By James Caldwell, PWTorch columnist

WWE's ECW on Sci-Fi TV Report
December 16, 2008 - Year 3, Week 29 (Week 133 overall)
Taped at WWE Studios
Report by James Caldwell, Torch columnist

The show started with Todd Grisham and Matt Striker standing in studio for the "Best Of 2008" show format. Matt Striker gladly gloated about their Slammy announce team victory, then clips aired from the '07 edition when Tazz shoved Joey Styles into a Christmas tree on the set.

First clip: C.M. Punk won the ECW Title, then faced Chavo Guerrero in January and lost the title when Edge helped Chavo capture the title.

Studio: Grisham and Striker talked about Punk failing to re-capture the title while La Familia proved to be too daunting of a task to overcome. Cue up the Mariachi attack on Chavo, then giving Chavo the G2S into the Gulf of Mexico. Classic.

Second clip: Punk winning the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 24 in March, then Punk cashing in his MITB briefcase on the June 23 Raw Draft show after Batista beat up Edge to provide the assist. Still a goosebump moment with Punk winning the World Title.

[Commercial Break]

Studio: Grisham grilled Striker on taking the G2S when he was a regular wrestling talent. Striker wasn't happy being ribbed by Grisham about that. Cue up Kane clips.

Third clip: WrestleMania 24 battle royale thingie to open the PPV with several "future endeavors" wrestlers featured before Kane eliminated Mark Henry to win. Then, the worst eight seconds of Chavo's life when Kane quickly defeated him for the ECW Title.

Striker's Classroom: Striker in studio to break down Kane, Big Show, and Mark Henry's measurements. Total weight is 1,156 pounds. Mass x Acceleration = force. Let's see it implemented at Night of Champions.

Fourth clip: Henry vs. Show vs. Kane for the ECW Title. Haha, the Mike Adamle voice-over from the PPV had him saying they weighed over 1,200 pounds. Someone went on a diet or Adamle was just being Adamle. Or Striker had inaccurate information.

[Commercial Break]

Dirt Sheet TV highlights: A lengthy video package aired on Miz & Morrison. They're not about lame attempts at humor or appealing to the lowest common denominator. They write up to their audience and if the mindless sheep don't get their brand of entertainment, that's their prob.

Studio: Grisham admitted he's jealous of Miz & Morrison. They're well-tanned and chicks dig them. Striker pointed out they're everything he's not. Striker then narrated clips of their 2008 year, capped off with Miz & Morrison capturing the World tag titles just a few days ago.

Fifth clip: Miz & Morrison vs. Cryme Tyme from the Cyber Sunday PPV in October. They aired a significant portion of the match, which was won by M&M.

Hardys video: Time for Matt and Jeff to split off as a once-in-a-while tag team and pursue their singles careers. They showed clips of Matt Hardy winning the ECW Title after the lengthy program against Mark Henry.

[Commercial Break]

Studio: Nothing quite like the love between a father and son, exemplified by Finlay and Hornswoggle via a video package. Grisham and Striker switched gears, then Grisham hyped Matt Hardy. Striker said Hardy's accomplishments over the last year have surpassed almost everyone on the roster. Grisham narrated clips of Hardy returning at WrestleMania in MITB to knock out MVP, then capturing the U.S. Title.

Sixth clip: After being drafted from Smackdown to Raw, Hardy wins the ECW Title at the Championship Scramble match a few months ago when he didn't even have to pin then-ECW champion Mark Henry.

[Commercial Break]

Video package: Evan Bourne highlights galore. Definitely needed Bourne highlights on this show, otherwise it wouldn't be a complete year-in-review episode.

Studio: Grisham said there may not be a more exhilarating star in wrestling right now, and Bourne won the Slammy award for Best Finishing move. Grisham interjected that Striker once took the Shooting Star Press and asked Striker what it felt like to see the move coming right down on him. Grisham enjoyed getting another one over Striker. They went to Cyber Sunday from October to re-visit Hardy vs. Bourne. Striker said it could be considered the ECW match of the year.

Seventh clip: Clips of Matt Hardy vs. Evan Bourne from Cyber Sunday when Bourne was that-close to winning the match and the ECW Title. Such a great match.

Studio: Striker said it was a fantastic, fantastic moment, especially with the handshake after the match. He then took a serious tone thanking all other announcers for allowing him to take this opportunity. Grisham put his hand on Striker's shoulder to thank him for the warm sentiment, but Striker wanted nothing to do with Grisham's touch. Grisham then quickly moved along to setting up a Tribute to the Troops clip.

Eighth clip: Highlight video package from the "Tribute to the Troops" trip to and show in Iraq. Included was President Bush's show intro message that WWE is certainly trying to get as much mileage out of as possible.

[Commercial Break]

Studio: Grisham talked about new superstars debuting on ECW, then the studio went retro disco and Striker tried to dance like D.J. Gabriel. Cue up the obligatory video package on Jack Swagger, the crown jewel in the ECW talent initiative. Striker then talked about Jeff Hardy winning the WWE Title for the first time at Armageddon last week.

Post-match Exclusive: Matt Hardy came out on stage to congratulate Jeff on his title victory and celebrate with him in the ring. Matt and Jeff posed in opposite corners and were shown hugging it up for a while. No clip of Triple H shaking Jeff's hand, but they showed Matt and Jeff standing tall to wrap up the show. Matt and Jeff are fighting champions, but heading into 2009, which superstars are going to be breathing down their necks for the respective titles.

Studio: Grisham shined up the Slammy award for Best Announce team, then gloated one more time. He wanted a big high-five from Striker, who accepted and they did one of those "flying high-fives in slow-motion" before leading into a video package on the 2008 ECW highlights to cap the show.

We welcome your 0-10 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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