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

-Jason Powell, Torch assistant editor

* * *

Torch Newsletter Archive
By Chris Forbes, Torch contributor
ECW Arena - June 27, 1998
Originally published: Pro Wrestling Torch Weekly newsletter #501
Cover dated: July 4, 1998

When: June 27, 1998
Where: Philadelphia, Pa. - ECW Arena
What: ECW major house show
Attendance: 1,200

(1) Tommy Rich (w/Little Guido & Tracy Smothers) pinned Chris Chetti. Originally it was scheduled as Tommy Rogers & Chetti vs. Guido & Smothers. The ref said Rogers didn't have medical clearance to wrestle. Chetti said he'd wrestle all three FBI members by himself. Rich volunteered to wrestle Chetti one-on-one. The crowd chanted, "You fat f---" at Rich. Rich threw Chetti out of the ring and hit a hard chairshot to his head. Chetti bladed. Later Chetti came back with a belly-to-belly. FBI beat Chetti at ringside. Blue Meanie and Super Nova came out to even the sides. They blew a huge spot when Rich went to the top rope and just stood there. Later Chetti dove onto all three FBI members. Fans chanted "ECW." Chetti hit a rope to rope moonsault, but Smothers hit Chetti with the flag pole leading to the pin. The match had its moments.

(2) Bobby Duncum Jr. beat Kronus. They fought in the ring for about five minutes, then fought at ringside. Kronus threw Duncum into the crowd briefly. Duncum splashed onto Kronus for a small pop then hit Kronus with a cowbell. Kronus bladed. Duncum locked on a Cobra Clutch for the win. Awful match.

(3) Masato Tanaka pinned Balls Mahoney. Both men did some basic high school wrestling moves early. Tanaka hit some Flair-like chops and the fans went "whoo!" Balls came back with chops of his own. Tanaka hit a superplex. Later Balls missed a top rope legdrop and Tanaka hit a top rope dropkick. Later Tanaka tossed Balls into the railing. Tanaka no-sold two hard Balls chairshots which popped the crowd. Fans chanted, "FMW." Tanaka hit a swinging DDT onto two chairs and scored the pin. The crowd clapped and cheered. Good match with good crowd heat. Balls called Tanaka "a tough motherf---er" after the match.

(4) Mikey Whipwreck & Jerry Lynn beat Justin Credible & Jason (w/Chastity). All four went at it at ringside. After a nice series of reversals, Lynn hit a hard clothesline and later a head scissors for a pop. Later Justin gave Lynn an edge, but Mikey broke up the pin attempt. Jason hit a powerbomb for a two count. Jason held a chair and Justin rammed his knee into Lynn's face. Justin hit two Flair chops, but missed a slidekick and ended up crotching the post. Mikey got the hot-tag and speared Justin. Fans chanted, "Goldberg." Funny. Justin dove onto Mikey and Jason. Lynn dove onto all three. Chastity came into the ring as chaos broke out. Lynn got spike piledriven. Jason snapped Mikey's fingers and he sold it that they were broken. Meanwhile Lynn dove off the top rope and pinned Justin. Decent hard-fought tag match.

Joey Styles came out with his new TV commentator, Shane Douglas. Lance Storm, Francine, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Chris Candido also came out. The staples in Douglas's elbow were visible. Douglas said he returned from his last elbow surgery too quickly. A camera zoomed in on his elbow. He said he and Francine are tired of Taz running his mouth and he plans on doing a lot of shooting in the next couple of months. He challenged Taz to jump him now. Taz's music played and of course he came out. Taz said he would put one hand behind his back and beat his ass right there in Philadelphia. Taz said, "F--- these belts, f--- the pay-per-view, f--- the cameras, I'll fight Bigelow right now." The match was on.

(5) Taz fought Bam Bam Bigelow to a draw. The crowd chanted, "F--- him up, Bigelow," which was kind of surprising. Taz missed a clothesline and flew over the top rope. They brawled at ringside. Taz went through a table. Taz tossed Bigelow into the crowd. Later Bigelow returned the favor. They fought up the bleachers. Bigelow tumbled down the bleachers. Bigelow set Taz on a table and Taz moved as he dropped an elbow. Taz went to punch Bigelow, but he held up a piece of the table and Taz hit the table instead. Near the end Taz applied the Tazmission.

The crowd chanted, "Don't tap out." After being in the hold several minutes, the bell rang and the ref declared it a 20 minute time limit draw. For an impromptu match, how did a time limit get established? The crowd chanted "bullsh--." Taz asked for five more minutes. Bigelow left. Taz said over the house mic that if he couldn't make Bigelow tap out in one minute, the orange FTW belt would be his. The crowd then chanted, "F--- him up, Taz." Bigelow got on the apron, flipped Taz the finger, then left. Good ECW style brawl.

(6) Axl Rotten beat Jack Victory (w/Ulf Hermann, Mr. Wright) via DQ. They brawled at ringside at the start. Axl hit Victory with a chair. Axl slopdropped Victory on a chair. The Dudleys came out and all five beat on Axl. The Dudleys gave a messy version of the Dudley Death Drop to Axl. The crowd chanted, "You f---ed up." Dreamer and Sandman came out for the save. Not good while it lasted.

(7) Spike Dudley beat Ulf Hermann (w/Equalizer, Mr. Wright). Spike won out of nowhere with a top rope bulldog in less than a minute. He gave Mr. Wright and Equalizer bulldogs after the match. The crowd popped for the win.

(8) Buh Buh Ray & D-Von & Big Dick Dudley (w/Joel Gertner, Sign Guy Dudley, heel ref Jeff Jones) beat Sandman & Dreamer & Atsushi Onita. D-Von tried to have the bell rung ten times in honor of "Beulah being the biggest slut." D-Von began ringing the bell, but stopped short of ten times. The crowd yelled, "You can't count." Sandman came out with a ladder and Dreamer came out with a board wrapped in barbed wire. All five went right at it. Big Dick used a ladder, but Sandman dropkicked it into him. Dreamer piledrove D-Von onto the ladder.

Once they got the advantage, Dreamer and Sandman pointed to the back. Out came Atsushi Onita, who grabbed the board and hit one of the Dudleys, but then turned and hit Sandman and DDT'd Dreamer. New Jack charged the ring and confronted Onita. Jack Victory came up from behind New Jack and hit him with a guitar. Onita left. Spike Dudley came out and helped Sandman and Dreamer. Spike gave D-Von a bulldog. When he tried to give Big Dick a DDT, Big Dick tossed Spike through a table. They put a ladder on Dreamer and Buh Buh came off the second rope with a Buh Buh Bomb for the pin. A short, but violent match. New Jack, Sandman, and Dreamer were bloody messes.

(9) Sabu & Rob Van Dam (w/Bill Alfonso) beat Chris Candido & Lance Storm to capture the ECW Tag Team Titles. After a series of great reversals, Van Dam hit Candido with a face-first splash. He hit a second rope bodypress. Storm hit a jackhammer on Sabu for a two count. Later Candido and Storm hit a flapjack on Sabu for a near fall.

Candido and Storm hit powerbomb legdrops, but Sabu broke up the count. Sabu hit a Frankensteiner on Candido for a big pop. Candido and Storm hit a Doomsday-style clothesline on Van Dam, but Sabu broke up the pin attempt. Sabu put Storm over the railing. Van Dam gave him a flip legdrop. Candido splashed Sabu. Later Sabu dove onto Candido who was in the crowd. Candido hit a top rope frankensteiner through half of a table onto Sabu, but Van Dam broke up the pin attempt.

Candido and Storm set Sabu and Van Dam on a table in the ring. They went to opposite sides of the ring, but when they went for a splash, Van Dam and Sabu moved. Candido ended up legdropping only the table. Storm ended up splashing Sabu, but Sabu kicked out. Later Candido and Storm were put on a table and Sabu and Van Dam both connected with the move of the night. Sabu pinned Candido to win the match. Great match with fantastic crowd heat. The crowd popped big for the title change. Candido took a lot of good bumps in the match.

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