By Greg Parks, Torch specialist

ECW on SyFy
July 21, 2009
Taped earlier tonight in Richmond, Va.
Aired on SyFy Network


-WWE Open.

-ECW Open.

1- YOSHI TATSU vs. WILLIAM REGAL

Regal, apparently not having learned from Shelton Benjamin, got the mic before the match and told Yoshi that he despises all foreigners. Loud “you suck” chants for Regal right off the bat. Matt Striker said that Regal has wrestled in Japan often, and had even injured the trainer of Tatsu at one point. Kicks by Tatsu took effect on Regal, but Regal punched Tatsu right in the mouth to put him down. Modified Exploder suplex by Regal got him a two-count on three occasions. Regal really stretched the arms of Tatsu. Butterfly suplex from Regal where it was a delayed one and it looked like he was going to drop Tatsu on his head. Tatsu was grounded again by Regal, but the fans got behind him. Bit of a Pele kick from Tatsu got him out of the hold. Tatsu chopped away at Regal and kicked Regal to the mat. Double-knee in the corner, then a kick to the back of a seated Regal. Tatsu was caught going to the top. Regal missed a running knee and walked into a kick to the head by Tatsu, and made the pin for what Striker called “a huge upset.”

WINNER: Tatsu, at 6:05. A different match than you usually see on Tuesday nights, thanks to both men’s unique styles.

-Josh Mathews plugged Abraham Washington’s talk show, with guests Tommy Dreamer and Christian, still to come tonight.

[Commercial Break]

2- EZEKIEL JACKSON vs. MIKE WILLIAMS

Zeke now has the Brawl For All/XFL theme as his (along with some voice-overs). I think we’ve seen Williams before. And Striker confirms it. Jackson took Wiliams down at the outset with one move and it looked like he could’ve pinned him after that. Then he took the young man down with a hard clothesline. Uranage and that’s it. Well, he’s got the red tights, why not go all the way and give him the Pearl River Plunge?

WINNER: Jackson, at :47.

After the match, Vladimir Kozlov strode to the ring with a purpose. Kozlov stared at Zeke, then picked Williams up and gave him his finisher, the Uranage/Spinebuster combo, then walked off. Interesting. Oh, and enough with the Uranage’s- Sheamus has that as his finisher too (into a back-breaker).

-Mathews and Striker talked on camera about women, and Striker sent it to an “Ask the Divas” segment. The first question was what they look for in a guy. Eve said she looked for someone athletic and Maria said it’s all about how they treat the girl. Another question was about how to deal with a high-maintenance girl. Kelly said to be honest and the Bellas said if the guy wants too much space, he may not want a girlfriend. I can’t believe I just transcribed that.

[Commercial Break]

3- GOLDUST vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN

After tying up and exchanging some blows, Goldust got the advantage with a clothesline. Running shoulder to the gut and Goldust had to be restrained out of the corner. That allowed Benjamin to drop him face-first on the corner turnbuckle. Shelton applied a neck submission. Goldust tried to get the crowd into it, and he did for a bit, even though they weren’t in it up to that point. Goldust missed a charge, but ran into a powerslam from Goldy. Atomic drop, followed by a bulldog got the bizarre one a two-count. Goldust missed a clothesline and Benjamin countered with a back-breaker. Benjamin choked Goldust over the top rope, then came back in and hit Paydirt for the victory.

WINNER: Benjamin, at 4:11. Looks like they’re slowly trying to repair Benjamin’s image since that loss to Yoshi.

-Striker once again mentioned The Abraham Washington Show, which will take place later.

[Commercial Break]

-Sheamus was backstage, and he cut a promo saying the Irish in ECW used to be about dancing around the ring with a little person and carrying a shillaleigh. But he said there won’t be any rejoicing when he takes out everyone’s heroes on ECW.

-Striker and Mathews talked about the Night of Champions card.

-Gregory Helms was backstage with Paul Burchill and Katie Lea. Burchill made a crack about Helms. Burchill talked about his opponent for tonight, Tyler Reks when off-camera, someone sounded like they were choking. Burchill went after him and it was Goldust, doing his Tourettes thing. Burchill yelled at him for being so distracting and Goldust apologized and slapped him in the middle of another one of his bouts with the disease. Katie stopped Paul from going after Goldust and told him to focus on his match.

-Tyler Reks came out to make his ECW in-ring debut next.

[Commercial Break]


-Mathews plugged that Shaquille O’Neal would host Raw next week.

4- TYLER REKS vs. PAUL BURCHILL

Burchill, sporting a black arm-band, got caught with a flying clothesline from Reks. Striker called him a “dynamic dude,” a less-than-subtle reference to Johnny Ace. Burchill came back with double knees in the corner to the back. Rear chin-lock. Crowd wasn’t ready to get behind Reks to break out of it. Reks with a back elbow then a springboard cross-body for two. Burchill didn’t stay down for long, as he landed a Samoan drop on the youngster. Burchill with another chin-lock. Reks broke out, once again without the crowd’s help, but Burchill pulled the dreads of Reks to put him on his back. Back to the chin-lock. OK, three is excessive. The two men traded punches and Reks got a shot to the stomach. They traded pinfall attempts. Roll-up finally got him the win.

WINNER: Reks, at 5:18. Felt at least double that long.

While celebrating, Reks was attacked by Burchill and tossed out of the ring.

-Abraham Washington was walking backstage, looking to get ready for his talk show segment, which is next.

[Commercial Break]

-Tony Chimel introduced the “star” of the Abraham Washington Show.....Abraham Washington. Shocking, I know. They had the set-up on the top of the ramp this week. Washington was greeted by boos, naturally. He said after receiving calls and letters, he’s doing things bigger and better this week, with two main event superstars. Washington introduced Christian first. Then it was the first two-time guest, Tommy Dreamer- but not after Washington made fun of Dreamer and called him “the man who will do anything for a Klondike Bar.” Dreamer was dressed to the nines for this one. Washington invited the men to sit down and relax. They even had mugs on the coffee table of the Abraham Washington Talk Show. Washington said Dreamer takes up a lot of space on that couch and said he has child-bearing hips. He said things are going to get ugly between the two on Sunday. He also said Christian has a face made for radio (that must be a Vince line). Christian made fun of Washington’s jokes but did agree with Washington that he and Dreamer are great friends. Christian said he’s the technician of the team, among other things, and Washington asked him to hook him up with free cable. OK, that was not bad.

Dreamer said he brings the ECW Championship to the table when they team together. Christian proclaimed that he’s going to win the title again this Sunday. Washington brought up the fact that Christian has been beaten for the title before but Christian blamed Jack Swagger for the loss. Dreamer, who won it from him, took exception to that. Washington made another fat joke about Tommy. Dreamer said he’d had enough of his bad jokes and referred to him as lego-head. Dreamer said he takes a lot of pride in returning to Philadelphia as ECW Champion. Christian asked if Dreamer was going to “take him to the extreme.” Dreamer said if that was the case, Christian wouldn’t be around for next week’s show. Christian asked if Dreamer was going to cry again if he retained the title. That was enough for both men to stand up and get in each others’ faces. Dreamer called it a slap in the face and then Christian actually did the deed. Dreamer knocked him over the couch and the two ended up staring each other down as the show ended. Some heel tendencies from Christian shown here.

We suggest these recent related articles...

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 10/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Roman Reigns & Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman

METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 10/4 & 10/7: IWGP World champ Okada vs. Roderick Strong main event, plus Briscoes vs. Time Splitters, more from "Field of Honor," Overall Reax

MCMAHON'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 10/7: TNA Title Series kicks off, Bound for Glory fall-out, more; Overall Reax