ECW on Sci-Fi
February 10, 2009
Fresno, CA
(taped 2/9/2009)

The Current Champions are as follows:
World Champion: John Cena (11/23/2008)
Intercontinental Champion: CM Punk (1/19/2009)
Women’s Champion: Melina (1/26/2009)
World Tag Team Champions: The Miz & John Morrison (12/13/2008)
WWE Champion: Edge (1/26/2009)
U.S. Champion: Shelton Benjamin (7/20/2008)
Diva’s Champion: Maryse (12/26/2008)
WWE Tag Team Champions: Carlito & Primo Colon (9/26/2008)
ECW Champion: Jack Swagger (1/12/2009)

Its 9 o’clock on Tuesday, only one thing can be going on right now. It’s ECW on Sci-Fi.

Your hosts are Todd Grisham and Matt “The Teacher” Striker

A little video promo rolls showing what happened over the last couple of weeks between Finlay and Swagger. If you don’t know what’s going on, check out my last reviews. Now we’re in the Arena and Jack Swagger’s music starts playing. As Swagger starts to make his way to the ring, his ECW Championship belt falls off. Someone needs to get some Velcro or super glue for that thing. It seems to always be falling off of him. Grisham lets us know that Swagger used to be undefeated until Finlay beat him last week; Swagger looks pissed. Once Swagger makes it to the ring, he rants and raves about how he’s been victimized; I feel that way every Tuesday. He lets us know that he will be defending the title at No Way Out against Finlay. The crowd gives him a nice round of “You Suck” chants. He tells us that he’ll take care of Finlay at No Way Out by beating up Hornswoggle tonight. That’s right folks; Jack Swagger really wants to fight a midget….. couldn’t be any worse than what JBL did to him last year. As he calls out Hornswoggle some music I’ve never heard starts playing. HOLY CRAP its CHRISTIAN!!! The crowd goes nuts. What is he doing on ECW?? I guess we’ll find out. Swagger wants to know what he’s doing. The crowd is chanting “Christian” so loud that he can’t even answer the question. Christian says that he’s out to interrupt his promo; good one. He continues by telling Swagger that he’s out there to save him from electrocuting himself with his spit on the mic. That’s two zingers in 30 seconds, this guy’s on a roll. The crowd really loves this. Christian eventually says that he’s here to take Swagger’s ECW title. Oh man, for a second there I really thought Finlay was getting a real push. He issues a challenge to the winner of the ECW Title Match a No Way Out. Swagger doesn’t look impressed at all; he tells Christian that he’ll be the champion after No Way Out. He continues by telling Christian that he’s no threat to him. Christian gets all mad and smacks him in the head with the mic then leaves the ring; and we’re off to commercial.

Back from commercial we see Jack Swagger talking to Teddy Long. He’s pissed about Christian showing up and ruining his life. Swagger wants to take the night off, but Teddy tells him that he has a match tonight against Christian. Good luck Swagger, you’ll need it. Back to the ring and we see Tommy Dreamer waiting for his opponent to come out.

• Tommy Dreamer vs. the Miz w/ John Morrison

You know the deal with Tommy Dreamer… he needs to win the ECW title by the 6^th of June or he’ll retire. The Miz and John Morrison beat him down after his loss last week to Paul Burchill which leads us here. This just seems pointless but I guess we’ll see how this whole “Tommy Dreamer” thing pans out. The bell rings and Dreamer goes NUTS on the Miz with lefts and rights. Dreamer ends up chasing the Miz out to the floor but gets slammed into the guardrail. The Miz tries to capitalize with a suicide dive off the apron but Dreamer runs him face first into the guardrail. Back in the ring Dreamer hits an elbow drop and covers for 2. Dreamer puts Miz up in a fireman’s carry but Miz elbows out and drives Dreamer head first into the top turnbuckle with a running bulldog-type move; it was pretty neat. I almost didn’t see it because they were too busy showing a replay of something from earlier. Miz is totally in control right now as he beats down Dreamer with kicks and forearms. Miz locks in a cross-face as the crowd starts chanting “Tommy.” Dreamer battles up to his feet and hits a back suplex to break the hold. Dreamer tries to take control with some punches but Miz stops all that with a knee to the gut. Miz goes to the ropes and Dreamer kills him with a clothesline that puts Dreamer back in control. Dreamer does his ‘whip to the corner-bulldog’ spot and follows with a SIT-OUT SPINEBUSTER!!! 1-2-NO!! Again, Lance Cade would’ve had this match in the bag. Miz reverses a whip into the corner and goes for his flying clothesline spot but he gets nothing but turnbuckle. Dreamer grabs Miz as he dangles off the second rope and connects with a neck breaker, 1-2-FOOT ON THE ROPE!!! What did you expect Tommy??? You didn’t even bother pulling him into the center of the ring. How are you supposed to win a match if you don’t bother trying?!?! Dreamer hints at a DDT but Morrison is on the apron. Dreamer heads over to Morrison for a chat as Miz tries to attack from behind. Dreamer moves as Miz stops from hitting Morrison. Dreamer attacks but hits Morrison instead. Miz hits a weird looking “Paydirt”-like move for the 1-2-3. Striker tries to sell whatever move the Miz just did to get the three count, but I’m not buying. Besides the ending, I thought the match was pretty good. I’ve always liked Dreamer vs. Miz/Morrison. I think they bring the best out of Dreamer. **

We see a graphic for Christian vs. Swagger tonight as we go to commercial.

Saturday Night’s Main EVENT!!! Buy the new DVDs now……… or just download them.

Back from commercial and we see a video of Jamie Noble’s loss to the Boogeyman from last week. We cut to Noble in Teddy Long’s office, he’s all mad because the Boogeyman tried to put worms in his mouth. Teddy offer’s a rematch but Noble doesn’t want any part of that. Noble continues to sell himself as the big dog of RAW as Natalya brings in new ECW superstar/real life boyfriend T.J. Wilson- I mean, Tyson Kidd. Okay, someone needs to explain something to me. Why do they always change people’s names?? Sim Snuka, Manu, D.H. Smith, Natalya!! They let us know that they are second generation superstars, but why can’t they keep their real names? Anyways, Tyson Kidd and Natalya come in and chit chat with Teddy Long. We all find out that Bret Hart trained Kidd, yay!! Kidd tells Noble that the “Big dog” needs to be sent back to the pound…. OH NO HE DIDN’T!! They leave Long’s office as Noble sits there looking baffled.

Now we get some No Way Out graphics.

Backstage Christian is chilling in the locker room, trying to get ready for his match, as Hornswoggle comes in and annoys everything. Finlay shows up and welcomes Christian to ECW. Finlay also tells Christian that after No Way Out, he won’t have to worry about Swagger. Yeah right, we all know that Finlay won’t win. Onward to commercial break.

Back from commercial and we get a video package hyping Evan Bourne’s return. I actually can’t wait. I like Evan Bourne.

• Tyson Kidd vs. Bao Nyugen

Looks like they are gonna sell T.J. Wilson….. I mean, Tyson Kidd as a Heel. That’s cool with me. Just incase you didn’t know, Tyson Kidd is a childhood friend of Teddy Hart and Harry Smith and actually trained in the “Dungeon” with Bret Hart. He’s also the real-life boyfriend of Nattie Neidhart. Anyhoo, just thought I’d share some info. The bell rings and we get a feeling out process that leads to Kidd putting Nyugen in a wristlock which is countered into a hammerlock. Kidd backs Nyugen into the corner and connects which an elbow to the face. Kidd snap-mares Nyugen over and kicks him right in the back followed by a kick to the chest. Man that looks like it hurts. Kidd hits an Inverted Atomic Drop and takes Nyugen’s head off with a standing flying heel kick. The ref wouldn’t even let Kidd cover which was really weird, so he stomps Nyugen in the face and finally covers for 2. Kidd locks in a reverse chinlock so we can see replays. Striker takes this time to try to sell Nyugen as more than a jobber….. but we all know who’s gonna win. Nyugen battles back up to his feet and tries to break the hold with some elbows to the gut, but Kidd stops all that with a forearm to the face. Nyugen reverses a whip into the ropes and looks for a backdrop but finds a kick to the face instead. Kidd connects with a mule kick to the gut then comes off the ropes with a low drop kick to the head. Kidd rolls out to the apron and hits a springboard flying elbow drop for the 1-2-3. I like this Tyson Kid. Jamie Noble comes out to the entry way to taunt Kidd and set up for Kidd’s first big win in a few weeks. This was obvious a squash and nothing more. Tyson Kidd looked good, I hope he doesn’t go the way of Ricky Ortiz. *1/2

Lots of No Way Out video promos eat up a whole act.

• Christian vs. ECW Champion Jack Swagger (non-title match)

So this is weird, Christian shows up on his first day back and gets a non-title Match with the ECW Champion. Now I know ECW is the “C” show of the company but it’s still weird, and so much for the Finlay push. Some of us actually like Finlay. Jack Swagger comes out with the ECW belt over his shoulder, I guess he didn’t want to embarrass himself anymore than he already has. Christian comes out and the crowd couldn’t love him anymore. The bell rings and they lock up collar and elbow style as Swagger gets a double leg take down and follows up with a wristlock. They roll around for a bit but Christian gets back to his feet only to be taken down again. Christian finally makes it to the ropes to break the count. Both men are back up and they go collar and elbow again. Swagger backs Christian into the corner, breaks the hold, and pushes on Christian. Christian didn’t like that so much, so he slaps Swagger right across the face. Swagger is mad now and charges the corner but nobody’s home. Christian follows with a roll up for 2. Christian follows up with a few right hands but a kick to the gut from Swagger slows him down. Swagger goes for a scoop slam but Christian wiggles out and connects with more right hands that put Swagger in the corner. Swagger reverses a whip to the other corner but runs into a boot to the gut. Christian does a sweet springboard sunset flip out of the corner for 2. Christian taunts Swagger as Finlay and Hornswoggle come out to ringside. What are they doing here??? I guess we’ll find out after some commercials. Back from commercial we see Finlay and Hornswoggle on commentary. The grunting should get really annoying, really quick. Swagger has Christian in a wristlock on the mat, apparently that’s the only move Swagger knows tonight. They show a couple of replays during the commercial of Swagger pressing Christian out over the top rope and Swagger catching Christian in the gut with a knee. This show isn’t live, so why didn’t we get to see those cool spots? I guess they thought I’d much rather watch Swagger and Christian roll around on the mat for a few minutes. More of the usually “Heel in control” action; which means a bunch of stomping, kicking and punching. Oh my god, Swagger is back to the wristlock, this is really irritating. Nothing special happens until Christian connects with a spinning DDT off the second rope!! 1-2-NO!! Christian goes all babyface crazy and hits a flying forearm followed by more punches and kicks. Christian hits a reverse DDT but instead of covering, he goes up top and whiffs on a flying head butt. Swagger rolls Christian up for 2. They do a super mega reversal spot which ends up with Swagger hitting a Belly to Belly Suplex on Christian!! 1-2-NO!! Swagger goes for a Vader Bomb but no one’s home as Christian rolls out of the way. Now both men are on the apron, Swagger goes for a German Suplex off the apron onto the announce table but Christian has the rope. They look really, REALLY gay right now as Christian continues to hold on for dear life. Christian eventually elbows out and hits Swagger with a kick to the face that sends him into the announce table. Christian follows Swagger out but gets tossed over the table onto Finlay. Who saw that coming?? Swagger throws Christian back into the ring and connects with a big boot to the face. Instead of covering, Swagger goes to the turnbuckle and tries to remove the padding but the ref stops him. As the ref checks on the turnbuckle pad, Swagger goes to another corner and succeeds in removing the turnbuckle pad. Swagger goes to pick Christian up but gets rolled up!! 1-2-NO!! Christian goes for Unprettier but Swagger counters and put him up in the electric chair position. Before Christian can get the Matt Hardy treatment, Hornswoggle distracts the ref as Finlay hits Swagger in the ankle with the SHILLELAGH. UNPRETTIER follows for the 1-2-3!!! Before anything happens the show goes off the air. What the………

The match could have been better, but I think that had more to do with production than the actual match itself. Like I said before, the show isn’t live, they could have edited it however they wanted and made this match better. *1/2

Final Thoughts:

This show wasn’t too horrible but the last match was just not very good. They built up the feud between Christian and Swagger before Finlay’s title match even happened, which is retarded.  I just don’t understand Christian debuting this week…… this could have easily waiting until next week. This show gets *1/2