The following is a reprint of the Torch Newsletter review of the ECW Arena show from five years ago this week.

-Jason Powell, Torch assistant editor

* * *

Torch Newsletter Archive
By Chris Forbes, Torch correspondent
February 21, 1998 - ECW Arena
Originally published: Pro Wrestling Torch Weekly newsletter #481
Cover dated: February 28, 1998

When: February 21, 1998
Where: Philadelphia, Pa. - ECW Arena
What: ECW major house show/taping
Attendance: 1,350 sellout

Paul Heyman came out with the entire ECW roster. Paul got on the mic and said an organization which he wouldn't name says when you are with them, you are with them for life. He said when you wrestle for ECW, you really are ECW for life. Fans began a huge "ECW" chant. He dedicated the show to Louie Spicolli. Fans cheered and chanted Louie's name. Several wrestlers cried. They did a ten bell salute. Paul thanked the crowd. And, no, Justin Credible did not interrupt the salute.

(1) Jerry Lynn beat Danny Doring (w/Roadkill). The crowd chanted "You f--- sheep" at Roadkill. Both men exchanged chops then Lynn hit a running lariat in the corner. Roadkill grabbed Lynn's leg as he was coming off ropes and Doring dropped a leg on him. Later Lynn nailed a beautiful flying head scissors and hit a splash at ringside for a pop. Lynn ducked as Doring went to hit him and Lynn dumped Roadkill into the crowd. Lynn then got up on the apron and dove over the table onto both men who were in the crowd for a pop. Later Doring got thrown to ringside and Lynn came off the top turnbuckle to the floor onto Doring for another pop. In the end, Lynn reversed a sunset flip off the second rope and turned it into a powerbomb for a win. Good opener. I'd love to see Lynn have a program with Rob Van Dam.

(2) Al Snow (w/The Head) beat Tracy Smothers (w/Tommy Rich). This was Snow's best ECW Arena show match in a while. As Al came out, a huge chant of "head" began. Fans pelted the ring with the head mannequins and in a funny comedy spot, Rich got hit in the back with one and sold it like he'd been shot. Al mocked the FBI by doing the little Italian hand motion under the chin using the head. A loud "You're a f----t chant" was directed at Smothers.

Smothers got the advantage early when he dumped Snow between the ropes and Rich crotched him. Later Smothers dumped him into the crowd where Guido beat on him. In the ring Smothers got a couple of nearfalls on Snow. Then Snow hit a powerbomb and said it was over and hit a moonsault that got a near fall. For the finish, the ref took a bump and all three FBI beat on Snow as Jim Hones (wearing a WWF hat and ref shirt) came in. As the FBI had its back turned, Snow grabbed "The Head" and hit everybody including the ref. He hit Rich with "The Head" off the ropes and Rich bladed. He nailed his finisher on everybody and got the pin on Smothers. Good match, especially the last five minutes.

(3) Chris Chetti beat Doug Furnas. Short match. Chetti hit a head scissors early but the second time got caught and was hit with a powerbomb. Furnas locked on a Boston Crab, but Chetti wouldn't quit. Furnas hit Chetti with a belly-to-belly from the top rope and then hit a frankensteiner for a two count. Fans chanted "boring" as Chetti hit a moonsault for a surprise pin. Short, but sweet. After the match Wright wanted Furnas to beat up on Chetti, but all Furnas would do was go over and shake his hand. Furnas almost hit Wright before backing off.

Joey Styles interviewed The Triple Threat. They came out with Sunny who got a pop. The crowd chanted her name. Douglas asked Taz if his belt felt good up against his lips. The crowd chanted, "Francine will suck d--- for crack, do da, do da." Sunny said she knows who the mystery partner of Storm is going to be. Douglas said he knew there was a reason he loved her so much, but Sunny said she wasn't going to tell Douglas or Candido. Sunny said some words about Candido over the house mic (hard to understand) and then slapped him. Sunny and Francine then went at it. Bam Bam Bigelow and Douglas separated them. The crowd chanted, "Let them go. Let them go." Great segment, lots of a heat.

(4) Lance Storm pinned Chris Candido. They went right at each other. Storm hit three turnbuckle clotheslines, then hit a baseball slide into the crowd onto Candido, then dove onto him when he was in the crowd. The crowd chanted, "Lance f---ed Sunny... in the a--." In the ring Candido hit a quick legdrop for a two count. He also nailed a good powerbomb. Later Storm hit a wheelkick and followed it up with a dropkick for a two count. Storm got caught and thrown onto the top turnbuckle (he almost fell to the floor). Candido hit a top rope frankensteiner for a near fall. Later Storm got on the top rope again, but managed to hook Candido into his own finisher, a top rope powerbomb, for a pin. Sunny clapped from the third level. Candido sold the move bigtime, staying on his back for over a minute. Good, hard-fought bout.

(5) Taz beat Brakkus (w/Lance Wright, Doug Furnas). The crowd chanted "steroids" at Brakkus. Storm said, "All natural." A short match. The fans chanted, "F--- him up, Taz, f--- him up." Brakkus drew an imaginary line on the mat and dared Taz to cross it. Taz did and hit three vicious crossfaces to the jaw and face of Brakkus. Brakkus then hit a powerbomb with authority. Wright and Co. set up a table in the corner and Brakkus went to powerbomb Taz on it. He slipped out and hit an underhook Tazplex on Brakkus who bumped through the table. Taz then locked on the Tazmission for a tapout win. Short, but good for what it was.

(6) Justin Credible (w/Jason, Nicole Bass) beat Tommy Dreamer (w/Beulah) in a first blood match. Dreamer came out with a trash can. A brawl broke out right away and travelled all over the arena. Justin went for a sunset flip, but Beulah nailed him with a trash can lid. Fans aimed a "Chicks with dicks" chant at Nicole Bass. Beulah held up a chair at ringside and Dreamer catapulted Justin into it. He then hit a knee to the crotch for a pop.

Jason held Dreamer's leg and Justin hit a reverse DDT. The crowd chanted, "We Want Blood!" Justin sat Dreamer in a chair and dropkicked it. He then hit a suplex on the chair. Dreamer reversed a second attempt into a face-first slam into a chair. He then hit a hangman's noose neckbreaker off the second rope. In the ring, Beulah went to hit Jason with a sign, but Nicole stepped in and said, "Hit me." Beulah went to hit her, but the ref got hit instead. Dreamer hit a Death Valley Driver and pulled out barbed wire from a trash can. He wrapped the wire around himself and frog-splashed Justin. In the end, Dreamer had Justin locked in the ropes.

He got a trash can and was going to hit Justin with it, but Van Dam came out and came off the top rope kicking the trash can into Dreamer. Dreamer had wrapped himself around barbed wire earlier. Van Dam wrapped the barbed wire around Dreamer's head causing Dreamer to bleed. Beulah came in to stop Justin and Justin hit her with a tombstone piledriver. The crowd popped huge. Dreamer went after Justin. Jason got the ref who saw Dreamer was bleeding and called for the bell. Dreamer went after Jason and wrapped barbed wire around his throat. Justin and Jason both ended up bleeding.

(7) Balls Mahoney & Axl Rotten & Sandman beat New Jack & Kronus & Spike Dudley and Big Dick & D-Von & Buh Buh Ray Dudley in a nine-man "Dance of Death" match. The craziest match of the night. They used chairs, trash cans, and other stuff. At one point Big Dick put Balls on a table in the aisleway and Buh Buh was going to dive off the third level. New Jack's music played and he came out.

New Jack hit Buh Buh with a cookie sheet and in a suicide move of the night, New Jack dove off the third level onto Balls. Just about everybody bled during the match. Balls put Spike on a table and he came off the top rope and bulldogged Spike through it. Axl then gave Spike the brainbuster and scored the pin to eliminate that team. The Dudleys set up their finish, but Axl hit D-Von with a chair and Sandman gave Buh Buh the stun gun as Balls held a chair up leading to the pin.

(8) Shane Douglas & Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Francine) beat Sabu & Rob Van Dam (w/Bill Alfonso). They started with actual wrestling holds, but eventually broke down into a four-man brawl. Alfonso blew his whistle so much that the whole crowd joined in. Van Dam and Douglas started out. Van Dam went for a spin kick, but Douglas kicked him. Later Van Dam hit a dropkick as Douglas thought Van Dam was down. Van Dam hit a series of kicks to the armpit of Douglas, then hit a wheelkick and Sabu got tagged in. Both men hit Douglas with back-to-back legdrops.

Douglas continued to get beat on including having Sabu lock on a camel clutch and Van Dam coming off the top with a wheelkick. Van Dam later went for a split-legged moonsault and Douglas got his knees up, then tagged in Bigelow. In the end Van Dam and Sabu hit a Rolling Thunder for a near fall. They put another table up and put Douglas on it. It was ready to break. So Sabu broke it and put a different table in the corner. Both men drove Douglas's head into the table hard, shattering the table.

Bigelow broke up the pin attempt with a headbutt. When they went to pin Van Dan, Sabu came off the top rope. Bigelow, though, moved and Sabu legdropped Van Dam. Bigelow then finished off Van Dam with his piledriver for the win. Sabu and Van Dam exchanged heated words after the match.

Notes: A good card and a really good build-up to the pay-per-view.

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