Best of ECW 2008 Recap

ECW Recap - The Best of ECW 2008:

At the WWE headquarters in Stamford, CT, Matt Striker and Todd Grisham took a look back at the best highlight moments and matches of ECW in 2008. They revisited CM Punk winning the ECW title in September 2007 then defending against many superstars, until he met Chavo Guerrero in January of 2008.

- Highlights were shown of the January 2008 match where Chavo challenged Punk for his ECW title. Vickie Guerrero made sure it was a No DQ match, which allowed Edge to interfere and Spear Punk down. Chavo took the pin and the ECW title. Chavo celebrated on the ramp with Vickie Guerrero and Edge. Matt Striker discussed how CM Punk couldn't recapture the ECW title, but made many valiant attempts. Highlights were shown of Punk attacking Chavo at the ECW Fiesta celebration, and then of Punk tossing Chavo into the Gulf of Mexico.

- Wrestlemania 24's Money in the Bank Ladder Match was shown from March 30, 2008. The match included Shelton Benjamin, Mr. Kennedy, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, MVP and CM Punk. Punk ended up climbing the ladder after knocking Chris Jericho away to grab the MITB briefcase.

- Two Months later the Rated R-Superstar Edge visited Raw to inform everyone that his World Heavyweight title was off the table for anyone on Raw, including Batista who recently was drafted there. Batista took exception and came out to attack Edge, leaving him layed out in the ring. CM Punk then took the opportunity to cash in MITB and hit the GTS on Edge in the ring, pinned him and captured the World Heavyweight title.

CM Punk won the "OMG Moment of the Year" Slammy Award for capturing the title from Edge. Todd Grisham asked Striker how the GTS feels as highlights were shown of him on the receiving end of it.

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- Wrestlemania XXIV's 24 Man Battle Royal highlights were shown. The winner of the contest got to face Chavo Guerrero for the ECW title later on. It came down to Kane vs. Mark Henry with Kane tossing Henry over the top rope. Later on, Chavo Guerrero awaited Kane's arrival to the ring for their title match. Kane showed up in the ring behind Chavo, and as Chavo turned the bell sounded. Kane chokeslammed Chavo and pinned him within 8 seconds to capture the ECW title.

- Kane went on a rampage defeating all opponents, until he came to a Triple Threat match against Mark Henry and Big Show at Night of Champions. Matt Striker said the entire weight in that match was 1,156 pounds. Kane attacked Big Show up on the corner suplexing him off. As Kane was still on the mat, Mark Henry won it by using a Splash move off the ropes onto Kane for the pinfall victory.

- Highlights were shown to display the dominance of Mark Henry the World's Strongest ECW Champ. Henry was shown slamming everyone from Colin Delaney to Evan Bourne, Tommy Dreamer and Finlay.

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Highlights were shown of The Miz & Morrison who won the World Tag Team titles and 2 Slammy Awards. Todd Grisham listed out all the reasons to "Be Jealous" of the duo. Striker said Miz & Morrison have claimed they're the greatest tag team of the 21st Century.

Cryme Tyme vs. The Miz & John Morrison
Cyber Sunday 10/26/08

At Cyber Sunday 2008, the fans voted for Cryme Tyme to face Miz & Morrison in a tag match. Highlights were shown of the match including Miz and Morrison effectively keeping JTG away from his partner, using cheap shots and doubleteams. JTG escaped as Miz tried to slingshot him into Morrison for an elbow. Instead, JTG hit Morrison off the apron and stomped on Miz with his boot. JTG crawled over for the tag to Shad. Morrison tagged in as well, but Shad clotheslined him down, then booted Miz down as well. Shad had the momentum but Morrison escaped a pin at 2.

All 4 men ended up in the ring after Miz broke up Shad's pin attempt on Morrison. The ref tried to get JTG out of the ring and as he was distracted, The Miz ran over and kicked Shad in the leg. Morrison took the opportunity to hit the Moonlight Drive, then stole the pin.

Winners: The Miz & John Morrison win via pinfall over Cryme Tyme.

Highlight video package shown of Matt Hardy in all sorts of matches including cage matches and ladder matches. It all culminated this year when Matt was drafted to ECW and won the ECW title at the Championship Scramble match.

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Highlight video shown displaying the father-son love between Finlay and Hornswoggle.

Todd Grisham mentioned this year was ECW's 100th episode, and that he and Striker won the Slammy Award for top commentary team.

Grisham and Striker discussed the roller coaster year Matt Hardy had. It started when his tag partner MVP viciously attacked Matt and put him on the shelf with a bad leg injury. Matt made his surprise return at Wrestlemania 24, when he showed up at the Money in the Bank Ladder Match and knocked MVP off the ladder before he could get the briefcase. Matt delivered a Twist of Fate on MVP off the ladder.

- Highlights were shown of Backlash on 4/27/08, when Matt defeated MVP for the United States Championship.

- In June 2008, Matt was drafted from Smackdown to ECW. Matt went on to earn the title of #1 Contender for the ECW title, after dropping his US title to Shelton Benjamin.

- At Unforgiven 2008 the ECW Championship Scramble match was held with Mark Henry as champ. Every 5 minutes a new superstar was added to the match, until Finlay, The Miz, Chavo Guerrero, Mark Henry, John Morrison and Matt Hardy were all present. The title seemed to change hands several times with Chavo Guerrero and Finlay both making pins, but Matt was able to hit the Twist of Fate on Miz and captured the title. As the match time was winding down, Matt used a defensive strategy making sure to prevent any other pinfalls from happening. As the clock expired, Matt had the last pin and became the new ECW Champion.

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ECW returned with highlights of new ECW star, the high-flying Evan Bourne. Bourne's Shooting Star Press won the Slammy for Finishing Maneuver of the Year.

Evan Bourne was voted to face Matt Hardy at Cyber Sunday for the ECW title.

Evan Bourne vs. Matt Hardy
Cyber Sunday ECW Title Match

At Cyber Sunday it was the high-flying superstar Bourne receiving the majority of fan votes over Finlay & Mark Henry. Striker said many are calling this the match of the year. Early on Bourne hit an impressive dropkick which took Matt by surprise. Later still, Matt hit a Side Effect and tried for a pin with Bourne kicking out. Matt hit a second Side Effect, and Bourne escaped the pin again. Hardy went to the second rope and jumped at Bourne, but Evan jumped up and hit a spinning heel kick in Matt's gut. Bourne hit a flying double knee off the corner onto Matt but Matt escaped the pin.

Bourne continued to use all sorts of moves on Hardy. Bourne climbed to the corner for the Shooting Star Press, but Matt got up fast and went up to fight Bourne. Bourne shoved Matt off the corner down to the mat. As Bourne went for the Shooting Star Press Matt rolled out of the way. Bourne crashed to the mat, and as he stood up Matt went for Twist of Fate. Bourne countered it into a slide pin, but Matt escaped, stood up and hit a quick Twist of Fate.

Winner: Matt Hardy wins via pinfall over Evan Bourne to retain the ECw title.

Todd and Matt introduced highlights from 2008 WWE Tribute to the Troops complete with an intro from President George W. Bush. Cryme Tyme, The Miz, Big Show, Batista, CM Punk, and John cena were among the superstars involved. WWE Divas Kelly Kelly, Eve, Alicia Fox, Mickie James and Maria were also along to help boost the morale and spirits of the men and women overseas.

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Grisham and Striker discussed several other superstars who have debuted and done well on ECW: Kofi Kingston, DJ Gabriel and Jack Swagger. They highlighted the 6'4 260 lb All-American American, and his Gut Wrench Powerbomb.

Striker mentioned the new WWE Champion, Jeff Hardy, who hit a huge Swanton at Armageddon on Edge to capture the WWE title. Matt came out to congratulate Jeff after the match at Armageddon. The two brothers hugged in the ring with Matt raising his brother's hand up triumphantly. Striker discussed the new era of "Fighting Champions" with the Hardys holding gold. Striker proposed the question of which superstars might be looking for a shot at their titles in 2009. Todd Grisham pulled out the Slammy Award for Best Announce Team of 08' to mention they won once more.

As ECW ended, highlights were shown from throughout the year, set to ECW's theme song. CM Punk, Finlay, Ricky Ortiz, Kane, Evan Bourne, Finlay, Mark Henry, Matt Hardy, Boogeyman, Miz, Morrison, DJ Gabriel and Tommy Dreamer were among those shown. ECW Champ Matt Hardy was shown last holding up his ECW title.