Pro Wrestling Ponderings

Stepping ot of my usual Smackdown comfort zone, it has fallen to me to rock the ECW recap this week. I haven’t watched a full episode of ECW in quite some time, with the feud between John Morrison and CM Punk in process the last time I watched it properly. Shameful. Let’s get stuck in.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Zack Ryder: Following a recap of the recent skirmishes between Benjamin and Ryder, the match begins. A short match (I’d be surprised if it hit the five minute mark), but a good one with Benjamin in particular looking great, both in his offence and in his selling. Benjamin picks up win, hitting his finisher on Ryder. Strange that this match ended with Ryder taking the clean pin given that the feud appears to be in its infancy.

After some hyping of tonight’s main event featuring a no DQ, no count out match between Seamus and Goldust, it’s time for the Abraham Washington talk show segment. I haven’t been privvy to this nonsense yet since I haven’t been watching ECW but, based on what I’ve read, I predicted I’d be in for a laugh riot of horrible TV. And it was horrible, but in no way amusing. Tony Atlas introduces Washington and he comes out, launching into some banter about Cleveland (where tonight’s show was filmed) and how it sucks. Atlas does a terrible fake laugh throughout. Gregory Helms is introduced by Abraham and comes out, explaining that due his neck injury, he is now going to be a backstage announcer for ECW. He denies being the Hurricane. Atlas laughs again. Paul Burchill comes out and gets in Helms’ face. A pre-taped promo by the Hurricane plays and he challenges Burchill to a match next week, which Burchill accepts. Tony Atlas is still laughing. Is this his new gimmick? The sychophantic, shitty fake laughing guy? Ugh.

A great video package for the Undertaker airs, with various superstars talking about the mystique of the Deadman, in order to big up the encore presentation of Taker vs. HBK from this year’s Wrestlemania that will air tonight. Sweet.

Vladimir Koslov & Ezekial Jackson w/ William Regal vs. Mike Tolar & Jim Parks: Uh oh. I fear for the two jobbers’ safety in this one. After Tolar gets thrown around for a while, Koslov pins him and Regal enters the ring, applying the Regal Stretch to the youngster. Christian comes out. He says he’s brought back up. It’s Tommy Dreamer, who Regal openly laughs at. Christian and Dreamer attack Jackson and Koslov with singapore canes. Regal manages to escape. It’s later announced that Christian and Dreamer will face Koslov and Jackson next week on ECW.

A video package similar to the earlier Undertaker one airs, this time about HBK. It’s also rather splendid. Tiffany then introduces the encore presentation of the Taker vs. HBK, although it’s a highlights package, rather than the full match. No matter though, as the video is great and brings some goosebumps to my arm and some very happy memories of watching the match in person to my mind. Good stuff.

Seamus vs. Goldust (No DQ, no count out): I was looking forward to this main event as the only work I’d seen of Seamus was back in Irish Whip Wrestling in his O’ Shaunessey days. The match features a ton of back and forth action that highlights Seamus’ potenital and the rejuvenation of Goldust, which is a pleasure to see. Seamus eventually picks up the win, with a Rock Bottom into a backbreaker, which is apparently called the Irish Curse. Isn’t that a euphemism for having a limp dick? Perhaps not the best name for a finisher, especially in the eyes of Britons, but a good match that ends this week’s ECW nicely.

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ECW August 18, 2009:

-Show starts with the usual pyro and opening video, and Josh Matthews and Matt Striker hype the main event tonight, as Christian teams up with Tommy Dreamer to take on Vladimir Kozlov and William Regal. Weird how they didn’t even mention Regal will face Christian at Summerslam, which by the way is THIS SUNDAY!

Match #1. The Hurricane vs. Paul Burchill (w/Katie Lee)

-STAND BACK, THERES A HURRICANE COMING THROUGH! I’m probably in the minority when I say I’m glad to see Hurricane back. Now it would be even greater if we can get Rosey the superhero back. Better yet, how bout Super Stacy? I will say Hurricane doesn’t look entirely right with the long hair, and would be better with the green short hair. This was a strong, opening match. Burchill managed to hit a really awesome pele like kick, similar to what AJ Styles does. Too bad almost no one in the crowd popped for it. Hurricane hits The Eye of the Hurricane to finish off Burchill and get the win.

Winner: Hurricane (via pin at 8:00 shown) **3/4

-Oh great, ECW has a new dumb blond interviewer. Just what it needed. Her name is Courtney Taylor, and her first interview is with Tommy Dreamer. During the interview, Dreamer is attacked by Kozlov and Regal. Regal hits his running knee to Tommy’s head. Hey Tommy, YOU GOT KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT!

-After break, Dreamer is still down when we come back and Christian is with him and the trainers. Dreamer is having trouble getting up and we go to the ring for a match. Oh wait….

-It’s time for the fucking Abraham Washington show. Someone kill this dude. I can’t stand watching this shit on my TV. I’m going to a Smackdown/ECW taping in a few weeks, and if I see this crap live, I’ll run up to the stage and just do whatever I could to get him to shut the fuck up. His guest tonight is Goldust. During the interview, Goldust starts having tics and starts stuttering. Great, out of all the 2003 angles they could of brought back, they bring back this crap. Sheamus comes out and has a stare down with Goldust. Once again, this segment was dumb and useless. Moving on..

-In the back, Courtney asks Tiffany to give an update on Dreamer. He has a concussion and Christian is being allowed to find a replacement partner for tonight’s main event. I felt dumb listening to the two blondes talking.

Match #2. Yoshi Tatsu vs. Zack Ryder

-Hopefully this match makes me forget about the Abraham Washington crap. I like Yoshi, but I just don’t think he’ll make as big of an impact in ECW like Tajiri did back in the original ECW. Now if Tatsu got the Sinister Minister to be his manager, well that would be a whole different story. This was a good, fast paced match, but of course didn’t get enough time as it should have. Ryder wins after a roll up. WOO WOO WOO, YOU KNOW IT!

Winner: Zack Ryder (via roll up at 3:05) **

-We get a hype video for Floyd Mayweather as the GM of Raw for next Monday. Yeah, don’t really care….

-We get another video, this time the Raw Rebound focusing of Legacy’s attack on DX. Glad to see HBK and HHH taking a beatdown for once, just too bad it means Legacy will be buried at Summerslam.

-Backstage, Christian says he will go out there by himself if he has to. Tiffany won’t allow it and someone comes in. Christian say that will work and we go back to the ring. Anyone other than Shelton Benjamin will be bad.

Match #3 Vladmir Kozlov and William Regal vs. Ezekiel Jackson and Christian

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ECW 8/11/09:

- We open with highlights from last week’s ECW Title match between Tommy Dreamer and the current champ, Christian. This was a great extreme rules match, and I suggest trying to find the match online and watching it.

Match #1. Shelton Benjamin vs. Zack Ryder

-This match came about when Zack and Benjamin had a sing-off on the Abraham Washington show, and Zack attacked Benjamin during it. Benjamin gets a good reaction from the crowd, and it further indicates that Benjamin is being turned face. Shelton wins after hitting the Paydirt. This could of been a really great match, but it was given very little time. Still, solid three minute match from these two. Hope we get a longer match between the two in the future. WOO WOO WOO, YOU KNOW IT!

Winner: Shelton Benjamin (via pin at 3:28) **

- Backstage, Gregory Helms is with Paul and Katie Lea Burchill. Helms wants thoughts on his match tonight with Yoshi Tatsu, but Burchill refuses to be interviewed by Helms, saying that he is not stupid and knows Helms is the Hurricane. Burchill then decks Helms and says he isn’t super now.

Vladimir Kozlov vs. Kevin Brooks (Jobber #1249)

-I think we all know whats going to happen after this squash is over. Kozlov kills the jobber in about a minute with the Iron Curtain. And of course, after the match Ezekiel Jackson comes down the ring to play “Who can kill the jobber better” with Kozlov. Jackson hits his finisher on Brooks, and Kozlov picks him up and hits the Iron Curtain again. Now I’m getting tired of this Kozlov-Jackson crap.

Winner: Vladimir Kozlov (via Jobber Killing at 1:30) DUD

-Out comes The Bella Twins to be special ring announcers for this match. Oh joy.

Match #3. Yoshi Tatsu vs. Paul Burchill (w/Katie Lea)

-Glad to see Yoshi back on ECW TV. I love to see Yoshi and Christian hook it up in ECW soon. Yoshi had control for most of the match, but when Yoshi gets near the ropes, Katie Lea nails Yoshi with her belt to draw the DQ. Burchill is pissed and nails Tatsu in the back before stomping a mud hole in the corner. But the lights go green, and wait, is that a bird, or maybe a plane, no wait, ITS THE HURRICANE! Burchill can’t believe his eyes as the Hurricane comes diving off the top rope from behind, connecting with a flying body press. Hurricane hits a Lou Thesz Press and punches away, but he gets up and Burchill bails. Hurricane helps up Tatsu and I think Tatsu is confused as all hell. This wasn’t really about the match, just reintroducing Hurricane back to the live ECW crowd.

Winner: Yoshi Tatsu (via DQ at 2:22) 1/2*

-We come back from the break and get a replay of what just happened. We go backstage with the Burchills complaining to Tiffany about what happened. Tiffany says she will take care of it, but will not give in to threats. Serious Tiffany is just as boring and stupid as regular Tiffany.

Match #4. Tyler Reks vs. Tom James

-I’m sorry, but I just don’t care for Reks. I don’t think he has any charisma or character to him, and he just bores me to shit. Reks wins in about a minute after a springboard missile dropkick. Boring and useless.

Winner: Tyler Reks (via pin at 1:30) 1/4*

-It’s time for the Abraham Washington show. God I hate this guy. I’m not the type of person who would be happy if a person loses their job, but in this case, I would be if Washington lost his. I mean, I’ll give him credit as he tries to be entertaining, but it’s not working at all. He needs to go back to FCW for like another year. Anyways, Christian is the guest this week, and its announced that William Regal is the number one contender. It’s Regal vs. Tommy Dreamer next.

Match #5. William Regal vs. Tommy Dreamer

-Exactly what did Regal do to be number one contender. Wouldn’t it had made more sense to make this match a number one contender’s match. Well I guess Vince doesn’t like logical booking. Regal hits the running knee to Dreamer’s face for the 1..2..3. This was an alright match. I was glad to see Dreamer and Regal be more aggressive in this match.

Winner: William Regal (via pin at 5:16) **

Final Thoughts: Definitely a big step down from last week’s show. Probably due to the 5-match formula. Regal/Dreamer was a good 5 minute main event, but everything else on the show wasn’t any good and very forgetful. See you all for the Impact Report.

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Welcome to another edition of Extreme Recap. I’m Zack Danielson as always, and tonights ECW is special. Mostly because theres actually gonna be a extreme rules match tonight. It will be Christian defending the ECW Title against Tommy Dreamer in the extreme rules match. So lets get started:

ECW August 4, 2009

-We begin tonights episode with the Abraham Washington show. I’m not going to even give details about this segment, cause it was just god awful. Someone in the back needs to get rid of this Washington guy A.S.A.P. I mean, if there gonna get rid of THE Brian Kendrick and keep this douche bag, then I really don’t have faith in WWE’s booking anymore. Anyways, point of this segment was that Shelton Benjamin looks to be turning face, and will have a feud with Zack Ryder. WOO WOO WOO, YOU KNOW IT!

Match #1. Ezekiel Jackson vs. Danny Danger

-Danny looks to be in danger here. Jackson delivers a quick double backbreaker, and goes on to hit his finishing modified Urninagi slam for the win. That was quick. Vladimir Kozlov makes his way to the ring to play “Who Can Kill The Jobber Better” with Jackson for the third straight week in a row. Kozlov hits an Iron Curtain on the jobber. Afterwards, Jackson hits his finisher again on Danger before walking out. I’m ok with a feud between Kozlov and Jackson, but I would really like to see more advancement in this feud other than both guys killing jobbers each week.

Winner: Zeke Jackson (via squashing at 36 seconds) N/A

-Backstage, ECW General Manger Tiffany is talking to the useless Bella Twins. They walk off and a backstage member tells Tiffany something is all set. A box started falling and the Hurricane comes out of nowhere to save the girl. He leaves and Tiffany comes back making sure everyone is alright. Paul Burchill appears and looks into the camera and says this is ridiculous. Couldn’t agree more on that statement Paul.

Match #2. Sheamus vs. Goldust

-I would of preferred Sheamus facing someone new like Reks or Yoshi, but this is fine with me, especially if there turning this into a feud. Sheamus has the early advantage by shoving Goldust on his ass and hitting a uppercut. Sheamus tries a running powerbomb, but Goldust slips out and runs Sheamus into the turnbuckle. Goldust school boys him, but only gets a two. Dust has control now, and hits a bulldog from off the ropes. Goldust heads up top and Sheamus picks the ankle. Goldust crashes to the mat and Sheamus covers him for the three count. That was anticlimax. Sheamus gets a microphone and starts talking, but Goldust attacks him from behind and starts pounding until Sheamus can escape and head for higher ground. So looks like they are turning this into a feud. I’m ok with that, as I’m liking Sheamus.

Winner: Sheamus (via pin at 4:40) **

-For the first time in ages, we get a Smackdown rebound. It highlights Jeff Hardy vs. John Morrison from last Friday, along with CM Punk’s awesome beatdown on Hardy. I mean, Punk absolutely beat the holy hell out of Hardy, and it was 10 times awesome.

- Backstage, Tommy Dreamer says that Christian is a great champion, but Extreme Rules is his match. We then see the ECW World Champion walking with a car door backstage. Interesting weapon there. Main event is next!

Match #3. Extreme Rules Match for the ECW World Title: Christian(c) vs. Tommy Dreamer

-I believe the last extreme rules match on ECW was about two years ago, which is pretty sad. Tommy Dreamer comes down to the ring with a Hot Dog cart. Guess Tommy couldn’t find a shopping cart backstage. There is a bunch of weapons outside, including the trash cans, crutches, and a bunch more stuff I couldn’t see. We get the super special ring announcing for this match and it is time to brawl.

Match begins with Christian grabbing a trash can lid, while Dreamer grabs a Kendo Stick. It’s pretty obvious who’s gonna win this exchange. Dreamer knocks down the lid with the cane, and Dreamer proceeds to hit Christian a few times with the cane to the gut. Dreamer and Christian start to brawl on the outside. Christian charges Dreamer, but gets hit with drop toe hold, slamming head first into the hot dog cart. Dreamer has the condiment holder and drills Christian in the head before stopping for a hot dog, taking a bite before shoving it in Christian’s face. Looking at Dreamer, seems like he had a few hot dogs before the match anyways. We head to commerical

Back from break, Dreamer drills a trash can into Chrisitian but only gets a two count. Dreamer has the kendo stick and uses it to hits a pumphandle suplex for a two count. So far, this is a decent brawl. Later on, Christian charges with the car door and Dreamer smacks him with what’s left of the trash can. “I guess Christian forgot the window was down on the drive by.” Striker is AWESOME! Dreamer looks for a piledriver on the car door, but Christian blocks in and spins around Dreamer… Killswitch on the car door!! Christian covers and gets the win and retains the ECW World Title. Good match, as there were things in the match that you wouldn’t have expected to see happen, including the use of a car door and a hot dog cart. Anyways, hoping this is the end of the Christian/Dreamer feud so we can move on to something new.

Winner: Christian (via pin at 12:23 min shown) ***

Final Thoughts: The Opening segment was SHIT! Luckily everything after that was either decent to good. We had a solid main event tonight, and hopefully the end of the Christian/Dreamer feud. I’m hoping to see Benjamin or Regal next in line for a title shot. I’ll see you all later for the Impact Report.

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ECW July 28, 2009

Match #1.Tyler Reks vs. Paul Burchill (w/Katie Lee)

-As of late, I haven’t really been digging Reks. I don’t know why, but I just don’t like him. I figured he would of been future endeavored by now. Anyways, this was a decent opener. I was expecting ECW to start with a Christian in-ring promo, since he won the ECW Title at Night of Champions. Reks continues to not impress me honestly, but this was probably his best match in ECW so far. Tyler wins the match with a springboard missile dropkick.

Winner: Tyler Reks (via pin at 3:55) **

Match #2. Vladimir Kozlov vs. Jobber #845 (Bill Baine)

-So Kozlov goes from main eventing Smackdown, to main eventing ECW, to now being a mid-carder on ECW. Some career for the Moscow Mauler. Kozlov throws around the jobber around the ring for a little bit before hitting The Iron Curtain for the 1..2..3. Typical squash match. Afterwards, Ezekiel Jackson comes out and has a stare down with Kozlov before hitting the jobber with his uranage-like finisher. So who would be the face in the Kozlov/Jackson feud

Winner: Vladimir Kozlov (via pin at 1:18) 1/2*

-Backstage, Tommy Dreamer is in ECW GM Tiffany’s office thanking her for something. After he leaves, Shelton Benjamin comes in and requests to be on the Abraham Washington show. Who would wanna be on that show? Tiffany states Benjamin isn’t entertaining enough. Hurricane Helms walks in needing to ask Tiffany a question, and Benjamin leaves saying maybe he has to dress as a superhero to be entertaining. Benjamin as a superhero huh? Nah can’t see it.

Match #3. Goldust vs. Sheamus

-This is a strange match, but I bet Sheamus is happy he’s not facing jobbers anymore. I actually forgot Goldust was on the ECW roster. I just don’t think he fits on ECW, he’s more of a Raw guy in my opinion. I’m just glad they didn’t put Goldust in the ECW title picture right away. Anyways, this was a good match. Some could say this was Sheamus’ breakout match on ECW, but I wouldn’t. I will say this was probably his best match on ECW so far. Sheamus wins after hitting a modified Urninagi into a backbreaker for the three count. Unlike most veterans, Goldust does the job to this youngster.

Winner: Sheamus (via pin at 5:05) **1/4

-After commercial, the new ECW Champion Christian comes out to a huge ovation. Christian poses for a bit and grabs the microphone. Christian states winning the ECW title the second time is better then winning it the first. During his promo, Tommy Dreamer comes out. Dreamer congratulates Christian on his win, and says next week he’ll get his rematch for the belt. But this time, it will be an extreme rules match. Wow, when was the last time there was an extreme rules match on ECW. I know, its shocking. Zack Ryder comes out and tells Christian to worry about this week rather than next week. WOO WOO WOO, YOU KNOW IT! We head to break before the start of the match

Match #4. Non-Title: Christian(c) vs. Zack Ryder

-This was an awesome match honestly. I know, it’s hard to believe that Zack “Woo Woo Woo” Ryder can have a great match, but he did right here. Now this is a breakout match for Ryder. Ryder proved here he can be a main event player….least on ECW. Some great spots in the match, including a superplex from Ryder on Christian, and Christian hitting a springboard dive to the outside on Ryder. Christian wins after nailing Ryder with his finisher The Killswitch Engage. This match was better than 7 of the 8 matches that took place at Night of Champions.

Winner: Christian (via pin at 14:00 shown) ***1/2

Overall Thoughts: Awesome main event with Ryder really proving himself. I could now see Ryder maybe holding the ECW title for a few months in the future. So if you haven’t seen this match yet, I suggest trying to find it online and watch it because its a great match and probably the best WWE tv match for the month of July. WOO WOO WOO, YOU KNOW IT! I’ll see you all for my Impact report.

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We kick off the last ECW before Night of Champions with a real trial by fire contest as Yoshi Tatsu in his fourth match on ECW is up against the snug and tough Lord William Regal.  Regal always known for working a tad stiff does not disappoint in this match.  Though I will say that with each passing Yoshi Tatsu match we see development in his ring ability, this match really had some great fluidity.  Yoshi Tatsu has been groomed very well as the chants  against Regal and for Yoshi were very audible as they have been since his debut.   A great job also by Regal who really shows that he is a true test for the younger talent as this showcased, albeit  slow, how tough Yoshi could be against other opponents who will try to slow down his style.  One not-so-surprising-again kick to the head and we have an upset for our youg newcomer Yoshi Tatsu.  Good way to start off the show in my opinion.

The returning Mike Williams gets another sound beating by the gigantic Ezekiel Jackson.  Jackson really didn’t even break a sweat as two moves in he soundly defeats Williams who then suffers the wrath of Kozlov who comes down and massacres him with the Iron Curtain finnisher as if to say to Jackson, ” You took way too long..”  A budding feud and god bless the agent in charge of this.

We have the gold standard Shelton Benjamin against the gold enigma Goldust.  During the match I found myself asking once again what did Shelton do to get pushed so far down the ladder and then the botch spot during the match occured and I found myself wondering if Goldust could actually win.  Goldust and Benjamin are sound workers and so the finish was a tad out of nowhere but did show the elite precision that the PayDirt can be hit at.   Short and decent match that for some reason I was hoping would go somewhere.

Sheamus gets in a short backstage skit where he basically is declaring that WWE has decided that his last name is too complicated and thus Sheamus is all we’re going to get.  Big fan of the guys work in FCW and so I was really hoping for a match of his to be on next but hopefully he’ll be on next week.

Burchill backstage with Helms and Katie Lea mentions how he’s going to decimate Reks when Goldust starts to distract Burchil.  Can we let the Bale thing go already.. damn!  Looks like Goldust will be on next weeks ECW.

So we have the debuting, on ECW anyway, Tyler Reks and honestly a comparison can be made to Mark Henry.  Reks starts off with the whole chant for me signal of reaching into the air, I don’t know how successful that has been on Superstars but the crowd is so dead silent here that it just popped into my head that he’s trying to get a Mark Henry reaction and yet is getting the Henry reaction of last month.  Seriously, no one in this arena gave a crap who this Tyler Reks guy was and I think it was obvious even to him that he had better be impressive in this match.  Burchill came out to a chorus of boos while a few cat calls were given to his “sister”.

The match honestly wasn’t bad and to me was everything the fed would want their future to look like.  Two larger than average athletes going at a pace that is beyond what we would normally expect.  Reks definitely hit some decent high flying spots drawing the crowd over to his side while Burchill proved further that he is an asset to the company in that he can have a decent match and still put over the other talent and somehow still come off as if it was sort of an upset.  How long as it been since we’ve seen Burchill win and yet it seemed as if he should have dealt with this newcomer a lot easier.  Upon the finish of this match with a simple roll up, Reks got a few spatterings of cheers and we of course had the attack from behind from Burchill which will obviously lead into anther 3 match fed for him and then off to another new comer.

Overall an action filled episode as we lead into our final segment that would have minimal action but get across the ECW championship match at NOC.  The new and brash mouth of ECW Abraham Washington came out once again to tell everyone how great his show is and asked that we all cheer to bring out the nmber 1 contender and campion of the ECW championship.

Dreamer and Christian both had their chops biten as Washington took cheap pot shots at them verbally but in the end it was all about the two friends getting it on and proving to eachother and the world at NOC who the better man was.  Abraham continues to sound off his scripted promos very well and damn I wish the fed would let him give the promos he gave down in FCW.  Anyway a stare off between the two friends-turned-opponents to fade the show off and god damn it why can’t someone from TNA watch this show and learn how to run a wrestling tv show.

Anyway, that’s it for tonight folks. Thanks for reading.

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Welcome to another edition of Extreme Recap. I’m Zack Danielson, and this week’s ECW main event will be Vladimir Kozlov vs. the current ECW World Champion, Tommy Dreamer. Plus, Goldust makes his official ECW debut tonight. I know, it’s exciting. Lets get to it:

Match #1. Christian vs. “The Gold Standard” Shelton Benjamin

-I’ve been waiting for this match ever since Benjamin got drafted back to ECW. This should be good. Lockup to start, and Benjamin takes Christian down. Benjamin sends Christian to the ropes, and Christian hits a spinning heel kick. Midway through the match, as Christian is on the top rope, Vladimir Kozlov comes out, and that distracts Christian long enough for Benjamin to kick him in the face which sends Christian to the floor. Kozlov looks to be heading towards the announce table as we head to break

Back commercial, we see Benjamin working on Christian’s left arm. He manages to get out of a hold, and avoid two clotheslines, but Benjamin hits a knee to the guts of Christian. Ha, there’s a “We Miss Droz” sign in the front row. We all miss him. Benjamin continues to work on the arm. Benjamin hits a scoop slam with Christian’s arm wrapped around his back. He goes for the cover, but gets a two. Benjamin puts Christian on the top rope, but Christian knocks him down, only for Benjamin to jump right back there. Christian knocks him back down again, and this time hits a dropkick from there. Goes for the cover, but only a two. Kozlov sucks on commentary by the way. Christian hits a strong tornado DDT on Shelton, but only gets a two. Benjamin manages to get Christian into a Fujiwa Armbar, but Christian rolls it into a cover, buts gets a two. Ending comes when Christian goes for the Killswitch, but Benjamin counters and sends Christian into the steel post, followed by the Payday and gets the three count. Good match, which it had more time

Winner: Shelton Benjamin (via pin at 8:30) **3/4

-We get a recap of Ezekiel Jackson’s ECW debut last week. In the back, Gregory Helms interviews  Jackson. Jackson states he’s in the best shape of his life, and that Brian Kendrick needed Jackson more than he needed Kendrick. He states it’s his opportunity to make it to the top of ECW.

Match #2. Paul Burchill (w/ Katie Lee) vs. Yoshi Tatsu

-Haven’t seen Paul in ECW for the past few months. Burchill starts off aggressively with knees and forearm shots to Tatsu.  Burchill takes Tatsu down by the knee and hits  an elbow drop. Goes for the cover, buts gets a two. Katie slaps Yoshi in the face when the ref isn’t looking. Burchill has Tatsu in a chokehold, but Tatsu gets out of it quickly and school boys Paul, but gets a two. Paul hits a clothesline, and locks Tatsu in a chinlock. Yoshi able to escape though and he hits a series of kicks. Paul whipped into the corner and Yoshi gets back dropped onto the ring apron. Burchill hits a backdrop driver and gets a one count with Yoshi’s hand under the ropes. Burchill argues and Yoshi connects with a huge roundhouse kick and gets the three count. I’m starting to like Tatsu as a regular member of ECW.

Winner: Yoshi Tatsu (via pin at 3:29) *1/2

-Backstage, Tyler Reks thanks Tiffany for everything and he is looking forward to his in ring debut with ECW. He asks for it next week and Tiffany says she can arrange that. Now that is straight forward.

Match #3. Goldust vs. Zack Ryder

-Woo Woo Woo Woo! Dust takes down Ryder quickly with an armdrag.  Shoulder tackle by Dust, and gets a two. Ryder now takes the advantage by hitting a few lefts and rights to Golddust. Dust manages to get back the advantage with a butt-butt and a clothesline to the floor. Dust throws Ryder into the ring. Dust climbs the ropes, but Ryder meets him up there and throws Dust back to the floor. Zach  backs Goldust into the corner and hits a running kick to the face while Dust is sitting in the corner.  Both men down after Goldust reverses Ryder’s momentum and hits a slam. Goldust with a series of inverted atomic drops and a huge diving clothesline. Goldust on the second rope and he hits a bionic elbow for two. Goldust tries for the Curtain Control, but slips out and drop toe holds him into the corner. Goldust then gets drilled with the Zack Attack for the three count. Nothing really special, but luckily they kept it short.

Winner: Zack Ryder (via pin a t 4:30) *1/2

- We get the Raw Rebound with Seth Green as special guest host. Believe it or not, Green was not the worst thing on Raw this past week

- We take a look at last week again, where the Hurricane saves a young woman, who fell off the ladder. Wow, how can they act like they have never seen him?

Match #4. Sheamus vs. Roman Cornell

- Sheamus take the microphone and speaks a little Irish before he tells Roman that he can’t stop the path of the Celtic Warrior. The bell rings and Roman gets a headlock, but he is whipped off the ropes and hit with a shoulder block. Sheamus hits a huge clothesline and pounds on Roman in the corner, ending with a shoulder to the back. Sheamus tries a huge running powerslam but Roman slips out and walks into a bicycle kick. Sheamus connects with the huge modified rock bottom into a backbreaker for the three count. Not horrible, and real quick.

Winner: Sheamus (via squashing at 1:05) 1/2*

-It’s announced that Christian and Dreamer will be a guest on the Abraham Washington show. Yay, we get more of this Abraham crap.

Match #5. Non-Title: Tommy Dreamer (ECW World Champion) vs. Vladimir Kozlov

- The bell rings quickly and Kozlov gets a quick takedown and a waistlock. Dreamer elbows out, but gets tripped up and Kozlov drops the elbow. Dreamer avoids a second one, but gets drilled into the corner. Kozlov misses a charge, hitting his head on the turnbuckle un-phased, so Dreamer kicks him and hits a school boy for two. Dreamer being careful as he hits a flying clothesline for two. Kozlov lifts up Dreamer and drops him onto the top rope. Kozlov hits a series of Sambo headbutts and connects with a huge belly to belly for a two count. Kozlov with a grounded bearhug, but Dreamer gets up. He escapes but walks right into a boot. Dreamer rolls to the outside and Kozlov tries to kick he his head, but Dreamer ducks and Kozlov’s foot hits post. Dreamer rolls him in a kicks at the leg. Dreamer gets a jackknife for two after punting Kozlov in the head. Dreamer heads up top, but Kozlov takes him down. Kozlov walks into a boot from Dreamer and Dreamer leaps right into a headbutt from Kozlov. Kozlov lifts up Dreamer and the Iron Curtain falls, allowing Kozlov to get the win. Dreamer just totally got jobbed out here. Kozlov goes back on the attack after the bell and Christian comes to help, but Kozlov ducks and Dreamer gets nailed by Christian. Kozlov hits a ramming headbutt and Christian is laid out as well as we end the broadcast.

Winner: Vladimir Kozlov (via pin at 3:55) *1/2

Overall Thoughts: I don’t think it’s a good idea to job out the champion and challenger of a PPV Title match 2 weeks before their match. Other than Benjamin/Christian, this wasn’t that good of a show this week. Nothing too special, and everything was pretty forgettable.

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I’m Zack Danielson, and this is my first edition of recapping ECW. You see, I gave up reviewing Superstars because it was getting harder for me to review two wrestling shows that air back-to-back on one night. So I talked to Jerome, and he let me start reviewing ECW instead of Superstars. It’s pretty ironic that my first ECW recap happens to air on a Thursday. But since it doesn’t air right before TNA, it should be fine for tonight. So here we go……

ECW- July 9, 2009

Match #1. Nikki Bella (w/Brie Bella) vs. Katie Lee Burchill

-The Bella twins introduce themselves to the crowd. Like anyone gives a rats ass. Usually I’m ok with recapping diva matches, but because it’s a Bella match, I don’t care. Basically, Katie dominated the whole match, until the Bellas went Killer Bees and switched around and Brie pinned Katie after a X-Factor. This was pretty useless.

Winner: Nikki/Brie Bella (via pin at 2:32)1/2*

-We get a recap of last week’s burial of Shelton Benjamin when he lost to Yoshi Tatsu. Let’s hope Benjamin gets off at least one move during tonight’s rematch

Match #2. Shelton Benjamin vs. Yoshi Tatsu

- Shelton is a little more serious this week after getting embarrassed last week at the hands of the new guy. Shelton hits a firemans carry takedown early, and then smugly laughs at Tatsu. Shelton drives Tatsu into the corner, and then delivers a forearm. Tatsu fights back out of the corner with an elbow, and then delivers a dropkick. Big splash attempt from Tatsu meets the knees of Shelton, and Benjamin follows that up with a short lariet. Shelton goes for a neckbreaker, but it is countered by Tatsu into a backslide for two. Shelton bails to the floor to regroup as we head to break.

Back from commercial, Tatsu hits a crossbody off the ropes for two, but then comes up empty on a dropkick attempt. Shelton goes for a powerbomb but when Tatsu blocks it he simply drops him back on the top buckle, which gets a two count. Shelton mounts Tatsu and delivers a series of headbutts, and then grabs a reverse chinlock. Tatsu comes out of it with a snap mare counter, and then rolls up Shelton for two. Series of kicks from Yoshi followed by a double knee in the corner. Yoshi rolls Shelton out of the corner, and hits a spin kick for a two count. Shelton goes for a Stinger splash which misses, and Tatsu hits a springboard spinning heel kick for a two count! Wow, I thought that was the finish. Yoshi charges into a knee from Shelton who then delivers a release belly to belly suplex. Both guys block kicks, but Shelton hits paydirt after ducking a heel kick and he gets the three count. Now this should of been the match last week. Great effort by both men

Winner: Shelton Benjamin (via pin 7:55 shown) ***

-We now are treated to a Kozlov vignette. “I have domi-nate everywhere, ECDouble will be no different”. Ok, moving on….

Match #3. Ezekiel Jackson vs. Jack Meridol “a.k.a. JOBBER”

-Wow, so Ezekiel hasn’t been future endeavored yet? Shocking! Merido looks like the jobbingest jobber who ever jobbed. Jackson kicked his ass through out the entire match, and finished him with a rock bottom in less than 2 minutes. This wasn’t really a match that needed to be recapped in my opinion.

Winner: Ezekiel “New Aged Ahmed Johnson” Jackson (via squashing at 1:45) 1/4*

-In the back some girl nearly falls to her death, but thankfully Hurricane is there to save the day. I’m fine with Hurricane coming back, but this is a stupid and sad way to do so.

-Oh god, it’s now time for the second edition of The Abraham Washington show. He says his ratings are higher than Snoop Dogg in a hot air balloon. “Crickets”. Washingston states that since he has the top talk show he needs a top guest so he brings out his guest ECW Champion Tommy Dreamer. Huge ECW chant for Tommy. Abe tells Tommy he’s the biggest superstar in ECW history, and unfortunately he means that literally. Abe goes on to tell a lot of stupid and childish fat jokes towards Dreamer, which Dreamer responds by making fun of Washington’s hair. This is getting pathetic, even for Dreamer. Washington goes on to ask Tommy who he would rather have win the number one contender match to face him at Night of Champions. Christian or Vladimir Kozlov? Tommy answers saying Christian. This brings out Kozlov. Never thought I would say this, but THANK GOD he came out to end this segment. Kozlov just stares down at Dreamer as we head to commercial

Match #4. Winner Faces Tommy Dreamer at Night of Champions: Vladimir Kozlov vs. Christian

-Tommy moves to the commentary table for the main event. I’m sure he’s just there as an observer and in no way will get involved. Kozlov pushes Christian into the corner off the lockup, and then armdrags him out of a second lockup. Kozlov hits a fireman’s carry, and then goes for a powerslam. Christian slides down the back to counter, and then hits a back elbow. Christian delivers an open handed slap which just serves to piss the Russian off. Kozlov delivers a kick, and then charges at Christian who pulls down the top rope sending Kozlov to the floor. Christian charges, but runs into the shoulder of Kozlov who then backdrops him to the floor. Kozlov heads outside, and drives Christian into the apron, before rolling him back inside for two. Kozlov busts out the Canadian backbreaker submission, and then a huge fall away slam for two. Kozlov grabs a waist lock, and then delivers a forearm to the lower back. Kozlov grabs a torture rack, but Christian counters and goes for the Killswitch. Kozlov blocks that so Christian goes for a DDT out of the corner which is blocked. Christian hits the ropes, and Kozlov again throws him over the top rope to the floor. Kozlov heads outside, and tries to post Christian, but its blocked and he meets the post himself. Christian hits a missile dropkick back inside, and that gets a two count. Kozlov hits a modified backbreaker out of a torture rack for two, but then goes for a headbutt into the corner. Christian moves, and Kozlov runs face first into the exposed top turnbuckle. Christian hits the killswitch from there to finish the match. So it’s Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer at Night of Champions. Thank goodness, because Kozlov + PPV Title Matches= BAD!

Winner: Christian (via pin at 5:35) **

Overall Thoughts: Well other than the divas match and the awful Abraham Washington segment, this episode of ECW was decent. The Benjamin/Tatsu match was great. Hopefully they continue booking ECW like this, minus Abraham Washington. He needs to be future endeavored right away.  See you all later for my Impact Report

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