EXTREME CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING TV

October 4, 1997 (As Good As It Gets, show 2)

Shane Douglas came out for his title match. After insulting some of the fans on the mic among others for a few minutes. He said Rick Rude was in London with the WWF that night, but that Rude had sent a challenger for Douglas to face in a title match.

1. ECW World Title: Shane Douglas (w/Francine) (c) vs Phil Lafon (w/Doug Furnas)

Lafon received a sizeable pop. Douglas charged Lafon but Lafon attacked him. Lafon landed a lariat and a couple chops and backdropped Douglas. Lafon suplexed Douglas back into the ring for an early near fall. Lafon applied an abdominal stretch and turned in into a cradle for a near fall. Lafon superkicked Douglas for a near fall and applied a chinlock but Douglas fought back with a jawbreaker. Douglas landed a few chops in the corner but Lafon returned the favor. Lafon gained a couple near falls and superkicked Douglas for another near fall. Francine tried to intervene but Lafon turned around quickly enough to catch Douglas with a series of blows. Lafon applied a cobra clutch but Francine gave him a low blow. Douglas gave Lafon an atomic drop and a dropkick to the crotch. Douglas whipped Lafon into the barricade. Douglas gave Lafon two rolling neck snaps and a monkey flip. Douglas applied a headscissors on Lafon but Lafon countered and went for an STF but Douglas reached the ropes. Douglas gave Lafon a low mule kick and gave him a baseball slide kick to the crotch. Douglas attempted a suplex but Lafon countered and rolled up Douglas for a near fall. Douglas clotheslined Lafon and applied a camel clutch. Douglas went for a monkey flip but Lafon dropped him head first on the top turnbuckle. Lafon whipped Douglas into a corner and basically bieled him into the opposite corner. Lafon hit a second rope senton for a near fall. Douglas tried to fight back with a kick but ran into a spin kick for a near fall. Douglas kicked Lafon but Lafon responded in kind and gave Douglas a tiger driver for a near fall. Francine intervened again and climbed onto Lafon’s back but Lafon snapmared her for a pop. Lafon then gave Francine a tiger driver for a huge pop and covered Douglas for a near fall. Chris Candido intervened but Lafon met him with a kick and a chop. Furnas clotheslined Douglas and both Furnas and Lafon backdropped Candido. Furnas gave Candido a snap suplex. Bam Bam Bigelow came in and fought with Furnas but Furnas DDTd him. Candido clipped Lafon’s knee and Douglas hit a dropkick. Douglas applied a spinning toehold but Lafon cradled him for a near fall. Douglas reversed the cradle and pinned Lafon at 12:02 to retain the title. Some of the early parts weren’t too exciting, but overall a solid match with few weak points. The chaos at the end helped to compensate for the fact that while the combatants could exchange some good near falls, they couldn’t tear things up partially since Lafon was just returning from an injury. Overall a really good match. ***

Joey Styles hyped the commercial video for “As Good As It Gets” by narrating an extended highlight package. He also previewed the matches on next week’s TV show.

The Pitbulls came to the ring along with Lance Wright, who was in a wheelchair due in part to the altercation that aired on last week’s show. Pitbull 1 ripped on the fans and talked about hanging around with Vince McMahon and accepting a contract offer to join the WWF. He then ripped on Taz, calling him a paper champion. He called out Taz, who then came out. Taz fought with Pitbull 2, and Pitbull 2 got the better of Taz with a powerbomb. Taz fought back with a great T-bone Tazplex and applied a Tazmission. Taz confronted Wright and knocked him out of the wheelchair with a kick. Taz gave Wright a T-bone Tazplex through a table at ringside. A bunch of cops went to subdue Taz and the locker room nearly emptied in an effort to separate Taz from a cop he had applied a Fujiwara armbar on. Sabu came in and attacked Taz. After Taz left, Sabu attacked everyone in his path in the ring.

2. Sandman vs Sabu (w/Bill Alfonso)

Sandman missed a cane shot and Sabu threw a chair at his head. Sabu hit a slingshot somersault legdrop. He launched off a chair and gave Sandman a huracanrana. Sabu clotheslined Sandman for an early near fall. Sabu hit Sandman with a chair, threw him out of the ring and hit a slingshot tope. Sandman fought back and dropped a table on Sabu at ringside. Sandman dropped Sabu gut first on the barricade and hit a legdrop off the apron. Sandman went to the back and brought a ladder back to the ring. Sandman dropped the ladder on Sabu, threw him back into the ring and threw the ladder over the top rope onto Sabu. Sandman placed the ladder on Sabu and hit a slingshot senton for a near fall. Sandman propped up the ladder in the corner and suplexed Sabu onto the ladder for a pop and a near fall. Sandman dropped the ladder onto Sabu placed it on him and hit a top rope somersault senton for another pop and a near fall. Sandman caned Sabu but Alfonso hit him with a chair. Sandman went to cane Sabu but Sabu then threw a fireball into Sandman’s face and upper body. The match immediately stopped at about 7:30 as paramedics and many wrestlers came out to tend to Sandman to end the program. Kind of similar to the tag team title change from last week’s program. Not great technically, but they did enough cool hardcore spots to make in enjoyable and the fans ate up what they did. The non-finish wasn’t a plus, but since the fireball was rare and actually hit its target well, it was a tolerable finish. **

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