ECW on Sci-Fi TV report
August 25, 2009
Report by Dominick Mayer, PWTorch specialist

Title sequence.

Josh Matthews welcomes us to the arena and talks about Summerslam.

Right away, William Regal is on his way out to the ring, flanked by Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson. Crowd gets on Regal loudly the minute his music stops. Regal says they're looking at the reason that ECW will never be the same again. He talks about how the crowd expected Kozlov and Jackson to collide, which apparently is enough to make the crowd chant "you suck!" Regal informs the crowd that the crowd lacks the intelligence or the influence to bring two men like them together. He then turns to Christian, saying that the clock on Christian's title reign is about to hit zero.

Before he can say any more, Christian comes, but stays on the ramp, title belt over his shoulder. Christian says that for all the evil genius talk, he already beat Regal in a title match. In fact, it was a record-breaking eight-second match. Regal says he wasn't ready. Regal keeps trying to talk, but Christian just keeps saying "eight seconds, to which Regal continually responds with "no, no, no." Regal demands a rematch, or else "we" will take care of it. Christian calls him Bill, at which point Regal gets upset and the crowd starts chanting "Bill!" Good crowd tonight. Christian wants to move on to other challengers he hasn't beaten in eight seconds.

Tiffany comes out and says that Christian did take advantage of Regal, but Regal has to earn a second shot. Tonight, it's Regal vs. Christian again. Regal has to earn his title shot. Christian and Regal stare each other down to end the segment. Good segment. I know ECW usually doesn't have enough time to spare to have lengthy talking segments, but I'm a fan of one like this from time to time, because especially after the kiddie table treatment the brand got at Summerslam, things like this give the title feud a sense of major importance. It also makes the show as a whole feel more marquee.

Next: The continuation of the Sheamus-Goldust feud. They even put together a nice video package for it. Now THAT is how you sell an undercard feud.

[Commercial Break]

In the arena, Sheamus is on his way to the ring for action. His walk to the ring gets more swagger every week.

1 -- SHEAMUS vs. GOLDUST

A lot of grappling early on. Sheamus chops Goldust in the corner, but Goldust comes back with a Thesz press and some punches. Goldust headlocks Sheamus, but Sheamus counters with a belly-to-back suplex. Sheamus brings Goldust down with a headlock, and the crowd gets solidly behind Goldust. Sheamus punches Goldust in the lower back to bring him down again. Short two count for Sheamus. Sheamus applies a modified abdominal stretch that also looks like a surfboard on Goldust. Goldust finally comes back with an atomic drop and a clothesline. He drops down and punches Sheamus, and then gets a powerslam for two. Goldust gets a bulldog, and then hits a flatliner on Sheamus for a nearfall. Sheamus rolls to the outside, and when Goldust comes after him he pulls him to the floor. Sheamus begins working on Goldust, and then tries to walk away, but Goldust corners him, only to get whipped hard into the barricade. Goldust comes back and whips Sheamus into the ring steps, at which point the referee's count hits ten and both men are counted out.

WINNER: Double count-out in 5:00. Really good match while it lasted. Sheamus looks fundamentally sound, and Goldust hasn't showed this much fire in a match in quite some time. This made me think of the editorial posted here on the Torch earlier talking about earning roster spots. Goldust is taking a lower-card feud on the C-level show and using it to raise his profile without a whole lot of screen time. At the very least, I'm looking forward to seeing how these two progress next week.

Tonight: Christian vs. Regal.

[Commercial Break]

Backstage, Shelton Benjamin is hanging out with the Bella Twins in the ECW jobber shirt. He does a little bit of a Louie Armstrong impression, which is actually quite good. Then, Zach Ryder shows up to mess with Shelton. Shelton sends the Bellas away and gets in Ryder's face, but just when things start to get heated, Tiffany shows up to inform Ryder that he has a tag match tonight against Tyler Reks and Yoshi Tatsu. His partner? Shelton Benjamin.

Ringside: Striker and Matthews flash back to the Hurricane-Burchill match from last week. Their feud will continue this Thursday, on WWE Superstars. First time in a while I've seen any of the shows plug a match on Superstars.

Backstage: Courtney Taylor is standing with Paul Burchill and Katie Lea. Still don't like her eye makeup. Burchill shows up in a leather trenchcoat. Burchill picks on Courtney and then Katie hits on her a little bit. Burchill tells her not to insult his intelligence by calling him the Hurricane, because he's Gregory Helms. After Thursday, he won't be saving anybody, especially himself. Strong short promo.

Elsewhere backstage: Regal is discussing tonight's match with Kozlov and Jackson.

[Commercial Break] I'd just like to note that Sci-Fi is airing "Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus." As bad movies go, it's one of the greatest I've ever seen. If you're partial to that sort of thing, I highly recommend it.

In the arena, Shelton Benjamin is the first man out for tag team action. Crowd still doesn't know whether to cheer for him. Ryder out next. His tights still throw me off. Yoshi Tatsu and Tyler Reks come out with Yoshi's music. Good move. They do an inset promo with Tyler talking about how they're united, and Yoshi says something in Japanese and does the "hang loose" gesture.

2 -- SHELTON BENJAMIN & ZACK RYDER vs. YOSHI TATSU & TYLER REKS

Reks and Shelton start things off. Shelton does some chain wrestling, and then Reks sunset flips him off the ropes. They do a back-and-forth pin exchange, which ends in Shelton catapulting Reks into the corner, only to take a cross body block off the second. Shelton drags Reks over for a tag, but Ryder is adjusting his boot and doing the "Woo Woo Woo," so Shelton gets rolled up. Shelton takes a couple dropkicks, but gets a big Samoan drop. Ryder then tags himself in and beats Reks' head into the mat. Shelton doesn't look pleased. Ryder with a chinlock and some ridiculous facial expressions. Reks powers out, and both men go for a cross body block at the same time and collide. Ryder tags out to Shelton, who grabs Reks before he can make the hot tag, but Reks jaw-jacks Shelton to tag in Tatsu. Yoshi gets a running double knee in the corner and his somersault kick, but when he goes up top Shelton throws him to the mat. Ryder starts yelling "Get him!" at Shelton in the corner, who doesn't look like he's taking the order. He grabs Ryder and throws him into the ring, which works for a tag. Ryder throws Tatsu into Shelton, who rolls out of the ring. Ryder goes for the Zack Attack, but Yoshi breaks free and gets his roundhouse kick to finish off Ryder for the win.

WINNERS: Tatsu & Reks in 5:00. Good tag team match following the general WWE formula. Reks has a good look, but still hasn't been developed, so the reaction for the hot tag was underwhelming. The right team won to keep the momentum spread even. Also, Ryder has his character down to perfection. Still don't know when Shelton shifted over to being a face-leaning tweener, but I'll go with it.

Post-match: Shelton rolls back into the ring. Ryder gives him a "what gives?" gesture, and Shelton responds with the Pay Dirt, leaving Ryder out in the ring.

Main event is up next.

[Commercial Break]

The fan day before Summerslam video that ran on Raw last night plays again. I always like seeing these, because it tends to remind writers like myself, whose M.O. it is to pick apart the good and bad product, that WWE still has its moments of major contribution outside of the product itself.

In-ring: Regal is out with his guards for the main event match. Christian is out next to a nice reaction.

3 -- ECW CHAMPION CHRISTIAN vs. WILLIAM REGAL (w/Vladimir Kozlov & Ezekiel Jackson)

Christian goes for the Killswitch right out of the initial lockup, which stops Regal in his tracks for a second. They exchange headlocks and counters, until Regal rolls Christian up for a short count. This is being paced long. Christian bumps into Regal off the ropes, who hilariously no-sells, but Christian takes him down to the floor. Christian goes for a baseball slide, but Kozlov and Jackson pull Regal to safety. Christian then looks for a plancha, but he stops himself at the ropes as Regal simply puts his hands on the shoulders of his henchmen. Christian stares down the goons going into the commercial.

[Commercial Break]

During the commercial, Christian got flung to the floor. Presently, he takes an exploder suplex from Regal. Christian springboards out of the corner for a sunset flip and a nearfall, so Regal rolls outside to rest. Regal then armdrags Christian off the apron onto the floor. Regal stands in the ring waiting for Christian to be counted out, and he barely makes it in at 9, at which point Regal immediately gets right back on him. Regal unloads with the left hands and gets a two count. Christian fights his way out of the corner, but Regal stops the comeback with more left hands. Regal kneels on Christian's shoulders for a two count. Christian kicks Regal in the jaw and gets a weak backslide for a two count. Regal with a modified armbar. Regal corners Christian, but Christian gets free long enough to hit a big cross body block off the top rope.

They fight back and forth with punches, but Christian takes over and gets a back body drop. Christian with a big second rope dropkick, and then he's up top for another. Close two count on Regal. Christian slams Regal's head onto the turnbuckle and gets a tornado DDT. He's slow to pin, though, and Regal kicks out after two. Regal gets a big left hand for a two of his own. They make their way outside, and Christian throws Regal into the ring, but first stops to smack Kozlov across the face. Christian goes for the Killswitch, but Regal shoves Christian into the ropes, where Kozlov is waiting to throw a shoulder into Christian while Jackson distracts the ref. Regal gets his big knee, which Striker calls the Knee Trembler, for the pin and the win.

WINNER: Regal in 15:00. A really good match, and smart booking all around. The interference for once made sense, because it only happened when it mattered, and it happened fast enough that the ref could reasonably have been distracted for that time. Both looked strong, but Regal was proven to be smarter. Going forward, the story can be Christian being a little too brash and Regal taking advantage.

Post-match: The heels stand tall over Christian for the second week in a row.

We suggest these recent related articles...

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 10/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Roman Reigns & Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman

METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 10/4 & 10/7: IWGP World champ Okada vs. Roderick Strong main event, plus Briscoes vs. Time Splitters, more from "Field of Honor," Overall Reax

MCMAHON'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 10/7: TNA Title Series kicks off, Bound for Glory fall-out, more; Overall Reax