Post by Ll3yd on Jan 25, 2004 12:34:20 GMT -5
On the night before WWE's Royal Rumble PPV, 3PW returned to the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, PA for their biggest crowd ever, estimated by some at nearly 700...many of whom came to see a one time only event as Stevie Richards returned to the ECW Arena for the first time in years to do a reunion of the Blue World Order.
CJ O' Doyle defeated Canada's Derek Wylde, making his debut with the promotion
Then, Blue Meanie came out with Stevie Richards with a thunderous pop for Richards, who clearly brought in more than his share of fans to this show. There were 3 fans who travelled all the way from Nashville from NWA-TNA's "Heel Section" who held up a sign "I drove 800 miles to see the BWO", which had Richards marking out bigtime from the ring.
In one of the skits during the night, Richards and Meanie did their New World Order routine from the ECW days...with Richards doing his "Big Stevie Cool" routine.
Other skits saw them doing a reprise of the night that they led the ECW crowd in the Village People's "YMCA"...another with Richards playing Shane Douglas (to Meanie's "Francine")
Ruckus defeated Damian Adams in a short match
Roadkill defeated Monsta Mack
"Pitbull" Gary Wolf defeated Wifebeater in a finish that left some of the CZW fans in attendance more than a little puzzled
Jack Victory defeated Ricky Vega
In a major surprise, Joey Matthews defeated AJ Styles by pinfall in an excellent Southern style match that ought to be an example of what WWE wrestlers can do if they want to work a "less is more" style match
Raven successfully defended his 3PW Championship against The Sandman in a TLC match...
Before the main event, in another reprise of their great ECW skits, Meanie, Richards and old ECW favorite Donnie Allen came out as KISS and led the crowd in "Rock and Roll All Night".
Richards clearly was moved by the crowd reception, coming out of character to thank the crowd for the Philadelphia crowd having been behind him in his independent days and his ECW days. He went so far as to thank the crowd for the "best night of his career..and his life". Richards was moved enough backstage to still be in tears from the crowd reception and the general vibe of the evening.
In the scheduled main event... a tough act to follow after the fun and genuine emotion of the Richards/Meanie segmentr preceding it...on the tenth anniversary of their first match with one another, Sabu defeated Al Snow in a match that saw both men bringing their A game to the match.
A lot of the night should serve as a reminder to some promoters that wrestling, at its heart, is supposed to be FUN. Last night's show certainly was fun...and will probably be more fun than a far more ballyhooed show down at the Wachovia that will be seen by far more people. There's little doubt in my mind, though, which show will see more fans having more fun.
3PW returns to the ECW Arena on February 21st for the promotion's second anniversary show...
CJ O' Doyle defeated Canada's Derek Wylde, making his debut with the promotion
Then, Blue Meanie came out with Stevie Richards with a thunderous pop for Richards, who clearly brought in more than his share of fans to this show. There were 3 fans who travelled all the way from Nashville from NWA-TNA's "Heel Section" who held up a sign "I drove 800 miles to see the BWO", which had Richards marking out bigtime from the ring.
In one of the skits during the night, Richards and Meanie did their New World Order routine from the ECW days...with Richards doing his "Big Stevie Cool" routine.
Other skits saw them doing a reprise of the night that they led the ECW crowd in the Village People's "YMCA"...another with Richards playing Shane Douglas (to Meanie's "Francine")
Ruckus defeated Damian Adams in a short match
Roadkill defeated Monsta Mack
"Pitbull" Gary Wolf defeated Wifebeater in a finish that left some of the CZW fans in attendance more than a little puzzled
Jack Victory defeated Ricky Vega
In a major surprise, Joey Matthews defeated AJ Styles by pinfall in an excellent Southern style match that ought to be an example of what WWE wrestlers can do if they want to work a "less is more" style match
Raven successfully defended his 3PW Championship against The Sandman in a TLC match...
Before the main event, in another reprise of their great ECW skits, Meanie, Richards and old ECW favorite Donnie Allen came out as KISS and led the crowd in "Rock and Roll All Night".
Richards clearly was moved by the crowd reception, coming out of character to thank the crowd for the Philadelphia crowd having been behind him in his independent days and his ECW days. He went so far as to thank the crowd for the "best night of his career..and his life". Richards was moved enough backstage to still be in tears from the crowd reception and the general vibe of the evening.
In the scheduled main event... a tough act to follow after the fun and genuine emotion of the Richards/Meanie segmentr preceding it...on the tenth anniversary of their first match with one another, Sabu defeated Al Snow in a match that saw both men bringing their A game to the match.
A lot of the night should serve as a reminder to some promoters that wrestling, at its heart, is supposed to be FUN. Last night's show certainly was fun...and will probably be more fun than a far more ballyhooed show down at the Wachovia that will be seen by far more people. There's little doubt in my mind, though, which show will see more fans having more fun.
3PW returns to the ECW Arena on February 21st for the promotion's second anniversary show...
