ECW News (Page 14)

We're less than a week away, fans. Joey Styles promised on last night's ECW broadcast that someone would get "completely naked" during Extreme Strip Poker.

Of course, he may have been referring to himself, as opposed to some sighting of nude WWE Divas. Let's hope not.

Either way, here's what a few of the (scantily clad) participants had to say in the days leading up to the event ...

Ashley: Rules are rules and if it comes down to it, I'm willing to bear it all along with everyone else. I'm a fair sport. All the divas are freaking hot, so it will be a good show for everyone, no matter who has to get naked.

Candice: It's been a while since I've played, but I usually do my best when I am playing against someone I really want to see get naked. I'd love to see the other WWE Divas naked, so I know I'll be on my game.

Kelly Kelly: I'm willing to go as far as I have to, but I want to win. All the girls are hot, so it should be a good time no matter what happens. ECW will definitely come out on top. We're extreme and it's Extreme Strip Poker.

Maria: I''ve never played Strip Poker before, but the guys on WWE RAW were really nice to give me a few pointers. I'm going to do my best to get ride of any cards that match, so I can win. How far am I willing to go? I'm willing to go all the way if I have to.

Trinity: ECW is totally going to dominate. We're vixens, we're sly, we're extreme, we cheat, we don't care. Those other girls don't stand a chance.

The following report is courtesy of wrestleview.com ..

Backstage, Paul Heyman is watching a TV monitor along with Hardcore Holly. Holly is silent as Heyman watches footage from ECW last week where Holly took a huge bump through a table along with Rob Van Dam, a bump that caused a massive cut on his back requiring 24 stitches. Heyman mentioned how Holly almost died recently because of a staph infection and was put out for a year because of it.

He gave Holly credit for finishing his match against RVD for another 15 minutes after taking the big table bump. Holly told Heyman he came to ECW to wrestle and not hear him brag about how tough he is. He demanded RVD in the ring tonight. Heyman said he couldn't take the risk of having Holly compete in the ring again since he is still in stitches from last week. He added that he also can't have Holly suing Heyman if something goes wrong. Holly denies he would, but Heyman says everyone says that but would still sue.

Holly grabs Heyman, pushing him down into a locker area and demands RVD. Holly then gets smacked over the back with a steel chair and we see Test was the one who did it. Heyman smiles and announces that it will be Test facing RVD tonight in an Extreme Rules Match. We then see a shot of Holly grabbing his back in pain.

- ECW Champion Big Show & Matt Striker defeated The Sandman & Sabu. Striker ended up working a majority of the match with Sandman and Sabu. Some good action with Sabu which saw Striker hit a running knee to the face in the corner. Sandman even hit a huricanranna from the top on Striker as well. The finish saw Sandman attempt a Russian Leg Sweep on Striker, but Big Show came in and held Striker by the arm so Sandman would fly back without Striker.

Big Show then splashed Sandman, rolled out and Striker covered Sandman for the pinfall. After the match, Big Show and Striker headed to the back smiling with Striker yelling out it was all his idea.

- Backstage, Kelly Kelly and Trinity plugged the "Extreme Strip Poker" next week involving Divas from ECW, RAW and Smackdown. Trinity showed off her chest adding that no one can beat a full house, while Kelly opened up her top to reveal two cards barely covering her breasts.

- Kevin Thorn w/ Ariel defeated Tommy Dreamer. Lots of solid back and forth action between the two. Dreamer looked very impressive in the match. The finish saw Dreamer hit a DDT and cover Thorn, but Thorn had his arm under the bottom rope. Ariel then threw in Thorn's walking stick and he hit Dreamer with it while the referee wasn't looking. Thorn then covered Dreamer for the win. After the match, Thorn rolled out and Ariel jumped on him. Ariel, still holding onto Thorn, leaned backwards on the announcers table bothering Joey Styles again. Tazz laughed.

- Clips from "The Marine" starring John Cena is shown.

- A clip of Maria at RAW is shown. She also plugs the "Extreme Strip Poker" next week, along with Candice Michelle. Maria said she has been asking for help for next week since she has never played poker. She says the wrestlers have been giving her tips on how to play.

- CM Punk defeated Danny Doring. Very quick match that saw Punk hit a double underhook backbreaker and then go into his combination of slaps and kicks. This went into Punk hitting his modified Rock Bottom into an Anaconda Vice with Doring tapping out to give Punk another submission victory.

After the match, we hear Kelly Kelly on the mic. She is on a stage and congratulates Punk on his victory. Kelly tells Punk that this is for him. Kelly's music starts up and she starts to dance when Mike Knox comes up and stops her. Knox gets on the mic and says he is sick and tired of Punk going after his woman. Punk gets on the mic in the ring and says he isn't going after her, she is going after him.

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This would be just too bad for the long-time, respected, ECW star, but reports are surfacing that Justin Credible has been notified of his release by John Laurinaitis via a fax message sent to him earlier in the week.

The veteran hasn't appeared on any ECW programs for a few weeks.

If the company thought last week's WWE RAW rating of 3.7 was poor, it's easy to imagine their reaction to these numbers.

The show Monday night drew a disappointing 3.4 score this week, as ESPN's Monday Night Football (the first game in New Orleans in over a year) scored a huge 11.8, the largest number in the ESPN history.

WWE officials are hoping next week's John Cena/Edge Steel Cage match provides a ratings boost.

In better news, though, ECW on SCI-FI scored a 1.9 rating for the first time since September 11. Maybe people actually do wish to see regular brand stars, such as Sandman, in the spotlight instead of constant cross-overs from WWE stars.

The following report is courtesy of lordsofpain.net ...

ECW opens up with an introduction Oklahoma’s own Jim Ross. But Matt Striker quickly interrupts and says its obvious that J.R. isn’t educated. Striker runs down J.R. for being blue collar and enjoying alcoholic beverages.

Sandman comes down to the ring. Striker pleads J.R. to help him against the Sandman. J.R. tells him he is on his own. Sandman with a cane shot to Striker. Sandman hands J.R. the Singapore cane. Sandman holds Striker so J.R. can hit him in the back. After a cane shot, Striker rolls out of the ring and heads to the back. Sandman gives J.R. a beer. Before opening the beer, J.R. wants to toast the next ECW champion: the Sandman.

Rob Van Dam vs Hardcore Holly
- Holly takes the early advantage. They go outside and fight some more. RVD lays Holly across the security rail and hits a spinning leg drop on Holly. RVD pulls a table out from under the ring. Holly smashes RVD’s face into the ring steps. Holly whips RVD into the ring post. Back in the ring, Holly gets a 2 count. Holly continues beating on RVD. Every time RVD starts to build momentum, Holly stops him. Holly on the ring apron tries to suplex RVD through the table on the outside. RVD counter, but Holly counters that and both men crash through the table. Holly has a nasty gash in his back from the table. With RVD back in the ring, Holly grabs and sets up a chair in the ring. He tries to suplex RVD onto the chair, but RVD counters and suplexes Holly onto the chair. The gash in Holly’s back is bleeding badly. RVD skateboards the chair into Holly’s face.

RVD puts the chair on Holly and hit Rolling Thunder for 2. RVD tries for a monkey flip onto the chair, but Holly slams RVD on the chair for 2. RVD lays a chair and Holly and goes up for the frog splash. As RVD was soaring in the air, Holly throws the chair straight up into RVD’s face. Holly goes for the Alabama Slam, RVD slides out. Holly grabs the chair, but as he turns to use it, RVD kick the chair into his head. RVD goes up for the 5 Star Frog Splash and this match is over.
Winner: Rob Van Dam

CM Punk starts his straight edge talk backstage. Kelly Kelly comes up to him and talks about the extreme strip poker match in a couple weeks. She wants Punk to help her play strip poker. Mike Knox separates them. Knox asks Punk if he has his own woman. Punk tells Knox that he does, and that Knox needs to spend more time worrying about Kelly. Knox tells Punk that he is lucky that he has to straighten Kelly out, but when he is done he is coming for Punk. Punk says he will be waiting.

Extreme Cat Fight: Ariel vs Francine
- Francine dominates Ariel. Kevin Thorn pulls Francine off of Ariel. Ariel gets in some cheap shots before Balls Mahoney hits the ring. Mahoney with a chair shot to Thorn. Thorn pulls Ariel to the back as Mahoney yells that this isn’t over.

ECW World Title: Sandman vs Big Show
- The match is underway as we come back from commercials. Sandman is beating the hell out of Big Show with the Singapore cane. Sandman goes for a cover, but Big Show throws him off. Big Show has head butts and rights for the Sandman. Big Show slowly and methodically beats on Sandman. Big Show goes for the choke slam, but Sandman counters into a DDT. Sandman gets the cane and cracks Big Show in the head from the top rope. Sandman tries for a cover but gets 2.

Matt Striker comes to ringside and confiscates Sandman’s cane. The distraction allows Big Show to get the advantage again. Big Show hits his submission backbreaker and follows with the Showstopper Leg Drop for the win. Big Show keeps repeating nobody can beat me all the way to the back.
Winner: Big Show

Oh yes, you read that headline correctly.

The 10/10 edition of ECW will feature an "Extreme Strip Poker" game involving WWE Divas from the RAW, SmackDown! and ECW brands.

The strip poker game appears to be WWE's answer to the heavily-anticipated Shamrock vs. Ortiz III UFC card, which takes place from 8-10PM EST on Spike TV that night. This is a competition that should continue to take place on Tuesday nights.

But, hey, if it results is more nude WWE Divas, who are we to argue?

At this rate, ECW better hope it's still around for Survivor Series.

This week's edition on SCI-FI - which featured a main event of King Booker against Rob Van Dam -scored a 1.6 cable rating with a 2 share. That's a large decrease from last week's 1.9 rating.

Quarter hour numbers for ECW: were 1.4, 1.5, 1.5, 1.5 and 2.0.

Who will come out on top when Survivor Series celebrates its 20th anniversary this November? No matches are on the card yet, but we do know this much:

A few Extremists will be stopping by.

WWE.com has confirmed that ECW wrestlers will take part in the Thanksgiving time tradition. While further details are unclear, it should be a change of pace to have all three brands represented at a pay-per-view for the first time.

The following report is courtest of lordsofpain.net ...

The show starts with the arrival of King Booker. Paul Heyman welcomes him and promises to introduce him to the ECW roster.

Match 1: Sabu/Sandman/Dreamer vs. Test/Mike Knox/Striker
- Dreamer and Knox start the match. After a little back and forth exchange, Knox makes an early tag to Striker. Striker tags Knox back in. Knox gets a neck breaker from Dreamer. Dreamer knocks Knox over the top rope to the outside. Test drives Dreamer into the ring post. Striker knocks sandman off the ring apron into the security rail. Sandman has to be taken to the back. It is time for a commercial break. Back in the ring, Knox has Dreamer in a headlock. Knox tags in Test. Test works over Dreamer in the corner. Test stands on Dreamer's head. Test whips Dreamer into the opposite corner and follows with a clothesline. Test tags in Striker. Striker puts Dreamer in a headlock.

Dreamer rolls to the corner. Test and Knox double up on Dreamer while Striker distracts the ref. Striker hits Dreamer with a neck breaker for a 2 count. Test gets the tag from Striker. Test targets Dreamers back with kicks. Knox tagged in. Bear hug on dreamer from Knox. Dreamer fights out. Knox power slams on dreamer for 2. Knox goes up top and misses a leg drop. Dreamer hits an inverted DDT. Dreamer makes the tag to Sabu. Sabu takes down everyone. Sabu hits a slingshot leg drop on Knox. Dreamer hits a DDT on Knox. Sabu lands a leg drop on Knox off of Dreamers back. Striker breaks the count. Sabu puts Striker in the camel clutch. Test clotheslines Sabu to break the hold. Sabu goes to the top rope, but Test pushes the ref into the ropes, causing Sabu to split his boys. Ref calls for the bell. Test hits Sabu with the big boot. Test gives Dreamer a neck breaker. Knox lands a leg drop on Sabu. Test, Knox, and Striker start a 3 on 2 beat down. Sandman hobbles back to the ring. Kendo stick shots on Knox and Test. Striker runs like hell.
Winners by DQ: Sabu, Sandman, and Dreamer

Backstage, Heyman is introducing King Booker and Sharmell to Stevie Richards and Christopher W. Anderson. They then meet Balls Mahoney. Balls explains everything he does is balls to the wall, therefore the name. Sharmell acts disgusted, prompting King Booker to ask Heyman what kind of outfit this is. Heyman promises it is all uphill from there.

Match 2: Kevin Thorn w/ Ariel vs Balls Mahoney w/ Francine
- Match starts with Thorn taking an early advantage. Thorn throws Balls to the outside. Balls slams Thorn’s head on the ring apron. Back inside, Balls mounts Thorn in the corner. Thorn slides out and flips Balls upside down. Balls with a reverse cradle slam for 2. Balls hits the punch combo. Balls hits Thorn with a spine buster for 2. Ariel trips Balls which prompts Ariel and Francine to start a cat fight. Balls climbs the turnbuckle telling them to stop. Thorn hits a crucifix slam on Balls from the top and pick up the win. Thorn pulls Ariel to the back.
Winner: Kevin Thorn

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This isn't very good news. Despite a main event that featured the show's top face, Sabu, ECW on Sci-Fi this week only scored a 1.9 rating.

This is a drop frm last Tuesday's 2.1, a program that featured DX in the main event. Sadly, that probably means you can expect to see many more WWE stars randomly appearing on ECW in the future, despite the complete lack of storyline logic in that.

Meanwhile, Smackdown! had ratings problems of its own - for a different reason. The program was preempted in 45 percent of the country last week, while five percent still don't have a clearance to begin with during the switch from UPN to The CW. Major markets without a clearance this fall include Phoenix, Orlando, Porland, Baltimore, Reno, Columbia-Jefferson City (Mo.), Palm Springs, and Anchorage.

As a result, Smackdown - which featured Batista being screwed out of the title - drew a 1.0 network rating last Friday (2 share/1.1 million households).