The ECW Report (06/13/06): ECW Debuts on Sci-Fi
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Tuesday, June 13, 2006 at 11:06 PM EST





The ECW Report (06/13/06)

ECW’s return to television began with a quick recap of One Night Stand, featuring highlights of both title matches and the Funk/Dreamer-Edge/Foley match. John Cena’s promo from last night’s Raw was also shown, specifically the part where he said he’d be showing up at this show tonight.

An entrance video featuring Sandman, Sabu, RVD, Dreamer, Angle, Show, etc. was played to the “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor” theme from ONS.

The show opened with Paul Heyman coming to the ring while Tazz and Joey Styles welcomed the TV audience to ECW live from Trenton, NJ. Heyman immediately introduced the new WWE Champion, Rob Van Dam. RVD made his entrance down an aisle set up much the same way things were at the ECW vs. WWE special last week. Van Dam and Heyman shook hands as an “RVD” chant rang out. RVD thanked Heyman and the people before reminding us of how he defeated Cena at ONS. A few fans booed. The new champ reminded Heyman that Cena said he might show up tonight, but Van Dam welcomed it and said Cena could help them all celebrate the new ECW. Heyman then handed RVD the ECW World Heavyweight Championship belt (a welcome sight). RVD hoisted the belt while resting the WWE title on his shoulder. An ECW chant rang out briefly before Van Dam called Heyman’s offering the greatest honor of his career. Van Dam said he was going to keep both belts. At that point, #1 contender to the WWE title, Edge (w/ Lita), came to the ring with a little introduction from Heyman, obviously happy that the Rated R Superstar decided to show up. Edge shook Heyman’s hand and told RVD that he respected him. He said they had a lot in common…both Money in the Bank winners who cashed in and won the WWE title. Edge said it’d be an honor to face RVD and tear the house down at Vengeance. As Heyman raised RVD’s hand, Edge came at him out of nowhere with a Spear and then hightailed it through the crowd. Then, John Cena showed up behind Edge and attacked him. Some fans booed Cena, but the ones there to see the Smackdown taping popped pretty nicely for him. Cena took Edge back to ringside, at which point RVD took it to Edge. Edge regained control of the situation as Van Dam and Cena argued, nailing Cena with a low blow. Cena quickly regained momentum and took the fight to Edge before bowling over Heyman on his way out to the crowd. The segment closed as Cena fled while the ECW locker room came out to attend to Heyman and Van Dam. (CMV1 note- good opening segment with solid, albeit not strong, mic work from all involved. It wasn’t anything that people will remember for years to come, but it was a good start. RVD vs. Edge could be a damn good match if they click in the ring, but I’d hope that after Vengeance the WWE does its own thing while ECW is allowed to live on its own w/o much involvement from the red or blue teams).


ECW is going on a live tour, ladies and gentlemen, and I for one will do my best to attend the show in MO.

Backstage, Heyman and the boys cursed Cena and Edge for their actions. He said it was fine, though, b/c if that’s the way they want to play, then ECW will just have to show up next Monday night on Raw. The boys started an ECW chant.


Match 1: Sandman vs. The Zombie
-(CMV1 note- the Zombie looks to be one of the characters that the Sci-Fi channel had a lot to do with…and I’m not sold on it. He walked around like a Zombie and got no crowd reaction whatsoever). The Zombie grabbed a mic before the match and just moaned and groaned like a zombie would do in a movie. However, when his opponent, the Sandman, came out to generic, non-Metallica, theme music, the Zombie shut up. Sandman did his usual entrance and busted himself open w/ a beer can. Sand started things off with rapid fire cane shots and then hit the White Russian leg sweep (a side Russian leg sweep with a cane across the neck of the opponent) for the win. Sandman won in 19 seconds. Sandman beat the Zombie all the way to the back. (CMV1 rating- no rating) (CMV1 note- Well, if the Sci-Fi network insists that the new ECW include some sci-fi characters like the Zombie, then you got to love Heyman for making them squash fodder for their stars. However, for those not reading the interviews posted on the net, Heyman has said he’ll use vampire characters willingly due to the success of such shows as Buffy).

Backstage, a gorgeous blonde woman named Kelly claimed to be an exhibitionist and told us that she’d be taking her clothes off for us tonight.

Styles introduced footage from ECW One Night Stand’s opening match between Tazz and Jerry Lawler. They actually showed the entire match, featuring both entrances, the pre-match antics w/ Lawler and Styles, and the quick, choke-out win for the Tazz. Sci-Fi did not block out the “You Suck Dick” chants that were included in the footage. (CMV1 note- I didn’t like that they included this. Once was quite enough for me on Sunday, but to see it again was unnecessary overkill that reeked of VKM influence more so than a Heyman booked show).


Match 2: Kurt Angle vs. Justin Credible
-(CMV1 note- still photos of Angle defeating Randy Orton at ONS were shown prior to the match). Angle picked him up and slammed him down before the bell. He proceeded to drive his knee into Credible’s back and lock on a rear chin lock. Credible tried to fight back, but Angle hit a German suplex before picking the former Impact Player up and tossing him out of the ring. Once back in the ring, Credible took a back body drop out of single leg pick up. Angle then locked on a back mount and slapped him around. Justin tried fighting back again, but the Olympic Gold Medallist took him down and locked on a choke hold. The finish came when Credible tapped to the choke, giving Angle the win at 1:53. After the match, Angle grabbed a mic and accepted Randy Orton’s challenge for a match at Vengeance. It drew only a tiny pop from the crowd. (CMV1 rating- ¼ *) (CMV1 note- definitely dig that they are putting over Angle as a total bad ass, but I would’ve liked to have seen these guys have a competitive match. I’m very interested in seeing some of the old ECW stars face Kurt Angle)

Backstage, Heyman asked if we wanted learn and feel what it meant to be extreme. He said if that’s what we wanted then he’d throw out his original plan for this show and put 10 ECW wrestlers in a hardcore, all weapons legal Battle Royal. The winner will face John Cena at Vengeance and join Heyman the ECW wrestlers in their invasion of Raw this coming Monday.

Further backstage, Kelly reminded us that she was going to show us all of her assets…next.

A vampire character was shown.

Kelly then made her way to a stage set up for her near the entrance ramp. She danced and then took her skirt and her top off, getting down to her bra and panties. Kelly then pulled her bra straps down and covered her breasts with her hands. (CMV1 note- Damn…that’s a gorgeous woman).


Match 3: Weapons Legal, Extreme Battle Royal- Tommy Dreamer vs. Sabu vs. Al Snow vs. Stevie Richards vs. FBI (w/ Trinity and Big Guido) vs. Balls Mahoney vs. Big Show vs. Roadkill vs. Danny Doring
-(CMV1 note- winner to face Cena at Vengeance. Oh, bear with me, folks…ten men in the ring at the same time…geez). Sabu was all taped up, selling his injuries from the PPV. Big cleaned house as the match began. He picked up Roadkill like he was nothing and gave him a fall away slam. We then got a dreaded mid-match commercial break, and I’m gonna say that’s unacceptable give the length of this show. Back from the break, Big Guido had gotten into the action. Meanwhile, Tommy Dreamer attacked Big Show, but didn’t have much to show for it. Stevie hit Snow with a sign, but Snow returned the favor soon after. Tony Mamaluke attacked with a sign of his own, then went to work on Dreamer. Balls attacked Show with a trash can lid, but Show made quick work of him and took him to the mat. On the outside, Sabu set up a table, as the rest of the wrestlers took turns slamming Big Show with weapons. Show responded by eliminating Snow and Doring before attacking Richards with repeated headbutts. He then chokeslammed Stevie over the top rope before eliminating Balls. Dreamer viciously went after Show with a sign to slow the big man’s roll. Show retaliated by press slamming Dreamer over the top and through the table. The FBI then tried to get a piece of Show, but the largest athlete in the world took both of them out and eliminated them. However, when he eliminated Big Guido, Guido hung onto Show’s arm and started pulling him over. Sabu capitalized, set up a chair behind Show, and went flying off it with a chair in hand. The finish came when Sabu connected with his flying chair shot, knocking Big Show over the top. Sabu won the Battle Royal at 9:18. (CMV1 rating- **) (CMV1 note- an entertaining, but congested match that was difficult to keep up with as a reviewer. The focus of the match was the Big Show, as it should’ve been, and he was made to look like a bigger monster in there than he normally is during WWE battle royals. It was nice to see some of the other talent that will be featured on future shows, as well. Sabu vs. John Cena in a rematch from their solid bout on the WWE vs. ECW special sounds good to me, as it gives ECW more PPV exposure).




All in all…I enjoyed tonight’s ECW debut on Sci-Fi, but I didn’t think that it all that it needed to be. One thing I want to see (and have been given confidence that I will see based on Heyman’s interviews) is a greater focus on the in-ring product. I’d like to see at least one, 10-13 minute match on each show every week…a good one at that. Granted, tonight’s show did succeed in showcasing something a little different, while also attempting to hook the new fans that likely were brought over simply from watching Raw the last few weeks. Let’s hope this draws a strong rating and we can start see more of that always potentially brilliant Heyman booking. The lack of a good wrestling match hurt what was an otherwise solid show, so I’ll be safe and give this a 6/10 and call it a night …





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