Thursday March 4st, 2001
Live, From Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, New York
Extreme Championship Wrestling presents: Living Dangerously, live on Pay-Per-View!
Dark Matches:
- The Naturals defeated the Haas Brothers
- Tarek the Great defeated Frankie Kazarian (tryout match)
- Low Ki defeated Matt Sydal
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*We get a video package going over everything that has happened the past month leading to Living Dangerously. The war between Toryumon and FMW, the battle between Rob Van Dam and Raven and everything else in between is documented. Joey Styles welcomes us to Living Dangerously and says that we're getting right into the action. The ECW World Tag Team Championship Invitational is up next!*
Opening Match: World Tag Team Championship Invitational - Danny Doring and Roadkill vs The Backseat Boyz (Acid, Kashmere) vs The Syndicate (Heidenreich, Cena) vs Tajiri and Mikey Whipreck
Right out of the gate, all of the talents appear to be running on all cylinders. The first team to be eliminated are the current champions, Tajiri and Mikey Whipreck. Whipreck was powerbombed from the ring apron through a table set up on the outside by Jon Heidenreich. He got the three count on Whipreck, but not without doing some flexing while pinning him. The next team to be eliminated was Danny Doring and Roadkill. The big man went for a splash from the top rope, but Acid rolled out of the way and allowed Roadkill to crash and burn. It took both Kashmere and Acid to pin Roadkill, but they got him out. Out of the final two, the Syndicate eventually pick up the win after Bill Alfonso hops onto the ring apron with his whistle to distract Trent Acid. This could be considered karma for the methods that the Backseat Boyz have been using to get their victories. The Syndicate take the time to set up their double-team finisher, The Babe Seeker (Heidenreich lifts the superstar up for a gorilla press, then throws him onto Cena's shoulders who then hits a Death Valley Driver). The Syndicate gets the underhanded win and their first taste at championship gold.
Winners: The Syndicate!
*Immediately after their victory, John Cena dropps and starts doing push-ups. Heidenreich grabs both championship belts from the referee and begins to curl them as if they were weights. Bill Alfonso pulls two hotel keys out of his shirt pocket and hands them to the two most attractive women (at an ECW show? Hah) that he can find in the front row. The Champs exit the ring and make their way to the back*
*We get a video package hyping up the feud between Colt Cabana and the Full Blooded Italians. We get some cameos of the people closest to Colt. Ace Steel tells us that it's Colt's lifelong dream to join the FBI, while CM Punk just rolls his eyes. We see a training package for Cabana which involves eating spaghetti, trying to learn Italian slang and trying on different fedoras.*
Match Two: Colt Cabana vs Glenn Gilbertti - Tuxedo Match (Cabana's career vs spot in FBI)
This match was never meant to be taken seriously, as the point was to showcase the comedic brand of entertainment that Cabana brings to ECW. There's tons of outside interference from the FBI, Evan, Shannon and Helms. in the end, Gilbertti handcuffs Cabana to the top rope and strips him of his tuxedo to win the match. This means that, for now, Colt Cabana is out of ECW.
Winner: Glenn Gilbertti!
*Post match, the remaining members of the FBI climb into the ring and they take turns beating down Cabana. The men formerly known as 3-Count appear to go for the save, but Gilbertti tells them that they're fired if they try to stop it. Cabana is eventually uncuffed and carried to the back by a road agent.*
Match Three: Psicosis (ECW) vs Super Calo (Toryumon) vs The Great Sasuke (FMW)
This match serves as the in-ring debuts for Calo and Sasuke under the ECW banner. Good back and forth wrestling, lots of cruiserweight action and high spots. The match ends with Psicosis having his hand raised as the victor.
Winner: Psicosis!
*Post match, there's another big brawl between members of Toryumon and FMW. This time, we see Spike Dudley, Balls Mahoney and Simon Diamond get involved to represent ECW.*
Match Four: CM Punk vs Samoa Joe
This is one of the most talked about bouts of the evening, as many analysts predict CM Punk and Samoa Joe to become major names in the future. Tons of holds exchanged here but Punk eventually locks in the Anaconda Vice and defeats Samoa Joe.
Winner: CM Punk!
*After the match, Samoa Joe is asked where he goes from here. Joe says that Punk was the better man tonight, but Joe can come back from this. Tonight, a sleeping giant was pulled from his slumber.*
Match Five: Rhino vs Abyss W/ The Sinister Minister - Boiler Room Brawl
The camera cut to the back and Rhino arrives as the Manhattan center. He walks around the arena before finding the boiler room. Once he enters, the lights go off. When the lights come back on, Abyss is waiting behind him holding Janice, his 2x4 filled with nails. Abyss gets a shot in on Rhino's gut which immediately causes the man-beast to fall to a kneeling position. At one point, Rhino teases stabbing Abyss with a sawed off lead pipe with a jagged edge. The two continued to brawl back and forth, cheesy horror movie effects happening left and right. Eventually, Abyss is able to keep Rhino down for the three count. The Sinister Minister comes over to celebrate with Abyss. The Monster wasn't done, though, as he throws his handler directly into a breaker box which causes a big spark of electricity, shocking the Minister who eventually falls unconscious. With the monster now on his own and untamed, ECW really isn't safe...
Winner: Abyss!
Match Six: ECW International Championship - Teddy Hart (ECW) vs Hayabusa (FMW) vs Hido (FMW) vs CIMA (Toryu)
As expected, these light heavyweight competitors go out there and show exactly why they're here in ECW. There's many near falls, but Hayabusa eventually hits CIMA with a Phoenix Splash and picks up the win. He's the inaugural ECW International Champion, which means the belt can also be defended in FMW and Toryumon due to the rules of the championship.
Winner: Your new ECW International Champion, Hayabusa!
*We see a vignette showing a shadowy figure in a blackened room. The man talks about how he's watched ECW from afar, but now... it's time for him to make his presence known. The lights turn on to reveal a man with long, white hair and a white beard to match. He introduces himself as Mordecai and talks about the sin that we see each week on Hardcore TV. Mordecai is a man of the Lord and he's sent to Earth to right the wrongs of the so-called Christians who turn their back on the words of the Bible. He doesn't say when we'll see him, but he'll be here soon.*
Match Seven: ECW Television Championship- Super Crazy vs Homicide - Two out of three falls.
The first fall goes to Homicide after hitting an avalanche cutter on Super Crazy. The second fall goes to Crazy, who hits a triple-jump moonsault. The final fall goes to Homicide who hits Super Crazy with a vertebreaker onto an open steel chair.
Winner: Your new ECW TV Champion, Homicide!
Main Event: Team Rob Van Dam (RVD, Sabu, Jerry Lynn, Juventud, Nova) vs Team Raven (Raven, Acolytes 1 & 2, H8 Crew)
The first elimination comes from the H8 Crew double teaming Nova. The second elimination involves Sabu throwing a chair at the head of one of Raven's Acolytes as they dive from the top rope. The third elimination involves Jerry Lynn hitting a cradle piledriver on the other Acolyte. The fourth elimination comes from Raven hitting an Even Flow DDT on Jerry Lynn. Sabu misses a big moonsault through a table covered in barbed wire, the medics pull him from the match. H8 Crew gives Juventud a spike piledriver through a sheet of glass. It's down to RVD vs Raven and the H8 Crew. Van Dam tries his best to fight back but is eventually overpowered and Raven hits an Even Flow DDT for a three count.
Winners: Team Raven, Surviving Members - Raven, H8 Crew
*After the match, we have Raven and the H8 Crew celebrating. When the Acolytes get in the ring to celebrate with Raven, he gets out of the ring and the H8 Crew beat them down. They remove the hoods and masks to reveal that the Acolytes were Mark and Jay, the Briscoe Brothers. We may see something between these two teams down the line.*
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Human's thoughts:
- Yes, I chose to have the Syndicate go over. I typically try to not pick the winners of the contests, but, we've got something gold here and we're going all in until I hit phase 2 with it.
- Hayabusa picking up the win was a very welcomed surprise. I couldn't think of a better face for the International Championship.
- The show was a bit heavy with title changes, but I'm trying to build the idea that the new guard is really coming in here and turning this ship around for the better.
- We have not seen the last of Colt Cabana.
- RVD isn't being buried, there's plans in motion here.
I was like 3 shows behind, but loved every damn thing I just read.
