By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

WWE - ECW on Sci-Fi TV Report
June 23, 2009 - Year 4, Week 3 (Week 159 overall)
Milwaukee, Wis.

The WWE show opened with Josh Mathews and Matt Striker talking about the ECW Title being defended at The Bash in a five-way Scramble match. Tonight to preview, it's ECW champ Tommy Dreamer and Christian vs. Mark Henry and Jack Swagger.

In-ring: Evan Bourne came out to start the show. Still has the ribs taped up. They rolled footage of Mark Henry squashing Bourne last week as Striker suggested Bourne was all guts, no brain trying to fight Henry. Bourne simply shook his head having to re-live the match. Tyson Kidd then came out with the Hart Dynasty to face Bourne.

1 -- EVAN BOURNE vs. TYSON KIDD (w/David Hart Smith and Natalya)

A minute into the match, referee reprimanded Smith and Natalya for giving the appearance they were going to try to get involved in the action. He then ejected them from ringside to get a reaction out of the crowd. After the heels argued the call, Bourne took Kidd to the floor and hit a dive. Vocal "E-C-Dub" chant from the ringside fans. Don't hear that very often anymore. Back in the ring, Kidd landed a kick to the taped ribs to begin working over Bourne on the mat. Pace quickened as Bourne came back with a running head scissors for a two count. Bourne landed a roundhouse kick to the gut, then he quickly went up top to hit the Shooting Star Press for the pin and the win.

WINNER: Bourne in 5:00. Match left a lot to be desired giving them only five minutes. Seemed like there was about ten more minutes left in both men to put together a stand-out TV match. Kidd didn't benefit from this match, as he wasn't given much time for an offensive display before taking a clean loss. (*1/2)

Announcers: Striker and Mathews debated the merits of Finlay's return where he's supposedly taking cheap shots at folks. Cue up footage from last week when Finlay ran off the Hart Dynasty before blasting Christian with a shillelagh shot. Then, Tommy Dreamer accepted a similar fate. ... They cut backstage to show Finlay walking down the hallway dressed to wrestle. He's apparently going to explain himself next. Commercial break?!?!?!

[Commercial Break. First commercial was for KFC. Goodness, they're reaching the target demo the past two days.]

[Q2]

In-ring: Finlay came to the ring for a singles match. Finlay took the mic first, though. He has to explain a few things. "What's your problem, man?" Finlay said things seem to be quickly forgotten around here. He said he broke up a fight between Christian and Dreamer a few weeks ago, causing him an eye injury. Finlay said the only thing he got was a text from them. No one checked on him, leaving him to wonder how he's going to provide for his family by sitting at home. Finlay said what he did last week was an eye for an eye. This Sunday at The Bash... Zack Ryder's music interrupted. Ryder told Finlay to listen up, bro. He said Finlay need not overlook his match tonight against the Woo Woo Woo man. Match is next. (Based on the library-like crowd reaction, I think two percent of the audience had a clue as to what Finlay was talking about.)

[Commercial Break]

2 -- FINLAY vs. ZACK RYDER

Match was joined in progress with Ryder begging off from Finlay. Ryder then picked up a bit of offense working on Finlay's mid-section before both men butted heads mid-ring. Ryder capitalized with a boot to the head before driving a boot to Finlay's throat. Ryder then settled into a headlock trying to ground Finlay into the mat. Finlay was bruised up over the right eye at this point and Ryder continued his attack on the injured area. Ryder tried another knee to the eye, but Finlay blocked and started his comeback. He landed the Rolling Hills drop out of the fireman's carry position before giving Ryder a back body drop. Ryder then slipped him throat-first across the middle rope. Ref checked on Finlay, who sold the eye injury. Ryder tried to remove the top turnbuckle in the process, but ref reprimanded him. Finlay then rolled up Ryder and the ref came back around to count a three count for Finlay. Post-match: Ryder grabbed his Woo Woo Woo hair in disgust after being one-upped by one-eyed Finlay, who was sporting heavy swelling over his eye.

WINNER: Finlay in 7:00. Good singles match. This was a good step for Ryder working with Finlay, who works well in his role of enhancing younger talent as the mid-card measuring stick. Ryder continues to look more and more credible as a heel after having a few matches recently to get in his offense and show he can hang in the ring. (*3/4)

[Q3]

[Commercial Break]

Raw Rebound: They focused on the Randy Orton vs. Triple H Last Man Standing match from last night's show. After 20 minutes, neither one was standing. After giving us a second (unnecessary) look at the McMahon-Trump exchange, they showed McMahon booking a Two-out-of-Three Falls "Three Stages of Hell" match at The Bash on Sunday for the WWE Title. And, finally, Triple H jumping Orton in the parking lot and smashing him into the trunk of a car. "You think it was going to be over? It's not over by a long shot."

Announcers: Mathews and Striker broke down The Bash PPV card for Sunday. ... In-ring: Striker stood in the ring in front of the chalkboard for a Class session. He broke down the ECW Title scramble match on Sunday by going over the rules. Someone has some excellent hand-writing. Just excellent. Striker then sent it to Gregory Helms on the video screen.

Backstage: Helms bought in Mark Henry and Tony Atlas for an interview. Suddenly, there was a loud crash off camera. A trunk apparently fell down and crashed onto a stagehand. Suddenly, The Hurricane appeared on the scene to push the trunk off the guy to save his life. Suddenly, Gregory Helms was back at the interview set with a question for Henry. Henry gave up on trying to figure it out. Cut to break. HurriHelms is back.

[Commercial Break]

[Q4]

DVD promo: John Cena's "12 Rounds" comes out next Tuesday. DVD includes two alternate endings. Insert joke on getting a Trump Refund for the first ending.

In-ring: Jack Swagger came to the ring first for the TV main event. Swagger dropped down and executed some push-ups on the way to the ring. Mark Henry then walked out with Tony Atlas to form a rather large tag team. Striker and Mathews engaged in a debate trying to explain HurriHelms, but they agreed to not figure it out. ECW champion Tommy Dreamer came out followed by Christian to form the babyface tandem.

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

Dreamer took an early beating from Swagger and Henry. Striker made a Notorious B.I.G. reference and Mathews shot back that he was popular in the late '90s, suggesting Striker needs updated material. Christian then tagged in and dumped Swagger to the floor. Christian landed a splash on the floor for another "E-C-Dub" chant from the ringside fans. Cut to break with Christian in control.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Christian and Swagger were battling, then Dreamer tagged in and hung Swagger upside down in the corner. Dreamer wanted an E-C-W basement dropkick and he connected. Henry then jumped Dreamer from behind with the ref occupied with Christian, allowing Swagger to take control. Swags and Henry then exchanged tags wearing down Dreamer.

[Q5 -- over-run]

Match continued with Henry brick-walling Dreamer, then Dreamer broke free on Swagger to tag in Christian. Henry also tagged in and Christian tried to knock him off his feet. It took a missile dropkick to get Henry on the mat for a two count. Christian then tried a sunset flip, but Swagger blind-tagged in for Henry. Swagger tried a gutwrench on Christian, but Christian countered with a roll-up for a two count. Christian then hit the Killswitch on Swagger, but Atlas put Swagger's foot under the bottom rope to prevent a three count. Dreamer took out Atlas on the floor, but Henry squashed Christian into the ringpost. Henry rolled Christian back into the ring and Swagger hit the gutwrench powerbomb on Christian for the pin and the win.

Post-match: Swagger flashed a grin to the hard camera with blood coming off his lip. In the background, Henry gave Dreamer a World's Strongest Slam. He then grabbed Swagger and gave him a World's Strongest Slam for good measure. Don't ever blind tag into a match! Henry walked off in full control going into Sunday for the ECW Title.

WINNERS: Swagger & Henry in 13:00. Fine main event to set up the ECW Title match on Sunday. Predictable set-up with Henry in control to make it seem like Dreamer's in jeopardy of losing the title on Sunday. Swagger continues to look impressive as usual each week. Christian continues to be a top babyface on ECW, but not in a position to be a star on the show. (**)

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