ECW on Sci-Fi
Seattle, WA
February 17th 2009
Commentators: Todd Grisham & Matt Striker
Report by: David Stephens of WrestleView.com
Are you ready? Then stop questioning your heart because it is time for ECW!
We kick off with a great video putting over the main event for later tonight: Finlay & Christian v. Jack Swagger & Mark Henry!
The Boogeyman v. Paul Burchill w/ Katie Lea
The match kicks off with Boogeyman getting the quick upper hand. The two trade a fray of punches which results in Burchill getting backed into the corner. Paul is splashed by the Boogeyman. Boogey hits a scoop slam and he is stalking out Burchill. Boogey turns his attention to the corner and his sack of worms, Paul Burchill takes advantage of the moment and hits a quick roll up on Boogeyman.
Winner via roll-up: Paul Burchill
After the match The Boogeyman is not happy and he grabs his sack of worms. Katie Lea looks to be the target of Boogey’s attack, but she manages to escape back up the ramp.
Next week Christian v. Jack Swagger for the ECW Championship!
****Commercial****
John Morrison w/ The Miz v. Tommy Dreamer
Dreamer goes strong on the attack at the outset with a couple of shoulder blocks and an armbar. Tommy is moving with bursts of speed and he sends Morrison to the outside. Dreamer is on the apron, but Miz causes a distraction which allows Morrison to pull him down to the outside hard. Both men make their way back in the ring and Morrison locks in a side headlock. Dreamer tries to get out of the hold, and he counters it into a vertical suplex! Dreamer runs to the ropes but Miz is on the outside and causes yet another distraction. The Miz is relegated to the back by the referee!
Dreamer hit s a neckbreaker which he follows up with a very beautiful running DDT. Dreamer then hits a pump handle slam variant. Morrison is able to kick out. Morrison backs Dreamer into the corner and looks to be going for a superplex. Dreamer pushes John off and tries to fly down but is met firmly with John Morrison’s feet. Morrison hits the Moonlight Drive and this match is over.
Winner via Moonlight Drive: John Morrison
In the back Hornswoggle looks to be warming up with Finlay and the Irishman works him out then eats some pie. Christian walks in to make sure that Hornswoggle won?t be a distraction tonight. Finlay says they?ll keep their end up, as long as Christian keeps his end up.
Video recap airs of No Way Out
****Commercial****
Promo airs for the return of
Tyson Kidd w/ Natalya v. Caden Mathews
Tyson takes him down to the mat with a front headlock and then begins to work with those hard kicks. He goes for a quick cover, but Matthews kicks out. Caden tries to whip Kidd into the ropes but Tyson counters with a spinning kick to the head. Caden is laid out with his neck on the apron and Tyson spring boards over for a leg to the neck. This sets Tyson up for his spring board elbow for the win!
Winner via Springboard Elbow: Tyson Kidd
****Commercial****
In the back Tommy Dreamer is sitting down and looking frustrated. A white towel lands on his shoulder. Ricky Ortiz tells him to rally up! Whatever that means.
****Commercial****
Mark Henry w/ Tony Atlas & Jack Swagger v. Finlay w/ Hornswoggle & Christian
Christian is on the TV which means it is time for Extreme Charisma Wrestling! The peep signs are everywhere in the arena tonight. The ovation for this man is phenomenal. It looks like Christian and Mark Henry will be starting things off in the ring. Christian is still using his newfound speed to run and dance circles around Henry. Mark literally throws him into the corner and goes for a punch, but Christian dodges and hits some nice punches to the big man’s face. Mark Henry throws Christian up high into the air and he lands hard.
Mark Henry seems to enjoy his brief moment of power but Christian sneaks over to tag in Finlay. Christian and Finlay hit a stereo double kick. Mark Henry is able to get up and back Finlay into the corner while tagging in Swagger. Finlay manages to escape the double team. Swagger starts working in several takedowns before Finlay is able to slide out and make his way to the corner. Christian gets the hot tag.
Swagger tries to go for a big spot but Christian converts it into a roll up. Captain Charisma goes to tag in the Irishman but he is nowhere to be found in the corner. It seems he has gone to check out ‘swoggle on the ground. Christian isn?t too happy about this, but Finlay begrudgingly tags back in.
****Commercial****
We come back and Finlay and Swagger are in the ring. The two men roll to the outside and Swagger drives Finlay’s back into the edge of the apron. Swagger is behind Finlay and grunting hard, but he can?t get Finlay to the ground. Swagger frustratingly tags in Henry. Mark comes in and gives Finlay a couple hits and then tags back in Swagger. Jack takes advantage of the worn out Finlay to work on his back. Finlay hits a Jawbreaker, but Jack is able to kick out of the pin attempt.
Mark Henry gets the tag and stands on Finlay’s chest. Finlay is backed into the corner as Henry drives his shoulder into Finlay. Swagger gets tagged in and lays on a front headlock. Finlay tries to make his way to the corner, but Swagger carries him away out of the corner and tags in Henry. Mark goes for a splash, but Finlay rolls out of the way. Christian gets the hot tag!
Christian comes in running hard. Swagger runs at Christian but Captain Charisma ducks and Swagger hits Henry! Christian goes for a quick cover, but Swagger kicks out. Swagger is hit with a neckbreaker and is flat on the mat. Christian goes to the corner but Henry tries to block his scaling of the turnbuckles. The referee stops Henry but Tony Atlas causes the distraction! This gives Swagger enough time to get up to the corner and try and take out Christian, Swagger gets pushed off and Christian hits a headbutt! Mark Henry takes the opportunity to pick Christian up and goes for the World’s Strongest Slam. Hornswoggle comes in to make the save!
Henry takes out Christian as ‘swoggle is, I believe, gnawing on his leg. Finlay comes in to the ring and hits Henry hard with the Irish Foreign Object. Swagger sees Christian and lifts him up to attempt his gutwrench finisher. Christian counters and hits the Unprettier for the win!
Winners via Unprettier: Christian & Finlay
ECW Thoughts
Hats off to ECW tonight, not for having astounding wrestling, but for the sheer fact that they managed to get almost their entire roster screen time. More importantly it wasn?t through a mass camera shot of the roster, but through individual segments. Only four people didn?t make the show: DJ Gabriel, Alicia Fox, Evan Bourne & Jamie Noble. However, even Noble was discussed and Bourne got a promo aired. So congrats to the writers on tonight’s effective show and their ability to get everybody on in such a brief period of time.
That praise being said, tonight’s show was kinda? boring. Other than the last two minutes it was really nothing to write home about. The downside to packing so many people in is the fact that there wasn?t much time for each segment. It was really like a whirlwind of segments that were all good, but none great.
Tyson Kidd still looks good. I feel bad that Natalya is being relegated to a show without Diva matches considering her background HOWEVER since ECW is back with Smackdown I?m sure the opportunity is there to do double duty. For those curious about Tyson’s Hart background, he is friends with Teddy Hart which led to him being adopted by the Hart family in his childhood. He has also been dating Natalya in real life for several years. Tyson was of course trained in the dungeon as well. Needless to say, he is as a legit a Hart as a non-blood relative possibly could be.
Ricky Ortiz showed up briefly which correlated with Tommy Dreamer’s role. I guess they are going for the whole ?losing streak? angle. I?m not going to be surprised if Ortiz get’s future endeavored down the line, he just doesn?t seem to fit in with the ECW roster at the moment. If they are going to trim fat, that’s where I see it going. Tommy Dreamer is most likely retiring or so I would gather by this angle. I?m going to go easy on him by keeping that consideration in mind. Some weeks he looks great, others like tonight he looks tired. We?ll see how it goes.
Anybody else think of Pirates every time that Paul Burchill is on? I do like the fact that we now have three ?couples? on ECW: DJ & Alicia, Tyson & Natalya, and Burchill & Katie Lea. The more I look at the roster, the more I?m realizing that a lot of people seemed to be paired up; there are very few solitary figures. In addition to those couples you?ve got: Hornswoggle & Finlay, Henry & Atlas, Ortiz & Tiffany, Miz & Morrison, and The Boogeyman & his worms. That’s a really solid chunk of the roster there, and it helps get a lot of people exposure.
The main event had a really rockin? final two minutes. That assortment of finishers and counters is what you would expect, but also enjoyable. I was a little worried that they were leading up to a Christian heel turn with the backstage segment with Finlay, but thankfully not this week. I have nothing against it creatively, but I selfishly want to be able to mark out for a couple more weeks before he turns.
Join us next week as the Road to Wrestlemania continues!
Five Words in the WrestleView Chat
misterwv: Christian, finally is getting over!!!
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.
November 81th 2008 ? February 17th 2008
1. Jack Swagger ? 50 pts. [l.w. 1]2. Finlay ? 45 pts. [l.w. 2]3. Mark Henry ? 35 pts. [l.w. 3]4. John Morrison ? 27 pts. [l.w. 5]5. The Miz ? 26 pts. [l.w. 4]6. Hornswoggle ? 19 pts. [l.w.6]7. DJ Gabriel ? 17 pts. [l.w. 6]8. The Boogeyman ? 17 pts. [l.w. 8]9.Tommy Dreamer ? 15 pts. [l.w. 8]10. Tony Atlas ? 14 pts. [l.w. 10]
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.
-David Stephens