LAST WEEK ON ECW:  The US Armed Forces went to war…with each other, Edge remembered Lita came from ECW and Foley tried to talk his way into Wrestlemania 23…

THIS WEEK…

This week's show opened up with a recap of Lashley breaking the Masterlock on RAW.  And right there was the exact reason why they had the things happen every week, because when it was paid off with Lashley breaking it, did you hear the pop he got?  That is why a few minutes out of 2 hours were taken every week.  And the WWE pulled it off great, in my opinion.  And the recap video just backed me up, because it made the break seem important.  My only complaint about the "Challenge highlights" video was it missed Cena & Big Show.  After the recap, we got a soundbite from Masters vowing revenge before our bodies hit the floor.

Marcus Cor Von & Kevin Thorn def. Rob Van Dam & Sabu in a "That Arabian doesn't need a carpet to fly..." match

And once again, we were back on form with an Originals vs. New Breed "team" match where the Originals came out to RVD's theme, while the New Breed used their team song.  And while Taz(z) defended his recent stance on the New Breed, RVD & Sabu took it to Kevin Thorn in the opening minutes, with them teaming up to hit Air Sabu (a.k.a. The Poetry In Motion), as well as their "quadruple leg drop".  Sabu tried a couple of quick covers, but tagged in RVD, who went for a spin kick, but Thorn ducked and Van Dam ended up straddling the top rope, where he was clotheslined off by Cor Von.

The new Breed worked over RVD, Cor Von hitting back breakers and Thorn splashing Rob in the corner.  However, RVD managed to work his way out of a side headlock by Cor Von and tag in Sabu.  Sabu came in hot, hitting a springboard leg lariat and then a springboard swinging DDT for a 2, as Thorn stopped the count.  Van Dam came in and headscissored Thorn out of the ring.  As Sabu came off the ropes Thorn made a grab for Sabu's hair (while RVD stood there and watched him do it), which distracted Sabu long enough for Cor Von to come off the ropes and hit a THUNDEROUS Pounce (although Joey Jo Jo called it what it really was, a cross-body block)  on Sabu.  No, really.  It sent him half away across the ring.  Definitely one for the highlight reel.  That very much picked up the win.

Thoughts - 6/10 - Decent opener, with some cool work at the beginning.  Slightly awkward finish aside (I mean, why would RVD stand there and watch Thorn get up and make a grab for Sabu?), it was a pretty well-worked match.

Snitsky def. Mike Tolar in a "Come back when The Slutty Nitro Girls waste more of my life please..." match

Snitsky came out.  Slapped the jobber in the face, shoved him into the corner and hit a Big Boot as the poor loser came back out.  Fin.

Thoughts - Why bother rating when there was nought to rate?

Who'd have thunk it?  ECW being allowed to reveal Hall Of Fame inductees???

However, where Snitsky didn't take long, we got back in the next bit, as you may have noticed RAW didn't announce any Hall Of Fame inductees this week, so they left it to Joey & Taz(z) to do it.  And in a big way, ECW was the best place to announce this week's guy, as he is related to one of the ECW Originals.  Yep, Vince was talked into inducting The Sheik, Sabu's Uncle.  Man, assuming that Sabu inducts him, as reported, that is gonna be some sight to see Sabu actually talk, at some length, quite probably in a proper suit and tie...

Anyway, he was a good choice.  Not just any year, but especially this year, as he was very much Detroit-based.  Very good induction video, even if, unlike the others, there was no-one to talk him up.  But then again, they didn't have any DVD Interviews to copy and paste from.

CM Punk def. Bob Holly in a "Ripe for pissing, moaning and completely missing the point..." match

As CM Punk came out, Joey pimped a bit in "Spin" magazine where CM Punk revealed his music tastes, while Taz(z) pimped an interview with Holly in the latest WWE magazine.  Before this one really went anywhere, Elijah Burke sauntered out to the entrance, watching his potential team mate.  After an initial flurry by Punk, Holly dropped Punk across the top rope, and started working him over.

A Holly charge was kicked off, Punk following up with a clothesline, as Burke made his way down to ringside.  Punk hit the high knee in the corner, but was pre-occupied with Burke, so his Bulldog attempt was pushed off, sending Punk into the corner, where Holly caught Punk's legs, setting up the Alabama Slam.  Punk held on though, so Holly turned around and hit his kick to the gut.

Punk was placed on the top rope, but Punk fought back, knocking Holly down, allowing Punk to hit a leg drop from the second rope.  Burke jumped up on the apron, distracted referee Scott Armstrong and Punk, allowing Kevin Thorn to run in from the Announcers side of the ring, and hot-shot Holly off the top rope.  Punk saw this however.  That being said, Punk had no qualms with taking advantage, hitting the Go 2 Sleep for the three.

Thoughts - 6.5/10 - Another decent match.  However, if you're first reaction is "why are they protecting Holly over Punk?", then please, get over yourself.  While it wasn't a clean win, this was all about the New Breed "reaching out" to Punk, showing him that they "look after their own".  And Punk clearly didn't have any problem with them doing what they did.  It makes for an interesting point of the angle.

Just to let Elijah reiterate what I just said...

After the break, Punk was in the back, when Burke came up to him.  Punk reiterated that he told Burke that he didn't need their help.  Burke reminded Punk of Money IN The Bank, and how the New Breed could take care of him.  Punk looked on in interest...

DAMN YOU, SNITSKY!!!!!

Slutty Nitro Girls.  Bad.

Def Leppard.  Very Bad.

No Snitsky to hurt them.  Very, Very Bad.

Oh, for the desire to swear heavily right now....

Elijah Burke def. Tommy Dreamer in a "Normal service resumes..." match

Instead of the usual "Random" factor, this one came about by virtue of Dreamer and Burke being the last 2 guys in the ring last week.  Dreamer had Sandman with him, while Burke had Matt Striker.  Burke ducked out of the ring when Dreamer hit a hip toss.  Dreamer followed him out and got Burke back in the ring, where he teased suplexing him out again,  but Burke ran Dreamer into the ringpost.  Burke locked in a headlock, with Dreamer's right arm trapped too, but Tommy got up and hit a modified neckbreaker.  After a bunch of punches, Tommy caught Burke and hit a Fall Away Slam.  He then tied Elijah in the Tree Of Woe, hitting the dropkick to Burke's head.  Tommy went for the DDT, but Burke countered, and as Tommy pulled himself up in the corner, Elijah hit the double knees to the back (dubbed "The Elijah Express" by Taz(z)) for the win.

Thoughts - 6/10 - Another decent, short outing, with the New Breed clawing back the ground they had lost by the last couple of weeks worth of "Originals" wins.  I'm not entirely convinced about The Elijah Express as a finisher, because unlike the Backcracker, where you can sense the impact, you don't see it so much with this move.  It's a good set up move though.

Bobby Lashley def. Chris Masters in a "Well, he's already broke the guy's one hold..." Non-Title match

Lashley scored an early knock down, where Masters told Lashley to try it again (in a show of bravado, not because Lashley screwed up), which Lashley promptly did.  Lashley then hit a back body drop before clotheslining Masters over the top rope.  However, Masters ducked a clothesline, Bobby's momentum sending him into the post.  Back in, Masters hit a vertical suplex, before calling for the Masterlock.  However, Lashley went behind and hit a Half-Nelson slam.  After hitting a powerslam, Lashley hit a vertical suplex of his own.  After avalanching Masters in the corner, Bobby hoisted Masters up on his shoulder and hit the Running Powerslam for the 3.

Thoughts - 5/10 - Nothing wrong with the match itself per se, but it only went a few minutes and there wasn't much to it.  It was a borderline squash, as it goes.

OVERALL - 6/10 (- 1 on last week) - Well, if this week’s RAW was anything to go by, ECW fit the pattern.  That being “The calm before the storm”.  With next week’s RAW looking to be “gangbusters”, it dropped off the pace on Monday, although I maintain that it was a pretty good which did what it need to do.  Likewise, ECW dropped off the pace of the last couple of weeks, although I would say this show did what it needed to do.  It got the New Breed a couple of wins.  It advanced the CM Punk/New Breed angle and it got Lashley some face time so they could push RAW’s effort this week and pimp the “match” with McMahon next week.  Not unmissable, by any means, this week, but certainly not a show that deserves the closed-minded crap it’s probably gonna get.

That’s all I got for now, but if you have something to say about this week’s ECW, you can e-mail me at dedicated e-mail address, or come hunt me down on the WWI Forums!

OR, you can find me along with the rest of the dribbling masses on MY OWN MYSPACE PAGE!

Well, I’ll be back on Friday for Smackdown, but for now, I believe I’ve fulfilled my contractual obligations.  For reading this, and continuing to support World Wrestling Insanity, you’re cooler than the other side of the pillow…

I’m out.