ECW on Sci-Fi
February 17, 2009
Spokane, WA
(taped 2/16/2009)

The Current Champions were as follows:
World Champion: Edge (2/15/2009)
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: Triple H (2/15/2009)
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)

Finlay didn’t win at No Way Out…… shocker!! Its 9 o’clock and that means another episode of ECW on Sci-Fi.

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

We open up with a video promo showing the surprise return of Christian and the feud between him and Jack Swagger. Basically this promo highlights their segment and non-title match from last week. I guess Finlay’s loss to Swagger at No Way Out isn’t even worth bringing up right now. After the intro we go strait to our first match….. what?? No talking? No wasting time, weird.

• Boogeyman vs. Paul Burchill w/ Katie Lea

This is a rematch from a few weeks ago. According to Matt Striker, Paul Burchill went off on someone and Teddy Long punished him by making this match….. that’s retarded, even for wrestling. The bell rings and they just stare at each other for a bit. Katie Lea distracts the Boogeyman long enough for Burchill to attack him from behind. Burchill is just destroying Boogey in the corner now. After a bunch of punches and kicks, Burchill hits the flying knee in the corner that puts Boogey on the mat. Instead of doing anything, Burchill just screams at the Boogeyman until he gets to his feet. Burchill goes for a haymaker but Boogey blocks and hits one of his own. Burchill puts his shoulder in Boogey’s gut to slow him down. Burchill then goes for a short-armed clothesline but Boogey ducks and hits a clothesline of his own. BOOGEY-UP TIME!!! Boogeyman whips Burchill to the corner and hits a backsplash; Boogeydanicing ensues. Boogey whips Burchill into the other corner chest first for a BOOGEYLANCHE!! Instead of going for the pump handle slam, Boogeyman does a power slam and doesn’t bother to cover. Boogey goes over to get the worms but Burchill rolls him up for the 1-2-3. WHAT THE??? Really?!?! After the match Boogeyman tries to give Katie Lea the worm treatment, but she gets out of town with Burchill. Boogeyman looks unhappy and so do I. GARBAGE

Now they are talking about Finlay’s loss to Swagger as we see some stills from no Way Out. They also announce an ECW Title Match for next week; Christian vs. Jack Swagger. Looks like ECW needs better ratings. Well I guess that match will end in a DQ or some non-sense.

Back from commercial and we are right into another match. They aren’t playing around this week.

• Tommy Dreamer vs. John Morrison w/ The Miz

You know the deal here; two weeks ago The Miz and John Morrison attacked Tommy Dreamer after his loss to Paul Burchill. Last week Tommy Dreamer lost to the Miz after distraction from John Morrison. It only makes sense now to have Tommy Dream go at it with John Morrison. Now here’s a fun fact, John Morrison is one of only two people that Tommy Dreamer has actually beaten in singles competition in the last year. This should be good. The bell rings and they goes into a collar and elbow deal which leads to Morrison putting Dreamer in a waist lock. Dreamer elbows out and knocks Morrison down with a shoulder. Morrison kicks Dreamer from the mat and hits a nice hip toss followed by an arm bar. Dreamer counters into a head scissors which Morrison kip-ups out of. Morrison whiffs an elbow drop, then runs into a drop-toe hold AND THEN runs into a hip toss followed by an arm bar. Morrison gets back to his feet only to have Dreamer hit a Side Russian Leg Sweep followed by a clothesline out over the top rope. Dreamer’s on fire!!! Dreamer goes out to the apron but Miz distracts him just long enough for Morrison to slam him off the apron to the floor. Man that had to hurt. Morrison rolls Dreamer into the ring and covers for 2. Morrison pounds away at Dreamer and lands a few kicks to the back. Morrison locks a modified cobra clutch as Miz cheers from the outside; The Miz is such a great cheerleader!! Dreamer gets to his feet and tries to punch out of the hold but Morrison puts a knee in the gut. Morrison goes for a suplex but Dreamer blocks and hits one of his own. Dreamer goes to the ropes but stops as Miz tries to trip him up. The ref sees everything and sends the Miz back to the locker room!! OH DANG!! Dreamer turns around and Morrison goes for a clothesline, Dreamer ducks and hits a neck breaker. Dreamer whips Morrison into the ropes and hits a huge backdrop. Morrison is then whipped into the corner for the ‘Dreamer bulldog’ spot. Dreamer does the DREAM SCREAM then tries to put Morrison in the tree of woe but is sent face first into the turnbuckle. Morrison goes for the Springboard kick but Dreamer ducks and follows up with a PUMPHANDLE SUPLEX!!! 1-2-FOOT ON THE ROPE!! Dreamer then goes up top (for what reason, I don’t know) but gets crotched by Morrison. Morrison goes for a superplex but is pushed down to the mat. Dreamer comes off the second rope with a double ax handle but is met with a boot to the gut. Morrison hits the Moonlight Drive and gets the 1-2-3.  Poor Tommy Dreamer, he’s 0-4 now since making his decree 6 weeks ago. This was a pretty good match with lots of back and forth action. Like I said in my last review, I like Tommy Dreamer vs. The Miz/ John Morrison. They bring out the best in each other. **½

Backstage we see Finlay and Hornswoggle eating cake and such. Christian comes up to them and tells Finlay not to let Hornswoggle be a distraction tonight. Finlay says not to worry; he’ll keep his end up as long as Christian keeps his end up. And we’re off to commercial.

More Evan Bourne promos…. I’m really looking forward to his return. And we’re on to the next match. This show is flying by!!

• Tyson Kidd w/ Natalya vs. Caden Mathews

Tyson Kidd is back to destroy another jobber. I’m sure he’ll be taking on Jamie Noble soon. The bell rings and they lock up which leads to Kidd putting Mathews on the mat with a drop-toe hold. Kidd locks in a front face lock until Mathews gets to the ropes. Kidd hints at another lock up but counters into a hammer lock followed by a knee to the head. Kidd then hits his “mule kick to the gut/low drop kick to the head” spot and covers for 2. Mathews crawls to the corner as Kidd snap-mares him over followed by a kick to the back, and then one to the chest. Kidd covers for 2. Mathew crawls to the corner again as Kidd charges at him but runs into an elbow. Mathews tries to whip Kidd into the ropes but it’s countered into a spinning heel kick. Mathews hangs his head on the bottom rope which sets up for a sweet over the top rope guillotine leg drop. Kidd, from the apron, hits the Springboard Flying Elbow Drop for the 1-2-3. Another squash to get Tyson Kidd over. He looked really good and hit some nice spots. I like this guy. *½

Back from commercial and we see Tommy Dreamer in the locker room. Ricky Ortiz puts a rally towel on his shoulder. Ortiz tells Dreamer that he IS ECW and that he needs to rally-up.

A bunch of Wrestlemania promos eat up this act.

And we’re back for our last match of the night!!!

• Christian and Finlay w/ Hornswoggle vs. ECW Champion Jack Swagger and Mark Henry w/ Tony Atlas

This is the first tag match I’ve seen on ECW since DJ Gabriel and Alicia Fox vs. Paul Burchill and Katie Lea. I guess ECW isn’t really known for tag teams. This match is another way to further the Christian/Swagger feud while pretty much slapping Finlay in the face at the same time. The bell rings and we are starting with Christian and Henry. They wonder around the ring FOREVER until they hint at a collar and elbow which turns into Christian getting a waist lock. That doesn’t last long as Henry throws Christian into the corner in a really ugly spot. Henry does his usual boring offensive until Christian tags out to Finlay. Finlay hits a low drop kick and covers for the ‘exaggerated kick out.’ Henry takes over and tags in Swagger. Finlay goes for a single leg take down but Swagger turns it into a waist lock. Swagger “waist locks” Finlay all over the ring until he gets to the ropes for a break. Swagger taunts Finlay which is just rude. They lock up again but Finlay gets the best of Swagger with a forearm to the back of the head followed by a short-armed clothesline. Finlay tags out to Christian so we can have Christian vs. Swagger: The Prequel. Christian slaps Swagger then goes for an Irish Whip that’s reversed. Swagger goes for something but Christian reverses into a sunset flip for 2 then nails him with a spinning heel kick. Christian tries to tag out but Finlay’s chillin’ on the floor with Hornswoggle; what is he doing? EVENTUALLY Finlay gets back up on the apron and tags in as Christian looks at him in utter distain. Finlay goes to work on Swagger as we go to commercial. Back from commercial and Finlay is still in control of Swagger for all of 2 seconds before Swagger pushes him into the heel corner. Finlay tries to fight his way out of the corner but ends up getting thrown out to the floor. Henry takes this opportunity to level Finlay with a clothesline. For some weird reason Striker and Grisham are talking about math. Swagger goes out to the floor and slams Finlay’s back into the apron then throws him back in the ring. Swagger gets back in and covers for 2 then locks in a waist lock; Swagger’s favorite move EVER. Finlay gets back up to his feet but Swagger pushes him back in the heel corner and tags in Henry. Henry does “Henry things” for a little bit then tags in Swagger. Swagger hits a back suplex and covers for 2 then goes back to the waist lock to kill a little time. Finlay gets back to his feet and hits a jaw breaker to break the hold. Finlay tries to tag out but runs into a clothesline from Swagger. Swagger covers for 2 then drags Finlay into the corner and tags out to Henry. Henry stands on Finlay’s chest for a bit then punches him a lot in the heel corner. Henry tags back out and now Swagger has a front face lock on Finlay. Finlay looks like he might get a tag but Swagger picks him up and puts him back in the corner and tags out. Henry hits a scoop slam but completely whiffs a 747 splash. HOT TAG to Christian and he goes babyface crazy on the heels. Swagger tries to stop the momentum but hits Henry instead and gets rolled up for 2. Christian whips Swagger into the ropes but ducks his head early for a nice kick to the face. Swagger tries to capitalize but runs into a drop toe hold that puts him on the second rope. Christian chokes Swagger out by standing on his back until the ref breaks it up. Christian charges at Swagger but runs into a belly to belly suplex, slow cover gets 2. Swagger tries a scoop slam but Christian reverses and hits a reverse DDT. Christian looks to go up top; Henry charges at him on the apron but gets a whole lot of steel post. THEN Tony Atlas tries to stop Christian but gets a boot to the face. Thanks to Atlas and Henry, Swagger is back up and looks for a belly to belly superplex but Christian knocks him to the mat. Christian hits the FLYING HEADBUTT!! 1-2-NO!!! Henry stopped the count and has Christian up in the air. HOLY CRAP!! It’s Hornswoggle….. and he’s biting Henry’s leg followed by a SHILLELAH shot from Finlay. Henry’s out of the ring as Finlay runs into a big boot from Swagger, putting him out to the mat. Swagger wonders over to Christian and goes for the GUTWRENCH POWERBOMB but it’s reversed into UNPRETTIER!! 1-2-3!!! Christian pins the ECW Champion for the second week in a row!! He has a title match next week, will he win?? I guess we’ll have to wait, I doubt he will, he’s no Hogan. The match itself was tag team 101. It wasn’t horrible but it definitely wasn’t great, I’m just glad Henry wasn’t in the ring much. *½

Replays and celebration as we go off the air.

Final Thoughts:

Tommy Dreamer vs. John Morrison definitely stole the show. The main event did nothing more than build up the Swagger/Christian feud. As for the match itself, it was nothing special, just your usual main event tag team crap. Boogeyman sucked as usual and Tyson Kidd looked pretty good. Overall I give this one *¾