On Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 11:23 PM EST ECW on Sci Fi
June 19, 2007
Charlotte, NC
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
Joey Styles and Tazz welcomed us to the show. Tonight CM Punk will face Marcus Cor Von and Chris Benoit will take on Elijah Burke to determine who will wrestle for the ECW World Championship this Sunday at Vengeance.
Styles and Tazz discussed the Vince McMahon madness some more before another video clip aired putting over the explosion.
Chris Benoit v. Elijah Burke
The two locked up and Benoit immediately grabbed a waist lock take down before Elijah countered and grabbed a front face lock. Benoit quickly countered to a hammer lock and Burke struggled to his feet and grabbed a side headlock.
Burke was shot into the corner but bounced off and nearly caught Benoit with a roll up. Burke stared down Benoit with some confidence before Benoit slapped him and kicked him in the gut. Burke countered with roll up attempt again but Benoit countered into the cross face. Burke reached the ropes and was able to catch Benoit with an elbow and lay the boots to the rabid wolverine on the mat.
Burke quickly assumed control and planted some clubbing blows across Benoit’s back before burying a round house kick into the same area. Burke slapped on a top key lock on Benoit. The crowd rallied Benoit who was able to hit a northern lights suplex on Burke but Burke kicked out at two.
Burke eventually was able to hang Benoit up on the top rope before elbowing him off the apron and to the floor. Burke gathered the former World Champion and tossed him into the ring for a cover attempt. Burke went for the Elijah express in the middle of the ropes but Benoit avoided it and came firing back with some forearms. Benoit pounced on Burke and hit a beautiful snap suplex for a two count.
Benoit whipped out a second northern lights suplex before getting the go behind and planting Burke with a series of German suplexes. Benoit hit all three before getting up and signaling for the head butt. Benoit got to the top rope and came flying off only to EAT Burke’s knees on the way down.
Burke hit a gut wrench suplex and went for a cover but only got two. Burke pounded away on Benoit before attempting a vertical suplex. Benoit kneed out of it and was able to trip up Burke and made an attempt for the sharpshooter. Burke fought him off and with Benoit slumped in the corner he went for the Elijah Express. Benoit quickly capitalized and slapped on the sharpshooter. It didn’t take long from there on out and Burke tapped out.
Winner: Chris Benoit via submission
Benoit went to the ECW Championship belt which was sitting next to the ring and gave it a pat.
****Commercial****
A video recap of Stephanie McMahon vowing revenge on Raw last night aired.
The Boogeyman v. Sean Alexander
Alexander hit a kick to the gut but Boogeyman grabbed him by the throat and one double choke slam later, this one’s in the books.
Winner: Boogeyman via pin fall
After the match, Boogey gave Alexander some worms to eat.
Up next, we’ll hear from Daniel Beck, our favorite FBI investigator.
****Commercial****
Tommy Dreamer v. Kevin Thorn
Thorn rushed Dreamer and grabbed a go-behind. Dreamer countered before Thorn backed him up into the corner and nailed him with a back elbow before bringing Tommy out of the corner and planting him to the mat with a big body slam. Thorn got tripped up by Dreamer who went for something that looked like the old Edge-e-cution.
Dreamer bounded off the ropes only to eat a big power slam from Thorn. Thorn punched Dreamer in the head a few times before planting a big boot to the back of Dreamer’s neck. Thorn kept working over the neck and eventually went to the rear chin lock.
The crowd rallied Dreamer who fought out and went for a sunset flip but got stomped in the face for his troubles. Dreamer avoided an elbow drop and a charge to the corner and connected with a boot and a bulldog. Dreamer went for the DDT but Thorn fought out only to get planted with a spine buster for a two count.
Dreamer worked over Thorn in the corner but he was eventually spun around and planted hard to the mat by Thorn. Dreamer clutched his ankle and looked like he may have legitimately hurt himself. Thorn made the cover for the win.
Winner: Kevin Thorn via pin fall
We’ll get more McMahon when we get back from the break
****Commercial****
Johnny Nitro v. Nunzio
Nitro and Nunzio locked it up and little Guido grabbed a hammer lock and took Nitro down. The two scrambled before Nunzio grabbed a side headlock. Nitro came running back and hit a huge spinning wheel kick that nearly cold cocked Nunzio and resulted in a near fall.
Nitro hit a twisting leg drop and got another two count before Nunzio began to fight back a little bit. Nitro slapped on a cravat and managed to use his size to bully the smaller Nunzio to the mat. Nunzio tried to get the crowd to rally behind him and was able to hit some forearms and a nice hurricanranna. Nunzio bull rushed Nitro and hit another hurricanranna for a two count.
Nunzio almost scored the victory with the roll up but Nitro kicked out and powered out of a bow and arrow. Nitro hit a nice back breaker into a nasty delayed neck breaker. Nitro hit another flippy-doo neck breaker for the win.
Winner: Johnny Nitro via pin fall
Marcus Cor Von disingenuously said ‘too bad’ to Elijah Burke in the back. Cor Von talked bout how he’d be world champion after this weekend. Burke looked less than thrilled at his partner’s confidence.
****Commercial****
A video aired putting over the Miz.
Extreme Expose girls were in the back and Brooke asked the girls if they could possibly hook her up with him. Leyla asked Kelly Kelly if she was right that she saw her with Miz last week. Kelly told her to mind her own business.
****Commercial****
Marcus Cor Von v. CM Punk
Cor Von took the early advantage, tossing Punker around like a baby and pummeling him with some big rights. Punk fired back with a cross body block and some nice, deep arm drags to gain a measure of control.
The arm bar evolved into a top wrist lock. Vor Von powered out and was able to maneuver his way around Punk only to get hit with a fireman’s carry. Punk planted Cor Von with some boots before Cor Von divorced Punk’s arm and shoulder with a flying arm bar. Cor Von smelt the blood and tossed Punker shoulder first into the ring post.
Cor Von kept up the pressure, slamming Punk’s shoulder off the ring post some more before the charismatic youngster fought back with some strikes. Cor Von shut down the comeback with another flying arm bar. Punk stumbled to his feet only to get taken down with a drop toe hold. Punk used his weight to lean in on Punk’s arm before rolling Punker up for a two count.
The action continued to move in Cor Von’s favor as Marcus nailed Punker with a brutal lariat. Cor Von went right back to the arm bar but eventually found himself in control of a neat hammerlock. Punk powered out of the hold but got caught by Cor Von and on the receiving end of a fall away slam before Cor Von went back to the arm bar.
The crowd rallied Punk again and yet again Cor Von cut him off. Cor Von whipped Punk and looked for the shoulder thrust but found himself eating some turnbuckle. Punker came back with some strikes and a nice back heel kick. Punker hit some Muy Thai knees before making Cor Von eat a knee to the face in the corner followed by the bulldog.
Punk looked for the springboard lariat but Cor Von caught him and dropped him directly on his head with a snow plow. Cor Von tossed Punk to the other side of the ring with a belly to belly suplex. He lost his head though, running into the corner and finding no one home. Punk decided it was now or never and grabbed Cor Von in Go 2 Sleep. This one’s over.
Winner: CM Punk via pin fall
Benoit came out after the match and oh yay, a stare down. It’s CM Punk-Benoit at Vengeance this Sunday. Something tells me smarks everywhere just creamed themselves.ECW Round UpShow Thoughts-- This was a major league step up from last week. The opening match with Benoit was extremely solid (duh) and the end match with Punk and Cor Von was a lot of fun. The stuff in the middle was good for what it was. Still, we haven’t seen much in the way of storyline development, but we got some inkling of it tonight. The Extreme Expose seems to have a good fight over a boy on their hands while Burke and Cor Von may be headed for splits-ville.
Nitro looked good in his opener while the Boogeyman is so protected (by not having to do much in the ring) that it makes him look green. Both are sound additions to the roster though. Kevin Thorn continues to impress me. I love watching guys that once were so terrible they were hard to watch improve. Thorn’s one of those guys. Hats off to him.
The rest of the show was mostly McMahon filler. Either way, this was a far superior show to what they put on last week and the ECW World championship match at Vengeance is every smark’s dream match.
Overall Grade: C
Quick Results
Chris Benoit def. Elijah Burke
The Boogeyman def. Sean Alexander
Kevin Thorn def. Tommy Dreamer
Johnny Nitro def. Nunzio
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. Chris Benoit
2. CM Punk
3. Tommy Dreamer
Most Heat
1. Elijah Burke
2. Kevin Thorn
3. Marcus Cor Von
Match of the night: Benoit/Punk v. Burke/Cor Von *
ECW Power RankingsI figured with the draft occurring and more or less cementing the ECW roster in place for a little while, I’d start a top ten, wins and losses, et all! Of
5 Points= Title Win
4 Points= World Title defense/win
3 Points= Singles PPV Win
2 Points= Tag PPV Win
2 Points= TV Singles Win
1 Point= TV Tag Win
0 Points= Loss
ECW World Champion-- Vacant
1. Chris Benoit 2-0, 3pts. (Last Week: 3) --Benoit puts on a fun match with Burke and makes him tap for the second straight week. Sure Boogey’s got more points, but Benoit’s wins, like Punk’s, count for a lot more. Benoit-Punk will be VERY good.
2. CM Punk 2-0, 3 pt. (Last Week: 4)-- As much as I enjoy Punk, I think he’s best suited to turn heel and be Benoit’s first long program. Punker can really work the stick well and would be able to carry the mic work in a program against a guy like Benoit. The matches will be excellent. Nonetheless, Punker is still booked very strong. He may be the #2 baby face on the brand right now but man oh man could he be the top heel.
3. The Boogeyman 2-0, 4pts. (Last Week: 2) -- Boogey gets another squash this week. I feel like he’ll be Snitsky re-incarnate though and just keep squashing and go nowhere.
4. Kevin Thorne 1-0, 2 pts. (Last Week: NR)-- Besides Candice Michelle on the Raw brand, no one may have a bigger claim to ‘most improved’ in the WWE than Kevin Thorne. Thorne, while he still has a ways to go, is LIGHT YEARS ahead of where he was. This character fits him well and he’s got a lot of similarities to the Undertaker, gimmick aside of course. Give some time and development, I think Thorne could go somewhere.
5. Tommy Dreamer 1-1, 2 pts (Last Week: 1)-- I’ll keep Dreamer in the top five this week. Dreamer’s a great guy to have. He’s playing the role that Kane plays on Smackdown, and King Booker on Raw, and that’s that of the proverbial gate keeper to the main event. He never puts on great matches, but they’re never bad either. He’s consistent and good at what he does. He nudges out Nitro to stay in the top five.
Others
Elijah Burke 0-2, 0 pts (Last Week: 5)
Marcus Cor Von 0-2, 0 pts (Last Week: NR)
Matt Striker 0-1, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Balls Mahoney 0-1, 0 pts (Last Week: NR)
Mike Knox 0-0, 0 pts. (Last Week: NR)
Rob Van Dam 0-0, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
The Miz 0-0. 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Stevie Richards 0-0. 0pts (Last Week: NR)
Johnny Nitro 1-0, 2pts. (Last Week: NR)
Nunzio 0-1, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Viscera 0-0, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)