By Dominick Mayer, Torch ECW specialist

ECW on Sci-Fi TV report
February 17, 2009
Report by Dominick Mayer, PWTorch contributor

Last week, Christian returned and made fun of Swagger's lisp. Don't know why they'd use that sound byte as the first thing to illustrate Christian's returning promo. Anyway, Christian floored Swagger and then beat him in a match later that night. Title sequence, with Christian already prominently added into the video montage.

Tonight's main event: Finlay and Christian vs. Jack Swagger and Mark Henry.

Boogeyman is on his way out to the ring to kick off the show, to a decent crowd reaction. I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like Boogeyman's crowd pops are getting bigger as time goes on. There's been nothing to really prompt this, though. Paul Burchill is the opposition tonight.

1 -- THE BOOGEYMAN vs. PAUL BURCHILL (w/Katie Lea)

Lea distracts Boogey right away, allowing Burchill to corner him. Can't say I fault Boogey on that one. Boogeyman gets a clothesline and a running elbow into the corner. He gets the stinger splash on Burchill, followed by a bodyslam. Boogeyman then heads into the corner for the worms before the match is even over, and Burchill rolls him up from behind for the pin and the win.

WINNER: Burchill in 2:00. When I begged WWE to let Burchill win a match over the past month or so, this wasn't what I had in mind.

After the match, Boogey goes after Lea with worms in hand, and she evades him. She does some impressive running in six-inch heels.

Grisham and Striker recap the No Way Out title match, in which Hornswoggle went flying and Swagger retained the strap. Next week, it's been announced, Christian will face Swagger for the ECW Championship. That's interesting, considering that this match-up is what everyone has assumed is going to be the ECW main event at Mania. Throwing it out six weeks early is a bold move.

[Commercial Break]

Miz and Morrison are on their way out, but only Morrison is dressed to wrestle. Meanwhile, Striker gets Grisham to admit that Morrison is an attractive man. Please don't split them up during the draft. I've been growing concerned that they'll stick Cole with Striker to make Cole look better, but he lacks the ability to be a good straight man like Grisham is. Tommy Dreamer is the opponent.

2 -- JOHN MORRISON (w/The Miz) vs. TOMMY DREAMER

Arm drag exchange to start things off. Dreamer takes over with a Russian leg sweep and a clothesline to the outside.

[Q2]

Dreamer heads down to the floor to get Morrison, but Miz distracts him long enough for Morrison to arm drag Dreamer off the apron, which looks a little nasty. Dreamer didn't exactly fall with grace there. Morrison takes over with a chinlock in the ring. Again, Miz distracts Dreamer, but Dreamer gets a reverse neckbreaker and back body drop on Morrison. Dreamer gets the bulldog and plays to the crowd. Morrison goes for a springboard kick off the second rope, but Dreamer ducks it and hits a reverse pumphandle suplex of sorts. Anyone know the name of that one? Dreamer gets a close two count before Morrison gets a leg on the ropes. Dreamer goes up top, but Morrison cuts him off with a boot and hits the Moonlight Drive for the pin and the win.

WINNER: Morrison in 4:00. We're getting near the point where they have to break this Dreamer losing streak or risk having the audience lose interest.

Grisham and Striker speculate after the match as to whether Dreamer needs to hang it up.

Backstage, Hornswoggle hits Christian with a towel and Finlay offers him ice cream. Christian wants to know if Hornswoggle will be a distraction tonight, and Finlay just tells him to keep his end up.

[Commercial Break]

Another Evan Bourne video package airs. It's set to the sounds of an airplane taking flight. That's pretty cool.

Tyson Kidd is out right after. Maybe there is something to what James Caldwell pointed out last week that this is Bourne's returning feud and they're tying them together.

3 -- TYSON KIDD (w/Natalya) VS. CADEN MATHEWS

Some mat moves from Kidd early on. Kidd gets some kicks and then a running dropkick to the head for two. Hard snapmare followed by a harder kick to the back by Kidd. A third shot takes Mathews down for two. Kidd with a spinning heel kick. Kidd slingshots over the ropes and hits a legdrop. Kidd hits the springboard elbow for the win.

WINNER: Kidd in 2:00. Still impressive. It's interesting that they're sticking with this kick-focused offense from Kidd, as usually smaller guys are relegated to being high-flyers. Kidd's teased feuds with Jamie Noble and Bourne are something to look forward to.

Tonight: Christian and Finlay vs. Swagger and Henry.

[Commercial Break]

[Q3]

Tonight's WrestleMania package: Wrestlemania XIV and the dawning of the Attitude Era. Man, I forgot that Ginnifer Flowers interviewed the Rock during that show. Also, Mike Tyson is still the best use of a celebrity in a main event to date, because he wasn't an interfering part of the match, but him decking Michaels post-match is a classic moment.

Backstage, Tommy Dreamer looks sad. Ricky Ortiz tosses him a rally towel and tells him that Dreamer was the only guy who welcomed him to WWE and offered him advice. He reminds Dreamer who he is, and tells him to rally up. Dammit, that was almost an effective little promo from Ortiz, until he tossed the catchphrase out.

Striker gets the MVP award so far tonight for asking the camera and Grisham exactly what "rally up" is. He and Grisham then throw to the Hall of Fame package on the Funks. Glad to see them going into the HoF. Plus, I can't wait to see Dusty Rhodes induct the two of them.

Mark Henry is on his way out for the main event. According to the announcers, Henry is under 400 pounds. Not bad at all. Swagger is out as his partner, and I think it's good that Swagger only lost televised matches leading up to No Way Out, because him winning a PPV title match is arguably more important. However, I get the feeling that Finlay and Christian are going to win tonight, so that's another step back in that case.

[Commercial Break]

Recap: Last week, Christian beat Swagger. Christian is out first for the opposition, which really begs the question: If the champion isn't the last to enter, as is typically customary, and Christian is out, does that make Finlay the most important man in this match? I'd debate that.

[Q4]

4 -- MARK HENRY (w/Tony Atlas) & ECW CHAMPION JACK SWAGGER vs. CHRISTIAN & FINLAY (w/Hornswoggle)

Christian and Henry start things off. Henry elevates Christian, who belly flops. Striker says that Christian has an exclusive contract with ECW. Christian tags out to Finlay, and Swagger comes in to face him. Swagger takes Finlay down with mat work. Finlay gets a clothesline and tags Christian back in. Swagger picks Christian up over his shoulder, but gets rolled into a sunset flip for two. Finlay almost doesn't tag in to Christian, but after a staredown, they do. Break time.

[Commercial Break]

Out of break, Finlay has Swagger grabbing his jaw. Swagger brings Finlay into the heel corner for shoulderblocks. Swagger throws Finlay out of the ring, where he gets clotheslined by Henry. Swagger tackles Finlay into the apron. In the ring, Swagger gets a two count. Swagger hooks Finlay in a bearhug. Henry tags in and slams Finlay for a two count. Swagger tags back in and gets a belly to back suplex for two. Another bearhug on Finlay. Finlay gets a jawbreaker to escape, but goes right back down with a clothesline for a two count. Henry tags back in and stands on Finlay's throat. Swagger comes back in and puts Finlay in a headlock, as Finlay tries to get the hot tag. Swagger drives Finlay back to the heel corner. Henry goes for the elbow, but misses. Has he ever actually hit that move?

Finlay finally gets the hot tag to Christian. Swagger charges him, but Christian ducks and Swagger hits Henry. Rollup on Swagger for two. Swagger catches Christian in a run and gets a belly to belly suplex for two. Christian goes up top and evades Henry's attempted clothesline, as well as interference from Atlas. Things break down after this, with Hornswoggle getting involved and Finlay pulling out the shillelagh. When the dust settles, Christian hits the Unprettier on Swagger for the win.

WINNERS: Christian & Finlay in 13:00. The match went as expected, with Christian pinning Swagger to build up their title match for next week. My question is, why are they using the Swagger-Christian title match already? Sure, they can do another match at WrestleMania, but they're exhausting it six weeks in advance. Unless they're planning some type of gimmick match, that just makes no sense to me at all.

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