ECW Recap 06.30.09

ECW Recap from Fresno, CA:

ECW GM Tiffany was in the ring to start off the show, and welcomed fans to a new era of ECW. Tiffany said that ECW will continue to host the most talented young superstars in pro-wrestling via the Superstar Initiative, and that the show may have lost several key stars but it's gained some big stars as well from the 15 Superstar WWE trade. Tiffany said it was time to kick things off, and Shelton Benjamin arrived to the ring to start it off.

Yoshi Tatsu vs. Shelton Benjamin

Yoshi was part of the new superstar initiative arriving via Japan. Shelton got on the mic and insulted Yoshi with a mocking Japanese accent, telling him to stand back or he'd call Godzilla. As the bell rang, Shelton waltzed around and continued to bow to the crowd, mocking the new superstar. Shelton did a fake Sumo stance, then another bow to Yoshi. As Shelton came up from the bow, Yoshi connected on a serious kick to his head and KO'd Shelton to the mat for a winning pinfall. Yoshi celebrated and then bowed to his fallen opponent before leaving.

Winner: Yoshi Tatsu wins via pinfall over Shelton Benjamin.

Striker announced tonight's main event will be Tommy Dreamer and Christian teaming up to face Vladimir Kozlov and William Regal.

A new WWE personality, Abraham Washington was shown walking backstage and shaking hands with various people. Matthews said his new in-ring talk show is up next with the Bella Twins.

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Abraham Washington came to the ring for his brand new ECW talk show. The fans started a "What?" chant as Washington discussed various WWE topics such as John Cena, The Miz, 12 Rounds and the 3 Stages of Hell. Washington then introduced The Bella Twins, ECW's newest acquisitions. During the show, a special corner ad displayed for ECW saying it will air next week on Thursday at 7PM EST. During his routine, Washington made several wise crack question jokes asking if the Bellas wore weaves. Washington also asked several questions to get the Twins mad at each other, such as who had the first kiss, and which Twin is the better athlete. Nikki and Brie started arguing as to who was the better twin when it came to keeping a boyfriend. As the Bellas started arguing, Washington said the show had to come to an end, and he tried to sit in between them on the couch. The Bellas both got up at once and left Washington in the ring.

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Oliver John vs. Sheamus

Sheamus was yet another newcomer on the ECW program, and squared off against an amateur, Oliver John. Sheamus cut a promo on the mic about being an Irish Celtic warrior and how he was there to claim ECW as his own. Sheamus was able to knock down John with a hard clubbing forearm before he locked in a chinlock on him. As John stood up to the crowd's clapping, Sheamus threw him back down, then whipped him to the corner so he could ram into him. John finally fought back a bit, but was soon whipped to the ropes and came back into a hard boot by Sheamus followed by him slamming John down across his knee before the pin.

Winner: Sheamus wins via pinfall over Oliver John.

Backstage, Vladimir Kozlov was shown getting himself prepared for the main event. William Regal came walking up and told Kozlov to remember what they talked about. Regal said he doesn't want to be embarassed on his first night with ECW. Koloz said something in Russian then said "embarass you, I got it".

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Zack Ryder was shown backstage in a locker room fixing his hair up and checking it in his sunglasses. A new wrestler walked up to him and was all buddy-buddy with Ryder, saying he's from So Cal and has been impressed with Ryder's matches. The man introduced himself as Tyler Rex and said he'd be facing Ryder on WWE Superstars this Thursday. Zack Ryder told the rookie he better go get prepared because he'll need all that he's got.

Matt Striker and Josh Matthews introduced the Raw Rebound. The highlights showed Batista serving as last night's guest host. The Animal announced a Night of Champions tournament featuring Miz vs. Cena and HHH vs. MVP. Cena and Triple H advanced to next week's final match. Also, Batista put Randy Orton into a 3 on 1 Gauntlet match as the main event, to get revenge on Orton for hurting him. The Gauntlet featured the 3 new ECW superstars who were traded to Raw, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger and then Mark Henry. Orton beat Bourne by pinfall, then Swagger came down and was purposely counted out, out of respect for Orton. Mark Henry pretended he was going to do the same, then waved his finger no, smiling, and got back in the ring to fight. Henry took the fight to Orton and hit the World's Strongest Slam to win it.

Christian was shown walking backstage, then came up to Tommy Dreamer. Dreamer asked Christian if he's ready. Christian said they're in the same arena where he made his return to WWE & ECW. Christian also let Dreamer know he plans to regain the ECW title. Dreamer asked why Christian picked right before the tag match to tell him all this, then said let's go.

Christian & Tommy Dreamer vs. William Regal & Vladimir Kozlov

Early on Christian took it to Regal, before Regal tagged in Kozlov. Christian continued trying to fight and elude Kozlov but was eventually knocked down. Kozlov put Christian up on his shoulder to squeeze the life out of him. Christian eventually slid off and tagged in Dreamer. Dreamer punched away at Kozlov for a bit and hit a flying cross body on him, before yanking the top rope down for Kozlov to fall out. As Kozlov got back on the apron, Christian had tagged in and ran over to dropkick him off. ECW went to commercial with Regal outside defending Kozlov from a Christian jump off the corner.

ECW returned with Regal locking in a headlock on Dreamer in the ring. Dreamer stood up to fight but Regal kneed him and continued to unload on Dreamer. With the ref distracted by Regal, Kozlov got in a few cheap shots on Dreamer from the apron. Kozlov tagged in to hit repeated elbow drops on Dreamer. Dreamer finally fought back when Regal had tagged in again, and he was able to leap over to tag Christian. Christian came in with a flurry of punches on Regal to drop him to the mat. After a failed pinfall on Regal, Christian rushed over to shove Kozlov off the apron. Christian hit a Sunset Flip on Regal but couldn't score the pinfall. Regal jumped out of the ring and yanked Christian's arm against the top rope. Kozlov came back in to whip Christian corner to corner, focusing on the left arm of Christian. Regal and Kozlov took turns working on Christian's injury to keep him away from a tag. At one point, Regal and Christian collided head to head and both men hit the mat. Eventually they both were able to make tags.

Dreamer came in to face Kozlov, and kept coming off the ropes with clotheslines but couldn't bring Kozlov down. Dreamer finally connected on a clothesline off the corner to level him. Regal came into the ring to break up Dreamer's pin, and Christian took him to the outside. Dreamer set up for the DDT on Kozlov, but Kozlov countered to get out. Dreamer hit a neckbreaker but failed to score the pinfall. Meanwhile, Regal threw Christian into the steel steps and got back on the apron, then slapped Kozlov's back to tag in. Kozlov turned and glared at Regal, and Dreamer clotheslined Kozlov out of the ring. Regal was able to knock Dreamer down and prepared to kick him. As Regal backed up he got right near Kozlov who slapped his back to tag in. Kozlov came in, grabbed Dreamer and slammed him down hard for the pinfall win. Regal seemed upset at first over Kozlov getting the win, but then shook his hand and celebrated the win suspiciously with Kozlov in the ring.

Winners: William Regal & Vladimir Kozlov win via pinfall over Christian & Tommy Dreamer.

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