ECW Results: 2/15/10 - The Final E-C-DUB

R.I.P ECW 1992-2001, 2005

I'm not going to lie to you and say that ECW ended on February 15, 2010, because this was not ECW. ECW was not a brand, it was a promotion started in Philadelphia in 1992 under the name Eastern Championship Wrestling, until it evolved into what fans knew around the world as Extreme Championship Wrestling. Unlike Eastern-CW, Extreme Championship Wrestling focused on a mature male demographic.

ECW earned its reputation by becoming the true alternative to cartoon wrestling of World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling, by becoming the grittiest, explicitly violent, unedited program on television.

Extreme Championship Wrestling was truly a land of hardcore as it innovated specialty matches, which included Barbed wire match, Flaming Tables match, and Singapore Cane match.

I feel both ECW and my announcing career should have been retired after the ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view in 2005. WWE was classy enough to give everyone who was ever involved with the Original ECW, all of us who worked for the promotion and the rabid fans who made ECW, the closure we all emotionally craved. - Joey Styles

WWE purchased ECW's assets after Paul Heyman filed for bankruptcy and the promotion ended in 2001. WWE used the ECW video library to compile a three-disc DVD: The Rise and Fall of ECW, with a three-hour documentary of the company's history. With the video library and a series of books, interest for the Hardcore promotion was revitalized leading to WWE organizing the One Night Stand pay-per-view in 2005 with ECW Alumni. The success of that pay-per-view is what launched the travesty that was ECW as the third brand of the WWE.

According to Joey Styles, the voice of ECW, One Night Stand in 2005 was the true ending of ECW, and the brand, along with his announcing career, should have ended after that night. However, things don't usually end the way you want them to.

Mr. McMahon revitalized ECW by hiring ECW Alumni to jump start the brand: Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, Sandman, Sabu, and Balls Mahoney; along with a slew of new superstars: C.M. Punk, Mike Knox, Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorn, Marcus Corvon, Ariel, and Kelly-Kelly.

WWEECW, or EC-DUB, really had no sense of direction as one by one the ECW Originals were released from the WWE. Then on December 29th, Tommy Dreamer wrestled his final match and released himself from his contract; thus ending any ties to the Original ECW.

Without even realizing it, EC-DUB became not a land of extreme, but of opportunity. Wrestlers such as C.M. Punk, Kofi Kingston, and Evan Bourne got their start in EC-DUB, while other superstars drafted there, would return to the major brand with either a new gimmick or new perspective on their career. Hence, why Mr. McMahon and the rest of the WWE had decided to scrap the whole EC-DUB programming to create a newly innovative show with it's sole purpose to creating new stars.

NXT Roster: The Controversy of Daniel Bryan

Next week, WWE will feature the new show NXT where eight pros will mentor eight rookies in a reality-television style programing.

The roster is as follows: Chris Jericho and Wade Barrett; William Regal and Skip Sheffield; Carlito and Michael Tarver; Matt Hardy and Justin Gabriel; Christian and Heath Slater; R-Truth and David Otunga; C.M. Punk and Darren Young; and The Miz and Daniel Bryan.

The rookie that stands out from the pack is Daniel Bryan, or "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson. There is no denying that Daniel Bryan has the most experience out of any NXT Rookie, but he is far from a superstar. Sure, Daniel possess more wrestling ability than probably half of the current WWE roster, yet he needs help to get to the next level.

A lot of people were upset over the announcement that The Miz would be mentoring the American Dragon - because shouldn't it be the other way around? Most of these discrepancies came from wrestling-internet fans who have watched Daniel fight in Japan and ROH; but fighting for a crowd below 900 people is nothing compared to fighting in sold out arenas around the globe, with everyone chanting, buying merch, and a multi-billion dollar company investing money in your development.

When The Miz first arrived in 2006, he wasn't much of a sight. And no way in the history of ever would I have pegged Miz to one day hold the United States and the Unified Tag Team Titles; but he was given that opportunity by developing in EC-DUB alongside Johnny Nitro/John Morrison.

Daniel Bryan has all the talent in the world, but every wrestler has weaknesses. And that's what my job is, to find his weakness and make him the biggest star possible. - The Miz

No wrestler is born with the total "superstar" package, and Daniel Bryan's flaw is his mic skills and lack of charisma. NXT will be a great opportunity for not only the rookies, but for the pros to impart their wisdom and contribute to the growth of the WWE.

Final EC-DUB Title Match: Extreme Rules (Sorta)

Christian acknowledged the ECW Originals, working with Tommy Dreamer, mentoring Yoshi Tatsu, and what EC-DUB meant for him. I certainly felt that Christian should have made a bigger impact on his return to the WWE, and that EC-DUB was a demotion. But Christian didn't see it that way, he say it as his home. Possibly because for the past year, EC-DUB became his personal Peep Show.

Christian accepted Ezekiel Jackson's challenge for the ECW Title, and added, on his own accord, to defend it under Extreme Rules. Yet, the extremeness of a WWE Extreme Rules match is considered a paper cut to the ECW Originals who bled, stabbed, pierced, broke, and burned their bodies every night to make those three letters mean something. Christian arrived with Singapore canes, a trash can, and a shopping cart to set the overall tone of the match. Ezekiel brought his own weapon, a cunning manager in William Regal.

Zack Ryder, who felt should have been a part of the final match on EC-DUB, interfered with the match, but ended up getting flap jacked into the trash can and thrown - face first - over the ropes. Rosa Mendes slapped Christian - and what would have been ECW of him to strike a woman, allowed for a nice treat - then, after tonight, former-ECW GM Tiffany came running down the ramp and speared Rosa Mendes. Both Rosa and Tiffany have trained in FCW, and after this scene, not only is Tiffany beautiful, she is deadly.

The numbers game became too much for Christian, as he fended off William Regal with a Killswitch, only to be thrown back first through a table and covered by Ezekiel Jackson. After holding the title since Night of Champions - defeating Tommy Dreamer for the strap - Christian's reign of ECW Champion ended, and the title of Final ECW Champion went to Ezekiel Jackson.

Obviously, the title change means absolutely nothing because the title has now become defunct. The ECW Title joins the list of other defunct titles: Cruiserweight, Hardcore, Light Heavyweight, European, ECW Tag Team, ECW Television, and the WCW Championship.

In the hearts of the ECW fans, ECW either died in 2001 when it went bankrupt, or in 2005, when WWE provided fans with the closure it desperately deserved. However, let it be known that WWE bought out both WCW and ECW, and while the WCW Title was laid to rest when it was converted into the World Heavyweight Title in 2002, today marks the end of ECW's title history with Ezekiel Jackson, "The end has come, it has awakened, against you."

ECW Results: 12/29/09 - Tommy Dreamer Leaves ECW

The Final Original Leaves ECW

The final ECW of 2009 turned out to be Tommy Dreamer's last. Tommy Dreamer has truly been the heart and soul of ECW, from the very first feud in the original ECW, to the final repackaged ECW of 2009. When Tommy Dreamer won the ECW title from Tazz, he said that it was the happiest moment in his life, and that even though he may never headline a WrestleMania, or want to be at Starrcade, at least a guy like him made it in ECW. Amazingly enough, Tommy Dreamer did indeed wrestle at WrestleMania, as part of the ECW Originals (Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, Sandman, and Rob Van Dam) to defeat The New Breed (Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Matt Striker, and Kevin Thorn). At the IZOD Center, where Dreamer had his final match, he remebers attending his second WWE show with his best friend and his father, and he got to see Rowdy Roddy Piper do a live Piper's Pit, and called a woman from the audience who happened to be from Yonkers, his hometown. It has been his dream since he was nine years old to become a wrestler, and if you have enough passion then you can make it anywhere. After losing his final match to Zack Ryder, Tommy Dreamer greeted his wife Trisha Hayes - for those who don't remember, her ring name was Beulah McGillicutty in the original ECW as Dreamer's valet. She was accompanied by their twin daughters Kimberly and Briana. When asked at school "what does your father do for a living?" Kimberly answered, "My daddy falls down a lot," while Briana added, "But my daddy always gets up." That has been the wrestling career of Tommy Dreamer, he loses a lot of matches, but he manages to always get himself back up. He says it's the fans that give him his strength, and that we are his family. Tommy Dreamer has been at the bottom of the WWE for several years after the Alliance movement of WCW/ECW, jobbing to superstars. But despite all that, he has worn the Hardcore Title 14-times and recently became the ECW Champion at Extreme Rules. With his departure, we can't help but pound our fist over our hearts and shout E! C! W! Tommy Dreamer not only made it in ECW but he also made it in the WWE, and that's a rare gift. Thank you, Tommy Dreamer for all you have done.

Hardy Returns to Extreme Roots

The opening match was the ECW Homecoming Qualifying Match featuring SmackDown superstars Matt Hardy and Finlay. During their time in ECW, Matt Hardy became the ECW Champion after defeating Mark Henry in an ECW Championship Scramble Match at Unforgiven 2008... eventually losing the title to Jack Swagger and departing from ECW; Finlay lost the Fatal Fourway Contenders Match for the strap, which saw Matt Hardy as the winner... eventually had a title match against Matt Hardy and lost... and after Matt Hardy left for RAW, Finlay had a fighting chance to become the top face of the brand but was traded to SmackDown as part of Donald Trump's fifteen-superstar trade. Finlay has never held a world title while in the WWE, and this qualifying match was possibly his final shot at the ECW Title. Finlay focused on twerking the knee of Matt Hardy, and managed to roll out of the Moonsault; but never count out the "Never Say Die" attitude of Matt Hardy, who managed to get in a Twist of Fate to score the pinfall.

Air-Bourne Soars High

The following match was also an ECW Homecoming Qualifying Match featuring RAW's Evan Bourne against SmackDown's Mike Knox. Mike Knox, currently in a one-sided feud with Kane, started out as one of the original members of the newly envisioned ECW revival. He was not well known, except during his feud with CM Punk because his then-girlfriend Kelly Kelly was enamored with "The Straight Edge" superstar. Evan Bourne was part of Teddy Long's ECW Superstar initiative, along with Kofi Kingston - both, now, fan favorites over on RAW - his closest shot at the ECW Title was during Cyber Sunday 2008, when the WWE Universe voted for him to take on ECW Champion Matt Hardy. This particular match up is interesting, not because Mike Knox is 6'6, 298lbs, while Bourne is a mere 5'9, 183lbs, but because these two are jobbers in their current brands; yet, these two were never at the top of their game as they were, here, on ECW. Evan Bourne had to rely on his quickness and agility, and most of the time that works against super heavyweights, but Mike Knox is adept to matching speed with the smallest of opponents. Mike Knox managed to connect with a flying crossbody, one of his deadliest maneuvers, but Bourne managed to kick out. To Bourne, it's not size that brought him to the game, it's heart and his will to become a champion. Bourne evaded a spear takedown and used the opportunity to strike with the Shooting Star Press for the win. Evan Bourne will have another shot at the ECW Title in two weeks, as all the winners of these matches go on to an ECW Homecoming Showdown to determine the #1 Contender for Christian's ECW Title at the Royal Rumble.

Shane McMahon Resigns

From Shane O Mac's Own Words.
Copied from the World Wrestling Entertainment Website.

It is with great sadness that I announce my resignation from the WWE, effective January 1, 2010.

I have never even considered a future outside the walls of the WWE. However, sometimes life takes an unexpected turn and while it is the most difficult decision I have ever made, it is time for me to move on.

First and foremost, I would like to thank my father for the incredible education working with him has provided and for giving me the opportunity to play a role in building WWE into the global phenomenon that it is today. I am extremely proud to have been the 4th generation in this business, and I am grateful for everyday I was able to work along side not only my own, but the entire WWE family.

Thank you to all of the WWE Superstars both past and present for your passion, pride and dedication. You are truly the engine of the organization and it has been a pleasure to work with, learn from and get to know all of you. Thank you for the privilege of sharing the stage with you and for allowing me to become but a momentary member of your elite brotherhood. I have so much appreciation for the many sacrifices you endure, both physically and personally, to make this business the success that it is. The respect I have for each of you is immeasurable.

Finally, there are no words to express my gratitude to WWE fans the world over for supporting this company through good times and bad and for your unbridled passion that fuels the Superstars’ performances. I am profoundly grateful to have been able to entertain you both in front of the camera and from behind the scenes. You are the greatest fans in the world.

I will always love this business and will remain a fan forever.

Shane

Jeff Hardy: Exodus of an Extreme Era

Phoenix Arizona were left heartbroken as the Jeff Hardy took a risk that ended his career.

After losing the World Heavyweight Title from CM Punk, Jeff Hardy issued his rematch clause in a Steel Cage Match for the following Smackdown. However, the newly crowned Champion proposed that who ever lost the match - would have to leave the WWE. Jeff Hardy, always living for the moment, accepted Punk's challenge and their Fates were set in stone by Smackdown GM Teddy Long.

Prior to the match, Jeff, applying his face paint, was visited by his brother Matt. Matthew Moore Hardy knows the huge risk that Jeff was taking accepting this match, but that's the way Jeff does things - That is why Matt said, "I respect you."

Matt has always been the older brother looking out for Jeff, but after coming back to see his brother as the World Heavyweight Champion and how the crowd cheers for him... his jealous rage subsided and understands that his brother is a man and can make his own decisions about his own life.

The Hardys joined the WWE when they were just kids. Jeff was actually only 16 but he lied about his age in order to try out. It was actually Matt who's life long dream it was to become a wrestler, while Jeff went along for the ride.

Since then, the two accomplished their dreams of becoming WWE World Tag Team Champions - and they have done that 7-times over. But their dreams kept growing, while other passions arose.

Jeff Hardy, in his first run with the WWE, kept missing house shows and failing drug tests. He was burned out, both physically and mentally. And no doubt, he had other passions other than wrestling.

On the Hardy Show, Jeff even mentions that he loves WWE, but it's more of a job than anything else. But during his three-year hiatus from the WWE, wrestling on the independent circuit and TNA, Jeff Hardy was drawn back and determined for a second run with the WWE.

Jeff Hardy, after his first run, was a multiple Tag Team, an Intercontinental, a European, and a Hardcore Champion - but he never won the Big one. People thought that Jeff would be one of those wrestlers with all the potential but never grasping the brass ring.

Jeff Hardy did have one WWE Title match against The Undertaker for the Undisputed WWE World Title in a ladder match. It was the match J.R. screamed at the top of the lungs, CLIMB THE LADDER KID, MAKE YOURSELF FAMOUS!

His second run around seemed at times to sore high, and at other times it fell low. Jeff was suspended twice for drug use and lost his home and his dog, Jack, to a fire. It didn't seem at all possible that Jeff Hardy would ever become the WWE Champion.

Until Armageddon 2008, Jeff Hardy entered the pay-per-view having stated on RAW that it doesn't matter if he walked, crawled, or carried out that he would become the WWE Champion. And wouldn't you know it, he actually pulled it off!

Until the following ppv, at the Royal Rumble, when Matt Hardy screwed Jeff over - thus, allowing Edge to become Champion.

But Jeff would get retribution at Backlash in an "I Quit" Match, where he forced Matt to utter the words I Quit, and I'm Sorry.

Then Jeff entered a program with Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship and finally became 2-time World Champion at Extreme Rules in a ladder match. Yet, he would lose it 5 minutes later when CM Punk cashed in to become the World Heavyweight Champion.

This started the feud with CM Punk and Punk's eventual heel change.

Tonight's Smackdown was one that truly embodied Living for the Moment as these two entered the Steel Cage and fought each other for the last time.

At one point, Jeff dangled outside the Steel Cage, and J.R. shouted, DROP DOWN AND DEAL WITH IT LATER!

But Punk locked in a head lock and applied a superplex from the top turnbuckle. Jeff Hardy lay motionless, and was not quick enough to stop CM Punk from escaping the cage.

As the bell rung and Jeff remained in the ring, you can sense that he wanted to cry.

We all know that Jeff Hardy and the WWE were discussing contracts and trying to get him to resign - but Jeff wouldn't have it. I, myself, go on about leaving either my job or a club, but in reality even when you talk about it, you realize its a major part of who you are and the person you have become. So even though Jeff wanted to leave the WWE, it's still who he is and he loves the WWE.

Matt Hardy wrote on his WWE Universe Blog, "he needs time away to heal physically and mentally." Partially, the reason Jeff left were nagging neck and back pains - but also because in his heart, there is still so much to do - like paint, build, sing, and so much more. His creativity is the Imag-I-Nation and its for everyone to explore their talents and dreams. To be anything you want to be.

Prior to SummerSlam, CM Punk asked hims, "Do you think you can fly?" And Jeff responded, "I don't think I can fly, My Spirit Knows I CAN!!!"

Jeff Hardy said to the fans in his farewell speech:

First of all, I'm sorry if I let anybody down. I'm sorry that now you'll be seeing CM Punk instead of me.. on Smackdown. But it's been One Hell of a Ride, hasn't!? I want to thank all of you and let you know... this is not goodbye forever... this is only goodbye for now. And if the time is right... I'm sure I'll see you in the future. Thank You All! Hey, at least Matt is back on my side, there's still another Hardy on this show! Yours Truly, Jeff Hardy, ours truly, this life! [Hardy's gun gesture]

This time, Jeff Hardy left on good terms with the WWE - who were impressed how far up the ranks he got CM Punk over as a top-rated Heel.

Thank you Jeff Hardy for the memories, WWE will not be the same without you. You were the sole reason why I watched WWE and always loved to mimic your hand gestures and non-fear to heights. I believed in you, believed you would become the WWE Champion when everyone else gave up. I believed that you would have a real World Heavyweight Title reign, when everyone else thought impossible.

This was a great ending - I hope you heal up and can't wait to watch you on The Hardy Show. You may be gone from the WWE, but not from my life.

Jeff Hardy's Good-Bye 8-25-09

The Smackdown Taping on August 25th 2009 was Jeff Hardy's final WWE program. For months it's been on everyone's mind, when was Jeff Hardy going to leave? He's been working on short month-by-month contracts and stayed to push CM Punk over.

At SummerSlam, Jeff Hardy dropped the title to CM Punk after a hellacious TLC and this upcoming Friday - Jeff Hardy will enforce his rematch clause and battle CM Punk in a steel cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship - in a Loser Leaves WWE match.

The next 2 paragraphs are from PWInsider

Backstage, WWE management told Hardy he had an open door to come back whenever he wanted and that if they could help promote his outside projects, they’d be happy to. Hardy said he wasn’t leaving because he was unhappy, but because he wanted time off the road and wanted to do things at his own pace.

A lot of the WWE talents were comparing his exit to Chris Jericho’s a few years back. The feeling backstage is that it’s a matter of time before Hardy is back. There has been a lot of praise on Hardy over the past few months as it’s felt that his work helped bring CM Punk to a new level.

But as Jeff says in his Goodbye Speech - There is still another Hardy on this Show.

And also mentions that when the time's right, he'll be back.