ECW Report for Feb 2 – Vince Announces End of ECW
ECW TV Report for February
2, 2010 (and for one of the last times as well, at least under the ECW
name)
From Memphis, Tennessee
Only
three ECW wrestlers participated in Sunday’s Royal Rumble. They were
in the ring for a grand total of 1 minute, 49 seconds. That fact serves
as the proverbial canary in the coal mine as tonight Vince McMahon addresses
the future of ECW. (On the other hand, 16 different wrestlers lasted
less than 3 minutes in the Rumble, so ECW was not alone in being made
to look small on Sunday).
The
show began with Abraham Washington explaining his absence the last few
weeks by saying NBC has offered him the Tonight Show spot. And here
I thought his absence was because of divine intervention. Anyway, he
turned down NBC’s offer to stay with the WWE Universe. He then bickered
with Tony Atlas before bringing out Christian. Abe mentioned that Christian
has held his title longer than any other champion in WWE. Christian
actually said he didn’t know that, which lends great credibility to
the title. Zack Ryder, fresh off of the career making one minute Royal
Rumble appearance, interrupted. Incredibly, he then introduced Gregory
Helms’ mugshot on the Titantron. He pointed out that Helms was a hypocrite
and that he was the heart and soul of ECW. Christian came back by saying
that Ryder was jealous because Helms was on TMZ and that he gets recognized
in public. He then defended Helms by saying that everyone makes mistakes;
like Tiffany giving Abe Washington a show, Christian appearing on the
show, Ryder’s hairstyle and choice of “Tila Tequila” as a girlfriend.
At that point, Washington and Atlas stepped between the two men and
the show ended. By the way, it was never explained what Helms was arrested
for, so that part of the segment went over a lot of people’s heads.
This was a tolerable Washington Show, solely because of Christian.
Shelton Benjamin v.
Vance Archer
Early
on, Benjamin hit an impressive tope over the top rope and onto Archer
on the floor. Returning to the ring, Archer tried to work a headlock
but Shelton powered into a back suplex. Shelton sent Archer to the floor
and tried a leap from the apron. Archer moved which sent Shelton crashing
into the barricade. After a commercial break, Archer was working a pressure
hold. He moved to a vertical suplex and then a side suplex for a couple
of near falls. Archer missed a flying knee which led to Shelton’s
comeback. He hit a hanging neck breaker into a near fall. In the corner,
Archer sat down when Shelton tried for a sunset flip. Archer grabbed
the ropes too soon and the referee had no choice but to disallow the
pin. They awkwardly moved to a double takedown and pinning combination
with Archer using his legs on the ropes for the pin. The first near
was supposed to be the finish, I assume as they went for the same thing
just a moment later. Archer completely blew the timing on the first
one as he failed to wait until the referee got down to count the pin.
All in all, this was just a mediocre match with a botched finish. After
a couple months on television, it should be obvious by now that Vance
Archer has nothing whatsoever to offer and is taking a roster spot and
a push away from someone.
Archer d. Shelton, Pin 10:01,
½*.
The
Raw Rebound focused on last night’s Bret Hart-Vince McMahon segment
(well, it wasn’t going to focus on the Kofi Kingston-Big Show match).
They plugged that they would show what happened between John Cena and
Batista after the show went off the air on Smackdown, which is something
different. And turning the Bret-Vince event into a tag team match is
an obvious, but very wise decision, as I just do not see how Bret Hart
and Vince McMahon can do anything credible in the ring at this point
for any extended period of time.
Also,
Christian and Zack Ryder was announced as the main event, not for the
ECW championship presumably.
Yoshi Tatsu v.
Trent Barreta
Each
man’s tag team partner was at ringside. Yoshi started with a drop
kick and arm drag combination. Barreta then used the referee as a shield
to land a forearm which dropped Yoshi. Barreta got a near fall off of
a standing drop kick. After a rest hold, Yoshi came back with a back
body drop and a series of kicks. Going up to the top, Yoshi was caught
by Barreta and a huracanrana. A rollup gave Barreta a long two count.
Barreta argued the near fall which allowed Yoshi to hit a roundhouse
kick to the head for the victory. The finish worked because the near
fall prior to it was close enough where you bought Barreta arguing the
call.
Yoshi d. Barreta, Pin, 3:59,
**.
Vince
McMahon came out to the top of the ramp and announced that in three
weeks time, ECW will go off the air. He then announced a replacement
in the timeslot, which would be the next evolution in television history.
The whole promo lasted less than one minute.
In
the ring, Gregory Helms introduced William Regal and Ezekiel Jackson.
Helms tried to talk about Jackson losing on Sunday, but Regal turned
to the arrest last week without actually explaining what happened. Regal
and Jackson then double-teamed Helms for a minute. Christian ran down
with a kendo stick, cleared the ring and made a belated save.
Christian v. Zack Ryder
Christian started with
a spinning heel kick, sending Ryder to the apron. There, Christian tripped
Ryder and followed up with a drop kick through the ropes sending Ryder
to the floor. Christian went up top, but Ryder sidestepped Christian.
Ryder then slingshot Christian under the bottom rope. Ryder connected
with the rough Ryder leg lariat for a near fall. Ryder tried for a superplex
but Christian pushed off and connected with a body press off the top
rope. Christian used a flapjack and a missile dropkick off of the top
rope for another near fall. The champ then attempted a springboard sunset
flip but couldn’t get the leverage to pull over Ryder who nearly picked
up the win with a counter. Ryder tried to follow up with a charge in
the corner but Christian slipped out of the way and hit his pendulum
kick. He then came off the middle rope with an elbow and connected with
the kill switch. As Christian went for the decisive pin, Ezekiel Jackson
and William Regal ran in for the disqualification. After the bell, Jackson
fired Christian to the floor where Regal hit the knee tremble. Jackson
fired Christian into the steps as the antepenultimate edition of ECW
on SyFy concluded.
Christian d. Ryder, Pin,
5:29, **¼.
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