On Tuesday, September 18, 2007 at 11:28 PM EST ECW on Sci Fi
September 18, 2007
Atlanta, GA
Commentators: Joey Styles & Tazz
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
Elijah Burke came out here to ‘congratulate’ Punk on his victory in their match at Unforgiven. Burke said though, that Punk got away with one. He said the next time they faced each other, Punk wouldn’t be so lucky.
Kevin Thorn’s music hit and he came out to the ring. Thorn asked him if he heard him right that he said ‘next time’. He said Burke had his chance and blew it. He said it was time for him to step aside and let him have the chance. He said that was the reason he left the New Breed, because Burke never stopped running his mouth. Thorn said he’d better disappear or he’d MAKE him disappear.
Burke attempted a rebuttal but was cut off a little while in by Tommy Dreamer’s music. The ECW icon came down to the ring and will likely make his claim to the title. Burke called him a fossil. Funny stuff. Burke asked him when the last time he won a match, 1997?
Dreamer said unlike these two, he was a former ECW Champion. He said he knew what it took to be champion and he said he wanted that opportunity more than anyone /* in this business. Thorne went to confront him before Stevie Richard’s music hit.
Burke said this must be a joke. He asked who was next Blue Meanie? Dreamer said he knew Stevie forever and he knew how much the title meant to him, but honestly, there wasn’t a question as to whether he was ECW Champ. Richards said because he hadn’t been pinned in a while, he should be the #1 contender.
ECW Dictador Armando Alejandro Estrada came out and cut off the party. He set up an elimination chase between the four. Three men will advance, and one would be eliminated. He called for a referee and the fatal four way match is on.
****Commercial****
Elimination Chase for the #1 Contendership to the ECW Title-- Round 1
Fatal Four Way
Kevin Thorn v. Elijah Burke v. Tommy Dreamer v. Stevie Richards
We started off with a…um…debacle. Thorn was bitch slapping Tommy Dreamer around the ring while Elijah Burke was taking good care of Stevie Richards. Thorn and Dreamer ended up on the outside where Thorn tossed Dreamer into the ring steps.
Stevie Richards wasn’t fairing too well initially but finally was able to connect with some stiff kicks on Burke and regain some sort of semblance of control. Tommy Dreamer shook off Kevin Thorn on the outside and was able to hit a suplex on Richards in the ring before taking care of Burke in the corner with some big right hands.
Tommy repeated the favor with Thorn, but was eventually power bombed on his head by Thorn while Burke was hitting a string of German suplexes on Richards in the middle of the ring. Burke went for a cover, but Richards kicked out. Thorn pounded Dreamer on the ring apron after slamming his arm off the ring post.
Burke went for a splash on the ropes, but Richards avoided him and Burke crashed and burned. The moment of joy was short-lived though as Thorn hit a nasty sit out gut buster. The big moves kept coming as Burke pounded Dreamer with his catapult elbow in the corner.
Thorn hit Richards with a ton of lariats before plucky Stevie came back with a ton of kicks. Tons of everything it seems. Burke hit a sit out drop kick on Richards, keeping him out of contention. Dreamer hit a roll up for a two count before tossing Burke to the outside. Dreamer and Richards exchanged about 20 roll up attempts before Dreamer dumped him to the floor with a clothesline.
Dreamer turned around only to get nailed with a jaw breaker but HE was rolled up by Burke. Burke tried to form an alliance but that didn’t work out too well and Thorn started pounding away on him but got caught with a nasty Burke uppercut.
Burke called for the Elijah Express while Stevie and Thorn brawled outside. Burke launched himself over the top rope but was caught by Richards and Thorn. They went to do something dastardly until Tommy Dreamer recovered and launched himself over the top ropes, taking everyone out. What a mess.
****Commercial****
Dreamer hit a sit out power bomb, but nothing was doing on the cover attempt for him. Richards nailed a kick and went for a pin fall, but he only got a two count. Richards sling shotted Dreamer off the bottom rope for another near fall before Burke cut him off and hit a scoop slam.
Burke pummeled Richards on the mat while Thorn worked over Dreamer. Thorn I think, is bored and wants to go home so he uncorks a VICIOUS torture rack sit out back breaker on Burke for a two count. Holy cow. Thorn found himself pounced upon by Tommy Dreamer and in a not fun Texas Cloverleaf. Burke interrupted briefly but ate a Dreamer clothesline.
Thorn went for the crucifix bomb, but at a Stevie kick in the face for a two count. Burke hit a DDT and then called for this to be it and mounted the top rope. Dreamer cut him off and went for a suplex, but Richards knocked him off the ropes and to the floor. Richards looked for the super pled but Kevin Thorn interrupted the party and we have a BIG SPOT~ with a power bomb super plex. Yay.
Dreamer hit a frog splash on Richards but Thorn yanked him off and dumped him to the floor. He hopped on the already covering Burke and they kept Stevie pinned to the mat.
Winner: Elijah Burke via pin fall
STEVIE RICHARDS has been eliminated from the title chase
Big Daddy V is taking on Boogeyman in the main event later tonight!
****Commercial****
Elijah Burke came across ECW World Champion CM Punk in the back. Burke gushed about his big win and how he was going to win the belt. Punk smirked at him and wished him luck. Burke stopped him and said last week Punk said Luck was for losers. Punk said that was exactly why he said it.
The Miz came out to the ring with the Expose Girls. He says because we can’t get girls this hot on our own, that he’d GIVE them to us. The girls did their little dance. Balls Mahoney’s music hit and he’s on his way out to the ring.
Balls Mahoney v. Mike Knox
The two circled it up and here we go.
Balls hit some punches and grabbed a headlock before Knox tossed him into the buckles and nailed him with a drop kick. Knox hit a leg drop for a two count but Balls managed to kick out.
Knox went to a rear chin lock but Balls rallied back only to get nailed with a lariat. Knox went for another lariat and connected before going right back to the rear chin lock. Balls again rallied before Knox cut the fun off with an Irish whip. Balls countered and then went to town with the Balls punches, flooring Knox.
Knox missed a bicycle kick and hit a sit out power bomb for the win.
Winner: Balls Mahoney via pin fall
****Commercial****
A video putting over the Unforgiven Pay Per View from Sunday aired.
A second video putting over the Big Daddy V-Boogeyman feud aired. It was pretty incredible.
****Commercial****
Big Daddy V v. The Boogeyman
The two monsters did their monster mating calls in the middle of the ring before V murdered Boogeyman with a plus-sized lariat. He went for Boogey’s worms, but Boogey hit a good ole stinger splash on him.
Boogey mounted some offense but ate another clothesline and found himself on the ring apron. Boogey regained his wits and looked to go after Matt Striker but V cut him off and slammed him into the guard rail before slapping his nipples off with a chop.
V tossed Boogey into the ring steps like a lawn dart before the big man brought him into the ring and stood on him. V laid in a vice grip on the mat and this is a really fun face-pulling spot.
Boogey let the crowd rally him but V kept clubbing away at him. Boogey shimmied and danced his way back into the match and hit some punches before looking something funny. V almost hit a fall away slam but Boogey sneaked out and went for a choke bomb. Nothing there though and V knocked him into the corner and then knocked him out with an avalanche.
V hit and big tilt a whirl slam before dropping a freaking huge elbow for the win.
Winner: Big Daddy V via pin fall
V slapped his man boobies as we went off the air.ECW Round UpShow Thoughts-- Honestly, there’s not a heck of a lot to say. This is just a super-well booked, fun-ass wrestling show almost every week. Plain and simple.
I know a lot of people might have difficulty getting Viscera’s past gimmicks out of their head, but man oh man, have they really played to this guy’s strengths in every way and created a HELL of a monster. Viscera does what he does in the ring, and has never been a move factory or a shining example of ring psychology, but face it, the guy can work and whoever they have working with him now deserves an employee of the year award. The guy’s the coolest monster in forever.
What I like about him is that EVERYTHING he does comes across like it’s a big deal, and on the rare occasions it isn’t, Styles and Tazz make it sound like it is. Boogey was a perfect first push for this guy and this guy is a shining example of an average worker looking great because of a great team working with him and a willingness to improve. To hell with flips and arm bars. Give me Big Daddy V slappin’ a bitch.
The mid card is great in ECW too. The Balls-Kelly-Miz thing is great not because of any memorable promos, great matches or anything you’d normally mark for, but in the sense that it just fundamentally is something that every nerd who watches the show can identify with: wanting the girl you could never have. Miz plays the douche well, Kelly Kelly has been AWESOME as the confused object of affection and Balls is a flat out good actor. The whole thing works.
And Burke, Dreamer, Thorn and Richards put on a super-fun Fatal Four way tonight. Thorn showed some signs of real personality which was refreshing. I’d REALLY like to see them turn him baby face as the brand, and in all actuality the WWE as a whole, really needs a bad ass. Thorn delivered in that respect tonight. Dreamer plays his role well and dammit, Stevie Richards just rules in the underdog thing right now. He’s JUST unbelievable yet good enough to make me buy him having a shot at winning most matches despite being a whipping boy for years. Burke does his cocky thing well.
The card as a whole is beginning to take shape. Morrison, Punk and Big Daddy V seem to be emerging as the defacto guys to beat while there’s a ton of parody in the mid card. Fans are beginning to react to Burke, Richards, Dreamer and Thorn. Bottom line is this show is just a boat load of fun, which is what wrestling should be. It’s like a quickie variety show every week. You get a great match, some soap opera, some crazy characters and it’s all fun. ECW’s turned the corner.
Overall Grade: B+
Quick Results
Elijah Burke def. Stevie Richards, Kevin Thorn & Tommy Dreamer
Balls Mahoney def. Mike Knox
Big Daddy V def. The Boogeyman
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. Tommy Dreamer
2. Balls Mahoney
Most Heat
1. Elijah Burke
2. Big Daddy V
Match of the night: Elijah Burke v. Kevin Thorn v. Tommy Dreamer v. Stevie Richards **1/2
ECW Power Rankings
5 Points= Title Win
4 Points= World Title defense/win
3 Points= Singles PPV Win
2 Points= Tag PPV Win
2 Points= TV Singles Win
1 Point= TV Tag Win
0 Points= Loss
ECW World Champion: CM Punk 12-5, 23 pts. (Last Week: 2) -- Another really strong baby face performance for CM Punk, whose obviously getting over pretty big with the crowd. He’s got a lofty task ahead of him, but from the looks of things, a lot of heels are being moved into place to challenge him in the coming months.
1. Big Daddy V 6-2, 14pts. (Last Week: 1)-- V is my defacto top contender, but I’m glad they’re not really pushing him as such yet. There are tons of bitches to beat yet before we get there and iregardless of when they pull the trigger on it, it’ll work. No rush, no harm, no foul.
2. John Morrison 9-5, 24pts. (Last Week: 2)-- Suspension is reality. But so is the fact that he rules this little world. I’m keeping him here. Suck on that.
3. The Miz 7-2 13pts. (Last Week: 3)-- He’s a greenhorn, but a great douche bag popular guy heel. I dig it. His rooting for Balls disingenuously reeks of Johnny-Danny LaRusso Karate Kid stuff. I’m just waiting for balls to say “I hate this town, I hate this stupid bike!”
4. Elijah Burke 5-9, 9 pts (Last Week: 5)-- Burke’s a mixed bag for me. One week I love him, the next week he’s unspectacular, but he’ll come along. He takes a lot of losses, but it’s usually to strong guys on the roster. He gets big wins here and there too, like tonight, which makes it really difficult to keep him off the list. I’ll move him up because of the win this week.
5. Kevin Thorn 4-4, 7 pts. (Last Week: NR) -- #5 was a tough call. Balls is totally likeable, Stevie plays a bitchin’ underdog but he lost… Boogey’s been stronger overall, but honestly, Thorn’s been consistently good. He cut a good promo tonight (shocker) and held his own in the four way. He gets the nod. He’s gotta break .500 or get a big win though to move up higher.
Others
Balls Mahoney 2-4, 6 pts (Last Week: NR)
Tommy Dreamer 2-10, 3 pts.(Last Week: NR)
Matt Striker 1-2, 2pts. (Last Week: NR)
The Boogeyman 6-3, 11pts. (Last Week: 4)
Mike Knox 1-1, 2 pts. (Last Week: NR)
Rob Van Dam 0-0, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Nunzio 0-3, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Marcus Cor Von 0-2, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Stevie Richards 4-4 8pts (Last Week: NR)