The ECW X-Press! 8/19/08

8/19/2008

Pre-show run-through:

Matt Hardy failed to capture the ECW title at Summerslam when he won by disqualification after half a minute.  Tonight will see a rematch, which hopefully will be less of a crap match.  Meanwhile, Chavo Guerrero and Evan Bourne still don’t like each other, Mike Knox and Finlay continue feuding.

(opening video) 

Matt Striker, Week 3, continues.  I love this guy.

Morrison starts out with Crazy, nailing a back elbow and a shoulder block.  Morrison counters an arm drag into a Monkey flip, but Crazy flips through, lands on his feet, and hits an armdrag.  Drop toe hold and standing moonsault lead to a Bourne tag.  Legsweep gets one, but Morrison lands knees and brings in Miz.  Bourne nails a rana as Miz tries to go up top!  Bam provides the distraction and Chavo manages to get in for European uppercuts and a back suplex.  Morrison hits a backbreaker and Russian legsweep.  Miz returns, landing some kicks.  Crap chin wrench lasts for a moment, then Bourne sneaks in a takedown and Dreamer is in.  Tommy lumbers around throwing punches and clotheslines, including a ~MORRISON FLIP CLOTHESLINE to Morrison.  Bulldog and standing powerslam to Miz, Dreamer tosses all three heels to the outside.  Crazy goes old school on us with a suicide somersault plancha, and Bourne follows up with a top rope moonsault to the outside!  Miz manages to catch Dreamer with a neckbreaker in the ropes as everyone slowly clambers back in.

ECW seems to be finally ‘getting’ how to run a hot opener.  It should be something that is quick-paced, exciting, and interesting without making the rest of the show look weak.  In this case, it was executed to perfection.  It wasn’t by any means mind-blowing, but they used the guys they had well enough, Miz doing the pounding offense, Bourne taking the pounding, and Dreamer running wild.

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New talent Gavin Spears calls himself the Crown Jewel of the New Talent Initiative.  He doesn’t need Ortiz’s catchy slogans and rally towels, because he actually has talent.

Ortiz hangs onto a headlock, and shoulder blocks Spears.  Gavin pounds on the upper arm for a moment, and works a wristlock.  Ortiz counters with the back body drop and a wristlock of his own.  Spears hits a neckbreaker, knees, and a stomp to the head.  Submission choke is finally broken out of by Ortiz, and he nails some elbow smashes and a running body block.  Standing side powerslam gets two.  Ortiz nails a shoulder block and a running splash ends it.  Umm…nice finisher, there.

It was a pretty fair outing considering how crap as a rule I’ve found Ortiz to be as a whole.  Tonight, he may have started to turn the corner, looking quicker, a bit more athletic, and a bit more technical.  The jobber was pretty bland, but it still worked overall.

Backstage, Mark Henry lifts things.

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Hornswoggle…err…Finlay is out to talk to us, flanked by his son Hornswoggle and Hornswoggle’s Music.  Finlay says that Mike Knox claims he has gone soft.  But last week, Knox was the one walking away from the challenge.  He’d like to extend the challenge again.  Mike Knox and His Puffy Beard are out to claim he can take Finlay out any time.  Finlay repeats his challenge, and Knox heads to the ring.  He stops, though, and says he’s going to do this on his own terms.  Finlay says his time to make a move is up, and slides out of the ring to spear him down on the ramp.  They trade punches and ~DEAN MALENKO and the Road Agent Crew are out to break it up!

Backstage, Matt Hardy jumps and punches the air.  Are they competing to have the most inane warmup routine, or what?

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Recap of Jericho and HBK’s showdown at Summerslam.  What a segment.  These two have had, in my opinion, the single best feud of 2008 by far.

Next week, by order of Teddy Long:  Mike Knox vs. Finlay.  Me…look forward to a Mike Knox match?  *gasp*  Amazing what a little build will do for a feud.  But now, our main event.

Hardy nails some rights out of the gate.  Hardy again goes for an immediate Twist of Fate, but Mark apparently has some learning capacity stashed away beneath all that moisture, and he counters.  Hardy is thrown to the corner, but gets a drop toe hold into the turnbuckle to retain control.  He pounds Henry’s leg on the apron several times, and drops a knee on it.  Henry finally gets a scoop slam.  Atlas is sporting an oddly cool-looking sleeveless shirt and tied on the outside.  Hardy hits an enziguiri for a two count.  Matt gets a front kick, but is knocked over as he bounds off the ropes.  Henry tries a pin after a headbutt, but is nowhere close.  He uses the ropes to stand on Hardy’s chest.  “The Constitution does give him the right to bare arms.” – Grish on Atlas’ shirt.  Hardy fights back, but Drippy clotheslines his back, knocking him from the ring.

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We return to see that Mark Henry drilled Hardy with a huge vertical suplex during the break, and is now wrenching Matt’s neck.  Atlas massages Henry’s knee, though it looked more like he was trying to choke it.   Hardy manages a Side Effect try, but did you really expect him to hit THAT move on Henry?  Atlas cheapshots Hardy.  Drippy nails some huge clubs to the back.  Hardy runs the ropes but runs into a bear hug.  Henry nails a front kick for two.  Henry throws on a crap half nelson, but Hardy escapes as he goes for the full.  Striker uses the word “parochial.”  He is, after all, your teacher.  Henry gets a clothesline, and lifts Matt up for an impressive press slam.  Henry misses the World’s Wettest Splash (when they say ‘Splash’, they mean it).  Hardy hits plucky rights and running forearms.  Henry counters into the second rope elbow smash, a diving bulldog for two, and he goes up top for a crossbody!  Another two!  Matt calls for the Twist of Fate.  Henry counters, goes for the World’s Wettest Slam, and is countered into the Twist!  Atlas pulls Hardy out of the ring, and against all odds, the ref doesn’t see it.  Unable to get the cover, Hardy goes for a moonsault, but EATS KNEES and a World’s Wettest Slam for the win.

Overall Analysis:  

This show was by no means life-changing, but I really appreciate it when every match on the card is worth watching.  For the second straight week, this was true, and that offsets the fact that nothing memorable happened.  Good main event with a strong finish.  Good opener that did its job perfectly.  Great segment with Finlay and the surprisingly interesting on the mic Knox.  And Ortiz had his best showing of his career with an average mid-card match to keep it flowing.  In the end, the lack of any big moment or great match hurts, but the show was still rock solid and a great improvement from July’s ECW.

Overall Show Grade: B

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