Hardcore Heaven (1996) was the third Hardcore Heaven professional wrestling event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). The event was a supercard that took place on June 22, 1996, in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Ten professional wrestling matches were contested on the card. In the main event, Sabu defeated Rob Van Dam in their third singles encounter after trading wins in highly acclaimed matches earlier in the year. On the undercard, Tommy Dreamer defeated Brian Lee in a weapons match, Raven defeated Terry Gordy to retain the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, Chris Jericho defeated Pitbull #2 to capture the ECW World Television Championship, marking Jericho's first championship win in the United States, and Taz faced mixed martial artist Paul Varelans in a bout, which was promoted as being a legitimate contest. The match has been described as "at least partly a shoot".
Excerpts from Hardcore Heaven aired on episodes #166, #167, and #168 of the syndicated television show ECW Hardcore TV on June 25, July 2, and July 9, 1996.
Storylines
The event featured wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, 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 Rob Van Dam in their first ever singles match against each other. The match was very well received by the audience, who gave a standing ovation to both competitors and Sabu helped RVD to get off his feet and offered a handshake but RVD disrespected him by refusing the handshake. The two men fought in a rematch at A Matter of Respect, where RVD defeated Sabu and insulted him after the match. On the June 11 episode of Hardcore TV, it was announced that Sabu would face RVD in a third match at Hardcore Heaven.
At Fight the Power, Taz defeated Muay Thai fighter Jason Helton in a shoot fight to get a quick submission victory and then Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial artist Paul Varelans made his ECW debut and accepted Taz's open challenge for a fight. Taz insulted Varelans and the two nearly got involved into a brawl until referees separated the two. On the June 11 episode of Hardcore TV, a contract was signed for a match between Taz and Varelans at Hardcore Heaven.
At Hostile City Showdown, Tommy Dreamer lost to Raven's newest associate Brian Lee in a match after interference by The Bruise Brothers (Don Bruise and Ron Bruise). The feud continued as Dreamer and Lee competed in six-man tag team matches with different partners. On the June 11 episode of Hardcore TV, it was announced during the Hype Central segment that Dreamer would compete against Lee in a weapons match at Hardcore Heaven.
At A Matter of Respect, Shane Douglas defeated 2 Cold Scorpio to win the World Television Championship. Douglas was scheduled to defend the title against Scorpio at Fight the Power but Scorpio was hospitalized due to fever and then he defeated El Puerto Riqueño, Don E. Allen, Devon Storm and Mikey Whipwreck in a quick succession until he insulted Pitbull #2, who along with a bunch of wrestlers was carrying away the defeated wrestlers. Douglas also insulted Pitbull's valet Francine, who slapped Douglas and he retaliated by hitting her with a belly-to-back suplex. Pitbull then defeated Douglas in an impromptu match to win the title. On the June 18 episode of Hardcore TV, it was announced that Pitbull #2 would defend the title against Chris Jericho and Douglas would face Mikey Whipwreck at Hardcore Heaven.
At Fight the Power, The Samoan Gangsta Party (Matty Smalls and Sammy the Silk) made their ECW debut during The Eliminators' (John Kronus and Perry Saturn) World Tag Team Championship defense against The Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa Saed) and attacked Gangstas, thus costing them the title shot. On the June 18 episode of Hardcore TV, it was announced that Gangstas would receive another title shot against Eliminators at Hardcore Heaven, which would be their last chance at the titles. It was also announced on the same episode that Samoan Gangsta Party would make their in-ring debut at the event.
Event
Preliminary matches
In the opening match, Shane Douglas took on Mikey Whipwreck. After a back and forth contest, Douglas executed a belly-to-belly suplex for the win. After the match, Stevie Richards impersonated Baron von Raschke as "Baron von Stevie" and The Blue Meanie impersonated Goldust as "Bluedust" in an in-ring interview with Joey Styles.