WWE - ECW on SyFy TV Report
September 8, 2009 - Year 4, Week 14 (Week 170 overall)
Taped in Rockford, Ill.
By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

The WWE show started with ECW announcers Josh Mathews and Matt Striker plugging the "revolutionary concept" event known as Breaking Point. Striker plugged Christian & Dreamer vs. Ezekiel Jackson & Kozlov for tonight.

In-ring: They played the video intro for The Hurricane, who came out to the ring. They change the HD name intro from "Hurricane Helms" to simply "Hurricane" after we pointed out the error after last week's show since they want to keep Gregory Helms separate from the Cane. Paul Burchill and Katie Lea then came out for Burchill to face Hurricane. Burchill even has improved his heel walk to the ring. More of a "controlled" walk. Burchill continues to improve the little things.

1 -- PAUL BURCHILL (w/Katie Lea) vs. THE HURRICANE

Hurricane landed an early European Uppercut as Striker debated whether Hurricane is or is not Gregory Helms to enhance the mystique of the character. He suggested Hurricane could have a twin named Sydney Helms. Yeah, that's it. Hurricane applied an abdominal stretch into an octopus stretch that Burchill escaped before nailing a clothesline to begin an offensive attack. Hurricane was in jeopardy near the ropes at 4:00, prompting some kids to scream. Definitely a good sign for the character that the kids are buying into him being in jeopardy. Action moved to the floor and Burchill dropped Hurricane hard onto the mat. Both men down, ref counting, let's grab a break.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Burchill was in control, but he missed with a running shoulder tackle in the corner. Hurricane then went up top and nailed a high cross-body block, but Burchill escaped a pin attempt. Action moved up top again where Burchill elbowed Hurricane into position for a top rope powerslam. Striker referenced Bam Bam Bigelow with the Bam Bam Slam. Nice reference. Great spot. Hurricane kicked out at two, though. Hurricane then blocked another corner charge and nailed a Hurricane-rana for a two count. Burchill sold it well. Katie then became involved, but Hurricane made it back-fire by ramming Burchill into Katie to bump her off the apron. Hurricane then followed up with the Eye of the Hurricane for the pin and the win to the delight of the audience.

WINNER: Hurricane in 12:00. Another very nice TV match. ECW is really letting their mid-card wrestlers do their thing in the ring. It's very refreshing when the Raw brand doesn't even have a mid-card. One of Burchill's best performances I've seen in his WWE career. Helms looks good since making another return from injury. (**1/2)

[Q2]

Announcers: Mathews and Striker talked about the ECW Title picture becoming more and more clear going to Breaking Point. Um...there isn't a title match right now. They rolled footage from last week when Christian & Dreamer & Kendo Sticks cleared out William Regal, Kozlov, and Jackson.

Backstage: Our new ECW broadcast announcer from FCW Angela Fong brought in ECW champ Christian and Tommy Dreamer for an interview to hype the TV main event tonight. Christian said he's not going to let Bill Regal and his two life partners take over. Christian channeling Triple H apparently. Christian said they're taking the fight to Kozlov and Jackson tonight.

Raw next week: Batista making a career-altering announcement.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Shelton Benjamin came to the ring for a tag match. The top mid-card heel Sheamus then came out...as his tag partner. ECW has apparently turned Shelton's heel/face/heel/face turn a weekly running gag. Place Your Bets - is Shelton heel or face this week? Yoshi Tatsu then came out first for the babyface team. Goldust was his tag partner to continue the Sheamus vs. Goldust issue.

2 -- GOLDUST & YOSHI TATSU vs. SHEAMUS & SHELTON BENJAMIN

Shelton and Goldust started things off, then Sheamus came in and picked up his feud against Goldust. Announcers loosely talked about the main event of Sheamus vs. Goldust last week, which needed more emphasis than just mid-match chatter after they delivered a special match. Shelton and Yoshi battled, then Yoshi crawled to Goldust in the corner for a tag, but Shelton ran around the ring and yanked Goldust down to the floor. Sheamus and Shelton then resumed their attack on Yoshi. Yoshi suddenly blasted Sheamus with a kick strike and Goldust came in to work on Sheamus with a flurry of offense. Sheamus let Goldust wear himself out, then Sheamus blasted him in the corner with a kick to the face. Shelton blind-tagged himself into the match, then made the cover for the win.

Post-match: Sheamus was not happy with Shelton stealing his victory, so he punched him in the face. Crowd popped, not sure how to react to heel/face Shelton getting blasted. Suddenly, a fight broke out between Shelton and Sheamus. Refs spilled out to the arena to break up a fight. "Let them fight" was the chant from fans ringside. Oh, they got the money chant from Lashley vs. Finlay. Suddenly, Shelton jumped over referees and attacked Sheamus one more time.

WINNERS: Shelton & Sheamus in 5:00. Apparently this was the transition from Sheamus to Goldust to Sheamus vs. Shelton. Perhaps we'll finally get a clear character definition for Shelton as a babyface opposing the strong heel Sheamus. Match was just there to transition to the post-match brawl. (*)

[Q3]

Main event plug: Christian & Dreamer vs. Kozlov & Jackson. Josh Mathews randomly announced Christian vs. Regal for the ECW Title on Sunday. Did I miss something? They obviously don't expect the match to sell any additional buys with the flippant announcement.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Zack Ryder came to the ring for a singles match-up. Already in the ring was Rory Fargo. He missed his camera cue. Looked like a young Greg the Hammer Valentine with the stringy blonde hair.

3 -- ZACK RYDER vs. RORY FARGO

Ryder took control early on and trash-talked to his "bro" Rory. Ryder then slingshot Rory into the second turnbuckle throat-first. Ryder followed with the Zack Attack for the pin and the win. Woo woo woo.

WINNER: Ryder in 2:00. Nice use of the squash match formula to enhance Ryder. He just needed to get his hand raised on ECW TV after a series of losses. (n/a)

Announcers: Striker said Ryder has reached his boiling point. Mathews transitioned into talking about...Breaking Point. Striker just shrugged his eyebrows to acknowledge the cheesy segue. Announcers broke down the PPV line-up.

Backstage: ECW GM Tiffany told Tyler Reks that he's a success. Just keep telling yourself you are, Reks. William Regal then led Kozlov and Jackson into Tiffany's office. Reks took his cue and left. Regal then asked Tiffany how she can allow Christian and Dreamer to attack these two gentlemen. Tiffany said Kozlov and Jackson did the same thing weeks before. What's fair is fair. Regal paused, then said they are both desperate men who will have their heads bashed in by Jackson and Kozlov tonight. Regal vowed to become new ECW champion on Sunday.

[Commercial Break]

[Q4]

In-ring: William Regal slowly made his way to the ring with Kozlov and Jackson for the main event. Tommy Dreamer then came out and Regal started laughing hysterically to himself at the mere sight of ECW Original Dreamer. Christian then came out with the ECW Title belt around his waist. Notice the camera angles are different to enhance Christian vs. make Dreamer seem ordinary. Perhaps it's good for promoting Christian vs. Regal at the PPV. Christian with a certain aura to him tonight. A superstar look if you will.

4 -- ECW champ CHRISTIAN & TOMMY DREAMER vs. KOZLOV & EZEKIEL JACKSON (w/William Regal)

Bell sounded and the vocal minority started an "E-C-Dub" chant for Dreamer. Christian stared off against Kozlov and the fans picked up the chant again. Christian used his speed to avoid Kozlov early on. Kozlov staggered backwards after taking a slap, then he slowly walked over to Jackson for him to get a piece. Dreamer said he wanted in, so Dreamer entered. Regal just kept on smiling. Zeke ran over Dreamer early, but Dreamer lured him into a trap to fall to the apron. Christian quickly tagged in, then wanted a plancha on the outside, but Jackson caught him mid-air. No problem. Dreamer splashed Christian onto Jackson to knock everyone down. Christian and Dreamer then stood tall going to break. Nice opening.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break after a plug for Trish Stratus hosting Raw next week, Dreamer was in control working over Zeke. Jackson then smacked Dreamer in the face and sold shock having to take so much offense from Dreamer. Kozlov and Jackson then began exchanging tags working over Dreamer. At 9:00, Kozlov took Dreamer up top, but Dreamer blocked and kicked Kozlov in the face. He followed with a clothesline from the second rope that generated a reaction from the crowd. Christian then hot-tagged in and went wild on Kozlov, who stood his ground like a brick wall. Christian even tried a missile dropkick from the second rope. He needed to go all the way up to the top rope to finally get Kozlov off his feet with a dropkick. Christian then fought out of the heel corner before Kozlov dropped him with a hard headbutt to the chest for a close nearfall.

[Q5 -- over-run]

Heels began working over Christian at the top of the hour. Love the reaction from Regal just turning his head and slyly watching Jackson stretch Christian with a modified Camel clutch. Regal could teach a class on facial expressions. Heels continued to work on Christian, who elbowed out of a submission before taking a Scott Hall fallaway slam from Kozlov for a two count. Jackson back in. Regal tried to ignore the "Let's go Christian" chants from the outside by staring a hole into Christian's soul. Announcers told the audience not to be fooled by the witticisms of Christian calling his opponents life partners because inside the soul of the man is a cagefighter. Christian showed his UFC skill escaping Jackson before making a tag to Dreamer.

Dreamer blasted Jackson with a running knee smash before stalking him for a running bulldog. Dreamer lost control, but then countered a lift-up slam into a fallaway neckbreaker. Dreamer then went up top and hit a frog splash that made time stand still. Kozlov broke up a pin, then Christian took him through the ropes to the floor. Regal distracted Dreamer just enough during the chaos to take Dreamer's eye off the ball, then Jackson blasted Dreamer with his uranage finisher for the pin and the win.

Post-match: Regal slipped into the ring to celebrate with Kozlov and Jackson while standing over Dreamer's fallen body. Regal suddenly snapped out of his calm, cool, casual mode and slapped on the Regal Stretch on Dreamer. Christian tried to make the save, but Regal put a leather shoe into his forehead to kick Christian to the curb. They replayed the highspots as the announcers put Christian in jeopardy going to the PPV with Regal standing tall to close the show.

WINNERS: Jackson & Kozlov in 16:00. Good tag match leading to the PPV. Kozlov and Jackson have a certain "it" factor to their tag team that makes them work well. Perhaps part of that is standing next to William Regal, who is just so great telling a story with his facial expressions. Dreamer was solid in the match and Christian looked like a star, as he should as the brand's champion. Regal stood going into the PPV, so Even Steven booking says Christian picks up another win on Sunday. Strong overall conclusion to a strong show. (**1/2)

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