By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

WWE - ECW on Sci-Fi TV Report
May 5, 2009 - Year 3, Week 48 (Week 152 overall)
Taped in Pitsburgh, Pa.

After the ECW intro video package, Josh Mathews and Matt Striker welcomed us to the show with a plug for ECW champion Christian vs. Mark Henry in a non-title match.

In-ring: Evan Bourne came out first for the opening TV match. Good way to start the show. Mathews let us know we're getting Bourne vs. Tyson Kidd right now. ECW's one dream match should have been well pre-hyped before the show.

1 -- EVAN BOURNE vs. TYSON KIDD (w/Natalya)

Match started with some mat work, then Bourne blocked a whip to the ropes and caught Kidd with a standing dropkick. Kidd then knocked Bourne to the outside and Bourne tried to intimidate Natalya to back up. Back in the ring, Bourne slingshot himself off the apron to the corner, then into a head scissors on Kidd. I can't even describe how innovative that looked. Kidd needed a breather as they cut to break.

[Commercial Break]

They returned from break with Kidd in control. Bourne then hit Kidd with a spin kick to regain control of the match. Bourne missed with a corner attack, then Kidd kicked him hard in the back of the left leg to instantly take control by working the leg. Kidd very aggressive working over Bourne as he went to the mat and screamed at Bourne. Kidd very verbal: "Ask him ref, I'll break his neck!" Bourne tried to fight back with kick strikes, then he landed an innovative leaping knee lift beneath the chin to break free.

[Q2]

Both men recovered, then Bourne kicked Kidd in the chest. He ducked an attempted kick from Kidd before leaping to the second rope for a turnaround back-kick that took Kidd down for a two count. Bourne landed a leaping left arm elbow for another close call. Bourne landed on the apron following an exchange, then Natalya got involved by yanking Bourne down onto the edge of the ring apron. Back in the ring, Kidd wanted a top rope move, but Finlay came down to ringside and scared Natalya into the ring. Ref was distracted, then Finlay smashed Kidd in the leg behind the ref's back with the shillelagh. With Kidd down, Bourne went up top for the Shooting Star Press for the pin and the win.

WINNER: Bourne in 14:00. Flashes of brilliance in this one. We're due a clean match between the two down the road, but a very nice first match between the two. The Kidd-Finlay program will have tremendous long-term benefits for Kidd as he matures on WWE TV just like Swagger went through Finlay to become a star. (**3/4)

Ringside: Mathews and Striker talked about how so many people are talking about how the ECW Title match ended between Christian and Tommy Dreamer when Jack Swagger blind-sided Dreamer. Mathews said Swagger ruined the match.

Backstage: They cut to a shot of Swagger dressed in a suit talking himself up. I bet Swagger shops at Joseph A. Bank. He's going to address the WWE fans next.

[Commercial Break]

Superstars plug: Edge hosts the Cutting Edge with special guest Jeff Hardy.

In-ring: Jack Swagger came to the ring and stared down a few non-appreciative fans ringside. Swagger entered the ring with a change of tune to his cocky smile, then Josh Mathews addressed him. Swagger looks like a giant standing next to Mathews. Nice use of juxtaposition to enhance Swagger, who said he interrupted Christian-Dreamer to get his justice. Swagger didn't appreciate Matthews's line of questioning as he described his three month reign of restoring credibility to the ECW Title. He said Christian came to ECW all-hype and cheated his way to the title. "That's not fair!" Swagger said. Swagger said he gave his first title shot to the washed-up Tommy Dreamer. "Are you kidding me?" he said. He called Dreamer the fat and cholesterol of ECW, not the heart and soul. Swagger said they get to unclog their arteries and get rid of Fatty Dreamer in five weeks.

Tommy Dreamer had enough and stormed the ring unannounced. He chased Dreamer out of the ring and Dreamer flailed around in his suit jacket. Dreamer was not pleased with the words. Swagger wasn't pleased with Dreamer ruining his jacket. Dreamer called for Swagger to get in the ring, but Swagger walked up the entranceramp to stare down Dreamer from afar.

Backstage: ECW GM Tiffany was texting or twittering backstage. Some random dude walked in. Tiffany pronounced him as Zack Ryder. Huh? White "designer" goggles. Purple headband. Lavender dress shirt with like two buttons buttoned. Short hair with plenty of product. Tiffany said she booked him on Superstars for his ECW debut against Finlay. He complained about not wanting his hair to get messed up. Geez.

Kozlov training video package: They showed Kozlov doing all sorts of wild training techniques in a cold, hard-floor gym to prepare for global domination. He did the headbutt-through-a-piece-of-wood trick. "EC-Double-U will be no different," he declared.

[Commercial Break]

[Q3]

In-ring: Kozlov walked out on stage not in a good mood. No Russian military outfit this week. Kozlov stomped into the ring to face his opponent already prepared to be eaten: Jesse Guilmette from Pittsburgh, Pa.

2 -- KOZLOV vs. POOR JESSE

Crowd tried to agitate Kozlov with a "USA" chant, but Kozlov shoved Jesse into the ropes and took him down with a leg sweep. Striker with the 1980s-era commentary that Kozlov is "programmed" for victory. Kozlov with the modified Rock Bottom - the Iron Curtain - for the pin and the win. Post-match: Kozlov slipped to the floor and took the mic. He's annoyed. He said like six words. Kozlov dropped the mic and walked off.

WINNER: Kozlov in 1:30. Your basic squash to reinforce Kozlov's dominance. It's actually kind of interesting and fun when Kozlov takes the mic. You never know what he'll say and that unpredictability makes him more interesting than your average big man of few words. (n/a)

Raw Rebound: WWE forced us to re-visit last night's proceedings with Shane McMahon facing Legacy one-on-three before Randy Orton snapped Shane's leg to close the show.

Backstage: Gregory Helms brought in Mark Henry to discuss the TV main event. Helms asked Henry if he's looking at this match against current ECW champion Christian to re-establish his dominance. Sweat. Henry said he doesn't need to re-establish anything. Sweat. What he wants, he takes. Sweat. Henry said Christian will be his victim tonight. Sweat. Henry and Tony Atlas walked off, then Helms sold fear as Henry walked off.

[Commercial Break]

Smackdown preview: Chris Jericho vs. Jeff Hardy. They're plugging it as Jericho's first match on Smackdown. Um...they also showed video clips of him in the four-way #1 contender match on last week's show. Apparently that wasn't a match. And Shane McMahon is a wrestler. Harumph.

In-ring: ECW champion Christian came to the ring first for the TV main event. Mark Henry then stormed out with Tony Atlas by his side to inevitably cause interference.

[Q4]

3 -- ECW champion CHRISTIAN vs. MARK HENRY (w/Tony Atlas) -- non-title match

Christian knocked the sweat off Henry's brow early on with some palm thrusts, but Henry knocked him down with a boot to the face. Christian came back with his signature pendulum kick out of the corner, then he tried a sunset flip, but Henry blocked. Henry tried to sit down on Christian's face, but Christian moved. Jack Swagger suddenly stormed the ring to attack Christian. Dreamer then made the save and they clotheslined Swagger to the outside. On cue, ECW GM Tiffany came out and said there's been some extra involvement, so let's have a tag match. Both sides talked strategy going to break.

WINNER: Christian via DQ in 2:00. Short, painless, fine set-up for the tag match main event. (n/a)

[Commercial Break]

4 -- ECW champion CHRISTIAN & TOMMY DREAMER vs. JACK SWAGGER & MARK HENRY (w/Tony Atlas)

Action was joined in progress with Christian working on Swagger. Dreamer then tagged in and worked on Swagger while Henry waited for a tag in a reversal of tag team wrestling 101. Swagger accepted a boot to the gut, but he blocked Dreamer and landed a belly-to-belly suplex to finally get Henry in the ring to put the boots to Dreamer. Swagger tagged in and Atlas told Swagger to hold Dreamer down from making that tag. Striker said he's going on record that he wants Swagger to win back the ECW Title at Judgment Day.

On cue, Swagger lost control of the match and Christian tagged in to tee off on Henry, who also tagged in. Striker equated Christian's strikes to Manny Pacquiao, but Christian chopped Henry down with a chopblock and rolling kick for a two count. Henry then clobbered Christian mid-ring and Swagger tagged back in. Swagger landed a running Vader Bomb then he put a knee in Christian's throat to inflict more punishment. Physical confrontation between Christian and Swagger led to Henry tagging in to punish Christian some more.

[Q5 -- over-run]

Well, make sure you note on the DVR for future weeks that ECW is going back to the over-run period they enjoyed during the ECW brand's initial run in the 10:00 p.m. EST timeslot. Henry and Swagger continued to exchange tags to work over Christian before Christian nailed a reverse DDT out of the corner. Swagger cut off Christian's hot tag attempt with a front facelock, but Christian countered into a backbreaker across his knee. Dreamer then reached out for a tag and Dreamer went after Swagger before knocking Henry off the apron.

Dreamer landed a neckbreaker, then he did the full-arm-extension ECW pose. Dreamer with a bulldog out of the corner for a two count, then Dreamer put Swagger up top before hanging him upside down. Henry tried to break it up, but Henry accidentally smashed Swagger in the corner. Christian then dropkicked Henry to the outside and he wanted a splash, but Henry caught him in mid-air. No matter for Dreamer, who nailed a cannonball dive onto Christian's back to knock down Henry. Sweet move. It took too long, though, as Dreamer missed with a corner splash on Swagger, who used the distraction to remove the turnbuckle pad and send Dreamer into the exposed steel. Swagger then scooped up Dreamer and gave him the gutwrench powerbomb for the pin and the win. Swagger posed in the corner to close the show five minutes past the top of the hour.

WINNERS: Swagger & Henry in 10:00. Nice little tag match main event. A bit slow at times, but Swagger kept it interesting weaving in some impressive-looking matholds. Dreamer's cannonball dive onto Henry was unique and fit the storyline well of Swagger having a one-up on Dreamer, and in this case, Christian as well to set up their ECW Title match at the PPV. (**1/4)

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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