Heatwave '94: the Battle for the Future was the first

Heat Wave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...

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 or ...

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 e ...

produced by

Eastern 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 Wres ...

. It took place on July 16, 1994 in 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, 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.

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

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 ...

, Sabu defeated Cactus Jack in the main event. On the June 28 episode of ''Hardcore TV'', it was announced that

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 ...

would defend the

ECW Heavyweight Championship The ECW World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally used in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and later, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the original world title of the ECW ...

against Sabu at Heat Wave. Douglas mocked Sabu over the following weeks until the two brawled with each other on the July 12 episode of ''Hardcore TV''. At Hostile City Showdown,

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 – ...

and

Dory Funk, Jr. Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American retired professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promote ...

defeated

The Public Enemy ''The Public Enemy'' (''Enemies of the Public'' in the UK) is a 1931 American all-talking pre-Code gangster film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The film was directed by William A. Wellman and stars James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edwar ...

(

Rocco Rock Theodore James Petty (September 1, 1953 – September 21, 2002) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "Flyboy" Rocco Rock. Rock is best known for his appearances in Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Champion ...

and

Johnny Grunge Michael Lynn Durham (July 10, 1966 – February 16, 2006) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Johnny Grunge. He is known for his appearances with Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestli ...

) by disqualification after

911 911 or 9/11 may refer to: Dates * AD 911 * 911 BC * September 11 ** 9/11, the September 11 attacks of 2001 ** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that outed the democratically elected Salvador Allende * November 9 Numbers * 91 ...

chokeslam A chokeslam is a type of body slam in professional wrestling, in which a wrestler grasps an opponent's neck, lifts them up, and slams them to the mat. It is common in televised wrestling because it is simple and relatively safe, yet looks power ...

med the referee. Terry hanged Rock by the neck in the eagle's nest. On the June 28 episode of ''Hardcore TV'', it was announced that Public Enemy would compete against the Funks in a barbed wire match at Heat Wave. On the July 12 episode of ''Hardcore TV'',

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) prom ...

and the Funks defeated

Hack Meyers Donald Haviland (December 7, 1973 – December 5, 2015) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Hack Meyers. He was best known for his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1993 to 1996. Professional wrestling ...

and Public Enemy in a

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 ...

. At Hostile City Showdown, The Tazmaniac defeated Pitbull #1 in a

dog collar match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

and then Pitbull #2 made his ECW debut and attacked Tazmaniac. Later that night,

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 ...

defended the ECW Television Championship against

Rockin' Rebel Charles Williams (January 13, 1966 – June 1, 2018) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Rockin' Rebel. He was best known for his appearances on the U.S. independent circuit with promotions such as Eastern Cha ...

by disqualification after Rebel hit Whipwreck with a chair and then Tazmaniac rescued Whipwreck from an assault by Rebel and

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He ...

until Pitbulls attacked Tazmaniac. On the July 5 episode of ''Hardcore TV'', it was announced that Tazmaniac and a mystery tag team partner would take on the newly formed team The Pitbulls at Heat Wave. Later that night, Whipwreck defended the Television Championship against Pitbull #2, during which Whipwreck retained the title by disqualification after Pitbull #1 and

attacked Whipwreck. The trio continued to attack Whipwreck until Tazmaniac attempted to make the save but he was outnumbered. The following week on ''Hardcore TV'', Tazmaniac defeated

Jimmy Snuka James Reiher Snuka (born James Wiley Smith; May 18, 1943 – January 15, 2017) was a Fijian American professional wrestler. He is better known by the ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Snuka wrestled for several promotions from the 1970s to 2010 ...

and then Pitbulls attacked Tazmaniac but Tazmaniac cleared the ring of Pitbulls and Hack Meyers.

Tommy Cairo Thomas Cairo (born February 19, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Eastern Championship Wrestling from 1992 to 1994, in particular his feud with The Sandman. He is the former co-owner of ...

and The Sandman had been feuding with each other since the February 15 episode of ''Hardcore TV'' when Rockin' Rebel blinded Sandman with a liquid and Sandman accidentally struck his wife

Peaches The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

and then Cairo saved her and carried her to the backstage. This ignited their rivalry and they fought each other in several matches throughout the year. At Hostile City Showdown, Cairo and Sandman fought each other to a no contest in a Singapore Cane on a Pole match after the

Singapore cane Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed-canopy old-growth tropical forests of ...

fell down from the pole on the mat.

Woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

handed over the cane to Sandman and then Sandman and Woman assaulted Cairo and Peaches with cane. On the June 28 episode of ''Hardcore TV'', it was announced that Cairo would face Sandman in a Dueling canes match at Heat Wave. The following week on ''Hardcore TV'', Sandman attacked Cairo before Cairo's match against 911, leaving Cairo vulnerable to an easy defeat. On the July 5 episode of ''Hardcore TV'', it was announced that Mikey Whipwreck would defend the ECW Television Championship against

Chad Austin Chad Slivenski (born September 15, 1972) is a semi-retired American professional wrestler, known by his ringname Chad Bowman, who competed in East Coast and Mid-Atlantic independent promotions during the 1990s and 2000s. Early in his career, Sl ...

at Heat Wave.

Event

In the opening match,

the Bad Breed The Bad Breed was the professional wrestling tag team of Axl Rotten with his storyline brother/real life protégé Ian Rotten. The team achieved their greatest fame in the Philadelphia professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestli ...

(

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 Wor ...

and

Ian Rotten John Benson Williams (born June 1, 1970) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Ian Rotten. He has wrestled in the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), the United States Wrestling As ...

) took on

and

. Axl hit an atomic drop to Myers followed by Ian executing a

diving bulldog Professional wrestling throws are the application of professional wrestling techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming them down. They are sometimes also called "power" maneuvers, as they are meant to emphasize a wrest ...

to Myers. After the match, Rebel shoved Myers and then hit him with a

clothesline A clothes line or washing line is any type of rope, cord, or twine that has been stretched between two points (e.g. two sticks), outside or indoors, above the level of the ground. Clothing that has recently been washed is hung along the line t ...

. In the second bout,

defended the ECW Television Championship against

dropped Whipwreck onto the table and then Austin hit a slingshot suplex and a diving leg drop to win the title. After initially winning the title, Austin informed the referee that he had used

brass knuckles Brass knuckles (variously referred to as knuckles, knucks, brass knucks, knucklebusters, knuckledusters, knuckle daggers, English punch, iron fist, paperweight, or a classic) are "fist-load weapons" used in hand-to-hand combat. Brass knuckle ...

to win the match, causing the referee to reverse the decision. As a result, Whipwreck retained the title. After the match, Jason and Austin attacked Whipwreck and Jason executed a Piledriver to Whipwreck on the Television Championship title belt. In the third bout,

took on Stevie Richards in the following match. Richards initially provoked Dreamer by shaking hands and then attacked him. Dreamer gained control and applied a sleeper hold on Richards to make him pass out to the hold for the win. After the match, Dreamer demanded a shot at

and Douglas came out to confront Dreamer until Mr. Hughes held him back. The fourth bout saw Mr. Hughes face Tommy Dreamer. The match ended when Shane Douglas struck Dreamer with a steel chair and Hughes hit a

spinning side slam 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 ...

to win the match. In the fifth bout, the Tazmaniac was scheduled to team with his mystery partner as he took on the Pitbulls ( Pitbull #1 and Pitbull #2). Before the match, Pitbulls attacked Tazmaniac with their dog collar chains repeatedly and then Mr. Hughes, Rockin' Rebel and Chad Austin interrupted until

made the rescue by brawling with Hughes, Rebel and Austin until Hughes attacked 911 from behind with a chair. Sabu then hit everyone with a steel chair and then rescued Tazmaniac from Pitbulls and became his mystery partner. Taz hit a half nelson suplex on Pitbull #1 to win the match. In the sixth bout,

took on The Sandman in a Dueling Canes match. Both men were knocked out by hitting each other with canes and then Sandman's wife

accidentally knocked out the referee with a cane. Sandman sent her out of the ring and knocked Cairo with the cane in the head for the win. In the seventh bout, Shane Douglas defended the Heavyweight Championship against Sabu. 911 and Mr. Hughes showed up at ringside to argue with each other. 911 placed 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 ...

outside the ring and then Sabu placed Douglas on the table and attempted a springboard moonsault on Douglas but he moved out of the table and then Sabu crashed through the table and got counted out. After the match, 911

med everyone including the referee, Hughes and Douglas. Angel then hit 911 with a chair and 911 retaliated by chokeslamming her. In the main event bout, brothers

Dory Funk Jr. Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American retired professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promoter ...

and

took on

the Public Enemy ''The Public Enemy'' (''Enemies of the Public'' in the UK) is a 1931 American all-talking pre-Code gangster film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The film was directed by William A. Wellman and stars James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edwar ...

(

and

) in a barbed wire match. After brawling with each other through the barbed wire, Terry's head was wrapped in the barbed wire and then the Public Enemy placed a trashcan on Funk and pinned him to win the match.

Reception

''Crazy Max'' staff praised the event and considered it a much better show which exceeded expectations, with "All three title matches were good. The Heavyweight being my favorite of the three as well as favorite match of the night. Just about everything else was watchable. 911 and Sabu were over huge. This show is worth checking out."

Aftermath

On the July 19 episode of ''Hardcore TV'',

caned Mikey Whipwreck during Whipwreck's ECW Television Championship title defence against The Sandman. Tommy Dreamer ultimately made the save and then Woman tried to hit him with the cane but he ducked it and kissed her, which angered Sandman as he lashed him with the cane fifty-seven times, weakening him enough to lose in his ECW Heavyweight Championship opportunity against Shane Douglas later that night. The following week on ''Hardcore TV'', a match was made between the two at

Hardcore Heaven Hardcore Heaven was a professional wrestling event produced by Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It took place annually from 1994 to 2000, with the exception of 1998. The 1997, 1999 and 2000 iterations aired on pay-per-view Pay-per-v ...

. On the August 9 ''Hardcore TV'', it was announced that their match would be a Singapore Cane match. Tazmaniac's feud with Pitbulls continued after Heat Wave when Tazmaniac rescued

from an attack by Pitbulls on the July 26 episode of ''Hardcore TV'' after Snuka's manager Hunter Q. Robbins III berated him for being pinned by Tommy Dreamer in a match against Dreamer, Terry Funk and Dory Funk, Jr. A match was made between the team of Tazmaniac and Snuka against the Pitbulls at Hardcore Heaven. Rockin' Rebel's attack on Hack Meyers at Heat Wave resulted in a feud between the two which turned Meyers into a

face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

. On the July 26 episode of ''Hardcore TV'', a match was made between the two for Hardcore Heaven. 911's multiple Chokeslams on Mr. Hughes, Shane Douglas and Angel ignited a feud between 911 and Hughes. A match was made between the two for Hardcore Heaven on the July 26 episode of ''Hardcore TV''.

Results

References

External links

* {{ECWPPV, Heat Wave Heat Wave 1994 in professional wrestling 1994 in Pennsylvania Events in Philadelphia Professional wrestling in Philadelphia July 1994 events in the United States