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Dueling Chair
Shots
by
Kurt La Mont
Column date
12/19/2000
We're nearing the end of the year and I thought that with only one scheduled show left this year I could look back at the major events of the year 2000 in ECW.
It's been another crazy year in ECW. Going into 2000 there was much optimism among most. ECW had finally secured a national TV deal in the latter half of 1999 and it was expected that with that deal ECW would bigger and better than ever. However, as time went on, and relations with TNN worsened until the point where ECW and TNN parted ways, this growth was not seen in 2000. Of course that could turn around with a good TV deal, hard work and a little luck.
Which makes me think…..Do you think Alex Rodriguez is an ECW fan AND a philanthropist?
Anyway, here is a month-by-month look at ECW this year.
January
1/9 The Impact Players, Lance Storm and Justin Credible, defeat Raven & Tommy Dreamer for their first Tag Team Championship at Guilty as Charged
1/14 Jerry Lynn injures his ankle, forcing him out of action for several months
1/15 Dusty Rhodes appears at the ECW Arena taking out Steve Corino and Jack Victory before being gored by Rhino
1/29 Rob Van Dam breaks his leg against Rhino in a match in Orlando, Fl, sidelining him until Hardcore Heaven in May
February
2/4 Sabu signs a contract with WCW despite having a valid ECW contract
2/11 Pitbull #1 returns and teams with Tommy Dreamer & Sandman against Steve Corino, Jack Victory & Rhino at an ECW House Show from Washington D.C.
2/17 Acclaim releases ECW's first video game, Hardcore Revolution
2/25 Sabu returns to work for ECW for the first time against Mikey Whipwreck at an ECW House Show from Toledo, OH.
2/26 Tommy Dreamer and Tanaka defeat the Impact Players for the Tag Team Belts March
3/3 ECW has their first explosion match with Balls Mahoney taking on Vic Grimes at an ECW on TNN Taping from Asbury Park, N.J.
3/4 Rob Van Dam is stripped of the TV Title by The Network
3/4 Sabu returns to work for ECW for the first time since attempting to go to WCW and then quits ECW after refusing to do a job to Super Crazy
3/4 Raven & Mike Awesome defeat Tommy Dreamer & Masato Tanaka to win the Tag Team Titles
3/12 Super Crazy defeats Rhino in the finals of the TV Title Tournament to win the vacant TV Title at Living Dangerously
3/12 The Impact Players defeat Dreamer & Tanaka and Awesome & Raven in a 3 way dance to regain the Tag Team Titles
3/12 Also at Living Dangerously Rhino gored Lori Fullington through a table
3/12 New Jack is seriously injured during his match with Grimes after a terrible fall from scaffolding
April
4/8 Tajiri defeats Super Crazy and Guido in a 3 way dance to win the TV Title
4/10 Mike Awesome appears on the first edition of the Russo-Bischoff era of WCW's Nitro while he is ECW Heavyweight Champion
4/13 Tazz makes his return to ECW defeating Mike Awesome for the ECW Heavyweight Championship in Indianapolis
4/18 Tommy Dreamer appears on Smackdown and costs Tazz a match against HHH when his interference backfires
4/22 Cyberslam Q & A - A good time is had by all
4/22 Tazz is defeated by Tommy Dreamer for the ECW Heavyweight Championship. Raven comes to the ring after the match to embrace Dreamer
4/22 After Dreamer's victory Justin Credible comes out, throws down the Tag Team Belts, challenges Dreamer for the Title and subsequently wins the Belt after Francine turns on Tommy
4/22 Rhino defeats Tajiri for the TV Title.
May
5/6 Tommy Dreamer and New Jack appear on CBS' Early Edition
5/14 Jerry Lynn defeats Rob Van Dam at Hardcore Heaven after Scotty Anton turns on RVD
5/14 Rhino piledrives Lori Fullington off the ring apron through the table before defeating Sandman
5/14 Justin Credible defeats former tag team partner Lance Storm to retain the ECW Heavyweight Title
5/15 Lance Storm announces he has signed with WCW
June
6/3 In the main event of a house show in Pensacola, FL, Sandman exposes himself to the crowd in an apparent drunken state. He is subsequently suspended
6/9 Frustrated with TNN, Paul Heyman shoots on the ECW-TNN situation on that week's edition of ECW on TNN. TNN shows the shoot but the audio cannot be heard
6/16 In an apparent attempt by TNN to get back by at ECW and Paul Heyman, TNN runs an Arena Bowl promo at the end of the ECW on TNN main event between Credible and Lynn
6/24 ECW News.com reports that the ECW Arena (aka Viking Hall) is officially up for sale
6/24 Gorgeous George debuts at an ECW on TNN Taping from Chicago, IL.
6/27 TNN and WWFE win their legal battle with USA to show WWF's RAW
6/29 TNN announces that effective 9/22 ECW on TNN will be cancelled
July
7/8 Bobby Eaton makes an appearance at the ECW Arena to confront the Dangerous Alliance
7/16 Psicosis makes his return to ECW at Heat Wave 2000
7/16 ECW debuts in Los Angeles for Heatwave 2000. Justin Credible defeats Tommy Dreamer in a Stairway to Hell match. During the main event there was a disturbance caused by the local Indy promotion, XPW
7/22 Billy Corgan was interrupted by Lou E Dangerously during a performance at a ECW show in Peoria, IL. Corgan ended up smashing a guitar over Lou E's head
August
8/2 Rob Van Dam appears on TNN's 18 Wheels of Justice
8/25 ECW makes its debut at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, NY. The Tag Team Belts were won by Mikey Whipwreck and Tajiri in a 12 team tournament
8/26 The FBI defeat Whipwreck and Tajiri for the Tag Team Championship. Tony Mamaluke becomes an official member of the FBI with the victory
8/26 Kid Kash pins Rhino to win the TV Title. This match turned into an ECW vs. Network match as nearly the entire lockerroom were fighting at ringside
8/29 ECW's Extreme Evolution video is released
September
9/9 ECW made its debut in Canada. Rhino defeats Kid Kash in an impromptu match to regain the TV Title
9/22 The supposed final show of ECW on TNN is concluded with Joey Styles saying "tune in next week"
9/23 It's reported that the WWF waived their exclusivity clause with TNN and allowed ECW to continue to air on TNN through the end of 2000
October
10/1 At Anarchy Rulz, Jerry Lynn defeats Justin Credible in his home state of Minnesota for the ECW Heavyweight Championship
10/1 Joel Gertner pins Cyrus, effectively ending "The Network" Era
10/7 RVD defeats EZ Money in his last match in ECW before heading to Tailand to film Black Mask 2
10/11 ECW on TNN officially is removed from TNN as ECW will not agree to TNN's demands to remain on TNN
November
11/5 Before November to Remember, the Sinister Minister has a mishap with a fire-throwing device. He's taken to the hospital where he will later have surgery to remove shrapnel from his stomach and fingers reattached
11/5 Steve Corino wins the World Heavyweight Championship at November to Remember when he defeats Sandman, Jerry Lynn, and Justin Credible in the first ever Double Jeopardy match
11/5 After a long hiatus, Super Crazy teams up with Tajiri after Whipwreck is injured. The FBI pinned Tajiri to retain the belts
11/5 Chris Chetti loses in a loser leaves ECW match to Nova at the November To Remember 2000
11/10 Scott Hall makes his ECW debut at the Schenectady, New York house show where he teams up with Jerry Lynn to defeat Justin Credible and Rhino
11/24 Farmclub.com airs a portion of a Kid Kash vs. EZ Money match, ECW's first national cable exposure since leaving TNN
December
12/3 Steve Corino retains the World Heavyweight Title when he defeats Jerry Lynn and Justin Credible. After the match the Sandman clears house and takes the title declaring that it's his belt
12/15 The Dudley Boyz return to ECW to team up with Tommy Dreamer to defeat Simon, Swinger, and CW Anderson at the return to the Madhouse of Extreme
12/15 Tazz makes an appearance at the Queens show choking out heel ref Danny Daniels as Doring & Roadkill retain the Tag Team Belts against the Baldies.
12/16 New Jack announces his retirement from wrestling
Next week I will be back with my Dueling Chair Shots Year End Awards and the Top Ten ECW Matches in 2000. If you have any matches that you think should be included in the Top Ten list be sure to post them on the ECW News.com Message Board: http://sportsonly.com/a/14404/
CONTACT FARMCLUB AND USA
Be sure to keep sending the e-mails into USA Networks and Farmclub.com. Your e-mails are making a difference. This week on Farmclub.com a video aired featuring Steve Corino vs. Justin Credible. Before the video aired, host Matt Pinfield credited the huge response from the internet. We need to keep letting USA and Farmclub.com know that you want to see more of ECW. We need to keep letting USA and Farmclub.com know that we are now watching their program to see ECW. Please continue to send polite, positive emails to all these addresses.
If ECW fans don't send in e-mails, no one will. If you want to see ECW back on National TV take a couple minutes and tell Farmclub.com and USA Networks that you want to see more of ECW. Every little bit helps.
Send e-mails to:
Send any comments, questions, or concerns to me at [email protected]
Past editions of Dueling
Chair Shots
10/4/99
10/16/99
10/27/99
11/5/99
11/10/99
11/17/99
11/19/99
12/03/99
12/10/99
12/17/99
01/03
01/19
01/29
02/04
02/14
02/22
02/29
03/06
03/13
03/20
04/12
04/28
05/08
05/18
05/23
05/30
06/05
06/13
06/21
06/29
07/06
07/11
07/17
07/24
08/01
08/07
08/20
08/30
09/06
09/14
09/20
09/27
10/05
10/12
10/24
11/01
11/06
11/16
11/28