By James Caldwell, PWTorch.com assistant editor

WWE's ECW on Sci-Fi TV Report
March 10, 2009 - Year 3, Week 40 (Week 144 overall)
Taped 3/9 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Report by James Caldwell, Torch columnist

The show opened with a video package promoting tonight's battle royale to determine who gets the final slot in the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania.

In-ring: The Miz and John Morrison came out for an opening match. Miz is one-on-one tonight. Cue up a video clip from WWE.com Dirt Sheet with Miz and Morrison pretending to be the butt-cheek Colons. Morrison, now on commentary, said it's the colon, not the Colons. Out as the opposition was Primo, along with Carlito and the Bella Twins. Carlito sat down ringside on the other side of Grisham while Bellas were next to the timekeeper. From left to right - Mo, Striker, Grisham, Carlito, and Bellas. Off we go.

1 -- World tag team champion THE MIZ (w/John Morrison) vs. WWE tag team champion PRIMO (w/Carlito and Bella Twins)

Primo was hot early on, but he could only score a one count following a round of kicks. Primo with a dropkick to the back, but Miz nailed a forearm smash as Primo was on the apron. Miz in control as Grisham sent us to break.

[Commercial Break]

They returned from break with Miz still in control. Primo then fired off a top rope cross-body block for a two count. Primo airballed on an attempted dive and he crashed hard to the mat. One of the Bellas showed concern for Primo, then Miz walked over to Primo and punched Primo right in front of his lady. Miz sent Primo back into the ring to pick up another mid-ring attack. Battle went up top and Primo flipped over Miz into an electric chair slam.

Both men recovered, then Primo made another comeback. Morrison went the illegal immigrant route on commentary against Carlito, then Miz nailed a front-face slam on Carlito for another two count. They had an exciting roll-up exchange, then another close nearfall for Miz. Miz wanted a run-through-the-turnbuckle corner smash, but Primo moved and nailed the backstabber off the second ropes for the pin and the win. Afterward, Carlito and Primo got the girls while Morrison tried to check on Miz and get an explanation on how he lost.

WINNER: Primo in 11:00. Excellent singles match. Nice to see Primo in a featured match, as he clearly has tremendous upside. Nice use of the outside wrestlers to enhance the match on commentary and allow the two men in the ring to settle an issue. Just all-around good action. (**)

Video package: "12 Rounds" focus in antagonist Miles Jackson. He's going to torment John Cena. Oh no!

Backstage: Great Khali was preparing for the battle royale with Sideburns Singh. Striker translated that Khali definitely wants to see 12 Rounds in two and a half weeks.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Tyson Kidd came out with Natalya. They looked very pink. Very pink. D.J. Gabriel then came out with Alicia Fox to face Kidd one-on-one.

2 -- TYSON KIDD (w/Natalya) vs. D.J. GABRIEL (w/Alicia Fox)

Gabriel just looks too jacked up. He landed a flying elbow smash early on, then whipped Kidd hard across the ring only to accept a drop toehold into the middle turnbuckle. Action moved to the floor where Kidd nailed a kick to the face. Kidd is heel, but Gabriel has no babyface qualities for the crowd to get behind. Gabriel countered a wheelbarrow into an overhead release German Suplex for a two count. Gabriel then scooped up Kidd by his trunks, but Kidd yanked Gabriel back-first across the top rope and nailed the springboard elbow smash for the pin and the win. Striker: Where does Gabriel go from here? Same place as Ricky Ortiz: turn heel or go back to Florida.

WINNER: Kidd in 3:00. Nice win for Kidd, who deserves the push ahead of Gabriel. It was like the turning point for Jack Swagger's career when he was given the victory over Ricky Ortiz when they were arguably at the same level. Kidd and Gabriel were arguably on the same level here, and WWE made the right choice in Kidd over Gabe. (*)

[Commercial Break]

Video package: Evan Bourne flying around the ring. So great. He's coming back next week. Dang, couldn't save the battle royale for next week so he could win and get the final MITB spot?

Raw Rebound: They focused on the Orton-Hunter feud leading to Hunter's home invasion and arrest on last night's Raw.

In-ring: Time for the first-ever tri-branded Money in the Bank qualifying battle royale match. Like Raw is the most-watched first-run entertainment program in the history of basic cable TV on Monday nights in the 9:00 p.m. EST timeslot since the year 1993.

Cryme Tyme, Kozlov, and Christian to a big reaction were the first ones out. See, the reason why he didn't such a great reaction on Raw was because he already came out to the ring on the ECW TV taping before Raw. Law of diminishing return. William Regal with Layla, then Great Khali with Singh before a break.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Tommy Dreamer and some other folks were in the ring during the break. R-Truth then rapped through the crowd to ringside for his entry in the battle royale. He asked Jacksonville what's up, then entered the ring to start things off.

3 -- MITB QUALIFYING MATCH BATTLE ROYALE

Ricky Ortiz was chucked over the top rope by Khali about seven seconds in. So sad. Funaki was out via Kozlov. Khali then dumped out Kozlov. Suddenly, gang-tackle on Khali and everyone eliminated him. Hey, Goldust is in the match. Charlie Haas as Charlie Haas. Other random jobbers. Yang out via Haas and Dolph. Ha, Striker with a WCW reference on Yang. Haas out. Goldust out. Burchill out via Cryme Tyme. Suddenly, JTG eliminated Shad. Oh snap! Break.

[Commercial Break]

Regal, Christian, Dreamer, R-Truth, and Chavo were left in the ring back from break. Regal then nailed a four-way Tower of Doom spot in the corner. They showed us a clip during the break of JTG eliminating Shad, then R-Truth eliminating JTG. Dreamer picked up Regal's dead weight and tried to eliminate him, but Regal held on and Dreamer was yanked to the floor by Regal.

R-Truth vs. Christian once they were down to the final four. TNA! Chavo then dumped out Truth, bringing it to Chavo, Christian, and Regal. Christian held on for dear life as Chavo tried to shove him out, then Regal smashed Christian. Regal screamed, then charged Christian and Christian dumped him out. Down to Christian and Chavo. Christian slid into the ring from the apron, then Chavo did an Eddie chest-shake that drew cheap heat. He executed the Three Amigos suplexes, but Chavo blocked a top rope frog splash. They battled on the apron and Christian teased an elimination to draw screams from the crowd, then he nailed the rebound kick to the face on Chavo to eliminate him and win the battle royale.

WINNER: Christian in 11:00. Fine battle royale. Quick pace and they trimmed the fat (Ricky O.) early on while mixing in some traditional early '90s Raw battle royale spots featuring the big man, Great Khali, playing the role of Mabel. Good victory for Christian to keep him strong. (**)

Post-match: Christian caught his breath stared at the WM sign hanging above the arena, then stood center ring and stared up at the briefcase hanging above the ring. Punk vs. Kane vs. Henry vs. MVP vs. Shelton vs. Kofi vs. Christian for the MITB match. They closed with Christian reflective on the victory.

Final note: Where was ECW champion Jack Swagger?

We welcome your 0-10 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.

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