By Michael Simmons, Torch specialist

In 1984, the Terminator (and future governor of the great state of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger) simply said, "I'll be back."

So ladies and gentlemen, with perhaps as little fanfare as the unveiling of a Planet Hollywood owned by the entire cast of mid-'90s NBC comedy "Boston Common," ECW: Under the Microscope has returned.

I'm Michael Simmons and all of you PWTorch readers are familiar with the Under the Microscope concept: I take each week's ECW broadcast and examine it and dig a little deeper to uncover what you may have missed.

For instance, did you notice the Fozzy sign in the crowd? The name "Fozzy" shouldn't be a strange name to wrestling fans as it is a band fronted by former World Heavyweight champion Chris Jericho. They have appeared on WWE shows and have supplied the theme song for a WWE pay-per-view, "Enemy," which served as the theme for 2005's No Way Out and even TNA's 2006 Bound For Glory.

Also, have you noticed ECW referees have abandoned their black ECW brand referee shirts? Linda McMahon recently said in a conference call the company was going to cut down expenses in a turbulent U.S. economy. This must be step one. I'm holding out hope step two will result in the Boogeyman disappearing from WWE television. For good.

Are you reading this, Vince?

This is not a recap. For a detailed recap of the show, check out James' report on the main page. So join me as we take a closer look at the Land of Extreme…Under the Microscope.

This past Tuesday night's ECW broadcast emanated from The Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The city is no stranger to WWE shows, as it hosted the 1987-1991 and 1997 King of the Ring, 1994 Royal Rumble, 2005 Armageddon, and 1999 and the upcoming 2009 Backlash pay-per-views.

Tommy Dreamer and Jack Swagger collided in an Extreme Rules match on this week's show, and Matt Striker chimed in with this nugget of information, "The last time we had an Extreme Rules match on ECW, Tommy Dreamer beat Colin Delaney. We haven't heard from him since."
Striker's last statement was actually very true, as WWE released Delaney three days later. The perennial jobber has resurfaced in his old stomping grounds, CHIKARA, where he is a heel playing up his recent WWE "fame," even going as far as emulating numerous WWE superstars…err, entertainers's signature moves. Good for him.

Also of note, veteran referee Charles Robinson donned the stripes for that match. Robinson, or "Lil' Naitch" as many call him for his resemblance to Ric Flair, is a highly respected referee who made his biggest mark in WCW, being the official heel referee for 1999 incarnation of the Four Horsemen. He even teamed with Flair against Randy Savage and Madusa.

While Matt Striker proclaims himself to be a wrestling nerd, I was thoroughly shocked when he called Robinson, "The Extreme Official." For many old school ECW fans, many fans consider Matt Knowles the original "Extreme Official."

No, I'm not talking about Beyonce Knowles's father; I'm talking about H.C. Loc. Knowles made a name for himself in ECW on the receiving end of brutal attacks from heels such as Rhino and Steve Corino. Since the company folded in 2001, he has appeared in Ring of Honor, even winning the ROH Tag Titles with former ECW mate Tony DeVito. He currently wrestles for NWA Upstate and wrestles for the Rochester, NY-based New Era Wrestling.

Tommy Dreamer, although he is the only ECW Original on the roster, aside from his win against Delaney, never has any luck in Extreme Rules matches. In fact, I'm struggling to find another Extreme Rules match he's one since the ECW revival. He's lost to Test, Mike Knox, Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Edge, Mick Foley, Jack Swagger, and too many other names to mention.

Why do commentators still consider the match an "advantage" for Dreamer if he's only won one in the last two and a half years?

Matt Striker continues to impress me each and every week with his old school wrestling knowledge (aside from the H.C. Loc mistake) and obscure pop culture references. This week, he provided a classic call of Dreamer's signature low-angle running dropkick to Swagger, hanging in the tree of woe.

"Tommy Dreamer going for the tree of 'whoa,'" Striker said.

The added emphasis on the word 'whoa' was reminiscent of Joey Lawrence's character, Joey Russo, on the early-mid 90s sitcom "Blossom." To somewhat loosely tie this back to wrestling, Lawrence starred in a 2006 film with Jericho, "Android Apocalypse," which also aired on Sci-Fi.

This past Tuesday night, the Boogeyman made his 14th return to WWE television, and if you look carefully, he had all of his teeth. I didn't know they had dentists in the Bottomless Pit. It was rumored his latest return was delayed due to possible dental surgery to replace his missing teeth. You see Snitsky, this is what you do. A person should get their rotten teeth fixed, not go out and permanently stain their teeth dark yellow. Hey, if you start eating worms and smashing a clock on your head, you may even start getting a push! You never know, right?

D.J. Gabriel made his "entertainment" debut a week ago on ECW, so here's some background him: Gabriel made his professional wrestling debut in OVW in 2003, capturing their tag titles with Chet the Jett. He returned to his native England to wrestle for All Star Wrestling, winning their British Heavyweight Championship in 2005. Even though he's on the main roster, Gabriel continues to wrestle for WWE's developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling.

Speaking of Gabriel, while Gabriel stopped mid-match to dance over his fallen opponent, Striker mused aloud, "Do you think he's listening to the WWE classic Stand Back in his head?" Todd Grisham replied, "I kinda preferred Piledriver. Remember that?"

Many of you have heard Vince McMahon's rendition of "Stand Back," which was performed at the 1987 Slammy Awards and subsequently been replayed over the years. However, some of you may not have caught Grisham's reference. In 1987, WWE released "Piledriver – The Wrestling Album 2," which features Koko B. Ware singing its title track. With lyrics like, "Sometimes love! It sounds like a fight! It sounds like an argument! It sounds just like a piledriver," it's a wonder why the song didn't become a radio hit.

Whoa!

Thank you for reading, have a Happy Thanksgiving everybody, and do yourself a favor; go out and buy Piledriver 2. Slick's song Jive Soul Bro is worth the money alone.

Michael Simmons has been a wrestling fan for 17 years. He likes to think he has a pretty inquisitive mind. Quite often, he goes into deep thought about some of wrestling's greatest mysteries. You know, thought provoking questions like, "WWE sure is keen on bringing the Boogeyman back. Why?" If you know the answer, feel free to leave comments below or e-mail him at Sironsim@aol.com.

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