ECW on Sci-Fi
April 7th 2009
Commentators: Josh Matthews & Matt Striker
Reported by: David Stephens of WrestleView.com
Are you ready? Then stop questioning your heart and join me, because it’s time for ECW!
Adam Lambert is the man! Simon Cowell just gave him a standing ovation; I don?t think that has ever happened before! Sorry, I was watching American Idol right before ECW came on, alright let’s do this.
We start off with none other than Teddy Long himself in the ring. He puts over the start of the road to Wrestlemania 26! He plugs the upcoming draft THIS Monday on RAW! He announces that since Vicki Guerrero is no longer the General Manager of Smackdown the position is vacant and Teddy Long has once again been appointed the General Manager of Smackdown! Furthermore he introduces his replacement and former assistant ? Tiffany!
As Tiffany makes her way down to the ring I?m greeted by a voice I have only heard in my fantasies in recent memory. Could it be? Yes! Josh Matthews has joined the broadcast booth on ECW! Whether this is for one night only or a permanent replacement with commentator shuffling I don?t care. Tonight I get to relive my adolescent joys of staying up on Saturday nights to catch a glimpse of Paul London on Velocity. Those matches were of course voiced by Josh Matthews! Today is truly a great day.
Tiffany is on the mic and begins to thank the fans, but before she can get anywhere Jack Swagger’s music hits. Swaggs congratulates Tiffany and then informs her that there is a different set of rules for dealing with Jack. Tiffany is surprisingly good on the stick and thanks Jack for his advice, but she is going to do what is best for the WWE Universe. I?d like to point out that Swagger is wearing a nice suit. Tiffany announces that Mark Henry, Finlay, Tommy Dreamer and Christian will be participating in a four way elimination tournament starting tonight!
Teddy Long says ?oh snap? ? and I hear Josh’s voice as he puts over the Six Man Tag Match between The Colon Brothers & Evan Bourne v. MizMo & Tyson Kidd.
****Commercial****
The Miz, John Morrison & Tyson Kidd w/ Natalya v. Evan Bourne, Carlito & Primo
For those unaware Primo & Carlito won the unification match at Wrestlemania which was not featured on the PPV. Carlito and Miz start things off with Carlito getting backed into the corner as the ref breaks the hold. Miz hits a couple of strong punches but Carlito springboards off the ropes and hits an elbow. Primo gets the tag as Carlito drops Miz with a drop toe hold and Primo gives him a headbutt. Miz is still struggling as Primo shows some agility as he gives a nice double legdrop to Miz’s gut. Primo jumps for a kick but it is a fake as Carlito hits his from a foot away. Tyson gets tagged in to the match.
Tyson’s stay is very brief as he drops Carlito to the mat and then tags in Morrison. Carlito is in the middle of the ring and gets caught with a devastating running knee to the head. Somehow the Caribbean star manages to kick out. Morrison locks in a side headlock. Carlito breaks the hold and tries to get to his corner but Morrison drags him home and tags in Miz. Miz attempts a quick cover but Carlito kicks out.
Miz tags in Tyson who immediately goes to work with a set of strong kicks. Tyson tags in John Morrison who applies another headlock to try and restrain Carlito but Carlito tags in Evan Bourne. Morrison runs to the corner but Bourne hits a hurricarana! He sidesteps a whip and then does another hurricarana to throw Morrison over the top rope! Miz and Tyson run at Bourne on the outside but Evan ducks and slides back into the ring!
****Commercial****
We come back with Evan Bourne on the ground and he looks to be in pain as Morrison hits a European Uppercut before tagging in Miz who hits Bourne with his signature splash in the corner. Miz tags in Tyson Kidd. Tyson applies a knee to the back of Evan’s back and he is writhing in pain. Kidd hits a snapmare and then a strong kick.
Miz is tagged back into the ring and he follows Tyson’s strategy of attacking the back. Miz locks in a pressured knee of his own and then lays into him with a slew of punches. Miz starts wrenching on Bourne’s back again and Evan is screaming like he is giving birth. The crowd is fully behind him, and he goes for a sliding pin!
Evan’s luck gets no better as Tyson is tagged in for a quick kick attack before tagging Miz back in again. The crowd is really pouring the heat on Miz right now as he goes to the corner and tags in his partner. Bourne manages to apply a shoulder block to Morrison to keep him from entering the ring and the crowd is going insane! Evan is crawling back to his corner and the crowd is urging him on with a cacophony of cheers. Morrison tags in Tyson who runs in to try and stop Bourne. The crowd is deafening as Bourne reaches out for the tag! The tag is made and in comes Primo! The crowd goes dead.
Literally the crowd went from a rushing wave of excitement for Bourne to tag in Carlito to a dead reaction when Primo was the one tagged. Well that was interesting. Nonetheless Primo is in the ring and Tyson is whipped into the ropes. Primo does a cartwheel and touches his toes for some unknown reason and then hits a dropkick. Primo goes for a cover but Miz kicks out. Miz manages to tag in Tyson. Everybody seems to hit the ring and bodies are flowing over the ropes.
Tyson is on the apron and goes for his springboard elbow on Primo, but Primo rolls out of the way. Primo hits the backstabber! Instead of going for the cover he tags in Evan Bourne who goes to the top rope. Here it comes ? Shooting Star Press. This match is over!
Winners via Shooting Star Press: Primo, Carlito & Evan Bourne
****Commercial****
Hall of Fame Ceremony Video Package
Wrestlemania Video Package
****Commercial****
Mark Henry w/ Tony Atlas v. Finlay w/ Hornswoggle v. Tommy Dreamer v. Christian
In what is sure to be an orgy of violence, this match gets started! Christian is wearing the battle wounds of the Money in the Bank Ladder match with a black eye. This is an elimination rules match, so whoever is pinned is eliminated from the quest for the belt and the remaining three will fight next week.
Mark Henry’s strength and dominance are at the forefront for the start of this match as the competitors find themselves being tossed like ragdolls all over the ring by the World’s Strongest Man. We go to commercial as Henry stands alone in the ring and lets out a deafening roar.
****Commercial****
We come back and Mark Henry is standing on top of Tommy Dreamer. Finlay and Christian attack him and then all three men get together to try and take out the big man. They huddle together and hit a huge suplex on Mark Henry! The kick him out of the ring and then throw Henry’s head into the steps.
Finlay and Tommy are back in the ring and Finlay hits an inverted Samoan Drop. Finlay goes for the cover but Dreamer quickly kicks out. Tommy lifts Finlay up to the top rope and starts laying in to him with some punches. Christian come in from behind and starts to punch Dreamer. Tommy manages to lift him up on his shoulders and it looks like Finlay and Dreamer may be going for the Road Warriors? Doomsday Device! As Finlay jumps Christian manages to flip down and hit a quick roll up. Finlay breaks the fall.
Dreamer slides out to the apron as Finlay hits an inverted Samoan drop on Christian. Finlay is thwarted with the pin attempt so he hits a European Uppercut. Christian kicks out yet again. Finlay throws Christian into the corner and lifts him up for the Celtic Cross but Christian counters it into a pin attempt. Finlay kicks out and Christian rolls out of the ring. Dreamer comes in from nowhere and sets Finlay up in the tree of woe and hits is ECW style dropkick.
Mark Henry runs in from nowhere and hits a huge clothesline on Dreamer. Christian leaps from the top rope to take him out with a crossbody. Henry kicks out of the pin attempt and then Dreamer tries to hit his DDT on Christian, but Captain Charisma counters out of it. Mark Henry leaps at the corner and splashes Christian. Dreamer takes out the leg of Henry as well as Atlas. Henry regains his feet and lifts up Tommy for the World’s Strongest Slam! Finlay comes in with the Irish Foreign Object and nails Henry. Finlay goes for the cover and Mark Henry is eliminated from the title hunt!
Winners: Finlay, Christian & Tommy Dreamer
ECW Thoughts
I?m honestly incredibly happy that I got to enjoy Josh Matthews on commentary. I really hope that they work him in somewhere during or after the draft because the kid has talent. Some may say it doesn?t take all that much to get me excited, but this definitely sent me soaring.
I?m not going to be discussing Wrestlemania in this recap because quite frankly it didn?t apply all that much to ECW as a brand. Sure we had wrestlers in the Money in the Bank ladder match but they didn?t win so I?m not going to dwell. I did however type up a column’s worth of thoughts about the show so be sure to read ?That’s A Wrap? when it is posted on WrestleView tomorrow! I?m also not going to be somebody that continues to moan and complain that the ECW Title wasn?t on the card. Tiffany announced a Title match at Backlash so it is time to get excited and focused on that.
I was pleasantly surprised by Tiffany on the mic. I have no idea if it is a one night thing with a new GM being appointed after the Draft but I really wouldn?t mind if she stayed. Besides I?m always in favor of having divas featured on the show.
The opening bout was a fun one and it really cemented the fact that Evan Bourne may truly be one of the most over guys in all of the WWE. If he isn?t, then his Shooting Star Press surely is. The crowd was screaming for him throughout the match ? a gut instinct tells me that we probably won?t get to keep him and that he is getting drafted away, but there is still hope.
Speaking of the draft I really don?t see the point in speculating over who will be getting sent to such and such a show. With the way Vince has been running things recently, I?d be shocked if anyone could correctly predict 5 Superstar moves. I?m just going to do what I love ? watch and enjoy.
The main event was a decent match, though certainly nothing to write home about. I?m actually really glad that they got Mark Henry out of the Title picture because he is starting to drain on me a bit. I?m not dissing his talent because he has come a really long way and has improved by leaps and bounds on ECW. I just want a different flavor for awhile.
To all of the Superstars that will no longer be with ECW when we air next week I send out a heartfelt thanks for making the past year an abundantly enjoyable one. I know that I may seem like a broken record but I really feel that ECW has the best wrestling nearly every week. These are the Superstars that made it happen ? so thank you.
Tomorrow’s column is an interesting one so be sure to read it! Send me your thoughts and join us on Facebook!
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.
January 6th 2008 ? April 7th 2009
1. Jack Swagger ? 48 pts. [l.w. 1]2. Finlay ? 42 pts. [l.w. 2]3. Mark Henry ? 33 pts. [l.w. 3]4. Christian ? 27 pts. [l.w. 8]5. John Morrison ? 22 pts. [l.w. 4]6. The Miz ? 21 pts. [l.w. 5]7. Paul Burchill ? 20 pts. [l.w. 6]
8. Tommy Dreamer ? 23 pts. [l.w. 7]9. Hornswoggle ? 16 pts. [l.w.10]10. Tyson Kidd ? 16 pts. [l.w. NA]
Look for ?That’s a Wrap? on WrestleView Wednesday!
So that’s 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.