Official ECW on Sci Fi 6/20/06 Discussion Thread: A Suicidal Statement

[Azriel]

A Suicidal Statement
By Brett Hoffman
June 19, 2006


Last night on RAW, Extreme Championship Wrestling delivered on a promise from their spokesman, Paul Heyman. That promise, was that RAW would be under siege at the hands of the hardcore ECW wrestlers. Heyman manipulated Jonathan Coachman into giving him a dream tag-team match for ECW on Sci Fi, Sabu once again delivered a crushing blow to John Cena and Rob Van Dam made a 5-star statement to the Rated-R Superstar.

With RAW in complete disarray, mostly a result of the absence of Mr. McMahon, and the presence of D-Generation X, Heyman seized the opportunity to take advantage of a vulnerable Jonathan Coachman. The ECW representative backed Coachman into a corner, making a proposal that RAW’s Executive Assistant had no choice but to accept. “Jonathon, I realize you’re having a really rough evening, surely you realize I’m not here alone. In your parking lot I have a bus load of my ECW rebels, ready to tear Monday Night RAW apart if I give the word. Tonight, we could have a full scale invasion of RAW. I want to negotiate... Tomorrow night on Sci Fi, I’m envisioning an inter-promotional dream tag team match. Edge, with Lita, will team up with the Legend Killer Randy Orton, and on the other side, I see ECW’s Olympic Champion Kurt Angle, teaming up with ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Rob Van Dam. (watch the video)

Fearing the ramifications of playing hardball with the ECW spokesman, Coachman relented. But Heyman wasn’t done. Before letting Jonathan off the hook, Heyman demanded a match for RAW. “Last week on RAW, your John Cena took a steel chair and wrapped it around the head of ECW’s Balls Mahoney. Balls didn’t deserve it. It was an unprovoked attack typical of a thug like John Cena. So tonight, I propose Balls Mahoney vs. John Cena.” Again fearing retribution, Coachman gave in. Heyman, always the master manipulator, had done it again.

The match between Balls and Cena was exactly what the fans expected, a short and brutal slugfest. The two exchanged a series of violent right hands before things finally broke down. Balls, perhaps feeling out of his element reached for his trademark steel chair. When he turned around, Cena was waiting for him and brought him down with a drop toe hold. Moments later, Balls was tapping out to the STFU. Despite a letdown in the match itself, ECW would get its revenge in the form of a post-match attack.

ECW’s Suicidal, Homicidal, Genocidal, Death-Defying Sabu made his way to the ring and unleashed another brutal attack on his Vengeance opponent. First, a chair shot incapacitated the former WWE Champ. Then, with Cena laid out on the announce table, Sabu executed his patented Triple Jump Legdrop off the top rope, crashing through Cena to the arena floor. Six days away from Vengeance, Cena was once again introduced to the world of hardcore, and in the process, left a softened, bloody mess. Moments after the match, it was announced that their meeting at Vengeance would be fought under Extreme Rules. (watch the video)


Later on RAW, Extreme Championship Wrestling struck again. WWE and ECW World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam delivered a post match assault on his Vengeance opponent and challenger to his gold, Edge. After his victory over the legendary Ric Flair, Edge took the opportunity to celebrate with Lita, and his One Night Stand partner Mick Foley. With his back turned, RVD came through the crowd and stormed the ring. Van Dam took out both Edge and Foley, and delivered a soaring 5-Star Frog Splash on the Rated-R Superstar. Less than a week from Vengeance, the first shot was fired, and it was landed by ECW’s Rob Van Dam. (watch the video)

Tonight, ECW will again broadcast live on Sci-Fi. Last Tuesday, ECW was both Sci Fi, and the entire cable world’s No. 1 rated show. After what happened on RAW with ECW dominating the action, things are only going to heat up as the road to Vengeance continues. See the extreme action for yourself when the new breed is unleashed at 10/9 CT, live and only on Sci Fi.

[crash99]

I think tonight will be a huge improvement. And even though the tag match isn't quite ECW, at the very least it can be a good match. So, let's see what happens.

[Azriel]

Even though I said Thunder might jinx it from what he said last night, it really can't get worse tonight.

[crash99]

Even though I said Thunder might jinx it from what he said last night, it really can't get worse tonight.

I don't really discount anything anymore, but I'd be shocked if it was even worse tonight. I see a huge improvement.

[McLegend]

No way is it possible to be as bad as it was last week.

[crash99]

SABU!!!!!!

[St. Jimmy]

opening with Mamaluke/Sabu. Hopefully it's a good match.

[Azriel]

Who's the Tarot chick?

[St. Jimmy]

good match (so far) and i love how they have most of the house lights off.

[Azriel]

This is definitely more like it.

[St. Jimmy]

chair to the pills..... OOOH.

[St. Jimmy]

that's more fuckin' like it.

[crash99]

Decent little match. Much better than anything last week.

[Skippord]

Good Match

[Azriel]

That was a sweet little match.

Okay, Kelly's hot, but she needs to shape up a bit in the promo department

[St. Jimmy]

i sincerly think that "Kelly" is totally for the nerdy Sci-Fi fanboys.

[Azriel]

That was a sweet little match.

Okay, Kelly's hot, but she needs to shape up a bit in the promo department

[crash99]

Guess this is what happens to Dreamer now since he's not a booker anymore.

[CYCLOPTERSAURUS]

WWE squashing another ECW wrestler. Way to make these guys look like jobbers.

[crash99]

Macho Libre? Oh boy.

[Skippord]

Sandman Pwns Macho Libre

[St. Jimmy]

lmao. Sandman.

[Azriel]

Uh oh, Cena's here.

[rob11]

Sandman actually got a pop from a WWE crowd!

[Skippord]

And he has got a set of balls on him

[Azriel]

is Jack Black coming on SD tonight?

[Skippord]

LOL RVD

[crash99]

Cena has arrived.

[crash99]

lol, Cena: Rob. Sabu. Scumbag.

[crash99]

I don't care, I'll admit it: I love Cena.

[St. Jimmy]

?

[Skippord]

Whats this guy

[Azriel]

Sounds like someone has a boyfriend

[Savio]

MAtt Mor-mor-mor-gan!

[Azriel]

I knew that guy looked familiar. Hmm, you think we might be having a Marc Mero/Sable thing happening here?

[Boondock Saint]

TEST!

[Azriel]

How come Heyman is never referenced as like the owner of ECW? He's always addresed as a spokesman. makes you wonder then, who is considered the owner of ECW?

[crash99]

Test, holy shit.

[Azriel]

Yankees win!

[Savio]

:lol: at that fan though ""WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?....JESUS CHRIST LET HER FINISH!!"

----------

WOOO Test

[Azriel]

Did I miss something?

[St. Jimmy]

Test in ECW could be really good.

[crash99]

I think this should be a good match.

[Azriel]

What about Test? I was checking on the Yankees score

[Boondock Saint]

They had one of those Test is coming to ECW promo vids.

[The Taker]

No way is it possible to be as bad as it was last week.
wanna bet???

[Azriel]

Good match so far.

[Azriel]

I think Lita almost had a falling out there

[Savio]

How come Heyman is never referenced as like the owner of ECW? He's always addresed as a spokesman. makes you wonder then, who is considered the owner of ECW?Teddy Long; Holla Holla Holla!

[Volchok]

Damn I missed the Test promo video thingy.

[McLegend]

wanna bet???
It's not nearly as bad as last week

[owenbrown]

Excuse me, while I go throw up because this ECW is a shell of its former self because of shitty WWE bookers and Vince McMahon who cannot let Paul Heyman write it by himself. :nono: :rant: :mad: :foc: :wtf:

[6to1]

yea this is alot better then last week, kelly even had a little better story

[Boondock Saint]

Yeah I'd say tonight is a definite improvement. Nothing spectacular, but there was a better flow to it, it looked better, was more entertaining. Again not great but it was a step-up.

[crash99]

Looks like RVD's losing the belt on Sunday, as he has gotton the upper hand MOnday and now again tonight.

[Azriel]

That was a pretty sweet match indeed. not bad for 1 hour.

[Azriel]

Yeah, RVD is going to lose Sunday. that was pretty much a given and Edge will be another transitional champion.

[loopydate]

I love Taz and all, but I really don't like him as the color commentator. Makes the show feel way too much like SmackDown. Let Joey call it himself or bring in Gertner or Cyrus for color. Taz is too...restrained or something. He sounds like a WWE announcer, not an ECW announcer.

Just one of many things wrong witht he product, but that's the one that's bugging me at the moment.

And did Cena need to actually be there tonight? He was obviously going to get the squealing pop. Why not have the challenge made over the phone or something? Or why couldn't he make it on RAW? They seriously need to keep him off of ECW. Yes, he's been more entertaining lately, but every time he shows up on ECW, he reminds me that I'm not really watching ECW.

They've got a deep enough roster that's getting deeper with all the debuts/hype videos tonight (Test, Shelly, another vampire tease). I think they've got enough people now where they don't need the WWE rub.

[Azriel]

Anyway, TONS better than last week. Certainly got me hyped for Vengance. Goodnight everybody

[Savio]

Loopy can finally get new pictures.

[Azriel]

One more point before I go. Definitely agree with you loopy about Taz. He isn't much of a "color" guy anyway. He's too agreeable with Joey. isn't the purpose of the color guy is that he's supposed to oppose the PBP guy? It's great seeing Taz there and all, but they need someone else there.

[crash99]

Definetley a much better show than last week, but I wouldn't call it good on it's own. As a lot of people are saying it still feels like just another WWE show. While the new ECW probably won't ever be or feel like the old ECW, it still doesn't mean it should be like every other WWE show. They need to stop with the Raw invasion, and let the show form its own identity on its own. Hopefully once Vengeance is over, it will stop, and the show can just be ECW. They have talent, and more talent debuting and coming in, and I just wish Paul Heyman would be give the confidence to run the show on it's own.

Anyway, much better than last week, and hopefully it will keep getting better.

[Crimson]

Well after the ppv...there won't be anymore RAW crossovers so we should get some better shows. We pretty much know RVD will lose the title so maybe on next week's show they will have some little tourny thing for a new championship.

I agree with loopy, I think Taz should get his ass back in shape and wrestle again and get in a different commentator.

And does anyone see any of the 3 ECW guys winning on the ppv? (Sabu,RVD, Angle). I can't see how the WWE would make all of them lose making ECW look weak, but then again it's hard to picture one of them winning seeing as Orton and Cena got the short end on the last ppv.

[loopydate]

Loopy can finally get new pictures.

I did a little Dance Of Joy when that promo hit. Maybe I'll actually be more motivated to promo more often.

And did anyone else mark out for the "Point & Click" at the end of the video? Or am I just a huge mark for myself?

[What Would Kevin Do?]

I agree with loopy, I think Taz should get his ass back in shape and wrestle again and get in a different commentator.


It's not a matter of being in shape. It's a matter of a him having a bad neck.

[Innovator]

I got a hardy chuckle out of it

[The Icon of Elisim]

How come Heyman is never referenced as like the owner of ECW? He's always addresed as a spokesman. makes you wonder then, who is considered the owner of ECW?

They constantly talk about how ECW is owned by Vince

[loopydate]

Yeah. Taz is in no shape to wrestle. That's why his match with Lawler was so short.

But they could be using him as a badass manager. Bring back Team Taz, and fill it with OVW guys. The original TT was House of Hardcore graduates (like Doring and Chetti, iirc), so why not revamp it to introduce guys like Punk or Seth Skyfire?

[Innovator]

Punk don't need no team

[Savio]

I'm surprised they put the point/click in. Technically loopy you could take cap from tonights show I think I saw some non caption pics in that montage.

[Crimson]

Oh i forgot about his neck. Well he'll be commentating for a while then. He should just gradually turn to a heelish commentator.

[Schoenauer]

This show is slowly improving, but it should be better once this whole ECW vs. WWE stuff ends.

[NeanderCarl]

Has C.W. Anderson even been seen on camera yet? Where is this guy??

[loopydate]

I'm surprised they put the point/click in. Technically loopy you could take cap from tonights show I think I saw some non caption pics in that montage.

I was thinking the same thing, actually. There may only be a couple, but any is better than none.

[Corkscrewed]

lol, only 2 pages. I guess lots of people just gave up last week, but this week's show was definitely better. Not old ECW (prolly never will be), but at least it sets a lot of things up.

[Batsu]

This was a much better show this week. Less talking, more action; that was a definite improvement.

I had no idea Tony Mamaluke kicked that much ass. And "OMG SABU USED GRAPPLING HOLDS!!!!!1"

So Trinity is still "Trinity".

Finally, a point to "Kelly". Wonder who that was who carried her off TV.

Big Show vs. Dreamer = Meh. But... in a way that kind of reminded me of how Dreamer would take ass kickings, and get up, wanting more. It seemed like they're going that route with this, though...

LOVING the "Sandman shits on 'WWE'-style gimmicks" thing they have going. I almost expected to see Sandman showing up to cane that alien that was on RAW.

John Cena. In a way, the recent turn of his character is becoming interesting. Though, when his matches actually start, they suck. It's kind of like watching buildups to Hogan matches. In any case, after this next PPV, unless Cena goes to ECW, I don't want to see him on that show much more.

Edge...if anyone reminds me of an "ECW" heel, it's Edge.

Test in ECW? Well, let's see if he gets to be the "asswipe" role that Edge has usurped in his absence.

RVD's gonna drop that WWE belt to Edge, it's pretty certain. Probably through a run-in of some sort. Considering how RVD is mostly billed as ECW World Champion and all of that, and RVD's win is continually trashed on RAW.


Problems:

They still need to stop taping this at "WWE" crowds. The crowd sucked ass, even though there were visibly a lot of ECW fans in the audience.

Tazz as color commentator still seems in SmackDown mode. Which may not be good for the show. Joey Styles is gold though. His line of "steaming, stinking pile of sports-entertainment" was classic.

[Innovator]

The guy who carried Kelly off was Deep South guy Mike Knox

[Champion of Europa]

RVD's match vs. Edge at Vengeance is for the WWE Title. They never said the ECW title was on the line. No matter what goes down on Sunday, RVD is still ECW champ.

[Lara Emily]

I like what they did production wise to make the SD arena look smaller and more ECWlike it's not perfect and doesn't beat actual smaller venues but still its better than what I had feared.

I love what they are doing with the Sandman (his new music isn't even all that bad). Never been a big fan of his in ring work but he has that perfect ECW intensity so having him come in do his thing kill some comic jobber, is highly entertaining. He also honestly looks like he's in the best shape of his life.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think Test would have been better on SmackDown! as a member of Booker's nice little stable of heels (Booker T, Sharmell, Finlay, William Regal & Test), but if Paul Heyman wants him.

I think ECW would be much better with a second hour. I know a lot of people argue that RAW has produced some of its best quality stuff with only one hour, but in modern times, one hour shows feel too condensed.

They don't get enough time to develop angles. The stupid stuff seems even stupider because there is only a smaller batch of content around it. Mike Knox didn't even get to cut a promo. A promo by the guy would have been fantastic, just to let us know who he is and why he's there. It has to be dragged out with the one week thing. It's not compelling enough to bring us back for a second week by itself, so you might as well get it as over as possible in one go.

A lot of the ECW guys are yet to debut, are yet to get sufficient air-time, or are yet to get anything really going for them at all. Justin Credible, Al Snow, Stevie Richards, Balls Mahoney, Little Guido and C.W. Anderson have done nothing of note. If they can't put everything on TV, they should tape extra matches to air on ECW.com.

ECW feels so minute at the moment.