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There are no hard cameras but they do have a handheld camera. There are a lot of fans at the show.
They played a pre-paid message regarding WWE's proprietary rights. The fans chanted, "F*** you Vince." Ring announcer Justin Roberts was booed out of the venue when he came out. There are mats around ringside.
The FBI vs. Danny Doring & Roadkill - FBI played babyface. Mamaluke did a flip senton to the floor on Doring. Roadkill dove off the top and hit his partner. Mamaluke scored the pin on Roadkill with a DDT.
CM Punk vs. Stevie Richards - Punk got a huge reaction and came out to his ROH music by AFI. Punk forced Richards to tap out in a really good competitive match. They shook hands after. Punk appeared to be bleeding from the ear.
Francine won an extreme bikini contest over Kelly and Trinity. Kelly got in Francine's face and was shoved down. Francine and Trinity had a catfight. Trinity tried to moonsault off the top to the floor on Francine but missed. Francine went back after Kelly, and tried to take her top off. Mike Knox covered Kelly and laid out Francine. Balls Mahoney hit the ring for the save and a new match started.....
Mike Knox rolled up Balls Mahoney and scored the pin while holding Mahoney's pants after Mahoney missed a chairshot. Crowd didn't give Knox a chance and booed the hell out of the finish.
Sabu defeated CW Anderson by submission with the Camel Clutch. Sabu put Anderson through a table with an Arabian Facebuster before the finish.
We are now at intermission.
Sandman pinned Justin Credible with the White Russian Legsweep in a Dueling Canes match. No Metallica for the entrance. Short.
Paul Heyman came out. Some of the fan chanted "This show sucks." Heyman said that they had to make some compromises but the bottom line was ECW was back and they would beat the compromises in end. He said that he's waited 5 years to be back in the ECW Arena and that no matter what porno rejects and wannabes and losers ran here, ECW is back. He admitted Sandman's music sucked. There were two reactions from the crowd. Those who loved it and those who were trying to shout Heyman down. A fan tried to start a John Cena chant and was ripped by Heyman. Heyman pushed the July 4th taping and then introduced Tommy Dreamer.
Tommy Dreamer gave a speech talking about how his daughter was hurt today after falling but once the got the +" sign, his wife and family told him to go to the Arena because they knew how much the fans meant to him. Dreamer said that everyone who was here today, couldn't make it or was no longer able to be here were part of a family. He said they raised the bar for wrestling and everyone would have to work harder to do it again and show that ECW guys are the best in the world.
Dreamer said the fans in the Arena decide if you will make it in ECW and called out Big Show. They brawled around ringside and even into the bleachers. Show pressed and dropped Dreamer through a table to the floor for a two count. Dreamer came back and tried to hit the Spicoli Driver through a table but couldn't lift Show. Show chokeslammed him for the pin. Crowd hated Big Show including "Don't Come Back" chant. Dreamer got a nice ovation as he left.
The main event is Rob Van Dam vs. Kurt Angle with Dean Malenko as the special referee. Angle didn't get a big pop. Van Dam was greeted like the great Homecoming had taken place. They had a good match, with Van Dam getting the pin with the Five Star Frog Splash. Both worked really hard.
I'll write much more about the show tomorrow. It wasn't terrible by any stretch but there was a vocal segment of fans who didn't want a WWE show, they wanted the old version of ECW and they vocalized that all night, even when Paul Heyman was addressing them.
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