THE DAY ECW DIED

It is almost bitter sweet that the night the WWE brought back ECW to begin it’s second rain was in fact the night that ECW died. The only respect I can shine towards the WWE is that they did send ECW out with guns blazing.

At this moment the show had come to its main event for the evening with the match up being RVD the home grown champion of ECW verses John Cena the poster boy for the WWE at our present day and age. IN the beginning one can only be astonished by the crowd. This crowd was in fact the last true ECW crowd to be established under one roof, everyone was wearing their ECW t-shirts and hats. Signs saying” Anti-Cena” and “If Cena wins we riot” were posted throughout the masses.

When RVD entered an eruption occurred as the fans showed whose side they were on, however, one thing I was not expecting was the reaction John Cena received. Now obviously in this case Cena was the heel, at least to the crowd, but what occurred after John Cena entered the ring blew me away.

As in many cases a wrestler will take off his attire, in this case a t-shirt, and toss it into the crowd as a keep sake for one lucky fan. But the pro-ECW fans wanted no part in anything Cena had to offer and tossed the shirt back into the ring. A shocked John Cena went to the opposite end of the arena and tossed it to another fan, again it was tossed back. Every time this happened the crowd fed off its hate for Cena and continued to toss back the shirt. That is a once in a lifetime thing to see, and to cap it all off RVD simply walks to Cena who is holding his returned shirt and informs him of who he is “RVD”.

If you thought that was enough stay tuned because “fuck you Cena” chants and “CENA SWALLOWS” chants would occur in the opening moments of the match, toilet paper would be tossed around and many boo’s would occur on any offense Cena had.

Now as fake as you want to say pro wrestling is I will argue that by agreeing it is fake but suggesting everything is fake in the same regard, a movie it fake because it is scripted and shot but once it is put together there is an aura that one cannot ever accuse of being fake. When Cena and RVD go toe to toe and being to punch one another it is obviously scripted, however, what gives this moment life is that the fans are commanding the actions by booing Cena and cheering RVD, the fans control how long this will go and how much delay and build up are involved in every blow.

Additionally to those accusing wrestling of being fake. Like any sports star they can bring their A-game when they wish. Cena sling shooting RVD into a steel chair would normally be blocked with RVD putting his hands up and selling the move as if he took it to the face, HOWEVER, in the moment of RVD wrestling like a CHAMPION he eats that chair face first.

I highly suggest any true fan of wrestling to watch this match-up as it is a historical moment in pro wrestling history. I only add that when you watch it take into consideration the amount of heat Cena had as a heel and only pray that when Cena returns this year he isn’t the repetitive face but a newly defined heel.

RVD vs. John Cena ECW: One Night Stand Pt. 1

RVD vs. John Cena ECW: One Night Stand Pt. 2

RVD vs. John Cena ECW: One Night Stand Pt. 3

Return to Shop WWE!

ECW Results 9/16/08

Report by Rich Twilling and ProWrestling.net

The opening video aired and fireworks lit up the stage. Todd Grisham and Matt Striker welcomed us to the show. They plugged the Finlay vs. Mark Henry match for later in the night.

1. Matt Hardy defeated Mike Knox in a non-title match in 12:38. During Hardy’s entrance, footage was shown of how he became the ECW Champion at Unforgiven. That was followed by the announcement that Hardy will defend the ECW Championship at No Mercy vs. Mark Henry.

After some back and forth action, Knox gained the advantage. Striker called the ECW title belt “Seventeen pounds of pure platinum.” Knox was impressive on offense as Hardy continued to attempt coming back. In a very cool spot, Hardy tried the Twist of Fate but could not turn Knox over. So, he hit a DDT for a two count. Knox broke the count by putting his foot on the rope. Both men hit simultaneous closelines on the floor.

-commercial-

Knox had Hardy grounded with a reverse chinlock coming back from commercial. Hardy broke loose by Knox hit a surprising dropkick. Nicely done. Knox scored multiple nearfalls after hitting a succession of various suplexes. Hardy knocked Knox from the ropes and tried a moonsault, hitting his face on Knox’s back as he rolled away. Knox scored another two count.

Hardy hit the Side Effect for a two count before hitting a second rope tornado DDT. He followed that up with the Twist of Fate for the clean victory.

Backstage, Tony Atlas and Mark Henry were watching on a monitor. Atlas said Hardy looked good out there. Henry said Hardy only looked good because he was not in the ring with the world’s strongest champion. Henry said Finlay saved Hardy from being carried out last week and he had the luck of the Irish on his side…

Miz and Morrison walked out of what looked like a New York apartment building elevator.

-commercial-

Shawn Michaels narrated the piece for the American Red Cross in their effort to raise money for the Hurricane Ike Relief Fund. For more information, go to WWE.com.

2. Evan Bourne (with Ricky Ortiz) defeated The Miz (with John Morrison) in 5:27. Miz and Bourne exchanged hard left hands early. Miz kicked Bourne to the floor. Morrison and Ortiz approached Bourne. Morrison told Ortiz to give Carlito his hair back. Funny. Miz turned Bourne inside out with a lariat and continued to work on the back and ribs area.

Bourne hit a standing kick to Miz’s face. He followed that up with a standing moonsault for a nearfall. He went to the top rope but Miz threw him to the mat. Miz hit a springboard dropkick for a nearfall. Morrison grabbed Bourne’s leg and was ambushed by Ortiz. Miz was distracted and Bourne scored the pinfall with that unique rollup that he does.

Finlay vs. Mark Henry was plugged.

-commercial-

The Raw Rebound showcased last night’s World Heavyweight Championship steel cage match between C.M. Punk and Chris Jericho. The footage progressed into Mike Adamle announcing the two top Raw matches at No Mercy.

3. Jack Swagger defeated Chase Stevens in 1:46. Swagger hit his finisher (side suplex into a powerbomb) for the win.

Finlay and Hornswoggle made their way through the back.

-commercial-

4. Mark Henry (with Tony Atlas) defeated Finlay (with Hornswoggle) in 14:07. Henry looked pissed. Finlay became serious when the bell rang. Grisham said Henry can hammer nails with his hands and straighten horse shoes. Striker said Finlay’s name meant “the fair haired warrior.”

Henry was very cerebral and plodding in between each impressive, powerful move. With Finlay on the apron, Atlas took a shot at him too. Finlay remained down on the floor as the show went into its final commercial of the night.

-commercial-

Henry had a nerve hold applied across the clavicle of Finlay coming back from commercial. Henry scored a couple of nearfalls and continued to punish Finlay with powerful slams and boots.

Finlay put Henry’s head in the ring apron and pounded on him. Atlas came around and pushed Hornswoggle. Finlay went after Atlas. Henry grabbed Horny and Finlay snuck up and hit him in the arm with the shillegleh.

Finlay applied a Fujiwara armbar but Henry broke out of it. Finlay scored a two count after hitting a DDT while Henry was on his knees. With both men struggling, Henry hit the World’s Strongest Slam out of nowhere for the win. Henry sold his arm after the match.

End of show…

ECW Results 9/9/08

Report by Mike Odd and PWinsider.com

The show begins with a video package of the ECW Championship scramble match at Unforgiven.

ECW comes to us from Milwaukee, WI; our announcers are Todd Grisham and Matt Striker. They introduce our new ECW World Champion, Matt Hardy. He thanks the fans and says winning the title is a dream come true. He says that by winning the title he’s unlocked his destiny. He’s not happy just being the ECW champion, he wants to be the greatest champion ever. He is interrupted by Mark Henry and Tony Atlas. Mark Henry says that Matt Hardy has his title and he wants a rematch. Tony Atlas tells Matt Hardy that if he ever lays his hands on him again there will be problems between them. Henry then attacks Hardy but Hardy fights him off and hits The Twist of Fate on Tony Atlas. Our main event tonight will be Finlay and Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry and Mike Knox. We go to commercial.

Match # 1
Evan Bourne vs. John Morrison

As Evan Bourne comes to the ring they show clips from the tag match on Raw last night. John Morrison comes to the ring with The Miz. The match starts with a lock up. Morrison with a hammerlock into a snapmare. Evan Bourne with a headlock. Morrison rams him into the corner. Morrison with an Irish Whip. Bourne jumps over the top rope and attempts a Sunset Flip. Morrison blocks the Sunset Flip and Bourne hits a spinning heel kick for a 2 count. Evan Bourne with kicks. Morrison brushes him off and begins stomping. Morrison with a headlock. Morrison comes off the ropes then gets hit by a dropkick. Morrison falls outside the ring. Bourne hits a hurancanrana on the floor. We go to commercial.

We’re back and Evan Bourne is punching John Morrison in the corner. He rushes Morrison in the corner, Morrison moves, he catches himself on the 2nd rope and The Miz knocks him off. Morrison with a chinlock, Evan Bourne fights out. Morrison throws him into the ropes and Bourne attempts a cross body block which Morrison avoids and dropkicks Bourne to the outside. Morrison joins him outside and drops Bourne on the barricade. Morrison puts Bourne back in the ring then kicks him in the head before getting back into the ring himself. Morrison gets a 2 count.

Morrison with a headlock, Evan Bourne fights out. Evan Bourne with kicks. Evan Bourne attempts a hurricanrana. Morrison catches him and throws him onto the ropes for a 2 count. Morrison with yet another headlock. Evan Bourne attempts to fight out but Morrison hits a backbreaker followed by a Side Russian Leg Sweep. Morrison gets a 2 count. Morrison with an armlock and throws Evan Bourne out of the ring. Morrison with kicks to Bourne’s ribs and throws Bourne back into the ring for a 2 count. Morrison with another armlock. Evan Bourne tries to fight out but Morrison hits him with a quick backbreaker for a 2 count.

He gets Evan Bourne in another chinlock, Bourne fights out again. Punches and kicks by Bourne. Morrison hits a punch and knocks Bourne to the ground. Morrison attempts a couple clotheslines but each time is met with kicks. Evan Bourne with a running hurricanrana. Bourne with an elbow in the corner and a back kick for 2. Bourne with another hurricanrana into a pin for 2. Bourne with a kick followed by the standing moonsault which Morrison blocks with his feet. Morrison hits a kick for a 2 count, drags Bourne into the corner and attempts Starship Pain.

Bourne goes to the top, Miz gets on the apron, Bourne jumps off at The Miz. Morrison hits a big kick, drags Bourne back into the ring and gets the 3 count.

Winner – Morrison

They recap the Finlay/Mike Knox situation over the past few weeks. We go to commercial.

Match # 2
“The All American American” Jack Swagger vs. Josh Daniels

Jack Swagger starts the match with a thrown on the much smaller Josh Daniels. They lock up. Swagger with a headlock; Daniels gets to the ropes. Daniels punches Swagger. Swagger responds with a gut wrench suplex and mounts him for punches. Swagger hits a sidewalk slams and gets a 2 count. Swagger rams Daniels into the corner. Swagger hits a slam that Striker calls a Blue Thunder Bomb (a back suplex that turns into a sit out powerbomb) for the pin.

Winner – Jack Swagger

Finlay, Hornswaggle, and Matt Hardy are shown backstage walking. Ricky Ortiz stops them and gives them a rally towel which Hornswaggle happily plays with. We go to commercial.

Match # 3
Mark Henry and Mike Knox vs. Matt Hardy and Finlay

Match starts with Hardy and Henry. Henry powers Hardy into the corner. Hardy fights out, hits a few punches, and tries in vain to knock Henry over. Hardy stays on the offense until Henry hits him with a clothesline. Henry puts Hardy into the corner, hits him a few times, then throws him into the other corner and gets a 2 count. Matt Hardy with a few punches then drops Mark Henry onto the top rope. Matt Hardy with punches, Mark Henry continues to push him away. Matt Hardy goes for a cross body block off the 2nd rope; Mark Henry catches him and throws him to the mat. Mark Henry hits a big elbow drop and stands on Matt Hardy’s chest. Mark Henry puts Matt Hardy into the corner and runs into him. Henry goes for another big elbow but Matt Hardy moves. We go to commercial.

We’re back and Mike Knox has Matt Hardy in a headlock. Hardy fights out, tags Finlay, and Finlay comes in with multiple clotheslines for a 2 count. Finlay rams Knox into the corner and then hits a rollover fireman slam. Knox hits Finlay with an elbow, goes for a sunset flip which Finlay blocks and clotheslines Mike Knox over the top rope. Finlay follows him out, hits Knox’s head on the ring a couple of times, and throws him back in. Knox kicks Finlay as he’s coming back into the ring and pulls Finlay over to Mark Henry before tagging him in. Henry with stomps to Finlay. Henry with a chinlock. Henry tags in Mike Knox and they double shoulder block Finlay. Knox stays on top of Finlay and hits a knee to the back of Finlay’s skull for a 2 count. Mike Knox with a headlock just keeping Finlay out of his corner. Finlay fights back but still stops short of tagging in Matt Hardy. Mike Knox gets him in a headlock before giving him a short arm clothesline. Knox goes for a knee drop, Finlay moves and tags in Matt Hardy. Hardy with punches to Knox followed by clotheslines. Matt Hardy hits a bulldog off the 2nd rope for a 2 count. Matt Hardy hits the side effect. Matt Hardy hits a moonsault for a 2 count which Mark Henry breaks up. Hornswoggle runs in the ring. While the ref’s distracted, Finlay hits Henry with the shillelagh. Matt Hardy with a Twist of Fate for the 3 count.

Winners – Matt Hardy and Finlay

Post match Hardy, Finlay, and Hornswaggle are celebrating in the ring while Henry, Knox and Atlas walk backwards up the ramp as we go to credits.

Report by Mike Odd and PWinsider.com

ECW Results 9/2/08

ECW on Sci-Fi
Pittsburgh, PA
September 2nd 2008
Commentators: Todd Grisham & Matt Striker
Report by: David Stephens of WrestleView.com

It’s time for ECW and this week we are kicking the show off with “The Dirt Sheet”!

John Morrison and Miz are putting over the fact that Miz is in the ECW Scramble in his home town of Cleveland, Ohio and has a chance to win the ECW Title. Their first guest is the ECW Champion Mark Henry. Tony Atlas accompanies him to the ring. Next up, Chavo is introduced and instead of his theme playing, it is a track of Miz & Morrison scatting out Chavo’s theme. Even Mark Henry is laughing. Finlay apparently isn’t going to able to make it, so luckily they have Finlay’s brothers live via satellite!

This turns out to be a pre-taped Miz & Morrison segment dressed in Irish garb. Well Finlay apparently is in the building and decides to make his way out to the ring. Finlay has a smile on his face so it doesn’t seem that the segment bothered him too much, he even greets Miz & Morrison as his brothers. Hornswoggle says hello to his cousins via a swift kick to the calf. Matt Hardy makes his way down to the ring, and once again gets a huge ovation. This guy is really over.

They do the type of smack talk you would have expected, nothing too spectacular. Next thing you know Morrison starts attacking Hardy and everyone else joins in. For some reason Bourne and Dreamer come down to make the save. Kind of a dull segment, but maybe it shall improve. This is interesting considering the fact that ECW was taped before RAW’s Scramble match last night.

****Commercial****

When we come back, the whole group is fighting backstage. Theodore Long comes out to break it up. He declares that tonight there will be an 8 man tag team match: Chavo, Miz, Morrison & Henry v. Dreamer, Bourne, Finlay & Hardy.

Super Crazy v. Gavin Spears

Spears ties up Crazy in an arm bar and Super reverses it into a leg hold via a couple of spins. Crazy hits an arm drag and then jumps up for some punches in the corner. Gavin throws Crazy down to the mat and goes for a pin, but no three count. The two exchange a couple of punches and then Spears hits a jumping knee on Crazy but the pin attempt isn’t any good, though he does yell for the ref to count faster. Super Crazy gets locked into a variation of the crossface in the middle of the ring. Gavin Spears hits a sunset flip, but Crazy rolls out of it and hits a dropkick. Crazy whips him into the ropes and hits two more dropkicks followed up by a spinning heel kick. Crazy is sent to the apron and then hits a beautiful moonsault by springing off the second rope. 1..2…3.

Winner via Moonsault: Super Crazy

****Commercial****

Ricky Ortiz v. Ryan Braddock

Braddock apparently had a match against the Big Show on Smackdown sometime, so I guess I won’t chalk him up as some random guy. Ortiz locks in an arm bar but gets shoulder blocked to the ground. Ortiz whips Ryan into the ropes and hits a nice shoulder block of his own. Ortiz hits a suplex and then whips Braddock into the corner. Ryan goes to the second rope and somehow drives him down to the mat with his knee into the back of Ortiz’s head. That was kind of interesting. Ortiz is caught up in a side headlock and then gets chucked down to the mat when he tries to get out. Braddock locks him up in another head lock.

Ortiz finally gets out and slams Braddock’s head into the top turnbuckle. Ricky hits a nice dropkick and then slams him down to the mat. He hits his flying shoulder tackle from the second rope and then hits the “Big O” for the win.

Winner via Big O: Ricky Ortiz

****Commercial****

Video airs of Josh Mattews interviewing Mr. Kennedy and Mickie James at the Republican National Convention. Todd Grisham puts over Smackdown! Your Vote, and Matt Striker reminds us to vote Republican.

Matt Hardy makes entrance down to the ring.

****Commercial****

Miz, Morrison, Henry & Chavo v. Dreamer, Bourne, Hardy & Finlay

Morrison and Hardy start things off. Hardy hits a couple of quick shots and then tags in Dreamer who hits a suplex and then tags in Finlay. The two of them are slugging it out and Chavo gets the tag. Miz chokes up Finlay while the ref isn’t looking, then Chavo runs back over only to be hit with an Atomic Drop and clothesline. Finlay is thrown to the outside but blocks Chavo’s baseball slide by pulling out the apron to trap him in it. Finlay starts pounding on Chavo and when Bam comes over to make the save Hornswoggle leaps off the apron to take him out!

****Commercial****

As we come back Finlay is holding Chavo and Bourne springboards over the ropes to take him out. Chavo whips Bourne into the ropes and then hits a backbreaker on the high flyer. Miz gets in the tag but Bourne floors him. Miz is on his back and starts to move his head up to see where Bourne is at and Evan kicks him in the face and hits a standing moonsault! That was actually pretty amusing. Bourne goes for the pin but only gets a 1 count. Bourne starts to climb up the ropes but Morrison distracts him enough for Miz to throw him to the ground.

Henry gets in the tag and things don’t look good for Bourne who Henry throws around like a rag doll before tagging back in Miz. Bourne is locked in a side headlock and then is speared into the corner. Chavo gets the tag and hits a side slam. Bourne kicks out of the pin attempt and then Chavo kicks him in the side before going for another pin attempt. Not even close. Bourne is still being held up and Morrison gets the tag. There is no finesse as Bourne is just being punched and stomped on. Bourne is thrown out to the floor which allows Neely and Miz to get in some cheap shots. Finlay comes over to break it up. Bourne is thrown back into the ring and then locked up in a side head lock by Morrison. Bourne is able to get out and hit a hurricarana but Morrison keeps him from making the tag. Chavo gets the tag and starts to work on Bourne. Evan finally breaks free and tags in Dreamer. Tommy hits a dropkick and then a bulldog on Chavo but the three count fails. Chavo is able to duck away and tag in Mark Henry!

Henry comes in and backs Dreamer into a corner. Tommy is kicked multiple times and then repeatedly thrown to the mat. Henry tags Chavo back in. Chavo locks a side headlock on Dreamer but Tommy breaks free. Chavo tries to block the tag but Dreamer tags in Hardy! Matt slams Chavo down to the mat then hits his EPIC elbow from the second rope. Matt hits a side-effect and goes for the cover but Chavo manages to kick out. Henry is tagged in and he scoop slams Matt in the middle of the ring. Matt is able to roll away from a Henry splash which leaves Mark exposed on his back in the middle of the ring. Hardy tags in Bourne and Bourne heads for the top rope! Evan Bourne hits a Shooting Star Press on Mark Henry!

Bourne jumps up and kicks Miz who was coming in for the save. Evan tags in Dreamer who also goes to the top rope and hits a Frog Splash! Dreamer jumps up and takes out Morrison who was coming in for the save! Next Finlay is tagged in and he hits his signature running butt plant and then hits Chavo as he was coming in for the save! Matt Hardy gets the tag and takes out Tony Atlas. He hits the Twist of Fate and the match is over!

Winners via Twist of Fate: Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne, Tommy Dreamer & Finlay

End of show…

Report by David Stephens of WrestleView.com

*SPOILERS* ECW (9/2) and Smackdown (8/29) Taping Results from Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania

Report by Mike Shannon and PWrestlingNews.com

Dark Match
Jake Hager pinned Jamie Noble in a pretty boring match.

Funaki pinned some guy with sparkling tights with a rollup.

ECW On Sci-Fi for 9/2/08
On the dirt sheet Mark Henry, Chavo Guerrero, Finlay and Matt Hardy have a big confrontation that turns into a big brawl and the faces clear the ring.

Backstage everyone is still brawling so Teddy Long sets up an 8 man tag for later.

Gavin Spears is up next vs. Super Crazy.
Super Crazy wins with a springboard moonsault off the second rope.

Ryan Braddock vs. Ricky Ortiz is next.
Ortiz wins with a splash off the ropes.

8 man tag next. It’s Finaly, Dreamer, Hardy and Evan Bourne vs. Chavo, Miz, Morrison, Henry. The faces all hit their finishers on Henry for the win.

SmackDown! Tapings for 8/29
Undertaker kicks off Smackdown and promises to take Vicki’s soul, then lights the posts on fire and leaves.

R Truth makes his Smackdown debut against Kenny Dykstra to a very small pop and wins with an axe kick.

Maryse and Natayla beat Maria and Michelle McCool. Terrible of course but Maria’s pushup bra adds a star to the match.

Jeff Hardy pins MVP in the best match so far. A long match ended by the swanton and then Shelton comes in and lays them both out.

Hawkins and Ryder start a match with Jesse and Festus but the Big Show comes down and destroys everyone. He promises that he would not be overlooked anymore.

Victoria takes on Brie Bella. Brie wins with a surprise rollup.

WWE Champion Triple H vs. U.S. Champion Shelton Benjamin.
Very mat based match which means it was boring as hell with no crowd heat. Triple H looks very unmotivated. Great Khali comes down at the end to distract Triple H but he still hits Shelton with the pedigree for the win.

Post match Khali lays out HHH and I’m assuming the show goes off the air.

Dark Match
HHH challenges Khali to a Pittsburg street fight.

ECW Results 8/19/08

ECW 19Aug2008

The show begins with a recap of SummerSlam match between Matt Hardy and Mark Henry. Tony Atlas interferes, causing the DQ. Jeff comes out and the Hardy’s wreak havoc on Atlas and Henry… Then she Theme, and we’re set for a great Tuesday of ECW…

Matt Stryker and Todd Grisham reporting, Matt Hardy and Mark Henry Rematch is Tonight!!!

6 Man Tag Team Match, Morrison & Miz w/ Chavo Guerrero VS Evan Bourne, SuperCrazy w/ Tommy Dreamer
The team of John Morrison and The Miz are introduced, followed by Chavo with his bodyguard, Bam Neely. Evan Bourne and Super Crazy are introduced without much fanfare, followed by Tommy Dreamer, who gets a quite decent pop. Match starts with Morrison and Super Crazy. Morrison starts off on offense, with some power shots,, a few reversals by both, with Super Crazy getting the first cover. Borne Tagged in, quick cover. Morrison gains the advantage, tags in Miz, who gets a nice Hurricanrana for his efforts. Bam interferes, Chavo gets the tag and takes it to Evan. Evan plays the man in trouble for a bit, getting triple teamed and generally beaten on. Quick tags by Morrison, Miz and Chavo, keeping Borne in their corner, with repeated covers. Tommy gets the hot tag, and clears the ring. Hits a HUGE bulldog on Miz, followed by a powerslam, then pinfall attempt broken up by Morrison. Super Crazy with a Suicide Plancha on all three outside the ring, then Borne does a moonsault from 15 feet up. Miz hits the with a Neckbreaker on Dreamer, right after a knee to the head, and gets the cheap pin, aided by Morrison holding Dreamer’s foot. Decent match, lots of action. 3 stars out of 5
Winner – Chavo, Morrison and the Miz.

Ortiz is being shown backstage on the way to the ring as we go to Commercial.

RAW IS ON SCI-FI NEXT MONDAY!!!

Match 2 – Ricky Ortiz vs. Gavin Spears
Ricky Ortiz makes his way to the ring to some fanfare, but not a huge pop. Gavin Spears was introduced, and a small promo is played by him. He is arrogant, and obviously trying to be a heal. Ortiz looks HUGE beside Spears. The lock up, corner, and clean break. Ortiz with the very early advantage. Spears works the right arm of Ortiz, is reversed, and Ortiz returns the favor. Slow match early. Spears delivers a lot of high impact knees and kicks, locks in a modified sleeper that is reversed. Ortiz delivers a few hard shots, and picks up the pace a bit. Ortiz delivers a hard sidewalk slam for a 2 count. Spears botches a reversal, and Ortiz delivers “The Big O”, a standing jumping spalsh, and gets the 3 count on Spears. Slow match, got better toward the end, nothing worth writing home to mommy about. Hope Ortiz gets some better competition. Spears was a little green, but, it was his first match, coming from a blackjack table. 2 Stars out of 5.
Winner – Ricky Ortiz

Mark Henry is shown lifting a pair of 100LB dumbbells with no real effort with Atlas coaching him on as we go to commercial once again.

Another SummerSlam recap is shown.

Raw again gained more viewers last night than Monday Night Football.

Finlay and Hornswaggle’s music starts, and they receive a HUGE pop! They walk to the ring, saying hello to the fans, and posing for a photo op. The crowd is WAY over for Finlay. They do a promo concerning Mike Knox’s recent actions. He talks about how Knox is calling Finlay soft for letting kids come into the ring and dance around. He invites Knox into the ring. Knox comes out to the stage with a mic in hand, and gets some heat from the crowd. Knox looks like Hillbilly Jim… Says that Finlay is afraid of him. They go back and forth for a sec, and Knox finally comes toward the ring, but stops about 20′ short. Knox says that he will fight when he is ready. Finlay attacks Knox outside the ring. It goes back and forth up the ramp, and against the barrier. Officials storm the scene, to no avail. Mike Rotunda being one of the officials breaking it up. Finlay gets the better of the confrontation. Not a bad promo. Knox needs some more Mic work to be effective as a heal. Finlay’s Mic work is getting a lot better.
Segment gets 3 stars out of 5.

Matt Hardy is shown warming up for the main event as we go back to commercial.

Todd Grisham and Matt Stryker recap the Michaels and Jericho promo at SummerSlam where Jericho “accidentally” hits Shaun’s wife, Rebecca. Jericho has really filled the much needed heal position on Raw very thoroughly.

They report that Rebecca Michaels suffered a broken jaw, and they wish her a quick recovery.

Matt Hardy’s music hits, and the crowd explodes!! He makes his way to the ring to the biggest pop of the night thus far… this takes us to commercial.

We come back from commercial to a recap from SummerSlam again of the Hardy vs. Henry match… same thing as earlier this evening.

Matt Hardy is still in the ring, and the announcement is made that Finlay and Knox will fight next week.

Main Event – Matt Hardy vs Mark Henry w/ Tony Atlas
Mark Henry makes his way to the ring to slight heat… almost as if no one even cares about him. You hear a few boos, but nothing substantial. Hardy is introduced and gets another nice pop. Henry is introduced, and gets a bit more heat this time. The “Hardy” chants begin before the bell rings. Hardy starts off with a few nice pops, but Henry’s power is overwhelming. He slams Matt into the corner, then charges in. Drop toe-hold, and Hardy wraps Henry’s knee around the apron. Works the left knee of Henry repeatedly. Henry delivers a nice slam, but misses an elbow drop. Hardy with a spin kick, and gets a 2 count. Hardy with a HUGE kick to the head. Reversal by Henry again. Henry is in pain. Delivers a huge paw and a head butt to Hardy’s skull. Stands on Hardy’s chest. Slows the pace quite a bit. Hard Irish whip, but misses in the corner with a charge. Hardy misses another twist of Fate, and is clotheslined face-first over the top rope with a VERY well defined Tony Atlas moving in for the kill as we go to commercial…..

We return from commercial with Henry hulking over Hardy with a neck hold. Hardy rolls through, kicks Henry in the head, and gets a nice big boot to the bead by Henry as a “thank you”. Henry goes back to the neck hold. Hardy fights to his feet, gets a move reversed, then punched in the head again my Henry. Atlas hits Hardy from outside the ring. Henry punishes Hardy with HARD shots to the back. Hardy gets caught in a BIG bear hug by Henry. Hardy attempts to fight out with headbutts and punches. Henry slams him HARD into the corner, and backs off a bit. He takes a few hard kicks and pop shots at Hardy, and gets a 2 on an arrogant cover. Back to the neck hold again. Hardy elbows the knee of Henry several times, and gets to his feet. Henry applies a nice half nelson, but Hardy slides out. Henry with a hard clothesline, and the pace slows again. Henry Gorilla press slams Hardy. Hardy rolls from the splash attempt. He makes it to his feet and delivers a few hard shots to the head of Henry. He reverses a corner charge, elbow from 2nd rope, followed by a 2nd rope bulldog for 2. Matt climbs to the top rope and hits a flying crossbody for 2 1/2. Matt sets up the twist of fate, reversed… into a world’s strongest slam attempt, reversed into a twist of fate!! Atlas grabs Matt’s leg, pulls him from the ring. Hardy tries the Moonsault, hits Henry’s knees, and gets a World’s strongest Slam from Henry for the 3 count.

All in all, not a bad match at all. Best of the night, and a lot of back and forth. Henry limps up the ramp at the end, showing that Hardy was a fierce
competitor. Nice way to win the match while not making Matt look weak.
4 stars out of 5.

Overall, a pretty good showing for ECW. I give the night 3 1/2 stars out of 5, with the high point being the end of the Hardy / Henry match, and the low
point being the botched reversal by Spears.

That’s it, ECW fans. I hope you enjoyed my first report for Lords of Pain. Questions? Comments? Email me at cappii01@gmail.com

WWE News: SmackDown Wrestler Turning Heel, Punk Scores Big Ratings For Raw, DH Smith On The Move, Val Venis

sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, PWInsider.com

– Brian Kendrick will be debuting his new heel character on tomorrow night’s edition of SmackDown. He will also be accompanied by a bodyguard, WWE developmental wrestler Rycklon Stephens, perhaps the most muscular wrestler in the company. Kendrick had a dark match before last week’s SmackDown/ECW taping trying out the act, which apparently went well. Kendrick abandoned London during a handicap match with Umaga a few months ago, but it was never followed up and the two continued to team together as babyfaces. Kendrick was drafted to SmackDown in last month’s Supplemental Draft.

– CM Punk’s match with Kane on Monday’s Raw gained 679,000 viewers, which has to be considered a huge success. It was the highest-rated quarter hour of the entire broadcast (3.59), excluding the overrun (3.81). The quarter hours before and after the Punk vs. Kane match scored 3.13 each, despite appearances from John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix. Also, the Jericho vs. London match and the Noble/Layla/Snitsky segment following it lost all the viewers the match had gained as 688,000 viewers changed the channel. The Cena & Cryme Tyme vs. JBL & Rhodes & DiBiase match, and parking lot angle, gained 1,117,000 viewers. The Kingston vs. Burchill match following the Divas match gained 57,000 viewers. John Cena’s long-winded promo and the Beth Phoenix vs. Santino Marella match lost 5,000 viewers. DiBiase & Rhodes bullying Kelly Kelly and then insulting “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan gained 25,000 viewers.

– DH Smith recently moved from Calgary to Tampa, Florida. That may explain why he hasn’t been seen on Smackdown yet, even in dark matches or house shows. He was last seen in a WWE ring on the 5/5 Raw after being stretchered out following a match with John Bradshaw Layfield. However, he’s worked a few shows in Florida Championship Wrestling in the meantime, teaming with long-time friend and tag team partner T.J. Wilson. According to reports, Smith and Wilson are a strong team in developmental, but at last word, WWE officials were leaning against using them as a team on television.

– In a correction from a report yesterday, Val Venis is slated to return to the ring next month, not three to four months from now. He’s been off the road since mid-April as he had shoulder surgery shortly after. When he returns to the ring next month, he would have been out of action for three to four months total.

WWE News: Video of Ric Flair’s Farewell Speech, Hardys Deliver Ratings For ECW

– As we reported earlier this week, Ric Flair appeared at Tuesday’s SmackDown! tapings from Charlotte, North Carolina. Flair gave a farewell address to the fans of “Flair Country” and talked about how much he loved Charlotte. Flair said that when he first came to Charlotte, the city was all about professional wrestling and NASCAR – long before they had any major sports franchises. He pointed out his children in the audience and said that everyone tells him how much Reid is like him. The speech will not air on television, but a video clip of it has been posted online and can be viewed at this link.

– This week’s edition of ECW on Sci Fi featuring the Hardy Boys reunion scored a strong 1.42 cable rating, up from last week’s 1.38. PWInsider.com reports that WWE brought Jeff Hardy to SmackDown! this week to offset the stiff competition of the MLB All-Star game. Apparently it worked.

WWE News: No Mention Of John Cena’s Condition On ECW, More On ‘World’s Greatest Dad’, USA Network No. 1

– Sans a video package of John Bradshaw Layfield’s attempt to crash an automobile into John Cena on Monday’s edition of Raw, there was no mention made of his condition and/or possible storyline murder by the announcers on Tuesday’s night edition of ECW. When the announcers were running down the card for next Sunday’s Great American Bash pay-per-view, they simply plugged Cena’s upcoming “New York City Parking Lot Brawl” match with JBL and added nothing else, acting as if nothing happened on Monday night. According to WWE.com, Cena was simply “grazed” by the oncoming automobile and that he’s okay enough to fight Layfield at next Sunday’s pay-per-view. On another note, the video package that aired on ECW featured a camera shot not seen on Raw from inside the car that JBL struck, and as luck would have it, the owner of the vehicle just so happened to have a camera recording inside and precisely pointed in the direction of the forthcoming crash. On the other hand, perhaps JBL planted the camera inside the car because he wanted to videotape his own attempt at murder.

– As reported earlier, a Michigan man was arrested on Tuesday for attempting to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old girl for sex. When he was arrested, he just so happened to be wearing the WWE “World’s Greatest Dad” T-Shirt, which ShopWWE.net put on sale last month for their Father’s Day promotion. Due to the “World’s Greatest Dad” slogan on the WWE shirt, it looks like this story is going to be garnering some mainstream headlines. The Associated Press is now reporting the story, and FoxNews.com has posted the article alongside a picture of the Internet predator sporting the WWE “World’s Greatest Dad” T-Shirt. You can check it out at this link.

– Thanks in large part to Monday Night Raw, the USA Network once again claimed the top spot in the prime-time cable network ratings race for the week of July 7-13. USA finished slightly ahead of the Disney Channel for the week. Spike TV, featuring TNA Impact, finished in seventeenth place. {Article link}

WWE News: Jericho Answers Fans’ Questions, Announcers Switch Questioned, Matt Striker’s Move To Raw

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

– There was a lot second-guessing going on behind the scenes regarding the announcers switch. Most everyone immediately second-guessed the moves, but also felt Jim Ross ensured things by what he wrote on his website.

– Matt Striker was moved to Raw because there is a lot more interview time on the brand compared to ECW and he’ll be much more useful there. He could be used as a manager for some guy in developmental that gets called up, or used like Santino Marella as a guy that gets a lot of interview time but whose main role is to put over the mid-level babyfaces of Raw.

– SLAM! Wrestling has a feature on Chris Jericho answering questions from fans. It was conducted two weeks ago, hours before the draft. A fan asked Jericho if he turned heel due to Randy Orton’s sudden injury. Jericho said, “This turn was in place long before Orton got hurt, there was nothing quick about it. If you look back we started this in April, it has been two months. All these things were happening with or without Orton’s injury. Obviously it opens a huge hole with Randy being hurt, so in that case it is beneficial for me, but it wasn’t like anything was rushed, it was an unfortunate thing that happened and things went on business as usual for Jericho.” He’s also asked if the writers script his promos. Jericho said, “I always had creative freedom with my promos, so it has been the same all across the board. I have never been a guy who is given a piece of paper and told to read this. I have co-written all of my promos if not written them outright from when I first came in to the WWE to the promo I did last week.” He also answers questions on how the WWE locker room is now compared to his first run, his association with Lance Cade, if he’s ever going to bring his wild costumes back, the Iron Sheik (“It is a sad thing that guys from that generation spent spent spent and didn’t have anything left on the back end. Sheik has to make $500 here and there acting crazy to try and keep himself alive. I just think it is sad that people take advantage of the fact that he obviously has substance issues and they would rather exploit that than try to actually help the guy.”), why he left WWE in 2005, and more. {“Chris Jericho answers your questions” article}

– Jim Ross has posted a blog on the WWE Fan Nation site saying everything is good on SmackDown. He also talks about WWE producing new stars. Ross wrote: “Producing new stars and adding to the established stars fans normally see in PPV main events is an all important function as fans want to see “new”…new wrestlers and new matches. New is good even if new turns out to not be so great bouts, if you know what I mean. At least it is “new” and no one really knows what is going to click with today’s fans until it is tried.” {Jim Ross blog link}

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