ECW on Sci-Fi
Cleveland, OH
January 27th 2009
Commentators: Todd Grisham & Matt Stryker
Report by: David Stephens of WrestleView.com
Are you ready? Then stop questioning your heart because it is time for ECW!
The show kicks off with Teddy Long making his way down to the ring and putting over Sunday’s Royal Rumble. We are treated to a video recap of the Swagger v. Hardy match. Teddy Long explains that Matt Hardy has asked for his release and will be moving to Smackdown.
Jack Swagger comes down to the ring and gloats a little with the ECW Title. The Boogeyman’s music hits and Swagger gets out of the ring before the maniacal beast that hides in my closet can frolic around the ring.
Up Next: The Boogeyman in action!
****Commercial****
Video promo airs putting over the history of Wrestlemania
The Boogeyman is in the ring and Ricky Ortiz’s music hits. Boogey gets in several shots and Ortiz bails before he gets wormed ? and not the Scottie 2 Hottie kind.
Teddy Long is in the back with Teddy Long, apparently Jack Swagger has misplaced his ECW Title. Well, I?m not even sure what to say about the crybaby angle they just did with Swagger. We are going to commercial and I?m going to try to ignore what just happened.
****Commercial****
Paul Burchill w/ Katie Lea v. Finlay w/ Hornswoggle
Hornswoggle was already under the ring before the match started. Finlay is whipped into the ropes and Finlay drives him to the mat with a shoulder block. Finlay wraps up Paul’s arm and tries for a quick pin. Finlay follows this up with a kick to the gut and two European Uppercuts. Burchill bounces off the ropes and sends Finlay down with a big boot. Burchill gets behind Finlay and locks in a rear head lock. Finlay briefly gets out before Burchill pulls back hard to lock in the Irishman’s arm.
On the outside of the ring Hornswoggle runs over to see Katie Lea and, well flirt I guess. Paul Burchill slides out of the ring to attempt and stop ‘swoggle, but Finlay hits a baseball slide to take out Paul. Finlay hits a very hard clothesline, but Burchill kicks out. Finlay then hits an inverted Samoan drop but Burchill kicks out again. Finlay looks at the Irish Foreign Object and considers it, but instead lifts Burchill up and hits the Celtic Cross!
Winner via Celtic Cross: Finlay
In the back Ricky Ortiz is talking with Tiffany. Swagger comes in to see if she knows anything about his ECW belt. Swagger and Tiffany leave to go on a scavenger hunt to look for his belt.
****Commercial****
Video Promo airs for John Cena’s new movie ? 12 Rounds
In the back, Jack Swagger confronts Mark Henry to see if he took the belt, but the World’s Strongest Man doesn?t take kindly to that line of questioning and walks away.
****Commercial****
Video recap airs of the RKO situation on RAW
Mark Henry w/ Tony Atlas v. Tommy Dreamer
Mark Henry starts his normal domination on Tommy Dreamer. He locks his arm up several times and levels him over and over with kicks and punches. It isn?t until Tommy Dreamer is able to get the slight advantage by dropping down to the mat in the middle of hold to send Henry to the mat. Dreamer bounces off the ropes and sends Henry down with a shoulder block. Dreamer heads to the second rope and levels Henry again! Dreamer is now sending all of his energy into the demolition of Mark Henry’s legs.
Tommy manages to pump up the crowd with an ECW chant and drop kicks Henry in the face. Tommy heads up to the second rope, but this time Henry catches him! Mark Henry hits the World’s Strongest Slam, and this match is over.
Winner via World’s Strongest Slam: Mark Henry
In the back Teddy Long tells Jack that the only way to solve this is for them to all to go to the ring and get the title back.
****Commercial****
We come back and Teddy Long demands that whoever stole Swagger’s Title bring it out. Swagger does the same. Finlay’s music hits and he makes his way down to the ramp. Finlay gets ‘swoggle from under the ring. Hornswoggle of course has the belt. The little guy dances around with it and is having a jolly good time. Finlay convinces his son to hand the belt back over. The second he does Swagger throws him to the ground. Finlay retaliates by taking out Swagger with a punch and follows it by knocking the champ out with the Title belt.
ECW Thoughts
I think tonight wins the award for least amount of wrestling on an ECW show, ever. I?ve never had to do so little actual match calling since I?ve been working this grind. Luckily the ECW chat kept me entertained. Be sure to jump in with us a next week, it’s a good time.
This week including the chat room game of describe ECW in 5 words.
Hunter Golden ? Midgets Gone Wild With Belts
There really is not a lot that I can throw out this week in terms of thoughts. The show was pretty quick and filled with mostly video packages. Ah well, no complaints.
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.
October 26th 2008 ? January 27th 2008
1. Matt Hardy ? 49 pts. [l.w. 1]2. Mark Henry ? 37 pts. [l.w. 2]3. Jack Swagger ? 41 pts. [l.w. 4]4. Finlay ? 35 pts. [l.w. 3]5. John Morrison ? 22 pts. [l.w. 5]6. The Miz ? 21 pts. [l.w. 6]7. DJ Gabriel ? 17 pts. [l.w. 7]8. Hornswoggle ? 17 pts. [l.w.8]9. Tony Atlas ? 16 pts. [l.w. 9]10. Ricky Ortiz ? 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