ECW Extreme Extracts 09.22.09

Posted by Andy Critchell on 09.23.2009

It's the FINAL edition of ECW Extreme Extracts. Will there be tears? You'll have to read and find out!!

Hi everyone, and welcome to the LAST and FINAL ECW Extreme Extracts! Extreme Extracts is not a full on recap column of ECW. Instead I highlight some of the angles and storylines and even speculate from time to time where they might be heading.


Now you did read that right, this is the last of your favorite ECW column, the Extreme Extracts. The good news is that I found myself an amazing new role within my company but the bad news is that it requires a TON of travel and I just won't be able to see ECW on a regular basis, much less write about it. I can only hope that you have enjoyed reading this report over the past few months even half as much as I've enjoyed writing it because it's been a blast. So here we go off into the sunset…


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Let's chat about tonight's episode of ECW…



Show results:

• Match One: Yoshi Tatsu def. Paul Burchill
• Match Two: Ezekiel Jackson & Kozlov def. two jobbers
• Match Three: Christain def Zach Ryder to retain the ECW Championship


The main theme of the show:

Ever since Breaking Point the ECW creative team has been working hard trying to build several angles; the ascension of Zach Ryder, Regal's Roundtable, Burchill/Hurricane, and Shelton/Sheamus which has kind of put Christian on the back burner so to speak. Tonight served as our reminder that no matter what else is going on, as long as Christian has the ECW Championship he is THE star of the show. He certainly showed that tonight in having another strong match with Zach Ryder and the subsequent confrontation with Regal. All of this just exemplifies how smart it was to put the ECW Championship on Christian in the first place. ECW is the place where new stars are made and old stars just another chance to be relevant but you need to have a strong championship title holder or a strong championship title challenger for it to work. Christian fits in his role so well because he is definitely a star and young guys can get the rub just by being in a match with him and Christian is enough of a star that he doesn't have to be featured constantly to remind us of his stature. That being said, he's not such a big star that he seems out of place on ECW. Instead, he fits right in and brings legitimacy to the belt whether he has it or whether he is chasing it like in the Swagger feud. Tonight Christian brought that star power and brought out the best we've seen in Zach Ryder since he came to ECW. In fact, this match was even better than thier first one some weeks back and should be considered a Free TV Match of the Year.. Sure, Ryder lost but he is better off just by being in a title match with Christian, provided creative follows up effectively.


The minor theme:

Kicking off the show tonight we had another edition of the Abraham Washington show and once again it was simply marvelous. I just can't get over how almost every little aspect of the show makes me laugh. Tony Atlas is PERFECT in the Ed McMahon/Kevin Eubanks role, from his constant laugh to the dance he does to Washington's theme song, to the goofy faces he makes when Abe cuts down one of the guests. Washington himself is also perfect for this role although he has had to work at it a bit. Still, it's really the little things he does that makes him so good as the "talk show host." For example, tonight when Sheamus came out Abe made sure to shield his eyes just enough but he wasn't all over the top about it. Instead he built to being over the top with his jokes and finally the sunglasses. Later on when Shelton said he was surprised the show wasn't cancelled Washington just had a deadpan expression and started flipping the cards up in the air. That was the biggest laugh out loud moment for me. Anyone who doesn't love this segment by now needs to build a bridge and get over it because it is hilarious and it works as a vehicle to start or extend feuds.


Other quick thoughts from the show:

* Katie Lea looked particularly delicious tonight.


* Is it just me or has Paul Burchill gained weight?

* Hi Yoshi!

No, I bow to you!

* Thanks to 411mania Forum legend middlehead for the sweet pictures!

* Savannah is straight up fox. Gail who?

* I hope we're not back to seeing Kozlov and Big Zeke destroying jobbers every week because that gets old fast.

*Great show top to bottom, a perfect episode for me to go out on!


A look back at ECW on Syfy :

Since this is the last edition of the Extracts, I thought I would ask the readers of the column as well as the writers of 411mania to tell me some of their favorite moments in the show's history. Here is what I got:

First and foremost we have loyal reader Aaron:

Now for my favorite "ECW on Sci-Fi/SyFy" match of all time: Easily, it's the April 3rd, 2007 ECW Originals vs the New Breed in an Extreme Rules Match. My favorite spot was when Kevin Thorn went through the table, while my favorite in-ring story of the match was how long Elijah Burke was knocked cold in the Tree of Whoa.

The boss of 411mania, Larry Csonka:
* The Originals vs. New Breed multi-man tagmatch that happened after WrestleMania that should have happened AT WrestleMania. That was a damn sexy match.

* The Zombie: That dude ruled and he made a career off of the one appearance.

* Ric Flair goes hardcore on ECW TV.

* Hammerstein revolts against Big Show and Batista

Ecw.01.08.2006 - Big Show Vs Batista - Ecw.TitleUploaded by dido67.

Man about town JD Dunn:
* Sabu getting DESTROYED by the Pounce!

"That was then, this is too" writer Jasper Gerretsen:
Evan Bourne vs. Chavo Guerrero: Probably the only time in recent memory that Chavo got to put his work boots on, and one of the most underrated TV matches of 2008. We even got to see a rolling Liger kick from Chavo.

The transformation of Johnny Nitro to John Morrison: Sure, the reason that it had to happen sucked, but it was probably the best thing that could've happened to Morrison. If I ever won the lottery, I think I'd hire someone to follow me around with a large fan, blowing at me off camera whenever I enter a public area.

ECW recapper and ROH enthusient Michael Bauer:
CM Punk winning the ECW title over MORRISON! was a mark out moment for me.

Smark Superstar Mathew Sforcina:
Stevie winning a match. It happened.
The IWC going into Mark Meltdown when Christian sauntered out.

Oh, and the Rise of Matt Striker, Color Commentator Goldmine.

The 2nd most hated man in 411's Wrester of the Week, Ryan Byers:
The Halloween episode of ECW that they did a few years back was GOLD. Nunzio dressed as Dracula taking a group of children trick-or-treating backstage? Glorious. Tommy Dreamer wrestling a match while dressed as Paul Heyman? Even better. The MONSTER MASH BATTLE ROYALE featuring Kane, Viscera, Khali, and Mark Henry? The most ridiculously awful yet entertaining match in the history of ECW.

Sir Daniel Wilcox:
Bobby Lashley diving through a cage to take out Umaga was a pretty cool moment.

As for me, it is difficult to pick just one moment, especially since everyone else's choices have really rbought back some memories. That being said, I am a huge MORRISON fan and as such my favorite moment from ECW on SyFy is actually the moment that I became a huge MORRISON fan. He was wrestling Tommy Dreamer and performed Starship Pan for the very first time. My jaw dropped. But not only did he deliver Starship Pain to Dreamer, he did it off the security barrier in front of the crowd. To say that it was nuts would be an understatement.

* That's it for the Extracts. Any comments can be made below. Make sure to check me out on the UBS Evening Movie News Report over on the Movie Zone where I post the Interactive Babe Photo News Brief each and every week.


Have a great week!