By James Caldwell, PWTorch.com assistant editor

WWE - ECW on Sci-Fi TV Report
April 7, 2009 - Year 3, Week 44 (Week 148 overall)
Taped in Austin, Tex.

The show opened with Todd Grisham replaced by Josh Mathews at the broadcast position. Matt Striker is still on color. Change #1. ECW GM Teddy Long was in the ring to start the show and he announced some big changes on the road to WrestleMania 26. Long said Vickie Guerrero is the new GM of Raw and he is now the new GM of Smackdown. He then announced the new interim GM of ECW, his former assistant, Tiffany.

Tiffany came out, but ECW champion Jack Swagger interrupted. Looking sharp in a pin-stripe suit with the ECW Title belt over his shoulder. Swagger said Tiffany needs to learn some rules on ECW: there's one set for him and on set for everyone else. Tiffany sarcastically thanked him for the advice, but her only rule is giving the WWE fans what they want. She said she has some things to talk about.

Tiffany said Swagger could be off the ECW brand after the Draft next week, but regardless of that, she is booking Mark Henry, Finlay, Tommy Dreamer, and Christian in a Chase to the ECW Title. Winner gets Swagger for the belt at Backlash. And it starts tonight with a four-way match. Swagger thought it over, then smiled. Very news-worthy opening segment on ECW for once.

[Commercial Break]

"12 Rounds" video: They showed the package from Raw of Cena criss-crossing the U.S. to promote the movie.

In-ring: Miz & Morrison and Tyson Kidd were in the ring for the opening six-man tag match. Evan Bourne came out, then the new Unified tag champs Carlito & Primo.

[Q2]

1 -- THE MIZ & JOHN MORRISON & TYSON KIDD (w/Natalya) vs. EVAN BOURNE & Unified tag team champions PRIMO & CARLITO COLON

Miz took a beating early on, so he tagged out to Kidd, who took out Carlito at the knees. Carlito was isolated in the corner, then he tagged out to Evan Bourne, who came in hot on Morrison. Bourne kicked Morrison in the chest, then ran up on his shoulders to flip him over the top rope to the floor with a nice huracanrana. Bourne escaped Double Trouble on the floor and slipped back into the ring to stand tall going into break.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, heels were working on Bourne as Mathews & Striker talked about the Draft next Monday. Mathews sounded great on commentary during the Velocity era, but he just sounds a little off his first night back on national TV. Grisham and Striker were just so awesome together on ECW. Match really slowed down as Bourne was isolated to build up to a hot tag to Primo. Kidd also tagged in for the heels and Primo snapped off a round of aerial offense that has made him a stand-out star in recent months. Action broke down and Miz was tossed to the floor. Carlito was tossed out too. Primo then flung Morrison to the outside, leaving himself and Kidd, who missed a top rope splash. Primo then grappled Kidd from behind and nailed the backstabber. Primo hot-tagged to Bourne and he nailed the Shooting Star Press for the pin and the win.

WINNERS: Bourne & Primo & Carlito in 15:00. Solid ECW TV match. Great flurry at the end after a weak mid-portion when Bourne was isolated forever. Bourne's SSP still looks awesome every time he hits it. I'm waiting for Primo's break-out spring 2009. It's time. (**1/2)

[Q3]

Raw Rebound: They went back to Raw for a recap of the McMahon Family Hour and Batista's return on Raw last night.

[Commercial Break]

Announcers: Mathews welcomed us to the University of Texas in Austin, then went to a Hall of Fame video package featuring plenty of Texans. ... Announcers: Striker and Mathews debated Mathews's attire. They went to the Houston Chronicle cover page from Monday with Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker on the cover. Striker said many are calling it the greatest WrestleMania match ever. Cue up the epic WrestleMania 25 post-PPV video package.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: They quickly went through the main event ring introductions for the fatal four-way #1 contender match. Mark Henry came out first, followed by Finlay, then Tommy Dreamer. Christian was given the final ring intro and people started screaming. He had a major-league shiner over his left eye. Looked nasty as heck. Goodness. Striker said he had seven stitches in the corner of his eye.

[Q4]

2 -- CHRISTIAN vs. TOMMY DREAMER vs. FINLAY (w/Hornswoggle) vs. MARK HENRY (w/Tony Atlas)

Dreamer should be on the advantage since he's the only one who wasn't in MITB on Sunday. They quickly jumped into the match with Christian against Dreamer and Henry against Finlay. They quickly went to a break. Apparently they're in a hurry for the main event tonight.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, three men executed a suplex on big Mark Henry before shoving him into the ring steps ringside. Apparently they don't want to deal with him until it's absolutely imperative. Striker took us back to last year's Elimination Chase to the ECW Title in the third-person when Tommy Dreamer won the deal before his mammoth man took the spot from Dreamer. Striker was referring to Big Daddy V when he managed him. Mathews and Striker got into their first tiff as the pace picked up in the ring. Hornswoggle then ran interference to help Finlay use a shillelagh against Henry and cover him for the first elimination. Wait, that's it.

WINNER: Finlay in 10:00, Henry eliminated. That was an anti-climatic finish. So, apparently, it's a triple threat match next week and they eliminate another person next week before determining the #1 contender on the final ECW before Backlash. Match was okay, but it wasn't detailed very well to set up the wrong expectations. Mathews and Striker had very little chemistry, by the way. Hard to put together a great combo with no experience working together, but it didn't work tonight. (*1/2)

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