By Dominick Mayer, PWTorch contributor

ECW on Sci-Fi TV alt. perspective report
November 4, 2008
Report by Dominick Mayer, PWTorch contributor

The show starts with Title sequence.

Matt Hardy makes his entrance to a big pop. For some reason, Bam Neely is out next. A non-title contest is up.

1 -- ECW champion MATT HARDY vs. BAM NEELY

Some basic back and forth, but interestingly, Bam takes the lead on offense around two minutes in. Hardy goes for the second-rope elbow, but Bam counters into a black hole slam for two. Striker is doing a good job of putting this over as the biggest match of Bam's career. Bam goes for a vertical suplex, but Hardy counters into a reverse neckbreaker. Hardy gets two after another neckbreaker. Hardy gets the elbow and takes Bam down again for two. Bam corners hardy, but gets a boot to the face before taking a tornado DDT for two. Hardy goes up top again, but Bam catches him this time and hits a superplex for two. Bam somewhat awkwardly carries Hardy into the corner, but Hardy counters into a Twist of Fate for the win.

WINNER: Hardy in 6:00. Decent match to showcase Hardy as ECW champion, but an unusual choice for designated jobber. Bam was adequate, but not exactly a proud win for Hardy.

After the match, Finlay and Hornswoggle come out. We'll find out why after the break.

[Commercial Break]

Finlay is in mid-promo after the break, asking for a title match. Before Hardy can accept the challenge, Mark Henry is out to claim the title shot as his. Hardy and Finlay make fun of Henry a bit, but Henry just wants his title match. Henry points out that Finlay has never beaten him without a shillelagh shot or the aid of Hornswoggle, which is a very valid point.

[Q2]

Teddy Long comes out and books Henry vs. Finlay tonight, with the winner facing Matt Hardy next week for the ECW championship. Well, I suppose they have to keep this going, now that Evan Bourne's push has come to a halt for the time being. Such a shame. Especially since Finlay is becoming staler with each passing week.

Another Boogeyman promo airs to take us into commercial. They're doing a good job of making him a lot scarier than he really is, particularly in the context of that ungodly filler skit last night with the Michael Cole dance party. I'm still trying to convince myself I was just having a bad dream.

[Commercial Break]

Ricky Ortiz is out, and I have to wonder where he's been. Well, he's against the designated no-entrance jobber, so apparently the answer to the above question is "still earning his push."

2 -- RICKY ORTIZ vs. JON DAVIS

Ortiz with a lot of offense and fire in the opening seconds for a mostly dead crowd. Davis goes for a suplex, but Ortiz blocks and counters. Ortiz gets a belly-to-back suplex before coming off the top rope with a body block. Striker: "The climax of the match is coming!" This led to a Big O splash from Ortiz for the pin and the win.

WINNER: Ortiz in 1:00. Still a terrible finishing move out of the 80s. He's just not going to get a following with a move that lame these days. Striker's segue into it was a laugh-out-loud moment, though.

Striker and Grisham recap Evan Bourne's injury last week and wish him well. That looks nastier every time they show it.

[Commercial Break]

Jack Swagger makes his way to the ring. There's some hardcore gear set up in the ring.

[Q3]

Swagger takes the mic to talk about beating Tommy Dreamer last week. He decides to take a look at what exactly Tommy Dreamer has done in twenty years. He talks about how Dreamer started off getting beaten by a drunk named Sandman with a cane, saying "Thank you sir, may I have another?" Such a good moment in old ECW history. Swagger then brings up the old ECW championship belt, and how it and Dreamer are old, and Dreamer's championship reign didn't last long. Dreamer's reign only lasted 30 minutes, and this show has been longer. Swagger throws the belt in a trash can for some major boos. Swagger next brings up a photo of Beulah, his in-ring girlfriend and out-of-ring wife. Swagger asks Beulah how it feels that Dreamer is past his prime, implying that he had a prime, and that her husband is a failure and she married a failure. Her kids will grow up to be failures. There's still hope, for they can find a new role model, like Jack Swagger.

Dreamer comes out running and pissed, and gives Swagger a cane shot to the back. E-C-Dub chant for Dreamer holding the Singapore cane. They stare each other down as Swagger walks away. Well, it's official. I'm finally sold on Swagger. That was a promo for the die-hard fans, as most people watching ECW have no idea who Beulah is, or the night Dreamer became hardcore. Great cocky promo playing into Dreamer's recent losing streak, because most fans only know Dreamer as a credible jobber.

Later tonight is Finlay vs. Henry.

[Commercial Break]

A video package airs on the title change last night, which makes it look incredibly epic. They're always so good at making okay matches seem pivotal.

Finlay and Hornswoggle come out again with eighteen minutes left in the hour for the main event match.

3 -- FINLAY (w/Hornswoggle) vs. MARK HENRY (w/Tony Atlas) - #1 Contender's match

I'm definitely not excited for this one, because I'm still remembering that triple threat match with these two and Evan Bourne a few weeks ago, and how boring the parts of the match without Bourne were. Or, for that matter, the one-on-one match they had which was equally boring. Finlay loses a battle of strength with Henry early on, and for their benefit, the crowd is more alive tonight than it has been in the past. Finlay takes some hard shots at Henry, but Henry comes right back with a headbutt. Looks like Finlay's cheek has been opened up. Finlay comes back with more hard shots on Henry before Henry forces him down again.

[Q4]

Finlay rolls to the apron and hits Henry at the midsection, but goes down again. The crowd is quieting down now. A few more shots by Finlay, and another shot by Henry of greater strength. It worked as a match opener, but now they've basically been running the same routine since then. We go into the final commercial with twelve minutes left in the show.

[Commercial Break]

Out of the break, Mark Henry is working Finlay's left arm. Striker reminds us that Finlay is actually right-handed. Finlay gets shoved hard into the turnbuckle column. Finlay makes a brief comeback with some elbows, but Henry gives him a shoulder quickly. These matches, while great as far as making Henry look like a monster, are really not fun, especially when they're going to fill over 15 minutes of an hour-long show. Henry goes for the seated senton in the corner, but Finlay gets out of the way, and finally goes on the fast, vicious attack. Henry throws Finlay out of the ring. Atlas tries to get involved, but Finlay takes him down for his trouble. The shillelagh is in the corner, and I wonder how the referee doesn't notice and call this out. Hornswoggle tries to come off the top, but Henry grabs him and goes for a World's Strongest Slam. Finlay takes Henry's legs out from under him, but only gets two. Henry goes after Hornswoggle, who's still in the ring, and throws both him and Finlay into the ring. Henry goes for a running splash, but misses both. While the referee tends to Hornswoggle, Finlay gets the shillelagh shot in for the pin and the win. As he's getting the pin, the shillelagh is still in the corner, which continues my point from earlier.

WINNER: Finlay in 16:00. Better match between these two, if nothing to write home about. I just find it interesting that this proves Henry's point from earlier in the show, about Finlay not being able to win a match without some kind of interference. I'd be really interested to see some statistics on the last time that Finlay won a match without the use of either Hornswoggle or the shillelagh.

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