ECW on SyFy
Taped on 11/30 in Hamilton, Va.

[Q1]The opening video aired, but no pyro, and Josh Matthews and Byron Saxton welcomed us to Smackdown. They hyped the tag team main event…Tony Atlas opened the Abraham Washington show. AW put himself over and asked Tony about Thanksgiving. Tony started rambling about his family until AW told him to shut up. AW said his family all wanted his autograph. Tony started laughing uncontrollably.

AW trashed Virginians. He pointed out Atlas was from Virginia. He introduced his guests, Zack Ryder and Rosa Mendes. Abe asked Ryder what was going on between Rosa and him. Ryder said he wanted to read a poem. The last line was, "Woo, woo, woo. You know it." Rosa had a poem. It was all about her and her clothes. She said something in Spanish. Ryder started jumping on the couch like Tom Cruise. AW told him to stop and then told Atlas to send them out. Ryder continued to jump on the couch…

Shore’s Slant: WTF was that?

The announce team setup a video that recapped the end of last week's show with the Jackson attack on Kozlov and Regal. Backstage, Zeke was putting his boots on. Regal walked up and said he owed Jackson an apology. Zeke said he owed Regal one too, but he wouldn't apologize to Kozlov. Kozlov walked up and asked if Zeke was going to apologize. Zeke started to argue and Regal calmed everyone down. He talked them into being on the same page for his match against Goldust next…[C]

Shore’s Slant: OK first of all, I just realized I have never heard Zeke talk. What's up with the voice and speech pattern? Is he South African? He sounded like Mike Tyson with a degree. Next, what the hell happened at the end of the AW show? I was smiling, barely, and then they ruined what little good they had with that idiot jumping on the couch. This was worse than any of the DX stuff.

[Q2]Back from commercial, the Ruthless Roundtable made their entrance. Goldust was out next…[C]

1. Goldust defeated William Regal (w/Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson) at 4:09. Goldust hit a quick suplex and Regal rolled to the floor. Goldust went and got him and then hit an atomic drop. He set up Regal for Shattered Dreams, but Zeke distracted the ref and Kozlov unhooked Regal. Regal hit a kick and took control. He worked the back of the head as Saxton put over the knee trembler Goldust ate on Superstars last week.

Goldust fought out of a rest hold and hit a bulldog for two. Regal reversed a whip and Goldust grabbed the ropes. The goons both reached for his foot and then started pushing each other. Regal hit the exploder suplex. He set up for the knee trembler as the goons argued. He stuck his head through the ropes and told them to stop. Goldust rolled him up from behind for the win.

Post match, Zeke and Kozlov rolled in the ring. Zeke chased of Goldust and Kozlov got in Regal's ear, blaming Zeke for everything. Regal left with both men, doing nothing…Backstage, the Burchills all but begged Tiffany to ignore the stipulation that he leave ECW after losing to Hurricane. Tiffany said she was sorry and sent them away. Trent Barrera and Caylon Croft came in and put themselves over by cutting Tiffany off every time she tried to speak…[C]

Shore’s Slant: Quick match that did OK. Its purpose was to advance the storyline, and that it did nicely. I am intrigued to see if Zeke can stand alone. Not really looking forward to the Zeke/Kozlov match, but after that I am intrigued.

Back from commercial, Trent Barrera and Caylon Croft made their ring entrance. Their opponents, Tyler Hilton and Bobby Shields, were already in the ring…

[Q3]2. Trent Barrera and Caylon Croft defeated Tyler Hilton and Bobby Shields at 2:28. A tag team squash match. The new guys won with a combination reverse atomic drop/leg lariat finisher…The announce team hyped the main event…[C]

Shore’s Slant: Wanna know the only thing worse than a squash the local jobber match? It squash the local jobbers match. Nice to meet you guys. Wake me when you face someone real.

Back from commercial, Vance Archer gave an interview that had clips of his squashes cut into it. Very weird…A video package recapped the Jericho/Taker match, and subsequent Batista beatdown, from Smackdown last week. The announce team officially announced that Taker/Batista would be a chairs match and then ran down the current TLC card…

Backstage, Benjamin was playing the new Smackdown vs. Raw. He was facing Christian in a ladder match. Christian had him to pause it and started to give a speech. Benjamin told him to save it, he had his back so they could steal the show at TLC. Benjamin said he would win the title, just like he was about to on the game. He started playing again and Christian asked if he could play. He pressed the power button and said "oops." He said they would have to wait to find out who would win and walked off…Regal and the Goons were shown heading towards the stage as the goons argued…[C]

Shore’s Slant: This is the weirdest ECW in a while. That interview with Archer was really strange. It was like a promo and a vignette had a bastard child. The Christian/Benjamin stuff was cute, but I'm nervous. They are really hyping them stealing the show. If it doesn't pay off, it could be very, very bad for those of us getting hyped about it.

[Q4]Back from commercial, the announce team hyped Hurricane vs. Zack Ryder on WWE Superstars this Thursday. I'll be covering so feel free to watch along with me…Regal and the goons made their ring entrance together. Benjamin and Christian came out separately…

3. Shelton Benjamin and Christian defeated Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson (w/William Regal) 11:18. Zeke and Christian started. Christian hit a couple of quick moves, but Zeke hit a big slam. Zeke missed the elbow and Christian tagged in Benjamin. Zeke reversed a whip to the corner and charged in. Benjamin got the feet up and hit Zeke in the mouth. He went to the top and Kozlov came over. Benjamin knocked him to the ground, but Zeke hit Benjamin from behind to send him to the floor as well. Both men recovered into the break…[C]

Back at 6:14, Zeke had a waist lock on Benjamin. Benjamin got the hot tag and hit a cross body on Zeke. Zeke pushed out at two. Christian took out Kozlov and turned to face Zeke. Zeke grabbed his arm and hit an arm breaker. He tagged in Kozlov who worked the arm, tossing Christian off the second rope by the arm. Zeke tagged back in and worked the arm.

[Overrun]Zeke tossed Christian to the floor and Regal ran Christian's arm into the post. Zeke got Christian back in the ring. He lifted in a powerslam move and Kozlov tagged himself in. Kozlov worked the arm in the corner and Christian hit a tornado DDT. Both men went for tags and Zeke just hopped down and walked backstage. Regal chased after Zeke. Benjamin hit a splash and Paydirt for the win. Post match, the faces celebrated on the stage as Regal consoled Kozlov…

Shore’s Slant: Much like the first, an OK match that furthered the storyline. Zeke walking away like he did was a little weird. No accidental punch or anything, he just bounced. I'll have more to say tomorrow on the hitlist. Thanks for reading and I'll see you then.

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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