CyberSlam (1997) was the second

CyberSlam CyberSlam was a professional wrestling supercard event and fan convention produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1996 to 2000. Background It began in 1995 with the Double Tables event, held at the ECW Arena. The event was held for ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

produced by

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

(ECW). The event was held on two nights on February 21 and February 22. The first CyberSlam show was held on February 21, 1997 in Lost Battalion Hall,

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

and the second show was held on February 22, 1997 at the

ECW Arena 2300 Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania used primarily for professional wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, and concert events. Originally known as Viking Hall, the venue has since been named Alhambra Arena, The ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

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 (ECW) between 1995 and 1997. History Formation While working as the m ...

versus

Sabu and Rob Van Dam Rob Van Dam and Sabu are a professional wrestling tag team who often compete in Extreme Championship Wrestling and WWE's ECW brand. While teaming in the original ECW, the duo was managed by Bill Alfonso. History Extreme Championship Wrestling ...

was included on the 2012

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

release ''ECW Unreleased: Vol 1''.

Storylines

The event featured wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed

villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches played out on ECW's television program '' Hardcore TV''. At

Crossing the Line Again Crossing the Line Again was a professional wrestling event held by the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States-based professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) on February 1, 1997. The commentator for the event was ...

Terry Funk Terrence Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American retired professional wrestler, rapper, disc jockey and actor. Funk is known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – a ...

defeated

Tommy Rich Thomas Richardson (born July 26, 1956) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tommy “Wildfire” Rich. He is a one time former National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion and Smoky Mountain Wrestling ...

. After his win, Funk declared his intention of challenging

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

for the World Heavyweight Championship. On the February 20 episode of ''Hardcore TV'', Raven mocked Funk and

Tommy Dreamer Thomas James Laughlin (born February 13, 1971), is an American professional wrestler and promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Impact Wrestling and is the owner and promoter of the House of Hardcore (HOH) promo ...

in his

promo Promo or promos may refer to: Promotions and advertising *Promo (media), a form of commercial advertising used to promote television or radio programs *Promo (professional wrestling), a televised interview in which a wrestler's on-screen personali ...

. It was announced that Funk and Dreamer would be facing Raven and Brian Lee at the CyberSlam tour.

The Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The Sandman is a traditional charact ...

defeated

D-Von Dudley Devon Hughes (born August 1, 1972) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he works backstage as a producer. Hughes wrestled for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 1999 and for the WWF/E f ...

in a match at Crossing the Line Again. D-Von

cane Cane or caning may refer to: *Walking stick or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking *Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance *White cane, a mobility or safety device used by many people who are b ...

d Sandman after the match until his estranged brothers

Buh Buh Ray Dudley Mark LoMonaco (born July 14, 1971) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and Impact Wrestling under the ring name Bully Ray. He was previously known as one-half of The Dudley Boyz tag tea ...

and

Spike Dudley Matthew Jonathan Hyson (born August 13, 1970) is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Spike Dudley. Prior to WWE, Hyson began performing as Spike Dudley in the 1990s with E ...

apparently came to make the save until Buh Buh turned

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

by attacking Sandman. Spike objected to it but was hit with a '' 3D'', which led to Buh Buh and D-Von forming a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

The Dudley Boyz The Dudley Boyz (also known as Team 3D) are an American professional wrestling tag team that consisted of kayfabe half-brothers Bubba Ray Dudley (Mark LoMonaco) and D-Von Dudley (Devon Hughes). The team was also joined by various Dudley family me ...

. This set up a match between Buh Buh and Spike at CyberSlam. At Crossing the Line Again,

defeated

Rob Van Dam and Sabu Rob Van Dam and Sabu are a professional wrestling tag team who often compete in Extreme Championship Wrestling and WWE's ECW brand. While teaming in the original ECW, the duo was managed by Bill Alfonso. History Extreme Championship Wrestling ...

in the main event to retain the

World Tag Team Championship The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championships in professional wrestling promotions. Nomenclature The name of the promotion is often preceded to the term "world tag team championship" as the ...

, This would lead to title matches between the two teams at CyberSlam. An additional match for Sabu was announced against

Chris Candido Christopher Barrett Candito (March 21, 1972 – April 28, 2005) was an American professional wrestler. Candito is best remembered for his tenures with promotions such as World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, New Japan Pro-W ...

for CyberSlam on the February 20 episode of ''Hardcore TV''.

Event

Night 1

The show kicked off with a match between

Chris Chetti Christopher Chetti (born July 16, 1974) is an American retired professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) between 1996 and 2001. Professional wrestling career Extreme Championship Wrestling ...

and

Balls Mahoney Jonathan Rechner (April 11, 1972 – April 12, 2016), better known by his ring name Balls Mahoney, was an American professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) during the late 199 ...

. Mahoney hit a

powerslam A Powerslam or simply Slam is a professional wrestling body slam move in which the wrestler performing the slam falls face-down on top of the opponent. The use of the term "powerslam" usually refers to the front powerslam or the scoop powerslam. ...

and a

diving elbow drop Aerial techniques, also known as "high-flying moves" are maneuvers in professional wrestling using the ring's posts and ropes as aids, in many cases to demonstrate the speed and agility of smaller, nimble and acrobatically inclined wrestlers prefer ...

from the second rope to win the match. Next,

The Pitbulls The Pitbulls (sometimes written as The Pit Bulls) were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of "Pitbull #1" Gary Wolfe and "Pitbull #2" Anthony Durante. They were best known for their tenure in Extreme Championship Wrestling, where ...

( Pitbull #1 and Pitbull #2) took on

The Triple Threat The Triple Threat was a professional wrestling villainous stable that existed in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 1998. It was Shane Douglas's answer to Ric Flair's Four Horsemen. Douglas disliked Flair since he felt that Flair ...

members Brian Lee and

Shane Douglas Troy Allan Martin (born November 21, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name Shane Douglas. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (W ...

was initially scheduled to compete but pulled a groin muscle due to having

fun Fun is defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "Light-hearted pleasure, enjoyment, or amusement; boisterous joviality or merrymaking; entertainment". Etymology and usage The word ''fun'' is associated with sports, entertaining medi ...

with

Francine :''This is a disambiguation page for the common name Francine.'' Francine is a female given name. The name is of French origin. The name Francine was most popular in France itself during the 1940s (Besnard & Desplanques 2003), and was well used i ...

. Douglas interfered in the match but was knocked down. Pitbull #1

powerbomb A powerbomb is a professional wrestling throw in which an opponent is lifted (usually so that they are sitting on the wrestler's shoulders) and then slammed back-first down to the mat. The standard powerbomb sees an opponent first placed in a sta ...

ed Candido but Lee hit him with a crutch for the win. Next,

took on

Axl Rotten Brian Knighton (April 21, 1971 – February 4, 2016), better known by the ring name Axl Rotten, was an American professional wrestler. In the early 1990s, he was a part of the tag team The Bad Breed with Ian Rotten. He had a short stint with Worl ...

shoved off Spike from the top rope into the mid-air where Buh Buh caught him with a '' Bubba Cutter'' for the win. Later,

and

competed against

and

Stevie Richards Michael Stephen Manna (born October 9, 1971), better known by his ring name Stevie Richards, is an American professional wrestler. Over the course of his career, Richards has performed for major professional wrestling promotions including Easte ...

in a tag team match. Dissension took place between Raven and Richards when Richards missed a flying forearm smash on Dreamer, who ducked it and accidentally hit it to Raven on the apron, sending him into the railing outside the ring. After Raven recovered, Richards tried to make a tag but Raven dropped down on the floor. After preventing a tag again, Raven finally made the tag and Richards nailed '' Stevie Kicks'' to Sandman and Dreamer and then turned on Raven by hitting him with a ''Stevie Kick'' and walked out on the match, leaving Raven alone. Raven low blowed Sandman and Dreamer but received a back body drop and Dreamer nailed a

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

to Raven, allowing Sandman to pin him for the victory. After the match, Brian Lee attacked Sandman and Dreamer until

made the save.

The Gangstas The Gangstas was a professional wrestling tag team and stable, consisting of New Jack and Mustafa Saed in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). The group originally started as a three-man group with D'Lo Brown in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW), b ...

(

New Jack Jerome Young (January 3, 1963 – May 14, 2021) was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name New Jack. He was best known for his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where he became notorious for his willingnes ...

and

Mustafa Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Mou ...

) took on the team of Axl Rotten and

in the following match. Jack hit a '' 187'' to Rotten for the win. After the match,

attacked Gangstas. In the penultimate match,

Taz Taz or TAZ may refer to: Geography *Taz (river), a river in western Siberia, Russia *Taz Estuary, the estuary of the river Taz in Russia People * Taz people, an ethnic group in Russia ** Taz language, a form of Northeastern Mandarin spoken by ...

took on

Little Guido James Maritato (born March 12, 1972) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under the ring names Little Guido and Nunzio. A high-school footb ...

. Taz dominated the match and applied a ''

Tazmission Professional wrestling holds include a number of set moves and pins used by performers to immobilize their opponents or lead to a submission. This article covers the various pins, stretches and transition holds used in the ring. Some wrestlers use ...

'' to make Guido submit to the move. The main event was a Tables and Ladders match, in which

(

Perry Saturn Perry Arthur Satullo (born October 25, 1966) is an American retired professional wrestler known by his ring name, Perry Saturn. Since debuting in 1990, Saturn wrestled for promotions including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Champions ...

and

John Kronus George B. Caiazzo (January 13, 1969 – July 18, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, John Kronus, and later simply Kronus. Caiazzo worked for Extreme Championship Wrestling, the United States Wrestling Asso ...

) defended the

against

. After a back and forth action, Eliminators nailed a ''

Total Elimination In professional wrestling double-team maneuvers are executed by multiple wrestlers instead of one and typically are used by tag teams in tag team matches. Many of these maneuvers are combination of two throws, or submission holds. Most moves are ...

'' to RVD to retain the titles.

Night 2

The opening match was a rematch from the previous night, in which The Eliminators defended the World Tag Team Championship against Sabu and Rob Van Dam in a Tables and Ladders match. Eliminators executed two ''Total Eliminations'' on RVD to retain the titles. After the match, Sabu embraced both members by shaking hands with them but RVD refused to show respect. After the match,

Joey Styles Joseph Carmine Bonsignore (born July 14, 1971) better known by his ring name Joey Styles, is an American former professional wrestling commentator. He is best known for his time with ECW and WWE. Before working for WWE, Styles was a full-time p ...

conducted an interview with The Pitbulls, in which Pitbull #1 berated Shane Douglas. Douglas and Francine arrived at the ramp where he confronted them and challenged them to a fight and Pitbulls went to charge at him but were tricked by Douglas into being attacked by Triple Threat. Brian Lee executed a '' Primetime Slam'' to Pitbull #2 through a

table Table may refer to: * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (landform), a flat area of land * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns * Table (database), how the table data ...

and Chris Candido choked Pitbull #1 with a dog chain. Next, Chris Chetti took on Little Guido. Guido missed a diving knee drop on Chetti, who quickly pinned Guido with an inside cradle for the win. Next, Balls Mahoney took on

The Blue World Order The Blue World Order (bWo) was a stable of professional wrestlers formed at Extreme Championship Wrestling's November to Remember 1996 event at the ECW Arena. The stable lasted until August 1998 and was revived briefly in World Wrestling Enterta ...

member

Big Stevie Cool Michael Stephen Manna (born October 9, 1971), better known by his ring name Stevie Richards, is an American professional wrestler. Over the course of his career, Richards has performed for major professional wrestling promotions including Eas ...

. Mahoney attempted to execute a Powerbomb on Stevie but he jumped from the back and hit a ''Stevie Kick'' for the win. Later, Spike Dudley took on Axl Rotten. Dudley avoided a

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Acid Drop'' on Rotten until Dudley Boyz attacked Spike, allowing Rotten to hit a powerbomb for the win. After the match, Dudley Boyz hit a '' 3D'' to Spike until The Gangstas made the save and competed against Dudley Boyz to begin the next match. Jack knocked Rotten from the apron with a steel chair and then climbed the top rope and attempted a ''187'' but Buh Buh Ray Dudley caught him with a ''Bubba Cutter'' for the win. Next,

Tracy Smothers Tracy Stanton Smothers (September 2, 1962 – October 28, 2020) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation, and Extreme Champ ...

made his ECW debut against Taz. Taz dominated Smothers by executing a '' T-Bone Tazplex'' and applied a ''Tazmission'' to make him submit. In the penultimate match, Raven and Brian Lee competed against the team of Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk. The match stipulated that Funk would earn a title shot at Raven's World Heavyweight Championship at Barely Legal should he beat Raven. Funk initially made Raven submit to a spinning toe hold but the referee was distracted in ejecting Lee and Dreamer, so he could not see it and then Lee hit a trashcan to Funk to break the hold. Lee injured Funk by repeatedly hitting him in the face with a trashcan, thus making him bleed and Funk was removed from the match by the medical staff. Stevie Richards showed up along with

Lori Fullington Lori Fullington (born May 17, 1967) is an American retired professional wrestling manager. She is best known for her appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling under her real name and as Peaches. Professional wrestling career Fullington ...

and Tyler Fullington and Raven distracted him enough for Brian Lee to hit a ''Primetime Slam''. Raven then nailed an '' Evenflow'' to Lori and then Dreamer came back to the ring and charged at Raven but Lee nailed a ''Primetime Slam'' to Dreamer. Tyler came back with his father, The Sandman, who substituted for Funk and

d Lee and Raven multiple times and then hit an ''Evenflow'' to Raven and pinned him for the win. In the main event, Sabu competed against Chris Candido. Candido attempted a diving headbutt but Sabu blocked it with a chair to Candido's face and nailed a triple jump leg drop to win the match.

Reception

Reviewing on the February 21 show, Bob Colling of ''Wrestling Recaps'' wrote "An average show for ECW, but there wasn’t overly awful on the show. The Gangstas stuff was just the usual from them and has its place on the show since it is over with the crowd. The main event delivered a fine bout and the tag match involving Raven, Richards, Sandman and Dreamer was good in advancing an angle. There’s just nothing that makes the show memorable or must-see." ''Wrestling 20 Years Ago'' staff rated the event 7 out of 10, writing "Sabu/Van Dam vs The Eliminators, the Pitbulls angle, The Dudleys/The Gangstas and the main event are all good or noteworthy."

Aftermath

Terry Funk would become the number one contender for Raven's World Heavyweight Championship and began feuding with Raven over the title. Funk defeated Raven to win the title at ECW's first-ever pay-per-view event Barely Legal. Shane Douglas and Triple Threat continued their feud with The Pitbulls. At Barely Legal, Douglas defeated Pitbull #2 to retain the

ECW World Television Championship The ECW World Television Championship was a professional wrestling television championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It was introduced in 1992 as part of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate and ECW precursor, Eastern Champio ...

. Chris Chetti and Little Guido continued their rivalry as Chetti teamed with Tracy Smothers to compete against Guido and

Hostile City Showdown Hostile City Showdown was a professional wrestling supercard event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company ...

, where Smothers turned on Chetti to cost him the match and joined Full Blooded Italians.

Results

;February 21, 1997 – Lost Battalion Hall in

;February 22, 1997 –

References

External links

CyberSlam Night 1
{{ECWPPV, CyberSlam CyberSlam 1997 in professional wrestling 1997 in Pennsylvania 1997 in New York City 1990s in Queens Events in Philadelphia Events in New York City Professional wrestling in New York City Professional wrestling in Philadelphia February 1997 events in the United States