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By James Caldwell, Torch columnist

ECW TV Report
January 1, 2008 in Richmond, Va.
Year 2, Week 30 (Week 82 overall) on Sci-Fi

They opened with a video recap from two weeks ago when C.M. Punk vs. MVP ended with MVP getting himself DQ'ed before Chavo Guerrero returned and took out Punk.

The ECW intro aired, then ECW GM Armando Estrada made a rare appearance. He welcomed out Chavo Guerrero to join him in the ring. Chavo took the mic and said it's great to be back in ECW. He said the last time he was here, he caused some controversy. Chavo said he took out Punk because his 2007 ended a little early, thanks to an injury from Rey Mysterio. He said he was sitting him watching WWE TV, and all he heard about was C.M. Punk. That made him sick. Punk heard enough and his music played. He strolled out with a big smile on his face. Punk wasn't impressed with Chavo's explanation. Chavo snapped back and said Punk isn't the future of the WWE; he's a stepping stone for him. Chavo said 2008 will be his time to be a champion again. Punk said it's a great new year's resolution.

Chavo said it's a statement of fact, so Punk got serious and snapped back that he is nobody's stepping stone. Punk said if you want to challenge for the belt, he's standing right here. Armando stepped in and told Chavo that he has to earn a title shot. Tonight, it's him against Punk. For the big climax to the set-up, Armando's salsa dance music hit. Nothing says let's have a fight like some light salsa music.

[Commercial Break]

John Morrison came out to the ring for a six-person tag match. The other half of the tag champs, The Miz, came out with Layla. Styles and Tazz talked about Miz still owning Kelly's management contract. The redneck and the reject - Jimmy Wang and Shannon Moore - came out for the babyface team before cowgirl Kelly Kelly came out as their partner.

[Q2]

1 -- JOHN MORRISON & THE MIZ & LAYLA vs. JIMMY WANG YANG & SHANNON MOORE & KELLY KELLY

Layla wanted a piece of Kelly to start things off, but Kelly landed a clothesline in the first exchange. Miz then tripped Kelly from the outside, setting up Morrison for a tag. Kelly was caught in the ring, so Morrison did a Rick Rude hip swivel taunt, which grossed out Kelly. She slapped him across the face to answer the taunt. Shannon then took a quick tag and landed a splash on Morrison, but Morrison quickly gained control on the Reject. Shannon finally made a tag to Yang at 5:00, and Wang cleaned house. Ugly huracanrana on Miz, though, and Yang followed with a spin kick in the corner. Wang went up top and nailed a dropkick for a nearfall when Morrison broke up the pin. The action broke down and Layla got caught in a Yang liplock in center ring. Kelly then tackled Layla and the catfight moved to the floor. Back in the ring, Yang caught Miz in the corner and nailed a moonsault for the pin and the win. Afterward, Styles announced a 15-minute iron men match with the tag champs vs. Yang and Moore.

WINNERS: Team Yang in 7:00. Fine action to advance the tag title program. The energy level picks up the moment Jimmy Yang enters the ring. (*1/2)

[Commercial Break]

Tazz was in the ring, joined by Colin Delaney. Tazz talked about Colin's quick defeat at the hands of Shelton Benjamin two weeks ago. Colin said the match didn't go as planned. Tazz said he might have been a little nervous - perfectly excusable. Colin said he's prepared this week since he's been training pretty hard. Tazz asked for a new year's resolution. Colin said he wants to be a WWE superstar this year. Tazz said, well, your opponent is the most dominant man in WWE. Big Daddy V's music hit and Colin tried to plead with Tazz for anything but this.

2 -- BIG DADDY V (w/Matt Striker) vs. COLIN DELANEY

Colin ducked a clothesline in the opening second, then landed a slap to the chest that had zero effect on Daddy. Poor Colin then got stepped on before Daddy press slammed him high into the air. Daddy followed with a Samoan Drop and big elbow drop for a quick win.

WINNER: Big Daddy V in 2:00. Basic squash. It's laughable how poor Colin is starting out, but it's something different than just a squash of a random person. (n/a)

They showed Shelton Benjamin walking backstage.

[Q3]

[Commercial Break]

3 -- SHELTON BENJAMIN vs. JAMES CURTIS

Before the match, they showed an inset promo from Shelton earlier in the day. Shelton said he will hit the mother load in 2008 to become the gold standard in WWE. Shelton hit a t-bone suplex in the opening minute followed by a back breaker across his knee. Tazz and Styles debated whether Shelton is the gold standard in ECW, with Styles making the point that Punk is the current gold standard since he wears the title. Shelton continued to work over the back before James came back with an uppercut. Shelton took exception and threw James down to the mat before slapping on a chinlock. Shelton cut off James's attempted comeback, then he took James up for a running powerbomb into the corner. Nice show of strength. He followed with his finisher - a lift-up inverted bulldog for the win.

WINNER: Shelton in 5:00. Basic TV match for Shelton to showcase his move set and intensity. Nothing fancy; just aggressive wrestling. (*1/2)

They recapped the end of the show two weeks ago when Chavo took out Punk. Up next, it's Punk vs. Chavo.

[Commercial Break]

[Q4]

The Raw Rebound aired, focusing on Ric Flair's retirement angle the Flair vs. Hunter match last night.

Styles plugged the tag title match next week with Miz & Morrison vs. Yang & Moore in a 15-minute iron man match. Chavo, then Punk came out for the main event.

4 -- ECW champion C.M. PUNK vs. CHAVO GUERRERO -- non-title #1 contender match

Styles and Tazz played up Chavo being rusty, with it being his first official match in four months. Punk dominated early with a series of kicks to the knee. He caught Chavo out of the corner with a turnaround splash from the second rope for a nearfall, then Chavo retreated to catch his breath. The camera focused on Punk in a confident stance on the other side of the ring after a good opening three minutes.

[Commercial Break]

They returned with Punk and Chavo exchanging control in the corner. Chavo then took out the back of Punk's left knee and started working him over on the mat. Chavo went for an Indian deathlock before transitioning into a Muta Lock with a bridge, but Punk escaped the hold. Nice change-up from the basic WWE holds to work over a body part.

[Q5 -- over-run]

Chavo applied a left knee twist in center ring, but Punk corkscrewed Chavo's head to escape. Punk hobbled to his feet, then landed a running knee lift with his good knee. Punk made a slow comeback with right leg kicks and punts to the chest. He then went for a double underhook, but Chavo powered out. He didn’t escape a running knee lift to the jaw, though. Punk followed with a bulldog for a nearfall. Chavo then blocked a whip to the ropes and rolled Punk over onto his stomach to apply a single-leg Boston crab. Punk grabbed the ropes, though. Chavo then went back to kicks to the knee before setting up the Three Amigos series of suplexes. Punk escaped the third one, though, and made a great transition into a G2S attempt. His knee gave out, though, and Chavo took both of them over the top rope to the floor. They fought over who would get back into the ring, and Punk finally kicked Chavo away to the floor. The ref counted to ten, giving Punk the win.

WINNER: Punk via count out in 16:00. Nice match. A good test for Chavo to see how he would handle a TV main event after being away from the ring for a while. Nice to see Punk win a match, and then not end up flat on his back from a post-match beat down. (**1/4)

We welcome your 1-10 score and comments on this show for an "ECW Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. To contribute your thoughts on ECW TV, click here.

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