Reported by David Stephens of WrestleView.com
On Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 11:05 PM EST

ECW on Sci-Fi
Laredo, TX
October 21st 2008
Commentators: Matt Striker & Todd Grisham
Report by: David Stephens of WrestleView.com

Welcome back! All of my midterms are now behind me, which means it is time to shake, rattle, and roll our way to ECW on Sci-Fi! The best show theme in all of the WWE Universe lights up the audio board, followed by some extreme pyro. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s do this!

Tony Chimel is in the ring and he introduces the ECW Champion Matt Hardy. Matt comes down and begins to talk about how we are only 5 days away from Cyber Sunday. He says that Mark Henry has made it quite clear that wants a shot at Hardy’s belt. Matt knows the WWE won’t vote in Mark because they hate him, so he pulls out his phone to vote for Henry. Before he gets the chance, an Irish jig plays over the speakers.

Finlay & Hornswoggle make their way down to the ring. Finlay puts over the fact that they both got drafted to ECW at the same time and they’ve fought each other but never for the title, and that needs to change. Evan Bourne’s music hits and the crowd is going crazy!

Evan has a mic, which is different. Bourne says he doesn’t want to be overlooked and Finlay calls him small. Finlay refers to him as “Bourneswoggle” and says you should have to outweigh the title by 5 pounds to have a shot at it. Evan says that Finlay may have the jokes, but he is going to have the votes to compete at No Mercy.

Mark Henry has had about enough of this, so he decides to saunter his way out to the entrance ramp. Tony Atlas tags along. Mark wants to fight, and also lets us in on tonight’s main event triple threat match of Finlay v. Bourne v. Henry. The crowd is destroying Mark Henry with chants of “What?”. Matt Hardy promises that no matter who is opponent is he will walk out champion!

****Commercial****

Jack Swagger v. Brett Baderly

Swagger has switched his ring gear to a singlet this week. Poor Brett Baderly. Swagger starts things off with a swinging leg take down, and then backs Brett into a corner. Brett tries to slap him, which results in getting slammed into the corner and then chucked up into the air and landing in the middle of the ring. Brett manages a kick, but Swagger nails him with a knee lift. Swagger hits the Blue Thunder Bomb, and this match is over.

Winner via Blue Thunder Bomb: Jack Swagger

Todd Grisham apparently thinks talking to Swagger is a good idea, so he is in the ring him. Todd asks him why he is going after Dreamer, and what is going to happen when they collide? Jack only says two words: “Tommy who?”.

In the back surfer girl is with the Miz & Morrison. Mizmo puts over their case to fight against Cryme Tyme at Cyber Sunday.

Up Next: Miz v. Shad!

****Commercial****

Fantastic, my computer crashed. I apologize for not having coverage for this match.

WWE.com:
Shad def. The Miz (Disqualification)
Despite Shad's brute force and size advantage over The Miz, "The Dirt Sheet" host held his own against his "Word Up" nemesis. However, when The Miz’s co-host, John Morrison, kicked Shad in the back, the referee immediately called for the bell and ruled the match a disqualification.

****Commercial****

In the back Tiffany is costumed as a disco dancer and is talking to Ricky Ortiz. Finlay and Hornswoggle comes up to them. ‘swoggle is apparently trick or treating so Tiffany knocks on Long’s door and out comes Teddy dressed as Shaft. Afro and mustache to boot. Hornswoggle keeps demanding more and more candy. Long calls him a bad mother— and Tiffany cuts him off.

****Commercial****

Finlay w/ Hornswoggle v. Evan Bourne v. Mark Henry

After going through all of the suggestions I received, Finlay’s “buttplant” is hereby renamed the “Pot of Gold” and I will not be typing that juvenile sounding move name in my recap again.

Henry starts by backing Finlay into a corner and Bourne comes up from behind to try and get in some shots. Finlay and Bourne may be trying to gang up on Mark Henry, but they are not succeeding at least in the offset here. Henry has Finlay and Bourne in separate corners and is going between the two, taking his time. Henry lifts up Bourne and charges with him to splash into Finlay. Henry is kicking both men as they are down.

Finlay gets in a kick and tries to hit a crossbody from the second rope but is caught and slammed down to the mat. Bourne is able to dodge Henry and pull down the rope which sends Mark to the outside. Finlay is not going to be playing face friendly tonight and goes for a quick cover on the high flyer. Bourne kicks out and is met with a European uppercut and is slammed neck first into the top rope. Finlay whips Bourne into the corner and then spears him in the gut. Bourne is able to counter a slam attempt and connects with a hurricarana to send Finlay into Henry who was attempting to get back into the ring. Bourne tries for a cover, but only gets two.

Bourne is on the outside now, and Finlay and Henry start to take slugs at one another. Bourne comes flying out of nowhere and leap-frogs over Finlay to catch Henry’s head between his legs. Mark will have none of that and throws Bourne off, which results in Evan flipping over and taking Finlay out moonsault style and going for the cover! Henry breaks up the pin attempt. Henry takes out both of his opponents with a double clothesline.

****Commercial****

We come back and Henry has Finlay in the corner and is chopping and punching the Irishman. Henry locks on a chin lock. Bourne breaks it up and starts punching at Henry but is leveled with a head butt. Finlay manages to counter a Henry slam attempt and lays him out on the mat. Finlay hits the Pot of Gold! Bourne and Finlay hit stereo baseball slides into Mark Henry sending him out of the ring.

Finlay immediately turns to Bourne and hits him with a lateral press, but the pin attempt fails. Finlay hits Bourne with a backbreaker and lifts him up again slamming him into the bottom rope! Finlay goes for the cover, but Bourne kicks out. Finlay hits the Celtic Cross but Mark Henry makes it back into the ring and breaks it up! Finlay is whipped into the ropes but jumps onto Henry’s back wrapping his legs around Mark’s arm. Henry is now standing up with an arm bar locked in by Finlay who is suspended behind him in the air. Evan Bourne now jumps up on Henry’s front to lock on the same move and Henry is sandwiched! Henry falls forward and hits the World’s Strongest Slam with the added weight of Finlay on his back! Henry goes for the cover, but Bourne’s shoulder is up.

Henry gets Finlay in the corner and is working on his head. Henry attempts a spear but hits the steel post with his shoulder. Finlay tries to hit a DDT, but it doesn’t fully connect and Henry kicks out. Finlay walks into an elbow from Henry and is then chucked hard into the opposite corner. There is some sort of distraction on the outside as Tony Atlas throws Hornswoggle into the ring. Henry lifts up ‘swoggle for the World’s Strongest Slam but Finlay takes out his knee from behind. Finlay grabs the Irish Foreign Object and connects with Henry’s skull.

Evan Bourne comes flying off the top rope and connects with his knees around Finlay’s head which drags him down to the mat. Next he runs over to the turnbuckle and Evan Bourne is going up! Evan Bourne hits the Shooting Star Press on Mark Henry and he gets the pinfall! Evan Bourne wins! Evan Bourne pins Mark Henry!

Winner via Shooting Star Press: Evan Bourne

Who will face Matt Hardy at Cyber Sunday? The Decision is yours!

ECW Thoughts

Wow the ending of the main event really had my blood pumping. Matches like these make ECW just an absolute blast every week. Hats off to you, Evan Bourne. I would be very surprised to not see Evan Bourne voted in for this matchup. I personally am tired of Mark Henry, and Finlay just isn’t going to put on the same kind of excitement that the high flyer can produce. I’m glad Bourne won tonight because I am sick of Finlay winning by using a weapon. Evan Bourne is my pick for the PPV, and you know what? I hope he wins. ECW would be uprooted in the same way it was when John Morrison won the title on that fateful night at the Vengeance PPV.

Be sure to send me your Cyber Sunday predictions and thoughts this week! Some of the matches are really bizarre this year. In particular this tag team situation, I have to look it up to remember which tag teams are eligible to fight who.

I really enjoy the fact that even though Todd Grisham is a commentator on ECW that they still have him do backstage segments on RAW and at PPVs. Is there no one /*?

Jack Swagger is in a good position in the company right now. Having him work his first real feud against Tommy Dreamer is a smart move, and I’m sure the veteran will do good work with the All-American American. I would’ve liked to see Dreamer on the show tonight though. What can I say, I miss him.

I’m not trying to sound like a poor college student, but really, does anybody /* think having to pay an extra 99 cents per vote on top of whatever your phone carrier charges already, is a bit ridiculous? Is the WWE trying to make it their goal to get as few votes as possible? Also I bet some poor chap gets yelled at by his parents for having an extra 10 bucks on the phone bill because he didn’t realize it would cost money. I’m just saying I much preferred the online voting option of years past.

WWE and the Recession?

I need some help from you guys on this one. My economics professor has asked us to see how the possibility of the US being in a recession right now is affecting people’s lives. In particular I’m interested in how it affects your ability to enjoy the WWE. Any input is valuable, and you may even see this expanded into a full column. Whether it is one less WWE DVD you buy, skipping a live event, not ordering a PPV, how is the economy affecting your ability to enjoy professional wrestling?

Power Rankings

3 Month Rolling Rankings; ECW Title Win 5, ECW Title Loss 4, ECW Win 3, ECW Loss 2, ECW Appearance 1, PPV Title Win 10, PPV Title Loss 8, PPV Win 6, PPV Loss 4, PPV Appearance 2.

July 22nd – October 21st 2008

1. Matt Hardy – 60 pts. [l.w. 1]
2. Mark Henry – 53 pts. [l.w. 2]
3. Finlay – 40 pts. [l.w. 4]
4. The Miz – 38 pts. [l.w. 3]
5. Evan Bourne – 32 pts. [l.w. 6]
6. John Morrison – 31 pts. [l.w. 5]
7. Chavo Guerrero – 24 pts. [l.w. 8]
8. Tommy Dreamer – 22pts. [l.w. 6]
9. Ricky Ortiz – 21 pts. [l.w. 9]
10. Mike Knox – 19 pts. [l.w. 9]

jugglernextdoor@gmail.com

-David Stephens

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