Hardcore Heaven (1997)
| Hardcore Heaven (1997) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Promotion | Extreme Championship Wrestling | ||
| Date | August 17, 1997 | ||
| City | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | ||
| Venue | War Memorial Auditorium | ||
| Attendance | 1,800[1] | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
| |||
| Hardcore Heaven chronology | |||
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The 1997 Hardcore Heaven was the fourth Hardcore Heaven professional wrestling event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), as well as ECW's second ever pay-per-view event. The event took place on August 17, 1997 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Joey Styles provided commentary for the event. This was the first edition of Hardcore Heaven to be broadcast on pay-per-view and ECW's second ever pay-per-view following Barely Legal in April.
Six
Event
Prelude
Before the pay per view was underway, the hip-hop duo, Insane Clown Posse entered the ring to hype up the crowd and endorse Rob Van Dam who also entered the ring. However, Van Dam and Sabu proceeded to attack the rappers. The Sandman, who was a guest at ringside, entered the ring and defended Insane Clown Posse. Before Sandman could land a punch, Van Dam & Sabu assaulted him, causing him to be carried off into an ambulance by medics.
Preliminary matches
Next, Spike Dudley competed against Bam Bam Bigelow. Dudley managed to hit an Acid Drop early into the match but Bigelow soon gained momentum and dominated Dudley. He tossed him from the ring into the crowd. Bigelow pulled Dudley back into the ring and hit a piledriver and a Bam Bamsault for the win.
Next,
In the penultimate match,
Main event match
Reception
The event received mixed reviews from critics. David of Wrestling Recaps wrote "This was ECW’s second pay-per-view, and it is unfortunately noted for having cheap production quality. There’s bad lighting and the crowd sound doesn’t get enough volume in the mix" but he considered Hardcore Heaven, a "solid show" and appreciated the matches, with "Dreamer/Lawler is way better than it sounds, the main event is entertaining, Taz/Candido is as good as a 10-minute match gets, and the rest of it isn’t the worst" and recommended that ECW "should have held the show at the ECW Arena".[2]
Scott Keith of 411Mania wrote "The energy was pretty much there, but the card was so eggreciously bad in booking and setup that it would have taken a Herculean effort to overcome it in the first place" and he gave a "mild recommendation to avoid".[3]
TJ Hawke of 411Mania gave a rating of 3 stars, stating it to be a "bad show", with "The only thing the crowd seemed to actively care about was the post-main event brawl. That is not a good sign for the quality of a show. The only match from this show that I would encourage someone to check out is Bam Bam vs. Spike. That was awesome."[4]
Jack Stevenson of 411Mania considered it an average event by giving a rating of 5 stars and stated "Very little of this was actively bad, but there was nothing really good either" and "Taz-Candido and RVD-Snow were reasonable". He further added "Aside from mentioning the horrible crowd, the star ratings really tell the story- bottoming out at *, but peaking at ** ¾. In short, it’s an inoffensive time-waster, but not worth spending money on."[5]
Wrestling 20 Years Ago staff rated the event 3 out of 10, writing "People in the building seemed to like the show, as did many ECW fans, but this show does not stand up at all well. The Sandman story was bizarre, the lighting bush-league and the in ring action not at the standard ECW would want."[6]
Results
| No. | Results Francine) defeated Sabu (c) (with Bill Alfonso) and Terry Funk (with Dory Funk Jr.) Three-Way Dance for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship | 26:37 | | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
Three-Way Dance eliminations
| Elimination no. | Wrestler | Eliminated by | Elimination move | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sabu | Terry Funk and Shane Douglas | Rolling Rock on a ladder by The Sandman | 19:34 | |
| 2 | Terry Funk | Shane Douglas | Belly-to-belly suplex | 26:37 | |
| Winner: | Shane Douglas | ||||
See also
References
- ^ a b "ECW Hardcore Heaven 1997 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
- ^ a b David. "ECW Hardcore Heaven 1997 8/17/1997". Wrestling Recaps. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
- ^ a b Scott Keith (July 31, 2002). "The SmarK Retro Repost – Hardcore Heaven 1997". 411Mania. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
- ^ a b TJ Hawke (July 28, 2014). "Views from the Hawke's Nest: ECW Hardcore Heaven 1997". 411Mania. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
- ^ a b Jack Stevenson (August 3, 2011). "Reviews from Across the Pond – ECW Hardcore Heaven 1997". 411Mania. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
- ^ "ECW HARDCORE HEAVEN 1997 REVIEW". Wrestling 20 Years Ago. September 24, 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
- ^ "Extreme Championship Wrestling July - September 1997". prowrestlinghistory.com. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
- ^ "Hardcore Heaven 97 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - War Memorial Auditorium - August 17, 1997 (1,950)". The History of WWE. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
External links
- Hardcore Heaven 1997 at IMDb
