The ECW Report

By Paul Smith

paulsmith3010@gmail.com

Welcome to The ECW Report and I am your host Paul Smith.

The Pre Game: Okay so a fair bit to talk about today. Bragging Rights. Nothing overly offensive, but nothing blow away either. The Miz vs Morrison match was good, but I’d like to see another one because I actually think that they can do a little better. The women’s match was one of the best WWE have put on for quite some time and that isn’t necessarily a complement, but in this case it is, as this was a decent match. The World Championship match was a lot of fun to start with, lots of cool little characterisation points, and it petered off towards the end a little. The Batista/Rey thing was a little predictable, but still Dave cut a good promo and it was a good time. The 14 man thing wasn’t as messy as I had feared but at the same time it kind of felt like everyone just got their shit in and then “oh, look Big Show betrayed RAW” match over. And then the Ironman match…it was decent in parts but either really boring or really stupid in others, pretty much proving the hypothesis of many; that if these two are given an hour, the results aren’t going to be good. I liked some of the drama but the formula of 3 minutes of wrestling and then 12 minutes of stunts, rinse and repeat didn’t really do it for me. Overall, decent show but very skippable, which I fully expect the buyrate to reflect when it comes out.

RAW wasn’t a good show in general, with the booking of the last match and of Legacy in particular being absolutely downright FUCKING STUPID, but I was very pleased to see Kofi Kingston get a shot at a feud with Orton, and I’m so pleased he got to cut a promo like he did towards the end of the show. I can’t help but get excited when they start elevating new talent, and look like they are going to be doing it the right way. However, as it is WWE, we’ll have to wait and see how this is followed up on. I was gonna talk a little about Smackdown too, but I’ll do it next week probably, to avoid spoiling anything for anyone.

Hogan to TNA. If he puts over the younger main eventers and upper mid carders, great. If he pops some ratings and buyrates on a sustained basis, great. If he bases the show around himself, buries everybody, brings in Brutus Fucking Beefcake, that’s not cool, man. While Hogan IS pro wrestling to people who are only barely aware of these massive guys rolling around in their underwear, he is old to the point where he needs to use that rub for the good. I just can’t help getting this whole Four Horsemen (of the apocalypse) feeling, that all of these dark stars are aligning to create havoc: Russo, Ferrara, Bischoff, Hogan, Nash. Is this the death of TNA? Probably not, as Bischoff doesn’t have Turner’s money to absolutely burn through, but I will need to see it before I believe it with regard to it doing the company any good whatsoever. Anyway, those are my few little notes about the situation, as I’m sure Kendra will have a more considered, less sweary and thoughtful analysis of this news come Thursday night/Friday morning.

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ECW is taped and rolling from Rochester, New York the home of former ECW SUPAHSTARRR!!!!! and CHIKARA regular Colin Delaney.

On with the show.

We begin things to a hype video for Yoshi Tatsu’ ECW title shot tonight. Following this is our titles now with even more Christian posing.

Slightly less new voice lady welcomes Tony Atlas, who brings out Abraham Washington whose guest tonight will be the Generic Manager of ECW, Tiffany. So I guess they paired together two of the people who I least enjoy speaking on this program. Nice work guys. I still wanna know which critics are acclaiming this shit. He’s still a pimp. Tonight Abe is gonna stop running his mouth apparently. Someone’s watching over me, and out comes Tiff who has new slutty music. She’s insatiable and needs to find a boy. Fiddle factor will have increased I’m sure for many people. Abe has jungle fever, which disturbs me no end. Abe obviously reads my blog as he says Tiff’s administration has been criticised for the lack of ECW at Bragging Rights (and Hell in a Cell, but that was implied, right Abey?). However, she cites John Morrison and Kofi Kingston, who got their starts on ECW (Johnny Nitro went the way of Chris Benoit, clearly) as reasons how ECW had an impact. Yeah pick the two men who got pinned last night. I mean CM Punk had a World title match and THE MIZ actually won his match, and he did establish himself properly first on ECW, even if he didn’t start there, compared to Morrison who worked as a tag specialist on Smackdown and then as a singles guy on RAW, with a lot of success, before coming to ECW. Tiffany says next year ECW will have a bigger impact at Bragging Rights. We move onto Sheamus, and he apparently didn’t want to be on ECW, but Sheamus has to have one more match on ECW before moving to RAW. It will be against Shelton Benjamin. Anyway, Regal and his Rocky Villains interrupts the small talk to demand another ECW title shot. Wow this guy is stuck on repeat. Tiffany says no. Regal says he is losing his temper, but Tiffany asserts her authority, saying he may never again get a shot at the title. Tiffany hopes we enjoy the show as the Abraham Washington Show tragically comes to an end. Not before William Regal looks like he’s about to Incredible Hulk out of his clothes and destroys the Washington set though. Intriguing.

At ringside Josh Matthews has been joined by Barack Obama for commentary. Oh wait no, it’s the FCW commentary guy, Byron Saxton, filling in for Matt Striker. We recap our #1 contender’s match of Thankyou vs WooWooWoo, before looking at a video package of Yoshi Tatsu. You know a title challenger is credible when they have to show a video package in case people don’t know who he is.

It’s apparently Halloween week on wwe.com. I attempted to care, but you know how these things go.

Sheamus vs Shelton Benjamin
Sheamus, after so long it breaks my heart to see you go. LEAVE THE MEMORIES ALONE. Oh wait no, you were here for a little while before allegedly buddying up with Triple H, who got you moved onto the big time. And nobody knew who you were. Oh well. Anyway, on a serious note, I was enjoying this feud with Shelton, and it’s a shame that we’re going to have to see it get killed off so quickly. ‘Savannah’ is backstage with Shelton Benjamin. Shelton says that he got pissed off with Sheamus, and that maybe like Sheamus said his career is mediocre. But Shelton thought, who is this guy? He’s going to make Sheamus respect him. Not a particularly well delivered promo in this writer’s opinion. Slightly Less New Voice Lady sounds like a little girl to me, while Byron Saxton sounds like he’s doing his commentary from a helicopter. The usual basic stuff to start, but this is a hateful feud so it’s done with aggression. Shelton clotheslines Sheamus to the outside before hitting an awesome split legged Asai moonsault from the ring ropes. Breaktime~! On our return, Sheamus is having his arm rammed into a cornerpost. Benjamin then snaps the arm off the ropes. However, Sheamus turns things round and rams Shelton backfirst into the steel post before ground and pounding him back in the ring, following up with a knee drop and a REAR CHINLOCK, don’t use that on RAW dude, you don’t want to infringe on that VINTAGE VIPER gimmick. Wackiness aside, Sheamus hits a tilt-a-whirl bodyslam for a two count. Sheamus uses the ropes to deliver a knee drop for another two. Byron Saxton is doing well so far, but I don’t feel any enthusiasm yet. He just kind of spouts cookie cutter WWE announcer phrases like ‘best pure athelete’ and ‘utitlising that ___’ every now and then. Sheamus grounds Benjamin with chinlocks. However, because this was getting a little too exciting, Shelton gets up and hits an AWESOME overhead belly to belly throw. They exchange right hands before Shelton hits a running jumping crossbody block. Shelton hits a corner splash, misses a spinning enziguiri, before hitting a nice bridging German suplex for two. Sheamus snaps Benjamin’s neck off the ropes before kind of anticlimatically finishing Shelton with a bicycle kick.
Winner: Sheamus

Opinion: Good match for Sheamus to go out on and kind of a tantalising preview of what could have been. So while that was a fun way to start the show, what does this do to help both Shelton Benjamin, who has just been beat by a RAW guy and ECW who just had one of their top wrestlers beaten by a guy on his way out? There wasn’t a way to do that without hurting someone, so I’ll take this match for what it was and that was a good TV match. **1/2

Almost as if to counter this though, we will presumably make a new star with Christian vs Yoshi Tatsu later on.

Rosa Mendes is pleased to be on ECW. She’s been doing girl things much to the boredom of Gregory Helms. Greg only said hello! Paul Burchill and Katie Lea arrive though, telling Rosa to leave. Burchill tells Helms to meet Burchill in the ring next week. What a fresh new matchup. Apparently it will be the last confrontation, just like Cena/Orton. So maybe the week after that Burchill will lay out Tyler Reks and everyone will chant HURRICANE, HURRICANE. Maybe not.

Saxton is quite a smooth talker to be fair. Anyway ECW is now showing the Bragging Rights match between RAW and Smackdown. Nothing like self promotion eh? My main problem with this shit is who watches ECW, but doesn’t watch either RAW, Smackdown, the PPVs or more than one of those to find out this kind of thing?

Savannah is backstage with Christian. Christian says Yoshi is the most deserving challenger, and that he will be a champion in years to come, but not tonight. Yoshi tonight learns the most important thing to learn: how to cope with defeat.

Christian (c) vs Yoshi Tatsu, ECW Championship Match
I miss Christian’s sparkly hoodies. And wow another Slightly Less New Voice Sighting. And another! Madness, I tell you. Saxton does a good job building up this as Yoshi’s biggest match to date, which it of course is.  They do the formal ring introductions to try and pretend that the ECW Championship is a real world title. Handshake to get things off to an HONOURABLE beginning. They circle each other and Yoshi goes for strikes. Armlock takedown gets a one for Tatsu. They wrestle for a little while and the first impact move comes when a flapjack follows a leapfrog and drop down segment. Christian gets two off a springboard sunset flip. Yoshi hits a HIGH back body rop before a rolling senton for a two count. Backslide by Yoshi. It’s fresh to have this amount of pace early in a fifteen minute+ WWE TV match. Yoshi gets two from a rollup as we go to a break. Back in, things have slowed down and we’re seeing holds. Big elbow from Christian, who goes up top but gets punched to the outside by Yoshi. Yoshi misses a slingshot press (rookie mistake type spot). Christian however hits diagonal springboard splash from the inside rope to the outside. They both beat the referees count at eight. Christian gets a two count. Yoshi hits a standing crossbody and gets a nearfall. Snapmare into a head vice by Christian. Christian hits a neckbreaker from a reverse DDT position before Christian starts wrenching the neck. Yoshi counters out of a super tornado DDT and goes up himself and hitting the super spinning wheel kick for a two count. Yoshi starts winding up kicks, finishing up with a dropkick. He hits the ROARING ELBOW for a nearfall. Christian gets up to try and twist into the Killswitch but Yoshi gets a kick before being drop toe holded/held into the ropes where Christian stands on him before slapping him, going through his spots. Missile dropkick, and Christian goes for it again but Yoshi counters into a jackknife cover, which gets a close nearfall which the crowd bought, and not unreasonably so. Diving double knee into a snapmare reversed into a Christian reverse DDT which gets another two count. Yoshi hits a kick before being hit with the springboard sunset and Yoshi rolls through and gets a knee to the face and a rolling pin for another two. Amazing stuff this is. Yoshi went for the high roundhouse, reversed, Killswitch reversed, pendulum kick by Christian, SHORYUKEN and we build to the killswitch. Christian manages to hit it and that’s finally enough to get the three
Winner and still ECW Champion: Christian

Opinion: Phenomenal match, which I think could be my ECW TV match of the year. Lots of nearfalls, well paced, nicely executed and tons of action, topped off with the crowd being way into it, and that’s the thing that helps in a way that can’t be said enough. What also makes this cool is that Christian keeps defending the title against these newer wrestlers and that after a while it doesn’t seem unreasonable that these guys are challenging. And this way when one of them actually wins, it will be a surprise and it will be awesome and it wont look stupid. Christian as a wrestler may be a bit formulaic in his matches, but his execution, charisma, workrate and putting over of younger wrestlers even in winning is something that ECW will sorely miss when the time comes for Christian to go to one of the big two. ***3/4

Post match Apollo and Ivan beatdown on Christian and Yoshi. Regal gets in the ring and demands a hellish DOUBLE URANAGE. The power of the Iron Curtain and the tribal fury of the Guyanage as one! Scary. Regal poses with the ECW title as we go off air.

This was an awesome episode of ECW. When you have two matches, they both have to be good, and when one’s good and the other is great, you’re onto a winner. Hopefully Yoshi will have a feud with somebody else while Christian is once again occupied with Regal, maybe Dreamer or somebody and then come back for another title match even stronger than ever. Solid if a little unspectacular showing from ECW newcome, announcer Byron Saxton, but while he gets used to calling an arena show every week I’m sure he will develop more personality like Josh Matthews did.

This episode of ECW earns a thumbs up.

Until next time, I have been Paul Smith. Thanks for reading.

Hey everyone and welcome to a special edition of Chris Reviews ECW. As I mentioned in last week’s Smackdown Blog, I am away at a family wedding this weekend so Paul is kindly filling in for me once again. In this blog I shall be discussing Nigel McGuiness in TNA (without spoiling Impact!) and analysing ECW. Please read and be sure to leave some feedback via the comment board.

First off I would like to take a moment to wish Luke Parks all the best in the future. Luke will certainly be missed here at WNW as his witty and insightful analysis is always a quality read, some people say he has been too negative, but RAW since the draft this year has sucked pure and simple and had myself or Paul been reviewing RAW we probably would have been far more critical and negative. Before working for Wrestling News World, I used to really look forward to breakfast on Tuesday mornings when I would religiously read RAW is blogged and this is a tradition I still have today! I have already received a number of emails asking if I will apply to review RAW after Luke finishes up at the end of the year and to be honest it will entirely depend on the quality of the show. Right now I would not want to review RAW, simply because there is so little I actually enjoy about the show and I would never want to be in a position where I was constantly hating on the show I was writing about, which I certainly would be with the current product. If RAW creative steps up their game by the end of the year, freshens up the main event picture, drops the horrible slapstick comedy and has decent length wrestling matches I will consider asking Richard if I can take over with RAW but if the show remains as it is now I will not.

I picked up 12 Rounds on DVD the other day as it was released here in the UK last week. Ill be honest I actually really enjoyed the movie, Cena was convincing as Danny Fisher whilst Aiden Gillen is an excellent menacing villain. I love action movies with guys like Steven Segal, Jean Claude Van Damme and Bruce Willis so 12 Rounds was right up my street. The action was almost non stop and the film, although having a similar plot to The Marine, was as my girlfriend put it ‘like the Marine on acid’ There is also an awesome twist towards the end of the film that you really do not see coming and when you watch through again you notice so many things that you did not the first time. If you like action films then you will love 12 Rounds, if you don’t you will hate it. I would certainly have no problem recommending it and will be checking out John Cena’s commentary version of the film once I have finished writing this blog.

On the subject of Cena, I really enjoyed his match with Triple H on RAW the other night and I thought Cena did a great job with selling that this really could be his last match on RAW. Whilst I fully expect Cena to defeat Orton (with a little help from DiBiase) at Bragging Rights, this latest instalment in Cena vs Orton has been done pretty well and at least has us believing that there is a chance Cena might not win and end up on Smackdown or EC…(like that would happen!) Triple H and Cena always deliver in matches against one another and this was one of the best one on one matches on RAW so far this year. I recommend checking it out.

Ok lets talk some TNA, I would like to take a moment to talk about the sudden and shock news that TNA swooped in under WWE’s noses and signed Nigel McGuiness. Now whilst nothing has been confirmed for sure yet (as in, it hasn’t been posted here on WNW) I have read plenty of rumours stating that WWE were dragging their heels on the deal and taking too long to send Nigel his contract so TNA jumped in and snapped him up. Now this is a HUGE coup for TNA as McGuiness is one of the best workers in the world and will no doubt become a household name through his work for the promotion. I mean upon debuting he has been put in just about the biggest feud possible in the company, besides challenging straight for the title. (I am not going to spoil it for people you do not read the Impact spoilers) My one complaint is McGuiness is now going under the rather ridiculous moniker of Desmond Wolfe. I would argue that Nigel McGuiness has become a name in his own right and is probably the most recognisable independent worker in the world other than Bryan Danielson. McGuiness is bigger now than CM Punk, Homicide, AJ Styles, Joe or Chris Daniels were when they left ROH and deserves to wrestle under his own name yet he has been saddled with this STUPID name. Nigel McGuiness is recognisable to wrestling fans as such and this just makes TNA look incredibly STUPID. It seems to always be the way with TNA in that they do something so right and then so very wrong straight after it. I urge all wrestling fans to bombard Borash and the TNA message boards and Twitter pages expressing just how dumb renaming one of the biggest names in professional wrestling is and how TNA should let McGuiness use his actual ring name rather than Desmond Wolfe! There are several things I want to talk about coming out of this week’s impact tapings but I shall discuss them next week when I review Smackdown so I do not spoil it for anyone.

Ok on to this week’s ECW

We immediately open the show with Abraham Washington announcing he is hosting the show and cracks some black jokes once again and is interrupted by Chris Jericho who gets a mixed reaction. Jericho asks where the general managers office is and Washington tells him it is down the hall. Abraham tells Chris he would love him to be a guest on the show sometime and Jericho tells him he is sure he would before walking off. Atlas helpfully tells us he thinks that was a no.

Number One Contenders Match For The ECW Championship: Yoshi Tatsu vs Zak Ryder

Matthews and Striker welcome us to the show and the new ring announcer Lauren announces this is a number one contenders match for the ECW title. Yoshi is out first to his hideous music and gets a small pop whereas The Man Zack Ryder draws some heat during his cocky entrance. The two lock up and Zack nails a quick arm drag takeover ‘Woo Woo Woo’ from Zack and the crowd join in! A schoolboy from Zack gets an early one count but Yoshi fights back with a drop toe hold and a roll up for a one count as an enormous ‘Yoshi’ chant breaks out from the crowd. Zack taunts Yoshi and strikes away dropping him to the mat before whipping him to the turnbuckle but Yoshi leapfrogs Ryder and hits a pair of innovative arm drag take downs before hitting a standing drop kick for a near fall. Yoshi tries for a double underhook move but Zack powers him into the air and drops him on to the ropes. Baseball slide from Ryder sends Yoshi to the outside and Zack follows him out and tosses him back into the ring and scores a near fall. Zack arrogantly stomps away and drops a knee before charging Yoshi into the corner and chocking him with his leg. Scoop slam from Ryder and he then begins to work over Yoshi’s arm before hitting a stiff kick to the ribs and applying a body scissors submission hold. Yoshi elbows free and counters with a jack knife for a near fall. Zack is immediately back on the offence though and charges Yoshi in the corner and drops some shoulders but Yoshi evades the third charge and connects his roaring elbow dropping both men to the mat. Zack is up first but Yoshi nails a series of stiff kicks and connects a big running knee before an enzuguri for a near fall. Yoshi fires up the crowd and heads to the top rope but Zack is quickly there only to get crotched and both men tumble to the outside as we go to commercial. Back from the break and Ryder has a seated abdominal stretch applied. Yoshi powers to his feet and elbows free before dropping to the mat and nailing a kick to Zack’s face. Yoshi continues to sweep and kick Zack from the mat before nailing some chops and a back body drop before catapulting Zack into the turnbuckle and connecting a big running double knee to the back. Yoshi connects with a beautiful rolling pin attempt but it is only good for a near fall. Drop kick from Yoshi gets another near fall followed by a school boy for another two. Yoshi applies a hammerlock but Zack comes back with strikes and kicks and tries to toss Yoshi out of the ring but he lands on the apron nails a roundhouse kick to the head and hits a springboard splash for the pinfall and victory.

Result: Yoshi Tatsu defeats Zack Ryder to become the number one contender for the ECW Championship **3/4

Chris Considers: Very enjoyable opener here with both men looking very impressive. Yoshi Tatsu is a star on the rise and it is amazing how over he has gotten with so little exposure. Zack Ryder is still The Man and this loss does not hurt him in the slightest. I think a Yoshi vs Christian title match will be very exciting and innovative and I cannot wait to see it!

Rosa is backstage with Tiffany telling her how excited she is to be part of ECW. She is interrupted by Chris Jericho and Tiffany asks him what he is doing here. Jericho says like any good general he is looking to improve his army and is here scouting talent from ECW to see if any are good enough to become a part of team Smackdown. Tiffany tells him that he cannot just barge in and cherry pick ECW talent and refuses to let him recruit any of her talent. She tells Chris he is welcome to stay and watch the show and he looks disgusted and walks away.

We see Regal and the Roundtable discussing Yoshi’s title shot before Jericho interrupts. Jericho and Regal exchange pleasantries. Jericho runs down Tiffany and Regal agrees saying that Tiffany only thinks she calls the shots. Jericho tells Regal he would rather have Jackson and Kozlov on his team than Cryme Tyme but Tiffany interrupts and demands to know what is going on. She says due to Regal’s continued disrespect that is exactly why he is on the outside looking in at the ECW Championship Picture. Tiffany tells Jericho he is no longer welcome and asks him to leave. Jericho tells Tiffany he is sick of her attitude and as one half of the Unified Tag Team Champions he can go to any show he chooses and do whatever he wants. Tiffany agree and says rather than just watch the action he has just earned himself a match against the best ECW has to offer: The ECW Champion Christian!

Chris Considers: Tiffany is appalling as ever on the mic but Jericho more than made up for it. Jericho vs Christian = awesome! I am so happy I got to cover this show!

Match 2: Sheamus vs JT Quinn

I still prefer Sheamus’ FCW theme but since his music has been remixed it is slightly better. Sheamus quickly forces Quinn in to the corner and hits some big knees before dragging him in to the centre of the ring and hitting another huge knee. Running kick from Sheamus drops Quinn and he pins him only to drag his head up at the last moment and indicate the punishment will continue. Sheamus drags Quinn to his feet and hits his Uranage Back Breaker but once again will not pin for victory. At this point Shelton Benjamin hits the ring and the crowd erupt. The two engage in a slug fest and Shelton sends Sheamus tumbling to the outside but is quick to follow and continue the beating before rolling him back in the ring and connecting a nice German Suplex sending the Irishman rolling from the ring. Shelton rips his shirt off and tells Sheamus to bring it but he backs up the ramp in retreat.

Result: Sheamus defeats JT Quinn via disqualification ¾*

Chris Considers: This squash achieved exactly what it set out to in that it put Sheamus over as a truly wicked heel that likes to punish his opponent and furthered things between Sheamus and Shelton. I cannot wait to see a match between these two! Shelton has impressed me how he has gotten over as a babyface and it should mean he wrestles to his full potential once again!

We get the John Cena vs Randy Orton feud recapped with a very long video which was very well done. If this was anyone other than these two I would be excited to see this match but Orton wrestles such a slow methodical style I seriously think he will send me to sleep and Cena better bring his A Game and hit more than the usual 5 moves over and over again in this one!

In Ring Segment: Paul Burchill, Katie-Lea Burchill and The Hurricane

Katie-Lea is seriously hot! Burchill gets on the mic and talks about Helms has been pretending for years that he is something he is not and he has been adulated as a hero for it. Burchill says here he is a finely trained professional athlete, well spoken with good family values and yet he is booed. Burchill says he doesn’t get it and perhaps it is an American thing as in England out heroes are men and women who have thrived in arts, science and politics but the fans are so bereft of anyone to look up to that they have turned to a tart who wears underwear and rescues cats from trees. Burchill says his victory for last week was a victory for sanity and honesty and the fraud that is known as the Hurricane has been exposed and eliminated. Burchill demands Helms comes to the ring and unmasks and admits Burchill is the better man. Throughout this segment Burchill was drawing a tonne of heat. ‘Stand Back! There’s a Hurricane coming through!” Hurricane walks to the ring looking despondent and Burchill demands the mask which Hurricane gives him only to reveal it is not Helms under the mask but someone else. Burchill quickly drops the imposter with a knee and tosses him from the ring and gets ready for Helms but Hurricane appears from behind with a green and black Kendo stick and wails away at Burchill sending him scurrying from the ring in fury. Hurricane poses and the fans go wild!

Chris Considers: Despite the somewhat overdone ‘who is under the mask’ storyline this feud has been really well done and has featured some fabulous ring work from both Burchill and Helms. I really wish ECW would get some more exposure as these two have worked hard enough to earn a pay per view match in my opinion. Either way the blow off match should be very, very good and I cannot wait to see it!

Main Event: Chris Jericho vs Christian

Words cannot describe how excited I am to see this one! Even though we only have fifteen minutes left, this should be awesome! Jericho comes out to plenty of heat and poses with his tag belts in the ring staring at the crowd with distain. Christian gets a good pop as always and acknowledges some ‘Peep’ signs before posing on the turnbuckles with the ECW Championship. Jericho is heckled by the fans as the match gets underway. They lock up and Jericho bails to the outside to huge heat from the crowd. Jericho applies a quick headlock but Christian powers out and the two have a test of strength and jockey for position before Christian shoulder charges Jericho to the mat for an early one count. Jericho nails a kick to the gut and strikes away talking smack to Christian which infuriates the ECW champion and he comes back with strikes only for Jericho to counter with a spinning elbow before connecting a knee to the head and forcing Christian into the corner. Jericho chokes Christian and whips him across the ring before connecting a clothesline and going for the Lionsault but Christian is quickly up and he shoves Jericho to the outside before hitting a nice drop kick through the ropes sending Jericho back to the ground. Christian fires up the crowd as we go to commercial. Back from the break and Christian leap frogs Jericho and connects a nice rolling mule kick for a near fall. Headlock takeover from Christian and he keeps the hold locked in but Jericho powers up and forces Christian into the corner. Jericho tries a running clothesline but Christian elbows him off and comes off the top rope with a beautiful missile drop kick for a very close near fall. Jericho grabs ducks under the ropes and stands on the apron before giving Christian a big back body drop over the ropes to the outside. Huge heat for Jericho as he bounces Christian’s head from the steel steps and drops him on to the security wall before tossing him back into the ring. Huge ‘You Suck’ chant for Jericho and he mocks the crowd before arrogantly stepping on Christian in the ring. Captain Charisma comes back with a huge slap but Jericho is quickly back in control and hangs Christian up in the middle rope and chokes him by standing on his back until the referee reaches four. Back suplex from Jericho nets another near fall and Christian rolls to the corner. Jericho strikes away and connects an overhead takeover and keeps the hold locked in demanding the referee ‘ask him’ Christian battles to his feet and connects some strikes before hitting a schoolboy from nowhere for a near fall. Jericho fights back with a clothesline for a near fall before punching away at Christian on the mat. Jericho continues to mock the crowd and goes for the Lionsault but Christian evades it and strikes away and hits a big shoulder block before coming off the top rope with a diving back elbow. Christian calls for the Killswitch but Jericho counters out only for Christian to hang Jericho on the middle rope and choke him just as Jericho did earlier. Christian leaps over Jericho to the outside and nails a vicious slap before heading back to the top rope and attempting another missile drop kick which Jericho counters into the Walls of Jericho only for Christian to counter with an inside cradle for a near fall! Fantastic sequence! Jericho nails a step up enzuguri for a near fall and is very frustrated, headbutt from Jericho but Christian counters a Bulldog attempt with an inverted neck breaker before calling for the Killswitch once again. Jericho counters with a schoolboy but quickly changes his mind and goes for the Walls but Christian struggles causing Jericho to catapult him into the turnbuckle but Christian quickly nails a quick springboard sunset flip from the top rope which Jericho somehow counters and this time the Walls of Jericho are locked in. Christian screams in agony but eventually makes it to the ropes. Jericho misses a running knee and gets hung up in the middle rope allowing Christian to drag him off and nail the Killswitch for the pinfall and victory.

Result: Christian defeats Chris Jericho via pinfall ***1/2

Chris Considers: I did not want this match to end! It was so refreshing to see Christian wrestle another main event level talent again and this match was absolutely fantastic. If they had been given another ten minutes this would have been a five star affair! So many fantastic counters and reversals between two guys who were made to wrestle each other! Hopefully this will be a wake up call to WWE management to see just how awesome Christian is and perhaps move him to Smackdown as he has done pretty much all there is to do on ECW! Seeing this has just made me want to see more each and every week!

This was a fantastic episode of ECW! Probably one of the best I have seen since I began writing an ECW review blog before I joined WNW! Storylines and feuds were developed and even though ECW once again has NO REPRESENTATION on PPV Bragging Rights was still plugged with the appearance of Chris Jericho. Wrestling wise both the number one contenders match and the main event were excellent, whilst the Sheamus squash match furthered issues between him and Shelton. All in all you couldn’t really ask for more from an hour long show and I urge you all check out this episode of ECW as despite the crappy recent ratings it still delivers far more quality wrestling and decent booking in one hour than RAW can manage in two!

This week’s match of the night was Christian vs Chris Jericho and the show scores 9.5/10

That is all for this weeks blog. Be sure to check out Paul covering Smackdown over the weekend and I will be back posting the Talent Exchange from my hotel as I have free Wi-Fi access there. Email me on a_agreement_called_forever@hotmail.com , add me on facebook: www.facebook.com\wnws.chris.jacks or follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/WNWsChrisJacks I would love to hear from you!

Ten Points to Consider from ECW
• Jericho sure put Abraham Washington in his place! I am so glad we only got 30 seconds of Abe rather than the usual ten minutes!
• It still amazes me just how quickly Yoshi Tatsu has gotten over, especially considering whilst he is very good in the ring he does not have the fancy high spot moves like Bourne or Mysterio
• Such a pity the no doubt awesome title match between Christian and Tatsu will be on next weeks ECW rather than on PPV where it belongs!
• I do wonder where this whole Regal/Tiffany feud is going. I am seriously thinking we will have a power struggle at some point down the line and hopefully my fellow Brit taking control in the Land of Extreme!
• Sheamus is awesome! I cannot wait to see things between him and Bejamin culminate in a match. Shelton has gotten over well as a babyface during this feud and it will be interesting to see him unleash his full repertoire of moves wrestling as a babyface once more
• Katie-Lea is gorgeous!
• Burchill and Hurricane may have been feuding for some time now but it has been ever so well done, with excellent ring work and mic work from both men and I really wish creative would give them a ppv match to blow off the feud as this is one of the better feuds going in WWE right now
• Jericho doesn’t even have to cut promos when the crowd was this hot! Just his slight interactions and mocking was enough to generate heat that most wrestlers can only dream of! Quite simply Chris Jericho is the best in the world at what he does!
• The main event was a timely reminder that Christian deserves so much more in WWE, this was the most enjoyable TV match since Morrison vs Mysterio and so exciting to watch!
• It is such a shame that despite putting on such a quality hour of wrestling that WWE is not even giving ECW pay per time at Bragging Rights…

My top ten matches of the year so far in WWE

1: The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels – Wrestlemania – April 5th 2009
2: Legacy vs DeGeneration X – Breaking Point – September 13th 2009
3: CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy – Smackdown – August 28th 2009
4: Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho – The Bash – June 28th 2009
5: Rey Mysterio vs John Morrison – Smackdown – August 4th 2009
6: CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy – Summerslam – August 23rd 2009
7: Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho – Smackdown – July 10th 2009
8: Jeff Hardy vs John Morrison – Smackdown – July 31st 2009
9: John Morrison vs CM Punk – Smackdown – June 26th 2009
10: Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho – Judgement Day – May 17th 2009

Watch any WWE programming you miss at www.Dailymotion.com , your online source for TV shows!

The ECW Report

By Paul Smith

paulsmith3010@gmail.com

Welcome to The ECW Report and I am your host Paul Smith.

The Pre Game: No pre-game this week, it would normally be PPV thoughts but they’re already in a blog, so check them out if you’re interested.

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To open tonight’s show we get a recap of guest GM William Regal’s antics last week. I don’t know why this needed recapping. Except maybe Yoshi pinning Regal…maybe that will play into later things somehow. Hmm…

Next comes our title screen, now with more Sheamus looking menacing.

How will the last 48 hours affect ECW asks Josh? Well since they were nothing to do with it, PROBABLY IN NO WAY IN THE SLIGHTEST. Anyway new voice lady who sounds kind of like Tiffany welcomes william Regal and his really big friends in red to the ring.

Regal sends his best wishes to Tiffany while she recovers. In the face of dire consequences apparently, Regal makes himself the #1 contender to the ECW title before being rudely interrupted by Zack Ryder. Ryder says he can’t do that because last week Regal cost his team the match, bro. After some arguing, Christian comes to tell us what to do and what to think. Thanks man. He takes the urine out of the pair before determining that neither deserve the #1 contendership bringing out the evidence of the janitor, Tony Atlas and Yoshi Tatsu. The janitor changed the urinal cakes, achieving something, and therefore a more deserving #1 contender, pleasing Lo Fez as I think his name was. Tony Atlas is a WWE Hall Of Famer and has a laugh, and is also therefore more deserving. And then we have Yoshi, who you know, won that match last week. He is therefore most deserving. Bill tries to argue but is slapped down. The peeps let us know that we should keep calling him Bill. Thanks guys. Christian determines Yoshi as the true #1 contender. Yoshi is very grateful. But it’s not up to Bill, nor Chris, as he brings out Tiff, who has recovered from her FUCKING CAR CRASH in one week with just a broken arm.  Tiffany thanks Regal for filling in, but she is back to do her job and various other bullshit Universe propaganda statements. She hasn’t decided who is the #1 contender. All three potential contenders will prove themselves tonight, with Ryder vs Christian, Yoshi vs Regal and Kozekiel will have a tag match next.

Vladimir Kozlov & Ezekiel Jackson vs Tommy Dreamer & Goldust
I keep expecting Tony Chimel, but I get new lady instead. Strange. Anyway, looking at those four names and we may indeed apply some bowling shoes if this match was a pair of feet if you catch my fairly blunt and obvious drift. Takedown by Koz on Dreamer, who tags in Goldust after some general pounding. Remember the old APA t-shirt that had ‘Always Pounding Ass’ on it? yeah, that was pretty homoerotic. Anyway after some generic action we have Goldust hitting a running knee on Big Zeke who responds by falling out of the ring and eating an apron cannonball from Dreamer. On the outside Goldust manages to post Zeke and roll him in the ring. Dustin is distracted by Kozlov though and gets knocked to the outside and beaten by Kozlov for a two count. In comes the ‘Moscow Mauler’ himself to deliver some more beatings. Joyous. Decent belly2belly by Kozlov who grounds and pounds ‘Dust. He locks a waistlock top make things interesting I suppose before bring Zeke in again. Zeke locks in the chickenwing he has taken to using and hits a falling lariat on Goldust. Back up and Goldust hits his falling uppercut, tags in Dreamer who gets a top rope clothesline and mat blockbuster and a standing crossbody for a two by Dreamer. Dreamsy hits a neckbreaker for two. Dreamer gets distracted by Kozlov and ends up hit by the Guyanage for the three count.
Winners: Ezekiel Jackson & Vladimir Kozlov

Opinion: Not a pretty match, nor a particularly exciting one, but I suppose it served to keep the heels strong. *

Regal fellates Tiffany to try and swing the contendership his way. Tiffany thinks Cena upon losing his Ironmatch would come to ECW. That would certainly change things. Tiff basically tells Regal to shut up and get ready for his match.

Next is the RAW Rebound, because even when I purposefully don’t watch this show, I CANNOT ESCAPE.

Yoshi Tatsu vs William Regal
Yoshi is still wearing his Misawa pants. That means we will get various references to burning hammers and such from Striker. When he somehow fits in emerald frosion, only then will I be happen. Regal does some subtle things to show how little time he had to prepare for his match, his trunks not being done properly and his bootlace being undone. Nice. Yoshi comes straight in with punches though. He continues with strikes and a dropkick. We’re calling his roundhouse a Super High Jumping Kick in an homage to Japanese/English translations I suppose. After some grappling Regal again goes to his lace. Yoshi goes for a suplex but Regal gets a headlock out of it. Eurocuts by Regal before what looked like a botched side Russian sweep, but apparently Yoshi tried to counter it. Is that like the new ‘modified’ or something? Anyway, after a break we get the rolling snapmare and a kick to the chest by Yoshi, but Regal throws Yoshi out after catching him on a crossbody. Yoshi takes a face of announce table before being rolled back in. Yoshi comes back with kicks but is floored by a punch to the face. Regal puts on a crossface. Regal hits a nice butterfly suplex before going back to a chinlock. Yoshi counters a knee into a dragon screw before peppering Regal with strikes and getting a nearfall off the roaring elbow. Yoshi looks gassed, but all the same he goes up and misses the super spinning wheel. Regal runs into the SUPER HIGH FRONT KICK though and Yoshi wins. Does this make Yoshi #1 contender? Oh well, it’s not like that’s getting on PPV any time soon. This, plus Regal will gripe next week by his leg apparently being under the rope.
Winner: Yoshi Tatsu

Opinion: Decent match there that got both guys over. Some nice action too. **1/4

Post-match the Roundtable is out to be big and stuff.

We get a recap of the Shelton/Sheamus stuff that’s been nicely building recently. So rather than have that ECW feud on ECW, that match is coming to Superstars.

Zack Ryder vs ECW Champion Christian, Non Title Match
Zack Ryder is out in what Chris Jacks called lingerie, and I have to say I agree with him. It appears the British guy, the Guyanan guy and the Russian guy will stay at ringside for this one. They haven’t left long for this third installment of this rivalry. Arm work to start with as normal on ECW matches for some reason. Ryder trips him and Christian just ends up knocking him down. Ryder jacknifes Christian but he turns into a sunset flip like cover. Christian eurocuts Ryder and then unleashes the SHORYUKEN. Ryder catapults Christian’s throat into the bottom rope before basement dropkicking Christian out of the ring. When we come back, Ryder is working over really interesting chinlocks. They exchange right hands, which Christian wins, but Ryder gets a headbutt and the leaping fameasser. In the ropes Ryder is kneeing Christian and Ryder ends up getting a two count off of a back elbow. Bro. Maybe I should call Ryder’s elbows elbros. Maybe not. Ryder returns to his beloved chinlock, but ends up getting hit with the Edge-O-Matic. Christian hits him with a spinning wheel and a couple of forearms. He stands on Ryder in the ropes and slingshots to the outside for a right hand before hitting a high crossbody for a two count. Pendulum kick and super tornado DDT gets a two after a short delay. Ryder counters the Killswitch into the TIGER DRIVER and that somehow gets a two. yeah the Zack Attack would have got him but the Tiger Driver is just small potatoes. Why the fuck does this guy constantly do chinlocks and then randomly bust shit like that out!? Christian backbody drops Ryder outside from the apron and then goes up top for a massive dive. However, the Roundtable take advantage and kick the shit out of Christian, leading to a DQ.
Winner: Christian, DQ
Loser: People who don’t like endless bullshit.

Opinion: Nowhere near as good as their other matches, and the DQ finish only adds to that, but still a pretty decent match. **

Post-match Ryder gets pissy and also gets kicked the tar out of. Heels pose, which seems to happen a lot on this show.

Well, this show was pretty good, three decent matches and I don’t really know where we are with the #1 contendership, meaning that I would want to tune in next week to see what happens, but I have to watch it every week anyway, so…you know.

This episode of ECW earns a thumbs up.

Until next time, I have been Paul Smith. Thanks for reading.

The ECW Report

By Paul Smith

paulsmith3010@gmail.com

Welcome to The ECW Report and I am your host Paul Smith.

The Pre Game: Not a whole lot of news I wanna talk about this week, so I’m gonna say a few words on Randy Orton. I have previously said I find his wrestling and stalling to be annoying, his character to be grinding and his promos absolutely fucking boring. And people have told me “yeah, he’s doing a good job, being a heel, making you hate him”. But the thing is I don’t hate the guy. I just don’t want to see him wrestle. The point of a heel is to make me want the babyface in question kick the everloving shit out of him. But I don’t. From a mark perspective I just wanna see my favourite babyface wrestle somebody else. Feel free to further discuss this in the comments if you want.

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ECW is taped and rolling from Boston, Massachusetts the home of everyone’s favourite really hairy dude ALBERT.

On with the show.

The show opens with William Regal telling us Tiffany has been in a car accident. Perhaps they did it for The Rock. Anyway, due to his experience, William Regal has been appointed GM, but the board of directors has forbidden him to make any decisions regarding the ECW title, guaranteeing that ECW just wont exist at Hell in a Cell. He turns the main event from Christian vs Zack Ryder into Christian vs Zack Ryder into a brutal handicap match, adding the roundtable to that match. Joyous.

Next comes the opening credits now with even more Regal looking like somebody urinated in his tea.

The introduction of Tony Atlas means that my luck is officially out as we get the second straight week of Abraham Washington killing the heat of the show. His guest is John Morrison, whose intercontinental title match must be ECWs adopted match for the next PPV. How sweet. What a nice foster brand ECW is. JoMo is dressed down as he makes his way out. They pimp out WWEshop. Morrison apparently likes the show. Abe pimps The Dirt Sheet. Tony Atlas does The Miz bit. This is odd this week. Ziggler reminds Morrison of Miz in that they both think they will win gold this Sunday. Morrison says he will retain until Ziggler becomes half as good as he thinks he is. This leads to DOLPH ZIGGLER coming out in white lepoard print and pink trim. Beautiful. Abe does some Dolph Lundgren/Rocky IV jokes. We get the grand return of Mr Ziggles at this point which ABSOLUTELY dies with the live crowd. Atlas tries to make the joke but actually calls him Mr Ziggler. Before Dolph gets to say anything though, the segment is over. Clearly the Pat Patterson thing stopped his mic time short. Awful, as always.

Zack Ryder checks in with his team mates before finding out that the match has become an 8 man with Ryder, Roundtable vs Yoshi, Goldust, TOMMY DREAMER and Christian. You know Ryder is questioning Regals managerial abilities…it.

Paul Burchill w/ Katie Lea vs Shelton Benjamin
Katie Lea looks like well, actually just a straight up prostitute this week. Shelton is attacked by Sheamus in the aisle before he gets to the ring. Shelton gets posted on the outside as refs take Sheamus away. Shelton gets rolled into the ring and ends up once the match starts kicking out of a brutal Saito suplex. Knee drop by Burchill. Various strike attacks by Burchill who continues working the left arm/shoulder. Before the break Benjamin gets posted in the injured shoulder and rolls to the floor. When we come back Burchill has Shelton grounded and continues working the arm. Nothing much of note happens until Burchill gets another side suplex before working the arm again. Shelton reverses a brainbuster into a kind of blockbuster neckbreaker for a double KO spot. Shelton tries to come back with strikes but takes a stiff elbow and some kicks to the shoulder. Burchill is knocked down from the top rope, but Shelton struggles to get the the top and as such misses a fliping senton which gets Burchill a nearfall. Burchill carries on working the arm, but when he goes off the ropes Shelton hits paydirt for the win.
Winner: Shelton Benjamin

Opinion: Decent match, with some good arm selling and working over of the arm, but not as exciting a match as you would think you would get from these two. **

They hype the eight man for later on. They then hype Hell In A Cell for Sunday. This means because ECW has no match they’re gonna air a shitload of video packages. So this is basically WWE Afterburn or whatever those shitty shows are called.

The face team is backstage. Christian lines up his troops as if this were a war. He tells Dreamer he needs to step up, and the same for Yoshi, with much thanking. Christian tells Goldust he’s an important part of the team, despite being a freak.

William Regal, Vladimir Kozlov, Ezekiel Jackson, Zack Ryder vs Goldust, Tommy Dreamer, Yoshi Tatsu & ECW Champion Christian
I believe this is the first time Yoshi has main evented other than the battle royal. Additionally, he is still wearing his green tights in tribute to Misawa. Ryder and Dreamer start. Armdrags and and armbar by Dreamer who tags in Goldust who hits an atomic drop and a knockdown for a one. Ryder tags in Kozlov and Goldust tags in Yoshi who proceeds to get mauled by Kolov. Lots of kicks to an incoming Zeke who misses an elbow, a charge and gets takes out Goldust who tagged in. Regal is in with knees and a forearm for one. Eurocut by Regal who tags in Ryder. Ryder takes the fall down uppercut, and a Jerichodog before tagging in Christian who hits the SHORYUKEN. Ryder went for the Zack Attack but instead ate a reverse DDT. Dreamer comes in and hits a double team sidewalk slam with Christian’s assistance for two. Batista esque bodyslam by Dreamer but eventually Ryder is able to tag in Regal as we go to break. Coming back we have a standing chickenwing by Zeke on Dreamer. He beats away as do his heel counterparts on Dreamer, before tossing him and hitting a massive bodyslam. Zeke tags in Kozlov who rams Dreamer. Regal comes in and calls Dreamer ruddy pathetic before beating him down. Dreamer gets a warm tag to Christian but a tagged in Big Zeke throws hiom to the ropes leading to Kozlov lowbridging him. Christian gets suplexed in off the apron, delayed I might add. Lots of slams by big Zeke, before he tags in Regal who gets a two count. Kozlov comes in with strikes for two. Backbreaker rack by Kozlov. Kozlov hits a release fallaway slam and tags in Ryder. Ryder hits his brutal and exciting BODYVICE. Kozlov ends up coming in. Kozlov basically beats down Christian until he misses two charges in the corner and goes down to a missile dropkick. Kozlov tags Ryder and Christian gets the hot tag to Yoshi who bombards him with kicks, a lariat, a roaring elbow, the diving the double knees, rolling snapmare and a nice spinning wheel from the top but Zeke stops the count as we BREAKDOWN~! Christian hits a dive on most people and in the ring Yoshi hits the roundhouse on Regal for a three count.

Winners: Yoshi Tatsu, Christian, Goldust and Zack Ryder
Opinion: Pretty good match with lots of cool characterwork and some decent action at the start and the end. Surprising result too, but it’s cool to see Yoshi being put over here as it is kind of an instant elevation. **1/4

While the action in general was good tonight, with nothing to build to, the whole show felt kind of pointless. I don’t see why ECW is being screwed over so often on PPV but I don’t see a lot of things in this company sometimes. This is increasingly strange with the next PPV apparently being based around RAW vs Smackdown matches for the most part. So out of defiance for ECW, this weeks show gets a…

This episode of ECW earns a thumbs in the middle.

PS – I know I said I should have sorted my internet problems out by now but that combined with a more hectic schedule has again plagued me this week. Things SHOULD settle down, so I’m giving it a couple of weeks, and if my problems continue, I will leave this post and give the blog up to Richard to give to somebody else so you guys don’t have to wait for your report for so long ever week.

Until next time, I have been Paul Smith. Thanks for reading.

The ECW Report

By Paul Smith

paulsmith3010@gmail.com

Welcome to The ECW Report and I am your host Paul Smith.

The Pre Game: Okay, due to a lack of internet over the past week (moving house), this is late, and I am sorry but my internet is stable now and I should be able to do my blog in time every week now especially as University return buzz is dying down too. As I say I haven’t had internet access so my knowledge of current goings on is spotty at best so I’m not going to insult your intelligence by talking about things that my knowledge on isn’t complete.

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ECW is taped and rolling from Tulsa, Oklahoma, the home of GOLDBERG, GOLDBERG, GOLDBERG who due to a mix of his own egotism and Triple H’s love of the big shiny thing he uses to keep his trunks up had his WWE career fizzle out anticlimatically with an awful match at Wrestlemania XX

On with the show.

Tonights proceedings begin with our title screen, now with more Katie Lea soliciting sex from emo pirates.

Straight up pimping of Christian vs Zack Ryder for the ECW Championship.

Tony Atlas is out and so is the dark feeling in the pit of my stomach as Abraham Washington joins him soon afterwards for The Abraham Washington Show. Some people actually go for the applause sign so either stupid and obedient or clever and sarcastic. Atlas chooses to laugh. You know like some kind of bizarre hillbilly. The guest on tonight’s timekilling is Sheamus looking sort of normal and maybe even a snooker player if not for the 1950s flat cap going on. Anyway you know how this goes Abraham makes jokes about the gimmick (paleness) and Sheamus makes jokes about how much Abe sucks. We then move onto some generic statements about the relevant feud. Lucky Charms jokes. Shelton comes out in an awful shirt. Hair dye jokes. Cancellation joke. Shelton then cuts his own promo on Sheamus about teamwork. Sheamus responds with a joke about stealing. Racist? Possibly. Shelton then brings out a family tree of Sheamus involving, Carrot Top, Bozo the Clown, Pippi Longstockings, Ronald McDonald and yeah they then brawl to the soundtrack of Tony’s laugh to bring this awful shit to an end.

Yoshi Tatsu is shown making his way to the ring. Against who? Paul Burchill that’s who!

Paul Burchill w/ Katie Lea vs Yoshi Tatsu
Okay for those keeping score Katie Lea is this week dressed as a Hell’s Angel, Final Fantasy prostitute. They open by working each other’s arms before Yoshi gets a one off a trip. Sunset flip also gets a one for Yoshi, who follows up with a dropkick and a clothesline over the top leading to a plancha to the outside. Back in Yoshi is distracted by Katie Lea on the top rope which leads to a super Fisherman’s buster which somehow only gets one? You can get a two count off a clothesline but a top rope leg hook brainbuster gets one? Whatever. Anyway, Burchill slows this down just in case you were getting too interested in the match before catching Yoshi with a Samoan drop, or as it is known in Samoa, a drop. Burchill hits a Bubba bomb into a full nelson on the floor. Yoshi rolls through off the ropes though for a two count. Kick combo from Yoshi before a spin kick and the rolling snapmare, into another kick before he goes up top and hits a super spinning wheel for two. Burchill goes up top, bringing Yoshi with him before knocking him down again. Burchill hits what I think was a diving knee drop (the camera work wasn’t good) for a close nearfall. Yoshi counters a slam and Burchill runs right into Yoshi’s roundhouse kick finish.
Winner: Yoshi Tatsu

Opinion: Good little TV match and it continues the trend of awesome short Paul Burchill matches. As good a six minutes of WWE wrestling that you are going to get really. **3/4

Striker is shown dancing to Yoshi’s music to Matthews general disgust. They talk up the ECW title match and remind us of last week’s battle royal.

As such ‘Savannah’ talks to Zack Ryder briefly backstage. Ryder earned his opportunity and after tonight you can call him the ECW champion, you know it.

Burchill and Katie Lea are angry backstage. After Paul storms off Greg Helms joins Katie who says Helms is playing mind games, leading to Burchill (Paul) beating down Helms.

Legion of Job vs Ezekiel Jackson & Vladimir Kozlov w/ William Regal
The jobbers here are Dustin Brady and Brandon Young. So yeah, Kozlov and Zeke have clearly progressed so far from their ECW early days. Anyway as usual the men in red do power stuff and the jobbers bump around for them. The finish is Ezekiel lariating the shit out of black trunks jobber and then guyanageing the dude. SKWUMCH. After the bell Kozlov uranage’d the other one.
Winners: Ezekiel Jackson & Vladimir Kozlov SQUASH

Rundown the Hell in a Cell card. Should be a decent show even if Hell in a Cell is cheapened by the fact that it’s more just Rematches in a Cell.

Backstage William Regal reminds Goldust they have a match on Superstars (which has already occurred). Goldust gets called a joke and Regal say’s he is the only with the honor to be ECW champion.

Next up, ECW title match, but first Smackdown Rebound. Wow, this is like an endangered Rhino being sighted.

Christian (c) vs Zack Ryder, ECW Championship Match
Okay so an estimated 12/13 minutes of TV time left for this. Apparently Christian entering first is mind games. I’m glad someone bothered to offer an explanation for one of my real pet peeves. If Stone Cold didn’t get to come out last in Texas for Wrestlemania then nobody should get to come out last as challenger. Anyway, Zack Ryder’s ring jacket and his tights clash badly. I know it. Ryder is headbandless. Massive slap by Christian gets the crowd popping. That left Ryder really red. Headbutt by Ryder, bro but Christian comes back with strikes. Ryder, however takes back over before getting rana’d and thrown to the outside. Christian went for a plancha, didn’t get it but was quick enough to react, get a suicide dropkick and a quebrada to the outside. Christian hits an uppercut before getting taken off the top rope going into the break. Back in and Ryder hits a back body drop for two two counts. Springboard sunset flip by Christian gets two. Apparently Ryder’s career mirrors Christian’. Yeah I did enjoy Ryder’s groundbreaking tag ladder matches at Wrestlemania in the early 21st century. Anyway after posting Christian, Ryder gets two before getting a body scissors and chinlock combo. Ryder gets a knee to the stomach to a running Christian for two, before th suplex onto the top rope and then a knee smash to the face to a hanging Christian for a two. Ryder goes back to the body scissors, with added headbutts. Ryder gets a top rope something countered into a flapjack for two. Christian does his stand on the back in the ropes thing before getting hip tossed in off the apron. Zack missed the running leg drop and gets countered into a reverse DDT and a running knee. Christian hits a springboard dropkick, misses a diving something and reverses the Zack Attack into a turnbuckle catapult. Ryder counters the springboard sunset into a straight cover. Christian hits the pendulum kick and another springboard dropkick. Ryder counters the killswitch into a knee smash, before a dodging a high crossbody and hitting the running leg drop for a nearfall. Ryder used the ropes in a pin attempt before being hit with the reverse hotshot, the SHORYUKEN and then finally the Killswith for the title retention. Post match Regal makes his way to the ring and says that sooner or later he will be the #1 contender and the new champ but Regal gets interrupted by a massive slap which causes Regal to bail as we go off the air.
Winner: Christian

Opinion: Awesome match that will have done Ryder the world of good. Not as good as the last one in my opinion, as it didn’t click to start with, but it got good later on. ***

Two great matches plus a squash works as a formula for me, and I will want to see where the Regal re-emergence into the title picture goes.

This episode of ECW earns a thumbs up.

Until next time, I have been Paul Smith. Thanks for reading.

The ECW Report

By Paul Smith

paulsmith3010@gmail.com

Welcome to The ECW Report and I am your host Paul Smith.

The Pre Game: Okay quickly sorry for this being a day late, I’m sure many of you, like me, suffer from migraines, but for a couple of years I have suffered from what a doctor told me were ‘abnormally severe’ migraines, and occasionally my head hurts to the point where I am literally reduced to being in bed for a long period of time and yesterday was such a day. If you’ve ever had a migraine you will know that they can go on for a long ass time and sometimes up to three days but I seem to have gotten away with waking up with only a mild headache so I’m gonna try and get this out to you now.

Okay so, Jeff Hardy. Chris Jacks has taken a supportive stance and is willing to go by the old innocent by proven guilty thing, and I know he was a big fan of him when he was younger (as was I although I would have been even younger) and while I actually really respect Chris’ opinion, I have to completely disagree. There are only so many chances you can give this dude. He has failed a drug test twice and then TWO WEEKS after leaving WWE he is actually arrested with opiates in such large quantity that Nort Carolina considers him to be trafficking them due to the sheer amount he had. I wont comment on the steroids as for all I know they were medicinal and the trace of cocaine doesn’t look great either, but this guy has a serious problem and he needs to be rehabilitated, if he escapes this drug trafficking charge that is and doesn’t go to prison. The reason I would be angry with him is because he completely let down all of his fans. He was a role model to all the little kids we see in day glo paint and neon armbands in the Smackdown crowd shots. He apologised to them when he came back off his Wrestlemania suspension, he had to defend them against the evil claims of CM Punk, and not only that but they would have defended him and in fact have seen live reports where young Jeff Hardy fans have argued to the teeth for him against older CM Punk fans taunting them. And is this the example he chooses to set? Well bullshit. Jeff Hardy was positioned as a top babyface and someone younger fans can look up to despite his troubled past. He was given a chance to shoulder even more responsibility to the WWE fans than most wrestlers get and he blew it in my eyes. If he had or has a problem he needed to speak out and get it sorted before he assumed that kind of position. He is permanently over, so losing his spot wouldn’t be a huge issue, he is rich from having a long career WWE and even TNA, and being in World Champion or title contender top card spots for some of both of those stints. If WWE ever hires this guy again, then they might as well piss all the politics and baby kissing they do as a result of their ‘Wellness Policy’ away. People are getting around it. And it’s all well and good having it, but whats the point if it means nothing.

Breaking Point was a mixed bag for me. The main event finish was a pile of shit, what was the point of rehashing that. They booked themselves into a corner and showed it with the cowardly writing that went on for that main event. The John Cena/Randy Orton match I enjoyed. I was listening to The Wrestling Observer radio show that was on after the show and Dave Meltzer was talking about how this wasn’t a normal WWE match. This was just a great story, with Orton working well as a dick heel and Cena being the fiery babyface. The welts on Cena’s chest told the story. I didn’t like it to start with but when I rewatched it and took it in properly, I think both guys worked their asses off and produced one of the better matches of their career and as Meltzer said this worked better as an I Quit match because it wasn’t just a wrestling match with someone saying I Quit at the end; it was as Lawler put it Orton torturing Cena and trying to find his breaking point so to speak, and just not being able to get it done, and then tapping like a wimp as soon as he had any pressure on him, which is great from a character standpoint. Plus I really enjoyed the ECW match, and while I think Bill should have won, it made me wonder if Summerslam could have been even better if they had made time and added that match to that show. DX putting over Legacy was good too, but as far as crowd brawls go, this was pretty average but the finish was quite unique.

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ECW is taped and rolling from Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA~! the home of esteemed jobber Iron Mike Sharpe. There you go.

On with the show.

The show begins with a video recapping what happened at Breaking Point, showing Zekelov getting removed from ringside and the match that came.

We follow this up with the title screen, now with more Tyler Reks being uncharismatic.

To begin things tonight Generic Manager Tiffany makes her way to the ring. No that wasn’t a mistype. Tiffany while being stupidly attractive has an absolutely terrible delivery. She is interrupted in whatever shit she was saying by Bill Regal with Big Zeke and V-Koz. Billy boy says Tiff looks lovely tonight. You charmer you. Regal says having been a GM before he needs to come out and offer advice about her decision from Breaking Point. We want wrestling chant. Yes we do. He asks why the two gents were banned from ringside last Sunday. Tiff over pronounces something about keeping the match fair. Regal says the decision was rash and it caused Regal grief in his preparation to wrestle and as such Regal needs another rematch. Tiffany says that as a former GM that he understands why he can’t have a rematch, and that he will not be allowed one, but tonight in the main event they’re gonna shove everybody into a battle royal to crown the new #1 contender. Regal isn’t going to be getting ready for the battle royal, but actually has a match, right now.

William Regal vs The Hurricane
In Soviet Russia, Hurricane stands back for you!!! Bad joke. Anyway Regal is wrestling in his suit but without the jacket. Hurricane starts out stiff and throws Regal over the top rope. On the outside Hurricane takes a dive and back inside delivers a back body drop. Regal comes back with forehands but gets taken down by a crossbody mount + punch combination. Hurricane hits a straight vertical suplex for two as Striker debates the identity of The Hurricane. Striker meanwhile throwns in a ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’ Smiths/Morrisey reference for Regal again. That’s one of my favourite songs. Anyway Hurricane does something completely new with uh..a high crossbody and Regal tries to bail but as Hurricane comes back into the ring he gets knocked out by the knee trembler. As Regal walks away, Paul Burchill comes in and hits a jackhammer on Hurricane.
Winner: William Regal

Opinion: Decent enough while it lasted. Too short to be any good really though. *

Goldust apologises to Yoshi Tatsu for last weeks failure and Yoshi asks for an English lesson. However, Goldust starts his stuttering and Yoshi copies it. Hilarious. Zack Ryder comes in and bes a douchebag leading to him asking Yoshi whethe he can say loser, to which Yoshi replies Zack Ryder. Are you serious, bro!? Woo woo woo you know it bitch.

They pimp the program destroying Smackdown return of Batista. How will the Smackdown landscape change? Not good, Matt…not good.

Burchill is backstage and ‘Savannah’ asks him about his actions. Burchill says that Hurricane is Greg Helms and he hurt Katie Lea. Burchill will expose him.

The special guest ring announcers for the next match are The Bella Twins. I see. Well this justifies their employment. In no way whatsoever. They don’t even do it especially well.

Yoshi Tatsu vs Zack Ryder
Matt Striker for the second week running sings Radio quietly in the background. I hope you brought extra underwear Yoshi. Woo woo woo. Ryder decides it’s never too early for restholds but this leads to some decent arm work from both guys. Not arm work as in working the arm but some tussling over an arm lock. Jap arm drag by Yoshi and they indulge in some sexy dragon rolling for a two count. I love that shit. Ryder takes over as Yoshi comes down on his head from the ropes. After a couple of pin attempts Ryder locks in a chinlock. Back suplex gets a two for Ryder. Ryder cinches in the crippler crossface which doesn’t phase the crowd, but he switches into another chinlock anyway as the fans chant for Yoshi’s comeback. However, it’s blocked into a reverse STO type deal into another chinlock. Nice roaring elbow by Yoshi leads to a double KO spot. Kick combo, diving double knee but Ryder blocks the rolling mare with an elbow. However, Yoshi nails him with the Frankensteiner for a near fall. Ryder hits a kind of diving inverted fameasser to a standing Yoshi but Yoshi knocks Ryder out with a kick.
Winner: Yoshi Tatsu (thanks Bellas)

Opinion: Pretty good match, but once again short and a bit chinlockky. Something is amiss though, perhaps we’ll see what later on? **1/4

They pimp out Rematch In a Cell. Demonstration of how this gimmick is being wasted. Go back two years and tell me two guys at the level of Ted and Cody would ever get in there.

Battle Royal, #1 Contenders Match
For those scoring at home the participants before the break are Shelton Benjamin, VLADIMIR KOZLOV (without bath robe), Ezekiel Jackson, Tommy Dreamer, Goldust, Tyler Reks…oh yeah he’s deserved this shot and Sheamus (now without the intro to his song). We come back to Yoshi Tatsu making his entrance and Paul Burchill follows before Zack Ryder completes the lineup and I’m pleased to see he’s still selling his head. He is headbandless though. He must mean business. And nothing says vile structure like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Christ. Anyway I’m not gonna be able to play by play this properly until we get a few down, you know it’s guys pretending to eliminating each other anyway. They all pair up to start. Benjamin exploderplexes Burchill out. You this is kind of boring even for a battle royal. And there’s stupid shit which always annoys me in battle royals like Yoshi going for a springboard spot and Dreamer stopping Sheamus eliminating Reks despite it being against his interests. Benjamin nearly goes out and has to use his strength to hand on to the top rope. Staredown with Kozlov and Zeke as we go to break. During the break Kozlov fallaway slammed Tyler Reks out of there and Yoshi Tatsu went out somehow during them showing the replay. Apparently Zeke just tossed him out. Dreamer saves Goldust getting eliminated (grr) with a hot flurry to liven up the crowd a little. About five minutes left here I think so they wasted the time in spreading out the eliminations so they could go all batshit at the end it seems. Benjamin paydirts Ryder and throws out a stunned Sheamus. Zeke then threw out Shelton but he hung on again and when Zeke came back to finish off, with Tommy Dreamer’s assistance Shelton reverse rana’d Jackson out from the same position and still managed to hang on. Sheamus ruins the athleticism party though by coming and clubbing Shelton off the apron. That leaves us with Dreamer, Goldust, Kozlov and Ryder. On the floor Benjamin and Sheamus have another pull apart brawl. Cliche four ay corner staredown. Faces and heels pair up with Goldust and Kozlov and Dreamer and Ryder. They swap over and Goldust gets some clotheslines on Ryder and the feint fall uppercur and thinks he’s eliminated Ryder who hung on and then nearly got thrown out again before finally lowbridging Goldust out of the match. Nice spot there. Meanwhile Kozlov belly to bellies Tommy Dreamer. Dreamer lowbridges out Kozlov and then Ryder tosses Dreamer out, which is actually a pretty identical finish to that RAW #1 contenders battle royal where the final three were Miz, Trips and Cena, which I think was the one that led to the 3 Stages of Lukewarm match from Judgment Day (I think).
Winner: Zack Ryder

Opinion: The battle royal definitely got better as it went on, but the talking point is Ryder as #1 contender. This is a good move as Ryder is a massive dick, but his work has got better and we’ve already seen him have a good match with Christian. I believe his title shot is next week, which is something to look forward to, but I think it would better put him over, even in defeat to have him get his shot at the Hell in a Cell PPV. **

The premise for tonight’s show was simple and all of the feuds right now are very simple and just require a basic thing about either competition or just a simple rivalry to get by, and on a one hour show with quite a lot of guys to get over, that’s a good thing. Yoshi vs Ryder was fun and even though the Battle Royal wasn’t that great, barring the rumble they never usually are but it was relatively entertaining and changed things up a bit.

This episode of ECW earns a thumbs up.

Until next time, I have been Paul Smith. Thanks for reading.

The ECW Report

By Paul Smith

paulsmith3010@gmail.com

Welcome to The ECW Report and I am your host Paul Smith.

The Pre Game: So, I don’t have a whole lot to talk about here, well a couple of things. Isn’t the idea of Khali and Big Show having a legit fight both terrifying and amazing at the same time? Allegedly, the issue was Khali using moves Big Show felt should be exclusive to him as a giant. But Khali has like…two moves. Neither of which Big Show uses. Confusing stuff.

If you didn’t check out the the Dragon Gate USA: Enter The Dragon PPV over the weekend then you are no exaggeration a poorer man/woman/thing for it. This was literally the greatest wrestling PPV show for years and if you can still order a replay of it, I suggest you try. If you’re not a citizen of the United States, much like me, other methods of viewing are well recommended in going out of your way to watch this show.

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ECW is taped and rolling from Rockford, Illinois the home of Gorgeous George former valet and real life girlfriend of Macho Man Randy Savage, in his absolutely terrible WCW run. She notably defeated current WWE referee Charles Robinson in a ‘My Girl Vs Your Girl’ match for Savage’s job after then WCW Commissioner Ric Flair fired Macho Man. Thus, Savage put forward Gorgeous and suggested Flair used ‘Lil’ Naitch’ Charles Robinson. Good shit. Obviously.

On with the show.

Straight into the titles this week, now with more Regal looking like Chris Jericho took a whiz in the commissioner’s tea.

The main event tonight is V-Koz & Ezekiel vs Christian & Tommy Dreamer.

The Hurricane vs Paul Burchill w/ Katie Lea
So I guess we’re supposed to think there’s a difference between the ‘Cane and Greg Helms. Even if it is tongue in cheek, that will get annoying. And for those who I know care, Katie Lea is now dressed as emo vampire lady. Paul Burchill on the other hand has a hair cut that makes him a lot less like the Ripper and more like…something not threatening. Anyway after a hot opening sequence Hurricane gets two off a springboard crossbody but then Burchill takes over with aggression. They both go for a hip toss but Hurricane gets an arm drag and Hurricane gets the octopus stretch! Burchill slams out of it though and he gets a Saito suplex for a two. Crowd are noisy tonight, but they’re popping for the moves, so it’s okay. Short arm clothesline gets two for Burchill. Burchill gets his running double knee to the chest for another two count. Burchill gets a backbreaker off a waistlock and then sinches in a body stretch. Hurricane rolls around into a schoolboy but eats a mule kick and a short arm clothesline for two. Burchill is lowbridged out to the dismay of Katie before getting some Hurricane in his face off a rope aided crossbody. On the outside Burchill hits the Pele kick (nearly) before a break. Loud USA chant. Hurricane doesn’t have a nationality does he? Anyway after the break and the USA chant, Hurricane posts Burchill’s shoulder allowing him to recover from the killing he’s been taking. Hurricane hits Thesz press with punches before a backbreaker for a two. High crossbody by Hurricane gets another two count as Striker keeps on with comic book references. Meanwhile (!), Burchill is seated up top and this leads to a super over the shoulder powerslam on Hurricane. Burchill crawls to Hurricane for a near fall. Hurricane comes off the top for a rana which gets two before Hurricane calls for the end. Katie Lea distracts on the apron but this only leads to Burchill getting shoved into her and Hurricane hits eye of the hurricane on Burchill for the three.
Winner: The Hurricane

Opinion: Very cool match, and just what an opener should be: fast paced with lots of action. These two definitely have a place on WWE Tv even if they’re not involved in a story all of the time. **3/4

Recap of last week and ‘Bill’ Regal threatening Christian and Tommy Dreamer before some Kendo stick spanking. Boii.

Another random chick is backstage with Tommy Dreamer and Christian. She has the very Chinese name ‘Savannah’ and for those in the know she is Angela Fong who was apparently being groomed to replace Lillian a little while back, from FCW. So either Courtney Taylor has set a new record for being useless at asking generic questions or WWE feels the need to have two random bimbos with nothing else to do on their one hour show, whereas they use Josh Matthews, who is allegedly an announcer, on their two hours and PPVs. Tommy Dreamer is frightened of what The Roundtable could do to the legacy of ECW. Christian dedicates last weeks beatdown to everyone in ECW and they are ready for a fight. They casually mention there is an ECW title match between Regal and Christian on Sunday. I think that tops even RAW for complete shittiness in PPV build.

Shelton Benjamin & Sheamus vs Yoshi Tatsu & Goldust
So much for that face turn then I suppose for Shelton Benjamin. Shelton and Goldust start with some arm wringing. It’s that gold explosion again. A gold rush if you will. Hip toss and leapfrog sequence to get things off hot. Benjamin blocks a bulldog but takes the pop up uppercut. Sheamus comes in and as does Yoshi Tatsu. Striker makes guitar references for some reason as Tatsu peppers Sheamus with kicks. Shelton distracts in the setup for the rolling snapmare and Sheamus takes advantage with a clothesline and elbow drops. Shelton comes in again and hits a snapmare before going into a chinlock. Sunset flip by Tatsu who tries to make a tah but Benjamin stops him before getting rolled out. Yoshi Tatsu tries to go for the tag but Shelton takes Goldust off the apron. This leads to Sheamus coming in again. Big kick from Yoshi before Goldust gets the lukewarm tag but hits clotheslines, a inverted atomic drop and a running kick on Sheamus. Shelton gets a blind tag after a big boot from Sheamus which leads to a three. Sheamus is pissed at the blind tag. Maybe this is a new feud. The right that knocks down Shelton confirms this. Shelton shoots a takedown though and they roll out of the ring and start brawling. They get separated by referees. but Shelton gets a huge leaping press on Sheamus in the melee.
Winners: Shelton Benjamin & Sheamus

Opinion: Pretty average match, with a very bad finish, but this was obviously to get to a new feud for Sheamus and Shelton, one which I would be very interested in seeing. *1/2

Job Master J vs Zack Ryder
Zack’s wardrobe has improved from last week. The jobber is Rory Fargo. So Zack Ryder has come a long way from his epic main event with Christian huh. Anyway this was a standard squash match which was made entertaining by Ryder constantly calling him ‘bro’ which I do find funny every week. Anyway, the jobber got a flash roll up and after that KAPLUMCH.
Winner: Zack Ryder SQUASH

Tyler Reks is backstage with Tiffany. The Roundtable comes in and Bill hilariously calls Tyler ‘treacle’ which is what old men call young female shop assistants and the like. Regal bitches about last week and then foretells a pounding of the head in of Christian and Dreamer next.

Vladimir Kozlov & Ezekiel Jackson w/ William Regal vs Tommy Dreamer and ECW Champion Christian
Kozlov really needs to start having his shower earlier. Okay, I’m officially killing that joke. Kozlov and Christian start to an ECW chant for these famous ECW legends…Annnyway Kozlov tries manhandling Christian but Christian stays on his feet until a shoulder charge. Christian hits Kozzy with a big slap which causes Kozlov to tag in Zeke and Christian tags in Dreamer. Dreamer gets thrown down out of a lock up. Zeke hits a bodyslam but misses an elbow drop. He ends up going through the ropes to the outside and eating a dropkick from Christian who had tagged in. Zeke caught Christian off a crossbody but Dreamer hit the cannonball to break things down. Back from a break and Dreamer and Christian hit Zeke with a double side Russian leg sweep. Dreamer gets nailed with a shoulder charge and Kozlov comes in. Shoulder charge again by Kozlov who then tags in Zeke. Then a double shoulder charge. Sigh. This could get tedious. Zeke locks in a kind of standing chicken wing before tagging in Kozlov for more shoulder charging action. Headbutts to the chest before a nice sambo belly to belly suplex. Kozlov blocks in the tag. Dreamer gets a kick to the face of Kozlov before a diving clothesline and gets the hot tag. Christian tries to take down Kozlov but fails, a missile dropkick not doing it, before a second rope does. Kozlov though gets the headbutt on Christian before tagging in Zeke. Zeke gets a double backbreaker before stretching Christian. He hits a decent back suplex. Back in comes Koz who hits another belly to belly for two and then locks in a torture rack variation. Christian tries to get the tag but gets hit by a fallaway slam for two. Zeke tags in. He chickenwings Christian again. Zeke hits a nice butterfly suplex – Regal must be teaching him – before tagging in Kozlov. Kozlov hits his head on the turnbuckle before Christian gets the shoryuken. Double tag in here and Tommy is hot, hitting Zeke with a crossbody and a bulldog both taking him down. This gets two. Dreamer goes up and hits a fucking frog splash of all things, but Kozlov interrupts a cover. Regal trips Dreamer though and Zeke hits the uranage finisher which I’m going to call a Guayanage (after Zeke’s Guyanan heritage) for the win. Post match Regal puts the Regal Stretch on Tommy and kicks Christian in the face.
Winners: Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson

Opinion: Kozlov and and Zeke seem to have gotten better, Zeke in particular in quite a short amount of time. This match wasn’t amazing by any stretch of the imagination but Christian made it work and Ezekiel impressed me here. **

Post-match, heels posed.

The two bookend matches were decent, but the two in the middle were kinda sucky. Anyway, there’s a lot going on in ECW at the moment which always makes for a much more interesting show. I was heading for a thumbs middle but a pleasantly surprising main event makes me give this my usual thumbs up.

Until next time, I have been Paul Smith. Thanks for reading.

Hey everyone and welcome to this special edition of Chris Reviews ECW. Paul is away on holiday this week so once again we have swapped shows. He always seems to get to cover some awesome Smackdowns and last time I did ECW it sucked so lets hope things even out a bit this week!

There is not a whole lot of news to discuss, one thing I would like to say is it appears brushes with the law warrant no punishment whatsoever if you work for TNA Wrestling as both Kurt Angle and now Chris Daniels have had recent arrests with seemingly no punishment. Whilst in a way I am glad that neither were reprimanded, as they are two of the main reasons I watch Impact, it certainly does not send out a very good message to the rest of the roster as it seems in TNA you can pretty much get away with anything as long as you are a big enough name and this neither paints the company in a very positive light for fans nor presents a good role model for up and coming talent as they will be under the impression anything can go which is not a good situation for the company to be in. This is where I have a lot of respect for WWE in that they will suspend anyone who crosses the line no matter how big the name: Booker T, Jeff Hardy, Regal and now Rey Mysterio have all been punished and this puts across a much more positive company image and creates a better example for younger workers in my opinion.

RAW was once again a bit of a mix this week, which admittedly is better than the whole show being a total snooze fest. I thought MVP and Jericho had a really strong match, probably one of the best singles matches in recent RAW history, that furthered their tag title feud as well as made MVP look like a legitimate star. However the fact remains that Chris Jericho is a Smackdown star and it is kind of telling how far the blue brand is ahead in wrestling terms right now when RAW has to use one of Smackdown’s main guys every week. Still it takes two to tango and props to MVP for putting on such a great display and I hope the tag title match at Breaking Point is just as good as this. I also really enjoyed both the opening promo between Dusty, Orton and Cody as well as The DX and Dusty skits discussing WCW. True PG Era DX is not as enjoyable: Shawn Michaels “Attitude Era My Backside???” but I was amused by the skits and Santino as the Shockmaster was priceless and had me in stitches! However I do not know what has happened to the RAW divas recently as that Battle Royale was one of the worst matches I have seen since Bella vs Bella on ECW and I am disgusted that Chavo’s weekly humiliation continues, when is Vince going to wake up and realise that wrestling fans do not want to see talented guys job to midgets every week! Also I was disappointed that Cody did not get a legitimate shot against Orton as I would have liked to see how he handled himself, however the ending with Orton daring Cody to do something about the RKO to Dusty was great and it was nice to see Orton once again playing a sadistic heel rather than a cowardly one.

Anyway enough on RAW, time to answer a few of your questions before moving on to ECW. As always keep them coming to a_agreement_called_forever@hotmail.com or via the message function on my facebook which can be found at: www.facebook.com/wnws.chris.jacks  

Emranul sent the following via Facebook: What’s up bro… What are your predictions for Breaking Point. Do you think Undertaker will win the title because this has happened many times that Deadman challenged but couldn’t win due 2 outside interference or by DQ. I would love 2 see a tag team match between DX and the Brothers of Destruction for the unified tag titles. I think at Breaking Point there will be interference from Kane during the world heavyweight title match as Kane is now having a villain role. And WWE will start a rivalry between Kane and Taker but trust me Undertaker deserve a title reign more than HHH, Edge etc

Hey dude! I’m not going to go into too much detail with my picks yet as I will save that for The Talent Exchange. However based on the WWE TV up to this point with the announced matches I can see Legacy defeating DX as they need at least one win in their series to establish themselves. I think Jeri-Show will be retaining against MVP and Mark Henry as they are on such a roll and we haven’t seen the best of this team yet. I fully expect John Cena to defeat Randy Orton for the WWE title as I can not imagine there is any way in hell John Cena will ever say “I Quit” and unless Randy pulls a dirty tactic such as using a tape recording then he will be loosing his title, I am also expecting this match to suck big time as a PG I Quit match will not be very effective at all. Finally I see CM Punk defeating the Undertaker to retain his title to truly give him the ultimate main event rub. I don’t think Taker will submit but I imagine Punk will knock him out with use of a weapon or something similar setting up a nice HIAC rematch the following month. I really hope we do not see Undertaker vs Kane AGAIN as this has been done far too many times before and was partly what helped to destroy Kane’s credibility as a main eventer. I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Brothers of Destruction vs Jeri-Show at some point as it would tease the Undertaker vs Jericho feud I have wanted to see for so long, however with Kane as a heel this is unlikely to happen despite the fact he draws face reactions for taking out Khali! I would defiantly like to see one more world title run for Undertaker as he certainly deserves a lengthy reign after his last two were cut short due to injury but I would not want that to happen at the expense of stars that are breaking out like CM Punk and John Morrison.

Billy sent the following via Facebook: Hey Chris, I have been a fan of your blogs since you first started. My question is about Bryan Danielson and how he is signing with the WWE. What are your thoughts on that? Do you think he can some day be as successful as Punk?

Hey dude, thank you very much for the praise. I am glad you enjoy my work and hope you continue to do so in my opinion WWE have landed a major coup in the signing of Bryan Danielson who is one of, if not the best technical wrestler in the world today. Danielson is the total package as far as I am concerned as he works equally well as a face or a heel, has outstanding ring skills, is solid on the mic and has a decent look but above all can work a great match with just about anybody. Danielson in WWE opens up so many possibilities I am already dreaming of possible match ups. He had a phenomenal series of matches with CM Punk in ROH and I would love to see them pick it up again in WWE and it would say a lot for how successful ROH has been if two of their biggest ever stars end up main eventing in WWE together. I would love to see Danielson facing either Jack Swagger or Shelton Benjamin as we would be guaranteed a technical classic that would be a joy to behold. Above all though I am a match with Danielson I would love to see is against Triple H, who spoke out against him in an interview awhile ago saying he doubted Danielson (although he did not mention him by name) was the best wrestler in the world, I can just see it now, Triple H and Danielson squaring off in the ring and the crowd chanting “Your Gonna Get Your Fucking Head Kicked In” at Triple H, that would be priceless, not to mention a match and feud between the two would make for some outstanding viewing. My one concern is that WWE do not ship Danielson off to FCW to learn how to wrestle the “WWE” way because the guy is already one of the best in the world and needs to be brought straight in at an upper mid card level and start putting on wrestling classics as soon as possible. I would not be opposed to Danielson debuting on ECW as part of Regal’s Roundtable due in part to Regal’s training of him, only later to turn on the faction Batista 2005 style as Regal would get jealous of Danielson out performing him and conspire to get him off ECW only for Danielson to win a Number One Contenders match and challenge Regal before defeating him and becoming the face of the ECW brand and then moving on in next year’s draft. I think as long as he is pushed correctly and gets the fans behind him, which he almost certainly will as along with Nigel McGuiness he was probably the biggest name on the indy scene, then there is no reason why he cannot be as successful if not more successful than CM Punk.

Scott sent the following: Honestly I don’t understand why the WWE (or Vince) likes big men or gimmicks. Big Show, Mark Henry should be gone. Kane is stale and so is Khali (though he’s a international pull seriously?) and Hornswoggle should have been released awhile ago. And Floyd Mayweather? does the average pro wrestling fan care about him? And lastly hate to admit but the DX gimmick to me is also getting old.

Hey Scott, I agree I have always found Vince’s obsession with Big Men to be somewhat baffling as with exceptions of Undertaker and Kane they are usual horrible in the ring. However to casual fans and of course WWE’s core audience: Kids, these giants are very impressive to look at and a kid and a casual fan could not tell what was a good match or a bad match just who won. However to us fans in the know it is incredibly frustrating seeing lumbering wastes of space like Khali taking up TV time when we could be seeing solid wrestling action. I don’t care how big he is in India, the guy can barely walk let alone wrestle and needs to be cut, hell if Vince wants to appeal to the Indian market he should bring in Sonjay Dutt who would not only be a draw but a great wrestler to go with it. Big Show is hit and miss with me, I hated him in his feud with Undertaker as the matches were so slow and boring and then his feud with Cena did nothing fo me either, however in his new role with Jericho it is like watching a different wrestler as Jericho does most of the work with Big Show hitting the ring to make saves or work big spots and I feel this is a far better use for him and he comes off looking far more impressive and dominant each time I watch him. Mark Henry once again is hit and miss, I thought he was very good as ECW champion, then felt he faded after dropping the belt, then was on a really hot streak when he first moved to RAW, then faded again when he teamed with Hornswoggle but now is looking impressive again in his tag team with MVP. Perhaps the lesson to be learned is to stick lumbering behemoths with smaller more athletic guys in tag teams so the smaller guys can work the brunt of the match and the big men just hit the ring for the big spots. Hornswoggle though needs to get released and grates on me more and more each week to the point I automatically skip anything he is involved with on RAW. I would love to see Chavo just flip out and take him apart and put him out of action for an indefinite period of time (read forever lol) I enjoyed DX at Summerslam, hated them last week but really got a kick out of them talking WCW with Dusty this week so I will give them a few months before I judge them too harshly. I will say though PG and DX is not mixing too well: Shawn Michaels “Attitude Era my Backside”! how embarrassing for Shawn to have to say lines like that! As for the guest celebrity hosts, well I much prefer the wrestling related ones as I think Ted DiBiase Snr and Dusty Rhodes have been great so far whereas the only “celebrity” host I really enjoyed was Shaq and to an extent Seth Green, simply because I am a big fan of his. I really hope DiBiase Snr is brought in as permanent GM when this gimmick has run its course!

Ok so with news and questions done lets move on to this week’s ECW

Striker and Matthews welcome us to ringside and announce that we will get a special encore edition of Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker tonight, well I certainly hope not as I want something to review and I am not covering that match again! I read the results yesterday and it seemed like a full show but how can it be if they are showing that match? I am confused!

Match 1: Shelton Benjamin vs ‘The Man’ Zack Ryder

Shelton Benjamin comes out smiling and posing and we get a recap of what went down in the tag match between Shelton and Zack Ryder last week. Zack is sure wearing an interesting jacket to the ring this week that resembles a piece of female lingerie! The two lock up and Shelton shoves Zack into the corner but Zack throws his hand band at Shelton and strikes away but Shelton responds with an overhead throw and nails a running clothesline before whipping Ryder across the ring and attempting a diving elbow which Zack dodges and connects with a quick neckbreaker for a one count. Zack stomps away and applies a face lock but the crowd rally behind Shelton who powers out but Zack nails a flying leg lariat for a two count before locking in a crossface type hold which Shelton breaks only for Zack to apply an Orton Lock. Shelton powers out and connects some strikes before leaping to the top rope and flying back with a cross body, impressive from Shelton! Shelton strikes and kicks away before hitting another overhead throw and forcing Zack into the corner and hitting more strikes before whipping him across the ring and this time connecting with the flying elbow. Nice back breaker from Shelton but Ryder is up and attempts to toss Shelton over the ropes but he lands on his feet on the apron and instantly launches himself back in the ring with a springboard blockbuster on Zack followed by Paydirt for the pinfall and victory. The crowd pop for Shelton following the victory.

Result: Shelton Benjamin defeats Zack Ryder via pinfall *1/2

Chris Considers: This was a short match but features some very, very impressive spots from Shelton such as the springboard blockbuster and the leaping crossbody. Ryder was no slouch and his early offence was impressive as was his tendency to head for the ropes to avoid Shelton’s heavy hitting moves. It appears ECW Creative are slowly transitioning Shelton towards a babyface role but I am just not convinced he has the charisma to pull it off and feel his Gold Standard heel moniker was pretty much perfect for him. Time will tell I guess.

We get a reminder of the feud between Sheamus and Goldust and our main event tonight will apparently be a no count out, no disqualification match between the pair.

The Abraham Washington Show featuring Tony Atlas, Gregory Helms and The Burchills

Prior to the show Tony Atlas is back and is now apparently doing an introductory spiel for the Abraham Washington Show. Washington attempts to fire up the crowd before thanking Atlas and welcoming us to the show. Heat from the fans but because the show sucks not because he is a good heel. Abraham trash talks Cleveland before trash talking someone called Arseinio Hall whoever that is (sorry for my Englishness!) Abraham talks about how he is a real talk show host whilst Atlas laughs like a complete tool and Abraham continues to trash Cleveland. Washington then introduces a back stage interviewer steeped in controversy Gregory Helms. Abraham welcomes Helms to the show and tells him he is all about the business and wants to know the truth about Helms being the Hurricane. Abraham tells him he has seen him changing in a phone booth. Helms of course denies this prompting more moronic laughter from Atlas. Helms talks about his cruiserweight title history but said his serious neck injury caused him to come to ECW as a member of the broadcast team, Abraham accuses Helms of lying and says everyone knows he is the Hurricane and welcomes his next guests The Burchills. Atlas points out quite correctly that Katie Lea is looking hot! Paul asks Washington what he is doing wasting his time with this guy who is a complete joke, fraud and embarrassment and last week on Superstars Burchill beat him and will continue to do so whilst he insults our intelligence. At this point The Hurricane appears on the titantron and says he is on assignment in Gotham City this week but challenges Burchill to a match on ECW next week, this prompts more dumb laughter from Atlas. Paul tells Helms that he doesn’t know why he keeps playing these games but he will see him next week to plenty of heat from the fans. Washington announces the fight is on next week and says he will see us next time

Chris Considers: Oh my god I do not think even Michael Cole and Lawler combined have as annoying laugh as Tony Atlas! American readers help me out was he trying to imitate some famous talk show personality or was he just driving me crazy for the hell of it! Abraham spent far too much time at the start of the match trying to get cheap heat which would have been better spent on the Shelton vs Ryder match. WWE need to realise just how awful and tacky this segment comes off week after week and can it! However I enjoyed Helms and Burchill’s interactions and was impressed with how over as a heel Paul was considering how chronically underused he is in WWE! This segment did get me wanting to tune in to see Hurricane vs Burchill II next week but hopefully I will never hear that dumb laugh from Atlas ever again!

Match 2: Vladimir Kozlov & Ezekiel Jackson vs Mike Tolar & Jim Parks

So they go from one upping each other on jobbers every week to facing a team of jobbers instead! We see highlights of Christian’s clash with Regal and his Roundtable last week as the match gets underway. Kozlov starts out against Tolar and drops him with a big boot followed by an overhead throw. Kozlov chokes Tolar with his boot before tagging in Jackson and literally tossing the hapless jobber straight into Jackson’s waiting boot. Jackson nails two backbreakers before Kozlov tags in and connects a headbutt before Jackson is tagged back in and connects a very impressive delayed vertical suplex. Parks calls for the tag and infuriates Jackson to the point where he whips him into the ring post and sends him crashing to the floor. Jackson then nails the Uranage on Tolar before tagging in Kozlov who nails the Iron Curtain for the pinfall and victory. Regals poses with the Roundtable after the match before applying the Regal Stretch on the hapless Tolar. Christian’s music hits and he comes out to a nice pop. Regal invites Christian down to the ring and Christian says he will but is not coming alone and Tommy Dreamer’s music hits and he comes out to a big pop. Regal is amused by Dreamer and mocks him before telling him if either of them come near the ring it will be the biggest mistake of their lives. Christian thanks ‘Bill’ for the heads up and says they realise the odds were against them which is why they brought these and Dreamer pulls out two Singapore Canes. Christian and Dreamer charge the ring and Cane the hell out of Jackson and Kozlov before Christian goes after Regal who makes a run for it. Regal calls Jackson and Kozlov off and Christian and Dreamer stand tall in the ring

Result: Vladimir Kozlov & Ezekiel Jackson defeat Mike Tolar & Jim Parks via pinfall *

Chris Considers: This was a glorified squash match that helped establish Kozlov and Jackson as a dominant team. However I did enjoy the quick tags and team work between the two and Jackson’s delayed vertical suplex was very impressive. The ending with Christian and Dreamer coming out was awesome and I like the idea of stable warfare on ECW. Something tells me we will be seeing Kozlov & Jackson vs Dreamer and Christian next week!

Tiffany introduces the special encore edition of Undertaker vs Michaels which is basically just an extended highlight reel of the match to a Shinedown song which fades into a Snow Patrol song. Obviously if there is one match to see this year then it is this one but I imagine all of you have already seen it as it was acclaimed so much at the time. I thought this was the purpose of the Wrestlemania Special on American TV the other night? Surely this time would have been better devoted to the actual ECW brand! Ryder and Shelton could have had a good 10-15 minute match without all of the unnecessary segments!

Match 3: No Disqualification, No Count Outs Match: Sheamus vs Goldust

I still wish Sheamus would use his FCW Celtic Theme, I just feel it suits the character he is playing so much better. The two lock up and wrestle around before Goldust applies a headlock which Sheamus powers out from only to walk into a shoulder charge from Goldust. This enrages the Irishman who clubs away before forcing Goldust into the corner and screaming at him that he is nothing. Goldust comes back with uppercuts but Sheamus slaps him which Goldust responds in kind to and then connects a dropkick. Sheamus has had enough at this point and tries to leave but as he is walking up the ramp Goldust chases him down and drops him with a clothesline as we go to commercial. Back from the break and Goldust is stomping away in the ring. Goldust clotheslines Sheamus over the ropes and bounces his head off the security wall before tossing him back into the ring. As Goldust is climbing back through the ropes though The Celtic Warrior drops a shoulder keeping Goldust on the apron before whipping him into the ring post and sending him crashing to the outside. Sheamus scoop slams Goldust on the floor outside the ring before stomping away and posing to heat from the fans. Sheamus tosses the golden one back in the ring and goes for a cover but only gets a near fall. Sheamus drops a knee to the head and applies a headlock but Goldust battles out with strikes and attempts to go for his sliding low punch but Sheamus has the move scouted and kicks away before stomping Goldust into the corner and applying an impressive bow and arrow stretch using the ring post. Sheamus covers for another near fall before applying a standard bow and arrow in the centre of the ring, Goldust briefly breaks the hold but Sheamus quickly reapplies it as a large ’Lets go Goldust’ breaks out from the crowd. Goldust powers to his feet but Sheamus slams him back to the mat before reapplying the hold for a third time as Goldust powers to his feet Sheamus changes to a headlock but Goldust breaks this as well. The two then exchange strikes and we actually get a ‘boo’ ‘yeah’ chant from the crowd which is something I never thought I would say for a Goldust match! Goldust ducks under a clothesline and connects a flying elbow followed by a clotheslines, an inverted atomic drop and a face buster sending Sheamus reeling into the corner. Goldust follows but the Irishman nails a savage kick to the leg followed by a boot to the face and goes for the bow and arrow once again but Goldust counters with an inside cradle for a near fall. Sheamus is furious and walks straight into a powerslam from Goldust which gets a near fall. Sheamus once again tries to run and gets dropped by a flying clothesline from Goldust off the apron. Goldust tries to toss Sheamus back in the ring but gets shoved into the ring post but as Sheamus tries to shove him into the opposite post Goldust reverses and whips the Irishman into the steel. Goldust tosses Sheamus back in the ring and strikes away before going for a bulldog which Sheamus counters by shoving him off. Sheamus stomps away in the corner and chokes Goldust with his knee but as he was going for an overhead slam Goldust does his sliding punch but this just infuriates Sheamus further and he connects a leaping kick before nailing the Irish Curse for the pinfall and victory.

Result: Sheamus defeats Goldust via pinfall ***

Chris Considers: This was a really solid match that featured some excellent wrestling from both men. Whilst I have always struggled to take Goldust seriously I have to hand it to him for doing a first class job in this feud and establishing Sheamus as the real deal. Sheamus has shown tremendous upside so far on ECW and plays a very good heel that mixes mat based submission holds with big power moves and I am quickly becoming a fan. Whilst initially I saw Yoshi Tatsu as the man with the biggest future from the new blood group I am now thinking that Sheamus will have most success in the Land of Extreme and moving on to feud with someone like Shelton Benjamin would do wonders for his career at the point. As for Goldust he could perhaps work with Zack Ryder to help him develop a little more.

This was overall a decent edition of ECW which was far better than the last one I reviewed! The opening match between Shelton and Zack was solid and I really liked some of Shelton’s high impact offence, The Abraham Washington show was worse than usual due to Tony Atlas’ moronic laughter, however it succeeded in making me want to watch ECW next week to see Burchill vs Hurricane II. The tag team squash match was ok for what it was and Jackson’s suplex impressed the hell out of me as did the teamwork between Jackson and Kozlov. Christian and Dreamer’s run in afterwards was really cool and the thought of stable warfare on ECW makes me one happy viewer. To cap it off Sheamus established himself as the real deal with a solid win over Goldust to hopefully end their feud and move on to bigger and better things. I did not feel the Undertaker vs Michaels encore was necessary as it was just extended highlights which would have been better served giving more time to Shelton and Zack but this and Washington Show were the only real blips of the night.

This week’s match of the week was Sheamus vs Goldust and the show scores a decent 7/10

That is all for this week’s edition of Chris Reviews ECW. Paul will be back from his holiday in time for the weekend so will be covering Smackdown this week and I will be back in a week and a bits time with Chris Reviews Smackdown and The Talent Exchange. Be sure to leave some feedback via the comment board, drop me an email, add me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/WNWsChrisJacks I hope you all have a great week!

Here are ten points to consider coming out of this week’s ECW
• Was it just me or was Zack Ryder wearing women’s lingerie to the ring? Surely ‘the man’ would not do something so unmanly?
• How impressive was Shelton Benjamin in his leaping crossbody and springboard blockbuster! Just makes me want to see him wrestle Danielson that much more!
• But I am not convinced he will ever make a successful babyface due to his lack of charisma, the dominant cocky heel role suits him far better in my opinion
• How irritating was Abraham Washington trying to get cheap heat by trashing Cleveland, people boo him because he sucks not because he is a good heel. I like his mic skills but he needs to be a manager instead of this lame show
• But Abraham was nothing compared to Tony ‘Ho ho ho’ Atlas, Oh my god what a tool! That was more annoying than any fake laugh Michael Cole has ever done!
• For someone so underused it was impressive how much heat Paul Burchill drew just for insulting Helms, I really wish they would give my fellow Brit more of a chance!
• What an impressive standing vertical suplex from Jackson! That was on par with DH Smith in my opinion! And some good teamwork from the Roundtable to boot!
• Christian and Dreamer’s interference was awesome! I would love to see some old school stable warfare in ECW, I think they need a third member though, perhaps Tyler Reks seeing as he is unable to get over on his own?
• Credit where credit is due I gave Goldust a hard time during his run with Hornswoggle on RAW but since coming to ECW he has worked hard with the upcoming talent and I respect that, especially what he has done for Sheamus
• Speaking of which I think a feud between Shelton and Sheamus would be the next logical step and hopefully deliver some great matches along the way!

My top ten matches of the year so far in WWE

1: The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels – Wrestlemania – April 5th 2009
2: CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy – Smackdown – August 28th 2009
3: Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho – The Bash – June 28th 2009
4: CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy – Summerslam – August 23rd 2009
5: Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho – Smackdown – July 10th 2009
6: Jeff Hardy vs John Morrison – Smackdown – July 31st 2009
7: John Morrison vs CM Punk – Smackdown – June 26th 2009
8: Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho – Judgement Day – May 17th 2009
9: Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho – Extreme Rules – June 7th 2009
10: DX vs Legacy – Summerslam – August 23rd 2009

Watch any WWE programming you miss at www.Dailymotion.com , your online source for TV shows!

Welcome to the longest running blog on the WNW Blog Spot…RAW IS BLOGGED!!!

I promise not to Big Daddy V this blog.

So the big news is Rey Mysterio’s forthcoming suspension.

Apparently, Rey had a prescription for the medicine but couldn’t provide it in time. I think that’s a little odd. One thing I wish they would change about the Wellness Policy is if they get a prescription for something they may or may not get in trouble with, why not go ahead and give it to WWE Officials?

I think they would solve a lot of problems.

Anyway, I don’t think Rey has a leg to stand on. He’s threatening to leave and if WWE officials were smart, they would stand their ground. If they let Rey run over them, it doesn’t look food for future run ins with the Wellness Crew.

UFC 102 was this past weekend. Couture & Nog kicked some ass. It was an old school brawl. I hope that Couture doesn’t leave anytime soon.

Also, check out the fastest knockout in history by Todd Duffee. Look it up on YouTube. SICK!

RAW is Blogged:
RAW is LIVE from Detroit Rock City with special guest host, The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes!

The Skinny:
The American Dream hosted RAW and proved the old saying true that blood is thicker than water.

Opening Segment: Dusty Rhodes, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes
Dusty came out to a nice “DUSTY” chant and cut a pro-Detroit promo. Dusty ended up making a match between Randy Orton & Cody Rhodes for the title with Cena as the special ref and Dusty in the corner of Cody. Orton came out & threatened to punt Dusty in the head. He said Cody wouldn’t accept but Cody came out & stated otherwise. He said he would become the youngest WWE Champion in history.

This was a strong opener in my opinion. However, Cody has been portrayed as a joke for most of the summer. Now, we’re supposed to take him seriously? Had he been built up properly, the fans would see him as a legitimate threat. The only reason he was considered a threat on this night was because his dad was in his corner and Cena was the special referee.

Match #1 – American Dream Battle Royal for Divas Championship shot
Smart. Sexy. Powerful. Michael Cole. The Divas involved were Jillian, Alicia, Kelly, Gail, Beth, and Rosa. This was a trainwreck. They told no story, just random eliminations. It finally ended when Beth kicked Gail off the ring apron to pick up the victory.
Winner: Beth Phoenix

Match #2 – Chris Jericho vs. MVP
This is the way to build a tag team feud: have each team’s partners compete against each other. They had a tremendous match. The story was that Jericho was in control but MVP couldn’t get enough offense going to gain momentum. MVP hit Ballin’ and Jericho blocked the Playmaker. He ended up hitting the Code Breaker for the win.
Winner: Chris Jericho

Meanwhile, Dusty & DX chatted backstage.

Match #3 – Texas Bullrope Match: Hornswoggle vs. Chavo Guerrero
So this sucks. I mean, if you, the fans, want me to recap this, like move by move style, you’ve got another thing coming.
Winner: Hornswoggle

Match#4 – The Big Show vs. Mark Henry
This was your typical boring, slow match between two overgrown giants. Mark Henry might need to lose some weight so he can maneuver around. They did the typical strength contests. I mean, I hope they don’t have this match up again anytime soon. Mark Henry got the win when Big Show slammed Henry’s face into the exposed turnbuckle.
Winner: Mark Henry by DQ

Meanwhile, we had another stupid segment between DX & Dusty talking about WCW.

Match #4 – United States Championship: Swagger vs. Carlito vs. The Miz vs. Kofi
This was a pretty good match. I really liked how they got 4 guys involved. Miz played his role as the heel that’s always running. Miz hit the “Skull Crushing Finale” which kinda looks like the Stroke. Then, Carlito hit the Back Stabber on Miz and Kofi hit the Trouble in Paradise on Carlito for the win.
Winner: Kofi Kingston

Match #5 – Divas Championship: Beth Phoenix vs. Mickie James ©
Going into this, I didn’t think things looked good for Mickie. I was wrong. Beth dominated most of the match but Mickie came out of nowhere to hit her DDT to get the win. They need to change her finishing move before somebody gets hurt.
Winner: Mickie James

Meanwhile, we had another stupid segment between DX & Dusty talking about WCW. They made fun of the Shockmaster with Lawler & Cole laughing like crazy.

Elsewhere after the weird factoid, Josh Matthews caught up with John Cena. He cut the same crappy, obnoxious promo about how he won’t quit.

Main Event – WWE Championship: Randy Orton © vs. Cody Rhodes
Orton came out first, followed by Rhodes, then Cena. Dusty said there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for his son. Then, Rhodes & Orton jumped Cena. They didn’t get going too long before DX came out to even the odds. That didn’t last long either before Dusty clocked Triple H with his boot. It didn’t end there as Orton hit an RKO on Dusty as Cody pissed around.
Winner: No Contest

I give this RAW:
3 out of 4 ring posts

The Final Word:
I thought this was a good RAW, minus the Dusty-DX skits and the weekly Horny-Chavo match. I don’t know if it was just me but Michael Cole wasn’t as annoying. I do question why they had 3 semi-title matches 2 weeks before the PPV. I figure they’ll add the US title to the card in some fashion. I like how they continued the Jeri-Show/MVP-Henry feud. All in all, they built towards the PPV, which has been lacking the past few events.

Bob Barker is next week’s guest host.

“RAW is Blogged” Power Rankings
1. Christian
2. Randy Orton
3. CM Punk
4. John Morrison
5. Jeri-Show
6. John Cena
7. DX
8. The Legacy
9. MVP +1
10. Kofi Kingston NEW
Honorable Mention:
Kane

“RAW is Blogged” Match of the Week
Armageddon ‘08
WWE Championship
Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Edge

“RAW is Blogged” YouTube Clip of the Week
Edge Returns on RAW – http://youtube.com/watch?v=_HMPrvkXwts

RAW – Mondays at 9PM on USA Network

Breaking Point – September 13 – 8PM – Only on PPV!

The ECW Report

By Paul Smith

paulsmith3010@gmail.com

Welcome to The ECW Report and I am your host Paul Smith.

The Pre Game: So Summerslam was a good show, lots of good things happening, just not for the ECW brand. I wrote a lot of detail into my thoughts and opinions on the show in The Summerslam Report, so if you’re interested (ha), then check that out.

-

ECW is taped and rolling from Phoenix Arizona the home of next year’s Wrestlemania! What will WWE do next year to top their previous ECW title matches of  Kane vs Chavo in 13 seconds and uh, nothing at all!?

On with the show.

Tonight’s show starts with a recap of the nearly ironman in length ECW title match from Summerslam. They’re honestly recapping this? They had 8 seconds on PPV for this one hour show. Does it really need a coloured video montage with scary music?

We then move onto the title screen, now with even more Tyler Reks with his eyes closed. Aww yeah.

Things begin with Regal’s Roundtable making their way to the ring. As ever, Kozlov has just finished his bubble bath, as I offend martial artists everywhere. I laugh as they pimp ‘the record time’ Regal lost in. Yeah I’d be proud of that. Regal says these three men are what will change ECW forever. He says that the one-upsmanship between Jackson and Kozlov led the fans to believe that it would end up in a match, and this was because the fans don’t have the influence Regal has to pair the two up. Poor us. Regal changes tack to address Christian, saying a new champion’s time is now. This brings out the Captain of Charisma, who should surely be a field marshal or something by now. Christian stands at the top of the ramp and says that nobody will watch the show if Regal keeps talking. Burn. Christian says that despite all of Regal’s talk, Christian beat Regal in 8 seconds and it’s convenient that Regal forgot this. This all makes Regal mad as Christian uses the classic five year old technique of repeating the words eight seconds. Regal says Xtian can give him a rematch or live to regret it. Christian decides to call Regal, Bill which Regal asks him not to, leading of course to a loud ‘Bill’ chant. That name is for commoners. Christian wants to move onto other challengers whom he hasn’t beaten in eight seconds. Tiffany’s really shitty music brings her moronic self out. In the worst delivery I have ever heard, and through her stitled acting, she makes a non-title match between the two, which if Regal wins, he gets another ECW title match. Simple and effective booking. Me like.

We get a reminder of the ’storied’ rivalry between Sheamus and Goldust. This epic battle continues next.

Sheamus vs Goldust
Things begin with lock ups, and a Thesz press by Goldust and a big forearm to the back of Sheamus. Sheamus hits a Saito suplex out of a side headlock by Goldust and this gets a two count. Sheamus takes over with strikes and drinks from the river of WWE chinlocks. Sheamus hits a trio of elbow drops and gets another two count. A nice kind of one legged surfboard with Goldust on his side by Sheamus. Goldust comes back with a big right, an inverted atomic drop and a lariat. Goldust does his move where he avoids a ducking opponent, goes to the floor and hits an slap. This leads to a nice snap powerslam off an Irish whip for two. Bulldog by Goldust and a flatliner which gets a near fall. Sheamus rolls out. He then takes Goldy with him. Basically, they fought on the outside and both got double counted out.
No Winner: Double Count Out

Opinion: Sheamus bails after the decision. What was interesting is that Tony Chimel actually called them wrestlers instead of supermegaawesomestars or entertainers or whatever. So this was kind of a pointless match, but it was good enough for what it was, but I feel the heat in a feud if all of the matches are three or four minutes long. *1/2

Shelton is backstage with The Bella Twins, and he does a passable Louis Armstrong impression of ‘What A Wonderful World’. Zack Ryder comes in and demands Lady GaGa. They talk it up and Tiffany interrupts and announces a Shelton and Ryder vs Yoshi Tatsu and Tyler Reks match. Epic.

We recap the wrestling return of The Hurricane, and they announce a rematch between he and Paul Burchill for Superstars. Courtney Taylor is with The Burchill siblings, Paul in a dodgy leather jacket. Burchill feigns interest in Taylor and The Burchills diss Taylor. Burchill isvery camp with hand on hip, Burchill says that he isn’t The Hurricane he’s Greg Helms and that this week he wont be underestimating him again.

We then see Regal’s Roundtable discussing important things backstage.

Shelton Benjamin & Zack Ryder vs Yoshi Tatsu & Tyler Reks
We get a box in the corner of the Pacific Connection and they both share the same will to win. Reks and Benjamin begin. Takedown by Benjamin leads to some mat wrestling and grappling. Reks hits a big sunset flip leading to a series of pinning reversals and a catapult by Benjamin but Reks lands on the corner and hits a corssbody for two. Benjamin can’t get the tag to Ryder and ends up rolled up and dropkicked by Reks. Samoan drop by Benjamin and Ryder finally blind tags in. Stomps by Ryder lead to a two. Chinlock by Ryder who obviously was getting bored of Benjamin and Rek’s fast paced sequence. Cool spot wher ethey both went for a crossbody and just kind of collided with each other. Ryder gets the tag to Benjamin and Reks hits a stunner and tags in Yoshi Tatsu who hits a strike combo, a diving double knee, the rolling snapmare a big kick to the face before channeling Ric Flair as Benjamin throws im off the top rope. Benjamin tags in Ryder by throwing him in the ring. Yoshi turns round into the roundhouse kick to Ryder to get the three
Winners: Yoshi Tatsu & Tyler Reks

Opinion: Cool match, lots of action and not only that, but they continued playing off the issue between Ryder and Benjamin, so a well worked match. Post-match Ryder ate the paydirt from Benjamin and it does seem that Benjamin is leaning more towards a face turn. **1/4

We then see the same video thing of all the Summerslam stuff they did that we saw during Summerslam. This video would be much better soundtracked by Kool and the Gang’s ‘Hollywood Swinging’. Just because.

William Regal w/ Vladimir Kozlov & Ezekiel Jackson vs ECW Champion Christian, Non-Title Match…For a Title Match
Striker used philistine as an adjective which was a little weird for me, but he is my teacher so I’ll take his word for it. Just think if DX had walked to the ring and Nancy Whatsherface had kept her mouth shut, this is the match we could have seen a couple of days ago. Whatever. This appears to have a good amount of time to it, so it should be pretty damn good. They wrestle early before Christian tries to go for an early Killswitch again. Sideheadlock takeover into some mat wrestling. Lots of throws and holds here. Snapmare and a kick to the back for one. Massive slap to the face causes Regal to roll out and Christian hits a baseball dropkick. He looked to be going for a rope aided crossbody but Kozlov and Zeke flanked Regal to scare him off. After a break Regal hits an exploder suplex and misses the kneelift. Springboard sunset flip by Christian. Christian gets sort of hip tossed from the apron to the outside. Christian beats the count just about but gets attacked straight away by Regal. Fierce forearms by Regal. I was prepared to let it go with the whole Viva Hate thing but when talking about Regal, Striker for some reason keeps unloading references to singer Morrissey (also of The Smiths, for those unaware), namechecking his singles and albums like ‘The Last of the Famous International Playboys’ and ‘Ringleader of the Tormentors’. I mean yes, they are both British, but other than that…the similarity just isn’t there. I should know. One of my CAWs on WWF Smackdown 2: Know Your Role was Morrissey. He had the Olympic Slam as a finisher. Good times. Eurocut from Regal, and another before a backslide battle spot. Christian takes him down for the two. Chinlock by Regal, but one that actually looks like it hurts. Lots of stiff strikes here from Regal, looks really painful which adds to the match. They both go up top but Christian punches away Regal and a springboard crossbody gets two. Christian is in all out comeback mode with strikes, a back body drop, an elbow drop and a pair of missile dropkicks for a close two. Christian hit a tornado DDT but he can’t cover immediately or hook Regals leg, only getting him a two. Regal hits a forearm getting a two. Christian muscles Regal to the outside and rolls him back in, before ABOLSUTELY SLAPPING THE SHIT OUT OF KOZLOV. Someone needs to make an animated .gif of that and Kozlov’s reaction. In the ring, Christian is going for the Killswitch, but Big Zeke is distracting the referee’s attention, leading to a Kozlov headbutt and a Regal kneelift, to get the three and earn Regal an ECW title match for an undetermined point in the future.
Winner: William Regal

Opinion: The heels pose as we go off the air. Excellent back and forth match and I think the right finish too as there was just enough of a feel of KozJack looking intimidating in the background, but not too much, to give Christian a reason to slap Kozlov in turn giving Kozlov a reason to attack Christian. Good stuff. ***

Well I enjoyed the show a lot this week. I think the lack of Abraham Washington definitely didn’t hurt. The matches this week didn’t suffer from lots of boring rest holds as they have been known to in the past, and there was advancement in three different feuds, which is damn good for a forty five minute show, if you take out commercials.

This episode of ECW earns a thumbs up

Until next time, I have been Paul Smith. Thanks for reading.

PS: In tribute to Striker, my title is also a Morrissey reference, referring to his single ‘November Spawned a Monster’. Wahey.