Match Of The Week: 08.12.06.

August 15th, 2006.
ECW on Sci-Fi
Rob Van Dam vs. Sabu
#1 Contender's Ladder Match

Not only was this match a ladder match- which meant great news for these two- but it was also for a shot at the ECW Title at Summerslam. Originally it was to be a triple threat with Kurt Angle involved, but Angle pulled his groin at a house show and had to sit on the sidelines.

Sure, this match had some terrible spots in it, blown and missed opportunities if you will, but I'm willing to overlook that for two reasons. First off, because there aren't very many other matches that come close to being match of the week this week. And second because this is what ECW needs to be doing. Forget about Big Show defending his title against guys we've seen him fight in WWE countless times. Big Show vs. Ric Flair was all right, but against Kane, Undertaker, Batista... Yeah, that was just not where the ECW main event needed to be. Now, on the other hand we have two ECW alumni fighting it out in a ladder match. This is exactly what the ECW main event needs to be like. It needs to either be like last week's show or this week's show, but nothing in between. Having someone like The Sandman fight C.M. Punk or Tommy Dreamer vs. Mike Knox would be good for a main event. Having something we could just as easily see on RAW or Smack Down! as a main event is just bad.

Hopefully things improve for the WWECW, as I can see a lot of potential in it. With matches like this flowing properly, it could become the best WWE produced wrestling show out there. And, honestly, after they got pulled over and arrested for possession of marijuana, did anyone really expect RVD and Sabu to be main eventing when RVD came back from his suspension? I didn't.

(Photo courtesy of WWE.com)