Talk about it here.

The pop Gordy gets for his surprise appearance is pretty awesome. This match is smoke and mirrors, as is typical for a Raven match, but not in the same way as a usual Raven match. It's really well laid out and all the interference spots are done very well. Gordy wasn't the same by this point, but you wouldn't know it from seeing this match, as he gets to stay on offense and throw bombs.

 

We get some Tyler Fullington/Peaches stuff after the match, with Beulah trying to call out Peaches.

Amazing to watch Gordy looking like the old Gordy for a few minutes. Raven just get killed to put him over, and his formula works so well. Raven says Gordy showing up is the loudest pop ever in the ECW Arena, and quite frankly, I believe him, the crowd went totally nuts.

I love Beulah way beyond reason.

 

Terry gets such an awesome crowd response, and you can see he's feeding off the energy, getting more excited as the match goes on. I love seeing Raven get destroyed, as to me he's overrated and boring. I think all the angle stuff at the end doesn't really fit, good as some of it was. Seeing Gordy collapse in the ring makes me wonder if maybe they improvised in order to get the attn off him? Or maybe it was always planned, but they rushed into it when they saw his condition?

 

What's the story on Gordy? He was working Japan just a few years before this, it seems.

He OD'd twice in Japan a couple years before this and was never the same.

That must be what Styles means about being declared dead 2x.

 

Fuckin world class. What a den of iniquity.

This has always been my pick as the best ECW match of all time. Raven had been pissing off the fans at every turn, holding the title by the skin of his teeth, all the issues with Dreamer and Sandman. And this is Raven's comeuppance. Raven had taken beatings before, but nothing of this magnitude.

Raven goes all-out to try to get Gordy over--Gordy didn't exactly need the help from a reaction standpoint, as the crowd goes nuts as soon as they realize what's up. Richards and Nova trying to pry apart Gordy's Asiatic spike was fun, and after additional run-ins from Brian Lee and Dreamer (Gordy power bombing Lee gets a huge pop), Raven ekes out another win. Afterward, after failing to get Sandman's attention earlier by bringing out Peaches as his new whore, Raven brings out Tyler Fullington and *that* has an effect on Sandman. Bluedust joins us afterward as a capstone and Beulah DDTs him a fun spot.

Cool pop for Gordy and a shockingly fun smoke and mirrors type match that felt more true to form than the Savage vs. Flair match from Nitro. It also didn't overstay its welcome. The finish dramatic stuff was whatever but effective. **1/2

You're not gonna find many more examples of a total bells and whistles match succeeding this spectacularly. Gordy is over HUGE and they work the match to get the most out of what he seems to be able to do. He beats Raven around the arena and Raven bleeds for him. Back in the ring they do some overbooked interference that the crowd goes absolutely nuts for. Not a long match but a blast for every second of it, I loved it a lot.

 

And then, man, there's a lot of stuff going on in this segment. I don't quite know what to make of the Sandman's son angle. But man, Sandman goes into the back crying, a second later the fans are chanting for Gordy, a second later Bluedust is out and Beulah DDTs him. ADD crash wrestling to say the least but man did the crowd eat it all up.

ECW World Champion Raven vs Terry Gordy - Hardcore Heaven 1996

if you just watch this & Gangstas Paradise you’d be fooled into thinking Raven was a great wrestler. Not quite as good as the Pitbulls match but this shows the Raven act at top form. Gordy looked great on offense! Tons of energy and uptempo! Crowd was lapping this up with a spoon huge pop on entrance and when he said hailing from Badstreet also a big pop. Gordy kicked Ravens shit in and Raven bled buckets to get this over huge. Chairs, ballshots, blood, barbed wire and liberal interference make this a joy to watch. Richards/Nova try to pry Gordy off the Asiatic Spike. Dreamer saves and DDTs both. Here’s Brian Lee. The pop Gordy gets for powerbombing Lee is fucking massive! StevieKick->Raven DDT is perfect way to finish it fast. Timed the climax perfectly. Sandman comes out swinging the Cane. This is the very beginning of the Tyler/Peaches Angle. “Daddy you’re a drunk, I worship Raven now” I have seen before. It is heavy duty stuff. As a fan of soap operas (General Hospital fucking rocks!), I like this stuff but at the same time I feel bad for Tyler. They are treating his mom like shit. Calling her a whore and Raven is pulling her hair to show he controls her. That’s fucked up for a kid. I think they could have fleshed this out more to make it more convincing and ditched the kid. Kudos to Raven for the Crimson Mask and having the Barbed Wire tangled in his hair looked like a psycho. The rant that Dreamer wasn’t potent enough to get Beulah pregnant was awesome insecure dick heel shit. Match was a blast, post-match I get it but I can’t approve it a kid shouldn’t be at an ECW show as a fan never mind partaking especially where they are denigrating his shoot mother. ***3/4