6/23 Powell's WWE "ECW on Sci-Fi" Live Coverage: Christian and Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Swagger and Mark Henry, Evan Bourne vs. Tyson Kidd, Finlay vs. Zack Ryder
Jun 23, 2009 - 10:00 PM |
WWE "ECW on Sci-Fi"
Taped earlier tonight in Milwaukee, Wisc.
[Q1] The opening montage kicked off the show... Josh Matthews and Matt "Beer Can" Striker introduced the show and hyped the ECW scramble match for the pay-per-view, and this show's tag team main event...
1. Evan Bourne beat Tyson Kidd (w/Natalya, David Hart Smith) in 6:05 Striker referred to Kidd as "Tyson 'Dynamite' Kidd." Less than a minute into the match, the referee banned Natalya and Smith from ringside because they stood on opposite sides of the ring apron. Bourne sold the rib injury he's been selling for the last couple weeks, but he still hit his Shooting Star Press for the 1-2-3...
Powell's POV: Give these two more time! It was fun while it lasted, but I would have enjoyed a few more minutes. Leave them wanting more, I guess. Unfortunately, I saw nothing in this match to make me think they are starting an actual program between these two.
The announcers recapped last week's show with Finlay's return... A shot aired of Finlay walking backstage... [C]
[Q2] Finlay came to the ring for a promo. He said people have been asking him why he attacked Christian and Tommy Dreamer with a shillelagh. He explained that he suffered an eye injury while trying to break up a fight between Christian and Dreamer. He said they never called him and only sent their apologies via text message. "Apologies don't pay the bills," Finlay said. He said it was eye for an eye.
Finlay was interrupted by Zack Ryder. He said Finlay was overlooking him. He delivered his "woo woo woo" catchphrase. The announcers said the match was coming up after the break... [C]
Powell's POV: Finlay came across well in the promo. He's not the flashiest guy by any means, but he explained his side of the story well in a no nonsense manner.
2. Finlay pinned Zack Ryder in 6:00. The match was joined in progress. At one point, Ryder whipped Finlay into the corner. Finlay turned around and they bumped heads. It was a planned spot, as Finlay sold his eye injury. Ryder took over on offense for the next couple minutes, but Finlay came back and scored a near fall. He went right back to selling the eye injury.
Ryder grabbed Finlay and shoved him down near the ropes. Finlay struck his eye on the second rope. Ryder tried to remove a turnbuckle pad, but the referee caught him. Ryder went back to Finlay, who tripped him up and then pinned him while holding the tights...
Powell's POV: Heel tendencies shown by Finlay by holding the tights, but the announcers didn't make a fuss over it.
The announcers hyped the tag team main event... [C]
[Q3] Did You Know? More people watched last night's Raw than any episode in the last seven years?...
Powell's POV: If that stat is accurate (and it's hard to say given how much they manipulate numbers with some of these factoids) then WWE officials have to be thrilled. Donald Trump and the commercial-free gimmick was a success as far as attracting viewers.
A video recapped the Trump and Vince McMahon angle from Monday's Raw. They also included footage of the Triple H and Randy Orton saga... At ringside, Matthews and Striker ran through the pay-per-view lineup. Matthews didn't bleed and Striker kept his pants on...
In the ring, Matt Striker broke out the chalkboard to explain the rules of the Championship Scramble. He had the names of the five wrestlers written on the board and he explained the basics of the match. Striker sent it backstage for an interview...
Powell's POV: To make a long story short, the last guy to score a pin or submission wins the ECW Title.
Gregory Helms interviewed Mark Henry and Tony Atlas. The interview never really got started because there was a commotion in the background. The camera turned to show that a large case fell on top of a man who was screaming in agony. The Hurricane made his return and helped lift the case off the man. The camera went back to the interview area and Helms asked Henry how he felt about his match. "What's going on around here?" Henry asked...
Powell's POV: The production team had so much fun withe Santino/Santina camera trick last night that they came back with a similar stunt involving Hurricane. Note that the straight man character is back to Gregory Helms rather than Hurricane Helms.
An ad for Smackdown hyped Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho and Edge in a steel cage match. They're calling it "Rage in the Cage"... [C]
[Q4] The wrestlers made their entrances for the main event. A fan held up an "Edge vs. Christian: Make It Happen" sign in the front row. Nice!...
3. Jack Swagger and Mark Henry (w/Tony Atlas) beat Christian and Tommy Dreamer in 13:00. The announcers recapped the tension there's been between Christian and Dreamer in recent weeks. Striker said Henry was notorious "long before BIG." Matthews noted that the reference was from the '90s. Apparently, no one bothered to tell Josh they made a recent movie about the guy. After some routine action, they cut to break. [C]
At 9:00, Dreamer did his usual tree of woe into a slide kick spot and got a better than usual reaction for the "ECW" chant.
[Overrun] Late in the match, Christian hit the Killswitch on Swagger and had the pin, but Atlas reached in and pulled Swagger's leg under the ropes to break the hold. Dreamer attacked Atlas. As the referee was scolding Dreamer, Christian jumped into Henry's arms.
Henry rammed Christian's back into the ring post and slid him inside the ring. Swagger hit his finisher on Christian and scored the clean pin. Afterward, Henry hit his finisher on Dreamer. Swagger was bleeding from the mouth. Henry grabbed Swagger and hit the World's Strongest Slam and then left the ring with Atlas to close the show...
Powell's POV: I don't think ECW can get away with no commercials, but how about they just announce that they won't show any Raw or Smackdown videos in the third quarter-hour? I'm only half joking. The main event was decent, yet nothing special, and that's coming from someone who likes all the players. That said, the closing moments of the match were well done and they did a nice job of establishing the obvious, which is that it's every man for himself in the scramble match. Thanks for watching along with me tonight.
RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE:
READ OUR INSIDER NEWS BEFORE ANYONE ELSE! BECOME A MEMBER FOR JUST $7.50 A MONTH (or less with a year-long sub) - GET THE FIRST LOOK AT EXCLUSIVE INSIDER DOT NET NEWS, TONS OF EXCLUSIVE AUDIO CONTENT, MEMBER MESSAGE BOARD ACCESS, START YOUR OWN BLOG, AND VIEW THE SITE WITHOUT ANY ADVERTISING: SIGN ME UP (or MORE INFO)
RELATED ARTICLES FROM MGID AFFILIATE SITES...
|