By James Caldwell, Torch columnist

ECW TV Report
March 4, 2008
Cleveland, Ohio
Year 2, Week 39 (Week 91 overall) on Sci-Fi

Scariest Places lead-in: Styles and Tazz plugged tonight's two championship matches. Hey, look, Colin Delaney has a graphic now. Progress, progress.

The show opened with a video clip from January when Edge helped Chavo Guerrero capture the ECW Title from C.M. Punk. They showed clips from Punk tormenting Chavo since then, followed by Punk winning the #1 contender match on last week's show. So, it's Chavo vs. Punk again tonight.

In-ring: John Morrison started the action by coming to the ring for the first title match tonight. Tazz said Morrison has all you need: the looks, the title, and...a good partner. Miz came out next and joined his partner. Tommy Dreamer then led out Colin Delaney for the tag title match. Delaney was down to just standard wrist tape, but he was favoring his right arm.

1 -- WWE tag team champions JOHN MORRISON & THE MIZ vs. TOMMY DREAMER & COLIN DELANEY -- WWE Tag Title match

Dreamer and Colin showed good team work early on, with Dreamer launching Colin off the top rope for a splash onto Miz for a one count. Miz then answered him with a hard clothesline that cut off Colin's momentum. Morrison followed with a sharp roundhouse kick to the face, but Dreamer broke up a pin attempt. Colin somehow scrambled to his corner and made a tag to Dreamer, who cleaned house at 3:00. Dreamer then hung Morrison upside down in the corner and executed a reverse neckbreaker for a two count when Morrison got a foot on the bottom rope.

Dreamer then locked in a Texas Cloverleaf, but Miz broke it up, leading to the heels working on Dreamer in their corner. Suddenly, Colin came into the ring from out of nowhere with a chair and started smacking folks around. The bell sounded for a DQ, and the heels bailed to the outside. The announcers and everyone else were in shock. Colin then held up the chair and Dreamer just kind of went along with it. Styles asked if Dreamer dragged the extreme out of Colin Delaney. Dreamer and Colin posed in the ring while the champs recovered on the floor.

WINNERS: Miz & Morrison via DQ in 5:00 to retain the belts. Well, that was an interesting development. I see where Dreamer is happy to see his buddy bring some killer instinct to the ring, but they just lost a tag title opportunity. They put Dreamer's character in a tough position with that conflict. (*)

[Commercial Break]

[Q2]

In-ring: Shelton Benjamin came to the ring with a re-mix of his theme music. They retained the basic elements of ain't-no-stopping-me, so that's good, but the theme changes are becoming a bit much on WWE TV. Stevie Richards came out as the opponent for Shelton tonight.

2 -- SHELTON BENJAMIN vs. STEVIE RICHARDS

This is a match to sit back and enjoy with some JR's BBQ beef jerky, preferably the original flavor. Shelton settled into the offensive control with a single-arm DDT, which led to some work on the left arm and shoulder. Shelton got aggressive with lightning-quick elbow drops before slapping on another shoulder wrench. Shelton suddenly went for a quick leap up top for a splash, but Stevie ducked just in time. He then nailed a standing kick to the gut followed by an enziguiri kick for a nearfall. Shelton then grabbed the ropes to block a hold, and suddenly nailed his inverted bulldog finisher for the pin for the win. After the match, Shelton took the mic and said the gold standard is coming to the Money in the Bank match. Tazz said he's his pick.

WINNER: Shelton in 5:00. Fine TV match. Shelton is obviously the guy they want to push ahead of the MITB match at Mania, and Stevie can rebound next week against a lesser opponent. Just a minor setback, if they play it up correctly. (*1/4)

[Commercial Break]

26 Days until WrestleMania 24. Joey and Tazz plugged the BunnyMania match and Tazz went wild for Snoop Dogg being named the MC for the match. Joey then plugged footage from last night of Maria's Playboy unveiling hosted by Jerry stupid Lawler.

Backstage: Kofi and Kelly Kelly admired Maria's Playboy cover. Kofi said they have beautiful women in Jamaica, but they don't compare to the divas. Kofi then told Kelly she should pose for Playboy. Kofi gave her a quick hug, then Layla stepped in and shouted at Kelly that she's just jealous because Playboy asked her to pose, not Kelly. Kelly said Playboy never asked Layla, and she's such a liar. Layla then slapped Kelly across the face, setting off a cat fight that Kofi tried to step in between.

[Q3]

3 -- KANE vs. JAMES CURTIS

In-ring: Kane came to the ring for a match against James Curtis. Suddenly, Chuck Palumbo came to ringside riding his bike to annoy Kane during his match. Kane chokeslammed Curtis in less than a minute to win, so Palumbo's antics didn't work. Palumbo then disappeared up the ramp to set up their Smackdown match in a few days.

WINNER: Kane in 1:00. Squash to set up a Smackdown match. Nothing more. (n/a)

[Commercial Break]

Exterior arena shot: Cleveland is covered in snow. ... The Raw Rebound aired, focusing on the Mayweather vs. Big Show angle last night. Ugh. They edited this to cut out the cross-talk from the opening segment.

Ringside: Tazz said Mayweather's boxing career is in deep jeopardy after WrestleMania. Styles provided an update that GM Estrada has booked a re-match for next week of Dreamer & Delaney vs. Miz & Morrison in an Extreme Rules match. Well, so much for Colin costing them a title shot. And, unless Estrada has something up his sleeve, it's consistent for Estrada's character as the heel authority figure.

Backstage: Lena brought in C.M. Punk to discuss the ECW Title match tonight. Punk rubbed his belly, then said Chavo likes to call himself a warrior. Well, there was only one Guerrero who could call himself that, and Chavo isn't him. Oh goodness. Punk took us back to the torment he put Chavo through to get another title shot. He said he was a champion before, and he's going to earn it again for the second time. Nice promo aside from the shout-out to the ghost of Eddie Guerrero.

[Commercial Break]

[Q4]

In-ring: Chavo Guerrero came to the ring at the start of the fourth quarter, so the quarter-hour ratings will give us a good idea of whether folks care about the ECW Title and Chavo as champ. C.M. Punk came out next.

4 -- ECW champion CHAVO GUERRERO vs. C.M. PUNK -- ECW Title match

They went into a nice mat exchange early on. Punk then went for a springboard move from the apron, but Chavo shoved him off the ropes and Punk landed awkwardly on the floor with a thud. He remained motionless to sell a serious injury, then the fans chanted his name before they cut to a break.

[Commercial Break]

They returned with Chavo stomping on Punk in the ring before settling into a leg wrench on the mat. Punk came back with a desperation kick, but Chavo took the knee out with a chopblock. Chavo then wrapped Punk's leg around the ringpost to continue working on the leg. The fans got behind Punk by chanting his name, then Punk escaped a knee bar with an enziguiri kick that took Chavo to the floor at 12:00. Punk then ran/hopped through the ropes with a suicide dive that took both men into the guardrail.

[Q5 -- over-run]

Back in the ring, Punk hit a desperation springboard dive before catching Chavo out of the corner with a powerslam for a nearfall. Punk then slapped on an arm bar, but Chavo reached the ropes to break the hold. So, Punk is favoring his left leg and Chavo is favoring his left arm. They had a mid-ring exchange of leg strikes before Punk surprised Chavo with a knee strike in the corner and running bulldog for a two count. Chavo surprised Punk with a rolling half-Boston crab and the camera focused in tight on the pain on Punk's face. Punk grabbed the ropes to break the hold.

Punk suddenly went for the G2S, but his legs gave out. Chavo came back with the Three Amigos suplexes, but Punk countered the third suplex with a small package for a nearfall. Eddie Guerrero remains nameless. Suddenly, Chavo hit a Tornado DDT out of the corner, but he only got a two count. Chavo went up top for a frog splash, but Punk crotched him at 16:00. Punk then climbed up top for a superplex, but Chavo blocked and crotched him across the ropes. Chavo then came off the top with a frog splash for the three count and the win.

WINNER: Chavo Guerrero in 17:00 to retain the ECW Title. That was a tremendous title match on TV (as opposed to a TV Title match). Chavo lacked any credibility as champion prior to this match, but he earned major points retaining the belt by resisting Punk when it counts with the gold on the line. Key for Punk will be the follow-up next week as he continues to chase Chavo and the belt. Excellent effort from both men. (***)

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