this week’s episode opened up with a recap of raw. on raw, in the mcmahon against donald trump feud, trump decided his representative should be bobby lashley, the ecw champion. it will now officially be lashley versus umaga in a hair vs. hair match at wrestlemania 23.

 

after that was the opening video package, with signifigantly different clips and camera effects to it.

 

after that was our first match of Mr. Kennedy versus Sabu in an extreme rules match for a qualifying spot in the money in the bank ladder match at wrestlemania 23. at first this match gave me respect for Kennedy, but then I remembered that there is no chance in heaven or hell that vince would ever allow Sabu to appear at wrestlemania, so he never really had a chance anyways.

main highlights:

-Sabu went for his infamous leg lariat, but Kennedy countered with an electric chair

-Sabu executed his viscious somersault plancha

-Kennedy countered Sabu’s triple jump moonsault

-Sabu went for an arabian atomic leg drop through a table, but Kennedy got out of the way in time, gave Sabu a ddt onto the broken table, and got the pinfall. Mr. Kennedy will now be going to the money in the bank match at wrestlemania.

 

backstage we are shown footage of vince mcmahon arriving at the arena. he looked angry and yelled at the limo driver for not getting there faster.

 

after that was a match between Balls Mahoney and Matt Stryker. though it would’ve been interesting to see where this would’ve gone, despite the fact that it’s happened a couple of times already, it ended too soon.

main highlights:

-Balls did his signature punching combo

-Bals also did an impressive leg drop off the second rope

-Snitzky interfered and attacked Balls, making Balls the winner by disqualification

-after the match is already over, just for the hell of it, Snitzky puts a beatdown on Stryker as well

 

next up was a promo from vince concerning the night’s main event, Lashley vs. Hardcore Holly in a steel cage for the ecw championship. vince said that there would be a new stipulation in the match, that is Lashley didn’t win within five minutes, Holy would automatically become ecw champion.

 

following this was a tag team match continuing the new breed/originals feud with Kevin Thorn and Marcus Cor Von teaming up against Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer. this match was more entertaining for it’s storyline value rather than anything else, but regardless, it was still an entertaining match.

main highlights:

-RVD did what I referr to as a sidesault (a moonsault where the backflip is kinda sideways)

-Dreamer is a flying body splash from the apron onto Cor Von, this being the first time that I personally have seen Dreamer use a more aerial move

-Aerial attempted to interfere in the match, but the Sandman cane-spanked her (caned her across the ass), while behind his and the ref’s backs, Elijah Burke crotched RVD who was on the top rope

-Thorn gave RVD his signature dark kiss move and got the pinfall for yet another victory for the new breed over the originals

 

backstage Rebecca then interviewed Hardcore Holly on mcmahon’s alteration to the match. Holly basically said he was very happy with the decision, claiming that he couldn’t be beaten in five minutes by anyone.

 

after that was a match between CM Punk and Stevie Richards, this being the second appearance on the show for the ecw original. Punk showed his excellence in performance as usual and, also as usual, showed the most skill in the ring more than anybody else on the card, which is why I name this the match of the night.

main highlights:

-Richards gave Punk a devastatingly hard chop to the chest

-Richards also gave Punk three consecuative grounded headlocks separated by occasional strikes

-Punk managed to counter the third headlock into a small package pin, somehow

-Punk used the “Go to Sleep” finisher, reminicent of the finisher of the famous Japaneese wrestler KENTA (a gutbuster except the knee goes to the guy’s head), and got the pinfall

 

after that for some reason they showed yet another recap of the same moment from raw when trump announced that his representative would be Lashley. this basically served no purpose whatsoever.

 

after that was another dance by extreme expose. they did a song and dance and fireworks went off at the end this time. sometimes I think this is an attempt by vince to rip off the nitro girls from wcw.

 

following that was the annuncement that the third inductee into the wwe hall of fame would be Jerry “The King” Lawler. honestly I agree with Terry Funk that he (Terry) is the better wrestler and more of a legend in wrestling that Lawler will ever be, so honestly, I don’t really give a crap is Lawler’s going into the hall of fame. he’s occasionaly funny on the mic and I think it’s cool that he had a feud with Andy Kaufman, but he’s barely been outside of Memphis and overall was just kinda there in the wwe hangin around throughout the years.

 

finally we come to our main event of the night, Bobby Lashley against Hardcore Holly in a steel cage match for the ecw world heavyweight title. this match, as previously mentioned, would have a time limit of five minutes, and if Lashley didn’t win within those five minutes, he would lose the championship. this match wasn’t very good, but it’s what happened after it that truely shocked me. this is not only in that wwe let somebody do this, but also that it was LASHLEY of all people that did it.

main highlights:

-Lashley busted Holly open with some mounted punches

-Holly gave Lashley a sky high superplex off the top rope as Umaga came ringside

-Lashley managed to kick out of a pin attempt from Holly after Holly hit him over the head with a steel chair that Umaga threw into the ring

-Lashley powerslamed Holly and got the pinfall for the win with about 30 seconds to spare in the five minute time limit, then proceeded to launch himself into Umaga THROUGH the cage wall!!!

 

final thought:

this week’s episode of ecw could’ve been better, but there were indeed a couple moments that saved it from sucking completely. for starters, extreme expose was only good for heels interrupting their dance routine to get added heat, otherwise they’re just useless. this is basically Kelly’s expose with two more people. also the whole thing with Sabu losing matches for stupid reasons, like a ddt puts him away, is just retarded and I would’ve rather have seen how the Balls versus Stryker match ended up uninterrupted, but I guess it’s good for some heat for Snitzky. as for the good parts, I found the tag team match of the night to be very entertaining, CM Punk kicked ass as always, and Lashley going through the wall of the steel cage is timeless. overall it almost balances out, but honestly, they’ve had better weeks.

this week’s show opened up with a recap of what happened last night on Raw concerning Bobby Lashley, this seeming to be a running theme to open ECW as of late. in case you didn’t see it, Lashley took the Masterlock Challenge and is now the first person ever in history to ever break it.

after that was a promo from Masters himself. he said that he would break lashley in half that night. this while failing to notice that it was in a match, let alone the fact that it was the main event.

following this was our first match of the night, Rob Van Dam and Sabu against Kevin Thorn and Marcus Cor Von. this match was alright, but was great for storyline value. Dusty Rhodes has been doing a terrific job with this New Breed vs Originals angle. a fun match that wasn’t a wrestling masterpiece, but regardless still entertaining.

main highlights:

-RVD did his 360 kick

-RVD and Sabu gave Thorn their double team quadruple dropkick

-Thorn crotched RVD on the top rope (not the top turnbuckle, the top rope), and Cor Von gave him a nasty clothesline landing RVD on the floor

-Sabu gave Cor Von a springboard tornado DDT

-Thorn distracted Sabu from the ring apron allowing Cor Von to give Sabu the most BRUTAL pounce (cross body block) I’ve ever seen! this followed by the three count gave Thorn and Cor Von the win

next up was a video package promo for Snitsky. it was basically the same one they’ve shown other weeks.

appropriately following that was a jobber match with Snitsky versus Mike Toran. the only purpose this match had was to build Snitsky but honestly, he didn’t really do too much that impressed me.

main highlights:

-Snitsky gave Toran a choke on the top rope

-Toran tried putting Snitsky into a headlock, but Snitsky countered and threw him into the turnbuckles

-Snitsky delivered a big boot

-Snitsky covered Toran for the three count

following this was an announcement  for the WWE Hall of Fame. the newest inductee will be The Sheik. for those of you who don’t know him, he was one of the first ever to bring a hardcore attitude to the ring. he jabbed at people’s faces with nails and pencils and even straight up gnawed on people’s faces, and was the first to use fireballs in the ring in the WWE. he is responsible for the training of many wrestlers, but his most memorable students are, without question, Rob Van Dam and Sabu, Sabu being Sheik’s nephew. I personally am psyched to see a true pioneer of hardcore be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
next up was a rematch with CM Punk versus Hardcore Holly. this match was great for storyline, but honestly, it kind of interfered with the building of the wrestling itself. this week I will not be giving CM Punk match of the night simply because I don’t feel that we saw his best this week. still, an interesting match considering it’s importance to the story.

main highlights:

-Punk gave Holly an impressive overhead armdrag

-Holly gave Punk a snake eyes on the top rope

-Punk gave Holly a perfectly executed flying kick

-Holly went for an Alabama slam out of the corner, Punk held onto the top rope, so Holly kicked him in the ribcage as Joey Styles comments saying “if at first you don’t succeed, kick him in the lower abdomen so hard that he stops breathing.”

-Thorn interfered, giving Holly some whiplash over the top rope, allowing Punk to give Holly his new finisher, Go To Sleep, and pin Holly for the win

backstage after the match, Elijah Burke went up to CM Punk for a talk. Punk said that he already told Burke that he didn’t need the New Breed’s help. Burke replied saying that he knew what Punk said, and reminded him of the advantages he could have in the Money in the Bank ladder match at Wrestlemania 23.

next up was yet another pointless dance number by Extreme Expose. I don’t get how people make a big deal when it’s KellyKelly stripping by herself, but don’t make a big deal when it’s her and two other girls doing it with her. luckily it was short this week and we were spared having too much time wasted for an actual match.

following this was a match between Tommy Dreamer and Elijah Burke. this match was great as it really allowed Dreamer to show his talent in the ring. without the element of it being a hardcore match, it was still vintage Dreamer moves and this is the first time WWE has ever really let him shine in the way he truely deserves to. this match gets match of the night because even though Dreamer still lost, I feel this is the first time the WWE has ever really taken Dreamer seriously.

main highlights:

-Burke threw Dreamer into the post from the apron

-Dreamer gave Burke a fall away suplex

-Dreamer also gave Burke his signature  punching combo and Tree of Woe dropkick

-Burke gave Dreamer what Tazz now referrs to as the “Elijah Express” (a flying double knee strike to the back while the other person is in the corner, facing the turnbuckle)to get the pinfall for the win

they then showed, again, the same Raw recap that they showed at the beginning of the show. this was perhaps for those who had just tuned in and missed it at the beginning of the show, also to hype the main event.

finally we come down to the aforementioned main event of Chris Masters versus Bobby Lashley. this match wasn’t that great, but was still good for building Lashley for Wrestlemania. it was mostly Lashley on offense, and even then his moves and ring psychology weren’t that great. an adverage match for WWE.

main highlights:

-Lashley gave Masters a nice back body drop

-Masters slammed Lashley into the steel post on the outside twice

-Masters gave Lashley a verticle suplex

-Lashley executed a half nelson slam on Masters

-Lashley ended the match with a falling press slam followed by a pinfall for the win

final thoughts:

it is very obvious that Vince McMahon is finally giving a crap about ECWWE again. he’s building three ECW matches heavily every week and brought in probably the best writer on any of the WWE creative teams right now, who’s been doing a hell of a job. ECW is definately on the rise and I am so glad to see it doing so much better.

Event: ECW On Sci-Fi
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Credit: Gerweck.net

Opener:

- Show starts off with a photo of Mr. McMahon pinning Bobby Lashley from last night’s Raw.

(1) Rob Van Dam vs. Elijah Burke. Match started off this fans chanting “R-V-D.” RVD hits a spinning kick on Burke. He follows it by flipping over the top rope onto Burke, crashing them both onto the arena floor. [Commercial Break] Burke blocked a rolling thunder attempt by lifting up his knees. Burke mocked RVD by doing his pattened RVD thumbs gesture. Burke missed the Elijah experience, and followed it up by hitting the five star frog splash for the victory. Afterwards, the New Breed attacked RVD, which caused the ECW originals to come out to make the save.

- Extreme Expose with Kelly Kelly, Layla, and Brooke.

- Backstage, Edge talks to CM Punk and the Hardy Boyz. Edge said he knows they don’t want to team up with him, and he doesn’t want to team with them either; but if they can’t get along tonight, they can be successful.

(2) Snitsky vs. Balls Mahoney. Snitsky wins a squash with a big boot to the face.

- They recapped the McMahon-Lashley match from Raw.
- Up next, point and counter-point with Lashley & McMahon.

- Backstage, Finlay, Orton, Kennedy and Booker T (with Sharmell) speak. Finlay tries to cause problems telling Booker T that the others were talking about him. Booker T suggests a bond tonight, but Finlay tells Booker he can’t be trusted either.

- Vince McMahon is interviewed on a split screen, with Bobby Lashley backstage in Grand Rapids. McMahon is happy not to be in Grand Rapids, and is in Stamford, CT at WWE headquarters. McMahon tells Lashley that he is lucky that Mr. McMahon is not in the building tonight. Vince tells Lashley that his future is bleak after Wrestlemania. Lashley calls McMahon an old bastard, and tells Vince he is leaving Wrestlemania bald.

(3) Mr. Kennedy, Finlay, Booker T (with Sharmell) and Randy Orton vs. CM Punk, Edge, and the Hardy Boyz. There is a ladder set up next to the ring, with the brief case suspended from the ceiling. Punk tagged Edge, but he clearly didn’t want it. He came into the ring, went to a corner, then rushed over and tagged Punk back in. Edge decided to walk back up the entrance way. Bodies everywhere, as everyone brawls. Scissor kick by Booker on Punk, as the Booker, Finlay, Orton and Kennedy win this one. After the match, the winning team starts the brawl. The Hardys bring in the ladder, and go after the winning team. The Hardys ram Orton into the ladder, and bash Finlay with it. Finlay is busted open. The Hardys climb either side of the ladder, and both grab the brief case and stare each other down.

Sabu was announced today as inducting The Sheik into the Hall of Fame. We had heard the name Joyce Farhat (Sheik’s wife) for that role earlier in the week, but she is likely the person accepting the plaque.