Source: PWTorch.com
ECW TV on Sci-Fi Live Report
February 20 in San Diego, Calif.
Week 37 on Sci-Fi
We start the show with In Memory of Mike Alfonso “Mike Awesome”.
They showed footage of Lashley bashing Mr. Kennedy with several chair shots after their No Way Out match on Sunday. Joey Styles then talked about Lashley vs. Kennedy vs. Holly for the ECW Title tonight.
After the ECW intro aired, Styles and Tazz talked about C.M. Punk vs. Nitro in a Money in the Bank qualifying match.
Elijah Burke then led out the New Breed including Marcus Cor Von, Matt Striker, Kevin Thorn, and Ariel. Burke did the talking and was interrupted by a “You Suck” chant. Striker then said they are going to teach the Originals a lesson tonight because any one of them can beat any Original. Striker then picked Kevin Thorn to have the match. The ECW Originals came out to answer the challenge and Tommy Dreamer picked RVD from his list of nearly-bald Sandman, Sabu, and himself.
1 — KEVIN THORN (w/New Breed) vs. RVD (w/ECW Originals)
Thorn cut off RVD with a kick to the gut before he could do his signature “R-V-D” intro. RVD quickly came back with a spin kick, then Thorn avoided a second kick and backed away. Styles and Tazz had a hot debate on the New Breed cheating to win and Styles reasoned all matches should be contested under Extreme Rules if the N.B. wants to utilize walking sticks to win matches. RVD took control and cleared Thorn to the outside before hitting a plancha. He rolled Thorn back into the ring, then the New Breed jumped RVD. Suddenly, a six-way brawl broke out on the floor and the cameraman took the worst of it. Finally, officials came out and separated both sides and Styles begged for order to be restored as they cut to a break.
[Commercial Break]
We came back with Thorn in control. Styles told us that everyone except for Ariel was ejected from ringside during the commercial. RVD connected with a spin kick to cut off Thorn’s offensive attack, then he fired up with clotheslines before pouncing on Thorn with another spin kick. He then connected with Rolling Thunder for a close nearfall before catching Thorn with a thrust kick to the face. Ariel tried to distract RVD, but he avoided her and hit Thorn with a crossy body block from the top rope for a nearfall. Thorn suddenly came back with a Samoan Drop out of nowhere for a close two count. They had an exchange of pin attempts, then RVD caught Thorn with another kick and went up top for the Five Star frog splash. He then made the cover for the win.
WINNER: RVD in 10:00. Solid opener. Great sequence of exciting nearfalls at the end with the crowd buying into each potential fall. The New Breed vs. Originals feud gives the show a sense of purpose and direction, which is what the brand was lacking two months ago. (**1/4)
[Q2]
We saw an odd video package on Snitsky. It was clipped like an old black-and-white movie reel, but with very dark colors and backdrops. They showed close-ups of Snitsky’s hairless face, which is always quite frightening, and incorporated footage of him trucking people since debuting in ECW.
[Commercial Break]
Styles and Tazz discussed the Money in the Bank match, focusing on Edge and RVD as the last two winners of the match.
2 — JOHNNY NITRO (w/Melina) vs. C.M. PUNK — Money in the Bank qualifying match
Punk came out first, then ring announcer Justin Roberts introduced Melina as the new Women’s champion before introducing Nitro. Nitro can’t even get top billing for his own match. Punk went for a roll up in the opening ten seconds, then he told Nitro that he was a split-second away from winning. Nitro took control, which meant Melina was screaming at the top of her lungs. Yeesh. Nitro went to a headlock as Styles and Tazz really hammered home the importance of the MITB match at Mania. Punk then made his comeback at 4:00 and landed a roundhouse kick followed by a high knee in the corner. Punk followed with a double underhook back breaker for a nearfall. He went to the apron, but Melina distracted him allowing Nitro to catch him with a hard kick to the stomach for a nearfall. Nitro then went up top for a corkscrew moonsault, but Punk moved just in time. He then took Nitro to the fireman’s carry position and hit a face buster across his knee for the pin and the win.
WINNER: Punk in 6:00 to advance to WrestleMania. There’s just something about Punk’s matches that feels inorganic and fans aren’t getting into his matches as much as they used to during his earlier winning streak. The commentary was again very solid reinforcing the key point of the match, which was the importance of having a Mania match and the importance of being able to call your own title shot down the line. (*1/2)
[Q3]
Rebecca was backstage with Mr. Kennedy, who asked whether he was in Bizarroland because he beat Bobby Lashley at No Way Out, yet Hardcore Holly was in his title match. Holly then interrupted and said ECW is his world. The camera zoomed in tight as they went nose-to-nose with neither man backing down.
[Commercial Break]
Oh dear. La Resistance is back together. They aired an inset promo from earlier in the day. Rene Dupree said they would begin proving that no one can beat them. Phoenix Star & Zokre of Los Luchas (who wrestle on the Southern California independent circuit) were already in the ring, but without their masks.
3 — LA RESISTANCE (RENEE DUPREE & SYLVAN) VS. LOS LUCHAS (PHOENIX STAR & ZOKRE)
Dupree won rather quickly with a sidewalk slam, then Snitsky then hit the ring after the match and knocked down each member of Los Luchas with a big boot to the face. He convulsed as the camera faced on his frightening mug.
WINNERS: La Resistance in 1:00. Now, if we can only find Batista to shove a pole up La Resistance’s backside and we’ll be set. (n/a)
We saw Part 3 of the story on Bobby Lashley. He talked about his dad walking out on their family, then Lashley turning to wrestling, but still being on his own with no family members present to watch him win his third NAIA wrestling title.
[Commercial Break]
[Q4]
Extreme Expose did a dance number with Kelly Kelly still looking to Leyla and Brooke for direction on her next move. No interruption this week. Before the main event, Styles introduced the video package from Raw on Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig as the second Hall of Fame inductee.
Hardcore Holly and Mr. Kennedy came out for the title match before they cut to a break.
[Commercial Break]
4 — BOBBY LASHLEY vs. HARDCORE HOLLY vs. MR. KENNEDY — ECW Title match
Kennedy charged Lashley right off the bat, but Lashley ducked and speared Holly. Kennedy then attacked Lashley from behind and the look-alike blue trunks, white-hair, white guys worked on Lashley in the corner. Kennedy then measured Lashley and connected with a hard running kick to the face. Holly then tried to roll up Kennedy from behind, but it was good for a nearfall only. Lashley quickly recovered and gave Holly a belly-to-belly suplex before Kennedy tripped him from the floor and pulled him to the outside. Kennedy tried to whip Lashley into the ring steps, but Lashley countered and Kennedy ate the ring steps. Lashley did too much posing and Holly caught him with a baseball slide kick.
[Q5 — over-run]
We started the top of the second hour with Holly taking Lashley back into the ring and going for a headlock. Lashley powered out, then he clotheslined Kennedy in the opposite corner. He dropped Kennedy with a delayed vertical suplex before dumping him to the outside. Holly then grabbed a chair and kicked it into Lashley’s face. Apparently, this is Extreme Rules. Holly then dropped Lashley with the Alabama Slam, but Kennedy pulled the referee out of the ring to stop the count. (No, Lashley did not kick out.) Kennedy tried to follow up with a chair shot on Lashley, but Lashley ducked and Holly took the chair shot blow. Kennedy shook off his errant chair shot, then walked into a running powerslam from Lashley for the win.
WINNER: Lashley in 7:00 to retain the ECW Title. Completely illogical for Lashley to take a visual pinfall when they’re trying to build him up for the Trump angle. He shouldn’t have his shoulders down for three seconds at any point in any match until Mania. WWE is hoping fans will forget about that moment in the match and remember the ending, but it doesn’t help Lashley earn points as a credible champion with the fans, who still aren’t completely sold on him as a main eventer. (*3/4)
