By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

WWE - ECW on SyFy TV Report
July 28, 2009 - Year 4, Week 8 (Week 164 overall)
Taped in Baltimore, Md.

After they recapped Christian's ECW Title victory over Tommy Dreamer at WWE Night of Champions on Sunday, they went to the ring for the first match. Paul Burchill looking for his first win in forever and Tyler Reks looking for a second straight win.

1 -- TYLER REKS vs. PAUL BURCHILL (w/Katie Lea)

Reks was in control early, but Burchill grabbed control and took the offensive working a typical Burchill match. Power offense. Power holds. Strikes. Blows. Aggressive look on his face. Reks made a comeback, then avoided a corner smash on the ring apron and sent Burchill back into the middle of the ring a bit dazed. Reks then came off the apron with a springboard missile dropkick on Burchill. Reks with the pin for the win.

WINNER: Reks in 5:00. Standard TV match. Burchill continues to lose matches. Reks on the rise. (*)

Later tonight: ECW champion Christian vs. Zack Ryder. Appears to be non-title and all sweet.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Kozlov came to the ring in his Sambo outfit ready for a quick squash. Already in the ring was Bill Baine. Yeah, let's go BB.

2 -- VLADIMIR KOZLOV vs. BILL BAINE

Matt Striker let us know that Baine is a minor league ballplayer. Cue up an old-school Orioles reference from Striker to see if he has any Eddie Murray in him tonight. Bell sounded and Kozlov kicked him in the gut. Baine didn't see it coming, then Kozlov pounded him in the gut with jabs and kicks. He finally finished him off with the Iron Curtain for the easy win.

Post-match: Ezekiel Jackson's music hit and Zeke came out ready to dominate. He wanted a piece of the dead meat too. Kozlov stared him down for meddling in his business. Zeke then picked up the left-over scraps and nailed a lift-up Rock Bottom. Ezekiel then left the ring after giving Kozlov a receipt from last week when Kozlov pulled the same trick.

WINNER: Kozlov in 1:00. Week 2 of the program continues. We'll see where this leads. Frustrating trying to analyze these first two matches because they just seem like filler without anything on the line. WWE doesn't establish a "quest for a title" or a money purse or attach any sense of value to these matches, so they're just there. (n/a)

[Q2]

Backstage: GM Tiffany talked to Tommy Dreamer, who thanked Tiffany for her support the last few months. There was some mysterious announcement/discussion before the "camera cut in." Dreamer walked off. Shelton Benjamin then came in and asked her if she got the email about being on the Abraham Washington show. Tiffany had some concerns that maybe Shelton isn't entertaining enough. Apparently Shelton offending the Japanese culture a few weeks ago wasn't entertaining. Gregory Helms then barged in. Shelton told him to hold on. He played up Helms's dual personalities and suggested he'll give Tiffany something entertaining. He walked off in a huff, leaving Helms in the office.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Sheamus came to the ring for a singles match. His opponent's music hit and I thought it was Chris Masters for a second. Nope, just Goldust. Sheamus vs. Goldust could be intriguing.

3 -- SHEAMUS vs. GOLDUST

Sheamus wanted to slow things down early on. He put Goldust on the mat and landed three consecutive elbow smashes for a two count. Goldust made a comeback and wanted the Curtain Call, but Sheamus shoved him away and nailed a kick to the face. Sheamus followed with a Rock Bottom backbreaker across his knee for the pin and the win.

WINNER: Sheamus in 5:00. Another basic TV match to establish new talent. Just not much to analyze here. All of the little things that go into building a house are important, but aren't that sexy; people just want to see the finished house product. (*)

Backstage: They showed the new ECW champ Christian walking down the hallway. We'll hear from him next.

[Q3]

[Commercial Break]

Raw Rebound: They showed footage of Shaq on Raw last night with clips of the mainstream coverage from ESPN. Well, the positive aspects of ESPN's coverage.

In-ring: New ECW champ Christian came to the ring with possession of the title belt. Christian, now the two-time champ, saluted the crowd and paraded the belt around before taking the mic. Christian said you always remember your first time, but the second time feels a little bit more sweeter. He said losing the ECW Title a couple of months ago was a good thing because it made him realize how much he cherished this title belt. Christian said he can't forget about the man who held the title before him, Tommy Dreamer. Surprisingly mixed crowd reaction. Christian said he had some fun making light of Dreamer's body and how he gets emotional...

Dreamer's music interrupted and he came to the ring looking sharp. "E-C-W" chant after his music stopped. Dreamer not amused by Christian talking about him. He said he's out here for a few reasons. First, that was one heck of a match (at Night of Champions) and congrats on being the new champ. Second, he just spoke to Tiffany and she's giving him his re-match next week. By the way, that re-match will be Extreme Rules. Zack Ryder's music then interrupted. Sweet. He came out and cut his music off. He told Christian to stop thinking about next week because he's going to beat him this week. Woo. Woo. Woo. You know it. Dreamer smirked at Ryder then shook Christian's hand to wish him luck. Main event next.

[Q4]

[Commercial Break]

4 -- ECW champion CHRISTIAN vs. ZACK RYDER -- non-title match

The match was joined in progress with Ryder on the defensive against an aggressive Christian. Very even match-up to start before Christian wore down Ryder with a series of armbars. Christian sent Ryder to the middle rope, then stood on his back. He followed with a hard running clothesline in the corner to continue being the aggressor. Christian tried to run Ryder into the opposite corner, but Ryder reversed and whipped Christian into the turnbuckle. "C'mon, bro, you ain't nothing," Ryder shouted. Christian took umbrage and came back with a springboard sunset flip out of the corner for a two count. Ryder and Christian battled to the apron, then to the floor with Christian winning the mini-battle with a plancha. Both men recovered on the outside going to break.

[Commercial Break]

Right back from break, Ryder shoved Christian off the top turnbuckle to the floor. Ryder tried to get a count-out, but Christian made it back into the ring. Ryder went to work on Christian's gut with mat holds including a body scissors. The action moved up top where Ryder nailed a nice superplex. Move took the steam out of both men, then Ryder made a cover after a delay for a two count.

[Q5 -- over-run]

Ryder went back to work on the mid-section at the top of the hour. Ryder wanted another superplex, but Christian shoved him to the mat and landed a cross-body block for a nearfall. Striker put over Ryder for proving he's in Christian's league thus far as they reached crunch time of the match. Christian landed a flying forearm before hitting a fallaway reverse DDT for a two count. Christian followed with a dropkick from the second rope, then the top rope. Both men winded as Ryder blocked a corner DDT and dropped Christian across the top rope. Ryder followed with a leg whip for another close call. Striker said he's rooting for Zack Ryder. Christian then scored with a Tornado DDT after a second try and scored another two count.

At 15:00, Ryder blocked a corner charge, then wanted the Zack Attack, but Christian blocked and hit the pendulum kick. Christian followed with a D.J. Gabriel European Uppercut from the second rope. He then dropped Ryder with the Killswitch and made the cover for the win. Post-match: Striker continued to put over Ryder for putting up a good fight against the ECW champion. They showed high points of the match, then cut to a shot of Christian celebrating with the ECW Title belt to close the show.

WINNER: Christian in 16:00. Really nice singles match. The slow, methodical pace didn't take away from the match, but rather allowed the key elements of the match to stand out including Ryder standing tall throughout, taking Christian's offense, dishing out his own offense, and Striker putting over Ryder lasting a while against the champ. Ryder needs to be in that main event picture. I don't think he lost much from taking a clean loss, but rather benefited from being in this position with so much time invested in his character tonight. (**1/2)

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