Background: Following an altercation between The Network’s Cyrus and the face & owner of ECW in Paul Heyman, ECW World Television champion Rhino used his Gore finisher to spear Heyman through a table. This disgraceful action caused fans to riot and the locker room to empty until Kid Kash made his way out and started a fight with Rhino with “The Man Beast’s” title on the line.
ECW on TNN
New York, NY
August 26, 2000
Rhino vs. Kid Kash
The ECW wrestlers literally bodysurfed Kid Kash into Rhino’s clutches during the ringside brawl. Suddenly, The Sandman’s music hit, bringing out the man who had the biggest problem with Rhino during that time (The Sandman’s wife was Gored through a table by Rhino). The crowd was going crazy as The Sandman and Rhino confronted each other once again. Ducking a wild clothesline, The Sandman unleashed not one, but six shots to the champion’s head with his infamous Singapore cane. When The Sandman turned around to pose, Rhino exploded with his Gore to take him down.
The fight rolled to floor with everyone else still brawling when Kid Kash sailed off the top rope somersault plancha everyone off their feet. Rhino and Kash reentered the ring, only for Kash to get Gored, too. Before Rhino could complete his finishing sequence, Rob Van Dam’s music hit. RVD, who had to forfeit the TV title due to a leg injury, was ready to take on the handpicked champion of The Network. Tossing a chair at Rhino, RVD hit his Van Daminator to put “The Man Beast” in position for the Van Terminator (before it was Shane McMahon’s “Coast to Coast”). Van Dam demanded Kash go to the top rope as he did the same. RVD and Kash came crashing down on the prone body of Rhino with a Five-Star Frog Splash-guillotine leg drop double team. The challenger immediately went for the pin … to become the new ECW World Television champion!
Winner: Kid Kash (4:43)
Is It A Classic: While nothing close to a classic match from a wrestling perspective, this was a bona fide spectacle of epic proportions. From interference that made sense to the wild brawl to the big moment of Kash finally winning a title in ECW after being pegged as someone with limitless potential to the question being left as to whether or not Kash could do it on his own (leaving room for a rematch), this was one of the last and sadly forgotten bright spots in the legacy of the original ECW.
