(Bam Bam re-joined the Triple Threat after losing the title a few weeks later, which didn’t make that much sense, but was enjoyable nonetheless!) The angle concluded when Rude pulled a great double turn on Shane, by hand-selecting Bam Bam Bigelow to take his world title on the October 20, 97 episode of Hardcore TV. This led to some great Hardcore TV matches against (pre-Head) Al Snow, Axl Rotten, and Phil Lafon. Rude, under the guise of being helpful and allowing Shane to sharpen his skills, presented Douglas with increasingly challenging opponents. The Rick Rude Challenge was really fun and immediately gave Shane’s world title reign a unique dynamic. Once Shane recaptured the world title at Hardcore Heaven 97, he carved out a perfect character who was both a credible champion and bully-coward bailed out by his more proficient buddies. While Shane Douglas had previous iterations of The Triple Threat including Malenko, Benoit, and Brian Lee, the mid-97 to early-99 iteration was far and away the most memorable. Read on for a deep dive.Ĭut the fucking music! I have never had more respect and appreciation for a wrestler whose matches I did not care for much. This era was dominated by Shane Douglas title reigns, made possible only with tons of assistance from his Triple Threat running mates: Chris Candido, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Francine. In this post, I’ll be discussing the stretch of ECW that took place from Wrestlepalooza 1997 to Guilty as Charged 1999, bookended by the departure of Raven and Taz’s first world title victory. Here are my posts from the Eastern Championship, Birth of Extreme, and Feel My Pain eras. I’m calling this period The Triple Threat Era (June 97-January 99). I’ve been watching ECW since the beginning of the pandemic, taking short breaks after the lapse of each subscription month and then starting the hardcore binge again.
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