ECW on Sci-Fi – September 12, 2006: ECW In MSG
ECW on Sci-Fi
Date: September 12, 2006
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Commentators: Joey Styles, Tazz
We’re coming up on Unforgiven and in a bit of a lull for ECW. We aren’t ready to talk about December to Dismember yet but we don’t really have anything planned for in between then. My guess would be we have random matches that don’t add up to much until then which is par for the course. Oh and we’re in the World’s Most Famous Arena tonight. Let’s get to it.
We open with Heyman and his masked bodyguards in the ring. He talks about the deal he made to bring ECW to the big time and again says that the fans owe him a thank you. The way he’s speaking is kind of strange as you can tell he thinks what he’s saying is bull, but he’s a native New Yorker and he has ECW in Madison Square Garden. It’s an interesting combination.
Sabu almost immediately runs out and goes after the guards with a chair, knocking them to the floor. Heyman makes Big Show vs. Sabu later on in an extreme rules match. In theory that wouldn’t be for the title but you never know with his mindset after awhile. Sabu dives onto the guards because he’s a bit out there.
Rob Van Dam vs. Hardcore Holly
Van Dam jumps him to start and snaps off a fast rana before being backdropped to the floor. Holly busts out a pescado which is a rare thing to see from him. This is as a result of Holly jumping Van Dam recently at the request/suggestion of Heyman, who hates Van Dam for some reason. Back in and a legdrop gets two for Holly who is in full control. A middle rope elbow kind of misses as I think Van Dam got his foot up but it looked odd.
Either way Van Dam is making his comeback here and hits the step over kick followed by Rolling Thunder for a delayed two. A monkey flip sends Holly out of the corner and Van Dam heads up. Holly crotches him but the superplex is broken up. The Five Star is loaded up again but here are Stevie Richards and Mike Knox for the DQ for no apparent reason.
Rating: C-. Not bad here but it was too short to go anywhere. Holly was a guy that they wanted to be a big deal in ECW, but at the end of the day he’s the same guy that has been a joke on the main two shows for years leading up to this. It’s hard to take him seriously when he was the guy running around with Crash for all those years.
Van Dam beats those two up but Test comes out as well, hitting the full nelson slam to take him out. Sandman and Dreamer finally run in for the save. Everyone hits Richards with something and the Five Star finishes his murder.
CM Punk vs. Shannon Moore
Two matches without a commercial or segment? I’m stunned. This is Moore’s ECW debut. He slaps Punk in the face to start and pounds him down which is probably about the extent of his offense here. Punk jumps over Moore in the corner and hooks the Tarantula Vice in the ropes. A series of strikes to the ribs stops Moore dead as the fans are chanting for Punk. The corner knee/bulldog hits and the high kick sets up the Rock Bottom into the Anaconda Vice for the tap. Basically just a squash.
Rene Dupree is looking in a mirror.
Punk talks about all the guys he wants to fight when Kelly Kelly comes up to hit on him. She asks him out but Mike Knox makes the save. I think I smell a feud.
The villain in The Marine says the movie is cool.
Ariel and Kevin Thorn come out for the next match.
Rene Dupree vs. Balls Mahoney
Dupree jumps him to start but Balls comes back with the signature punches in the corner. A charge hits the post for Mahoney though and a bottom rope splash gets two for Rene. Taz: “That’s extreme?” A middle rope elbow gets the same and I can’t believe I’m watching this on ECW.
I get the idea that they’re going with to have Dupree as a heel in ECW, but it doesn’t change the fact that we’ve had guys like Shannon Moore, Mike Knox and Rene Dupree on this show. Mahoney snaps off the Nutcracker Sweet (sitout spinebuster) for two and they head to the floor. Balls gets a chair but Thorn kicks him into the steps, giving Dupree the pin.
Rating: D. Like I said, at the end of the day you can only get so into a match about Rene Dupree. Mahoney is one of the holdovers from the original ECW who at least looks like he belongs on a show about Extreme wrestling. This wasn’t good by almost any standard but it set up Thorn vs. Mahoney which is less dull than this was.
Matt Striker doesn’t like Sandman or the people drinking his “giggle water”. I give up.
ECW World Title: Big Show vs. Sabu
This is non-title. Ok apparently it is for the belt. Why would Heyman agree to that? He and the bodyguards are at ringside and Heyman is panicking as Sabu sets up tables before the bell. We take a break and come back with Sabu holding a chair in the ring and the bell rings. Show swats that away with ease and knocks him out to the floor. Back in and Show throws the chair to the floor and clotheslines Sabu down for two. This is going very slowly so far.
Sabu finally wakes up and takes out Show’s leg followed by a chair shot. Then Sabu shows that he’s an idiot by trying a freaking camel clutch on BIG SHOW. Show gets caught on the top rope and kicked to the floor but it doesn’t really do anything to him. The fans want tables so Show sets one up in the ring, making him a face for about 5 seconds. Sabu picks up a chair but looks scared to swing it.
The chokeslam is countered by Sabu into a DDT through the table for two. For a crowd that wanted tables, they didn’t seem to be that interested in it once Show was put through it. Sabu pelts the chair at Show and knocks him through the table on the floor. The crowd again doesn’t seem too interested. Show goes into the post and Sabu gets in a chair shot to the back. Air Sabu to the floor is caught in a chokeslam through another table and Sabu is in big trouble. The Cobra Clutch backbreaker sets up the standing legdrop (called the Showstopper here) for the pin.
Rating: D+. The crowd told the story here: no one bought Sabu as a real threat to Show at all and why should they have? Show has been completely dominant unless he’s against more than one person, and Sabu’s offense isn’t made to face someone like Show, who is way too big and strong for a small guy like Sabu. Some of the bumps were decent but there was no way they could make this be exceptionally good.
Overall Rating: D+. I know I talked about the problems they were having with the ECW guys being the focus, but now we’ve reached a new section of problems for ECW. No matter what you call it or repackage these guys as, no one was going to care about Rene Dupree, Hardcore Holly, Test and Mike Knox. Those guys aren’t people that are going to create interest at all. They’ve been jobbers for so long on Raw and Smackdown that no one was going to buy them as threats anywhere. That’s what wound up happening and it wasn’t for a good many months that the problem got solved.
Here’s Unforgiven if you’re interested:
https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/08/12/unforgiven-2006-the-year-of-cena-begins/
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