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By James Caldwell, PWTorch columnist

ECW on Sci-Fi TV Report
May 20, 2008 - Year 2, Week 50 (Week 102 overall)
Taped in Des Moines, Iowa
Report by James Caldwell, Torch columnist

The show started with Armando Estrada in the ring with four other men. Punk, Dreamer, Chavo, and Morrison were the men. He said in the ring are four former ECW champions, and at WWE One Night Stand, there will be a four-way Singapore cane match to determine the #1 contender to the ECW Title. He then booked for tonight a tag match to prove who the favorite is going into the PPV. Morrison and Chavo on one side. Punk and Dreamer on the other side.

After the ECW intro aired, Mike Adamle welcomed in The Tazz to the show. Cross talk, cross talk. The Miz then walked out and Adamle said he's so cool that his aura can be felt from outer space. Geez, man. Who comes up with this stuff?

Clips aired of Punk taking the loss in the ECW tag match at Judgment Day. After Miz's music stopped, Miz said he has a headache. He said he took a chokeslam on the floor. (Cheers.) He said despite the concussion and stiff neck, he still stands one-half of the WWE tag champs. (Boos.) Miz said beside being champion, chick magnet, and co-star of WWE.com's top-rated show, he is a competitor. Miz said he's going to beat Kane. Pyro hit and Kane walked out on cue.

1 -- ECW champion KANE vs. THE MIZ -- non-title match

Kane instantly attacked Miz and started beating on his injured body parts. Adamle with the good point that maybe it's not a good idea to announce to the world your injuries prior to facing Kane. Miz tried to make a comeback, but Kane dumped him to the floor. Kane tried to follow up, but Miz rammed Kane back-first into the ringpost. Back in the ring, Miz worked on Kane's back and upper neck. Kane came back with a sidewalk slam for a nearfall, then he went up top and nailed a leaping clothesline. Kane called for the end, but Miz elbowed out of a chokeslam grip. That only made Kane angrier, as he followed with clubbing forearm blows. Kane then hung Miz upside down in the corner and tried to snap his neck. Ref reached a five count and he DQ'ed Kane for not breaking in the corner.

Post-match, Kane made sure he was still the babyface with a chokeslam in center ring. Kane then brought a chair into the ring and placed Miz's neck inside the chair. Before Kane could finish off Miz, John Morrison slid into the ring and pulled Miz to safety on the floor. Tony Chimel then officially announced Miz as the winner of the match, which drew boos.

WINNER: Miz via DQ in 5:00. Interesting to see them push the limits of how edgy Kane can be as a semi-babyface when they know the audience will always cheer a chokeslam. Good advancement with Kane being more authentic as a character who just doesn't care about playing by the rules. (*)

Adamle hyped Kofi vs. Shelton up next. He called it Ali vs. Frazier. Well, we're definitely not to that point.

[Commercial Break]

[Q2]

In-ring: Kofi Kingston walked out to the ring, prompting a knock-knock joke between Tazz and Adamle that resulted in Tazz giving the "Jamaican me crazy" line. Only on ECW. Shelton Benjamin then came to the ring with a purposeful look on his face while Kofi returned the look with a serious glare.

2 -- KOFI KINGSTON vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN

Adamle set this up as a re-match of Kofi's singles victories. Shelton crunched Kofi's left knee into the top turnbuckle, leading to Shelton beginning to take apart the knee. Sound story with Shelton trying to take away Kofi's aerial attack, especially the buzzsaw kick. Kofi tried to hit the boom-boom leg drop at 4:00, but Shelton blocked into a roll up for a nearfall. Shelton then sat down on a half crab until Kofi forced a rope break. Kofi tried to come back with the buzzsaw kick, but Shelton ducked and nailed his faceplant finisher for the pin and the win. Adamle with a good follow-up asking Tazz what the key was to Shelton's victory. This led to Tazz describing the key points in the match on the replay. Shelton smirked at Kofi from ringside, while Kofi recovered and showed frustration.

WINNER: Shelton in 5:00 to end Kofi's unbeaten streak. Fine story here. Shelton had time to "scout" Kofi, which allowed him to avoid Kofi's predictable offense after taking out the key body part. This really could be a "third hour of a PPV" match if given credible hype over the next few weeks and months to set up a deciding match five or seven. Something to that effect, with each man learning more about the other over time. Of course, chances of this happening are slim, but it would be a nice under-card feud to rotate into a major spot on a PPV card during an off-brand PPV to change things up. (*1/4)

They aired a WrestleMania 24 DVD/blu-ray plug.

[Commercial Break]

Some random music hit, then Colin Delaney walked out. Not catchy at all. Colin walked out with Kelly Kelly, who was holding Colin's hand. Kelly did a deep bend over the second rope to enter the ring, prompting a near-heart attack from Colin. Kelly apparently shopping in the Gap 2100 collection with a space suit. Mike Knox then spun out of the curtain with Layla by his side.

[Q3]

3 -- MIKE KNOX & LAYLA vs. COLIN DELANEY & KELLY KELLY

Kelly wanted to start things off against Layla, who kicked Kelly in the gut to begin the match. Kelly came back with a head scissors off the ropes. She followed with a top rope cross body block, which Knox interrupted. Colin tried to defend Kelly's honor, but Knox quickly flipped him to the floor. Tazz said he gets a kick out of watching Colin get his ass kicked. Back in the ring, Kelly nailed Layla with the rocker dropper for the quick pin and the win. Afterward, Knox jumped Colin and gave him the Knox Out. Kelly checked on Colin, then Armando Estrada followed out dressed to wrestle. He told the ref to ring the bell on a new match.

WINNERS: Kelly & Colin in 1:00. Quick and to the point. (n/a)

4 -- ARMANDO ESTRADA vs. COLIN DELANEY

Bell sounded and Armando gave Colin a lift-up reverse DDT for the easy pin and the win. Kelly looked concerned on the outside. Adamle said Armando told him he gives Colin so much grief simply because he can. Kelly then checked on Balls Mahoney...er... Colin while Armando walked out of the ring feeling good about himself.

WINNER: Armando in 0:05. Fine for establishing Armando as a jerk authority figure to hopefully build sympathy for Colin. (n/a)

[Commercial Break]

Raw Rebound focused on the Rise and Fall of William Regal, with the Fall coming thanks to Mr. Kennedy in the storyline. Ross with the prophetic words that Regal being fired could have been the lowest day in Regal's career. They included additional post-firing footage of Regal walking to a limo in the parking lot for the "reality show" dismissal, but the limo pulled away without him. Regal was left standing there with his head hung low.

Adamle and Tazz plugged the One Night Stand card in 12 days. Winner of the ECW four-way match faces the ECW champion at the Night of Champions PPV in late June.

In-ring: C.M. Punk came out first for the main event tag match. Tommy Dreamer came out, then they cut to a break.

[Q4]

[Commercial Break]

They returned with Adamle calling C.M. Punk by the name C.W. Punk. Tazz corrected him, then said he must have been thinking about the cereal. Adamle said the college. How about the network that Smackdown airs on? Oh, never mind, they're dead to WWE at this point. Morrison then came out, followed by Chavo as the other-half of the main event. Adamle tried to go gangster asking whether Chavo is pimpin' or limpin' on the way to the ring. Oh boy.

5 -- C.M. PUNK & TOMMY DREAMER vs. JOHN MORRISON & CHAVO GUERRERO

Crowd chanted for Dreamer in the early going while Dreamer worked on Chavo. No sign or mention of Bam Neely tonight. Punk tagged in and the heels started working him over in their corner. Punk came back with a blow that sent Chavo to the floor before he then nailed a plancha on Chavo when Morrison bailed from the contact. Morrison then snuck up behind Punk and gave him an electric chair off the ring apron to the floor padding. Punk winced in pain as they cut to break.

[Commercial Break]

They returned with Morrison working on Punk's back with a surfboard stretch. Morrison and Chavo then "tapped off" to each other to continue working on Punk. Adamle's words, not mine. He then said Chavo is "getting Punky with it," referring to Chavo working over Punk. One step forward and two steps back. Crowd heated up when Punk teased a comeback until the heels put him back in their corner. Adamle and Tazz talked about them having a Singapore cane match together. Awkward.

[Q5 -- over-run]

Punk with a flurry of high knee strike in the corner, leading to a running bulldog. He then made the crawl across the desert to Dreamer for the hot tag at 12:00. Dreamer ran wild on the heels with his "I'm a jobber" official PPV t-shirt on full display. Dreamer then missed with a double axe handle blow on Morrison, but he blocked Morrison's finisher and nailed a spike DDT. He had the pin, but Chavo broke up the pin. Punk then took himself and Chavo over the top rope to the floor. Back in the ring, Dreamer went for the basement dropkick while Morrison was upside down, but Morrison moved. Chavo made a blind tag and nailed a top rope frog splash on Dreamer for the win.

WINNERS: Chavo & Morrison in 13:00. Fine main event tag match, although a bit of a repeat from past TV tag matches. Good energy from all four men. (*3/4)

Post-match: Instead of Chavo's music hitting in victory, Big Show's music hit. Show randomly walked out and stormed the ring. He gave Chavo a chokeslam, then Punk took a chokeslam. He gave Morrison a big Cobra Clutch toss across the ring. Show took the mic and said Armando forgot that he's a former ECW champion. He then booked himself in the Singapore Cane match, and vowed to be the future ECW champion. Afterward, Show helped Dreamer to his feet, then gave him a chokeslam for good measure. Desperate times in the ratings call for desperate measures. Show back on ECW.

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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