Tuesday, January 30th, 2007
Toyota Center
Houston, Texas
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Vince McMahon is shown walking around and he shakes Marcus Cor Von's hand and says that he is a breath of fresh air around here. He then goes to Sandman and yells at him for drinking on the job. He mocks his name and then says that he thinks he'll find his comments tonight very interesting.
CM Punk vs. Matt Striker
Well Punk is quite the hot topic here in 2023, but for now I'll enjoy him in a time where he was just a young up and comer. Punk quickly clotheslines Striker over the top and tries for a suplex to the floor, but Striker snaps his neck on the top rope. Striker hits a draping neckbreaker that gets a reaction from the crowd. Punk battles back and hits the knee in the corner into the bulldog. Punk hits a butterfly backbreaker for a 2 count. Punk tries a sunset flip, but Striker grabs his legs and the second rope to steal the victory. I get that they are trying to build Striker, but there's no way they could think that he had anywhere the amount of potential that Punk had.
Match Rating: *1/2
They show highlights of Undertaker winning the Royal Rumble and being on Raw.
We go back to Vince and now he's making fun of Tommy Dreamer's name and tells him he doesn't deal with dreams.
Rob Van Dam vs. Hardcore Holly
If you ever wanted to hear Tazz impersonate Larry The Cable Guy, here's your chance. RVD hits a dive to the outside just before they go to commercial. When we come back, RVD is still in control and hits a leaping leg drop. Holly is able to shove RVD off the top rope and to the barricade. That has become a staple of RVD matches lately. Holly gets a short heat segment before he gets hit with a spin kick by RVD. The comeback doesn't last long, as Holly comes back with a dropkick. RVD hits a monkey flip and a spin kick in the corner. He climbs up top and hits the single legged kick to the jaw. He hits Rolling Thunder and gets a 2 count. He goes for another monkey flip, but this time Holly catches him and hits a powerbomb. Holly climbs up top, but RVD crotches him. He goes for a superplex, but is shoved off. Holly goes off the top and gets hit by a spin kick. RVD misses with the 5 Star Frog Splash. Holly goes for the Alabama Slam, but he's not able to lift him up, selling his back. He throws him into the ring post and then hits the Alabama Slam for the victory. Holly was one of those guys who we all knew was decent, but never in a million years was anyone going to buy him as a serious threat to anything in 2007. The match was the usual solid one from these two.
Match Rating: **3/4
Vince runs into Sabu and makes a Taliban joke. Yes, really. He then says that he knows who he is and for him to stay away.
61 days until WrestleMania.
Vince runs into Balls Mahoney listening to his headphones and jamming. They talk about their Irish ancestry. He then questions if he'll be able to live up to his first name today.
It's time for Extreme Exposé. Vince comes down and takes over the ring and talks about how the original ECW sucks. He then announces that Elijah Burke is the epitome of the new ECW. I was very into Burke at this time, but even 16 years later, this seems way too early to be doing this. He rips on the ECW originals and then out comes Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Balls Mahoney and Sabu to attack him. He ends up being put through a table and Vince is upset. I mean, what did he think was going to happen? This was a stupid segment.
ECW Championship Match
Bobby Lashley vs. Test
Getting this match 3 times in 1 week is the definition of #BLESSED. They quickly go outside and Test struggles to roll up the mat. He goes for a piledriver, but Lashley counters with a back body drop into the commercial break. During the break, Lashley missed with a Spear and hit the ring post. They seem to be in a bit of a rush, so I'm guessing something ran long since there are less than 4 minutes left. Lashley makes a comeback after ducking a big boot and hitting an exploder suplex. He hits the running powerslam and that's the end of Test as we know it. After the match, Lashley kicks him out of the ring before celebrating. The lights go out and we hear the Undertaker's bell. When the lights come back on, Taker is in the ring. Test grabs a chair, but Taker grabs him by the throat and hits a chokeslam.
Match Rating: 3/4*
This was a solid episode of the show that featured just about every noteworthy star on their very thin roster. The Elijah segment didn't seem to do anything for him, but we'll see where they go from here. Plus, I think we are finally done with Test as a "top guy", so that's a win.
Overall Rating: 53%
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