ECW on Sci-Fi
January 8, 2008
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Wachovia Arena

Read along if you have the WWE Network!

Your hosts are Joey Styles & Tazz.

• 15 Minutes of Fame for the WWE Tag Team Championship: The Miz & John Morrison (c) vs. Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore

It’s basically a fancy way of saying a 15 minute ironman match. Moore and Yang scored a win over Miz and Morrison three weeks ago on ECW and have pretty much had their number ever since to justify this championship match. Miz and Moore start us out. After they trade shots, Moore tries to get a flash pin on Miz. Tag to Morrison, he pummels Moore down into his team’s corner. Neckbreaker gets two. You can tell they are working slow since they have to go 15 minutes. Moore escapes a chinlock and shoves Morrison off into Miz. Hot tag to Yang, he gives Morrison a monkey flip for a complete 180 for two. In comes Miz, Yang fights them off as Moore flies in with a headscissors to send the Miz to the floor. Yang tries the Moonsault Press and lands on his feet when Morrison moves out of the way. Morrison tries to cheat by grabbing the ropes with a rollup pin, but Moore saves the day. Yang hits the Spinning Heel Kick on Morrison and covers, but the ref is busy with the Miz and can’t make the count. As Yang runs Miz off the apron, Morrison rolls him up for a handful of jeans for the three-count with 11:19 remaining.

When we return from commercials, we are joined in progress with 7:38 to go. Yang is stuck in a chinlock. He breaks free, but winds up getting crotched up on the top rope on the wrong side of town and stuck in the tree of woe. Yang still manages to get out and hit the MOONSAULT PRESS on Morrison for the pinfall with 6:18 left. We are all tied up at one a piece.

Miz clips Yang from behind and starts getting super aggressive on Yang’s knee to take away his finisher. Morrison tags in for more of the same. Miz wraps Yang’s leg around the post. Back inside, Miz catapults Yang into a forearm shot from Morrison. As Yang falls back onto Miz’s knees, Morrison slingshots in with an elbow drop for two. SWEET. Back to the knee at 3:30. Yang winds up avoiding a corner charge from Morrison. They do the bit where Yang lunges over Miz to try to reach the tag, but Miz catches him for some EXTRA drama. He winds up rolling past Miz and making the old HOT TAG TO ROBERT GIBSON! I mean, Shannon Moore. He flies all over the ring and wipes out Miz with a somersault plancha, but then gets wiped out by Morrison. Yang takes out Morrison and then flies off the top with a dive. So much for the knee work. Back inside, Moore delivers a sleeper drop for 1-2-NO! Only one minute remains. Moore hits the Whisper in the Wind for two. In comes Yang, he and Moore deliver a Samoan Drop and neckbreaker combo. Head kick by Yang gets two. He connects with the MOONSAULT PRESS, but his knee hurty on impact and he’s slow to cover as time expires. (11:52 shown) I get that Miz and Morrison think they are celebrities, which is why this is called “15 Minutes of Fame”, but they needed more time to get things cooking. Since they were going to do a draw, maybe not have either team score a pinfall because nothing was settled anyways. ***

Kofi Kingston promo airs. He’s in his homeland of Jamaica and a rich jerk talking on his cell phone on the beach kicks some sand at a couple kids, so Kofi beats the crap out of him and apparently leaves him for dead on the beach. He’s trying to get over the “Trouble in Paradise” phrase.

Back to the show, Tazz is in the ring with Colin Delaney who is trying to become a WWE superstar. With his elbow and ribs bandaged, I doubt this is going to work out for him. He says he hurts pretty much everywhere, so Tazz says he will have to wrestle MARK HENRY tonight. Seems fair.

• Mark Henry vs. Colin Delaney

Someone call 911 because there has been a homicide. Henry throws him around and delivers a pump splash to the taped ribs. The WORLD’S STRONGEST SLAM ends this in 1:08.

We have a new Diva around to host tonight’s Dance Off between Kelly Kelly and Layla. She’s Asian and her name is Lena. She was part of the Diva Search in 2007 and still got signed even though she didn’t win. YES. Evil Layla is here. After KK and Layla dance, Lena surprises us by doing a dance as part of the contest. Everyone boos. She then declares herself the winner. OK, what did that have to do with KK and Layla’s feud?

Elijah Burke says – DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME.

Elsewhere, Shelton Benjamin thinks he’s going to win the Royal Rumble.

• CM Punk vs. Chavo Guerrero

Chavo Guerrero was one of the eleven wrestlers who were revealed as clients of an internet prescription firm after WWE’s wellness policy took effect. Chavo was then suspended for thirty days, but took some extra time off TV. He finally returned on December 18 on ECW attacking the champ CM Punk and demanded an ECW world title shot. Chavo and CM Punk wrestled on the January 1 episode as Punk narrowly won the match by countout. Since that was hardly a convincing victory for Punk, Chavo gets his second chance to earn an ECW world title match.

Headlocks and shoulderblocks to start. Punk escapes a headscissors and dropkicks Chavo for two. Chavo starts unloading with European uppercuts, but Punk fights back with an enziguri to send Guerrero to the floor as we go to commercial. When we return, Chavo is in control and applies a body scissors to work on the ribs. Punk counters with kicks to the back and catapults Chavo to the floor. There’s the tope suicida. Back in, the Springboard Clothesline to Chavo hurts him as much as it hurts CM Punk. That gets two. Chavo runs into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for a nearfall. Punk runs into a rollup, but then they do the Steamboat-Flair bridge into a backslide routine. Punk instead whips Chavo into the corner for the running knee and the bulldog for 1-2-NO! Chavo blocks the double underhook backbreaker and hits the Three Amigos – except Punk stops him on the third suplex and tries the Go2Sleep. Chavo stops the GTS and hits a backbreaker on the shoulders for 1-2-NO! He didn’t quite get Punk up all the way. Chavo then gets desperate and decides to untie a turnbuckle pad to get the ref all distracted. While ref Scott Armstrong puts the turnbuckle pad back on, Chavo goes out and grabs the ECW title. He still gets caught by the ref though for the DQ. (9:22 shown) This was pretty weak sauce stuff since there’s not enough heat yet behind Chavo to get you to hate him to the point this would be interesting. Also, when Punk can barely beat a guy that no one has really ever taken seriously, it makes the championship look weaker as well. Chavo needs La Familia right now more than La Familia needs Chavo – and that thankfully will be coming sooner than later. **

That’s going to do it for today. Until next time, so long for now.