WWE ECW 10 - 8/15/2006
WWE Network Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v1542050783?contextType=wwe-show&contextId=wwe_ecw&contentId=238954688&watchlistAltButtonContext=series
They first announce that we are going to have a triple threat ladder match for the chance to be #1 contender for the ECW Title with a shot at SummerSlam. I'm all for that. Immediately, LITERALLY RIGHT AFTER AIRING THIS, they cut to Paul Heyman, who says that Kurt Angle suffered a "torn groin." Hm. Heyman says that he must medically suspend Kurt Angle from ECW "for his own good". Hm. If you know anything about Angle's exit from the WWE, then you definitely see why I am a little interested in the wording here. A torn groin? That is a blatant disrespectful remark regarding Kurt Angle. The "for his own good" line? You can definitely argue that line is a reference to Vince McMahon and company's willingness to pay for Kurt Angle to go to rehab for his addiction to prescription pills, which he declined. Maybe I'm reading a bit too much into this, but it wouldn't surprise me that WWE would do such a thing. I digress. It's now Sabu vs. RVD in the ladder match for the chance to wrestle Big Show at SummerSlam for the ECW Title.
Mick Foley comes out and he starts to talk about a rivalry that is happening on RAW. Why is he here right now? Foley invited Ric Flair to come to ECW to... I don't know. This was so confusing to me. I get that you are trying to promote the PPV by having Mick Foley come in and promote an "I Quit" match that, if you have ever seen, know that it is more so an extreme rules match with the "I Quit" being more of a formality. Still, these just seems so... Strange.
Kelly Kelly comes out now, because sure. Why not. Milena then comes out. This at least makes sense, given she is involved in the rivalry with Ric Flair. Mick reveals that he called them out to the ring to... Dance with him? Foley dances with these girls for an excruciating minute in what could be the lowlight of his career if you omit everything he did in TNA.
Ric Flair comes out! You know what... I'm gonna count it.
They first announce that we are going to have a triple threat ladder match for the chance to be #1 contender for the ECW Title with a shot at SummerSlam. I'm all for that. Immediately, LITERALLY RIGHT AFTER AIRING THIS, they cut to Paul Heyman, who says that Kurt Angle suffered a "torn groin." Hm. Heyman says that he must medically suspend Kurt Angle from ECW "for his own good". Hm. If you know anything about Angle's exit from the WWE, then you definitely see why I am a little interested in the wording here. A torn groin? That is a blatant disrespectful remark regarding Kurt Angle. The "for his own good" line? You can definitely argue that line is a reference to Vince McMahon and company's willingness to pay for Kurt Angle to go to rehab for his addiction to prescription pills, which he declined. Maybe I'm reading a bit too much into this, but it wouldn't surprise me that WWE would do such a thing. I digress. It's now Sabu vs. RVD in the ladder match for the chance to wrestle Big Show at SummerSlam for the ECW Title.
Mick Foley comes out and he starts to talk about a rivalry that is happening on RAW. Why is he here right now? Foley invited Ric Flair to come to ECW to... I don't know. This was so confusing to me. I get that you are trying to promote the PPV by having Mick Foley come in and promote an "I Quit" match that, if you have ever seen, know that it is more so an extreme rules match with the "I Quit" being more of a formality. Still, these just seems so... Strange.
Kelly Kelly comes out now, because sure. Why not. Milena then comes out. This at least makes sense, given she is involved in the rivalry with Ric Flair. Mick reveals that he called them out to the ring to... Dance with him? Foley dances with these girls for an excruciating minute in what could be the lowlight of his career if you omit everything he did in TNA.
Ric Flair comes out! You know what... I'm gonna count it.
Match #1: Ric Flair vs. Mick Foley
Any action is counted as a match here on Every ECW Ever, and once Flair turned his belt into a loop to choke Foley with, I made the call to add it as a "match" recap. Foley takes one of the best steel stair sells I've ever seen. He hits it and flips OVER the stairs. Like yes, Mick. That's what SHOULD happen. This was short and sweet, but still awesome. There is nothing better than two legends going at it like this in a street fight. Sure, it was very out of place, but I still enjoyed it, because, you know, there was actual violence in it. Ric Flair almost choked out Mick Foley for real... It was insane. A must-watch clip, in my opinion, as long as you can withstand Foley dancing.
Winner: No Contest, but really Ric Flair
Match Rating: Unexpected
Weapons Used: Belt (1)
Shannon Moore promo, and hey, he actually said something this time! "Question authority." Oh. So Moore's whole gimmick is basically Anonymous before it was a thing. Got it.
Shannon Moore promo, and hey, he actually said something this time! "Question authority." Oh. So Moore's whole gimmick is basically Anonymous before it was a thing. Got it.
--
Match #2: CM Punk vs. Justin Credible
Uh.... Okay. So we are gonna have this match AGAIN. Interesting. I didn't hate the first match, though, so I'm definitely willing to give this one a try.
This match was just as good as the first one, no better, no worse. I will say that Punk once again looks good, and pulled some moves out that I wasn't expecting like a running boot to Credible's face. Credible actually got some offense in as well and he looked, well, he looked about what you'd expect from the guy. Punk won pretty handily, and that was that.
Winner: CM Punk
Match Rating: Kinda Boring
Weapons Used: None
RVD promo. He talks about how he's been waiting 30 days for his chance to get his title back. Interesting that he referred to the 30 days, given it was for a suspension after all. Still, he makes a good point. The guy has made a career off ladder matches.
Renee Dupree promo. He says he's the most beautiful wrestler in the world, and also the most extreme. Something tells me you can't have it both ways, Renee.
RVD promo. He talks about how he's been waiting 30 days for his chance to get his title back. Interesting that he referred to the 30 days, given it was for a suspension after all. Still, he makes a good point. The guy has made a career off ladder matches.
Renee Dupree promo. He says he's the most beautiful wrestler in the world, and also the most extreme. Something tells me you can't have it both ways, Renee.
--
Match #3: Little Guido & Tony Mamaluke (The F.B.I.) vs. Test & Mike Knox
Talk about a squash. At one point, Test threw Tony Mamaluke about 6-7 feet in the air, then delivered an insane big boot to Little Guido who sold it like a champion. Little Guido's selling should have kept him a job in WWE forever. He looks like he just got his soul punted out of him through his skull. Superb stuff. Test & Knox handle the F.B.I. easily and quickly.
Winner: Mike Knox & Test
Match Rating: Squash
Match Rating: Squash
Weapons Used: None
Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman come flying into the ring. Test and Mike Knox fly out of the ring. That's uh... That's it. The Sandman's music hits and that's the end of the segment. Alrighty then.
--
WHOA! In what I thought was a simple backstage segment with Big Show and Heyman, in comes Kurt Angle out of nowhere! He throws around the security guards and attacks Big Show before being subdued by half a dozen backstage hands. I guess Heyman was slighting Angle in the opening promo... Just not for the reason I thought. If that's the last time we see Kurt Angle (which I think it is), that's actually not an awful way to write him off. He got screwed over, so he quit. I know that's not why it happened, but I'd rather go with kayfabe rather than the harsh reality of his exit.
WHOA! In what I thought was a simple backstage segment with Big Show and Heyman, in comes Kurt Angle out of nowhere! He throws around the security guards and attacks Big Show before being subdued by half a dozen backstage hands. I guess Heyman was slighting Angle in the opening promo... Just not for the reason I thought. If that's the last time we see Kurt Angle (which I think it is), that's actually not an awful way to write him off. He got screwed over, so he quit. I know that's not why it happened, but I'd rather go with kayfabe rather than the harsh reality of his exit.
Match #4: Rob Van Dam vs. Sabu (Winner becomes #1 Contender for the ECW Championship)
I usually watch the match in full, and then come back and jot down my thoughts, but I need to talk about this. Rob Van Dam actually thought he could reach the hanging contract by jumping from the ring post. He fails miserably, and then Sabu clotheslines him outside the ring. Woof.
Another thing I need to talk about. Sabu goes for some kind of springboard move, but decides instead of going straight to the ropes, he tries to jump off a ladder on its side. He slips and falls back first onto the ladder, and then RVD, in a very aware move, does a spinning leg drop. Sabu is great, but boy does he botch a lot. Comes with the territory, I guess, but this botch seemed unnecessary.
One last one before I get into the match. RVD decides to do a monkey flip to Sabu in the corner. Sabu gets out of the way, but RVD instead grabs the table and flips that at Sabu and hits him, but not before the ladder smacks him in the face. Once again! Why RVD!? Why?
This match was insane. Absolutely insane and brutal, and filled to the brim with crazy spots. Every move was a spot. There were no headlocks and tests of strength. Just two dudes using one ladder and two chairs to murder each other. The fact that only 2 chairs were used, and even more so that one ladder was used, does not do the match justice. Every. Single. Move. Had. A. Weapon. Involved. I mentioned above a few weird spots/botches that took place, but there were so many because of the fact that every move in the match incorporated a chair or ladder someway or another.
Sabu and Rob Van Dam went all out. They did a bunch of spots where they miss the opponent and go back first onto the ladder. Good lord do those look painful, and I tip my cap to these guys for doing such a vicious series of moves. As I mention, every spot is painful in this match, and they happen in a row. One sequence goes: RVD slams Sabu onto a table. He then misses a rolling senton and goes back first onto the ladder. Sabu uses his chair to do a springboard onto RVD. Brutal. It's hard to explain the severity of some of these moves, so I definitely recommend watching this when you can.
The ending is, as expected, a bit wonky. Big Show comes out once RVD looks poised to win the match. Big Show picks up RVD and throws him through a table. I wasn't big on Big Show coming out, but any time someone gets thrown through a table, I'm willing to forgive. Big Show then calls for the contract to come down, and he's about to grab it when Sabu jumps onto Big Show's shoulders and grabs it. Was I supposed to laugh at that? Whatever. Sabu vs. Big Show should be a doozy at SummerSlam. However, now that I think about it, this match should have been the ECW Title match at SummerSlam. Insane stuff here from two ECW Originals.
Winner: Sabu
Match Rating: Brutal and Awesome
Weapons Used: Chair (2), Ladder (1), Table (1)
--
Episode 10 ended with the strongest match I've seen in a good while on WWE's ECW. The last few episodes had been a bit lacking both in wrestling ability and storytelling. This episode, though, was pretty great, and I'm definitely looking forward to watching SummerSlam again to see the ECW Title match.
Match of the Night: Rob Van Dam vs. Sabu
Wrestler of the Night: Tie: RVD and Sabu. Those two went all out and its unfair to choose one.
Worst of the Night: Mick Foley - Absolutely a low moment to do that dancing bit.
Weapon Count (Total):
Chair: 16
Kendo Stick: 9
Table: 7
Garbage Can: 5
Garbage Can Lid: 4
Garbage Can: 5
Garbage Can Lid: 4
Street Signs: 3
Police Baton: 3
Police Baton: 3
Camera Cord: 2
ECW Title: 2
Ladder: 1
ECW Title: 2
Ladder: 1
Baking Sheet: 1
Al Snow's Head: 1
Steel Steps: 1
Barbwire Baseball Bat: 1
Bag of Thumbtacks: 1
Announcer's Table: 1
Belt: 1
Announcer's Table: 1
Belt: 1
Total (all time): 59
Thanks for reading #10! I think that what I'll do after these first 10 episodes is watch some of the PPV matches that took place regarding ECW, and compile them into a large recap in itself, ending with the Sabu vs. Big Show SummerSlam match. Then, I'm going to take a while to write about some other things before returning back to Every ECW Ever. Not a long break. A week tops. Until then, definitely watch the last ten episodes of WWE's ECW if you haven't already.
Comments
Post a Comment