By James Caldwell, PWTorch columnist

WWE's ECW on Sci-Fi TV Report
November 18, 2008 - Year 3, Week 24 (Week 128 overall)
Taped in Atlanta, Ga.
Report by James Caldwell, Torch columnist

The show started with Todd Grisham and Matt Striker introducing the show, then Miz's music hit and out came The Miz and John Morrison. Ya know, I caught a little of The Miz hosting the Shorties on WWE Classics on-demand earlier this afternoon. Pretty good stuff from Miz, who plays the character so well. On the way to the ring here, Grisham narrated clips of M&M taking out Shawn Michaels and Rey Mysterio last night on Raw. Good follow-up.

In the ring, Morrison waited out the boos to hand the mic over to Miz. They're talking Survivor Series tonight. Miz name-dropped their team captain, JBL, to a chorus of boos. Morrison said as long as he leads them to victory and not Krispy Kreme, he's good enough to be their captain. Which brings them to MVP. He's the highest-paid athlete in Smackdown history, but he can't buy a win. Miz found the silver-lining for MVP that teaming with them might be the one thing they need to be...ballin' again.

Their other partner is Kane (cheers, then audio sweetened boos). They discussed Kane's mental illness and power over fire. Miz decided that would be a good point to move along discussing him. Morrison added that all three of them have the single-greatest privilege of teaming with the best tag team of the 21st century.

And now their opponents. A few cheers for Great Khali, who they called the fat chick thriller. Then, there's the Mexican midget Rey Mysterio. And there's Cryme Tyme. Miz smirked and said their strategy is probably to get themselves DQ'ed, then head back to the locker room to jack everyone's money, and buy some more bling.

Finally, there's Shawn Michaels. How is Michaels going to speak English with all of his partners? Miz and Morrison said they hope HBK is last man left on their team because they want Shawn to stand there and stare back at them to realize he's becoming a stepping-stone to them. At that moment, Miz said, Michaels will realize there are winners and losers. Be Jealous. Good, cocky heel promo. They've found their groove on the mic.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Tony Chimel checked his cue card and brought out a new tandem, D.J. Gabriel with Alicia Fox. Some dance music hit and out danced Gabriel with Fox. They had their own choreographed dance combo coming to the ring for the match. That was pretty fun. Once the music stopped, the fans booed it up. They don't like this. Striker said fans don't like guys who gyrate and gesticulate.

1 -- D.J. GABRIEL (w/Alicia Fox) vs. SAL RINAURO

Okay, first blush on Gabriel here is that he looks like my boy Colt McCoy, quarterback of the Texas Longhorns. Maybe I'm just thinking football tonight. In any event, Gabriel bounced around the ring working over Sal before nailing a sweet European uppercut from the second rope for the quick win. Alicia then bounced into the ring afterward and they danced us out to the replay.

WINNER: Gabriel in 2:00. Edited nicely here based on what we received from the HOLT report last night, but I like this gimmick from Gabriel. It's a different type of effective annoying like Jack Swagger. Nice debut. (n/a)

Backstage: They showed Jack Swagger walking with his cocky smile in anticipation of an amateur wrestling bout against Tommy Dreamer.

[Commercial Break]

2 -- JACK SWAGGER vs. TOMMY DREAMER -- amateur wrestling match

Five minute round here with the amateur wrestling point system in play. Swagger had the headgear for this. Grisham wanted to know where the singlet is for Dreamer, who was in standard wrestling gear. Swagger scored a quick takedown, then another takedown for a quick 4-0 jump. Swagger with yet another takedown, then he got cocky and removed his headgear. Dreamer took advantage by taking down Swagger for a quick score.

Swagger was pissed, so he took Dreamer down and started to drive Dreamer's elbow into the back of his own head. Swagger let him up, then went into the referee position on all-fours on the mat. Dreamer decided he wanted no part of this, so he punted Swagger in the gut before nailing a DDT for a DQ. Afterward, Dreamer took the mic and offered no remorse for what happened by saying "Oops, my bad."

WINNER: Swagger via DQ in 4:00. Pretty much just continuing this feud to wherever it's leading to. Striker was awesome here calling this. It's tough keeping up with all of the great nuggets from Striker, so definitely watch this just for the commentary. (n/a)

Video package: We picked up another look at the John Cena feature video promoting his return at Survivor Series on Sunday.

Next week: Boogeyman returns.

[Commercial Break]

Backstage: Ricky Ortiz was easing up next to Tiffany in Teddy Long's locker room when Jack Swagger stepped in to complain about what just happened out there. Long just stepped out of the office, so Tiffany was holding court. Swagger demanded some answers, but Ortiz stepped in to defend Tiffany's honor. They had a pissing contest easily won by Swagger since Ortiz had the worst comebacks ever, then Teddy Long stepped in to see what the commotion was. Swagger demanded a re-match with Dreamer, then Long booked it in Extreme Rules. Swagger didn't particularly like that.

Announcers: Grisham and Striker broke down the Survivor Series PPV card on Sunday. ... Suddenly, Matt Striker was in the ring to break down Team Batista vs. Team Orton on Sunday. My goodness, the handwriting on the chalkboard was flawless. Striker identified some of the match-ups, including Mark Henry against Batista by himself if Henry wipes out Batista's entire team. Striker said the Thanksgiving tradition is almost upon us. I can't get over the quality of the handwriting. You just don't see that these days.

In-ring: Mark Henry then stepped out first for the six-man tag main event they had been plugging throughout the show.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: IC William Regal was on the way to the ring out of the break. Meanwhile, Cody Rhodes already found his way to the ring during the break. Kofi Kingston came out first for the babyfaces, followed by Finlay and Hornswoggle. They showed clips of last week when Hardy beat Finlay to retain the ECW Title, then ECW champion Matt Hardy came out to a huge reaction. Hardy limped his way to the ring, then he stared down the opposition after shaking hands with Finlay.

[Q4]

3 -- ECW champion MATT HARDY & FINLAY (w/Hornswoggle) & World tag team champion KOFI KINGSTON vs. MARK HENRY & CODY RHODES & IC champion WILLIAM REGAL

Let's start it off with Finlay vs. Regal in a European battle with both men having U.S. roots in the Atlanta area. The action quickly broke down just a minute into the match, then they had a big stand-off between both sides leading to break.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Cody blocked a hip toss from Kofi and dragged him into the heel corner for Regal to get a piece of Kofi. Striker pointed out that Layla is not present tonight to be at Regal's side. Suddenly, Finlay and Regal were in the ring battling with European uppercuts. Regal got the best of Finlay here by shoving him off the top rope hard onto the floor. Back in the ring, Regal went back to work on Finlay before tagging in Cody to get some of Finlay. Meanwhile, Striker gave us a history lesson on Regal's previous wrestling names. So great.

Finlay started to break free, but a certain Mark Henry got a tag to quickly cut off Finlay and start taking him apart. Finlay fought back on Henry at 9:00, but Henry cut him off with a big boot before bringing Regal back in to work on Finlay. Cody then tagged back in and, of course, Cody lost control of the match on Finlay. Kofi then got the hot tag and smashed Cody with various leg attacks. Grisham dropped "Jamaican Me Crazy," then Kofi dropped the boom-boom leg drop on Cody for a two count when Regal broke it up.

Hardy, who thankfully took the match off here to rest his knee, then took Regal to the floor for a battle off camera. Henry made a blind tag for himself, then Henry and Kofi battled only to have Henry catch Kofi in mid-air for the big ol' World's Strongest Slam. Henry took the air out of the building and Kofi, then he made the cover for the win. Regal and Cody celebrated with Henry to close the show.

WINNERS: Team Henry in 12:00. Standard WWE multiple-persons tag match. Just fine to set up Survivor Series with Henry dominant. Too bad Kofi keeps getting the short-end of the stick here, as he was also quickly squashed by Henry on the 800 episode Raw a few weeks ago. (*1/2)

We welcome your 1-10 score and comments on this show for an "ECW Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. To contribute your thoughts on ECW TV, click here.

We suggest these recent related articles...

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 10/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Roman Reigns & Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman

METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 10/4 & 10/7: IWGP World champ Okada vs. Roderick Strong main event, plus Briscoes vs. Time Splitters, more from "Field of Honor," Overall Reax

MCMAHON'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 10/7: TNA Title Series kicks off, Bound for Glory fall-out, more; Overall Reax