ECW on SyFy
Taped earlier in Bridgeport, Conn.

[Q1]The opening video aired, followed by the pyro, and Josh Matthews and Byron Saxton welcomed us to ECW on "SyFy." They hyped Hardy on the Washington show…Damn…Zack Ryder and Rosa made their entrance. A video showed their ignorant match on Superstars last week. Benjamin was out next…

1. Shelton Benjamin defeated Zack Ryder (w/Rosa Mendes) at 12:00 . Matthews said if Benjamin won, he would be the number one contender for the ECW title. Benjamin hit some quick offense and Ryder went to leave. Benjamin rolled him in the ring and went to work. He hit a suplex float over for two, and a Samoan drop for two.

Benjamin worked Ryder in the corner. Ryder hit a reverse atomic drop, but Benjamin hit a clothesline for two. Ryder got a cheap shot in and took control. He whipped Benjamin, but Benjamin reversed into a belly to belly for two. Benjamin dropped Ryder on the ropes and Ryder hit a hangman to the floor. He quickly climed to the top, but Benjamin hit a one legged drop kick to send Ryder to the floor. Rosa checked on him into the break…[C]

Back at 7:15, Ryder had a rest hold on Benjamin. A video showed Rosa distracting Benjamin on the floor, allowing Ryder to hit a rough rider leg lariat. In the ring, Ryder strong whipped to the corner for two, Ryder worked Benjamin on the ropes. He hit a back suplex and went to the top. He hit a big splash for two and locked in a body scissors.

Benjamin broke and Ryder stomped on him. He took a week to climb the rope and still connected on the splash for another near fall. He stood Benjamin and they traded blows. Benjamin hulked up and went off. He hit a Stinger splash, backbreaker, and belly to back into a bridge for two. Ryder hit a kick and went for a hurricanranna. Benjamin caught him and power bombed him into the corner. He followed with PAy Dirt for the win.

[Q2]Post match, Matthews announced that Benjamin was now the number one contender to the ECW title as a video recapped the match. Christian's music hit and he came out to the ramp. He stood there and loked at Benjamin and the peeps into the break…[C]

Shore’s Slant: I know I have been critical of this feud, but if that was the blow off, that was week as hell. Once again, both of these guys did very well in the ring, but I just don't care about the feud or any of their characters. I've tried. I do appreciate Christian coming out to legitimize Benjamin immediately.

Back from commercial, Christian was in the ring and he had a mic. He said he wasn't there to talk about tonight, he was there to talk about three weeks. He hyped the new TLC PPV and asked how ECW would be represented. He pointed out that the ECW title has been left off of recent PPVs. He said he wasn't going to cry about it, he was going to do something. He challenged Benjamin to a ladder match.

Benjamin asked him if he was sure. Christian said he didn’t want to impress the fans or his peeps. He said he wanted to steal the show. Benjamin said Christian had a "partner in crime" to steal the show. He said after TLC, there would be a new ECW Champion…

Backstage, Regal complained to the goons about not being the champ. He said his quest for the title was not over. He said it continued tonight by beating Yoshi Tatsu. He told them to be ready for anything and continued to lecture into the break…[C]

Shore’s Slant: Christian vs. Benjamin ladder match? The IWC just bought this PPV.

Back from commercial, the Extreme Rewind was a video of Vance Archer's last squash…Ringside, Archer made his entrance. His local jobber, who looked to weigh about 100lbs, was already in the ring…

[Q3]2. Vance Archer squashed Alex Reynolds at 2:30. Traditional squash. Archer really threw this guy around. He hit his swinging reverse DDT finisher for the win…The announce team hyped Hardy on the Abraham Washington show for next…[C]

Shore’s Slant: Archer got good heat at the end, but the crowd was mostly flat for this match. It is time to see this guy sell a little so we can know how good he can be.

Back from commercial, the Raw Rebound recapped Jesse Ventura's Raw and ECW boy made good Sheamus and his number one contender win and beat down on Cena…Back ringside, the announce team ran down the current TLC card…

Tony Atlas was introduced and he introduced Abraham Washington. The crowd apparently all went to the bathroom at the same time. He asked how many of the crowd saw New Moon. The crowd made a noise that sounded like Cena came out. He said he had Twilight fever because everybody there looked like dogs. He introduced Matt Hardy.

[Q4]Hardy came out to little heat. Like I said, everyone's in the bathroom. Washington said he was so excited when he heard there was a Hardy on the show. He said he was equally disappointed when he heard it was Matt. Matt said he could say the same about Abe and Conan O'Brien. They hyped Matt's appearance on Scare Tactics and played a clip.

When the clip was over, Washington said he wasn't scared of Matt or anything. Atlas snuck up behind him and scared the hell out of him. Atlas and Hardy laughed. Washington asked Matt what he was afraid of. Hardy said he had been having a reoccurring dream that he was on the AW show. He said he was kidding and then said he wasn't afraid of anything.

Washington said he was afraid, afraid they were out of time. He yelled at Atlas to take them out. His music played and he left the stage. Hardy and Atlas did Matt's hand sign to close the segment…Yoshi Tatsu was shown backstage getting ready for his match…[C]

Shore’s Slant: WTF was that? Seriously, what was that? What did that do? What was its purpose? Was it to sell the Jeff DVD? WTF was that!

Back from commercial, Yoshi made his entrance. Regal and company made their entrance as Tatsu stood ready to fight in the ring…

3. Yoshi Tatsu defeated William Regal (w/Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson) at 2:14. The announce team worked hard to put Tatsu over. He and Regal traded arm bars. Tatsu kicked Regal about a thousand times and whipped to the corner. Regal reversed and hit a clothesline on the bounce. Regal worked his ground and pound. He hung Tatsu on the ropes near the goons. The ref pulled Regal back and Kozlov shoved Tatsu in the face. Tatsu stood up and hit a roundhouse kick for the win. Post match the goons got in the ring and Tatsu split. Regal staggered to his feet and got in their faces. He asked each what happened and they just stood there.

[Overrun]Regal continued to question them and Kozlov suddenly pointed at Zeke and said, "He did it!" Zeke slowly pushed Kozlov's hand down and then hit his finisher. Regal asked him why he did it and Zeke just stood there. Regal talked for a moment and then Zeke stepped across Kozlov to get in Regal's face. They stared at each other for a moment and Zeke hit his finisher on Regal. His music hit and he left the ring. Kozlov and Regal recovered to end the show…

Shore’s Slant: I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this. My first blush is to like it because I think Zeke might be a decent big man and he needs to get away from Kozlov for that to happen. I don't like the two minute match. The ending is fine, but two minutes is kind of a slap to Regal. Let me stew on this one. I'll have more to say tomorrow on the hitlist. Thanks for watching along.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css3238@gmail.com with whatever is on your mind.

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