EASTERN CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING - AUGUST 3, 1993

ECW Arena - Philadelphia, PA
Attendance: N/A



This episode opens with Tod Gordon addressing the media, including internet dirt sheet writers Dave Meltzer and Wade Keller. Well, they're mentioned by name but never shown. Gordon announces UltraClash is happening on 9/18 and they've booked Stan Hansen and Abdullah the Butcher for the show as well as a scaffold match between J.T. Smith and The Dark Patriot. Eddie Gilbert interrupts the proceedings to find out who he is facing on the show, and Gordon calls for an end to the press conference.

After the opening credits, Gordon sits in the control room to run down the UltraClash card again and plugs the ECW hotline. So you can call (215)544-0421 which the Network has blurred, but if you cross your eyes just a little, you can make it out. OR YOU CAN JUST LISTEN TO TOD GORDON GIVE YOU THE NUMBER!! I heard that if you call the hotline now, Rob Van Dam has twenty bucks magically appear in his fanny pack. Tod throws to footage from a few weeks back to leads to the scaffold match between J.T. Smith and The Dark Patriot at UltraClash.

So we get the full replay of this match from the ECW Arena back in June. Smith and Patriot go through an underwhelming match then they take it to the Eagle's Nest, which is the balcony where the commentary is set up. They brawl for a brief moment before Smith falls from the balcony about 25 feet to the concrete floor below. Then the Dark Patriot follows suit with an intentional dive to the floor, presumably landing on Smith. We never know because they don't show either guy landing. Patriot makes it back to the ring and wins the match via count-out. This may have been HOLY SHIT back in 1993, but comes off as total stunt work within the context of a shitty match.

When we come back, Tod is still in the control room and informs us that play-by-play man Jay Sulli is vacationing in the south of France. I'm not sure how Jay could afford that trip.

Match #1: J.T. Smith & Glen Osbourne vs. Eddie Gilbert & The Dark Patriot (w/ Paul E. Dangerously)

Dark Patriot is Eddie's brother, Doug Gilbert, under the mask. J.T. came to the ring on a crutch, courtesy of his fall from the balcony. Glen Osbourne was still active as of the mid-2000's where he would appear in every PWI 500 from 1994 through 2005. Eddie Gilbert was booking ECW at this time. Not a lot happening here, with Smith's knee being the focal point of the heel offense. Osbourne doesn't even get tagged in during the match. Gilbert finishes Smith with a figure four leglock for the submission. ½*

Next we get a full replay of a match between Tommy Cairo and ECW TV champ Jimmy Snuka, who is managed by Paul E. Dangerously here. This match occurred on 6/19/93 at ECW's Super Summer Sizzler Spectacular. Call the ECW Hotline for your copy of this show. Snuka wins an okay match with assistance from Paul E., who trips up Cairo from the outside.

The Network totally edits out some highlights from Kazuyoshi Osako's W*ING promotion that Tod promised during the intro. W*ING mainly specialized in death matches with Mr. Pogo as their number one heel. W*ING would only last about three years and would lead to the creation of Victor Quinones' IWA Japan promotion.

Tod and Eddie Gilbert close the show in the control room, with Gilbert being totally obnoxious. He was at the center of this entire episode, which is not surprising since he was booking.

THE FINAL WORD: Horrible episode of this show. It was mostly full match replays of matches that already happened with one pretty bad tag match thrown in. Gilbert was a trainwreck as booker and would leave the company not long after this. Unless you're curious or a completist like myself, avoid this episode.