LAST WEEK ON ECW:  Tommy was amazingly jobbed out, Kelly Kelly wondered who the old fogies she was dancing to were and Masters couldn’t even get it on, let alone keep it on…

THIS WEEK…

We kicked of with a still image of Mr. McMahon pinning Lashley on RAW, as we hear JR making the call, in an echoic way...  Joey & Taz(z) inform us that Vince & Bobby will engage in a "Point/Counterpoint" later in the show.  Why not say debate and be done with it?

Rob Van Dam def. Elijah Burke in an "O Captain! My Captain!" match

After the opening credits (which include the awesome (Non) Pounce on Sabu last week), we went to our first match, And boy, was RVD over here...  But then again, with this run in Michigan, anything less would be worrisome.  This one started out with some chain work, although Burke took advantage, as when RVD bridged up, Burke lifted his legs, dropping himself and RVD to the mat in one of those moves you rarely see but would think everyone would do.  Burke began to take control of the match, until RVD countered an Irish Whip and kicked Burke in the jaw.  A whip of RVD's own saw him hit a backdrop on Elijah, at which point he stopped and posed.  This allowed Burke to charge, RVD caught Burke and crotched him on the top rope.  RVD went up top, and kicked Burke down to the outside.  And then, when Burke managed to get up, RVD did a somersault flip over the top rope down onto his New Breed counterpart as we took a break.

Back live, and RVD went for a Rolling Thunder, but Burke got his knees up.  Burke then hit a vertical suplex, before popping his hips, and hitting a back suplex.  As Taz(z) schooled Joey on wrestling moves, Burke worked a surfboard, before moving into a Texas Cloverleaf, which Burke really cinched in.  However, RVD managed to make the bottom rope.  Burke whipped RVD into the corner, where he collapsed.  This allowed Elijah to hit a very cool elbow drop, where he used the corner to elevate the fall.  Forearms to the back by Burke were followed by a short chinlock.  When RVD escaped, he charged, but Burke, completing a trifecta of really cool move, put his feet up, knocking RVD away, simultaneously flipping over the top rope to the apron.

This allowed him to go up top, but his elbow was countered by a spinning kick.  RVD hit another spinning kick for a 2 count.  RVD was forced into the corner, where Burke went for the Elijah Express, but RVD ducked out of the way, which allowed the Battle Creek native to head up top, hit the Five Star Frog Splash, and score a clean win heading into the biggest show of the year.

After the bell, the rest of the New Breed came out and started to beat on Van Dam.  However, the other Originals made the save, standing tall.  But is it for the last time?

Thoughts - 8/10 - I have absolutely no qualms about giving this such a high score, because this was a damn fine match in it's own right, and one of the best since ECW returned.  And while RVD & The Originals won, there is a lot of credit to be given to Burke.  This guy has a big future ahead of him.

Three Men And A Cry Baby

After the Slutty Nitro Girls (and that's all I'm saying about that), we went backstage to the three regular babyfaces in the Money In The Bank match, CM Punk and the Hardy brothers, when their distinctly heelish partner for the evening walked in.  Edge said that while things got out of hand on The Cutting Edge last night, and while they don't really want to team with him (nor he with them), it would be in their best interests to work together.  Punk fronted up and asked him why they should listen to Edge.  Edge said that he won the first match and their opponents egos were too big for them to work together.  If they could take out a couple of their opponents tonight, their own odds would shorten.  Edgeward took his leave while the other three exchanged looks.

Snitsky def. Balls Mahoney in a "He booted Mouth in the Balls...sorry, that should be the other way around..." match

Balls was already in the ring (although he got his music played), before the hairless one made his way out.  And he didn't wait around neither.  He immediately shoved Balls out of the ring.  And then, while Balls began his punch-combo, Snitsky picked him up as if he were Spanky and drove his back into the ringpost.  He then set Balls up on the apron and gave Mahoney a big punt in the chest.  Snitsky got back in the ring and slingshotted Balls on the bottom rope.  One Big Boot later and Robert's your mother's brother.

Thoughts - 2/10 - More substantial than recent week, but still very much a squash, which is ironic, since Balls is the Original most likely to outlast the rest of them...

Treasonous scoundrels...

RKennedyO were in the back, plotting away, when Finlay joined them, soon followed by Booker.  Orton & Ken took their leave sharpish, leaving Booker wondering what was happening.  Finlay said they were talking badly about the King.  Booker thought they couldn't be trusted, and offered a pact with Finlay.  Finlay said he would, but he couldn’t' be trusted either.

First he gets pinned.  Now he has to talk...

As if Bobby's week couldn't get worse.  McMahon was in "Stamford" (a.k.a. A nicely dressed part of backstage) while Bobby was backstage (a.k.a. a not so nicely dressed part of backstage).  After being started off by Joey with a general question about how they were feeling, Vince took it upon himself to say how nice it was for him "not to be HERE in Grand Rapids".  He then answered the question. saying he was a little worse for wear, as he was partying all night, regarding his successes the previous evening.  Vince said that Bobby should feel lucky that he wasn't there.  Vince rambled on for a bit about Lashley's future after losing at Wrestlemania.

Lashley finally managed to get a word in, opening up with "Listen you old bastard"...such a potty mouth.  No wonder he's ECW champion...  before immediately closing with how Vince was going to begin April 2nd as "One bald son-of-a-bitch".

Yep that was it, leaving enough time just before the break for Taz(z) to be shocked at how no-one had spoken to Vince like that before, and a right good close up on the MITB briefcase and the 16 foot tall ladder on the outside of the ring.

Finlay, King Booker, Randy Orton & Ken Kennedy def. CM Punk, Edge & The Hardy Boyz in a "What?  Like you expected him to do something different?" 8-man tag match

Everyone in the match got their full ring intros before taking a final break.  How considerate of them.  Not a single one was skipped of half done.  Well, in actual fact, the Hardyz came out together, so really Matt didn't get his own, but they are a tag team, so you can call that a push.  Plus this is Matt Hardy we're talking about.

Back from break, Matt was in control of Kennedy, hitting the Side Effect for 2.  Jeff was tagged in, and the Hardyz did their Double team thing, but Jeff missed a charge, allowing Kennedy to tag in Orton, who gave Jeff the Orton Stomp.  Orton then jaw jacked with Edge, before going for a clothesline.  Jeff rolled under though, hitting the Whisper in The Wind.  Matt was tagged back in for another double team.  However, when that didn't score a 3, Punk saw his first action of the evening.  

However, the heels managed to take control of the match, isolating Punk from his companeros.  Finlay came in and was rather subtly stiff with his shots.  Booker soon came in, and Booker must suck, because the crowd said he does.  Finlay came back in, with a headlock on the mat.  Punk elbowed his way out, but ran into a clothesline, which just allowed Finlay to go right back to the headlock.  Orton was in next, but Punk used the change of personnel to try and mount a comeback with some Martial Arts kicks, but Orton clotheslined him down again.  The King was tagged in, and put on a front headlock.  Booker released the hold and whipped Punk into the corner.  Punk reversed Booker's next whip into one of his own, before charging the corner with his high knee/bulldog combo.  Punk then staggered across and tagged in...Edge.

And just to warm my heart, since I'm of the "Sweet Jesus, don't turn Orton babyface.  He sucks at it!" camp, Edge got a decent pop when he was tagged.  It even grew a bit when he primed himself for a spear.  However, Edge had no intention of even trying to spear the King.  He instead tagged Punk back in and headed up the aisle.  Things broke down between the remaining men, as Edge watched on.  While the ref wasn't watching, Finlay cracked (and I do mean cracked) Punk in the head with the Shillelagh, allowing King booker to hit the Axe Kick for the win.

Thoughts - 7.5/10 - Yep, this was some good stuff here.  and it all worked perfectly well.  I liked the pop Edge got when he came in, because, without having to fully explain it (I did a lot of that on the forums last night), I hope this was WWE's way of "testing the waters" to see if Edge would take as a face in a one-off situation where any pop would really be based on simply being with other faces, never mind Edge's great ability to talk and work a crowd to his liking.  I mean, if they were already set on turning Orton, then he could easily have been placed on the face did, even doing the same thing Edge did, by walking out.  However, this tells me that they are at least considering doing, what is in my opinion, the right thing.

After the match, we had ourselves a mass brawl.  First, the heels brawled with each other, before the Hardyz came in with a ladder, taking out the heel, including busting open Finlay near the eye.  Matt & Jeff then got the huge ladder in the ring, climbed it, and each put a hand on the briefcase, as their music played and Joey wondered what would happen if it came down to them on Sunday.  I wouldn't seriously worry about that Joey...

OVERALL - 8/10 (+ 2 on last week) - Yeah, this was really good.  Consolidating on what RAW had done the night before, especially with the Money IN The Bank guys, while also giving us a really good taste of what we could see in the other  man match with Burke & Van Dam.  Lashley & Vince wasn’t much of anything, but tonight wasn’t exactly playing to Lashley’s strengths anyway.  All in all, a really good conduit between RAW and Smackdown.

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.  And you never know, maybe more…

For reading this, and continuing to support World Wrestling Insanity, you’re cooler than the other side of the pillow…

I’m out.