ECW 9/26
For the first time since the show went on the air, I can honestly say that ECW on Tuesday night was indeed, extreme. That statement can be made thanks to one barn burning match that opened the show and went well past when it probably should have between RVD and Hardcore Holly. The match, while getting off to a somewhat slow start, easily ended up being the best and most hardcore match that ECW has been able to produce since its return.
The match got way over after Holly suplexed RVD onto a table from the ring apron. In doing so, Holly received one of the most truly sickest cuts we have seen in some time, a 24-stich gasher on his back that had no problem looking like it could have been a lot worse. Tazz and Joey Styles pointed out numerous times the moment it happened when he hit the table, but it was kind of hard to tell on TV since the table came up when it broke and you couldn't see the actual back get cut. But trust me, if you saw the gash, you had to cringe.
The other sick shot in the match was when Holly dropped RVD on a chair, and it looked like he really took the shot hard on his neck. Overall, the matches ending came with, after numerous high chair shots, RVD finally got the frog splash and eventually the pin. Both men had their music play after the match, and as Holly was quickly getting bandaged up, he got a solid ovation from the crowd, leading me to believe that once he returns he will get cheered.
I realize that unless you want guys injured and possibly maimed all over the place, you simply cannot pull out matches like this each week, but to me, this was what ECW was supposed to be about when it came back. This match had all the feel of a PPV match, and it was for sure one that you felt that you could watch again from beginning to end once it was over. Again, I know you can't do it every week, but once in a great while it is good to see that the show can still pull out a match like this.
Other than that, the show was not all that much. Ariel and Francine went at it for about 30 seconds before Kevin Thorn and then eventually Balls Mahoney interfered, leading I guess to either a draw or a win for Francine via DQ. And is it me or is Ariel downright fat? There was a shot of her outside the ring after the match when she was kneeling to check on Thorn, and it looked like she totally had a beer gut. Maybe its me, not sure, but I thought it was interesting to point out with week after week of "Divas" that you roll out a chick that could be female equivalent of Umaga.
The "main event" and I say that loosely after the Holly-RVD match, was Sandman getting a title shot vs Big Show. It was a decent match that you knew in the end would have interference from Matt Striker costing Sandman the match, and of course that is exactly what happened. The match was okay, with Show bleeding from a couple of cane shots, and Sandman bleeding because he's Sandman and can bleed from simply scratching his head for 2 seconds.
The show also had a quick back and forth between C.M. Punk, Kelly Kelly (who continues to point out she's not even legal to drink or enter a casino) and Mike Knox. The story is that Kelly likes Punk, and that Knox is, of course, jealous. The line of the night had to be Knox asking Punk if he "had a woman." I wonder how Kelly Kelly's parents feel about her being involved with two 28-year-old men?
I hope they take a look at this weeks show and try to copy the formula for future shows. I know you can't have each match be RVD-Holly, but the product would greatly improve if the guys and gals cared as much about the product as those guys did on Tuesday night.
