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ECW: Scrambling to enter the Championship Scramble
By
MATT BISHOP - SLAM! Wrestling
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Tonight on ECW on Sci-Fi: Not to be outdone by RAW and Smackdown, ECW's
announces its own Championship Scramble for Unforgiven. The only question
left is: Who will participate? Should be a good one!
And we are TAPED! from Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Todd Grisham and Matt Striker
are our hosts. This show is presented in WWEHD (TV-PG,V).
The Assistant to the General Manager, Tiffany, is out to introduce her
boss, Theodore Long. (And I use that title because of the show's proximity
to Scranton, home to our favorite Assistant to the Regional Manager.)
Anywho, Long announces ECW's own Championship Scramble, with qualifying
matches going on throughout the night. Holla, holla, holla!
Match #1 - Matt Hardy (Cameron, N.C.) vs. John Morrison (Los Angeles,
Calif.)
Well, this is a heckuva way to start the show off.
The tide turns back to Hardy when Morrison misses Starship Pain. Hardy
hits the Side Effect and goes for the Twist of Fate, but Morrison picks him
up and crotches him on the top rope. He then gets a running start and hits a
big forearm that sends Hardy crashing to the floor.
(Ads)
We're back and Morrison is firmly in control. Hardy is able to power out
of an armlock and hits a running bulldog for two. He goes to the second rope
and hits his elbow and calls for the Twist of Fate again, but Morrison
pushes him off. Morrison goes for a backslide with his feet on the ropes but
the referee sees it. Hardy counters up a roll-up for two.
They exchange another series of near-falls but Morrison nails his
springboard kick but only gets two.
Morrison mounts Hardy in the corner, Hardy pushes him off and then they
collide in the center with a double-clothesline. They get up and Morrison
goes for the Moonlight Drive, but he is countered right into a Twist of
Fate.
Winner via pinfall: Matt Hardy
Matt Hardy advances to the ECW Championship Scramble.
Long and Tiffany are backstage when Mark Henry and Tony Atlas interrupt.
Henry is unhappy about the rules of the Scramble, with Atlas backing up all
his points with "That's right!" Ha! Then it goes nowhere.
(Ads)
Match #2 - The Miz (Cleveland, Ohio) vs. Evan Bourne (St. Louis,
MO)
Wow, this is another interesting match. I'd like to see both these guys
advance to the Scramble.
Bourne gets the early edge with an arm drag into an arm/shoulder lock.
Miz tries to drag out but Bourne drags back to keep it applied.
Bourne, though, is sent hard to the outside. Miz pursues and works Bourne
over on the outside. Back in the ring, Miz just goes to work on Bourne,
hitting a face-first suplex.
Things start to turn around for Bourne with some hard kicks and Bourne is
able to counter the Reality Check and hit a standing moonsault. Bourne gets
Miz on the top rope and follows up and goes for a hurricarana but instead
gets "the capital of Thailand" (according to Grisham -- think about that
one). It's a painful miss, as Bourne is prone for the Reality Check and his
first pinfall loss in ECW.
Winner via pinfall: The Miz
(Ads)
Match #3 - Chavo Guerrero (El Paso, Texas) vs. Tommy Dreamer (Yonkers,
N.Y.)
Slow start to this one, but Dreamer gets rolling with a bulldog and a
running powerslam for two. Guerrero gets put up in the Tree of Woe and
Dreamer hits it. Bam Neely, though, hops up on the apron, distracting
Dreamer. Chavo kicks Dreamer into Neely and then rings his neck on the rope.
With Dreamer down, Guerrero heads to the top and hits the Frog Splash.
Winner via pinfall: Chavo Guerrero
(Ads)
Match #4 - Finlay (Belfast, Northern Ireland) vs. Mike Knox (Phoenix,
Ariz.)
There's one spot left in the Scramble -- and this will be a power match
if there ever was one.
(Ads)
We're back and Finlay has Knox locked in an armbar. Knox goes for a walk
on the outside and Finlay goes after him but walks right into a nice
powerslam on the floor. Back in the ring and Knox is rolling. He hits an
absolutely vicious clothesline. Knox then works a chinlock with knee on
back. Finlay gets up but Knox runs him into the corner.
Knox then gets distracted by Hornswaggle and Finlay sends him over the
top rope and to the floor. He follows it up with a clothesline on the floor.
Back in the ring, Finlay hits the atomic butt drop, but can't follow up as
Knox hits a big boot.
From there, Knox goes to untie the top turnbuckle but is busted by the
ref. While the ref is checking on the turnbuckle, Finlay gets the Shillelagh
from Hornswaggle, but has it knocked out of his hands by Knox. Knox goes to
pick it up, but the ref stops him. While the ref is dispatching of the
Shillelagh, Hornswaggle sends a second one in and Finlay belts Knox with it
and that's all she wrote.
Winner via pinfall: Finlay
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!.
