ECW On Sci Fi – February 13, 2007: Draw Those Battle Lines

ECW on Sci Fi
Date: February 13, 2007
Location: KeyArena, Seattle, Washington
Commentators: Joey Styles, Tazz

It’s officially the Snitsky Era as he not only debuted but also attacked ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley last week. I’m not sure what that means for the future of the title, but if Snitsky is as good as they can get, it seems like there might be some trouble. Maybe the rest of the show….never mind. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Bobby Lashley beating Hardcore Holly last week, only to get jumped by Snitsky after the match.

Opening sequence.

Bobby Lashley vs. Hardcore Holly

Non-title but under Extreme Rules. They slug it out to start with Holly bailing to the floor to sucker Lashley in. That’s fine with Lashley, who hammers away some more and hits a belly to belly to send Holly flying. It’s already table time, but first Lashley needs to slam Holly on the floor. The table takes too long to set up though and Holly blasts Lashley with a clothesline. Holly gets creative (and hated) by putting the table back underneath the ring.

Lashley is fine enough to whip him into the barricade for….whatever the barricade equivalent of a Cactus Clothesline is called. They get back inside, where Holly counters a powerslam by snapping Lashley’s neck across the top rope. We take a break and come back with Holly dropping him throat first across the top of an open chair. The chair is kicked into Lashley’s face for two and we hit the chinlock.

With that not going anywhere, Holly wedges the chair into the corner…and is promptly sent face first into it. An exploder suplex sends Holly flying again and the torture rack dropped into a backbreaker gets two. Lashley grabs the table again but Holly baseball slides him down first. Back in and the Alabama Slam is countered, setting up the running powerslam in the general area of the chair to give Lashley the pin.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure if there was any serious drama to the result but they had Holly doing his thing by getting in enough violence. Lashley looked like he was in a bit of trouble a few times here and that’s about all you could ask for her. They are going to need a new challenger for Lashley sooner rather than later though and that is becoming obvious.

Video on Snitsky.

Extreme Expose, which is cut off by Ariel and Kevin Thorn.

Kevin Thorn/Marquis Cor Von vs. Tommy Dreamer/Sandman

It’s a brawl to start with Cor Von sending Sandman into the steps. That leaves Cor Von to hit the Pounds on Dreamer, sending him HARD into the ropes and out to the floor. Back in and we settle down to a regular tag match with Dreamer in trouble, including Cor Von slapping on the neck crank. Back up and Dreamer grabs a neckbreaker but Thorn is right there with an elbow to the back to cut off the tag attempt.

As usual, the tag goes through a few seconds later, allowing Sandman to come in and clean house. What is supposed to be the Heinekenrana (egads) winds up being more like a super monkey flip to drop Thorn again. Sandman has to take out Cor Von though, allowing Thorn to get in a cane shot for the pin.

Rating: D. The match was nothing, but what mattered the most here was the debut of the New Breed moniker. Having the two sides be the ECW Originals and the New Breed makes the story feel that much bigger. I’m not sure how far it can go, but having two groups with that many people opens up some options. The problem is what kind of matches we might be getting with the Originals involved.

Video on CM Punk.

Bobby Lashley runs into Teddy Long in the back. After an exchange of pleasantries, Long invites him to Smackdown and Lashley says he’s in.

CM Punk vs. Mike Knox

They fight over a lockup to start as the fans chant for Punk and commentary talks about Donald Trump vs. Mr. McMahon. Punk wins a battle of the strikes but Knox counters a jump out of the corner into a reverse sitout powerbomb. The cravate goes on for a bit until Punk fights up with a knee to the face. Knox busts out a decent looking dropkick of all things but Punk kicks/hits/punches him in the head. The running knee in the corner sets up the bulldog and the Rock Bottom plants Knox again. The Anaconda Vice makes Knox tap.

Rating: C-. Short and to the point here as Knox’s time has come and gone. There isn’t anything for this version of him to do around here and it would make sense for him to be little more than a jobber. Punk is on his way to bigger and better things and it was a good choice to have him win a somewhat competitive match here.

Post match Knox rolls out but here is Snitsky to run Punk over. The big boot leaves him laying.

We get the second part of the series on Bobby Lashley. He talks about smelling one of his workout shirts before every match because it takes him back to his training in college. Lashley used to climb a mountain at the US Olympic training center because it represented the struggle, with the scenery at the top as your reward. He wants to be a household name and keep climbing, because there is no limit. These videos are a really good idea because Lashley doesn’t have any kind of a personality otherwise.

Sabu/Rob Van Dam vs. Matt Striker/Elijah Burke

Striker hits Sabu in the face to start, earning himself a tornado….and then a stop, followed by a regular DDT. It’s off to Van Dam vs. Burke with the fans being WAY into the initials guy. Burke’s headlock doesn’t get him very far and Van Dam kicks him down. Some finger pointing lets Burke slam him down so it’s back to Striker….who is quickly kicked in the face. Sabu comes back in for some shots of his own but a blind tag brings in Burke to take over.

A few knees in the corner set up a chinlock, followed by Striker coming in, slipping, and then hitting a running boot in the corner. Sabu fights out of another Burke chinlock in a hurry and it’s back to Van Dam to clean house. Everything breaks down and Sabu is dropped face first onto the apron. Van Dam hits a big running flip dive onto Striker, leaving Sabu to miss….something, but he lands on Burke anyway. Not that it matters as Burke rolls him up for the pin with feet on the ropes.

Rating: D+. This was a pretty flat match and the ending wasn’t exactly smooth. There is something to be said about having the New Breed win again though as it looks like they are a threat, even if it was a bit more about capitalizing on Sabu screwing up. Van Dam was trying, but there is only so much that one person can do in a pretty short match like this one.

The New Breed comes out to celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This show started off well with the Lashley vs. Holly match but then it started to fall down in a hurry. The Originals vs. New Breed story should help, but Lashley still needs an opponent and the rest of the show needs a few more angles up and down. Overall the show isn’t the worst, but it needs a good deal of work to bring it up a few notches.

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