Every week PWTorch VIP members gain access to two new complete back issues of Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter (one from 5 years ago, one from 10 years ago) which includes in-depth reports such as this, plus insider Newswires, Cover Stories, Interviews, Feature Editorials, Quotebook, Match Reports, and more. Hundreds of complete back issues have already been posted from the 1990s and early 2000s.

ECW HEAT WAVE '96
When: July 13, 1996
Where: Philadelphia, Pa. - ECW Arena
What: ECW TV tapings/house show
Live Attendance: 1,550 turnaway sellout

(1) The Gangstas beat Samoan Gangsta Party. A huge "You fat f---" chant began aimed at Samoans. The Gangstas came out with a trash can. All four went at it. Gangstas used a metal sheet as a weapon and soon both Samoans and New Jack were bleeding. At 3:00 the ref DQ'd both teams. The crowd chanted "bullsh--." Incredible heat while it lasted. The ref then said the Samoans couldn't continue so The Gangstas were declared the winners. New Jack told the Bruises and Eliminators they haven't forgotten about them and asked for a four way tag match. Good match while it lasted. Great fan heat.

Damien Kane came out and got on the mic. He said he is the number one manager. The fans chanted "Shut the f--- up." Damien then brought out Paul Lauria.

(2) Mikey Whipwreck pinned Paul Lauria. Mikey went after Lauria at the start. Lauria dropped Mikey on the railing. Back in the ring Mikey nailed a top rope frankensteiner to score the win. The Eliminators came out and gave Lauria a Total Elimination. Saturn accepted the Four Way Dance Challenge. Saturn told Mikey to get Sabu and they'd give them a title shot. Sabu and Mikey stormed out a moment later and cleared the ring of the Eliminators. The crowd chanted "Pussy" at the Eliminators. The ref ordered the Eliminators to put the belts on the line against Sabu & Mikey as they said they would.

(3) The Eliminators beat Mikey Whipwreck & Sabu to retain the ECW Tag Team Titles. Sabu and Saturn traded some early pin attempts. The crowd chanted, "Sa-f---in'-bu." Saturn hit a superkick and top rope splash for a near fall. Kronus nailed a handspring elbow. Sabu tagged in Mikey. He hit a legdrop as Saturn was in the ropes. Sabu jumped on Mikey's back and then flew off with a bulldog. Saturn came back with a brainbuster and a vicious clothesline for a near fall. Mikey nailed a top rope flying frankensteiner and then hot-tagged Sabu. Sabu nailed both Eliminators with chairs. Soon all four went at it. Sabu went for a DDT on a table, but got caught in the move and Saturn threw him through the table. In the ring Mikey got caught with a Total Elimination for the pin. Very good match.

(4) The Dudleys beat FBI. FBI came out first. Little Guido brought out his brother Big Guido. He was about 7 feet tall. After the Dudleys came out, D-Von said the Dudleys are his family and he'll kick Big Dick's ass. Big Dick went after D-Von. FBI attacked the Dudleys. D-Von returned and hit FBI with chairs. Buh Buh Ray then hit a double sidewalk slam on FBI. Big Guido then came in the ring and powerbombed Bubba Ray. Big Dick and Big Guido went at it. D-Von came back out and nailed D.W. Dudley, Sign Guy Dudley, and Chubby Dudley with chairs. The crowd chanted, "F--- you, D-Von." D-Von went to hit Buh Buh, but Buh Buh blocked it and D-Von backed down. D-Von low-blowed Buh Buh. Hack Myers came out and hit D-Von with a chairshot for a huge pop. Big Dick then nailed Big Guido with a chairshot and scored the pin. They continued to brawl including Buh Buh nailed Big Guido with a hard chairshot. Great after match activities. Very good match.

(5) Tarzan Goto beat Axl Rotten. They fought at ringside where Goto rammed Axl into a table. They then brawled into the bleachers. Goto went for some chairshots but was clearly missing Axl. Axl then got the chair and hit Goto with it twice and scored a near fall. Goto hit Axl with a stiff chairshot and the brainbuster for the win.

Taz (artist Joseph Borzotta, PWTorch)

Joey Styles came out and ripped on the WWF for bringing back a wrestler under a yellow mask and calling him "Who?" He said NBC and American Journal were in the crowd. He said ECW is going to take them to the Extreme. Taz then came out with "Team Taz" and Bill Alfonso. Fans chanted, "F--- you, Taz." Taz said Bam Bam Bigelow came in from the WWF and was Tazmissioned out. He said the same happened to Devon Storm from WCW and Paul Varelans from UFC. He said he and Alfonso were going to take over ECW. Alfonso told Styles he was fired. Joey began to respond, but Taz got in his face. Alfonso brought out the "new host" of ECW, Joel Gertner. He said he is the new announcer. The fans chanted for "Sandman" since Sandman caned Gertner at the last show. Taz ripped on Sandman and Tommy Dreamer. He then went to choke Styles as Styles tried to grab Alfonso. 911 then made his surprise return to ECW and chokeslammed Gertner and then Taz. Taz got up and clipped 911's knee and applied the Tazmission. 911 got up after about a minute and chased the medics to the back. Taz said over the mic he is going to choke out Sabu.

(6) Shane Douglas won a four man elimination match over Pitbull #2, Chris Jericho, and Too Cold Scorpio to capture the TV Title from Jericho. Douglas hit Pitbull with a chair on his way to the ring. The crowd chanted, "Where's your skateboard?" at Douglas. In the ring Scorpio and Jericho exchanged a nice series of moves. Scorpio nailed a kick and a flip legdrop for a nearfall. Pitbull got on the apron and was already bleeding. Douglas was tagged in by Scorpio. Jericho rolled up Douglas for a near fall. They traded chops as the crowd went "Whooo!" Jericho tagged Pitbull. Douglas tagged Scorpio and the crowd chanted, "Pussy." Pitbull went for a press slam. Scorpio managed to roll him up. Scorpio went for another top rope move, but Pitbull caught him with a powerbomb. Jericho went for a leapfrog, but Pitbull caught him with a powerbomb. Pitbull then tagged in Scorpio. Jericho hit a top rope frankensteiner, then tagged Douglas. Jericho sold that he hurt his knee. Scorpio attacked Douglas with punches and then bulldogged him on a chair for a near fall. Pitbull and Jericho were then tagged in again.

After a powerbomb, Pitbull tagged in Scorpio. Jericho tagged Pitbull back in the ring. Pitbull did a fallaway slam from the second rope. Douglas and Pitbull were fighting at ringside when Jericho dove on both of them and then Scorpio dove onto all three. All four went into the crowd. Back in the ring, Pitbull pressed Douglas and Jericho went to the top rope and nailed Douglas with a dropkick. Jericho and Pitbull both went for the pin on Douglas wanting to win the TV Title. Jericho pulled Pitbull off of Douglas. Jericho went for a pin and Douglas kicked out. Jericho then figure-foured Douglas. Scorpio tagged in and hit Jericho with a powerbomb. When he went to tag Douglas, Douglas refused to tag in. Jericho tagged Douglas. Scorpio kicked Jericho into Douglas. Douglas tagged Jericho. Scorpio then tombstoned Jericho and did a 450 splash at 27:00 to eliminate the first wrestler.

Douglas and Scorpio then went at it. Scorpio nailed a top rope sunset flip for a near fall and put Douglas on top of Pitbull. Scorpio went for a top rope moonsault, but both targets moved. Douglas helped Pitbull superbomb Scorpio. Pitbull scored the pin. That left Douglas vs. Pitbull.

Pitbull threw two chairs into the ring and powerbombed Douglas through them. He put a table in the corner and Douglas nailed a belly-to-belly. Francine got on the ring apron. Douglas threw her in the ring and kissed her. The ref took a bump as Pitbull accidentally squashed him in the corner. Pitbull then pressed Douglas. Francine came in and threw powder in Pitbull's eyes in an apparent turn on Pitbull. Pitbull #1 then came out and they set up the table and superbombed Francine through it for a superhuge pop. Douglas hit Pitbull with a board, but kicked out. Douglas hit him with a chain, but he kicked out. Douglas used a metal object, but he kicked out. Pitbull missed a kick in the corner and fell to the floor. Back in the ring Douglas threw him into the ropes and nailed a belly to belly and scored the pin. Douglas picked up Francine, who ripped off her mini skirt and revealed tights that read "Francine." Just unbelievable. No rest periods for anyone. All four put in a match of the year candidate and Francine's superbomb bump was astonishing.

(7) Louie Spicolli beat El Puerto Ricano. Spicolli said Sabu was his scheduled opponent, but he couldn't find him. El Puerto Ricano came out and Spicolli nailed him with a chair and pinned him with one finger. Sabu then came out.

(8) Sabu pinned Louie Spicolli. Spicolli worked over Sabu's neck early including ripping off his neck brace. Outside the ring Sabu laid Spicolli on the guard rail and dove off a table onto him into the crowd. Sabu then put a chair in the ring and another under the ropes. He flew off one chair and launched onto Spicolli in the crowd. Unbelievable. He set Spicolli on the second rope with a chair underneath him and dove, but he missed and Sabu smacked the chair with his butt. Spicolli then nailed Sabu with the chair. Sabu gave Spicolli a hard chairshot. Sabu got up on the table and moonsaulted him off the turnbuckle and through the table. Sabu caught his foot in the railing. Spicolli had a big cut on his elbow and blood was flowing. Back in the ring Sabu nailed a moonsault off the top rope and scored a near fall. Spicolli nailed a back suplex for a near fall. Sabu tried a top rope frankensteiner. Radford blocked the move by just sitting there holding the ropes. He then hit a tackle for a near fall. He put a chair on Sabu and went for a kneedrop, but Sabu moved and Spicolli's knee hit the chair. Sabu then nailed an Arabian facebuster for the pin. Another very good match. Both worked hard and took incredible bumps.

Before the main event American Journal walked through the crowd asking fans questions.

(9) Tommy Dreamer & Sandman & Terry Gordy beat Raven & Steve Richards & Brian Lee when Sandman pinned Raven. Raven attacked Sandman, hitting him with his own cane. He locked on the figure-four early in the match. Richards superkicked Gordy on his way up the platform. Gordy was carrying Richards to the ring when Lee attacked him. Richards bladed heavily. Dreamer then came out and hit BlueDust and Lee with a metal trash can. Gordy got in the cage first. Raven bladed as he got rammed into the cage three times. Richards climbed into the cage also and Dreamer and Lee fought all over the arena. Meanwhile Richards nearly got pinned by Gordy several times. Lee suplexed Dreamer on a detached door. Gordy and Lee then brawled at ringside. Dreamer entered the cage for the first time and hit Richards with a superkick. Beulah then came out and handed Dreamer handcuffs. He cuffed Raven's hands to the cage. Sandman was going to hit Raven with a cane, but Sandman's son got in the way and extended his arms like Raven does. Dreamer didn't yelled at the kid to move. Dreamer was about to hit Raven with a chair, even if the kid was in the way. Sandman stopped him. Dreamer and Sandman argued. Super Nova came out and climbed to the top of the cage and came down to uncuff Raven. Raven threw Richards into the cage and then lowblowed Dreamer. Lee then set up a stack of three tables. They got Dreamer to the top of the cage and Lee chokeslammed him from the top of the cage through two tables; the third table didn't break. Dreamer took an incredible bump on the floor. Sandman then nailed a DDT on Raven and fell on top of him and scored the pin. Brian Lee carried Raven to the back. Sandman drank a beer after getting to his feet. Dreamer was stretchered to the back. Another unbelievable match.

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