ECW Barely Legal 1997. It was my wakeup call as to what could and should be done in wrestling. Top to bottom their wasn't a poorly worked match on the card and it was chock full of talent that ended up getting raided by the big two in the succeeding years. Upon my first viewing the event scared the hell out of me as I'd never watched anything as brutal and as honest as this event was. They pulled no punches and made direct references to the competition, which was typically not done in such a ballsy fashion. For once, I as a fan, watched something where I wasn't treated like a clueless fool, but was instead treated as though I knew just what the hell was going on. It made things all the clearer when Russo, Ferarra, and McMahon began lifting the style of this company to rebuild Raw into the successful juggernaut it became.
* Pre-show match: Louie Spicolli defeated Balls Mahoney(5:00)
o Spicolli pinned Mahoney.
* Pre-show match: J.T. Smith and Chris Chetti defeated The FBI (Little Guido and Tommy Rich)
* The Eliminators (John Kronus and Perry Saturn) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray and D-Von) to win the ECW Tag Team Championship(6:11)
o Saturn pinned Buh Buh.
* Rob Van Dam defeated Lance Storm(10:10)
o Van Dam pinned Storm.
o Storm's original opponent was Chris Candido, but Candido was injured.
* The Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada, and Masato Yakushiji defeated bWo Japan (TAKA Michinoku, Terry Boy, and Dick Togo)(16:55)
o Sasuke pinned Michinoku.
o Yakushiji replaced an injured Gran Naniwa.
* Shane Douglas defeated Pitbull #2 to retain the ECW World Television Championship(20:43)
o Douglas pinned Pitbull #2 after a belly-to-belly suplex.
* Taz defeated Sabu(17:49)
o Taz forced Sabu to submit with the Tazmission.
* Terry Funk defeated The Sandman and Stevie Richards in a Three-Way Dance(19:10)
o Funk and Sandman simultaneously pinned Richards after a double powerbomb.(15:43)
o Funk pinned Sandman to earn a shot at the ECW World Heavyweight Championship(19:10)
* Terry Funk defeated Raven to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship(7:20)
o Funk pinned Raven with a roll-up after a DDT from Tommy Dreamer.