Here we are, with the start of the holy trinity, the first of the greatest series of commercial tapes ever, Heatwave 96.

The show starts off with the Samoan Gangsta Party, who have picked a fight with the Gangstas. Bad move as New Jack and Mustafa hit the ring with trash cans filled with weapons and absolutely beat the living hell out of everything Samoan. This is just brutal as the Gangstas pound on Sweet Sammy and Big Manny Smalls with magnetic football games, crutches, chairs, trashcans, keyboards, and everything else they can find. Eventually, referee Jim Molineaux calls for the bell to stop the contest, determining the Samoans unfit to continue. On the brawl scale: a *1/2 squash. New Jack takes the mic and makes the challenge for the tag team four-way dance that would later be held at The Doctor Is In.

Damian Kane recruits Paul Lauria to face former partner and Damian's chief rival, Mikey Whipwreck. Mikey scores with a clothesline and a dropkick right at the bell. They take it to the outside where Mikey continues to dominate. Lauria gets the upperhand briefly and goes up top, but Mikey counters and hits the FrankenMikey in just over a minute for the victory. *

The Eliminators hit the ring, attacking both men and answering the challenge of the four-way dance. Mikey won't stay down though, so the Elims continue to beat him down, eventually making reference to the match Whipwreck had with Sabu in Queens, NY a few weeks earlier and the fact that they shook hands afterwards. They challenge Mikey to go get Sabu and challenge for the ECW Tag titles, and it's on from there.

Sabu and Saturn start off, trading punches with Sabu scoring first with a takedown. The two continue to feel each other out a little before Sabu hooks Saturn in a leg grapevine. Sabu remains on the offense until being caught by a series of thrust kicks from Saturn. Saturn goes up top and hits a nice splash for two. Tag out to Kronus, as they take Sabu down with dual sidekicks. Kronus hits the handspring elbow early but Sabu stuns him and tags Mikey, who floats in the ring with a guilotine legdrop. Whipwreck armdrags both Elims and Sabu comes off the top with a cross bodyblock for two. Both Eliminators pound on Mikey for several minutes before Whipwreck counters a superplex attempt with a FrankenMikey and tags Sabu. Sabu tags both Elims with a chair and attempts a springboard moonsault but misses. Mikey takes Kronus over the top as Sabu and Saturn continue in the ring. Sabu takes Saturn down with a top-rope frankensteiner. Saturn attempts a springboard, but Sabu sunset flips him and hits the Arabian powerbomb onto the floor. Sabu sets up a chair and attempts to put Saturn through a table but Saturn gets up and Sabu crashes through instead. With Sabu down, the champions hit Mikey with Total Elimination to retain the belts. Good match. ***

Little Guido is in the ring, soon followed by JT Smith and Sal Bellomo, as the original Full Blooded Italians hold their first "Italian Karaoke Bistro". Eventually, they bring out Little Guido's little brother, Big Guido (get it?), who is about 7' and well over 350. Now overflowing with confidence, the FBI call out the Dudley Brothers. Sign Guy, Chubby, DW, Buh Buh Ray, and Big Dick Dudley make their way to the ring, but soon get confronted by abusive heel brother D-Von on the stage. D-Von calls out Big Dick, thus taking him out of the match-up, as the FBI attack. Big time cluster, as all the Duds, Bellomo, and Big Guido all get involved. Big Guido takes down Buh Buh with a powerbomb as Big Dick returns to the ring and lays out Guido and Smith. D-Von and Buh Buh get face-to-face and D-Von levels DW with the chair when he tries to make peace. Sign Guy and Chubby meet the same fate. Buh Buh takes the chair but takes mercy on D-Von when he begs off, only to get low blowed in return. Hack Myers hits the ring but gets powerbombed by Big Guido also. Big Dick chairshots Big Guido and pins him to win the match. Went a little long for my tastes. *

Axl Rotten is out next to take on FMW veteran Tarzan Goto. Goto pounds on Axl early on and the brawl quickly spreads outside the ring where they duel chairs briefly before fighting into the stands. Goto drags Axl back into the ring and pounds him with a chair 11 times before nailing a clothesline for two. Axl gets his own chair and nails Goto with it twice before hitting a running elbowdrop for two. Goto hits a brainbuster on the chair for the win. Some harsh chairshots in an otherwise unspectacular match. On the brawl scale: **

Joey Styles shoots the open for TV next, with Taz and Bill Alfonzo. Taz and Alfonzo fire Joey Styles because he never says anything kind about them. Styles protests, but Taz says he's fired, so he's fired. They replace Styles with heel commentator Joel Gertner because they feel he better suits their ideal of who should represent ECW. Gertner continues interviewing Taz, who cuts one of the best promos of his ECW career here, ridiculing the fans, Bam Bam Bigelow, Paul Varleans, Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman, and everyone else he can think of. Taz accosts Joey and proclaims there is no one tougher than Taz until 911's music starts up, and in a surprise return, 911 confronts Taz. This would serve as the blowoff to a feud between these two from about six months earlier which never really finished, as 911 chokeslams Gertner and also Taz, who no sells it and chokes 911 out. Good segment.

Up next is the four-way dance for the ECW Television title with Chris Jericho defending against Too Cold Scorpio, Shane Douglas, and Pit Bull II. Douglas gets a chair from someone off camera whom he addresses only as "Honey" before clearing the curtain and laying in wait for Pitbull II. As PB II makes his way to the ring, Douglas cracks him with the chair as Scorp and Jericho start off in the ring. They start off fast with a series of hiptoss attempts and spin kicks before Scorp powders. They lock up again and Scorpio takes Jericho down with a thrust kick. Too Cold hits a slam and then a nice somersault legdrop for a two count. Jericho surprises him with a tiger bomb for two and locks Scorp in a submission hold, which he breaks and goes to a reverse chin lock. They exchange chops and Scorpio tags Douglas in. Jericho takes Douglas down in a side headlock before nailing a springboard splash but neglects to go for the pin. Jericho rams the face of Douglas into all three turnbuckles and then the two exchange chops before Jericho hits a Lionsault for a two count. Jericho tags in Pitbull II and Douglas immediately tags a surprised Scorpio. PB attempts a press slam which Scorp counters with a sunset flip. Scorpio attempts a reverse victory roll but PB powerbombs him. Scorp hooks Pitbull under the arms and flips him over the top, sending him crashing into the guardrail. Scorpio follows him to the floor and rams his head into a chair. Back in the ring, Scorpio connects with a kneelift to the chin of PB II and then tags to Douglas who puts the boots to Pitbull. Jericho is tagged back in and kicks Pitbull several times in the back of the head. Pitbull catches Jericho in a leapfrog attempt and powerslams him for two. Pit Bull tags out to Scorpio who goes up top and gets caught with a beautiful top rope frankensteiner by Jericho. Douglas back in and Too Cold spin kicks him right in the mouth. Scorp drops Douglas face-first on an unfolded chair and tags out to PB II, but Douglas runs and tags Jericho. Pitbull lays the boots to Jericho in the corner and powerbombs him for two. Scorpio enters and hits a butterfly suplex that sends Jericho out of the ring and into the railing. Back in the ring, Jericho tags Pitbull, who drops Scorpio with a fallaway slam off the second rope. Douglas tags himself in and Pitbull hiptosses him right out of the ring. Jericho nails a plancha on both of them, then Scorpio goes up top and hits a plancha of his own onto all three of them. Jericho and Scorpio brawl in the crowd and eventually back to the ring where PB has a second wind and neither other man will tag Douglas. Pitbull press slams The Franchise but Jericho sails in and dropkicks him. Jericho hits an elbow to the back of the neck and a dropkick for two. Jericho applies a figure four to Douglas, which he eventually releases. Douglas tags out to Scorpio who counters the Lionsault with a dropkick to the gut while Jericho was still upside down. Scorpio nails a tombstone and then the Tumbleweed to eliminate Jericho. Douglas offers a hand to Scorpio in an attempt to form a temporary alliance to take out Pitbull, but Scorp decks him and then dropkicks PB II. Scorp with an abdominal stretch which Shane eventually breaks and hits a belly-to-belly suplex. Scorp runs him up a corner and then hits a sunset flip off the second rope for two. PB II enters and Scorpio stacks both men on top of the other and goes for the moonsault but they both move. Douglas makes the sign for the Superbomb, and PB II relunctantly goes up top. Douglas and Pitbull II hit the Superbomb to eliminate Scorpio. The Franchise immediately attacks Pitbull and they brawl on the outside for several minutes. Pitbull powerbombs Douglas through two chairs and then retrieves a table. Douglas hits a belly-to-belly out of no where, but Francine distracts the ref, so Douglas brings her in the hard way and kisses her. Pitbull grabs The Franchise and attempts a press slam but Francine is up and tosses powder in the eyes of Pitbull. She removes her skirt to reveal the "Franchise" logo on her underwear. Pitbull I comes to ringside and revives PB II, who clotheslines Douglas over the top rope. PB I grabs Fran as PB II sets up a table. In a spot that would be "originated" by the WWF some five years later, the Pitbulls superbomb Francine through the table to a huge pop. Douglas hits a botched single-arm ddt on Pitbull I that would end up breaking his neck legit, and he rolls out of the ring quickly. Douglas breaks a piece of table over PB II's head for a two count. He then breaks out the brass knuckles, and THAT only gets two, Douglas pulls a chain from his boot and whacks PB II with it, and still he kicks out of that. He powers Douglas to the corner but misses a spinkick attempt and splatters on the floor. He rolls back in and gets caught with a belly-to-belly suplex by Douglas for the pin and the title. This match would serve as the catalyst in the Douglas/Pitbulls feud and would also lead to the evolution of The Franchise as the best heel in the business. To this day, quite possibly the greatest match I have ever seen. *****

In the next match, Louie Spicolli makes his ECW debut by beating up Pablo Marquez, a last-second replacement for Sabu who was injured in the tag match. Spicolli counters a hip toss attempt with a fireman's buster (which would later be renamed the Death Valley Driver and later the Spicolli Driver in his memory) before catching Pablo with a chairshot to the head for the easy victory in under a minute. Can't go much higher than DUD because it was so short.

Sabu storms the ring wearing a neckbrace and we get our scheduled match afterall. Sabu misses a diving headbutt and Louie stomps away at Sabu's neck. Louie hits a rolling necksnap and a reverse neckbreaker for two. Sabu attempts a backdrop but Spicolli nails him with a swinging neckbreaker. Louie hits a slingshot belly-to-back suplex for another two count. He attempts a second one but Sabu rolls out and spin kicks him to the floor. Sabu charges and hits Air Sabu to drive Louie over the guardrail. A chair is set up in the ring and Sabu springs off of it with a diving chairshot onto Louie, who was in the third row. Sabu attempts a guilotine legdrop onto a chair but Louie moves out of the way. Sabu hits a reverse victory roll out of no where and attempts a Triple Jump Moonsault but Louie throws the chair at him. Sabu gets a chair of his own and we have dueling chairs which Sabu wins easily. Louie retreats to the top turnbuckle but Sabu springboards and knocks him to the floor. Sabu bridges a table between the apron and the guardrail and mounts the top rope, moonsaulting through Spicolli and the table. Great spot, followed by a loud "ECW" chant. Sabu rolls Louie back in and hits the Triple Jump Moonsault for two. Louie counters a clothesline attempt with a German suplex for two. He goes up top again but Sabu catches him and goes for a top rope frankensteiner, which Louie counters. Spicolli hits a rolling shoulderblock off the top for two. Spicolli misses a kneedrop and hits the chair. Sabu dropkicks the knee and then misses an Arabian Facebuster. Spicolli goes to the second rope but Sabu throws the chair at him and then DDTs from the top. Sabu hits the Arabian Facebuster for the win. ***

The main event is up next and it's Rage in the Cage as Raven, Stevie Richards, and Prime Time Brian Lee face The Sandman, Terry Bam Bam Gordy and Tommy Dreamer. Richards and Gordy start on the stage, Dreamer and Lee start outside the cage and Sandman and Raven start in the cage. If Richards gets pinned, Raven loses the ECW Heavyweight Title. Raven makes a plea for Sandman to spare Raven a beating, and Raven will give Sandman his son Tyler back, but it was a ploy as Raven cheapshots Sandman while he plays to the crowd. Raven locks a figure four on Sandman as "Freebird" starts up and Gordy goes after Richards on the stage. Richards is bloody within seconds and they make their way to the ring where Lee beats on Gordy until Dreamer makes the save to officially start the match. Super Nova and Bluedust attack Dreamer, who bashes them both with a trashcan. Dreamer and Lee go through the bleachers as Gordy enters the cage and tosses Raven into the cage repeatedly. Stevie comes off the top of the cage but Gordy nails him. Gordy clotheslines him for a nearfall before locking on the Asiatic Spike, which Raven breaks up. Lee and Dreamer are both bloody on the outside also. Gordy piledrives Richards but Raven breaks up the pin attempt again. Lee throws Dreamer into a wooden door that had been propped up against the cage. Lee suplexes Dreamer onto the wooden door as Richards Steviekicks Gordy twice but it has no effect on him. Raven clips Sandman's injured knee as Brian Lee enters the cage and drags Gordy out, leaving Sandman in a two-on-one. Raven locks a figure four on Sandman again. Dreamer enters the cage and superkicks Stevie. Dreamer canes Raven and is then handed handcuffs by Beulah and Kimona. Dreamer cuffs Raven to the ropes and then gets a chair, threatening to repeat the chairshot heard 'round the world from the previous year's Heatwave. Tyler Fullington runs into the cage and stands in front of Raven to shield him from Dreamer and Sandman, but Dreamer wants to hit him anyway, causing dissention among the partners. Nova scales the cage and breaks Raven free from the cuffs and he rams Sandman and Dreamer into each other. Raven hits a quick DDT on Sandman for two. Raven and Richards are both wearing the crimson mask big time here as they beat on Tommy. Dreamer DDTs Raven and they both cover him for two. Nova and Meanie are stack four tables outside the cage and Lee scales the cage. Dreamer goes up to meet him and gets chokeslamed off the top of the cage through three of them in a SICK bump. Sandman DDTs Raven and scores the pin to win the match for his team as Dreamer gets medical attention on the outside. ***, a great brawl to close one of the best shows ever, which would be followed a month later by The Doctor Is In, arguably even better.

Final analysis: This was the first ECW show I ever had a chance to see, and is still one of my favorites and arguably one of the best. Highest recommendation. Great.