I won't do a recap but will write a few words about the show.
Hardcore Holly continuing to wrestle despite that gash in his back made him seem pretty tough. And although she didn't do much, it was nice to see Francine back in the ring.
The Holly/RVD match got good after the table suplex spot, which was brilliant. Rarely do we see someone actually get suplexed to the floor (often it's a tease for a counter suplex back inside the ring), and not only do they complete the spot, they both go through the pre-set table. I think everyone knew how bad Holly's back was except Holly, and if I'm the ref, I'd ask him if he wanted to keep going without describing the injury. But the post-table spots were good.
The best bit was when RVD whipped Holly to the turnbuckle, grabbed a chair, rolled toward him for a monkey flip, and left the chair on the mat for Holly to splat onto in midroll. Holly countered the flip into a powerbomb onto the chair. Holly certianly got some crowd love for his toughness as he continued to take whips into corners and falls onto that really ugly slash (24 stitches Joey told us later). Add this to his previous Angle match where he continued to wrestle with a broke arm. He may be a jerk, but he's a tough jerk.
But the main event was awful. Sandman has never been more one-note, and once the cane was removed by Striker, he had nothing by punches for Show. Show, on the other hand, is determined to break the record for most bleeding during a WWE-related title reign. Striker took the cane in retaliation for Sandman interrupting his promo against the curtain-jerking Jim Ross. Ross got to smack Striker with the cane and swill beer with Sandman in a moment too reminiscent of those Steve Austin segments with JR.
The Ariel/Francine catfight was outright filler, lasting maybe a minute before Thorn interfered and ate a hefty chairshot from Balls. Ariel continues to work the gimmick nicely.
CM Punk and Knox have a face-to-face over Kelly, whose gimmick now seems to involve telling people she's not old enough to drink. Punk starts his promo by saying he wants to compete against the best in ECW, and now we have to watch him work against Knox? Phooey to that.
Also, Rene Dupree comes dangerously close to unleashing the DEAN-lauded wang on basic cable in his 15-second promo for himself.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
To be consistent, considering Holly's history of injuries I didn't NEED to see him suplexed through a table on the floor and cutting himself down to the white meat. I'm all for fighting spirit and balls to the wall competition, but I don't need to see established wrestlers in their 40s doing garbage matches. It's disturbing to me. I do get that for younger guys a) they're bodies can handle it and b) it helps them generate buzz and attention in the industry.
That said, great match and Holly really showed that he can still go and that he's one of the toughest guys in the business.
This was the most basic show the E has put on in forever. Quick opening segment to put heat on Stryker and Sandman, long violent match, short catfight, couple of promos (Kelly point out she's 19 is still hot and the Dupree one was y'know disturbing) and a main event that tied back into the opening segment. Fun show, though lacked anything that would generate, outside the Holly accident.
Why do all ECW backstage promos start with "I'm" or "My name is"? I just noticed this. It'd be OK if this was one guy's gimmick, but it's everybody. "My name is CM Punk." "My name is Balls Mahoney." "My name is the Sandman." Why does CM Punk have to tell us who he is and why he's here in ECW for the sixth or seventh time? I got the point months ago.
(edited by Destrucity on 27.9.06 0754) "No one doesn't like Sabu!" -Tazz
Originally posted by DestrucityWhy do all ECW backstage promos start with "I'm" or "My name is"? I just noticed this. It'd be OK if this was one guy's gimmick, but it's everybody. "My name is CM Punk." "My name is Balls Mahoney." "My name is the Sandman." Why does CM Punk have to tell us who he is and why he's here in ECW for the sixth or seventh time? I got the point months ago.
(edited by Destrucity on 27.9.06 0754)
This is a WWE-wide problem. Even Rey Mysterio has caught the "stick to the script" disease.
Holly/RVD was match of the night. That gash on Holly's back was the nastiest thing I've seen in a while.
And I'm kinda of looking forward to Punk/Knox just to see to see Punk in a match longer than 5 minutes. And I'm not that down on Knox. I saw him in Deep South and thought he was okay but I know he hasn't shown much in ECW yet.
Originally posted by DestrucityWhy do all ECW backstage promos start with "I'm" or "My name is"? I just noticed this. It'd be OK if this was one guy's gimmick, but it's everybody. "My name is CM Punk." "My name is Balls Mahoney." "My name is the Sandman." Why does CM Punk have to tell us who he is and why he's here in ECW for the sixth or seventh time? I got the point months ago.
(edited by Destrucity on 27.9.06 0754)
It is annoying, especially because, once they got away from the introductory part of Punk's promo and he got into it with Knox, I was amazed at how natural Punk seemed on the mic. I'm not sure exactly what it was, and I'm not saying it was amazing or anything, but he actually seemed to be talking, not repeating memorized lines (Knox, unfortunately, didn't seem to be on the same level).
The rest of the show was generally good, especially the second half of RVD/Holly. That match started out slow, with some really sketchy clotheslines from Van Dam, but picked up about halfway through.