ECW On Sci Fi – March 13, 2007: With A Bunch Of Guest Stars

ECW on Sci Fi
Date: March 13, 2007
Location: Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, New Jersey
Commentators: Joey Styles, Tazz

Wrestlemania is on the way and ECW will actually be doing something on the show. Not only will CM Punk be in Money in the Bank, but we get the big eight man tag between the New Breed and the ECW Originals. That alone should be more than enough to carry ECW TV, but this week gets a bonus with a special appearance by Mick Foley. Let’s get to it.

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

In Memory Of Ernie Ladd.

Edge is in the back when Randy Orton comes up to yell at him for setting up Orton vs. Bobby Lashley tonight. Orton says Edge is kissing up to Vince McMahon and tensions are rather high.

Opening sequence.

Battle Royal

Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, Sabu, Sandman, Marcus Cor Von, Matt Striker, Kevin Thorn, Elijah Burke

The teams come out together but it’s one winner only. It’s a brawl to start (as it should be) with Sandman hammering on Striker in the corner. The posing is a bit too much though and Striker tosses him out without much effort. Sabu and Van Dam get rid of Cor Von, which probably should have been a bigger deal. Thorn blocks Sabu’s hurricanrana to toss him out as the eliminations are starting fast.

Van Dam kicks away at Thorn, including the step over kick to put him down. Striker cuts Van Dam off though as we’re into the everyone brawls without tossing anyone stage. A kick to the face rocks Thorn and some clotheslines get rid of him but Striker is right behind him to toss Van Dam as well.

We’re down to Striker, Burke and Dreamer, the latter of whom has to fight out of the corner. For some reason Striker charges at Dreamer in the corner and gets backdropped out, leaving us with Burke vs. Dreamer. Burke dropkicks him off the top but Dreamer hangs on and gets up on the apron. Back in and Dreamer blocks a big boot and shoves Burke out to win (with the Originals being announced as the winners).

Rating: C-. They kept this moving fast enough and that’s always appreciated in a battle royal with so many losers. Dreamer winning is a good idea as you need to give someone other than Van Dam some momentum in the feud and it’s not like losing in a battle royal is some kind of career death sentence. This feud is more than enough to carry ECW for the time being and this was a fine way to go for the week.

Post match the Originals all get back inside and here is Mick Foley. Post break, Foley says you might think that he is here for a cheap pop…..and you would be exactly right! He is here to talk about his new book, but he is also here to talk about Wrestlemania. Foley talks about turning on Tommy Dreamer last year and it made him unpopular with some of the boys.

Yes he is here to talk about his book because he has never been so honest before. He talks about everyone and everything in it and he wants Dreamer to look at it. Dreamer drops the book but Foley talks about how he turned on Dreamer last year. Yeah he loves the pop and the crowd reaction but One Night Stand meant so much to him that he wanted to shine the spotlight on Dreamer.

Sabu deserves the attention as well and that’s why we are getting to Wrestlemania. It is time for the Originals to face the New Breed in front of 70,000 people. Foley never got to do that and he is going to make it 70,001 by being at Wrestlemania in the stands. He will somehow squeeze into a seat and let his voice be heard as he chants ECW. The chant starts up again….at least a little bit. This was Foley trying as hard as he could to get an idea over but it is only going to get so far when it’s ECW in 2007.

Video on Snitsky.

Extreme Expose….is cut off by Snitsky.

Snitsky vs. Michael Deek/Danny Jacks

Total destruction, with Snitsky pinning Deek after a big boot in about forty seconds.

Elijah Burke wants CM Punk’s answer about joining the New Breed. Punk isn’t ready to answer but Burke asks him about his bad night on Smackdown. That’s not cool with Punk, but Burke wants to make sure Wrestlemania is a good night for Punk. Just think about it, and Burke hands him a New Breed shirt.

Celebrities offer their hair cut picks.

Long video on the Battle of the Billionaires contract signing from Raw.

Bobby Lashley vs. Randy Orton

Non-title and Edge comes out to watch. Lashley powers him into the corner to start but Orton gets smart by taking out the leg. A chop block puts Lashley down and the knee drop keeps him in trouble. Back up and Lashley sends him outside where Edge yells at Orton as we take a break.

We come back with Orton holding Lashley in a Boston crab, meaning it’s time to crawl to the rope. Orton stomps away but Lashley fights up, earning himself a poke to the eye to cut him off again. The RKO is blocked so Edge grabs the title, which is enough for an ejection. Edge seems rather happy as Orton yells at him and we take another break.

Back again with Orton hitting a suplex on the floor for a near fall, followed by the Orton Stomp. Another Boston crab goes on, with Orton being smart enough to face the ropes this time. Orton even bends forward to push onto the ropes….which I’m assuming adds some kind of extra pressure in heel logic.

Lashley gets out and the fans are not pleased with anything about Orton. They are a bit more appreciative of Orton being sent shoulder first into the post and getting torture racked. Lashley drops to his knees for the backbreaker and it’s time to unload in the corner. The running powerslam finishes Orton clean in a pretty flat ending.

Rating: C. The ending really sucked the life out of this one, which is impressive as it didn’t have a ton of life in the first place. Lashley has all of the tools you could need but he really isn’t feeling it in the ring with these matches. It wasn’t so much a hot comeback as much as Lashley hit a few moves and then won with his finisher. Not bad, but it got a very big “that’s it?”.

Vince McMahon, looking snazzy in a black pinstripe suit with a black tie, comes out to glare at Lashley to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Not their best show here, but what matters is they have something big to focus on with the faction warfare. The problem is I’m not sure what the rest of the show is going to do when Lashley is out of the real Wrestlemania main event slot. The show wasn’t great, but it kept things moving, albeit fairly slowly, on the way to Wrestlemania.

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