On Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 11:40 PM EST ECW on Sci Fi
June 5, 2007
Orlando, FL
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
A video aired putting over Bobby Lashley’s ECW World Championship winning victory over Mr. McMahon this past Sunday at One Night Stand. The opening credits hit and here we go.
As soon as we started the show, we saw Mr. McMahon in a rocking chair on a podium near the ring entrance. He was listless and staring into space. The NEW ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley’s music hit and he came out to the ring for his match.
Handicapped Extreme Rules Match
Bobby Lashley v. Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman & Balls Mahoney
All three originals jumped Lashley with road signs and ran him out of the ring. Lashley came back into the ring and tried to figure out who to go after and elected to chase Sandman but the other two quickly jumped him and chased him out of the ring again.
Lashley hit the ring a second time and this time got clocked with a trash can and mugged by the Originals. Dreamer loaded Lashley up for a suplex to the outside but the ECW Champion reversed it and suplexed Dreamer into the ring. Lashley chased after Balls Mahoney and hit a clothesline but was quickly caned by Sandman who was joined by Tommy Dreamer. Together, they suplexed the champion onto the floor.
Lashley managed to fling Tommy Dreamer into the ring steps but was jumped again by Mahoney and Sandman. The two hung him up on the top rope before Sandman mounted the ropes and flew off with a leg drop across the back of Lashley’s head. Tommy Dreamer didn’t want to be left out and lined up the chair on the hung upside down Lashley and connected with the drop kick to the face.
Dreamer signaled for Sandman to get the tables. Dreamer held Lashley up for a chair shot but Lashley ducked and Mahoney cracked Dreamer. He recovered quickly and connected with Lashley before he lined his head up in the chair and looked for a leg drop. Lashley got up and caught the Sandman and drove him through the table he just brought into the ring. Lashley speared Mahoney shortly thereafter and scored the victory.
Winner: Lashley via pin fall
After the match Lashley went over to McMahon and threw it in his face a little bit. McMahon just rocked back and forth and stared blankly off into space.
****Commercial****
Stevie Richards v. Kevin Thorn
Thorn quickly backed Richards into the corner and began laying it in with some punches and bots to the gut. Thorn whipped Richards off the ropes but Richards ducked under and was able to connect with a few strikes and even managed to toss Thorn to the outside. The momentum didn’t last long though, as Thorn picked up Richards and dropped him on his face on the guardrail.
Back in the ring, Thorn laid the boots to Richards before connecting with a big clothesline before slapping on a nasty looking rear chin lock. The hold evolved into a side headlock as Thorn used his body weight to maintain the advantage. Thorn tossed Richards to the corner before picking him up and dropping him throat first across the top rope. Thorn went right back to the rear chin lock before choking Richards out on the mat for fun.
Thorn slammed Richards into the corner and hit some more strikes before jaw jacking with the referee. The distraction let Richards get some shots in and mount a little bit of a comeback. Richards connected with lefts and a few clotheslines and hit a nice drop kick into the middle rope before getting a two count on the cover attempt.
Richards charged the dazed Thorn but got absolutely killed with a baldo bomb. Thorn looked for Original Sin before Richards wiggled out and went to the corner to look for something of the high risk nature. Thorn cut him off and murdered him with Original Sin for the 1, 2, 3.
Winner: Kevin Thorn via pin fall
****Commercial****
Extreme Expose aired.
A video putting over the Randy Orton attack on RVD after their match at ONS aired.
****Commercial****
The New Breed v. The Major Brothers
Cor Von and Bryan started things off and Bryan connected with some impressive chops before tagging in brother Brett who connected with an arm drag and grabbed a quick arm wringer and a quick tag to Bryan who came flying off the top rope with an axe handle.
Cor Von tossed Bryan aside and tagged in Elijah Burke who found himself getting stuck in a myriad of hip tosses and arm bars from both Major Bros. Bryan looked for a leap frog variation of a move and Burke killed him with a clothesline.
Cor Von tagged in and began landing some nasty looking stomps before chasing off the other brother. Cor Von hit a nice whip before Cor Von flattened his foe with a shoulder block and a slam. Burke tagged back in and hit a huge catapult elbow before torking the neck with a rear chin lock. The crowd rallied the Major Bros but Burke cut them off.
The Alpha Male tagged right back in and landed a nasty kick to the back and grabbed a reverse bear hug on Brett in the middle of the ring. Cor Von connected with a nice knee lift before going for a cover but only getting a two count. Cor Von tagged in Burke who slapped on an abdominal stretch. Brett caught a hip toss and was able to tag in his brother Bryan who connected with a brutal flying forearm.
Major connected with a spine buster that got a two count. Bryan got a roll up but Cor Von caught a blind tag and came bounding in and connected with a big boot to Major’s face. He gathered the youngster and flung him off the rope before killing him with the pounce for the win.
Winners: The New Breed via pin fall
****Commercial****
CM Punk v. Matt Striker
Striker came to the ring saying that Striker would make everyone look up to him instead of Punk and show Punk that he’d indeed be ‘his teacher’.
The two played with their hands before finally locking up. Striker got a go behind before Punk reversed the hold. Striker hit a knee to the gut before getting laid out with a wheel kick. Punk hit a nasty kick to Striker’s back before going for a cover. Punk casually followed Striker to the corner and hit an Irish whip and then followed it up with a running forearm to the face. Striker hit a back elbow on the second whip attempt and managed to gain an advantage with a clothesline to the back of Punk’s head.
Punk fired back with some leg kicks before Striker connected with a back suplex. Striker his a suplex and assumed full control of the match. Striker stomped away on Punk and looked for a half Boston crab but Punk fought him off. Striker pressed his advantage however and his persistence paid off as he was able to hit a body slam and briefly slapped on the half crab before Punk rolled out a bit and grabbed an inside cradle for a two count.
Striker kicked out and immediately went for a full crab this time. He let go of the hold quickly to hit a body splash before going right back to the hold rather inexplicably. Punk writhed in pain on the mat while the crowd attempted to rally him. Punk fought to his feet and hit some forearms before picking Striker up on his shoulders. Striker fought out of Go 2 Sleep and hit that swinging suspended neck breaker. Striker got a two count on the cover and went right back to the single leg boston crab.
Punk reached the ropes and the hold was broken. Striker went to look for the hold again but Punk almost rolled him up. Punk hit his victory sequence and then flattened Striker with a bunch of strikes before kicking Striker in the face with some kicks. Punk hyped up the crowd before connecting with the stiff knee to the face and the running bulldog combo. Punk signaled for GTS but Striker fought out again. Punk reversed a neck breaker attempt and loaded up Striker for Go 2 Sleep and connected. Three seconds later, that was all she wrote.
Winner: CM Punk via pin fallECW Round UpShow Thoughts-- I have to admit, I’m a little disappointed by tonight’s ECW on one hand, but find myself wondering what /* I’d have expected. This was total clean up before the draft. I’m not really sure what the point of the McMahon silliness in the beginning was, but really, I should’ve been grateful because that was the only real direction anything seemed to have tonight. They just sort of threw some matches together and left the rest to our imagination I guess.
ECW, since they hit with the New Breed, has gone from consistently bad to day and night and we went from a solid show last week to a pretty bad one this week. The last two matches were absolutely dreadful. The Lashley-Originals match was just sort of ‘there’. The only action of the night that was halfway decent was shockingly the Kevin Thorne match. It’s not the hype from the commentators that is subconsciously drawing me to Thorne, it’s the fact that this guy blew so badly three years ago and for most of last year and seems to be really turning things around in short order. Good to see hard work pay off.
As for the draft, look for ECW to begin to build more of a main event scene. I know a lot of people have speculated Rey Mysterio and Chris Benoit coming over, I don’t think we’ll see either guy until ECW gets a second hour of TV. Everyone’s right to say they’re great picks and fits for the brand, but honestly, it’s all about the dollars and don’t expect the WWE to waste their second or third largest draw on Smackdown on a show that runs one hour. I’m expecting to see WWE take the plunge and make Umaga a full time member of the ECW roster. In addition, look for one of the Hardy Boys to end up here and in the main event scene to keep whomever isn’t feuding with Lashley busy as well as potentially elevate Elijah Burke and or Marcus Cor Von if need be. The heel pick will likely be Carlito or Chris Masters. Both guys have been back burner on Raw for a while and expect both to get a change of scenery. Fans are familiar enough with Carlito that they might buy an upper mid card push for him on ECW.
As far as whose skipping town, I think the mid card will loose some depth. CM Punk is really a poster boy for the brand in a way, but he’s way too good a talent to waste trying to get over on ECW. While I don’t see him ending up on Raw, I DO see him heading to Smackdown. Each brand needs something. ECW needs general roster depth, Raw needs some fresh faces and Smackdown needs a mid card. I think Punk will likely go over to Smackdown to free up guys like Finlay, Mark Henry, MVP and Chris Benoit to give WWE Creative some more flexibility. I expect either Masters or Carlito to head there with him in addition to Santino Marella. Kevin Thorn is looking strong and they seem to want us to pay attention so I’ll expect to see him get plucked for Smackdown as well.
In terms of other guys who may go to the ‘extreme’ in the next week; look for Chavo Guererro to maybe get drafted to add some punch and experience to the mid card. If he goes, expect to see the majority of the CW’s follow him over from Smackdown in the post-draft trade fest. Super Crazy could be another guy that ends up on ECW as well.
Regardless, the draft will really help this brand continue to build on itself. It won’t really get top or even second billing until it gets a second hour, but until then, I think they’ll take some strong steps next week with the draft.
Overall Grade: D
Quick Results
Lashley def. Balls Mahoney, The Sandman & Tommy Dreamer
Kevin Thorn def. Stevie Richards
The New Breed def. The Major Brothers
CM Punk def. Matt Striker
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. Lashley
2. CM Punk
3. The Originals
Most Heat
1. Mr. McMahon
2. Kevin Thorne
3. Elijah Burke
Match of the night: Kevin Thorne v. Steven Richards *3/4