| Barely Legal | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Promotion | Extreme Championship Wrestling | ||
| Date | April 13, 1997 | ||
| City | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||
| Venue | ECW Arena | ||
| Attendance | 1,170[1] | ||
| Buy rate | 45,000[2] | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
| |||
Barely Legal was the inauguralprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event held byExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It took place on April 13, 1997, from theECW Arena inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania.[1]
Rob Van Dam versusLance Storm was included on the 2005 WWEDVD releaseRob Van Dam: One of a Kind.Sabu versusTaz was included on the 2012 WWE DVD andBlu-ray releaseECW Unreleased: Vol 1 and the 2013 WWE DVD and Blu-ray releaseThe Top 25 Rivalries in Wrestling History.The Eliminators versusThe Dudley Boyz was included on the 2016 WWE DVD and Blu-ray releaseStraight Outta Dudleyville: The Legacy of The Dudley Boyz.
Sevenprofessional wrestling matches were scheduled on the maincard. In one of the show'smain event's,Terry Funk defeatedThe Sandman andStevie Richards in aThree-Way Dance to earn an immediate title match againstECW World Heavyweight ChampionRaven, which Funk also won to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. In another main event,Taz defeatedSabu viasubmission. Featured matches on theundercard includedShane Douglas defeatingPitbull #2 to retain theECW World Television Championship andThe Eliminators (Kronus andSaturn) defeating TheDudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray Dudley andD-Von Dudley) to win theECW World Tag Team Championship.
Difficulties getting pay-per-view companies to air Barely Legal arose in late 1996 whenRequest TV initially canceled the show after wrestling journalist Wade Keller alerted Request of the November 1996"Mass Transit" incident during an interview about the event.[3] Another company, Premiere, expressed concern over the amount of violence ECW showcased, and that its programming was not suitable for children.[4] Eventually, through the efforts of e-mails from hundreds of fans, Premiere decided to carry the event.[4] However, e-mails sent toViewer's Choice andCablevision were unsuccessful in convincing the companies to air the show, as they were unhappy with visual imagery used in ECW's television, including young Tyler Fullington's involvement in the Raven/Sandman feud.[5] After further discussions with ECW ownerPaul Heyman and ECW GM Steve Karel, Request TV reversed their earlier decision and agreed to carry the event under certain conditions which included, among other things, an advanced script of the show, pushing back the scheduled start time from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., and no excessive amount of blood.[6]
The first match to airlive on pay-per-view was atag team match for theECW World Tag Team Championship between the champions, theDudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray Dudley andD-Von Dudley), and the challengers,The Eliminators (Kronus andSaturn). The majority of the match was controlled by The Eliminators using a variety ofdouble-team andhigh-flying maneuvers. The match ended when The Eliminators performed their finishing move,Total Elimination, and Saturn pinned Buh Buh Ray to win the ECW Tag Team Championship.[1] Buh Buh Ray Dudley suffered alegitimatebroken ankle during the match.[7]
The following match was a standard singles match betweenLance Storm andRob Van Dam.Chris Candido was originally scheduled to be Storm's opponent, but could not compete due to abiceps injury. The match was fast-paced with both men exchanging control throughout, using many high-risk maneuvers, as well assteel chairs. At about the ten-minute mark, Storm connected with twochair shots to Van Dam's head. Before he could connect for the third time, Van Dam sprung up from his knees and performed aVan Daminator, kicking the chair Storm was holding into his face. Van Dam then performed astanding moonsault and pinned Storm for the victory.[1]
The next match was asix-man tag team match featuring wrestlers fromMichinoku Pro Wrestling which sawTaka Michinoku,Terry Boy andDick Togo battle TheGreat Sasuke,Gran Hamada and Masato Yakushiji (who replaced the injuredGran Naniwa). The action was back-and-forth between both teams and filled withhigh-flying maneuvers. The team of Sasuke, Hamada and Yakushiji won the match when Sasuke pinned Michinoku with atiger suplex.[1]
The following match was a singles match for theECW World Television Championship between the champion,Shane Douglas and the challenger,Pitbull #2. Douglas was accompanied by his valetFrancine and several "riot squad" officers. Pitbull #2's tag team partner,Pitbull #1, was shown sitting in the front row for the match because, according to the storyline, doctors had not medically cleared him to be ringside. Pitbull #2 rushed to the ring and immediately began attacking Douglas. Pitbull #2 controlled the early portion of the match with a series oftakedowns andheadlocks. Douglas then gained control after he countered apowerbomb with aheadscissors takedown which brought both wrestlers over the top rope to the outside of the ring. Douglas tossed Pitbull #2 back into the ring and performed three consecutivepiledrivers. Later, both wrestlers ended up outside the ring and Pitbull #1 jumped over the audience guardrail and attacked Douglas, but was soon stopped and escorted to the locker room by the riot squad officers. After Douglas and Pitbull #2 exchanged control of the match for the next several minutes, Francine handed Douglas a pair ofbrass knuckles, which he then used twice on Pitbull #2. Douglas then hit Pitbull #2 over the head with a portion of a broken table, as well as the timekeeper's ring bell. Douglas attempted multiplepins during the series of attacks but Pitbull #2 kicked-out. After attempted outside interference fromChris Candido, Douglas performed abelly-to-belly suplex on Pitbull #2 and pinned him for the victory to retain the ECW Television Championship.[1] As previously stipulated, the masked man, wearing a "Ravishing" Rick Rude robe, came to the ring to unmask. The man planted a kiss on Francine, and performed Rude's signature gyrations before Douglas hit him in the back with his championship belt. While getting back to his feet, the masked man revealed himself to beBrian Lee, as one of the riot squad officers entered the ring and removed his helmet, revealing himself to beRick Rude. A surprised Douglas attempted to plead with Rude but to no avail as Rude nailed him with a right hand punch followed by achokeslam from Lee.
The next match was a standard singles match pittingTaz (withBill Alfonso) versusSabu. The match started with Taz and Sabu face-to-face before exchanging slaps and punches. Taz thenclotheslined Sabu, which prompted Sabu to exit the ring to recoup. Sabu re-entered the ring and was immediately attacked by Taz, who attempted to apply his finishing submission move, the Tazmission, but was blocked by Sabu. After a series of forearm crossfaces by Taz, which caused Sabu to bleed from his nose, Sabu rolled out of the ring for a breather. He came back into the ring and performed adropkick to Taz's knee followed by a slingshot kick off the second rope. The match continued outside the ring and into the crowd. Later in the match, Taz performed a series of suplex variations, followed by a Tazmission. Sabu was not able to respond to the referee, resulting in Taz winning the match.[1] Following the match Taz praised Sabu and offered to shake his hand which Sabu accepted. While the two embraced, Rob Van Dam entered the ring and attacked Taz. After the double-team attack by Van Dam and Sabu, Alfonso formally aligned himself with the pair after he revealed a Sabu T-shirt he was wearing underneath his Taz T-shirt.
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentator | Joey Styles |
| Tommy Dreamer (ECW World Championship matches) | |
| Ring announcer | Bob Artese |
| Joel Gertner (for Dudley Boyz) | |
| Referee | John Finegan |
| Jim Molineaux |
The penultimate match was aThree Way Dance betweenStevie Richards,The Sandman andTerry Funk. The winner would receive an immediate championship match againstECW World Heavyweight ChampionRaven. The match began with multiple short-lived alliances between the competitors until Sandman retrieved a ladder to attack Richards and Funk. Later in the match, Funk gained control for a short time when he performed anairplane spin with the ladder, knocking down his opponents. The match continued with the three men exchanging attacks, in and outside of the ring, using weapons including a steel chair and a garbage can encased insheet metal. Richards was eliminated from the match when both Funk and Sandman pinned him[1] following apowerbomb. Sandman then introduced a string ofbarbed wire to the match. After Funk snatched the barbed wire and whipped Sandman's exposed back with it, Sandman regained possession and wrapped himself in the barbed wire. Richards then re-entered the ring andsuperkicked Sandman which allowed Funk to perform amoonsault from the top rope and pin Sandman to win the match.[1]
Following the Three Way Dance, Raven immediately entered the ring as the bell rang to begin the ECW World Heavyweight Championship match. Raven dominated the majority of the match with the aid of chairs and tables while an ECW ringside doctor continuously checked Funk's condition due to his excessive bleeding from the head. Members ofRaven's Nest eventually appeared to assist Raven which promptedTommy Dreamer, who was providing guest commentary for the match, to enter the ring. Dreamer performed aDDT on Raven which allowed Funk to pin Raven and win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.[1]
ECW earned$66,000 in ticket sales from an attendance of 1,170.[1] The pay-per-view received a buyrate of 0.26, which is the equivalent of approximately 60,000 buys.[8]
The backstage environment at this event was captured in the documentaryBeyond the Mat, including a pre-show speech to the roster byPaul Heyman:
There are 17 million homes that have availability for this show tonight that will pay twenty dollars, hopefully, for the privilege to see you guys do what you have done for three and a half years.
ThankTerry Funk for all that he has done for this company. For helping to put us on the map. For being unselfish in selfish times. For taking the young guys and showing them a better way.
Tonight we have a chance to say, "Yeah, you're right - we're too extreme. We're too wild. We're too out of control. We're too full of our own shit." Or we have a chance to say "Hey, fuck you - you're wrong. Fuck you - we're right." Because you have all made it to the dance. Because believe me - this is the dance.[9]
Barely Legal was released as part of a two-disc set withOne Night Stand 2006 on July 11, 2006. It had previously been released in 2000 by Pioneer Entertainment as part of its "The Best of ECW" line of DVDs. The Pioneer release trimmed out many of the ring entrances, removed the music on the entrances not edited out (with the exception of songs ECW owned the rights to, including changing "Enter Sandman" from theMetallica version toMotörhead's cover), and edited out the backstagepromos and part ofShane Douglas's promo in the ring. The release included with One Night Stand's DVDcensoredoffensive language (used by the performers when they would cut promos, not used for the fans' chants) and changed the majority of the entrance music to music produced byWWE to avoid licensing fees. However, the event was also released completely uncut (18 certificate) with all entrances, original music, backstage vignettes and swearing included on the UK DVD and VHS release in 2001, released through Delta Music. This was a region free DVD.
^ Yakushiji replaced an injuredGran Naniwa.