Home ▸ ECW ▸ ECW on Sci-Fi, 8/19/08

This week on ECW on Sci-Fi, Mark Henry defends the ECW Championship against Matt Hardy in a SummerSlam rematch, and Ricky Ortiz takes on the latest member of Teddy Long’s new talent initiative.

Results and analysis, after the jump!

Video package of Mark Henry retaining the title @ SummerSlam.  They’ll have a rematch tonight, but up first, the former WWE Tag Team Champions, The Miz and John Morrison are on their way to the ring for the opening contest.

John Morrison, The Miz, & Chavo Guerrero def. Tommy Dreamer, Evan Bourne, & Super Crazy

I wish the WWE would make up their minds as far as what show Super Crazy is on.  I think he’s a better fit on ECW than SmackDown, and I hope they realise that – despite the fact that Super Crazy can fill the Latino void left behind by Rey Mysterio.  Morrison & Crazy kick things off, and Crazy manages to hold his own despite what you’d expect.  Bourne gets the tag, and manages to take out all three opponents before getting tripped up by Bam Neely, giving the heel team the advantage.  They do a great job of utilizing classic tag team strategy – cutting the ring in half and using quick tags.  Gorilla Monsoon would be proud.  Bourne creates some separation, and gets the tag in to Tommy Dreamer, who cleans house before getting the tag in to Super Crazy.  Crazy suicide dives onto Miz and Morrison on the outside, followed by a Bourne moonsault onto Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neely.  It’s all for nothing though, as Miz hit the Reality Check on Dreamer to pick up the victory.

Ricky Ortiz is trying to remain undefeated, as he’s in action against a new talent, NEXT!

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Ricky Ortiz def. Gavin Spears

Ricky Ortiz is out first for his match, meaning that his opponent is going to be a surprise.  I know who it is, and quite frankly I think it’s a letdown to have a guy who is unknown to the majority of the fans to come out as a surprise opponent.  Anyways, apparently Ortiz’s fans are called Rick and Rollers, and there are quite a few of them in the crowd with those rally towels he was shilling to Teddy Long last week.  His opponent tonight is Gavin Spears, who is actually Shawn Spears, from just over the border from me in Niagara Falls, Ontario.  I used to see the guy wrestle in NSPW on the same shows that I used to see TNA’s Eric Young and Tyson Dux perform at before they made it big.  So from a hometown fan, congrats, Shawn!  Anyways, Ortiz keeps the advantage through most of the match, though Spears is no slouch.  He manages to start coming back, and aggressively goes to work on Ortiz.  Ortiz doesn’t let that last too long though, making a comeback, getting a sidewalk slam for a two count.  Ortiz hits a flying shoulder block, and hits “The Big O,” which is just a splash, for the win.

Backstage, Mark Henry is lifting weights.  He’s got a rematch with Matt Hardy, later on tonight.

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For the second straight week, RAW drew more viewers than Monday Night Football.  I bet we won’t see that one anymore after the regular season starts.

Finlay is out with Hornswoggle.  There are a couple of people out in the crowd with RUN 619 shirts.  Run DMC should sue all these people knocking off their logo lately.  Anyways, Finlay babbles about Mike Knox.  Just because he likes to have fun doesn’t mean he’s gone soft.  Finlay didn’t bring his shillelagh this week, so Knox has no excuse to not take him up on his offer for a fight.  Knox comes out, and he says that Finlay’s only proving that he’s afraid of Knox.  Finlay once again invites Knox to the ring.  Knox says fine, but stops before he gets to ringside.  He says he’s going to do it when he feels like doing it.  Hornswoggle crawls under the ring, and Finlay says Knox has one week to make his move – then he attacks Knox in the aisle. They brawl all the way up the ramp before referees come and attempt to break it up.  The finally get the two separated.

Matt Hardy is warming up backstage for his SummerSlam rematch, which is coming up later on tonight.

<COMMERCIAL BREAK>

We get a recap, for some reason, of Shawn Michaels’ wife Rebecca getting punched in the face by Chris Jericho at SummerSlam.  After the announcers say that there are unconfirmed reports that Rebecca has a broken jaw, Matt Hardy makes his way to the ring for tonight’s main event, which is NEXT!

<COMMERCIAL BREAK>

Back from break, we see nearly the entire ECW Championship match from SummerSlam.  Given that this is the last match on the card tonight and there’s 15 minutes left in the show, I don’t think we’re going to get a repeat of Sunday night’s 30 second debacle.

Mark Henry def. Matt Hardy to retain the ECW Championship

Hardy has the early advantage in this one, but makes the mistake of trying to slam the World’s Strongest Champion.  Even then, Matt recovers quickly and keeps control of the match.  Not to say that Henry isn’t looking strong – he takes down a charging Matt Hardy with a shoulder block and instantly takes over, using his strength and his weight to manhandle the challenger.  Matt moves out of the way of a charging Henry, and goes for the Twist of Fate, but can’t hit it this time, being tossed out of the ring as we go to a commercial break.  When we come back, Mark Henry has Matt Hardy in a submission hold, which Matt fights out of, but Henry stays on offense and slaps the hold right back on.  Matt fights out again, and again, Henry keeps the offense.  He distracts the referee while Tony Atlas punches Hardy.  Matt Striker puts into perspective how much Mark Henry can lift – if you take The Big Show, add Tommy Dreamer and Todd Grisham, Henry can lift them effortlessly.  Meanwhile, this match is all Mark Henry, with Hardy trying his best to fight back.  Matt rolls out of the way of a World’s Strongest Splash, finally managing to get some offensive blows in, taking the Champion down with a bulldog from the second rope.  He hits a cross body from the top rope for a two count, then goes for a Twist of Fate – which is reversed into a World’s Strongest Slam attempt, which is reversed into a Twist of Fate!  Matt gets a two count before Tony Atlas pulls Hardy out of the ring, not drawing the DQ this time.  Mark Henry takes advantage of the situation and hits the World’s Strongest Slam for the victory!

My Thoughts:

Holy crap, Shawn Spears!  I used to watch Spears wrestle in NeoSpirit Pro Wrestling up in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada (which is where Spears is being billed from on ECW), wrestling alongside guys such as Eric Young (Spears’ trainer) and 2008 X-Cup participant “Textbook” Tyson Dux.  The first time I saw the guy wrestle, I was sitting next to his parents and he was performing under the name Shawn “Britney” Spears.  If I recall correctly, he came out to a Britney Spears song and was booed mercilessly, much to the chagrin of his parents.  Again, congratulations on making it to the big time!

People are getting behind Ricky Ortiz, and though I’m not one of them just quite yet, it’s not hard to tell why.  What’s cool about it is that he hasn’t been in the business that long, and he’s able to connect with the fans.  Who knows, maybe by the time Armageddon rolls into town in December, I might have to get myself one of those rally towels with the O on them.

I don’t think anybody actually expected Matt Hardy to win this week – nor did anybody expect Mark Henry to win cleanly.  Now that Matt is apparently done with the title picture, we should be able to find out next week what the ECW main event will be at Unforgiven.  Then again, with Atlas interfering and costing Hardy the title twice, and a face for a General Manager, it could easily be Matt Hardy in some kind of gimmick match.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

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