ECW 05/08/1997: Number One Contenders Match: Raven def. Stevie Richards & Sandman in a three-way in 7:28. Oh, where to start. This was the same deal as the recent Barely Legal: since Terry Funk had won the title at that show, he was being replaced by Raven in the setup three-way. The Queens fans already knew Raven was leaving for WCW and did their usual “You Sold Out” chants. Fuck that guy for making a living in the business he works in. It’s a 1997 ECW house show, so the house mic was abysmal, and it was hard to make out everything that was said. But referee John Finnegan wasn’t going to allow Stevie to compete for something that happened in Asbury Park the week prior. Stevie either politely told him he would wrestle for a title shot or cussed him the fuck out. Feel free to decide for yourself which one. Stevie did very little and was standing in the corner with Chastity while Sandman and Raven worked outside in a very paint-by-numbers Raven-Sandman match, only less intense. Raven hit Sandman with a light chairshot to the head that drew a few groans and half-heartedly threw Sandman through a table set up against the guardrail. Eventually, the rest of the BWO came down, and they had a problem with Stevie that Meanie detailed over the house mic, which made him sound like the teacher from Charlie Brown. The gist was that Paul was beginning to pull Stevie from the BWO comedy act to make him a more serious wrestler. Stevie called Meanie fat boy, Meanie shoved Stevie, and Sandman rolled Stevie up for the elimination. Raven then quickly DDT’d Sandman to win the title shot. The crowd didn’t hate this match, but it sure seems like they should have. *

ECW World Title Match: Terry Funk (C) def. Raven in 4:13. Like Barely Legal, this was a short match right after the three-way with interference. Instead of Tommy Dreamer, the BWO came out again and got on that goddam microphone again, this time offering to make amends with Raven. Meanie tried to moonsault Funk and missed, and Terry cleared the ring, finally beating Raven with the same small package spot from the PPV. This was too short to rate, but Jesus, they didn’t have to do the exact damn blueprint of their biggest show ever a month before. All of this came across as lazy, like these guys were doing less than the WCW stars had the rep for on house shows.