07/01/08: ECW on Sci-Fi Live Recap

We'll be updating the recap LIVE so hit F5 or refresh for all of the updates! ECW starts NOW. "Don't question my heart! Don't question the fire that burns inside." And don't question Mark Henry, your NEWWW ECW World Heavyweight Champion!

The show opens with a recap of the three-way for the ECW title at Night of Champions just to show us Mark Henry stealing the pin with a big splash at the end. ECW on Sci-Fi is on the air, and for the first time I'mwatching it in HD BABY!!~! Mike Adamle promises we'll be introduced to the new champion, and sure enough the ring announcer wastes no time calling him out for his appearance. Henry has a huge grin on his face as he walks down with the strap over his left shoulder. I suspect that's a permanent smirk. "I am the savior of ECW! Kane, was gonna take this ECW title, to Raw. But at Night of Champions, I brought back this title right where it belongs, in the ECW. Now you see Kane, Kane may be a monster, but he's not the World's Strongest Man. Big Show may be a giant, but he's not the World's Strongest Man. +I+, am the savior of ECW. I am the epitome of what a champion is. And I mean NOBODY..."

This of course brings out Tommy Dreamer (flanked by Colin Delaney). Dreamer has a mic in his hand when he steps into the ring. Henry: "I know y'all came out to congratulate me but I don't like being interrupted." Dreamer: "I didn't come to congratulate you, I came to be the first to challenge you for the ECW title." Henry: "Stop playing, I know what you did in years past but that was 1998, this is 2008. Your time is past. I'm the future! So what you need to do, is take your little friend, and walk." Dreamer: "You know Mark, I know you two are complete physical mismatches, but Delaney represents the heart and soul of what ECW is all about. Every time he get knocked down, he gets back up. He gets beaten down and he comes back for more. Do you even know the legacy of that title? Do you see that guy? That's Taz, the Human Suplex Machine. He broke his neck for that title. Do you know how much blood and sweat is on that title? The superstars that have held it? Do you?" Henry: "I know exactly. And you know what? You want to challenge me? You don't deserve it. You have to earn, you have to EARN a title shot. You know what? You got it!" Dreamer: "Thank you champ. Tonight, I'm gonna wrestle like I've never wrestled before." Henry: "Whoa whoa whoa, I wasn't talking about you, I said YOU get a title shot." Henry points at Delaney. "If you beat him, Dreamer gets his shot." Delaney: "I accept!" Henry: "You know Tommy you were right, you've got the heart and soul of a lion. But tonight, the heart and soul is gonna get ripped out your little chest." Henry throws the mic at Delaney, kisses the belt, smirks, and steps through the ropes. Hornswoggle, Finlay and Matt Hardy are backstage, and they're in a six-man tag coming up NEXT!

We're back with a WWE Shop promo. My God, even this looks better in HD. I will not miss Cox Cable television one bit. Alvarez, GET DIRECTV, FUCK COMCAST. Matt Hardy comes out first for our scheduled six-man tag. It's Matt time, err match time, err well both!

* Matt Hardy, Finlay & Hornswoggle v. Chavo Guerrero, Morrison & Miz

Chavo is accompanied to the ring by Bam Neely. Morrison and Miz stop for the slow-mo' wind tunnel effect, although with the bandana and goofy hat Miz have on there's no way we'll see it. In the crowd is a sign reading "Matt Hardy Version '08." Not bad son, not bad. I've noticed the fan from the PPV who had "REAL SIGN GUYS WEAR ORANGE" is also in the crowd in Tulsa. Hardy and Miz start the match off and immediately lock up. Miz takes an arm and the Hardy chants begin RIGHT AWAY. Matt counters out and Miz uses the ropes for a break. Adamle says the shileleagh will come into play and Tazz notes that anything is possible. Hardy grounds Miz and starts wrenching his left arm. Miz stands up and powers him to the corner, then unloads with closed fists to get a ref's warning. Hardy reverses position then whips him to the opposite corner for a clothesline followed by a bulldog. Two count. Hardy tags to Finlay who takes Miz to the learning tree with passion. The heels try to cut off the ring but Morrison becomes the unlucky recipient of an atomic drop and a sitout to the gut. Morrison tries again to cut off the ring and this time Miz and Chavo manage to work him over in the corner. Chavo tries to tag in and baseball slide onto him but Finlay pulls the apron out and Chavo ends up UNDER it being pounded on. The heels try to make the save and Hornswoggle is lawndarted onto Morrison and Miz right before we go to commercial!

During the break Chavo Guerrero hit Matt Hardy with a cheap shot, and we come back with Chavo in control and Matt being thrown to the heel corner for a three-in-one beating. Miz tags in and hits a snap suplex for a near fall. Miz drags him to the heel corner to catapult him into an uppercut by Morrison, who also tagged in to make the cover for another near fall. The crowd pops huge when Matt kicks out, but Morrison quickly grounds him and yells as he has Matt in a submission hold. "C'mon, give up!" Hardy gets up and out only for Morrison to tag and for Miz to continue the beating with elbows before putting on a chinlock. "C'mon Matt, tap out!" Tazz puts over the intensity of Miz. Hardy gets out and hits a sunset flip for two but is immediately clotheslined down afterwards. Morrison tags in and tries to choke Matt out, he punches free, gets kicked in the gut and whipped to the corner, Matt blocks a charge with a boot and hits the SIDE EFFECT. Adamle says both men are equally hurt by the move; Hardy gets up first though and hits Finlay with the hot tag! High back bodydropto Chavo and the corner is cleared as he's a house on fire. Chavo in a pinning predicament but Morrison breaks it up. Twist of Fate by Hardy on Morrison and Tadpole Splash by Hornswoggle on Miz! Chavo is hit with the Celtic Cross for three. WINNERS: THE BABYFACES.

The US champion and the Irishmen celebrate in the ring as the heels are helped up the ramp by Bam Neely. We see a graphic promoting Mark Henry v. Colin Delaney for later in the night. Tazz: "Biggest mismatch in ECW history baby!" We go to commercial break with a Night of Champions replay promo, and when we come back it's time for the Raw Rebound. Read the WWE Raw Recap here on the site for all the details, including CM Punk becoming the NEW World Heavyweight Champion. Punk is put over huge, as is the feud with JBL that followed and Bradshaw declaring "martial law" on Cena... which only guaranteed he'd interfere in the main event later (and I'm glad he did). We throw back to Tazz, who says timing is everything, and CM Punk had great timing. Adamle throws backstage to Dreamer and Delaney. "Maybe I didn't need to do this, but after all you've done for me I wanted to do this. I know how much ECW means to you. Tommy I know what you're going to say, there's no way I can beat Mark Henry, but nobody thought I'd be here living my dream either - anything's possible."

Backstage somebody with a huge afro is being introduced to Teddy Long, who says he'll be a great acquisition for the brand. We're interrupted by Commandante Estrada, and Long says he has a New Talent Initiative and the new man is Atlas Ortiz (ohh this must be Atlas DaBone). Estrada says he wants to know what this man has he doesn't so Long says we'll find out - you two are having a match NEXT! Commercial.

* Atlas Ortiz v. Armando Estrada

It's nice to see they're finally giving some of these guys from WWE Developmental with potential a shot on the big stage and putting new champions on top, which is exactly what the company needs right now to generate more excitement in all three brands. I'd say it's already working with Raw's rating being up this week. Atlas is working a headlock early as Tazz describes his "funky lock" before knocking Armando down with power and rolling him to the mat with a headlock, getting a one count in the process. Armando tries to fight out with punches and shoot Ortiz off the ropes, but on the rebound Ortiz hits a hard shoulder tackle knockdown. Armando finally gets on offense by ducking a spear in the corner, with Ortiz posting his arm into the turnbuckle, and drives his head into the mat for a near fall. Snapmare and Armando stomps on the hand of the injured arm, and continues to work it over. "HOW YOU LIKE ME NOW!" The crowd boos Estrada and a very light "AT-LAS" chant breaks out. Armando puts Ortiz on the ground and chickenwings the arm with a top wristlock, but the crowd applauds Ortiz back to his feet. Armando uses a handful of hair to yank him down to the mat and he gets a chorus of boos. Adamle notes that's now legal in the NFL. "These guys aren't wearing helmets though Mike!" You know this match could have gotten Ortiz over if it only went a minute or two, but it's going far too long for my taste. Then again a much louder crowd chant breaks out of "LET'S GO AT-LAS" with the appropriate claps. Ortiz takes that as his cue to go on offense, shake his head full of hair like a wildman, and hit a VERY high dropkick for a two count. Headbutt by Ortiz. Whip to the ropes countered by a kick from Armando, but when he charges Ortiz the afro'd one reverses him into a backslide pin for three! WINNER: ATLAS ORTIZ.

It's official, Armando is everyone's bitch. He can't beat Colin Delaney, he can't beat Hornswoggle, and he loses to the new guy when they want to put someone over. Since he's not "under contract" he should leave for Smackdown and form a heel tag team with Carlito. We go to commercial break which includes a promo for the three-disc Rock DVD set.

WWE's "Did You Know" fact tonight is that they broadcast in 23 languages to over 130 nations. I'm sure in one of those nations, Mark Henry is the greatest champion in WWE. In fact I remember at least one fan with a Mark Henry sign at WrestleMania who must be absolutely ecstatic about the recent turn of events. All things considered I'm not unhappy about it either - Henry has paid dues for a long time and deserves his shot as the top heel champion of a brand. It's time for our main event!

* Mark Henry {C} v. Colin Delaney (If Delaney wins, Dreamer gets a title shot)

Henry comes out first looking as smug as ever. Delaney is accompanied to ringside by Dreamer. The bell rings and Delaney looks at Henry like a deer staring into the headlights. Dreamer advises Delaney to use his feet and his speed to survive. Delaney briefly gets Henry in the corner for punches and kicks but Henry looks at him like an annoying gnat and then swats him like a fly. Henry grounds Delaney and lays into him with boots as a chant breaks out for the young untan man. Henry goes for a monster splash and Delaney rolls out of the way, then he tries to go on offense with kicks until Henry simply stands up and knocks him down hard. HUGE headbutt follows. Tazz: "That anvil-like head of Mark Henry!" Henry picks him up in a vertical press and drops him down mercilessly. Henry pulls him back up to hit a press slam, and then makes the cover for an easy three count. WINNER: MARK HENRY.

Dreamer gets in the ring to protect his fallen comrade from any further beatings. Henry smirks, kisses his title belt and walks away as Dreamer glares at him. We get a replay of Delaney's beating as Tazz puts over Henry strong. That's it for ECW on Sci-Fi tonight, and it's been fun to watch AND recap this show in HD. G'night everybody!