ECW Barely Legal
Encyclopedia
Barely Legal was the first professional wrestling
pay-per-view
event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling
(ECW). It took place on April 13, 1997 from the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
It was a struggle for ECW to convince pay-per-view companies to agree to broadcast an event of theirs. Viewer's Choice (now In Demand
) was very hesitant to offer an ECW show to its audience because it felt the company's offerings were too vulgar and brutal, and refused to air any ECW show without restrictions on the content. ECW owner Paul Heyman
claimed that this was a double standard, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship
(UFC) was being criticized for its violent content at the time, but was still having its events broadcast on pay-per-view.
Ultimately, Request TV
agreed to give ECW a pay-per-view event under the condition that it aired at 9:00 p.m. rather than the 7:00 p.m. time slot that professional wrestling pay-per-view events usually started at. After the Mass Transit Incident in November 1996, Request TV canceled the show, but relented and offered it again after much pleading from Heyman.
Moments after the show went off the air, an electric power transformer blew out due to all the power being used by the building. It is said that had the show gone on even 10 seconds longer, the feed would have been lost.
on July 11, 2006. It had previously been released in 2000 by Pioneer Entertainment as part of its "The Best of ECW" line of DVDs. The Pioneer release trimmed out many of the ring entrances, removed the music on the entrances not edited out (with the exception of songs ECW owned the rights to, including changing "Enter Sandman
" from the Metallica
version to Motörhead's cover), and edited out the backstage promos and part of Shane Douglas
's promo in the ring. The release included with One Night Stand's DVD censored
offensive language
(used by the performers when they would cut promos, not used for the fans' chants) and changed the majority of the entrance music to music produced by WWE
to avoid licensing fees. However, the event was also released completely uncut (18 certificate) with all entrances, original music, backstage vignettes and swearing included on the UK DVD and VHS release in 2001, released through Delta Music. This was a region free DVD.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
(ECW). It took place on April 13, 1997 from the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Production
IN DEMAND
In Demand is a provider of pay-per-view and subscription video-on-demand services, jointly owned by Comcast, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks...
) was very hesitant to offer an ECW show to its audience because it felt the company's offerings were too vulgar and brutal, and refused to air any ECW show without restrictions on the content. ECW owner Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film....
claimed that this was a double standard, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...
(UFC) was being criticized for its violent content at the time, but was still having its events broadcast on pay-per-view.
Ultimately, Request TV
Request TV
Request TV, also known as Request Television, is a defunct pay-per-view service which was owned by Liberty Media and Twentieth Century Fox that was launched in November 1985. Request TV was originally owned by Reiss Media Enterprises; Group W Satellite Communications later purchased a 50% stake in...
agreed to give ECW a pay-per-view event under the condition that it aired at 9:00 p.m. rather than the 7:00 p.m. time slot that professional wrestling pay-per-view events usually started at. After the Mass Transit Incident in November 1996, Request TV canceled the show, but relented and offered it again after much pleading from Heyman.
Moments after the show went off the air, an electric power transformer blew out due to all the power being used by the building. It is said that had the show gone on even 10 seconds longer, the feed would have been lost.
Release
Barely Legal was released as part of a two-disc set with One Night Stand 2006ECW One Night Stand (2006)
ECW One Night Stand was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It was held on June 11, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, New York....
on July 11, 2006. It had previously been released in 2000 by Pioneer Entertainment as part of its "The Best of ECW" line of DVDs. The Pioneer release trimmed out many of the ring entrances, removed the music on the entrances not edited out (with the exception of songs ECW owned the rights to, including changing "Enter Sandman
Enter Sandman
"Enter Sandman" is a 1991 song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the first single from their eponymous fifth album, Metallica. The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich...
" from the Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
version to Motörhead's cover), and edited out the backstage promos and part of Shane Douglas
Shane Douglas
Troy Alan Martin is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name "The Franchise" Shane Douglas. In the course of his career, which has spanned nearly three decades, Douglas has wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling and briefly...
's promo in the ring. The release included with One Night Stand's DVD censored
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
offensive language
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
(used by the performers when they would cut promos, not used for the fans' chants) and changed the majority of the entrance music to music produced by WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
to avoid licensing fees. However, the event was also released completely uncut (18 certificate) with all entrances, original music, backstage vignettes and swearing included on the UK DVD and VHS release in 2001, released through Delta Music. This was a region free DVD.
Results
| # | Results | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louie Spicolli Louie Spicolli Louis Mucciolo, Jr. was an American professional wrestler. He performed in Mexico under the ring name Madonna's Boyfriend, for the World Wrestling Federation as Rad Radford, and in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling in the 1990s as Louie Spicolli... defeated Balls Mahoney Balls Mahoney Jonathan Rechner better known by his ring name Balls Mahoney , is an American professional wrestler... |
Singles match | ||
| Dark | J.T. Smith John T. Smith John T. "J.T." Smith is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the 1990s.-Tri-State Wrestling Alliance:... and Chris Chetti Chris Chetti Christopher "Chris" Chetti is an American professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1996 and 2000.-Extreme Championship Wrestling :... defeated The FBI Full Blooded Italians The Full Blooded Italians is a professional wrestling stable and tag team that wrestled for Extreme Championship Wrestling in the late 1990s and for World Wrestling Entertainment during the mid-2000s.-Extreme Championship Wrestling:... (Little Guido James Maritato James Maritato is an American professional wrestler, of Italian origin, currently working on the independent circuit. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment and Extreme Championship Wrestling under the ring names Little Guido Maritato and Nunzio.-Starting out:While... and Tommy Rich Tommy Rich Thomas Richardson , better known by his ring name, "Wildfire" Tommy Rich, is a professional wrestler. He is best known for his wrestling career in Georgia and Memphis throughout the 1980s.-Professional wrestling career:... ) |
Tag team match Tag team Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name... |
|
| The Eliminators The Eliminators The Eliminators were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of Perry Saturn and John Kronus who were best known for their time in Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1995 and 1997.-History:... (John Kronus John Kronus George B. Caiazzo was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, John Kronus and later "Kronus". Caiazzo worked for Extreme Championship Wrestling, the United States Wrestling Association and Xtreme Pro Wrestling... and Perry Saturn) defeated The Dudley Boyz Dudley Boyz Team 3D was a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Brother Ray and Brother Devon, formerly sporadically joined into a stable by Brother Runt on several intervals... (Buh Buh Ray and D-Von) (c) (with Joel Gertner Joel Gertner Joel Gertner is an American Professional wrestling announcer and manager best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling.-Early career:... and Sign Guy Dudley) |
Tag team match for the ECW World Tag Team Championship | 6:11 | |
| Rob Van Dam Rob Van Dam Robert Alexander "Rob" Szatkowski , better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam , is an American professional wrestler and actor who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling .... defeated Lance Storm Lance Storm Lance Timothy Evers known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling... |
Singles match | 10:10 | |
| The Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada Gran Hamada , better known by his ring name , is Japanese professional wrestler, the first to adopt the high-flying Mexican lucha libre style. He has wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling, the Universal Wrestling Federation, Michinoku Pro, and All Japan Pro Wrestling, and was the founder of Universal Lucha Libre... , and Masato Yakushiji* defeated bWo Japan Blue World Order The Blue World Order was a stable of professional wrestlers formed at Extreme Championship Wrestling's November to Remember 1996 event at the ECW Arena... (Taka Michinoku, Terry Boy Takeo Otsuka , also known as Men's Teioh or Terry Boy, is a Japanese professional wrestler who is a longtime mainstay of Big Japan Pro Wrestling as well as a former competitor of Michinoku Pro Wrestling... , and Dick Togo) |
Tag team match | 16:55 | |
| Shane Douglas Shane Douglas Troy Alan Martin is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name "The Franchise" Shane Douglas. In the course of his career, which has spanned nearly three decades, Douglas has wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling and briefly... (c) (with Francine Francine Fournier Francine Fournier , known simply as Francine, is an American former professional wrestling valet most known for her work in Extreme Championship Wrestling.-Extreme Championship Wrestling:... ) defeated Pitbull #2 Anthony Durante Anthony Durante was a professional wrestler best known as "Pitbull #2" as one half of the tag team The Pitbulls, with "Pitbull #1" Gary Wolfe.-WWF:... |
Singles match for the ECW World Television Championship ECW World Television Championship The ECW World Television Championship was a professional wrestling television championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling . It was introduced in National Wrestling Alliance affiliate and ECW precursor, Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1992 but was established under ECW in 1994... |
20:43 | |
| Taz Tazz Peter Senerchia is a retired American professional wrestler and current color commentator best known by his ring name Tazz, originally Tazmaniac and later shortened to simply Taz... (with Bill Alfonso Bill Alfonso William Matthew "Bill" Alfonso is a former professional wrestling referee and manager. He achieved his greatest success in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the mid to late 1990s... ) defeated Sabu |
Singles match | 17:49 | |
| Terry Funk Terry Funk Terrence "Terry" Funk is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the latter part of his career that inspired many younger wrestlers, including Mick Foley... defeated The Sandman Jim Fullington James "Jim" Fullington better known by his ring name Sandman, is an American professional wrestler, best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling , where he developed into a "Hardcore Icon"... and Stevie Richards Stevie Richards Michael Manna is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Stevie Richards. Also known by his ring names, Steven Richards and Dr... (with The Blue Meanie Brian Heffron Brian Heffron is a professional wrestler and actor better known as The Blue Meanie or Da Blue Guy.-Early career:... , Hollywood Nova Mike Bucci Michael "Mike" Bucci is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. Bucci is probably best known for his appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling as Nova, Super Nova, and "Hollywood" Nova and World Wrestling Entertainment as Simon Dean... , Thomas Rodman, 7-11 Rob Feinstein Robert Feinstein is the owner and operator of RF Video , who were best known as the videographers of Extreme Championship Wrestling... ) |
Three-Way Dance | 19:10 | |
| Terry Funk defeated Raven Scott Levy Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other... (c) |
Singles match for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship | 7:20 | |
- -Yakushiji replaced an injured Gran NaniwaGran Naniwawas a Japanese professional wrestler. Naniwa was known for his comedic gimmick, in which he performed mannerisms of crabs. This was also reflected upon in the design of his wrestling mask.-Career:...
.