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