Excerpts from Big Apple Blizzard Blast aired on episodes #146 and #147 of the syndicated television show ECW Hardcore TV, while the event was released on VHS in 1996. It was made available for streaming on the WWE Network in 2020.[2] Excerpts from the event also featured on A Current Affair, which had a film crew at ringside.[3] The bout between Juventud Guerrera and Rey Misterio Jr. also appeared on the 2007 DVDRey Mysterio – The Biggest Little Man.[4]
In the opening bout, Taz defeated The Shark Attack Kid in a squash using the Tazmission. Following the match, Taz challenged 911 to come to the ring. ECW commissioner Tod Gordon came out instead of 911, resulting in a brawl between Gordon and Taz's manager Bill Alfonso. After Taz attacked Gordon, Bam Bam Bigelow made his surprise debut, chasing away Taz and Alfonso.[5][6][7]
Sure enough, the crowd was hot when I hit the ring with Mikey to defend the belts. [...] We lost the belts that night, and I turned on poor Mikey, who had just wrestled his heart out - further cementing my new image as a sellout and a scumbag. As a matter of fact, I was showered by chants of "You sold out, you sold out" on my way out of the ring.
The third bout saw ECW World Tag Team ChampionsCactus Jack and Mikey Whipwreck defend their titles against the Eliminators. The match was marked by dissension between Cactus Jack and Whipwreck, with Cactus Jack - who had signed with the World Wrestling Federation and was facetiously championing hardcore wrestling - repeatedly hindering Whipwreck, including blocking him from applying holds. Whipwreck in turn prevented Cactus Jack from using a broken bottle as a weapon. The match ended when Cactus Jack distracted Whipwreck, enabling the Eliminators to perform Total Elimination on him and pin him. After the match, Cactus Jack turned on Whipwreck, giving him a double arm DDT onto a steel chair.[5][6][7]
Following the match, Francine came to the ring and offered to become the manager of the Eliminators. This was revealed to be a trick, with Francine's clients the Pitbulls attacking the Eliminators, delivering a superbomb to Kronus and choking Saturn with a chain before Francine cut his hair off.[5][6][7]
Woman - the Manager of 2 Cold Scorpio and the Sandman - then came to the ring. Woman, who had signed a contract with rival promotion World Championship Wrestling and had already appeared on WCW Monday Nitro, acknowledged that she was joining WCW and tried to convince announcer Joey Styles and ECW mainstay the Sandman to come to WCW with her. After both men declined, Woman refused to leave the building. 2 Cold Scorpio then came to the ring and carried Woman out of the building, depositing her in a limousine and instructing the chauffeur to "take that bitch to Atlanta!" (the headquarters of WCW).[3][6][7]
The sixth bout, which was not included on the VHS, was a tag team match between the Headhunters and the Pitbulls which was won by the Pitbulls.[6]
Paul booked me against RVD and wanted to use the match as our official TV debut. Rob and I had similar styles, similar size, and similar worldwide experience. He'd spent some time overseas and made a name for himself in Japan just as I had. But the match sucked worse than a toothless vampire. We were a step off on everything and there was no sign of the chemistry we'd had the night before. The fans turned on us, chanting "This match sucks," "Please go home", "End this match." Even the dreaded "You fucked up" chant reared its ugly head when I screwed up a simple arm drag.
The seventh bout was a singles match between Chris Jericho and Rob Van Dam. Jericho won the bout by pinfall using a Lionsault.[7] This was Jericho's second match with ECW, and was scheduled to be his first televised match. In what Jericho described as the "Jericho Curse", the match went poorly, with ECW promoter Paul Heyman telling Jericho that the recording of the match was defective as an excuse for not airing it.[10][11] In 2018, WWE - which acquired the footage following the closure of ECW - added the match to the WWE Network.[12]
The eighth bout was a singles match between Buh Buh Ray Dudley and J.T. Smith. Dudley won the bout in under one minute, pinning Smith following a powerbomb.[3][6]
