by Greg Parks, PWTorch Contributor

ECW on Sci-Fi review
February 10, 2009
Taped 2/10/09 in Fresno, Calif.
Aired on Sci-Fi Network

-WWE Open.

-A video recap of the Finlay-Jack Swagger feud aired.

-In the arena, Jack Swagger came out and he looked none too happy. He said he's been victimized and embarrassed the last few weeks. Swagger was also not happy about having to defend his ECW Title at No Way Out against Finlay. "You suck" chants from the crowd there. He said he'd take care of Finlay at No Way Out, but he's taking care of the real problem tonight. Then he called out Hornswoggle. Instead, Christian made his triumphant return (with slightly different theme music....I was hoping he'd return with his old one, the Waterproof Blonde one, but this re-make isn't bad). He got on the turnbuckle and acknowledged the crowd.

Swagger asked Christian what he was doing and the crowd started to chant his name. He said he was out there to save Swagger's life. He made fun of Swagger's speech impediment again. Christian then said it's been a while since his peeps have seen him and the crowd cheered. He said the reason he came to ECW was that title on Swagger's shoulder. He challenged the winner of the No Way Out match for a shot at the ECW Championship. Swagger said that wasn't going to happen. He told Christian he was no threat to him. Christian then popped Swagger in the head with the microphone. He headed up the ramp as Swagger fumed in the ring. Hey, ECW is newsworthy again. Still, quite the fall from joining Edge in that feud to challenging for the ECW Title, if in fact that was the plan. It does make sense to put him on ECW though, what with their lack of depth.

[Commercial Break]

-They replayed the shocking developments of moments ago.

-Jack Swagger was backtage with Teddy Long, asking him if he knew Christian was going to be back. Long said yeah, he signed him. Swagger said he was taking the rest of the night off, but Long instead put him in a match with Christian. Wow.

1- TOMMY DREAMER vs. THE MIZ

Dreamer immediately went to the outside and suckered Miz out there, taking advantage of him afterward in the ring. Soon after, Miz regained control with punches to the head. After a chin-lock, Tommy caught Miz with a clothesline and a spinebuster. Miz missed his corner clothesline and Dreamer brought him down to earth with a neck-breaker. Morrison got on the apron and Dreamer knocked him off. That, however, led to Miz hitting a unique jaw-breaker for the win.

WINNER: Miz, at 3:07.

-Tonight, the returning Christian faces Jack Swagger.

[Commercial Break]

-Backstage, Teddy Long was discussing the ECW Title match with Tiffany when Jamie Noble interrupted. He complained about what Boogey tried to do to him last week. Noble said he doesn't want a re-match but thinks he should be treated better. Someone else came in and Teddy brushed off Noble. It's a new superstar, Tyson Kidd, who was joined by Natalya. Apparently, he was trained in the Hart Dungeon. Tyson took a shot at Noble, who was still standing there

-Matt Striker and Todd Grisham discussed No Way Out.

-Christian was backstage getting ready for his match when Hornswoggle came in and ran a few laps around Christian. Finlay walked in and stared down Christian. He welcomed Christian to ECW then said he'll be watching the match later on. He said he won't have to go through Swagger to get to the ECW title, but he'll have to go through him.

[Commercial Break]

-A video aired hyping Evan Bourne's return.

2- TYSON KIDD vs. BAO NGUYEN

Striker said Kidd was the last trainee of the Dungeon. Hard kick to the back of the seated Nguyen. Jumping spin kick by Kidd for two. He then applied a rear chin-lock. More kicks by Nguyen, then a dropkick. Natalya was at ringside with Kidd. He finished Bao off with a springboard elbowdrop.

WINNER: Kidd, at 1:28. Not a bad debut for Kidd, but his height will likely hold him back a bit.

Jamie Noble came out to the stage afterward and stared down Kidd.

-Christian returns to the ring tonight against Jack Swagger.

[Commercial Break]

3- JACK SWAGGER vs. CHRISTIAN

Swagger took Christian down with a few waist-locks. Christian slapped Swagger after Jack backed him into the corner. Springboard into a sunset flip by Christian for two. I thought for sure we'd get some subtle TNA references here, like Christian being "On the Frontline of ECW tonight." Finlay and Hornswoggle came down to the ring for a closer look as the show went to break.

[Commercial Break]

Back to the show, Swagger had another waist-lock applied to Christian as Hornswoggle and Finlay were both guest announcing. Based on highlights, looks like Swagger owned Christian during the break. He continued to do so here, including hitting a corner clothesline. Swagger set Christian up on the top rope, but Christian hit a high Tornado DDT that got a two-count. Flying forearm by Christian , then a reverse DDT, vintage Christian! He missed a flying bodypress off the top and Swagger got an Oklahoma roll for two. Belly-to-belly suplex for two. Swagger and Christian were both on the apron and Swagger got behind him, trying to pull him off. Christian kicked Swagger through the ropes, but Swagger threw Christian into Finlay's lap. Swagger nailed Christian with a big boot. Swagger tried to undo the turnbuckle pad but the ref stopped him. He undid the opposite one and Christian surprised him with a roll-up for two. Hornswoggle got up on the apron as Finlay hit Swagger in the leg with the shillaleigh and Christian finished off Swagger with the Unprettier.

WINNER: Christian, at 11:32. Solid match...I wasn't sure if it would end with Swagger on a two-match losing streak heading into the PPV or whether they'd do a schmoz with Finlay. They didn't stay around long after the match.

Greg Parks has been covering Smackdown for PWTorch.com since January of 2007. You can also hear him every-other-week in the post-Raw audio show Monday nights in the Torch VIP audio section. Check out his column each week in the PDF-exclusive version of the Torch Newsletter. Comments, questions and feedback is welcome, and can be sent to g_man9784@yahoo.com.

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