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ECW: Tagging up before SummerSlam
By
MATT BISHOP - SLAM! Wrestling
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Tonight on ECW on Sci-Fi: There's finally an Extreme Rules match inside
the alleged "Land of Extreme" while Mark Henry and Matt Hardy gear up for
their ECW Championship match at SummerSlam by teaming up to face John
Morrison & The Miz. Hmmm, that sounds familiar, now doesn't it?
And we are "LIVE!" from Norfolk, Va. Todd Grisham and Matt Striker are
our hosts. This show is presented in WWEHD (TV-PG,V).
Match #1 - Extreme Rules Match - Tommy Dreamer (Yonkers, N.Y.) vs.
Colin Delaney (Rochester, N.Y.)
Immediately, Delaney runs up the ramp, but Dreamer catches up and brings
him back down.
Dreamer beats him down and puts him in the Tree of Woe, complete with
garbage can in front of the face and hits the running drop kick into the
can, as Striker proclaims Dreamer as Duke "The Dumpster" Droese.
Delaney gets a brief respite when he moves out of the way of a flying
trash can lid to the head, but Dreamer recovers and hits the DDT on a stop
sign (it fears the cookie sheet) for the win.
Winner via pinfall: Tommy Dreamer
Lena Yada is backstage with John Morrison and The Miz and they go over
the broadcast premier of The Dirt Sheet, courtesy of a video recap.
Following the recap, they give their thoughts on their upcoming match with
Hardy and Henry tonight. Of note, Morrison says he and Miz are the Pineapple
Express of WWE.
(Ads)
Match #2 - Evan Bourne (St. Louis, MO) vs. Bam Neely (Robbinsdale,
Minn.)
This is a great match. Two of my favorite up-and-coming superstars going
at it.
Bourne gets off to a hot start, but a Chavo Guerrero distraction gets
Neely rolling, especially when he spins Bourne around with a huge
clothesline.
From there, Neely works a chinlock, but Bourne gets out and hits a
dropkick on Neely's knee, dropping him to a knee. Bourne follows up with a
high kick and his standing backflip splash for two.
Bourne turns a power bomb attempt into a DDT, setting Neely up for Air
Bourne and the fall.
Winner via pinfall: Evan Bourne
Theodore Long is backstage with Tiffany when Armando Estrada pops in with
his new ECW contract and asks Long to sign it. He obliges, but books him in
his first official ECW match against Finlay -- and it's next.
(Ads)
Match #3 - Finlay (Belfast, Northern Ireland) vs. Armando Estrada
(Havana, Cuba)
Estrada just takes a horrid, horrid beatdown from Finlay. Mike Knox comes
out on the top of the ramp to observe, I'm sure. Finlay hits a Vader Bomb on
Estrada, but gets distracted by the sight of Knox, allowing Estrada some
actual offense. Somehow, Estrada is able to gain some sustained offense on
Finlay, but Finlay is able to hoist Estrada up for the Celtic Cross -- while
staring at Knox -- for the win.
Winner via pinfall: Finlay
Finlay invites Knox to the ring, but Knox saunters to the back.
(Ads)
Long and Tiffany are backstage when Ricky Ortiz walks in. He brings in a
rally towel with his logo onto, saying he wants 50,000 of them, saying they
are a good investment idea for Long. They talk some more and Long says he'll
have another opportunity for him next week, when Ricky O will face the
newest wrestler to come from the New Superstar Initiative.
(Ads)
Match #4 - The Miz (Cleveland, Ohio) & John Morrison (Los Angeles,
Calif.) vs. Mark Henry (Silsbee, Texas) & Matt Hardy (Cameron, N.C.)
Henry takes out both of the former tag team champions, as both Miz and
Morrison end up outside the ring.
(Ads)
We're back and Henry is in control of Morrison. He tags in Hardy, who
misses an elbow drop, allowing Morrison to make the tag. Miz doesn't last
long, as Hardy is able to hit a bulldog. They go to the outside, where Miz
sends Hardy into the steel steps. This turns to the momentum, as Morrison
gets the tag and starts wearing Hardy out.
After a while of that, Hardy hits an elbow on Morrison and then a Side
Effect from the second rope. Henry is begging for the tag, but Hardy takes
forever and crawls over and pins Morrison.
Winners via pinfall: Matt Hardy & Mark Henry
This was a real strange finish. Morrison kicked out, but the bell rang.
The referee initially waved it off, but then when the bell rang, he called
for it.
After the match, Henry and Tony Atlas raise Hardy's arms in victory, but
that, naturally, doesn't last long, as Henry nails Hardy with the World's
Strongest Slam on the title belt.
Send Matt e-mail about ECW, wrestling, MMA or hockey at bishop20@msu.edu. Please include your
name and hometown. And if you're interested in mixed martial arts, check out
Matt's weekly podcast -- Lights Out
Radio. Should be a good one!.
