The ECW Digest - 20th October 2009
20/10/2009
Hello and welcome the all new ECW Digest.
We’re sticking with the new look for now as we’ve had some pretty positive feedback.
We’d still love to know what you think about the changes so please feel free to get in touch via the Contact Us page, or any of the usual email addresses.
On with the show!
Quick Links
Opening Segment: A Washington Welcome
Match 1: Yoshi Tatsu Vs. Zack Ryder
Segment 3: The Scouting Continues
Match 2: Sheamus Vs. J.T. Quinn
Segment 4: Burchill and The Hurricane
Main Event: Christian Vs. Chris Jericho
The ECW Digest
Opening Segment
A Washington Welcome
The show kicks off with Abraham Washington and Tony Atlas backstage.
Washington says that Raw isn’t the only brand that can have a successful black man in charge, then says that he is the host for the evening.
Chris Jericho walks in front of the camera and Washington chastises him.
Jericho says that he doesn’t care and asks where the General Manager’s office is.
Washington tells him and then says that he’d love to have him on the Abraham Washington Show, to which Jericho delivers a rather frosty reply and walks out of shot.
Match 1
ECW Championship #1 Contendership Match
Yoshi Tatsu
Vs.
Zack Ryder
As good as this match was, ECW feels a little pointless at the minute, with all the emphasis of Bragging Rights focused squarely on the Raw Vs. Smackdown rivalry.
No doubt Jericho’s presence tonight will be related to this, but personally I’d have liked ECW to have been more involved, perhaps something along the lines of Raw and Smackdown both trying to enlist the help of the Extreme brand.
Both Superstars performed very well in this match and it was clear to see that there is a lot to come from both of them.
Tatsu seemed to have the upper hand for the majority of the match and, rather disappointingly in my view, picked up the victory.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Tatsu. However, a Christian Vs. Tatsu match has no substance what so ever and the result is pretty much a dead cert title retention.
At least Ryder and Christian have a little bit of history between them. If the ECW Championship match at Bragging Rights is going to be anything other than forgettable, the wrestling is going to have to be out of this world.
Yoshi Tatsu wins by Pinfall and becomes the #1 Contender for the ECW Championship.
Segment 2
No Talent Exchange
Backstage Rosa Mendes is telling Tiffany how excited she is to be on ECW when Jericho enters.
Tiffany asks why he is there and he says like any good general he’s looking to improve his army.
He tells Tiffany he’s there to scout the talent to see if anyone is worthy of joining team Smackdown.
Tiffany tells him that he can’t just barge in and cherry-pick ECW’s talent for his team, so he can either just stay and enjoy the show, or leave.
Segment 3
The Scouting Continues
Elsewhere backstage Regal and his cronies are loitering when Jericho approaches them.
After some ass kissing between the two, Jericho tells Regal he’s here to scout talent but ECW’s pious G.M has stopped him from doing so.
Regal tells him that Tiffany only THINKS she calls the shots and he’s sure they can come to some kind of arrangement.
Jericho says he’d take Kozlov & Jackson over Cryme Tyme any day of the week, then Tiffany appears and asks what’s going on.
She tells Jericho he is no longer welcome and Regal’s constant disregard for her authority is the reason he constantly finds himself ‘on the outside, looking in’ with regards to the ECW title picture.
Jericho informs her that as one half of the Unified Tag Champions he can appear on any brand and do whatever he likes.
Tiffany says that seeing as he is here he may as well compete, against the best ECW has to offer; Christian.
Match 2
Singles Match
Sheamus
Vs.
J.T. Quinn
Great, we have some ‘local talent’ action back on ECW again.
Unfortunately I can’t tell you anything about this kid, as there doesn’t seem to be a scrap of information out there.
Unsurprisingly the youngster lost, although the manner in which he did so was slightly different to the usual squash match.
Sheamus roundly beat Quinn, hit his finisher, then lifted his shoulder off the mat when he was assured of a 3 count.
As The Celtic Warrior looked to inflict more pain Shelton Benjamin hit the ring and attacked.
Shelton beat the hell out of Sheamus, sending him fleeing up the ramp to keep this feud going.
Sheamus wins by Disqualification.
Segment 4
Burchill and The Hurricane
Paul Burchill makes his way to the ring accompanied by his delightful (as long as she doesn’t talk) sister Katie Lea.
After a clip of his match against The Hurricane last week finishes playing, Burchill says that for years Helms has pretended to be something he’s not and has been roundly praised for it.
Whereas he and Katie are well spoken with good family values, yet they are treated badly by the WWE Universe.
He blames the American mentality, saying in the U.K our hero’s are people who have thrived in the arts, science and politics, while they are so lacking in role models that they now look up to someone who walks around in his pants rescuing cats from trees.
He says that by beating The Hurricane last week he claimed a victory for common sense, and tonight he wants Gregory Helms to come to the ring and admit that he’s the better man.
The Hurricane emerges from the back and looks rather dejected as he makes his way to the ring.
Burchill tells him to unmask and let the truth set him free.
The Hurricane removes his mask to reveal that it isn’t Gregory Helms at all but some nobody (probably local talent).
Burchill dumps him out of the ring, then as he focuses on the top of the ramp, the real Hurricane sneaks up from behind him and attacks with a special kendo stick that the commentary team refer to as a ‘Hurri-Cane’.
Main Event Match
Singles Match
Christian
Vs.
Chris Jericho
At the start of the match Matt Striker points out that it’s been almost 6 years since these two Superstars shared the same ring.
It’s been a long time since the heady days of ‘Vitamin C’ and the Un-Americans, and while both men have lost some hair since then, they have picked up some gold and at least in my opinion have upped their game significantly.
This was again a really good match and it’s a shame that there’s so little scope for these two to meet in the near future.
I think if Jeri-Show can keep hold of the belts until Edge returns, a Jeri-Show Vs. Edge & Christian rivalry could be absolutely epic, but it’s certainly a big IF at the minute.
The climax of the match saw both Superstars come close to picking up the victory, but it was Christian who picked up a huge win by first escaping the Walls of Jericho then hitting the KillSwitch.
Christian wins by Pinfall.
