Posted December 21, 201014 yr comment_5460791 This was good despite some really overbooked shit with Candido running out and Rude taking care of him. Starts with Richards working over the arm and though it doesn't go much of anywhere it was a decent kickstart to the match. After that though the match really kicked into gear and had some strong, strong segments. There was a really nasty looking punching segment on the floor that looked great. I really liked Richards as an FIP and Douglas in control as he threw some nice suplexes, hit a sweet piledriver and generally looked the part of the veteran "star" to Richards "up and coming star on the rise." Richards come back off the superplex was well done and I really liked the way they built to the big spots after with roll ups bulding to the side walk slam, building to the really good powerbomb. Richards goes for a superkick but Douglas blocks it and hits a belly-to-belly. Raven shows up and breaks up the count and the DDT's Richards costing Douglas the match by DQ. I can't believe I'm saying this but I liked the finish as it leaves you wondering if Richards would have kicked out or not and sort of drags out the story of whether or not he is serious player on top or not.
January 31, 201114 yr comment_5463633 "Big Stevie Cool" Stevie Richards vs. "The Franchise" Shane Douglas (4/26/97) This is another match that may have only happened once. Stevie jumps Shane before the match as Rick Rude is cutting a promo on him so Stevie dominates early trying to put Shane away. Shane then went on offense with a really sweet piledriver sending Stevie to the floor as Candido would attack him leading to Rude running back out to send Candido away. Douglas then just worked over Stevie inside and outside the ring with Stevie trying to fight back but Douglas cutting him off. Stevie would hit a big superplex to regain control and he had Douglas reeling getting some good nearfalls on him before hitting a powerbomb that he almost lost him on. Douglas would hit a belly-to-belly off of a Superkick attempt before Raven would come in to throw Douglas off so he could hit the DDT on Stevie prompting a DQ finish. The finish was kinda eh but this was a really well worked match and I think it's enough for a nomination.
May 29, 201114 yr comment_5472091 Shane Douglas v. Steve Richards Solid Nomination - ECW 4/26/97 - Stevie comes out with the fire and Douglas’s hair makes the bumping look better… seriously. Stevie works the armbar but he should have stuck with the high impact moves as a strategy. Good work though. If we include the match, we have to include the Rude pre-match promo so him driving Candido away makes sense. The sit down dropkick to the nuts was nice. The dumbass Raven interference was meaningless but I could see putting this on the set. Don’t know if it will make the final cut but it needs to be in the conversation.
