ECW 07/11/2006 Review

ECW Review
Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

We open up the show with a video package showing different segments from last week between Rob Van Dam and Big Show, all leading to the big main event. We see highlights of the match, and the screw job finish by Paul, and the backlash by fans. Then the show intro starts.
After the intro ends, we get an announcement from Joey Styles and Tazz that Big Show will be taking on Ric Flair in the main event of the show.


Paul Heyman comes out to explain his actions last week. He claims that the people are the reason Rob Van Dam is no longer the ECW champion, and that they are also the reason that he had to suspend him for 30 days. I assume this is a semi-clever way to cover up the wellness policy violation. Paul begins talking as if he is a God, using religious vocabulary to try to put over himself. The crowd seems confused on whether or not to cheer or boo him. Paul goes backstage, and walks through a crowd of visually frustrated superstars, and at the end is Tommy Dreamer. Dreamer claims he doesn't know what Paul is thinking, and Paul responds that he would love to explain, but Tommy is in action next.

Tommy Dreamer vs. Test
Test is revealed as the mystery opponent of Dreamer. The bell rings and the two go face to face, and Dreamer is met with a huge slap, two to be exact. This lights a fire in Dreamer as he begins pounding away on Test, and clotheslines Test over the ropes. Test hits a big shot though and the match's momentum immediately goes to Test. He beats Dreamer around the ring, and mocks him, degrades him. Dreamer starts to get a bit of a comeback going, but fails as Test rolls him up and puts his feet on the rope to win.

Winner: Test in 3:54
Why have a monster like Test in a match, but have him almost lose and only have him win by cheating with a roll up? I don't get it. Bad match. ¼*

We see a backstage segment with Kelly and Candice where they say things will get extreme. And as we come back from commercial, Ariel is shown saying the future holds blood, and Kevin Thorn spits blood at the camera. Literally wtf. Kelly and Candice begin dancing and yet again, Mike Knox comes out to cover up Kelly. Sandman comes out however, and beats up Knox with a Singapore Cane. This was a better twist to a useless segment.

Back from commercial, and CM Punk gives a convincing promo about his tattoos.

Sabu vs. Justin Credible
The match starts out with fast paced action, and the two go back and forth. Sabu starts to get the upperhand, so Justin slides out of the ring. Sabu goes right after him with a huge dive to the outside, and follows up with a leg drop to the inside of the ring. Sabu goes back outside again and sets up a table, and sets Justin Credible on top of it and hits a leg drop through it, ending the match.

Winner: Justin Credible in 1:50
Again... what's the point? The entrances were longer (and a little more entertaining) than the match itself. DUD

Balls Mahoney gives an odd promo, saying just because his name may seem all fun and games, he certainly, is not.

Ric Flair is shown backstage, and he is fired up. He dirty mouths Mick Foley, and says his 17th world title will come tonight when he beats down the Big Show.

ECW Championship Extreme Rules Match: Big Show (c) vs. Ric Flair
The match starts out dull, with an inexperienced ref, it seems anyway. I did laugh however, when Ric Flair rolls out of the ring, you can hear a guy in the crowd yell out, "This is very ECW." We come back from commercial and see Big Show dominating, and Flair is already busted open. Despite Flair's best efforts, his chops have no effect on Show. Show then clotheslines Flair over the rope, and the ref says something to Show, which pisses him off. Flair brings out a couple weapons, but Show stops him in his tracks. Ric starts a comeback, but again gets stopped by a few big strikes from Show. So far, the match is extremely slow. Flair begins hitting multiple low blows on the giant, and after he takes him off his feet, he grabs a trash can filled with weapons, and brings it in the ring. The first weapon we see is the classic barbed wire baseball bat. Flair starts to go to town with the weapon, and busts open Big Show. A bunch of other weapons are used on Show, but he still kicks out, with power, at 2. But then! Flair grabs a sack, this can only mean one thing. Thumbtacks! The most ECW thing since the revival. Flair smacks Show with a chair and he lands in the tacks. But this, this only angers the giant. Show hits Flair with a cobra clutch backbreaker, and then proceeds to choke him out.

Winner: Big Show in 13:22
A very, very boring match. Relying on the use of weapons to get any sort of crowd reaction, a little one at that. One of the worst title matches I have ever seen. DUD

After the match, Show picks up Flair and dumps him into the thumbtacks. After the "highlights" of the match are shown, Flair is helped up and out of the ring, and he receives an ovation from the crowd.

Overall: 0/10. This is perhaps the worst show I have ever watched. There was no upside to this show at all (the Punk promo was too short). Two 0 star matches on the same show, and one barely above that. This revival has reached an all time low.

NXT TakeOver: San Antonio Ratings

NXT TakeOver: San Antonio Ratings
Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas

Tye Dillinger vs. Eric Young - ***½

Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Roderick Strong - ***¾

NXT Tag Team Championships: #DIY (c) vs. The Authors of Pain - ****

NXT Women’s Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Nikki Cross vs. Billie Kay vs. Peyton Royce - *½

NXT Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Bobby Roode - ***

Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk Trilogy Review

Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk Trilogy Review
Ring Of Honor, 2004

Well it's been a while, but I'm back with a review for what is often considered the best trilogy of ROH history. I managed to get my hands on the 3 matches of Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk, and I figured this would be a good post to come back to writing. Going into watching these, the only thing I really knew about the feud was that there was 3 matches, they were fighting for the title, and Dave Meltzer gave one of the matches the coveted 5 stars. Knowing this it was hard to keep my hopes down, but I think I did a pretty good job. I'll be going through the matches one by one, but not play-by-play like I usually do for my ECW reviews. Hope you enjoy.

1st Match:

ROH World Heavyweight Championship Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs. CM Punk - ROH World Title Classic

So the first match of the series. I'd say the best part about this match was the way they stuck to their game plan. You knew CM Punk wanted to avoid getting into a striking match due to Samoa Joe's history of being able to fight. And you could see Samoa Joe trying to stay away from the mat cause that's where Punk seemed to shine. Joe went into this match cocky due to his past easy title defenses and he wasn't afraid to show his confidence, continually smiling when Punk would strike him, and even making a fool of one of Punk's fans. I think it's safe to assume Punk was playing the heel in this match because he didn't seem to respect the few of his fans there. Back to the game plans, I liked how Punk focused on the head of Joe throughout the match. Joe is a bigger guy so messing with the blood flow and oxygen is a smart strategy to take him down. Joe however tried to stay off the mat and keep Punk hurting. Whenever he started to lose the upper hand, which didn't happen much in the match, he would slide out of the ring, and because there are no count outs, he could wait for Punk to give in and go out there after him, only to be met with a combinations of strikes. Even when Punk would start to gain some momentum, he'd often make the mistake of trying to do fancy moves outside of the ring where Joe is at his best. My main complaint with this match is not necessarily the length of it, because I think the fact that they finished to a draw is one of the most important parts of the feud, but it is more how they filled the time in-between the hour. Closer to the end of the match, probably around the 30-45 minute mark, the pace slowed to a snail's pace. This is what hurt the rating I gave the match. They should've had a plan to fill in this time instead of getting a move every 10 minutes, and after the move you saw Punk go back to head holds which are actually hard to tell if they are rest holds or not. The closing part of the match, around the last 5 minutes things picked back up and we saw them desperately fight each other trying to put the other away, Punk more than Joe. Despite hitting a big move in the final minute, Punk was not able to pin Joe for the 3 count and the match finished with a draw. So overall the match was really good, I just don't appreciate in the middle to end the major slowing of pace. ****¼ 

2nd Match:

ROH World Heavyweight Championship Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs. CM Punk - ROH Joe vs. Punk ll
The big 5 star rated match by Meltzer. I was hoping for an improvement from the first match, and spoiler alert! I got it. This match was an absolute work of art. You could see they had the same, but yet different game plans going into this match, They had worked on where they were weak in the previous match, and it showed. Samoa Joe wasn't completely defenseless vs. mat wrestling, and Punk responded to Joe's strikes with seemingly harder strikes. Joe started to realize he was a bit outmatched for the first time in his career, so he went out to ringside where he dominated the last match. But when Punk came out there, Joe was met with clever uses of surroundings and was taken down. The main thing I noticed in this match, was the brilliant use of momentum shifts. Joe started out being dominant as ever, but Punk took him to the mat. Then Joe would get the upper-hand when Punk slipped up with a hold, and Punk wouldn't be able to get momentum back until Joe focused on the ref instead of his opponent. And Punk would dominate even when Joe went outside the ring, hitting him with his own moves such as the Ole Kick. But Punk made the same mistake as the first match, going for a bit too flashy move, and Joe would take advantage of it. They both worked on the same body parts on each other through the entire match, and wouldn't switch their focus until one of them showed a sign of weakness. The time was filled exceptionally with the two focusing on luring the other into a big move they thought would finish their opponent, only for the opponent to kick out. The ringside brawling was outstanding, and so was their finishing sequence on the top rope. The match would end with another draw, but this was a draw that left the crowd and myself begging for more. Punk and Joe were barely able to stand, so you got the sense that these guys really put all they could into this match, but were still unable to put the other away, at least in the hour time limit. Incredible match. *****

3rd Match:

ROH World Heavyweight Championship No Time Limit Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs. CM Punk - ROH All Star Extravaganza ll

Here it is, the finale. Punk's last chance for the belt. The hype in the crowd carried through my screen, it was unreal. The two competitors come out, looking as focused as ever. The match starts, and well, it started off a bit too strong for my taste. They immediately fired the ending moves of the previous two matches at each other, and it seemed to take away some of the special aura surrounding the moves if that makes sense. Punk was opened up early, and if that was planned like it seems, it was completely unnecessary. If not, then what are you going to do, but Punk took a lot more kicks from Joe the last two matches and they didn't have that effect. The two were grappling in the middle of the ring, but kept losing their grips for simple holds like wrist locks and chin locks, and I can't really tell why. It seemed like both were so desperate that they threw away their game plans from the other two matches that had worked out so well. This could've been a good twist in story, but they didn't really seem to play with it at all, they just kept doing random moves that didn't link with the other moves so it was hard to get a good story going. The match finished surprisingly early after a suplex combo from Joe led into a choke, and that was it. There had already been one choke in the match that had confusion because Punk's hand fell for the 3rd arm check but they tried to play it off, and even the commentators were confused. This choke came out of no where, and the ref called the match right away without Punk even tapping. A big let down if you were expecting a conclusive story like you should've been. Still overall I can't deny that the fast paced action, while it hurt the story, was impressive. That is what keeps this match's rank positive. ***½  

So overall, this was a great series of matches. I don't watch too much ROH, but from what I've seen this is the best thing in the company. After a great first match and an amazing second match, it's sad to see the finale wrap up poorly.

ECW 07/04/2006 Review

ECW Review
Wells Fargo Center (AKA CoreStates/ First Union/ Wachovia Center), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Welcome back to another installment of big sweaty men ruining what once was a great brand of wrestling, with a little something for the excited men in the middle of the show, if you get what I mean. No but in all seriousness we are back with the next episode of ECW, and the show opens up with Paul Heyman standing in his office. He addresses the ECW universe, sadly informing them that Rob Van Dam has lost the WWE Championship on an episode of Monday Night Raw. This statement is followed with boos from the audience. He then attempts to cheer us up by saying how Van Dam has worked a schedule unlike any other champion the business has ever seen, fighting John Cena, Kurt Angle, and Edge (twice) all in the span of a week. Right after there is a loud bang, and the camera pans slightly to see Big Show. He walks in and asks Paul Heyman where his title match is. Heyman tries to calm the giant by saying that it's coming soon, but right now RVD is in need of support from everyone in the roster. Show doesn't accept this as an answer and demands his title match tonight.

We go to the commentators, but before they are really even able to say something, they get cut off by the ring announcer who introduces Kelly's Expose. Same old stuff, but with American flags everywhere cause it's the 4th of July. Next time please change the song.

Little Guido vs. Mike Knox
Before the match begins, Mike Knox cuts off the ring announcer to tell the crowd that Kelly is his girlfriend, and only he has the right to stare at her. This is met by "Shut the fuck up" chants from this angered and teased crowd, some of which had to be blurred out for an unknown reason. Little Guido (Nunzio for those who don't know) cut off Knox to let the match begin. Guido gets him some nice offense in the beginning, so it's not a squash match, and even if it is, it's not your typical one. The match shifts into Mike Knox's favor once Guido misses a Sicilian Slice. I can't tell if Knox actually has some great heel heat, or if this is just an amazing crowd, as of this point in the show though I'm going to go with the latter. Knox hits Guido with a bicycle kick followed by a swinging reverse STO, which would later become known as the Knox Out.

Winner: Mike Knox in Unknown Time
This was basically a squash match so I won't give it a rating, but man this crowd actually made me have to set down my water so I didn't spit it out from laughing during this match. You'd go from "Knox sucks cocks" to complete silence, which was soon broken by a single man yelling "FUCK MIKE KNOX". I don't agree with how much offense Guido was able to get in. It really made Knox look not as threatening.

Backstage now, where we see a conflicted Paul Heyman thinking about what he is going to do about Big Show. Rob Van Dam walks in telling Paul that he can't let Show bully him like that, and says that he wants the match. Paul refuses to do it so RVD says he is going out there and accepting the challenge himself.

A vignette is shown saying that Test is making his ECW debut tonight. Exciting!

The commentators are cut off once again, by a guy in a suit. He talks about how he has been watching ECW, and how he is disgusted by what he has seen. He continues to trash to product, and calls everyone sinners. After his little rant is done, he sits down in his chair, and it seems like we are going to move on. But then, Sandman's music hits. The crowd's cheer was incredible, and Sandman comes down to beat up this poor man with his Singapore cane. This was a much better, much more acceptable Sandman segment.

We go backstage to Big Show's lockeroom where RVD barges in and says that he likes that Big Show has challenged him. Out of no where, he slaps Big Show and says he accepts. After RVD walks away, Show has a really awkward smile on his face.

After the commercial break, we come back to a very angry Paul Heyman who is yelling at RVD, asking where his head is at. Van Dam fires right back saying ECW is a place where he is supposed to escape drama and just be able to show what he's got. That seems to turn on a lightbulb in Heyman's head, so Paul gives the ok for the match.

Test vs. Al Snow
The big ECW debut of Test. He comes out to the ring, looking a bit... well... roided up. This was your classic squash match here, but during the match, I realized we have a good crowd this week when the chants of  "You took steroids" begin. Kind of sad to think about it now. Test hit a big boot, and some sort of a spinning modified neck breaker.

Winner: Test in 01:03
Like I said, just another squash matches. It's kind of hard watching a show where 2/3 of the matches are No more than 4 minutes. No rating for such a short match. Right after the match is over, Test kicks head into the crowd.

After the match we get an odd message from Sabu, saying that he is suicidal, homicidal, and genocidal. Maybe an attempt to repackage after losing to John Cena? I'm not sure.

We come back from the commercial break to a very familiar Pepsi tattoo, well familiar to anyone that watched any WWE from 2011-2013. CM Punk as a short promo, introducing himself and a straight edge guy addicted to wrestling.

ECW Championship Extreme Rules Match: Rob Van Dam (c) vs. Big Show
RVD looks to get some quick offense off on Big Show, which ultimately fails. Show starts beating up Van Dam and takes him all over the arena, including the crowd. After we get back from commercial the two are back in the ring, and Show is still in control. Van Dam gets a nice kick in and goes to the top rope, and is stopped immediately by Show, and then Show hits him with a superplex. The rough landing by RVD gets some "Holy Shit!" chants from the crowd. Big Show remains in control, picking apart Van Dam for another 4 minutes, but finally Van Dam gets some offense in when countering a Chokeslam into a DDT. He capitalizes on this momentum by hitting a Rolling Thunder. He doesn't stop the offense after that. He goes to the top rope and goes for a spinning lariat but is caught quite awkwardly by Show, and then tossed to the floor. Show went to hit RVD with the steel steps, but Van Dam goes low with a kick and Show lands on the steps. After a failed splash, Show is back into control. As RVD goes back into the ring, he meets a Chokeslam, which only gets a 2 count. The ref is then tossed by Show. The two are both layed out in the ring after RVD hits him with a Van Daminator followed up by a Five Star Frog Splash. He barely is able to pin Show, and Heyman comes out to count the pin. 1! 2! ... Huh? Heyman stopped counting, and a smile comes to his face. RVD is obviously angered, and as he is looking at Heyman, he turns around to a huge chair shot by Big Show. Heyman then tells Show to Chokeslam RVD on the chair, and Paul does in fact do the 3 count.

Winner: Big Show in 17:30
This wasn't too bad of a match actually. The pace was slow which definitely hurts the rating, but the story development is fantastic. The reaction to Big Show winning and Paul Heyman selling out is really good, and the great crowd only made it better. Drinks were thrown into the ring. So much liquid was spilled in the ring that the ECW logo in the middle of the ring was completely smeared. **

Overall: 3/10. Same rank as last week, The show was going to get the worst ranking, but was saved by the Paul Heyman story development throughout the entire show, and finally hitting the climax during the main event. I'm actually looking forward to where they go with this Heyman sold out storyline.

ECW 06/27/2006 Review

ECW Review
Berglund Center (AKA Roanoke Civic Center), Roanoke, Virginia

The ECW episode fresh off of Vengeance, which was a very successful showing on their part. I gave the ECW part of the show a very solid 7/10. I'm anxious to see how they capitalize off of this momentum. I'd also like to note that my copy of this episode starts with Sabu entering the ring, so I am not entirely sure if there was anything relevant other than the intro to the show that happened.

Roadkill vs. Sabu
The opening match to kick off ECW is an odd one. These guys have had 0 story together, but I guess they are keeping the pattern going that they started last week. That is starting the show off with a random Sabu match to get fans in the extreme mood. I'm not going to lie, I kind of like it. The match was well paced and the only botch that I noticed came from when Sabu was going for a flip of sorts over the top rope and landed right on his head. The match continued back and forth until Sabu got the upperhand thanks to the use of a chair and finished Roadkill off with a modified Camel Clutch. Modified thanks to the chair Sabu was sitting on.

Winner: Sabu in 5:21
Definitely a solid opener. Nothing special by any stretch but the match got you in the mood for some extreme wrestling. Not much else to say. *½

After the match, we go to Joey Styles and Tazz, who have some big news. Apparently, the main event for the night will be Rob Van Dam vs. Kurt Angle for the ECW Championship. The match kind of comes out of nowhere, but these two are terrific wrestlers, so who knows what to expect.

We come back from commercial break to Tommy Dreamer standing in the ring. He says he has gained new respect for the Big Show for that beating he took last week, and asks if he can have another. Sorry for my ignorance, but I do believe that is a throwback to the original ECW when Dreamer was being beaten by Sandman, correct me if I'm wrong. Big Show walks out quite mad, and begins pounding on Dreamer. He hits him with numerous powerslams, and finishes with his Cobra Clutch Backbreaker. I still haven't figured out the point of these, maybe building to a match? Personally I feel these could've been matches themselves, but maybe I could be proved wrong.

The camera cuts backstage where we see Kelly Kelly flashing Mike Knox (we don't see anything, don't get your hopes up). He says how he only likes it when she shows him, and says if you want to be out in public so bad why don't you just come to the ring tonight with me. I don't even get the point of these segments.

Then we cut to Kurt Angle, standing by himself. It starts out like a normal promo, but gets a little emotional and actually does a great job explaining why the main event is the way it is. He talks about how every day since he lost the championship at Wrestlemania 22 is a failure, and that he has wanted this match so bad. And how he can see it in his daughter's eyes when she hugs him that he is no longer champion. The part that clarifies everything is when he says that he will do what it takes, even if that means taking Rob Van Dam, and man who he has no personal issue with, and beating him to a pulp. I really liked this promo clarifying things.

Danny Doring vs. Mike Knox w/ Kelly Kelly
I was going to call this a classic squash match, but it did involve a little extra. Kelly Kelly went to "expose" herself to what I believe was a placed fan, and Knox came over during the match and pushed the fan away. This caused Kelly to storm off, and Mike Knox would roll back into the ring and finish off his opponent.

Winner: Mike Knox in 01:54
Not going to give a rating for this squash match, but I would like to point out that since I'm watching every episode of Raw from 1998 for the first time (I'm only on episode 2 so no spoilers please) this gimmick type thing from Mike Knox and Kelly Kelly remind me of a modern day Marc Mero.

After the match and commercial break, we come back to yet another installment of Kelly's expose. Same stuff, Knox comes on stage to cover her up, whatever.

Some guy comes out, seeming to be a male stripper. I didn't catch his name, but it was another Sandman segment, but at least this time it wasn't a match. Sandman beat the crap out of him, drank beer, same old stuff.

We go backstage to find Paul Heyman talking to RVD about the importance of the match tonight. He tells RVD that he needs to win, but RVD responds confidently and says have you seen me these past few days? I've been smoking (ok I have to admit I liked that pun).

Edge shows up at ECW, not sure if he will have anything to do with the main event, and if not, I don't know what the point of showing Edge kicking a few fans out of their seats is. Edit: We come back from commercial and Tazz is in the crowd interviewing Edge, and it seems it was just to cement Edge as a heat magnet.

ECW Championship Match: Rob Van Dam (c) vs. Kurt Angle
As soon as the bell rings we get what any good Kurt Angle match starts out with, mat wrestling. Angle does slip up with his grappling which gives Van Dam and opening to get the advantage. He goes to the top rope a bit too early however which allows Angle to push him off the top rope to the barricade outside of the ring. We come back from commercial to see Angle in control, constantly trying to get that Ankle Lock locked in, but RVD keeps finding a way to counter it. Soon enough Angle goes for an Angle Slam which gets countered into a beautiful DDT and RVD follows that up with a Five Star Frog Splash for the win.

Winner: Rob Van Dam in 17:11
It was an interesting attempt for a mix of styles, one that sadly didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. That's not to take anything away from these two great superstars, it's just that RVD's aerial offense and Angle's technical offense just didn't click. I liked the experiment but hopefully we don't see these two together again, for a while anyway. **¾ 

Overall: 3/10. Slightly better than the 1st episode, but not close to how good the second episode and Vengeance were. You'd expect better from a show headlined by RVD vs. Kurt Angle, but it was just constantly brought down by bad segments. I know they don't have much time for these shows, but man you'd think you could get at least 2 matches over 8-10 minutes. Hopefully next week is better.

Vengeance 2006 Partial Review

Vengeance 2006 Partial Review
June 25th, 2006 | Charlotte Bobcats Arena, Charlotte, North Carolina

Some of you may be looking at the title of this confused. The reason I say partial review is because I will only be covering the portions of the show that have to do with ECW, since that is the weekly show I've been reviewing. Maybe at a later time I will be doing a full review of the show.

I did like the opening video package for the pay-per-view, it really made it feel like this show is WWE vs. ECW. Not to mention the great commentating by Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross putting more emphasis on how if WWE doesn't win the title back, they will be in great jeopardy.

Randy Orton vs. Kurt Angle
From bell to bell this match was fantastic. It starts off with the mat wrestling by Kurt Angle and some cowardliness from Randy Orton. After a nice German suplex from Angle, things start to shift into Orton's favor. Orton gains control and begins working on the head of Angle. Orton goes to the top rope for what I can assume is a splash or knee drop of sorts, Angle pops up and does his classic belly-to-belly suplex off the top rope. This shifts the momentum into Angle's favor, as he follows up with 8 German suplexes in a row. This cannot keep Orton down so Angle decides to go for an Ankle Lock which he gets locked in. After some squirming Orton rolls through and sends Angle flying into the exposes turnbuckle that he took off earlier in the match. Angle turns around dazed into an RKO for the win.

Winner: Randy Orton in 12:45
I thought this match was absolutely great. The story was good, the action was well paced, and the crowd was really into it. A terrific choice for an opener this show. ****

WWE Championship Match: Rob Van Dam (c) vs. Edge
This was an interesting match. A great beginning turned into a slow paced semi-spotfest for little to no reason, The finish became a bit more exciting with an ECW-like twist. The ref got knocked down thanks to RVD's "educated feet". Edge saw the opportunity and got the championship belt, but RVD was able to take him down with a roundhouse kick. Lita almost cost Van Dam the win, but thanks to a mistake on her part Edge went head first into a steel chair which was followed by a Five Star Frog Splash which would give RVD the win.

Winner: Rob Van Dam in 17:55
It was a solid match, I just question why the WWE Championship match was put in the middle part of the card. This also didn't feel much like a championship match either to be honest. Not sure why, maybe it all goes back to placement on the card. I do applaud these two for putting on a solid match however. ***¼

Extreme Lumberjack Match: Sabu vs. John Cena
The match starts off with Sabu ambushing Cena as he finishes his entrance, which is followed by constant tossing of each other through the ropes to be picked apart by the lumberjacks. Sabu did some nice triple jump shenanigans, but other than this there wasn't much to like about this match. After a while the lumberjacks started brawling, and a lot were taken out. There was an FU by Cena through the table that was set up outside of the ring, but he dropped Sabu wrong so he only hit the corner of the table. This was followed by the "You Fucked Up" chants by the maybe 20 ECW fans in the crowd. The finish came right after than when Sabu tapped out to the STFU.

Winner: John Cena in 6:46
Why was this match after the RVD vs. Edge match? It wasn't anything special at all, in fact kind of disappointing with the buildup it had. The match seemed to be more focused on the biased lumberjacks than anything else. The story that could possibly be built off this match and Sabu's impressive couple spots are what save this match from being completely pitiful. **

Overall: 7/10. This was a strong showing from the ECW side of the show. The only bad part about it was the Cena vs. Sabu match, and I feel that if they had a bit more time this match could've been better. Definitely looking forward to how the next episode of ECW follows this up.

ECW 06/20/2006 Review

ECW Review

June 20th, 2006 | Pepsi Arena, Albany, New York

This episode of ECW starts off in a weird way, with who I believe is Ariel posing as a tarot card reader, and showing us what happened on the past episode of Monday Night Raw. This is relevant because ECW invaded Raw in order to hype up the Vengeance matches. She also informs us that this episode for ECW will feature a tag team match between Rob Van Dam and Kurt Angle vs. Edge and Randy Orton.

Sabu vs. Tony Mamaluke w/ Trinity

The match starts off with some fast paced back and forth action. Things slow down when Tony Mamaluke hits Sabu with a knee lift followed by a stiff kick to the head. Sabu does get back into control however after he kicks Mamaluke in the head and hits a nice springboard legdrop. After a while things spill to the outside where Sabu manages to perform a very good looking triple jump plancha. The arena is filled with "ECW" chants after that move. As Sabu goes to set up a table, Tony Mamaluke ambushes him and they both go back into the ring. Mamaluke drops a chair on Sabu and goes to the top rope, but as he jumps, Sabu throws the chair up at his face. He follows up with putting Tony Mamaluke on the table outside of the ring where he does a diving crossbody onto the table. It breaks, but it is definitely not a pretty landing. Afterwards Sabu gets Mamaluke back in the ring and makes him submit with a Camel Clutch.

Winner: Sabu in 3:31

Other than the fact that this had zero story to it, it was a fun little opening contest. It got the fans in the extreme mood, and was short and sweet. *¼

After the match, the camera cuts to Kelly Kelly. She again says that she is an exhibitionist. This week however she apologizes for not being able to get off her bra, and claims that she will show off everything this week. I hate wrestling sometimes.

After the commercial break, we go backstage to find Rob Van Dam. This little segment seems like it was planned word for word. He made a lot of weed jokes, talked about how he is going to "whoop Edge's ass" and etc. Not an exciting promo at all.

Big Show and Tommy Dreamer come out to the ring, and Tommy makes a statement towards Big Show saying that he may be extreme, but if he wants to feel the true hart of the business, he has to go through him. Dreamer then proceeds to slap Big Show which leads to a brawl where Big Show pummels Dreamer. I don't quite understand why this couldn't have been a match.

After this beating we get another vignette hyping up the main event of this episode.

Macho Libre vs. The Sandman

When Macho Libre came out, I thought that perhaps this was a serious competitor. Then he started talking and completely mocked Randy Savage. The Sandman came out and did the exact same thing here as he did last week.

Winner: The Sandman in 0:25

This seems to be the cherry on the top when asking whether or not the relaunch of ECW was really that bad. The fight between Big Show and Tommy Dreamer was more of a match than this, and it lasted longer. Why even make these segments matches? Just to show again, how bad these are, I will give this short match a rating. -*

The camera cuts backstage and we see Heyman talking with a ref, but then another man walks up who looks like another ref, informing Heyman that Cena is here. Heyman then tells the ref to get everyone together.

Another commercial break, and when we come back we see Heyman surrounded by the entire ECW roster and he seems to be explaining a plan. Then the camera cuts to Cena and he walks over to the superstars. He says he wants Sabu in an Extreme Lumberjack Match. Sabu quickly accepts, and Cena walks away.

Apparently it is now time for Kelly's Expose. The same thing as last week, teasing poor fans in what is supposed to be a wrestling show. Then supposedly right as she is about to reveal herself, Mike Knox comes on stage and covers her up. The only good part about this segment was the guy in the crowd yelling "Let her finish! Jesus Christ!" Not sure why but this made me laugh.

Another vignette hyping up the main event, saying it's up next.

We also get an interesting little video package that says Test is coming to ECW.

Edge and Randy Orton vs. Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam

The bell rings and right away Kurt Angle is mat wrestling Edge right into the ground. Angle tags RVD in and Edge tags Orton in. Orton seems to have the upperhand until RVD hits him with a roundhouse kick which brings him to the outside, where RVD performs a beautiful moonsault onto Randy. Randy tags Edge however and they begin to get the upperhand. Lita gets involved and pulls the ropes down on RVD and also choke him with the ropes. Edge and Orton begin brutalizing RVD, and they keep each other fresh by constantly tagging each other. This seems to be where the Rated RKO tag team truly started. RVD however uses his martial arts background to find an opening and tag in Kurt Angle. Suplex city ensues and doesn't stop until Edge cheats to get Orton out of an Ankle Lock. But even then it only slows down the suplexes. Finally a chop block and multiple leg shots weaken Angle. Angle however comes back only to be stopped by Lita again. Angle finds an opening and gets RVD tagged in. RVD goes crazy taking everyone out in sight. He goes to grab a chair and hits Orton over the head with it. Edge hits RVD from behind, but then gets caught in an Ankle Lock. Lita comes in to break it up but gets a nice Angle Slam, but right after Orton hits Angle with an RKO, which is followed by a flying boot to the face from RVD to Orton. Counter after counter when finally Edge goes for a spear but is hit with the championship belt by Van Dam which is followed up by a Five Star Frog Splash for the win.

Winners: Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam in 15:15

This was a good match for the go-home episode of ECW. It had nice drama, constant action, and a nice finish. Can't ask for much more in a match like this. ***

Overall: 5.5/10. A huge step-up from the previous episode. You still got the terrible Sandman match but at least you had a solid opener and a terrific main event. Everything is set up for Vengeance at this point, and the show did a pretty stand up job at it.