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HeadLocker — Jay Shannon

The (2/24) ECW Extreme Examination

Our resident philosopher, Jay Shannon, looks at the Tuesday Night Delight, ECW

The show opened with a promo for the Main Event between Christian and Jack Swagger.

Matt Striker and Todd Grisham welcomed the home audience to the show. D.J. Gabriel and Alicia Fox danced around the ring. The dancing stopped as Mark Henry and Tony Atlas showed up to fight.

Mark Henry d D.J. Gabriel

The Finish

Gabriel fought to his feet. Mark tried to hit the Big Splash in the corner. Gabriel hit several Running Forearm and a Low Dropkick to the shin. Gabriel hit a couple of Dropkicks, including a Missile Dropkick off the ropes. Gabriel flew off the top rope…right into the World’s Strongest Slam. Another undefeated streak ends.

Grade: C
Jay’s Thoughts: Apparently, ECW is determined to never use a Goldberg run with their people. This match really never helped either man. Mark gets the Well, yeah, he’s three times Gabriel’s size comments, so he doesn’t move forward in his career. Gabriel gets his streak short-circuited. Who the heck is booking this train wreck?

ECW returned with another video package for Evan Air Bourne. He’s due back, soon. I can’t wait.

ECW was in Nashville, TN. Tyson Kidd and the lovely Natalya came to the ring. He was set to squash Matt Boyce

Tyson Kidd d Matt Boyce

The Finish

Kidd used a Gut Wrench to take Boyce to the mat. he rode Boyce until Matt reached the ropes. Kidd locked in an Over-hand Wristlock. Boyce got free and threw several hard fists at Kidd. Boyce surprised everyone with a Sunset Flip Roll-up. Kidd got free and tore into Boyce with hard kicks and a flurry of punches. Kidd grabbed Boyce’s face like a zombie in Gangs of the Dead and pulled back. Kidd locked in a Headscissors and did his best Pak Song imitation (by rolling around the mat). Kidd kept yelling “Ask Him” to get the ref to see if Boyce wanted to submit.Kidd nailed a Spinning Dropkick to stun Boyce. Kidd then finished off Boyce with the Springboard Savage Elbow.

Grade: A-
Jay’s Thoughts: I expect Kidd to drop a match in the next week or two (see above note). He is really a decent upcoming star. He should move up to decent competition, quick. You know it’s bad when the official WWE site claims that Kidd faced a local competitor. Poor Boyce didn’t even get his name on the site. I like Kidd’s finisher. I haven’t heard an official name for it. I’m working on my own name.

ECW returned with a look at Triple H‘s involvement with the Orton v McMahon feud. Triple H finally admitted to his relationship to the McMahon family (not exactly a well-kept secret). Triple H showed up on Raw to take out Orton and Legacy (Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase). Orton whined about being the victim in this whole thing. Orton said that the McMahons wouldn’t stay out of his way. When Orton mentioned Triple H/Stephanie’s kids, Triple H showed up to fight. Orton threw away the sledge that he had brought to the ring. Triple H seemed to to the same. However, Trip had a second Sledge in the back part of the pants. Triple H chased the various members of Legacy. He nailed DiBiase in the back with the hammer. Legacy managed to jump in their car, which was missing a back window, thanks to Triple H, and speed away.

Tommy Dreamer was back to try and win a match. The crowd was solidly behind Tommy. Dreamer fought Paul Burchill, again. Katie Lea escorted her “brother” to the ring. ECW showed Burchill beat The Boogeyman, last week.

Tommy Dreamer d Paul Burchill (assist to Boogeyman)

The Finish:

Katie Lea screamed as she was pulled partially under the ring. She got free and ran for the hills as The Boogeyman slithered out from under the ring.Paul turned to check on his sister. That allowed Tommy to catch Paul with the D(reamer)DT and win a match, finally.

Grade: B
Jay’s Thoughts: It’s about time that Tommy is allowed a win. He’s been in such a ridiculous slump. Hopefully, Creative will allow Tommy to move closer to a title match (and win). Burchill is just spinning his wheels in ECW. I hope to see him head over to either Raw or Smackdown. Team him back up with William Regal, again.

Tommy threw major love to the fans as ECW showed the end of the match. Christian walked backstage. He was ready for the main event.

Captain Charisma, Christian, came out to a fantastic pop from the crowd. “Peeps” signs showed up all over the arena. The cheers morphed into jeers as the ECW Champ, Jack Swagger, showed up for the title battle. Jack yelled at several audience members as he walked down the ramp.

Jack Swagger d Christian

ECW Title Match

The Finish:

Christian injured his shoulder, early in the match. He ran into the steel ring steps. Swagger focused on the shoulder for most of the match. The end came as follows:

Swagger sent Christian into the corner. Christian hit a Back Elbow and then a Tornado DDT. Christian howled in pain when they struck the mat. Christian tried for the KillSwitch but Swagger blocked it and ran Christian into the corner. Christian flipped out of the Gut Wrench Powerbomb but his arm was in so much pain that Swagger was able to slide in and nail the Gut Wrench Powerbomb. Swagger retained in a fantastic match.

Grade: A+
Jay’s Thoughts: It was a great match. Jack Swagger really got to step to the next level with this match. Christian has the fallback of If I hadn’t hurt my shoulder… excuse. Personally, I would have waited on this battle until Wrestlemania. I have to think that Christian is going to be involved in the Money in the Bank match. If he’s in it…he’ll win it. I was thrilled with the match, just not the outcome.

Final Grade: B+
Final Thoughts: Another mixed bag of matches. Kidd looked strong. Christian and Swagger showed so well. Tommy made the crowd happy. Mark Henry and D.J. Gabriel made them (and me) yawn. All in all, I was pleased with the show. I expect ECW to build to Wrestlemania over the next few weeks.

Peace

–Jay Shannon
[email protected]
(2/26/09)