WWE TV Reports 8/19 Twilling's ECW Live Coverage: Mark Henry defends the ECW Title against Matt Hardy, new superstar debuts By Rich Twilling Aug 19, 2008 - 10:00 PM Email This Article | Printer Friendly Page Send Us News & Results | Back to Main Listing ECW on the SciFi Network Taped 8/19/08 from the Quad Cites [Q1] Footage aired of the SummerSlam match between Matt Hardy and Mark Henry. Matt did not win the title but he and his brother Jeff stood tall and triumphant... The opening video aired and fireworks lit up the stage. Todd Grisham and Matt Striker welcomed us to the show. Striker called this perhaps the most important ECW broadcast of all time and plugged Hardy vs. Henry for the title... 1. The Miz, John Morrison, and Chavo Guerrero (with Bam Neely) defeated Evan Bourne, Super Crazy, and Tommy Dreamer in 5:07. Crazy began the match vs. Morrison and was able to show off how badly he is being underutilized. Striker compared the rule breaking ability of Miz and Morrison to Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. Evan tagged in but a distraction by Bam Neely allowed the heels to gain the advantage. Bourne suffered a prolonged beatdown before tagging in Dreamer. Dreamer backdropped all three opponents to the floor. Crazy hit a somersault plancha and Bourne followed with a top rope moonsault. As Dreamer tried to reenter the ring, Miz hit a neckbreaker on Dreamer while he was caught in the ropes for the pinfall... Twill's Two Cents: Is anyone surprised that Dreamer did the job here? Ricky Ortiz was shown walking through the backstage area... [C] [Q2] 2. Ricky Ortiz defeated Gavin Spears in 3:35. Spears cut an 80s style promo saying he was the crown jewel of the new superstar initiative. Ortiz pretty much squashed Spears without doing anything spectacular or entertaining... Mark Henry was shown backstage doing dumbbell curls with Tony Atlas cheering him on... [C] Twill's Two Cents: This is the worst ECW has been in a long time. Hopefully Henry vs. Hardy and a possible Tiffany appearance will save this show. Did you know? For the second straight week, more people watched Raw than Monday Night Football. Once the regular season starts, WWE will not mention Monday Night Football again... Finlay and Hornswoggle came down to the ring. Finlay referred to Mike Knox as a "big bearded guy, cross-eyed, ugly." Finlay told Knox to come to the ring and prove that Finlay has become soft. [Q3] Knox came out to the stage. He said Finlay was afraid of him. Finlay told Knox to come to the ring and prove himself. Knox obliged and walked halfway down the aisle before stopping. Knox said he would do it when he felt like doing it. Hornswoggle went underneath the ring. Finlay said it was his time to make a move. He ran after Knox and started brawling with him in the aisle. In a decently brutal fight, Finlay and Knox had to be separated by agents and referees, including Dean Malenko and Mike Rotunda... Twill's Two Cents: Nice midcard segment. Both men were good on the mic and the brawl was realistic without being cartoonish. Matt Hardy was shown loosening up backstage for tonight's match... [C] Grisham and Striker put over the SummerSlam event as something spectacular but their moods turned to somber when they began to bring up what happened to Rebecca Michaels. They aired the recap video from last night. When it concluded, Grisham said WWE.com reported that Rebecca fractured her jaw but those reports were not confirmed. Striker wished Rebecca a speedy recovery... Twill's Two Cents: If something was reported on WWE.com but "could not be confirmed," then who is writing for WWE.com? It is their own company's website; shouldn't anything that goes on there as news "be confirmed" first? Matt Hardy made his ring entrance... [C] [Q4] They aired the ECW Title match highlight video from SummerSlam again coming back from commercial... With Hardy in the ring, a graphic came up on the screen announcing Finlay vs. Mike Knox, by order of Teddy Long, for next week's show... 3. Mark Henry (with Tony Atlas) defeated Matt Hardy to retain the ECW Championship in 14:20. Chimmel did the introductions "big fight" style. That belt is huge. The referee almost fell down when Henry handed it to him. By the way , why is Atlas allowed at ringside after what he did at Summerslam? Atlas took off his suit jacket to reveal a cut off dress shirt and his huge arms. Hardy began working on Henry's knees and legs. Hardy scored the first nearfall at 1:44 with an ensiguiri. As expected, Henry used his strength and power to take over the match. Henry knocked Hardy to the floor, which means it is commercial time... [C] Henry had a neck vice applied to Hardy coming back from commercial. Atlas looks to be in phenomenal shape. Henry continued to favor his knee as he kept Hardy grounded. Atlas landed a right hand on Hardy while Henry distracted the referee. Striker gave us a nice visual regarding Mark Henry's strength. He has a 903 pound deadlift. Striker said to stack Big Show, Tommy Dreamer, and Grisham on top of each other and Henry could lift it. Impressive. [Overrun] Henry kept the pace very slow and every time Hardy had a glimmer of hope, Henry squashed it. Henry missed a splash and Hardy made his comeback. Hardy scored a nearfall after a middle rope bulldog. He scored another two count with a high crossbody. Hardy hit a Twist of Fate but Atlas pulled Hardy off of Henry. Hardy tried a moonsault and it looked like he overshot it because his head hit Henry in the chest, but the announcers sold it as if he missed it. Henry won with the World's Strongest Slam. Atlas helped Henry to the back after the match... Twill's Two Cents: Those fifteen minutes felt like fifty. I expected the match to be better but it was just sort of there. I wish Henry did not need so much of Atlas' help. By the way, time to promote Atlas from "bag carrier." What did you think of the show? To me, this was the worst ECW hour in recent memory. Let me know what you thought by emailing me at dotnetrich@gmail.com. BOOKMARK DOT NET AND ADD US TO YOUR RSS • HELP DOT NET: TAKE OUR ADVERTISER DEMO SURVEY CLICK TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING OR SELECT A LINK BELOW FROM THIS CATEGORY WWE TV Reports Latest Twelve Articles 12/2 Twilling's ECW Live Coverage: Matt Hardy vs. MVP, Jack Swagger vs. Ricky Ortiz, DJ Gabriel will wrestle while everyone watches Alicia Fox dance 12/1 Twilling's WWE Raw Live Coverage: John Cena makes his Raw in ring return vs. Kane; The IC Title tournament continues with The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio and Finlay vs. John Morrison 12/1 Powell's WWE Raw Live Coverage: John Cena faces Kane, two more Intercontinental Title contender tournament matches, Melina vs. Jillian Hall 11/28 Shore's WWE Smackdown Live Coverage: New WWE Champion Edge, Beat the Clock Matches, Gobble Gobble 11/25 Twilling's ECW Live Coverage: Jack Swagger vs. Tommy Dreamer in an Extreme Rules match, Mark Henry vs. Finlay 11/24 Twilling's WWE Raw Live Coverage: John Cena returns, Shawn Michaels and Rey Mysterio vs. John Morrison and The Miz, Intercontinental Championship number one contender tournament