Heat Wave: Rage in the Cage! was the second

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 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 Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...

(ECW). The event took place on July 15, 1995 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. Excerpts from then event aired on episode #117 of the syndicated television show ''

ECW Hardcore TV ''ECW Hardcore TV'' is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by the Philadelphia based promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) composed of footage from live shows and recorded interviews. It ran in syndi ...

'' on July 18, 1995. Eight professional wrestling matches were contested at the event. The

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

was a

steel cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

, in which

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

( 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 ...

) squared off against

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), ...

(

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 willingn ...

and Mustafa). A notable event took place after the steel cage match between

Stevie Richards Michael Stephen Manna (born October 9, 1971), better known by his ring name Stevie Richards, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and media personality. Since June 2024, Richards has hosted ''#The Stevie Richard ...

and

Luna Vachon Gertrude Elizabeth Vachon (; January 12, 1962 – August 27, 2010) was an American-Canadian professional wrestler, better known as Luna Vachon.Lisa S. Davis,Ex-wrestler Luna Vachon, 48, found dead", ''Tampa Bay Online'' (August 31, 2010). Over th ...

, which saw

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 ...

handcuff

Raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

to the cage and break a

folding chair A folding chair is a type of folding furniture, a light, portable chair that folds flat or to a smaller size. Many modern styles of folding chairs can be stored in a stack, in a row, or on a cart. They may be combined with a folding table. Us ...

over his head in what was described as "the

chair shot Strikes can be 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. Professiona ...

heard around the world".

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 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''.

(

and

Mustafa Saed Jamal Mustafa (born Terrance Ladd Blalock; September 30, 1963), better known by his ring name Mustafa Saed, is an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Smoky Mountain Wrestling and Extre ...

) debuted in ECW at ''

Barbed Wire, Hoodies & Chokeslams Barbed Wire, Hoodies & Chokeslams was a professional wrestling house show, live event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) on June 17, 1995. The event was held in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. Exce ...

'', where they attacked

( Rocco Rock and

) after their scheduled

World Tag Team Championship In professional wrestling, a championship or title is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations. Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in predetermined rival ...

defense against

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 Wrestlin ...

(

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 ...

) was cancelled by Bill Alfonso. 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. The footag ...

, Public Enemy defeated Gangstas in a tag team match. This led to a rematch between the two teams at Heat Wave. At Hardcore Heaven, Axl Rotten defeated Ian Rotten in a Taipei Deathmatch to end the feud between the two. Later that night, The Sandman successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Cactus Jack. On the July 4 episode of ''Hardcore TV'', it was announced that Sandman would defend the title against Rotten at Heat Wave. At Barbed Wire, Hoodies and Chokeslams,

abandoned

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) to confront

and Beulah McGillicutty due to McGillicutty's fight against Richards' admirer

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 ...

during a

handicap match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

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

2 Cold Scorpio Charles Bernard Scaggs (born October 25, 1965) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name 2 Cold Scorpio. He gained fame for his performances in professional wrestling promotions such as World Championship Wrestling (WCW ...

, which cost Pitbulls, the match. At Hardcore Heaven, Pitbulls lost again, this time to the debuting

Dudley Brothers The Dudley Brothers were a professional wrestling stable active in Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1995 and 1999. The gimmick of the group was that, despite their obvious differences in physical appearance and race, the members were all s ...

( Dudley Dudley and

Snot Dudley Anthony LoMonaco (born June 21, 1970) is an American professional wrestler, currently wrestling on the independent circuit under the ring name Anthony Michaels. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling as a member ...

) due to Raven once again abandoning them at ringside due to the issue between Richards, Francine and Beulah. Later that night, Pitbulls showed up after Raven and Richards retained the

against

and

. Raven ordered Pitbulls to superbomb Luna to which Pitbulls refused and then Raven and Richards humiliated them by shoving

apple pie An apple pie is a pie in which the principal filling is apples. Apple pie is often served with whipped cream, ice cream ("apple pie à la mode"), custard or cheddar cheese. It is generally double-crusted, with pastry both above and below the ...

in their faces and hitting them with chair and then Pitbulls retaliated by attacking Raven and Richards, thus quitting

Raven's Nest Raven's Nest was a professional wrestling stable led by Raven that was present in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) between 1995 and 1997. Later, Raven created other incarnations of the group in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) such as The ...

and

turn To turn is to rotate, either continuously like a wheel turns on its axle, or in a finite motion changing an object's orientation. Turn may also refer to: Sports and games * Turn (game), a segment of a game * Turn (poker), the fourth of five co ...

ing

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 ...

s and siding with Dreamer against his feud with Raven and Dudley Brothers, leading to Raven and Dudleys taking on Dreamer and Pitbulls at Heat Wave. At Hardcore Heaven, Taz defeated 2 Cold Scorpio but Bill Alfonso overturned the decision due to Scorpio's foot on the bottom rope and then Scorpio 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 leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

by hitting Taz in the back with a steel chair and pinning him to win the match with Alfonso counting the pinfall. On the July 11 episode of ''Hardcore TV'', it was announced that Taz would team with

Eddie Guerrero Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes (October 9, 1967 – November 13, 2005) was an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenures in WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and World Championship Wrestling ...

to take on Scorpio and

Dean Malenko Dean Shelly Simon (born August 4, 1960), better known by the ring name Dean Malenko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a senior producer. He is best known for his time in the World Wres ...

in a tag team match at Heat Wave.

Event

The opening bout was a singles match between Mike Norman 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. He is best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where he was an ECW Triple C ...

. Whipwreck won the match by

pinfall In professional wrestling, a pin is a move where a wrestler holds an opponent's shoulders to the mat in an attempt to score a fall. A pinfall is a common victory condition, where the attacker pins an opponent and the referee makes a three count ...

following a ''

FrankenMikey Aerial techniques, also known as "high-flying moves" are performance techniques used in professional wrestling for simulated assault on opponents. The techniques involve jumping from the ring's posts and ropes, demonstrating the speed and agility o ...

''. The second bout was a

tag team match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "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 storyline. ...

in which

and

defended the

ECW World Tag Team Championship The ECW World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It was introduced in National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate and ECW precursor, Eastern Championship Wrestli ...

against Don E. Allen and

Tony Stetson Anthony Matteo (born March 21, 1959) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Hitman" Tony Stetson. He is best known for his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) during the 1990s. Stetson was one of ECW's i ...

. The match ended when Beulah McGillicutty began fighting with Richards' admirer

, which distracted Raven and Richards enough for the two to leave the ring to break it up and getting counted out, thus retaining the title. The third bout was a singles match between

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 Val Puccio. The match ended when Puccio attempted to execute an

elbow drop Strikes can be 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 ...

on Meyers, who avoided it and pinned Puccio for the win. The fourth bout was 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 ...

pitting

and

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 ...

against Raven, Dudley Dudley, and

. The match ended when the Pitbulls delivered superbombs to Richards and Snot to get the win. The fifth bout was a tag team match pitting

and

against

and

. The match ended when Paul E. Dangerously hit a cell phone on Scorpio's head while Scorpio had climbed up the top rope, leaving him vulnerable for Taz, who hit a '' Tazplex'' on Scorpio for the victory. However, Bill Alfonso overturned the decision and let the match continue due to Dangerously's interference. This distracted Taz enough for Scorpio to superkick him while Malenko gave a sitout powerbomb to Guerrero, then Scorpio and Malenko pinned Taz and Guerrero simultaneously to win the match. After the match, Alfonso and Dangerously confronted each other and Rob Feinstein intervened until

911 911, 9/11 or Nine Eleven may refer to: Dates * AD 911 * 911 BC * September 11 ** The 2001 September 11 attacks on the United States by al-Qaeda, commonly referred to as 9/11 ** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that ousted the ...

came and

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 powerf ...

med Feinstein. The sixth bout saw the Sandman defend the

ECW World Heavyweight Championship The ECW World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship originally used in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and later, WWE, World Wrestling Ent ...

against

. After a back and forth action, Sandman hit a '' Bitchin' Leg Drop'' on Rotten and pinned him to retain the title. The penultimate match of the event was an intergender

between

and Stevie Richards. Vachon applied a testicular claw on Richards to make him submit. After the match, Tommy Dreamer

handcuff Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists in proximity to each other. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each cuff has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet t ...

ed Raven to the cage and smashed a steel chair on his head, thus breaking it. It had such an impact that it was considered "the

heard around the world." The main event was a steel cage match in which

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

(

and Rocco Rock) took on

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), ...

( Mustafa and

). Rock executed a

moonsault A moonsault, moonsault press, or back flip splash is a Professional wrestling aerial techniques, professional wrestling aerial technique. It was innovated by Mando Guerrero. Much of its popularity in both Puroresu, Japanese and professional wrestl ...

from the cage onto Jack onto a stack of

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 ...

s and then Mustafa sprayed something in Grunge's eyes and pinned him for the win.

Reception

''Heat Wave'' received negative reviews from critics, although many appreciated Tommy Dreamer's chair shot on Raven as the true incident of the show that was worth watching. Matt Peddycord of ''Wrestling Recaps'' stated "Clearly the only match worth seeing is the Guerrero/Malenko tag match. If you dig the Dreamer/Raven stuff, the cage match is MUST-SEE VIEWING. The addition of the Pitbulls/Dudleys brawling is really fun too. Slight thumbs in the middle for Heat Wave 1995." Scott Keith of ''411Mania'' wrote "this was the Raven v. Tommy show, which provided for some entertaining segments, although the wrestling sucked", with "Mild recommendation to avoid unless you’ve never seen the Chairshot Heard Round the World."

Aftermath

The alliance of Tommy Dreamer and The Pitbulls continued their feud with Raven's Nest and Dudley Brothers after Heat Wave as Raven threatened to destroy the Pitbulls due to Pitbulls betraying him. On the July 25 episode of ''Hardcore TV'', Raven's Nest attacked Pitbulls after their match until Luna Vachon and Dreamer made the save. Dreamer and Pitbulls teamed with Cactus Jack to take on Raven, Richards and the Dudley Brothers at Wrestlepalooza. The Gangstas and Public Enemy continued their feud as the two teams competed in a stretcher match at Wrestlepalooza. Eddie Guerrero and Taz competed against 2 Cold Scorpio and Dean Malenko in a Heat Wave rematch on the July 25 episode of ''Hardcore TV'', which Guerrero and Taz won. During the match, Taz injured his neck which put him out of action for several months. A week later on ''Hardcore TV'', Guerrero lost the World Television Championship to Malenko. On the August 1 ''Hardcore TV'', Mikey Whipwreck became the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship by winning a

battle royal Battle royal (, also battle royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules, where the winner is the one who registers the most wins. In recent times, the term has been ...

and received a title shot against The Sandman later in the night but failed to win the title. The two began a feud over the title and faced each other in a non-title match at Wrestlepalooza.

Results

References

External links

* {{ECWPPV, Heat Wave 1995 in professional wrestling 1995 in sports in Pennsylvania Professional wrestling shows in Philadelphia July 1995 in the United States Heat Wave

Storylines

Event

Reception

Aftermath

Results

See also

References

External links