Better Than Ever was a

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 ...

live event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) on December 6, 1997. The event was held in the ECW Arena in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 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 ...

in the United States. Excerpts from Better Than Ever aired on episodes #242 and #243 of '' ECW Hardcore TV'' on December 13, 1997 and December 20, 1997 and were in turn released on

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 ...

by RF Video.

Event

The event was attended by approximately 1,600 people. The opening bout was a tag team match pitting the Full Blooded Italians against Jerry Lynn and Tommy Rogers. The bout was won by Lynn and Rogers, with Rogers pinning Tracy Smothers following a '' Tomikaze''. The second bout was a "grudge match" between Justin Credible and

Mikey Whipwreck John Michael Watson (born June 4, 1973), better known by his ring name Mikey Whipwreck, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler working for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a trainer, and global ambassador. He is best known for his career w ...

in a rematch from November to Remember, where Whipwreck had defeated Credible in an upset. Whipwreck won the match by pinfall following a second-rope ''Whipper-Snapper'' after interference from Credible's

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Jason backfired. The third bout was a singles match between Al Snow and

Paul Diamond Thomas Boric (born May 11, 1961) is a Croatian retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Paul Diamond. He is best known for being one half of the tag team Badd Company with Pat Tanaka and for his time in the World Wrestling F ...

. The bout was won by Snow, who pinned Diamond following a

Northern Lights Bomb A brainbuster is a professional wrestling throw in which a wrestler puts the opponent in a front facelock, hooks their pants or thigh, and lifts them up as if they were executing a vertical suplex. The wrestler then falls onto their back so that ...

. Following the third bout, the Can-Am Express - who had won the ECW World Tag Team Championship on the prior evening - came to the ring with Lance Wright and Brakkus. Wright announced that the Can-Am Express had signed contracts with the

World Wrestling Federation 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 ...

and would throw the titles in a trash can on ''

Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show fe ...

''. This prompted challenges from both the Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks and Chris Candido and

Lance Storm Lance Timothy Evers (; born April 3, 1969), known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Extreme Championship Wrestling (EC ...

, with Candido and Storm's manager

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 ...

suggesting a

three way dance Three Way Dance was a professional wrestling live event produced by Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) on April 8, 1995. The event was held in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. It was a "double header" event with ...

. The Can-Am Express were the first team eliminated, with Axl Rotten

dropkick A dropkick is an attacking maneuver in professional wrestling. It is defined as an attack where the wrestler jumps up and kicks the opponent with the soles of both feet; this sees the wrestler twist as they jump so that when the feet connec ...

ing his partner Balls Mahoney as

Doug Furnas Dwight Douglas Furnas (December 11, 1959 – March 2, 2012) was an American professional wrestler and powerlifter. He was an APF National and World Powerlifting Champion, who set multiple world records in the 275 pound weight class. As a wrestler, ...

attempted to powerslam him, enabling Mahoney to pin Furnas. Candido and Storm then eliminated the Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks to win the ECW World Tag Team Championship, with Candido pinning Mahoney after the two men gave him a double

superplex A suplex is an offensive move used in sport wrestling as well as amateur wrestling and professional wrestling. It is a throw that involves lifting the opponents and bridging or rolling to slam them on their backs. Professional wrestling feature ...

. Following the fourth bout, commentator Joey Styles announced that John Kronus had sustained broken bones in both hands in a match against the Dudley Boyz. After Styles attempted to interview Kronus, the Dudley Boyz and Big Dick Dudley attacked him, attempting to crush his injured hands with a chair. This drew out Kronus's tag team partner New Jack to defend him. New Jack was in turn joined by Spike Dudley, resulting in an impromptu

six-man tag team match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder m ...

. The Dudley Brothers won the match, with

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 ...

pinning Spike Dudley following a powerbomb and a blow to the face with a

trash can A waste container, also known as a dustbin, garbage can, and trash can is a type of container that is usually made out of metal or plastic. The words "rubbish", "basket" and "bin" are more common in British English usage; "trash" and "can" a ...

. The sixth bout was a singles match between Chris Chetti 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 Richards' televised return to ECW following a stint in

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

. Richards won the bout by pinfall following a ''

Stevie Kick Strikes are offensive moves in professional wrestling, that can sometimes be used to set up an opponent for a hold or for a throw. There are a wide variety of strikes in pro wrestling, and many are known by several different names. Professional wre ...

''. The main event was a tag team match pitting

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 ...

against

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 ...

and Tommy Dreamer. The match was won by Sabu and Van Dam, with Van Dam pinning Dreamer after Stevie Richards interfered in the match, giving Dreamer a ''Stevie Kick''. Following the match there was a large brawl involving multiple members of the roster.

Aftermath

Justin Credible faced Mikey Whipwreck once again on December 13, 1997. Credible won the match by referee's decision after Whipwreck suffered a

broken leg The human leg, in the general word sense, is the entire lower limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh or sometimes even the hip or gluteal region. However, the definition in human anatomy refers only to the section of the lower limb ext ...

. Chris Candido and Lance Storm embarked on a lengthy reign as ECW World Tag Team Champions that lasted until June 1998, when they lost to Rob Van Dam and Sabu. The Dudley Brothers faced the Gangstanators and Spike Dudley in a rematch at House Party in January 1998, with The Dudley Brothers prevailing once again.

Results

References

{{ECWPPV, Better Than Ever 1997 in professional wrestling 1997 in Pennsylvania December 1997 events in the United States Events in Philadelphia Professional wrestling in Philadelphia