ECW Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Night The Line Was Crossed was Eastern Championship Wrestling's first major event of 1994 and a big step for the Philadelphia promotion as they began to firmly cement their legacy for violence, hardcore wrestling, and all things extreme.
Throughout 1993, events such as the Super Summer Sizzler Spectacular had seen ECW presented as little more than another indie outfit in which both established, past-their-prime performers and up-and-coming superstars plied their trade.
Tonight, however, the company let it be known that they meant business as they took the first bloody and brutal steps towards establishing themselves as one of The Big Three professional wrestling companies of the 1990s.
Here's what went down on February 5th, 1994, a night that will forever live in ECW fans minds as the night the line was crossed.
The Night The Line Was Crossed
Gordon informed us that Eastern Championship Wrestling had been accused of being the most violent, gory, extreme, and hardcore federation in America.
He neither confirmed nor denied these allegations, but simply said that what we were about to see was from February 4th, the night the line was well and truly crossed.
There you are then.
Wildman Sal Bellomo vs. The Ruffneck Mr. Hughes (w/ Jason)
The man in his corner had the uninspiring name of ‘Jason’ and wore a tuxedo jacket and bow tie. Combined with his hairdo, you got the feeling this might be what Paul Heyman might look like if he dressed as Brutus Beefcake for Halloween.
Anyway, this match was a big pile of nothing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen two men do less in the ring and call it a match.
A few instances of running the ropes, a slow, lumbering punch or two, then interference from Jason to give Hughes the win.
Your Winner: Mr. Hughes.
That was crap.
Double Dog Collar Match
The Sandman & Tommy Cairo vs. The Pitbull & Rockin’ Rebel (w/ Jason)
This was a fun, albeit short match full of wild brawling.
After five or six minutes of a fairly good match, Tommy Cairo dove on The Pitbull with The Sandman assisting by grabbing Pitbull’s legs.
That was enough to get the fall.
It’s a shame this will one didn’t last longer because I was just getting into it.
Your Winners: The Sandman & Tommy Cairo
Post-match, Rockin’ Rebel hung Sandman over the top rope by the chain before he and Pitbull did a number on Tommy Cairo.
No Rules Match
The Public Enemy (Flyboy Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge) vs. The Bruise Brothers (Ron & Don Harris)
I say ‘looked to be,’ because this was one example of how ECW’s low budget presentation could really hurt them.
The show seemed to be shot from a single camera which meant it was impossible to follow everything. Add some very low lighting, and keeping track of this match was hard going.
From what you could see, however, this looked to be an excellent brawl that finally ended up back in the ring where Johnny Grunge leveled one of their opponents with 2x4.
He and Rocco Rock then piled on for the three count.
Your Winners: The Public Enemy
Up next, this:
Tommy Dreamer vs. “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka (w/ Hunter Q. Robins III)
On all of the Eastern Championship Wrestling shows I’ve reviewed so far, Snuka’s matches were always one of -if not the- worst things on the show, and this was hardly an exception.
He and Tommy Dreamer spent the first third of the match stalling and playing to the crowd. I suppose that was fun for them but it was boring as heck to watch.
The second third saw Snuka beat down Dreamer in like 30 seconds, only for the plucky rookie to kick out of the Superfly Splash.
Then, in the final third, Snuka hit another splash and pinned him.
The ending was interesting as Joey Styles played up the idea that nobody ever kicked out of Superfly’s finisher, but the match itself was just dull.
Your Winner: Jimmy Snuka
Post match, Snuka beat up the official then attacked Dreamer some more.
Dreamer then sold the beat down like he’d been run over by a train while Sal Bellomo came in to ensure Snuka couldn’t do any more damage.
Kevin Sullivan & The Tazmaniac (w/ Woman) vs. The Original Sheik & Pat Tanaka
This distracted everyone enough that Pat Tanaka was able to sneak into the ring and attack The Tazmaniac.
Tanaka was wearing street clothes tonight, probably because he couldn’t be bothered.
What followed from here was really two different matches. Sheik and Kevin Sullivan brawled through the crowd and got into a fight by the barricades while in the ring, Tazmaniac spent the entire match sitting on Tanaka’s back in a half Boston Crab.
To be fair, it wasn’t terrible, but having already seen two wild tag team brawls; this just didn’t add anything new.
At least not until the finish. Sheik broke away from Sullivan to throw a fireball in the ring at Tazmaniac, allowing Tanaka to score the victory.
The whole thing was over in about four minutes.
Your Winners: The Original Sheik & Pat Tanaka.
Afterwards, Sheik and Sullivan continued to brawl while Woman tended to the scorched and singed Tazmaniac in the ring.
J.T Smith vs. Awesome Mike Awesome
Big Mike did look impressive here, getting over with the crowd as he destroyed J.T Smith in what looked to be a short squash match until Smith scored a quick victory with a roll up, his only offensive move of the entire match.
Your Winner: J.T Smith
Post match, Awesome vented his frustrations by taking out the referee with two powerbombs.
He then climbed to the top rope, ready to pounce on the poor, battered official. Instead, the top turnbuckle snapped and Awesome fell flat on his face in an ugly botch.
Ouch.
Three Way Dance for the Eastern Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Championship
ECW Heavyweight Champion Terry Funk vs. Shane Douglas (w/ Sherri Martel) vs. Sabu (w/ Paul E. Dangerously)
The entertainment started before any of the combatants even locked up as Paul E. Dangerously ran out and clocked Sherri Martel from behind with his ever-present cell phone.
It was such a cowardly-d*ck move and was so unexpected that you couldn’t help but be entertained by it.
From there, this three way dance started with just Douglas and Sabu as Joey Styles explained that in order for either man to win, they would first have to beat the other before dethroning Terry Funk for the title.
This got a little confusing as it was then explained that if neither man scored the victory in the first 15 minutes, Funk would come out anyway to make it a three way. That bit was clear, but it was never fully explained whether elimination rules still applied once the Funker got involved.
As both men duked it out, Styles also gave us the backstory to the match, reminding us that Sabu -in only his second match for the company- had upset Douglas for the title at NWA Bloodfest ‘93 before losing it to Funk.
Predictably, neither man scored the pin in the first 15, leading to the arrival of the ECW champion.
If you were immediately expecting the promised three-way though, you’d be dissapointed.
In the ensuing chaos, Sabu just kind of disappeared, meaning Douglas had essentially swapped opponents.
Later, the Homicidal Maniac returned sporting a bandage on his knee, with Styles telling us that he’d been injured.
The three-way then commenced and led to the most comical spot in the match:
Funk left the ring and worked his way through the crowd to Joey’s announce table.
There, he took to the microphone and practically begged Douglas and Sabu to come out and fight him in the crowd.
His opponents ignored him completely and instead went into a rest hold in the middle of the ring.
The more they ignored him, the more Funk called him out until eventually giving up and rejoining the fight.
I don’t know why, but that was hilarious.
Later, after more action, Bad Breed came out and began attacking Shane, though not without receiving a couple of chair shots courtesy of Sabu.
The match continued all the way up to an hour-long draw, and while it wasn’t the greatest technical spectacle in the world, it sure was a very entertaining hour of wrestling.
Time Limit Draw
Post match, Funk and Sabu had to be helped from the ring while Douglas left on his own power, all while the crowds gave the three men a standing ovation.
The Post-Show Media Conference
First, Styles interviewed a very emotional Terry Funk, who put Douglas and Sabu over but was far less complimentary towards WCW and WWF.
The Funker was ECW all the way and was passionate about delivering hardcore wrestling for the hardcore fans.
Up next, Paul E. Dangerously came out with Sabu being restrained by his handlers.
Dangerously simply put his man over and claimed that he had been robbed of the title before making way for Douglas.
Calm, cool, and collected despite visibility seething underneath, The Franchise insisted that he should be the true ECW champion as he was the only man to leave the ringside area on his own two feet.
This brought Funk back for an intense confrontation which led to a predictable brawl that was broken up by most of the ECW roster.
I won’t lie to you, those post-match interviews were the most compelling thing on the whole show.
The fact that the “media conference” was the most enjoyable aspect of the event doesn’t mean that the rest of ECW The Night The Line Was Crossed sucked.
It really didn’t.
By now, the company had truly embraced the renegade, hardcore style that would see them establish themselves as one of American pro wrestling’s big three.
And while none of the matches were classics and there was a lot of crap on here too (looking at you, Superfly), that hour-long main event and the utterly captivating post-match interviews made it well worth a watch.
Other ECW Reviews:
- ECW Super Summer Sizzler Spectacular
- ECW Ultra Clash 1993
- NWA Blood Fest 1993
- ECW November to Remember 1999
- WWE - ECW One Night Stand 2005
Other 1994 pro wrestling reviews:
- WWF Royal Rumble 1994
- WWF Wrestlemania 10
- WWF King of the Ring 1994
- WCW Bash at the Beach 1994
- WWF Summerslam 1994
- WWF Survivor Series 1994
- AAA When Worlds Collide
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1 Comments
I was shocked that Mike Awesome was on the show. I always was a fan of his.
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