Reported by David Stephens of WrestleView.com
On Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 1:30 AM EST

ECW on Sci-Fi
Manchester, NH
December 30th 2008
Commentators: Matt Striker & Todd Grisham
Report by: David Stephens of WrestleView.com

Are you ready? Then stop questioning your heart because it is time for the final ECW of 2008!

Tonight’s show is kicking off hotter than the sun’s surface during a solar flare; it is time for a LIVE Dirt Sheet! Miz and Morrison are in the ring and they begin their usual ego inflating introductions. They say they are making history because tonight they bought everyone in attendance a new car! Oh wait, turns out they aren’t giving the audience new cars they are giving them something even better – the Dirt Sheet!

Miz and Morrison start discussing their goals for the New Year, and it turns out they both want the same thing: to go to and win the 2009 Royal Rumble. They bicker with each other for a moment, but then quickly move on to mock some fellow Superstars. Highlights of Superstars goals for the new year [as decided by Miz & Morrison]:

Evan Bourne – to move out of his mother’s basement
John Cena – to take acting lessons so that his next movie isn’t as terrible as the Marine [the crowd booed this but seriously did any of them actually watch it? Did ANYBODY for that matter?]
Batista – start wearing a helmet to the ring so that he doesn’t get a concussion all the time
HHH – buy a family sized nasal douche
Finlay – stop wearing tighty-whities so that his next son isn’t a deformed leprechaun

They continue to heckle Hornswoggle which he apparently does not take kindly too. Finlay comes out trying to hold back his son. Apparently ‘swoggle has something to say: completely unintelligible garble comes out of his mouth. Finlay says what he said was *punch* as Finlay starts to lay out Morrison. Miz jumps in and starts attacking Finlay. Hornswoggle gets out of the ring and tries to hide under it. Miz attempts to go after him, but The Boogeyman arises and scares them away! According to our commentators, the reasoning is that they must live together under the ring.

****Commercial****

Mark Henry w/ Tony Atlas v. Matt Hardy

This is a match we have seen many times before, but the previous encounters have been an enjoyable part of 2008, so why not cap the year off with this feud. Mark Henry has the clear power advantage at the start as he throws Matt down several times. It seems that Matt wants to do a test of strength and lock up with Henry, but instead Hardy kicks Henry straight in the gut. Hardy goes bouncing off the ropes and Henry lays him out with a big boot to the face. Henry locks Hardy’s arm up in the ropes before the hold is broken by the referee. The crowd is behind the ECW Champion, but Henry is repeatedly beating him down. Matt gets in a fist from the second rope, but Henry lays him out.

Henry has Hardy in a chin lock, but Hardy is able to kick out of the hold. Henry picks Hardy up and holds him over his head but Matt manages to scurry out of the way. Tony Atlas provides the brief distraction that allows Henry to get in a cheap shot on Hardy. Henry goes for the cover, but the ECW Champion is able to get his foot up on the ropes for the break.

****Commercial****

We come back and Hardy is still struggling. All throughout the commercial break we are told that Henry has been dominating Hardy. Hardy is by the ropes, and Mark Henry stands on top of Hardy and Matt visibly spits up. Things are not looking good for Matt as Henry wheelbarrows his throat into the ropes. Hardy tries to sneak in a roll up but there is no way he can counter Henry’s weight. Henry jumps up in order to plant down on the Champion, but Matt rolls out of the way as Henry lands hard!

Matt jumps up to the second rope and hits his EPIC elbow followed up by a Side-Effect! Henry is able to kick out. Hardy is looking for the Twist of Fate, but Tony Atlas jumps up on the apron to distract him. Henry is able to counter the finisher attempt, but as Hardy is pushed back, Jack Swagger comes out of nowhere and hits his Blue Thunder Bomb on the Champion.

Winner via DQ: Matt Hardy

Mark Henry is not at all happy about this outcome, so he picks up Hardy and hits the World’s Strongest Slam. Jack Swagger cockily stares down Henry from the entrance ramp.

****Commercial****

Paul Burchill w/ Katie Lea v. DJ Gabriel w/ Alicia Fox

Burchill was introduced as no nonsense but I can’t help but remember him as a pirate. DJ has yet to be beaten, but this is definitely his hardest matchup to date. Burchill is sent down to the mat first and DJ dances a bit. Burchill is not going to tolerate this as he tears Gabriel apart. Paul continuously stomps on Gabriel and hits some knees. Gabriel gets a nice bounce off the ropes, but Paul sends him down and tries for a quick pin, DJ kicks out.

DJ is briefly locked up in a submission, and Paul drops a few knees. DJ Gabriel is trying to get up, but gets hit with a vertical suplex. Burchill locks in a rear head lock. DJ manages to punch his way out and hits a nice European uppercut. Burchill is wheel barrowed into the top turnbuckle and hits hard. DJ looks to be in control, but Paul is able to bounce back and knock down DJ. Gabriel counters a move from Burchill and manages a huge shoulder drop. Gabriel tries to get up to the second rope but Burchill seems to have scouted the undefeated dancer and knocks him off the ropes. Burchill tries for a cover, but DJ rolls through to turn it into a cover of his own!

Winner via Roll-Up: DJ Gabriel

****Commercial****

In the back we see The Boogeyman singing ‘Rock-a-bye-baby’ to a worm before eating it. Hornswoggle is running around in frustration. Just for that segment of The Boogeyman laughing and singing, I’m declaring myself a fan.

Raw Rebound features HBK

****Commercial****

No Disqualification Match
The Boogeyman & Finlay w/ Hornswoggle v. Miz & Morrison

I have no idea why there is someone in the corner at the start of this match since it is no DQ. Finlay and Miz are in the ring to start it off and Miz is bounced off the ropes and hit with a shoulder block. Hornswoggle sneaks into the ring and lays down on the mat allowing Finlay to push Miz back and trip him. Morrison isn’t going to take this idly so he jumps in the ring but gets decked by Finlay. With both members of MizMo on the mat, the father and son Irishmen hit stereo Pot o’ Golds! MizMo rolls out of the ring and Boogeyman hits a double clothesline. Miz and Morrison run to the other side of the ring, but The Boogeyman goes under the ring and crawls over and tries to pull Miz under. Morrison is able to keep his partner from going under but both get hit with a suicide dive from Hornswoggle!

Hornswoggle seems really angry, wow. Finlay is over with his son and jumps up on the apron to get back in the ring but has his leg taken out from under him, hard. MizMo get in some shots and then Miz rolls him back into the ring. Miz has Finlay in a side headlock and then follows this up with a couple quick clotheslines and stomps. Morrison gets tagged in from Miz. Morrison continues the attack on Finlay’s midsection with a sequence of stomps and punches. Miz gets in some cheap shots from the outside but it is all legal at this point.

Miz is tagged in and whips Finlay hard into the corner. Miz follows this up with a clothesline splash. Miz gets some heat from the crowd as he continues with the punches. Morrison is tagged in and springboards over the ropes and goes for a pin. Boogeyman comes in for the save. Finlay seems to have found his momentum and cleans house on both Morrison and the Miz. Morrison sees a window of opportunity and goes for a quick roll-up and gets the pin!

Winners via Roll-Up: The Miz & John Morrison

After the match, The Boogeyman isn’t too thrilled and gets some shots in on Miz. Finlay hits a Celtic cross on John Morrison. Team MizMo makes their way up to the ramp. Finlay grabs three kids from the ringside and they all go into the ring and dance with Finlay and Hornswoggle.

ECW Thoughts

Well, I for one enjoyed tonight’s show. Sometimes when I’m done ECW I have no thoughts but tonight I have a few to share. Let’s start with the first match – great storytelling in this one. I was a bit off-put at first by the thought of yet another Hardy/Henry match, but this one actually served a purpose. Bringing Jack Swagger into the fold at the end continues not only the Hardy/Swagger feud but ignites a flame for a potential Swagger/Henry feud for the #1 Contenders slot. This is a great way to gradually push Swagger up to the Championship match slot without making it seem like they are stalling him in any way. If he can somehow get some solid mic chops, then I will look forward to his shot with the title if that day comes.

I want to briefly compliment our Slammy Award winning commentators: Matt Striker and Todd Grisham. Since this is the end of 2008 I really to thank them for the job they do week after week. When I started recapping this show it was under the voices of Mike Adamle & Tazz. I for one was a big Adamle fan for no apparent reason, but the two of them were just terrible on ECW. Tazz was the color commentator so I’ll give him some slack but he really could have covered for Adamle on numerous times where he did not. Their oft refusal to call moves by name was infuriating and frustrating for my recapping ease. Special thanks to Striker & Grisham for making this job just a little bit easier.

Did anybody /* really enjoy the arena that the event was hosted in tonight? There was something a little bit different about the design that made it stand out a little bit. I enjoyed the visual change, but that’s probably just me.

I do have some beef with the main event that was featured on the show. I am really good at suspending my disbelief when I watch professional wrestling. Even though it’s all planned out I have no problem letting myself get into the drama of the match and rooting for the guy I want to win. While I chuckle about the absurdity of it all, while I’m watching the product I have no problem believing in the kayfabe storylines. It is fun and entertainment; I have no problem with that. But I did have a problem with tonight’s main event.

There was absolutely no reason whatsoever that I can come up with that justifies The Boogeyman standing idly in the corner while Finlay was hit with the roll-up from John Morrison. First of all, there is no reason for him to not have run in for the save as he had done just moments before. The Miz was on the outside so there was no one to block his entry. Most importantly it was a NO DQ match so there is no reason he was on the apron in the first place. This was just a dumb match type in my opinion. If you are going to make a Tag Match No DQ then it should automatically become a Tornado Tag Match.

Well that’s going to be all for ECW for the year 2008, have a great and safe New Year’s Eve and Day!

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.

September 30th 2008 – December 30th 2008

1. Matt Hardy – 57 pts. [l.w. 1]
2. Mark Henry – 50 pts. [l.w. 2]
3. Finlay – 38 pts. [l.w. 3]
4. John Morrison – 38 pts. [l.w. 4]
5. The Miz – 35 pts. [l.w. 5]
6. Jack Swagger – 30 pts. [l.w. 6]
7. Tony Atlas – 19 pts. [l.w. 8]
8. Evan Bourne – 18 pts. [l.w. 7]
9. Tommy Dreamer – 15 pts. [l.w. 9]
10. Hornswoggle – 15 pts. [l.w.NA]

So about ECW…. Love it? Hate it? Disagree with everything I said? Just want to chat wrestling? I’m always up for reading your thoughts so send them over to me at jugglernextdoor@gmail.com.

-David Stephens

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