ECW on SyFy
Hampton, Virginia
December 1st 2009
Commentators: Josh Mathews & Byron Saxton
Reported by: David Stephens of WrestleView.com
Are you ready? Then stop questioning your heart and join me, because it’s time for ECW on SyFy!
Abraham Washington Show
Tony Atlas does the intro and lets us know that tonight’s guests will be Zack Ryder and Rosa Mendes. Abraham makes his way out to a chorus of boos. Abe asks Tony how his Thanksgiving was. Atlas starts going on and on about his relatives and everyone who attended his feast. Abe cuts him off and starts talking about his own Thanksgiving. Abe says he was having a good week until he ended up here in Virginia. Washington takes some digs at the audience saying such things as that they need to have rabies shots before eating Thanksgiving dinner because they stuff their Turkeys with road kill. We next learn that Tony Atlas is from Virginia!
Zack Ryder and Rosa Mendes are introduced and make their entrance. Abe asks what is going on with the two, and Zack says that he wrote a poem that he would like to read, bro. Ryder takes out a pink piece of paper with the love saga. After that hellacious little piece, Rosa responds that she also wrote a poem for him. Zack Ryder starts to express his love by jumping on the coach ala Tom Cruise on Oprah. Abe ends the show and walks off the stage in disgust.
Byron is trying his best to hold in his laughter as he and Josh Mathews recap the demise of the Ruthless Roundtable last week on ECW. They announce that later tonight Ezekiel Jackson and Kozlov will team up to take on Shelton Benjamin and Christian.
In the back Ezekiel Jackson is lacing up his boots when William Regal approaches. Regal says that after viewing the tapes last week, he owes Jackson an apology. Jackson says that he also owes Regal an apology. Jackson says that he will not, however, apologize to Kozlov. The big Russian enters the scene and asks if Jackson is going to apology to him. Regal says that the three of them fighting and splitting apart is exactly what the other Superstars on ECW would like to see. If they can stay together they will dominate the brand.
Up next: William Regal takes on Goldust!
****Commercial****
William Regal w/ Kozlov & Ezekiel Jackson v. Goldust
The two men start brawling and Goldust is able to set Regal up for Shattered Dreams! Goldust takes far too long and Jackson is able to free Regal. William is on his feet and starts attacking the back of Goldust’s head. Goldust tries to sneak in a quick Sunset flip, but Regal does not fall down and responds by locking in a front headlock to continue the work on the back of the head. Regal mounts Dust and attempts a cover, but Goldust kicks out.
Regal gets behind Goldust and locks on a rear headlock, but Goldust starts to pound in to Regal with a flurry of punches and then a bulldog. He goes for the cover, but Regal kicks out. Goldust is whipped into the ropes, but he catches himself on the ropes to thwart whatever plot Regal had in mind. Kozlov and Jackson attack Goldust which should have allowed Regal an opening, but Kozlov and Jackson begin fighting on the outside. Regal is distracted and looks to the outside to see what they are fighting about. Goldust sneaks in the roll up for the victory!
Winner via Roll Up: Goldust
After the match the Roundtable and Regal are in the ring, but they don?t? come to fisticuffs and look to hold it together.
In the back Burchill and Katie are begging for their slot back on the brand, but Tiffany is having none of it. In to the scene walk two guys not seen before on ECW. They tell Tiffany that she has signed the Tag Team that will change the world. They say that she should get a wheel chair and start talking through a voice box because they are going to make her look like a genius. They?ll be in action next!
****Commercial****
Trent Barretta and Caylen Croft v. Bobby Shields and Tyler Hilton
They have absolutely fantastic entrance music. Trent is the first one in the ring and he takes it to Hilton. Croft is tagged in and they hit a double team gut buster. Croft kicks Hilton in the face. They certainly are melding together as a tag team as they keep the tags swift and strong. Bobby Shields is tagged in, but it was everything but a hot tag as Baretta also gets tagged in. Croft hold Shields up and Baretta hits a beautiful knee to the face!
Winners via Knee to the Face: Trent Baretta and Caylen Croft
****Commercial****
In the back is Savannah who introduces one of the newest Superstars to ECW, Vance Archer. She says that he has been impressive since his return. Vance says that most people might come in and ask for an ECW Championship match. He says that he is not like other Superstars, so instead he is going to savor every single matchup on his way to the top, because he knows he?ll be there. He says that right now he is painting his ?masterpiece of agony?. He tells ECW to take notice because Vance Archer is the one it needs to be worried about.
In another room in the back we see Shelton Benjamin playing Smackdown v. Raw 2010 on the Xbox 360. He is simulating a ladder match against Christian. The Champion walks in and they have an exchange about having each other’s backs tonight in their main event matchup. Shelton goes back to the game, but Christian turn it off before Shelton can grab the belt saying that they?ll have to wait until TLC to see how their match plays out.
****Commercial****
Kozlov & Jackson w/ William Regal v. Christian & Shelton Benjamin
It is worth nothing that the team of Kozlov & Jackson entered to Kozlov’s music. Christian and Jackson are the first two to start things off. Jackson has the clear strength advantage and throws Christian hard to the mat. Christian gets back to his feet and uses his speed to evade Jackson before connecting for a punch to the face. This does little as Jackson is able to connect with a hard axe handle to the back of Christian. Christian once again uses his speed and this time is able to throw Jackson out of the ring. Zeke drops Christian again, so the ECW Champion tags in Shelton Benjamin. Shelton heads to the top rope and sees that Kozlov is coming over to interfere. Shelton knocks Kozlov off the apron and then Jackson knocks Shelton to the outside as we head to commercial.
****Commercial****
Shelton and Jackson are in the ring with Jackson using his 23? biceps to squeeze the life out of Shelton Benjamin. Shelton frees himself and then leaps to the top of the turnbuckle, tags in Christian and hits a crossbody on Jackson. Christian leaps off the top rope to also connect with a crossbody. Jackson hits two consecutive arm bar slams before tagging in Kozlov. The big Russian goes after Christian with some hard shoulder strikes. Christian tries to enter the realm of the top turnbuckle, but Kozlov pulls him off and slams him to the ground. Jackson is once again tagged back into the ring.
Jackson uses his strength to his advantage once again. Christian connects with several punches to the big man’s gut, but then Jackson is able to absolutely level him. William Regal connects with a cheap shot on Christian by slamming his shoulder into the steel post on the outside just to drive to the point home. Back in the ring, Kozlov tags himself in and goes for the cover, but Christian kicks out. Kozlov sets Christian up with his body across the ropes and then connects with a strong kick. Christian seats himself on the top rope and manages to the hit a tornado DDT!
Both men are flat on the ground as Christian connects for the hot tag on Shelton Benjamin. Kozlov is also heading for the corner, but Jackson walks away from the ring which leaves Kozlov with nobody to tag! Shelton hits Kozlov with Pay Dirt and this match is over!
Winners via Pay Dirt: Christian & Shelton Benjamin
After the match Shelton & Christian celebrate as William Regal looks absolutely dumbfounded. Regal consoles Kozlov as we go off the air.
ECW Thoughts
I am a huge fan of the Abraham Washington Show. I was on its bandwagon way before it was the cool thing to do, but that aside I was actually disappointed tonight. I was hoping for the segment to succeed, particularly with the Ryder and Mendes saga which has been quite hilarious. Yet, other than the opening moments between Atlas and Washington, the segment fell flat for me. It used to be that I wouldn?t enjoy the show unless the guests could carry Abe, but now the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction as Abraham Washington and Tony Atlas have clicked and become the strong points of their segments.
Regal lost yet another match up to Goldust. I actually like the way they are going with this angle because quite frankly if he isn?t going to run as Champion this is the other logical destination. Regal is a veteran and the benefit of this route is the rub he is giving both Kozlov and Jackson.
Trent Baretta and Caylen Croft made their debut tonight, and as per the usual I?ll resist commenting too much until I am exposed to their WWE work over a couple of weeks. I will say this ? they have absolutely spectacular theme music!
Can you really blame Ezekiel Jackson? Watching the main event I really started to feel for the guy. Jackson was an absolute monster and dominated nearly every moment that he was in the ring. Kozlov was strong but certainly struggled. If I?m putting myself in Jackson’s shoes, he clearly realized that he was the strong point in the team and that the so-called ?Ruthless Roundtable? was doing nothing but holding him back. The bottom line is that if he stays with the group their goal will continue to be putting the strap on William Regal. Based upon his performance and downright domination of the ECW Champion tonight, I think that Jackson has a legitimate case to make for going off on his own. Zeke deserves a Championship in the near future and he is going to be a real force to be reckoned with, the sort we haven?t seen on the brand since the reign of Mark Henry.
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.
September 1st ? December 1st 2009
1. Christian ? 52 pts. [l.w. 1]2. William Regal ? 38 [l.w. 2]3. Yoshi Tatsu ? 30 pts. [l.w. 3]
4. Zach Ryder – 27 pts. [l.w. 4]5. Ezekiel Jackson – 25 pts. [l.w. 5]5. Shelton Benjamin – 25 pts. [l.w. 7]7. Kozlov ? 23 pts. [l.w. 6]8. Goldust ? 20 pts. [l.w. 8]9. Hurricane ? 18 pts. [l.w. 8]10. Vance Archer ? 13 pts. [l.w. 10]
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