By Dominick Mayer, PWTorch contributor

ECW on Sci-Fi TV alt. perspective report
December 16, 2008
Report by Dominick Mayer, PWTorch contributor

Title sequence.

Striker and Grisham run down tonight's main event: Punk & Kofi & Ricky Ortiz vs. Miz & Morrison & Swagger.

Matt Hardy makes his way out to the ring. Striker talks about Hardy being elated due to his brother being a fellow world champion. So great that I'm actually able to write about that. I won't lie; I never thought it'd happen. And yes, I'm aware he might end up a transitional champion, but I could care less.

Hardy talks about his brother, and how he's managed to prove people wrong. When they came in ten years ago, they wanted to prove people wrong. When they pursued singles careers, they knew they would come together again. On Smackdown Friday, there's going to apparently be a big celebration.

Then, Chavo comes out, mock-clapping for Hardy's speech. He says that Vickie sent him out to tell him that Jeff stole the title out from under Edge's nose. As a Guerrero, he knows when things are stolen. Chavo then says that Edge is going to take care of Jeff, and he's going to take care of Matt. Teddy Long comes out in a downright embarrassing elf outfit and announces that Chavo has been given an ECW Title match. Right now.

1 -- CHAVO GUERRERO VS. ECW champion MATT HARDY – ECW Championship match

Hardy gets off to a dominant start, sending Chavo to the outside nearly immediately.
Back in the ring, Chavo gets on offense briefly, and right as he takes Hardy to the mat, time for a break.

[Commercial Break]

Out of break, Hardy is escaping from a Chavo armbar. Some back and forth action, and Chavo gives Hardy a spinning heel kick for two. Chavo locks another armbar in, but Hardy lifts and slams him to break free. That was impressive.

[Q2]

At 8:00, Hardy hits a bulldog for two. Chavo and Hardy end up on the second rope together, and after some struggling back and forth, Hardy hits a Russian leg sweep for a believable two. Hardy follows with a Side Effect for another two. He goes for the Twist of Fate, but Chavo breaks free and gets two of the Three Amigos suplexes, but Hardy counters the third into a Twist of Fate for the win.

WINNER: Hardy in 10:00 to retain the ECW championship. Good showcase for the champion. Looks like they're not worrying about keeping Chavo credible anymore; he's basically filling the Tommy Dreamer role at this point, as talented jobber to the stars.

Raw Rebound: Batista and Cena make nice, and then Batista gets punted in the head. I'm interested to see where Batista goes, if Orton ends up feuding with Cena. A Batista-Jericho feud, maybe? I don't know how I feel about that, but it seems the most logical move.

[Commercial Break]

Last week, Boogeyman came back and was met with indifference. Then, he spit worms into a man's mouth.

Meanwhile, Finlay and Hornswoggle are dancing around in the ring. Odd segue. Hornswoggle throws water at Striker and steals his Slammy. Striker is not pleased. The Belfast Brawl at Armageddon gets recapped. Grisham: "I can't believe you let Hornswoggle take your Slammy. He's one of the few Superstars you're taller than." So great.

2 -- FINLAY (w/Hornswoggle) VS. GAVIN SPEARS

Finlay, for some reason, has gotten the designated jobber this week. He goes on the offense, hard. He stomps on Spears' ribs. Shoulder tackle and more stomping. A squash seems weird for somebody as popular as Finlay. Hornswoggle distracts Spears enough to allow Finlay to jump at him. Spears with a chinlock, but Finlay escapes with a jawbreaker. Hard clothesline from Finlay.

[Q3]

After the usual round of setup moves, Finlay hits the Emerald Fusion for the win.

WINNER: Finlay in 4:00. They must not have anything for Finlay to do that doesn't involve Mark Henry. Sadly, I can't really think of anything either.

[Commercial Break]

The most recent DX merch commercial. I don't have to say it, everyone else already has.

Striker managed to reclaim his Slammy over break, evidently. He throws to backstage, where D.J. Gabriel and Alicia Fox are dancing. Mark Henry and Tony Atlas show up as Santa and a reindeer. I want a picture of this to put in every room of my house. This just made my day. Henry retools "The Night Before Christmas" to talk about destroying Finlay and Hornswoggle. And I quote: "His reindeer Tony followed close with his sack." Question: Did any of the writers catch that line? No?

Elsewhere backstage, Tiffany thanks Kofi and Punk for coming back to ECW. First time in a while the brand extension was established. Ortiz gives Tiffany a Ricky O rally towel for Christmas. Punk makes fun of him in what seems like a bit of a heelish promo. The towel is terrible, though, so I can't help but side with Punk. Pretty funny interplay with Kofi and Punk though; it's a shame they never got to show that as, you know, the tag champions.

[Commercial Break]

After break, Miz, Morrison and Swagger are already in the ring. Striker recaps the house show title change over the weekend.

[Q4]

Kofi is out first for the face team, then Ricky O. and Punk round it out to a huge pop.

3 -- THE MIZ & JOHN MORRISON & JACK SWAGGER VS. KOFI KINGSTON & RICKY ORTIZ & C.M. PUNK

Early on, Morrison gets offense from the faces. He grabs the ropes and the action breaks down, ending in Swagger taking a flying body block from Kofi and a lame clothesline from Ortiz that was accompanied by a lot of yelling. Punk, Ortiz and Kofi celebrate early in the ring as we go to commercial. Second early cut-off of the show.

[Commercial Break]

Punk is still working on Morrison out of the break. Kofi gets tagged in, and I can see this being where the heels take over, sadly. It should be Ortiz. Kofi hits a nice arm drag and a nicer monkey flip, cleaning house on Miz and Morrison. He goes for corner punches on Morrison, but Swagger knocks him to the outside. Punk and Ortiz go to check on Kofi, eliminating a chance for the heels to jump him. Good logic there, it's not used often enough. Kofi gets pulled into the corner, where Swagger takes over.

Nice spot where Kofi leaps for a hot tag, but Swagger catches him in midair. Action breaks down once Ortiz gets the hot tag, and Ortiz comes in with fire. It actually stays on the good side of cheesy. Ortiz with a flying dropkick off the top rope for a near two, before Morrison breaks the pin up. Everybody's flying around outside the ring, and finally, Swagger swats Ortiz down as he springboards off the top rope. Swagger then hits the gutwrench powerbomb for the win.

WINNERS: Miz & Morrison & Swagger in 10:00. Above-average six-man tag. Ortiz, relatively speaking, looked the best he has to date here. Kofi, as always, is the standout performer that's getting pushed the least in a given match. It's strange to say, but this match was a showcase of what might be the stars of the future, if they ever make it out of the mid-card.

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