handler 911. Douglas darts away from any and all of Sabu’s advances to start. They go to the floor where Shane bashes Sabu’s head into the guardrail before taking him into the ring for a flying double sledge. That gets two. Sabu flips out of a headlock and rolls up Douglas for two. Douglas hits a suplex and jaws back and forth with 911 while he’s got Sabu in a headscissors. Sabu kips up, but then drilled with a clothesline. From there, Douglas delivers a backbreaker and follows up with a camel clutch. EMBARASSMENT~! Sabu escapes and gives Douglas a sit-out powerbomb for 1-2-NO! To the floor, Sabu smashes a chair in Shane’s face and delivers a suicide dive. In the ring, Sabu’s chair too broken for Air Sabu, so he gets a fresh one from Paul E. That took too much time though, as Air Sabu misses in the corner. With the chair still set up, Shane atomic drops Sabu on the chair. That man knows how to make the most of an opportunity. Slingshot splash from Douglas gets two. Piledriver connects for another two. Sabu fires back and hits a springboard leg lariat. He misses a slingshot somersault splash, allowing Douglas to roll him up for two. Sabu fights out of a chinlock, but Douglas blocks a rana with a powerbomb. Flying elbow drop connects for two. Douglas keeps Sabu grounded with a half crab followed by a modified STF. Hughes and 911 argue on the apron just for fun. Sabu’s trick knee acts up and finds itself in Shane’s testicles. He knocks Douglas to the floor with a flying leg lariat. Douglas walks away from a pescado, but gets nailed with a CANNONBALLLLLLLLLL! Douglas and Sabu brawl into the crowd. 911 finds a table for Sabu. He leans it up against the guardrail and the lights go out! Oh man. Douglas and Sabu need to stay where the spotlight is, so they work a little bit longer in the ring until the house lights come back on. Sabu puts Douglas up against the table and delivers an ASAI MOONSAULT, but Douglas moves and Sabu is hurting. Douglas DEMANDS the ref count Sabu out. This ref looks like Shawn Hunter from Boy Meets World, which is ironic since that show was based in Philadelphia. After close to a minute of reluctant counting from the ref, Sabu gets counted out. (19:34) Seems kind of long, but this was actually pretty good. The finish makes sense too as its Sabu’s insanity getting the best of him over the classic “thinking man’s” wrestler-type. Afterwards, Paul E smashes Mr. Hughes with his phone from behind. Hughes retaliates all over Paul E, which calls for 911 to make the save and chokeslam everybody – including Angel. 911 gets his match with Mr. Hughes next month at Hardcore Heaven. ***

ECW Tag Team Champions The Public Enemy vs. Terry & Dory Funk Jr. – Barbed Wire Match
ECW takes a page of the famous FMW-style match where they replaces the ring ropes with barbed wire. Public Enemy climbs up to the Eagle’s Nest and throws chairs down at the Funk brothers to stall. Terry gives up on that and tells them to get their butts down here. Everybody takes turns sliding to avoid getting whipped into the barbed wire. Finally, Rocco Rock takes the first bump into the wire and gets his shirt all ripped up and his forehead busted open. Dory reverts to beating Rocco Rock with his boot instead of using the wire. Terry smashes a wooden chair over Grunge’s head to bust him open. If you’re into this sort of thing, this is probably more interesting to watch than it would be to read. Now that everybody is good and bloody, Terry keeps Grunge in the ring with PILEDRIVER after PILEDRIVER while Dory and Rock fight in the crowd. At one point during all this, Terry invites the audience to throw their chairs into the ring on top of Grunge until the ring announcer tells them to stop it. Boooooooo. What happened to bucking authority? Once everybody is back in the ring, Dory goes nuts with a trashcan on not just Public Enemy, but the ref as well. Not like there’s DQ’s in this thing. Grunge finds some wire cutters and beats Dory down with those so they can tie Terry up in barbed wire. Terry is done, so another ref runs in and both Rock and Grunge cover him for 1-2-3. (12:56) Dory wakes up and beats Public Enemy with one of the dozens of chairs in the ring. Just to show how sick the Funks are, Dory whips Rock into Terry while he still has the barbed wire wrapped around his upper body! More chairs are thrown to bury Public Enemy in the middle of the ring before the Funk brothers return to the dressing room. Wild stuff, but just as messy as any other FMW match. *

Final Thoughts: Anything involving the ECW heavyweight and TV title matches was pretty good. The barbed wire match is fun I guess, if you’re into that sort of thing. I’m a little surprised it didn’t make the ECW Bloodsport DVD put out a few years back by the WWE. Everything else sucked. Thumbs in the middle for ECW’s Heat Wave ‘94. Benoit, Malenko, Scorpio and Eddie are on their way though.