ECW Recap 12.15.09

ECW Recap from Laredo, TX:

ECW on SyFy started by showing a highlight video package of Kane, former ECW champion. From there, they went to Kane on camera who began to laugh maniacally and declared he was back. On tonight's episode, Abraham Washington Show will feature the Diva of the Year, Maria.

ECW's GM Tiffany was already in the ring to start the show off. She praised this past Sunday's TLC match, the ladder match between Christian and Shelton. She called both men out to the ring. Shelton was favoring his back, while Christian had a black eye from a ladder hitting him. The two opponents shook hands. Tiffany thanked them for representing ECW like they did in such great fashion. Benjamin took the mic and called Sunday's match one of the proudest moments of his career, but he fell short in his goal. Shelton requested a rematch for the ECW title. Tiffany took the mic back and was about to tell him he could have the opportunity when William Regal's music hit.

Regal, Kozlov and Jackson arrived on stage. Regal said he's tired of all this nonesense. Regal asked Tiffany if she had gone mental since she allowed Kane to come back on ECW again. Tiffany explained her new idea called "ECW Homecoming" where she'll invite former ECW stars to compete for a title shot, Kane is the first. The winner of a series of tournament matches will get a title shot at Christian at the 2010 Royal Rumble. Tonight will feature two such matches: Kane takes on Zack Ryder, and then Kozlov will face Jackson. Kozlov had a huge frown when he heard the news, while Jackson was all smiles. Regal tried to mediate the two big men.

The Ripper (Paul Burchill wearing a villain mask) was shown backstage with his valet, "The Beautiful Nightmare" (Katie Lea), wearing a masquerade mask. Ripper takes on The Hurricane next.

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The Hurricane vs. The Ripper

Late in the match, with Katie Lea watching from ringside, Hurricane hit a huge uppercut for a two count. He tried to get the Shining Wizard, but Burchill ducked it, then hit a neckbreaker for a near fall. Burchill whipped Hurricane to the corner, then charged at him. Hurricane got his boot up in time to stop it, then did a DDT from the corner to plant Burchill into the mat head first. Hurricane then went right for the mask and removed The Ripper's disguised to reveal it was in fact Paul Burchill. Burchill was frustrated and shocked by this, which allowed Hurricane to hit the Shining Wizard for the win. Burchill failed to earn a contract with ECW. Hurricane celebrated by showing off the mask he retrieved to the fans.

Winner: The Hurricane wins via pinfall over The Ripper.

Matthews and Saxton talked up last night's Raw which was the 2009 Slammy Awards. They showed highlights including some of Dennis Miller's jokes, as well as various award winners such as Maria for Diva of Year, JeriShow for tag team of year, and then John Cena winning Superstar of the Year tournament. The show ended with Sheamus coming out to the top of the ramp and showing off his WWE title.

Coming up next, Abe Washington Show features Maria, the 2009 Diva of the Year.

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Tony Atlas introduced Abraham Washington, who got his usual chorus of boos as he thanked everyone repeatedly. He mentioned there was a crime committed and told someone to call 911, since he was robbed at Raw's 2009 Slammy's last night. Abe said he was the 2009 Breakout Star of the Year, Superstar of the Year and even Tag Team of the year. Tony Atlas said he also should have won "diva of the year" also.

Washington's guest was 2009 Diva of the Year, Maria. Abe rolled the clip from Raw where she accepted her award but was interrupted by Batista. Washington laughed after it rolled, and Maria retorted that he wasn't robbed, she's seen his show. Atlas chirped in "It stinks!" Maria teased Abe about letting him hold her Slammy trophy. She then let Atlas hold it, and then pulled it away from Washington. Abe came back saying he voted for Michelle McCool last night anyways. He said he wished Batista would come out and interrupt again, then told Atlas to close the show. Maria posed for the fans on the stage holding up her award.

Backstage, William Regal was shown hyping up Kozlov for his match against Ezekiel Jackson next.

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Ezekiel Jackson vs. Vladimir Kozlov

During the match, Josh Matthews informed everyone the specifics of the Homecoming tournament for #1 contender status. There will be 16 matches leading to 8 winners who will compete in an "ECW Homecoming Finale" in five weeks from now. Winner of that goes on to Royal Rumble to face Christian for the title.

During the match, which lasted about two minutes, Regal figured in as he tripped Vladimir Kozlov from the outside. Ezekiel did his one-armed slam finisher called Uranage on Kozlov to collect a pinfall win and move on.

After the match, Regal was getting his long coat outside the ring and Kozlov came over to confront him. Jackson attacked from behind and Regal helped by running Kozlov into the commentators' table. Regal and Jackson celebrated their victories in and out of the ring.

Winner: Ezekiel Jackson wins via pinfall over Vladimir Kozlov to move on in the ECW Homecoming tournament.

Backstage, Caylen Croft and Trent Barreta were playing Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 video game. They pretended they had beat D-Generation X in the game. They said video games immitate real life, then did a fist pound before leaving.

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Julio Cruz & Jorge Arias vs. Trent Barreta & Caylen Croft

Another quick match which saw the new tag team, Croft & Barreta dominate two amateurs in the ring. They worked on them in typical tag team fashion, with frequent tags in and out. They finally ended things with a doubleteam neckbreaker move to collect a pinfall win.

After their win, they grabbed the mic from the ring announcer, Savannah, and announced they will be next year's winners for 2009 Tag Team of the Year Slammy.

Winners: Trent Barreta & Caylen Croft win via pinfall over Julio Cruz & Jorge Arias.

Backstage, Goldust was explaining his jokes from last night's Raw to Yoshi Tatsu. Kane came in to interrupt the conversation. Yoshi Tatsu backed up and began saying something in his language. Kane asked Goldust to translate and his stutter kicked in. Kane said "and they say I'm a freak" and walked off.

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Zack Ryder vs. Kane
ECW Homecoming match

In the second of 16 matches for ECW Homecoming, the Big Red Machine Kane was back to his old stomping grounds. Ryder came out to the ring with Rosa Mendes and pretended he was un-phased by Kane.

Ryder came out on the offensive, until Kane hit some uppercuts on him. In the corner, Ryder got his leg up to boot Kane in the face. Coming off the ropes, Ryder got caught midair by Kane who hit a Powerslam. Kane missed his elbow drop attempt. Ryder started using submissions to wear down the big man on the mat, methodically working over Kane's knee/hamstring.

Ryder continued to stay in control using submission holds, with Matthews/Saxon saying maybe Kane underestimated him. Kane started to make a comeback, but Ryder hit a Rocker Dropper to get a two count. He went for the Rough Ryder finisher, but Kane escaped it, then hit his chokeslam. Kane wins by pinfall. Kane set off his explosion from the ring corners before ECW ended.

Winner: Kane wins via pinfall over Zack Ryder to qualify for the ECW Homecoming in January.

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