ECW on Sci-Fi – July 4, 2006: If It Wasn’t Dead Before This, It’s Dead Now

ECW on Sci-Fi
Date: July 4, 2006
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 1,500
Commentators: Joey Styles, Tazz

I remember this day very well because I was dragged to a free country music concert downtown which was supposed to feature 9 acts. Due to the hardest rain storm I’ve ever seen, that wound up being 2. This show was actually a standalone ECW show, as in Smackdown was taped the Monday before but this was just ECW. The result: 1,500 people in a place that holds ten times that much (Survivor Series later that year got 15,400). It’s the old Main Event deal where it’s a full show but only the last few matches make the broadcast. This is a major overhaul in ECW’s show which is very interesting so let’s get to it.

Heyman and RVD are in the back with Heyman trying to get RVD on his side in something not important enough to explain. Big Show comes in and DEMANDS a title match tonight. No answer yet but it wouldn’t be ECW without some potentially big match being hotshotted right?

Theme song.

Time for Kelly’s Salute To America Expose, which is the usual thing (same song third week in a row too) in front of a bunch of flags. This would be light years better with Layla or the Bellas, who can actually dance a bit, or a lot in Layla’s case. And here’s Mike Knox for the save.

Mike Knox vs. Little Guido

Knox says Kelly is his so we don’t get to see her. The fans chant at him as they should. Guido jumps him to the pop of the night. He hits a dropkick to the side of the head but a second attempt misses, allowing Knox to take over. The fans want pizza and think Knox can’t wrestle. Knox goes into an EXTREME series of bodyslams as the fans think this is boring. Guido tries to get something going but gets his head kicked off and the spinning downward spiral ends this.

Rating: F. This match, if it wasn’t already, proves that ECW is dead. Guido was a big deal (kind of) in ECW, but here he’s a jobber. You know, like everyone that isn’t one of the top ECW guys. And to Mike Knox? The most generic of generic big men ever? They were going off on him here. Imagine what he would have gotten in the ECW Arena. But this is the new ECW, where the fans mean nothing and the ECW Originals are a stable 8 months from now.

RVD tells Heyman that it’s cool. Ok then.

Back in the arena a bald guy jumps the guardrail and grabs the mic. The guy is wearing what appears to be a priest’s outfit. He says this is his first ECW show and he’s disgusted by the sex, violence and language. This form of entertainment shouldn’t exist and if you enjoy it you’re a sinner, which gets the biggest pop of the night. Oh and he’s not a priest. He just wore it to get our attention. Yeah because WHO WOULD WANT A CHARACTER AGAINST EVERYTHING ECW IS FOR??? Sandman comes out and beats him up, meaning we’ll never see the priest again. I’m so glad this was included. It enhanced so much.

RVD slaps Big Show, accepting his challenge. It’ll be Extreme Rules.

Video on Test. He’s coming soon.

Test vs. Al Snow

Very soon it seems. Yeah it’s Test, one of the guys that got close to being over once and then never meant a single thing again. He’s one of the guys that’s supposed to represent ECW. The crowd things Test takes steroids. Big boot and a TKO end this.

Video on Sabu, who TALKS, and says he won’t be silent anymore. I was wrong. THIS is where they clearly didn’t get it.

We see some tattoos and hear a voice saying that he’s straightedge. He doesn’t do drugs, he doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke. His addiction is wrestling. His rush is competition. His name is CM Punk. Another sign that WWE clearly had no intention of this being ECW: Punk is the antithesis of everything ECW was about, so naturally he’s a face.

ECW World Title: Big Show vs. Rob Van Dam

This is just after RVD lost the WWE Title due to the drug arrest, so there’s about zero doubt as to who wins here. We get big match intros and this is under Extreme Rules. Show chases him into the corner but Rob comes back with kicks to the legs. The fans hate Show here as you would expect. A headbutt puts Van Dam on the floor and he gets crotched while trying his kick from the barricade.

You know it’s amazing: Joey, the free thinking announcer that went to ECW because he was tired of being a WWE announcer, uses the EXACT same lines about Big Show (you have to see him live, hands like skillets etc) that the WWE announcers use. Pure coincidence of course, because Joey Styles is different and WWE would never tell him what to say, which is why we need to bring him back right? He just goes renegade every night and says whatever he thinks. Van Dam gets in a kick and the spinning kick to the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Rob in trouble but he manages the springboard kick out of the corner. Not that it matters as he gets crotched and superplexed for two. The walking legdrop gets two. The fans are trying to be an ECW crowd but they’re in the wrong arena to do that. Show drops an EXTREME elbow for two as the fans chant marijuana. A bearhug goes on and the fans totally turn on the match. It gets even worse as Show lays down on the mat while still holding it.

Show follows that up with a backbreaker, bending Rob over his knee afterwards. There hasn’t been anything EXTREME in this match so far either. That stip has been completely worthless. Show tries a chokeslam but Rob counters into a DDT. Rolling Thunder gets two. He tries the top rope kick but Show catches him with ease and throws him to the floor. Show tries the steps but gets his knee kicked out and his head hits the steps.

A top rope dive is caught again and Show keeps control to make sure the crowd doesn’t get interested. Rob grabs a chair but it gets swatted away and the chokeslam gets two. There goes the referee and Show loads up a powerbomb. Rob grabs the chair though and pops him with the chair, ala HHH vs. Undertaker at Mania X7. Van Daminator sets up the Five Star but there’s no referee. Here’s Heyman ala One Night Stand but instead he turns heel and joins Big Show. Chokeslam changes the title as it’s Survivor Series 2002 all over again. That belt looks like a toy on Show.

Rating: D-. Not only was it stupid, but the match wasn’t even that good. If ECW wasn’t dead already, this ended it. To begin with, it’s a special match now that it’s Extreme, even though that’s the name of the company. Second, this was a WWE main event style match, but Big Show was the weakest main event guy in the company so no one was interested. Third, it’s another corrupt authority figure, which is WWE Booking 101. Bad match to end a horrible show.

Overall Rating: E. As in ECW is Dead. The company was done back in 2001 but for one night (in 2005), it was around again. The TV show was never going to be ECW, which is clear here for all the reasons I gave earlier. The Originals would be jobbers forever and the big muscleheads like Knox and Test and eventually Lashley would become the focus, which no one wanted to see. If this new show had been called ANYTHING but ECW, it wouldn’t be nearly as reviled as it is. Even if we ignore the name though, the show’s biggest problem is that it’s not that good. This is a really boring series and it needs to change a lot, which it would.

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