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The big news obviously was the surprise appearance of TNA's Bully Ray, who attacked Dreamer and Terry Funk at the close of the show. That led to a series of events where Spike Dudley tried and failed to make the save, then Devon hit the ring, only to join and attack Dreamer before The Sandman made his grand entrance...only to fail and be beaten down as well. This not done as a retro ECW angle, but was done to help promote the TNA PPV taping on 12/30. Since HOH's school is also located in the Mid-Hudson Civic Center, it was a chance to help the company's home venue and raise HOH's own awareness via TNA mentioning the company.
The show closing angle was, I believe, also exclusively for the live house as a way to create the feeling that "anything could happen" at HOH and give the fans who came to the live event something extra as a reward they weren't expecting. So, if you were thinking this was all meant to be some big ECW reunion show angle, that wasn't what it was meant to be at all.
Bully Ray was covertly brought into the venue during the show so there was no chance of fans seeing him. Whether he's going to return to work HOH down the line, I have no idea.
The Ray angle also gave everyone a chance to work one last time with Terry Funk as this was his last scheduled booking as a wrestler for the time being (possibly ever, but does anyone REALLY believe that?) - and as far as Dreamer was concerned, the last time they would ever wrestle together as a team. Dreamer noted after the show that he got "caught up in the moment" as Funk came to the ring, knowing it was the end of an era that began in 1995 for him. You can see that moment at this link.
The main event tag went home a few minutes early due to Sean Waltman getting busted open by Terry Funk during an airplane ladder spin. Waltman called the audible. He received ten stitches and was OK after the match, although he was feeling sick immediately after the bout.
After he was done wrestling, Lance Storm rushed to the sound engineer's position to give the engineer cues for all the post-main event angles.
It's pretty much confirmed Beulah McGuillicuty suffered a concussion during the main event when landed hard taking a bump.
Former ECW Producer Ron Buffone was backstage visiting as the show.
With so many ECW alums on the same show, a lot of the guys brought their families and children with them to the show, so there really was a "High school reunion" feel in the back.
A number of CZW talents, including DJ Hyde, Matt Tremont and Rory Mondo were also at the show as HOH utilized their ring. I was told there were a few WWE office types at the show as well, but I'm not aware of who.
Tony Devito was working as an agent at the show. Devito, who has a heart condition where his heart will skip a beat if he takes a bump, still worked the Extreme Rumble, although did so in a way that was completely safe. He actually asked to be added at the last minute.
The Extreme Rumble was put on the show as a way to give some of the House of Hardcore Academy students some ring time. The feeling after the bout was that it went too long and may have burned the crowd out.
The Young Bucks, Paul London and Brian Kendrick will be back here in the future. Kendrick and the Bucks were booked for a New Japan tour that ended on 11/9 and with the travel, never could have made it to New York in time for the show.
As of now, the current plan is for the next HOH to take place sometime in the first quarter of 2014, allowing the market to cool down a big after HOH and TNA would have run in consecutive months.
Velvet Sky, Ted DiBiase Sr. and Jr. were also at the show, signing before the live event.
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