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

Heat Wave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

event produced by Eastern Championship Wrestling. 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 XPW Arena, New A ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

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", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

, heroes, 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, 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, manager, and promoter, better known by his ring name Shane Douglas. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship ...

would defend the ECW Heavyweight Championship 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 Terrance Dee Funk (June 30, 1944 – August 23, 2023) was an American professional wrestler and actor. Widely considered one of the most influential and greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Funk was known for the longevity of his car ...

and Dory Funk, Jr. defeated The Public Enemy ( Rocco Rock and

Johnny Grunge Michael Lynn Durham (July 10, 1965 – 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 chokeslammed 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 wrestling, professional wrestler and professional wrestling promotion, promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestli ...

and the Funks defeated Hack Meyers and Public Enemy in a six-man tag team match. At Hostile City Showdown, The Tazmaniac defeated Pitbull #1 in a dog collar match and then Pitbull #2 made his ECW debut and attacked Tazmaniac. Later that night, Mikey Whipwreck defended the ECW Television Championship against Rockin' Rebel 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 is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...

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

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 and American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Snuka wrestled for several promotions from the 1970s to 2010s ...

and then Pitbulls attacked Tazmaniac but Tazmaniac cleared the ring of Pitbulls and Hack Meyers. Tommy Cairo 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 China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called nectarines. Peac ...

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 fell down from the pole on the mat.

Woman A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or Adolescence, adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functi ...

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 at Heat Wave.

Event

In the opening match, the Bad Breed (

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

and

Ian Rotten John Benson Williams (born June 1, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and Promoter (entertainment), promoter better known by his ring name Ian Rotten. He has wrestled in the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF), Extreme Championship Wrestli ...

) took on Hack Meyers and Rockin' Rebel. Axl hit an atomic drop to Myers followed by Ian executing a diving bulldog to Myers. After the match, Rebel shoved Myers and then hit him with a clothesline. In the second bout, Mikey Whipwreck defended the ECW Television Championship against Chad Austin.

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 A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

that he had used

brass knuckles Brass knuckles (also referred to as brass knucks, knuckledusters, iron fist and paperweight, among other names) are a melee weapon used primarily in Hand to hand combat, hand-to-hand combat. They are fitted and designed to be worn around the kn ...

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

' ECW Heavyweight Championship 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 to win the match. In the fifth bout, the Tazmaniac was scheduled to team with his mystery partner as he took on

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

( 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 911 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, Tommy Cairo 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 (database), how the table data arrangement is used within the databases * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and column ...

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 chokeslammed 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. and

took on the Public Enemy (

and Rocco Rock) 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. 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 the 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 affect th ...

. 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 Philadelphia Professional wrestling shows in Philadelphia July 1994 in the United States