EXTREME PURORESU

My views on Pro Wrestling from the East and West

Saturday, June 10, 2006

WWE VS ECW Head to Head 6/07/2006

Interesting kick off with Taz & Lawler almost going at it from the start since we have 2 announce teams calling the action at once.

Rey Mysterio VS Rob Van Dam
This is the kind of matches Rey Mysterio should be put in to defend his title instead of getting the snot beaten out of him by bigger guys! Van Dam even looked his best since his return, and the two really worked well together here being able to counter most of each others attacks and make for an exciting match that really could have gone either way if we didn’t already know that Rey is just a sacrificial lamb here.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Next up is the back and forth banter between Kurt Angle and Randy Orton. This really works when they get straight to the point, with Angle knowing Orton came after him because he broke his ankle 2 months ago, and Orton not only wanting revenge, but to be single handedly responsible for taking down ECW, in other words, he’s after another legend!

Mickie James VS Jazz
A bit too short for my liking, especially with the rather abrupt ending. That was a nasty landing for Mickie when Jazz gave her the Thez Press off the apron to the floor though. I’d rather see Jazz on RAW since there really isn’t much of a women’s division in ECW to begin with.
Match Rating: *

Interview with John Cena backstage, and the champ cut a great promo since he got straight to the point again and seemed to earn some respect from the fans when he said that he’s going into the One Night Stand and he’s going to fight like a man. You might hate his wannabe Rock style, but it worked here and came off really good.

Paul Heyman comes out next and in a span of about 5 minutes did more to promote One Night Stand than WWE has been doing in the past few weeks!

We than see Kurt Angle firing up the ECW team and Big Show firing up the WWE team for the big battle royal, which is next.

WWE VS ECW Battle Royal to Determine the Ultimate Supremacy in Sports Entertainment (Their words, not mine)
Team WWE: The Big Show, Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Tatanka, IC Champion Shelton Benjamin, Matt Hardy, Finlay, Carlito, US Champion Bobby Lashley & Edge
Team ECW: Kurt Angle, Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer, the Sandman, Balls Mahoney, Little Guido, Justin Credible, Al Snow, Steven Richards & Psicosis
SANDMAN DID A FRIGGIN’ DROPKICK!!!
Well, this was actually a typically booked WWE battle royal with bodies flying everywhere too fast. Even if he was drafted to ECW, it sort of made them look weak when Angle was the only guy that stood a fighting chance on his team compared to everyone else. The whole match was basically to surprise everyone with the turn of the Big Show at the end as only in WWE would a guy win a battle royal, suddenly change sides, and the other team is then declared the winner. It was still fun watching Angle’s amazing effort though.
Match Rating: **

Back from commercial break and we see Big Show celebrating with the rest of the ECW crew in the locker room.

Edge, Lita & Mick Foley are in the ring, and Edge plays a classic ECW clip on the Titantron of Foley’s famous anti-ECW promo from 1995. And we are then on to our next match.

Extreme Rules: Edge with Lita & Mick Foley VS Tommy Dreamer with Terry Funk
The verbal assault between the WWE and ECW announce team reached it’s peak here as they really distracted from watching the match in the ring. Edge took a really sick bump when Dreamer backdropped him off the top rope and he missed the table, landing awkwardly on his head and neck. Interesting finish to the match also where Edge speared Dreamer when he had Lita up for a powerbomb.
Match Rating: *1/2

Back from a See No Evil promo to see Mick Foley sitting in a chair in the middle of the ring with a lone light shining on him. Foley is busted open from the post match brawl with Terry Funk. Foley finally gives his reason for turning on ECW, which of course is that he just wants to be rid of it and leave it in his past. This was another classic Foley promo and received good applause from the crowd despite the fact that he’s the heel.

Lawler & Taz finally had enough of each other and come to blows right at ringside. Joey Styles even takes a cheap shot at JR by flipping his hat off as Taz & Lawler are being pulled apart by officials.

Extreme Rules: John Cena VS Sabu
I guess any questions pertaining to Sabu’s health and current in ring ability were easily put to rest here he was in phenomenal shape and hit all his spots flawlessly, including the triple jump moonsault! Cena took a beating, but I think they should have had Cena actually beat Sabu here to make up for Mysterio’s loss to RVD earlier. And after all the carnage of Sabu tossing chairs into Cena’s face, it really didn’t make sense for the referee to call for the bell when Big Show got involved. If he rang the bell after everyone else came in it would have made more sense. It was still an entertaining match though, and the inter-promotional brawl at the end was good way to close out the broadcast.
Match Rating: **

Overall: This really was one of the better free TV wrestling shows of the year so far, and they did a great job of hyping the One Night Stand PPV as well as the return of ECW on Sci-Fi Network next week. They are bound to hit a home run again with the PPV if it’s booked like the show was tonight, or like last year’s PPV. The only thing I’m wondering about now will be the ECW show itself since we haven’t established who’s a heel and who’s not yet. Guess we’ll have to wait for next week for that.

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