CM Punk vs Elijah Burke from WWE’s ECW TV 2007

Recap from Lee Goodfellow:

This was a two out of three falls number one contender’s match for Johnny Nitro’s ECW championship on an episode of WWECW in 2007. Skip to 01:50 for the beginning of the match!

Punk wins the first lock up and gets a one count after a shoulder tackle. Punks scores a takedown then goes to work on the leg. Burke uses the ropes to escape, but then ends up arm dragged, headlocked and almost pinned. Burke looks to be making some sort of comeback, but ends up back on the mat, booted in the back and scoop slammed. This is all Punk so far. Typically, Burke started laying into him with stompish kicks and punches straight after I typed that. One count for Burke. Joey Styles explains the “4UP” tape, which I appreciate since I always wondered what that meant. An exchange in the corner leaves Punk with snake eyes, Elijah lines him up for his finisher and runs but Punk nails him with a sweet leg lariat! Punk goes up top but gets crotched, his body dangles and ELIJAH EXPRESS! One, two, three!

First fall winner: Elijah Burke

The second fall begins with Burke repeatedly trying to pin Punk. Punk charges at Elijah who drops the rope, sending him flying over the top to the floor! Elijah tries to suplex Punk back in, but he gets rolled up and one, two, THREE!

Second fall winner: CM Punk

The action heats up and Punk gets his head bounced off the mat. Elijah misses that elbow from the ropes thing that I used to do all the time with him on Smackdown vs Raw 2008. Someone gets a two count. Punk gets nailed with an uppercut, kicks out at two. Punk makes a kick related comeback, Elijah does a sort of backflip kick using the ropes, then dives at Punk from the top only to be spinning heel kicked in mid air! That was so cool. Back on their feet they trade strikes, which Punk fairs best in. Shining Wizard/bulldog combo for two! Punk ends up in the corner, as a weak “We want tables” chant starts. Lame. Punk lands a tornado ddt! One, two, Burke kicks out! Burke escapes from the GTS then does the move that was his secondary finisher on SvR08! He lies down to recover before making the cover, so he only gets two. They trade covers Guerrero/Malenko style! Punk escapes from a backslide and GTS! One, two, three!

Final fall winner: CM Punk

Lee’s thoughts: That was cool. I was more into Punk back when he was a fiery mid card WWECW guy, and I still enjoy his matches from that era a lot. He was way over with the crowd, and he and Elijah had some really cool counter spots. I miss Burke. I really thought he would be a big deal in TNA, but he seemingly fell out of favour and I’m not even sure if he’s still there.

Match rating: ***1/4

Thoughts from TJ Hawke:

This match was fine. It felt like a pretty unspectacular WWECW main event considering that the match had a lot of fun main events to hang its hat on from over the years.  Punk’s awkward genuine babyface “character” (I term I use loosely to describe him from 2006 until half-way through 2009) was just not at all interesting, and he didn’t seem comfortable at all performing that way.  Elijah Burke was interesting for a few months over his career, but he was never able to make it work really well for an extended period of time.

Match Rating: ***