It’s hard for me to believe, but somehow today marks the 14th anniversary of the original ECW’s first venture into the Pay-Per View market with their Barely Legal event which emanated from the one and only ECW Arena. FOURTEEN years? Really? Man, I’m getting old.

From top to bottom the event read like an ECW fan’s dream card.

I remember how excited I was in the months leading up to the show. The build for the Taz versus Sabu match was a year in the making. How could you not be hyped up for that one? These guys went from tag team partners to heated rivals. There was legit bad blood between the two, which made for an amazing match that night.

It was great to see a “middle-aged and crazy” Terry Funk defeat The Sandman and Stevie Richards, to the go on and defeat Raven to capture the ECW World Championship.

So many great memories and it feels like it wasn’t all that long ago. Somehow though, it’s been 14 years. Like many of you, ECW profoundly impacted my life and I’ll always have a special place it in my heart.

Here’s full results from Philadelphia, PA on April 13, 1997:

Louie Spicolli pinned Balls Mahoney (5:00).
JT Smith & Chris Chetti beat Little Guido & Tommy Rich.
The Eliminators beat Buh Buh Ray & D-Von Dudley (6:11) to win the ECW Tag Title when Saturn pinned Buh Buh.
Rob Van Dam pinned Lance Storm (10:10).
Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada, & Masato Yakushiji beat Taka Michinoku, Terry Boy, & Dick Togo (16:55) when Sasuke pinned Michinoku.
ECW TV Champion, Shane Douglas pinned Pitbull #2 (20:43).
Taz beat Sabu (17:49) via submission.
Terry Funk beat Sandman and Stevie Richards (19:10) in a “three way dance.”
Funk and Sandman pinned Richards (15:43).
Funk pinned Sandman (19:10).
Terry Funk pinned Raven (7:20) to win the ECW Title.