December to Dismember (1995)

December to Dismember (1995)
Tagline(s)	No Minors, No Exceptions
Information
Promotion	Extreme Championship Wrestling
Date	December 9, 1995[1]
Attendance	1000[2]
Venue	ECW Arena[1][2]
City	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania[1]
Pay-per-view chronology
November to Remember 1995 December to Dismember (1995) CyberSlam 1996
December to Dismember chronology
First December to Dismember (1995) December to Dismember (2006)

December to Dismember: Ultimate Jeopardy 1995 was a professional wrestling event that took place on December 9, 1995 at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[1] Though this event was held only once by the Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion, the "December to Dismember" name would later be revived as a 2006 pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment for their ECW brand.^[3]

One half of the double main event was an Ultimate Jeopardy Steel Cage match as The Public Enemy, The Pitbulls and Tommy Dreamer faced The Heavenly Bodies, The Eliminators, Raven and Stevie Richards. The Public Enemy, The Pitbulls and Tommy Dreamer won the contest after Dreamer pinned Richards.^[2] The other main event match on the card was a Three Way Dance for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, between champion Mikey Whipwreck, The Sandman and Steve Austin, which was won by The Sandman.^[2]

Background

The Sandman, who was in the Three Way Dance bout for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at December to Dismember.

The main feud heading into the event was between The Sandman, Mikey Whipwreck and Steve Austin with the three feuding over the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Whipwreck was the champion heading into the event. A match was booked between Whipwreck and The Sandman for the title on October 28, 1995. However, moments before the match began, Steve Austin appeared and cut a promo on Whipwreck, The Sandman and Woman, who was Sandman's manager. He stated that he would soon be ECW World Heavyweight Champion. He distracted The Sandman by taking Woman backstage during the bout. Whipwreck won the title by pinning The Sandman.^[4] Many ECW wrestlers congratulated Whipwreck after the contest including Cactus Jack and Axl Rotten.^[5] The Sandman earned a rematch clause on November 4, but lost his rematch against Whipwreck.^[6] At November to Remember, Whipwreck was scheduled to face The Sandman, but before the match, Austin, kayfabe, attacked The Sandman, hitting him repeatedly with the cane. As a result, the match was changed to Whipwreck versus Austin, marking Austin's ECW in-ring debut.^[7] Austin would lose against Whipwreck, as Whipwreck pinned Austin, grabbing the tights after a sunset flip. After the bout, Austin, enraged about the loss, viciously attacked Whipwreck.^[1][7] This led to the Three Way Dance for December to Dismember.^[1]

The undercard feud heading into December to Dismember was between two stables, as The Public Enemy (Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge), The Pitbulls ("1" and "2") and Tommy Dreamer were in a rivalry against The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray), The Eliminators (Perry Saturn and John Kronus), Raven and Stevie Richards. Many of the members would face off in singles and tag team matches against each other in the undercard, with the team getting at least 2 out of 3 victories gaining the entry advantage in the Ultimate Jeopardy match, in lieu of the traditional coin toss.

On October 28, 1995, Grunge had faced Richards, with a pre-match stipulation stating that the loser would have to wear a dress. Grunge won, meaning Richards was forced to wear the dress.^[5] Grunge would team up with partner Rocco Rock to form The Public Enemy, as they defeated Richards and Raven on November 3.^[8] The following night, Grunge's team would keep the advantage, as partners The Pitbulls and Tommy Dreamer defeated Cactus Jack, Raven and Richards in a Six-Man Tag Team match.^[6] In a preview for December to Dismember, The Pitbulls faced The Eliminators at November to Remember. The Pitbulls would go on to win the match after Kronus was pinned.^[9] The Eliminators got their revenge on November 25, winning in their return match against The Pitbulls. Raven would also face Tommy Dreamer on November 25, but in a Death Match, which Raven won.^[10] This eventually led to the Ultimate Jeopardy Steel Cage match at December to Dismember.^[1]

Event

The first match that aired was a tag team match as Dances with Dudley and Dudley Dudley faced The Bad Crew. In what was a one-sided contest, Dances with Dudley and Dudley Dudley won in two minutes.^[11] The next match was competed between Taz and El Puerto Riqueño. Taz won the bout after making Ricana submit.^[11] The third match was another Single match, as Hack Myers pinned Bruiser Mastino in just over six minutes.^[11] In a rematch from November to Remember, The Eliminators faced The Pitbulls. The Eliminators won after Pitbull #2 was pinned.^[11] Two other people that were competing in the main event faced off next as Raven faced Tommy Dreamer. Raven won in under nine minutes after TKO'ing Dreamer.^[11] JT Smith defeated Tony Stetson in the next bout of the night.^[11]

The next contest was the first main match of the night, as Mikey Whipwreck defended his ECW World Heavyweight Championship against The Sandman and Steve Austin in a Three Way Dance, which meant that it was elimination-style match. The Champion was the first person eliminated from the match, as Austin pinned him just inside 13 minutes, meaning Whipwreck would not leave as champion. The Sandman then pinned Austin to win the match and the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.^[4][11] In a preview for the main event, The Public Enemy defeated The Heavenly Bodies just before the main event began. In the Ultimate Jeopardy Steel Cage match, though, The Public Enemy remained victorious, as they along with The Pitbulls and Tommy Dreamer defeated The Heavenly Bodies, The Eliminators, Raven and Stevie Richards. They won after Dreamer pinned Richards.^[11]

Aftermath

The Sandman kept the ECW World Heavyweight Championship until he lost it to Raven on January 27, 1996.^[4] On December 18, Steve Austin made his debut in the World Wrestling Federation. Although he originally played a character known as The Ringmaster,^[12] he soon got a strong push as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.^[13] Whipwreck did not hold the ECW World Heavyweight Championship again, but he won the ECW World Television Championship and the ECW World Tag Team Championship later in the month.^[14][15]

The Public Enemy soon left ECW; the company's big January event at the ECW Arena, House Party '96, was subtitled "A Farewell to Public Enemy".

Raven and Tommy Dreamer continued their feud for another year and a half.^[16]

Results

1. ^ Each participant had a stipulation which would be implemented if they lost the match for their side.^[17]

• Raven – whoever pins him gets Beulah for a week
• Tommy Dreamer – his head gets shaved
• The Public Enemy – they must face each other later in the night
• The Pitbulls – they must split up and whoever pins them gets Francine for a week
• The Eliminators – they must leave ECW and Jason's head gets shaved
• Stevie Richards – winning team gets five minutes in the cage with him
• The Heavenly Bodies – all stipulations for their side get enforced

Notes

The Three Way Dance for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship match was featured in "The Legacy of Stone Cold Steve Austin" DVD Release.

The Ultimate Jeopardy Steel Cage match was featured in the "WCW War Games: WCW's Most Notorious Matches" Blu-ray release as a Blu-ray exclusive.

See also

• Extreme Championship Wrestling
• ECW December to Dismember
• December to Dismember (2006)

References

External links

• Pro-Wrestling Edge - ECW December To Dismember 1995 Results