ECW on SyFy
Miami, FL
July 14th 2009
Commentators: Josh Mathews & 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 the ECW on Sci-Fi!
The show kicks off with a video recap of the Christian/Kozlov match from last week in which Christian became the #1 Contender for the ECW Championship. We head to the opening video and pyro as I invite you all to join me, David Stephens, for this exciting week of ECW!
Christian v. Shelton Benjamin
The two lock up and back themselves into the corner, where the referee breaks them up. Christian gets behind Shelton, but Benjamin reverses and takes Christian down to the mat. Shelton locks on a front headlock that he converts into a side headlock. Shelton heads to the ropes and after a couple of quick dodges is met with a spinning heel kick to the skull. Christian attempts a monkey flip, but Shelton lands on his feet and goes for a quick roll up, but Christian kicks out.
Christian is whipped into the turnbuckle, but dodges a forearm, leaping off of the second turnbuckle for a spinning European uppercut. Christian heads to the top rope, but Kozlov’s music hits! Kozlov appears on the top of the entrance ramp catching Christian’s attention. Shelton takes the opportunity to kick Christian in the face, off the turnbuckle, and to the outside! Kozlov heads to the commentator’s booth as we go to commercial.
****Commercial****
We come back and Shelton is in the middle of the ring wrenching on Christian’s arm. Kozlov is sitting with Mathews and Striker. Christian bounces off the rope and is hit with a clothesline. Shelton grabs Christian’s arm and heads to the turnbuckle where he pulls it down on the top rope. Shelton heads back into the ring and mounts Christian to continue working on the arm. Shelton lifts him up and hits a simple slam to attempt a pin. Christian kicks out.
Christian has a burst of energy and begins laying into Shelton with a series of lefts and rights that send him to the mat. Shelton attempts a spinning heel kick, but Christian dodges and Shelton lands on the second rope. Christian leaps on top of him applying pressure to Shelton’s back via his feet by pulling on the top rope. Christian swings himself back into the ring and heads to the turnbuckle where he hits a spinning DDT. Shelton is dazed but manages to kick out.
Christian shelves Shelton with a neck breaker and then heads to the rope rope looking for the Frog Splash. Shelton leaps to the top rope! He pulls Christian off in an arm bar to land firmly on his shoulder and arm. Christian is reeling with pain as Shelton slams him shoulder first into the steel turnbuckle. Shelton hits pay dirt, and gets the pinfall!
Winner via Pay Dirt: Shelton Benjamin
We see a video recap of Ezekiel Jackson’s debut match from ECW last week.
In the back Zeke is being interviewed by Gregory Helms. Jackson says that he made sure he made the most impactful debut possible, because you only get one attempt at a first impression. Helms asks if he is ready to step out of the shadow of The Brian Kendrick. Zeke scoffs at the notion of Kendrick being able to cast a shadow. Jackson is here to dominate and head straight to the top!
****Commercial****
Did You Know? Last month over 100 million photos of WWE Divas were viewed on WWE.com
Paul Burchill w/ Katie Lea v. Yoshi Tatsu
The two quickly lock up and Burchill pounds into him with a couple of knees to the gut and punches to the face. The crowd is already firmly behind Yoshi with the chants starting early. Paul aggressively brings him down to the mat for a slam and attempts a pin. Yoshi kicks out. Burchill is not pleased as he locks on a headlock. Yoshi rolls out and actually goes for a school boy – but Paul kicks out.
Burchill responds by leaping into the air and landing on Yoshi with his back to knock the wind out of Yoshi’s lungs. Burchill then swoops behind the Japanese Superstar for a rear headlock. Yoshi is able to use a contained power burst to break free from the hold. Tatsu then hits a series of kicks and heads out to the apron. Yoshi goes for a springboard move, but slips off the ropes. Burchill quickly grabs him for a back drop and goes for the pin. The referee doesn?t count as he protests that Yoshi’s arm is under the ropes. Burchill is furious and gets up to argue. Yoshi seizes the opportunity to hit a karate kick to face!
Winner via Karate KO: Yoshi Tatsu
****Commercial****
In the back Tyler Rex is with Tiffany. They put over his matches on Superstars and the two flirt a bit. Rex suggests that he makes his ECW debut next week. Tiffany gives him a look up and down and seems to be in favor.
Goldust v. Zach Ryder
Striker puts over the fact that Goldust has held 18 Titles in this industry. The two lock up and Goldust backs him into the corner. Ryder starts shouting and asking him if he is serious. Goldust hits him with a few arm drags. Zach is able to knock him down to the mat, but quickly finds himself whipped into the rope. Goldust hits his signature ?butt butt?. Gold heads to the top turnbuckle, but Ryder counters by knocking him off to the outside!
Goldust is able to get back in the ring where Ryder attempts a pin, but Dust kicks out. Ryder then goes for a rear headlock hoping to suffocate the latex swaddled superstar. Goldust hits a scoop slam and both men are on the mat. Before the ten count can expire, they are able to get to their feet. Dust goes bouncing off the ropes, slips under Ryder, and punches him in the face. Goldust heads to the second rope and hits a Bionic elbow! He goes for the cover, but Ryder kicks out. Zach spins Gold around and hits the Zach Attack out of nowhere!
Winner via the Power of Woo Woo Woo: Zach Ryder
****Commercial****
Video recap of Seth Green on RAW last night
****Commercial****
Video recap of the Hurricane saving a girl backstage last week.
Sheamus v. Roman Cornell
Sheamus is off to a strong start by backing his opponent into the turnbuckle. He smashes him with his fists utilizing the full five count. The referee backs them up and Cornell gets in a punch. Sheamus responds by kick him square in the face. Sheamus picks him up for his backbreaker, and this match is over.
Winner via Back Breaker: Sheamus
Up next: Dreamer v. Kozlov!
****Commercial****
Video recap of Kozlov v. Christian from last week
Next Week the Abraham Washington show will return featuring Dreamer and Christian talking about their Night of Champions match!
Tommy Dreamer v. Kozlov
The match is starting at 10:59pm, interesting. Kozlov jumps behind him and Dreamer attempts a couple of elbows to break free. Kozlov trips him and sends him down to the mat. Kozlov looks to drop an elbow, but Tommy rolls out of the way. Dreamer looks to lock him up, but gets hit in the gut and backed into the corner. Dreamer returns with some offense to knock Kozlov to the ground. Dreamer heads to the top rope, but nothing comes of it.
Kozlov hits a nice side body drop, but Dreamer kicks out. Kozlov takes the opportunity for a series of head butts. Dreamer slides out of the ring, and Kozlov goes out after him. Kozlov attempts a strong kick on Dreamer, but instead his foot meets the steel post! They both get back in the ring and Tommy attempts a roll up, but Koz kicks out. Dreamer heads up to the top rope, but Kozlov knocks him onto his groin by throwing himself into the ropes. Kozlov wants to continue the attack, but Dreamer is able to push him back. Tommy leaps up into the air but Kozlov just throws him down to the mat! Kozlov hits the Iron Curtain and beats the ECW Champion!
Winner via Iron Curtain: Kozlov
After the match is over, Kozlov locks in a face lock on Dreamer. Christian takes to the entrance ramp and comes down to make the save. When he goes to clothesline Kozlov, the Russian ducks, and Christian connects with Dreamer! Kozlov then flattens Christian with a smug look on his face as we head off the air.
ECW Thoughts
It feels great to be back! Thanks to Chris Kelly for his work in covering the show for me the past two weeks. I have missed you guys, but it was refreshing to watch the show without analyzing every headlock and spinning toe hold. I believe it gave me some solid perspective on the heels of the ?Draft/Trade?. I have had a couple of weeks to watch the new acquisitions without commenting on them, so my opinions are a result of several weeks? ponderings.
Tonight kicked off with Christian taking on Shelton Benjamin. I was surprised with such a star studded opener, but they kept the pace quick and entertaining. When Kozlov made his entrance my initial thought was ?great it is going to end right here via a distraction?, but instead we went to commercial and the match played itself out. Benjamin did a great job working the shoulder. I enjoyed the unique arm bar from the third rope take down which played nicely into the shoulder turnbuckle/pay dirt victory. I?m not a fan of working specific body parts unless the drama and build is carried to fruition, but they really brought it home tonight, so well done.
Creative did a great job tonight, and over the past several weeks of ?leveling? the roster. If you were to make a spider diagram of who has victories over who, it seems everyone is a viable contender for the title. I was caught off guard by this concept when I first noticed it, but I?m starting to dig it. We left tonight thinking that Shelton has as much of a right to the ECW Championship as Christian or Kozlov. Taking a step back, the majority of the roster is on a level playing field which makes it all that more compelling.
Yoshi’s match against Burchill was quick but thankfully not a squash. His karate kick is being built up similar to Kofi’s Trouble in Paradise in that it can come out of nowhere and knock you out. The problem I am starting to have is that the only way he has gotten victories thus far is via that kick, and I want to see some more offense. Also, why on earth is he so over? I?m not saying he isn?t talented, but the crowd loves him! Hey you know what? More credit to him, hopefully he rides a successful train.
I would be remiss to not applaud Burchill for covering that ?botch?. The way he quickly picked him up and slammed him to the mat, made it look planned. Nice to see a professional and quick recovery from him. Props to Mr. Burchill.
After that match, the show got much too crowded for me. We saw a ton of video packages, short matches and backstage interviews. The remaining matches really got lost in the shuffle.
Sheamus looked strong but WHITE. Seriously, that is quite possibly the pastiest white guy I have ever seen in my entire life. The flaming red hair is not at all helping. Look, I?m Irish and my little brother is of the same complexion and hair color as Sheamus, but if he ever decides to wrestle I?m going to sit him down and show him a tape of Sheamus. I?ll then calmly explain the importance of wearing more clothing so as not to blind those watching in High Definition. But hey, that’s just me.
The main event saw the ECW Champion squashed in a 4 minute match. I would complain if not for the point I made earlier about making everyone on the roster viable candidates for the title. Kozlov stated that it was an accident that he didn?t win the #1 Contender’s Match last week, and he sure made it look as though that was the truth. My only fault right now with the Moscow Mauler is coincidently one of the things I love about him. Whenever someone leaps off the ropes at him, he swats them away. There is no catch or spotting, simply lets them flounder to the mat. He also did this tonight instead of a traditional shoulder block on Christian. The reason I?m torn on this is because it looks really sick, but also really dangerous. Hopefully no one falls prey to injury because of this move.
So all in all, ECW was stuffed tighter than a sardine can tonight, but still represented the talent in a decent fashion. If next week backs off the overload a bit it will be quite enjoyable. They have a lot of talent to introduce, so I?m willing to ride out this month of crammed segments.
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.
April 14th ?July 14th 2009
1. Christian ? 66 pts. [l.w. 1]2. Tommy Dreamer ? 42 pts. [l.w. 2]3. Kozlov ? 22 pts. [l.w. 3]4. Zach Ryder – 16 pts. [l.w. 4]5. Paul Burchill ? 12 pts. [l.w. 5]
6. Katie Lea – 9 pts. [l.w. 6]7. Shane Helms – 8 pts. [l.w. 7]7. Shelton Benjamin – 8 pts. [l.w. 9]7. Yoshi Tatsu – 8 pts. [l.w. 9]10. Tony Atlas – 7 pts. [l.w. 7]
Look for ?That’s a Wrap? on WrestleView Thursday!
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.
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