WWE ECW 140

February 10, 2009 – Fresno, California

Jack Swagger comes out to the ring for a chat. He announces that Finlay is getting a title shot at No Way Out. He calls himself a victim of Hornswoggle, and he wants to fight him right now. Christian comes out instead, and the commentators are way too calm given he’s been gone for years. He wants the PPV winner to fight him for the title, and he lays out Swagger with the microphone. Teddy Long makes a match between them for the main event. 

The Miz def. Tommy Dreamer
This was going along as nondescript as you’d expect until John Morrison distracted Dreamer and Miz hit a weak chinbreaker at 5:08 for the win. Remember, this Dreamer losing streak is leading to him being the champion of this brand. *½ 

Jamie Noble complains to Long about the Boogeyman, but he’s interrupted by Natalya & Tyson Kidd. Kidd is debuting on the brand tonight. They’re connected to the Hart family, you know. Kidd rips on Noble before leaving. Later, Finlay & Hornswoggle welcome Christian to ECW. Also, Evan Bourne is returning. Kidd, Bourne, and Christian give me a little hope I won’t have to off myself.

Tyson Kidd def. Bao Nguyen
Kidd squashes this jobber with really stiff kicks. He won at 1:30 with an ugly springboard elbowdrop. Noble looked on from the ramp. N/A

Christian def. Jack Swagger
Things were starting to pick up when the PPV build portion of the match kicked in. Christian got tossed into Finlay outside, then Swagger exposed a turnbuckle, then Hornswoggle distracted the referee, then Finlay clubbed Swagger’s ankle, then Christian hit the Killswitch for the win at 8:15. Too much extra nonsense here, and Swagger looking bad three weeks in a row telegraphed that he’d win on PPV. **½ 

Speaking of No Way Out…

February 15, 2009 – Seattle, Washington

Jack Swagger def. Finlay {ECW Championship March}
This wasn’t more entertaining than their TV match a couple weeks earlier, and had a quieter crowd. I think you could call this actively bad and nobody would be able to disagree with you credibly. The finish was trashy. Hornswoggle was on the apron for no reason, Swagger pushed Finlay into him, and then the champ hit the gutwrench powerbomb for the win at 7:58. At least Swagger got to embarrass both Finlay and Hornswoggle, he’d been so thoroughly punked since becoming champion. Match was trash, though. ½*