The Nickel: Golden Encounter, Yoshi vs Regal, Christian/Dreamer and Abe

Regal vs Yoshi

William Regal really put on a show tonight executing a handful of exciting moves from a modified exploder suplex to a double under hook butterfly suplex, which looked pretty tricky to pull of as Regal really had to use strength and shift his legs while holding the young Yoshi.

Looks like the higher ups didn't want Tatsu to attempt the springboard spinning wheel kick that he botched last week. Regal told Tastu before the match he doesn't like foreign people and that got him heat that would stay with him through out the match.

Yoshi took massive punishment from Regal, but turned it around with a kick to the head and soon followed up with his roundhouse kick finisher to claim victory. Yoshi's pop still amazes me as

Gold Meets Gold..Who Could Meet Gold

Goldust still rules in the ring, that is what you call reliable. It was gold vs gold as the gold standard went against Goldust. The match was good and I'm really getting into Matt Striker's commentary, he's honing his skills.

Speaking of commentary Matthews and Striker stated that the match winner should be in line for a ECW title shot down the road. Goldust's uppercuts still are great as Benjamin tried to bounce of the corner ropes for a clothesline. I was confused at one point in the match where Goldust looked to the fans for momentum and I heard boos.

Benjamin wouldn't be denied as he flew from behind and slammed Goldust's neck onto the top rope and falling out side. Goldust couldn't recover in time as the gold standard ran back into the ring and hit him with the pay dirt for the win.

A third straight win for the gold standard, is a new push underway? The first week of Benjamin's return was a rough on as he fell to newcomer Yoshi Tatsu after a roundhouse kick in a matter of seconds, but the followers of the standard can rest easy following the third straight win for Benjamin.

A few days ago the WWE higher ups stated they were behind Benjamin and his abilities and the future seems a bit brighter now that Benjamin doesn't give the impression of being complacent (to them) and now has his longest win streak since lord knows when.

The icing on the cake would be becoming a three-time tag champ this week (Save.Us.Standard). Being a huge fan of Benjamin I'm optimistic, but cautious, things can instantly change. 

Save.Us.Standard

Oh yeah, that's my pick...what a surprise huh?

Russian Warmachine vs Harlem Destruction

Global Domination? 

We may be far from that, but maybe not too far from ECW domination

I didn't know Big Zeke was billed from Harlem, It's nice to have another dominant New Yorker on the roster. Zeke had no problem running through his opponent, who should get one heck of a good paycheck after the beating he took.

Zeke gave him a big boot and finished him off with that Rock Bottom-like Chokeslam. This guy is BACKED, Batista better move over. He flexed after his quick win and was interrupted by the Russian Warmachine, who stared him down in the ring.

Kozlov picked up the jobber and did his iron curtain finisher. That jobber's back was tomato red, I'd be asking for some good compensation if I were him. Striker and Matthews alluded to a future Kozlov/Zeke program, which looks possible and hopefully interesting if the two biggest forces in the land of extreme bump heads.

Surf's up

Tyler Reks DEFINITELY has to change that theme of his, I know these talents but my goodness they're not even trying to find decent themes.

Paul Burchill's running double knees to Reks' back looked painful. To be honest Reks looked boring for most of the match, but there were some spots that were good like his springboard dropkick that was impressive given his size.

Reks' can get some hang time and did an explosive clothesline early in the match, but Burchill just looked way better out there regardless of Reks' win off of a roll up pin. Out of all the new superstars Reks' appears to be the weakest just slightly below Abe Washington.

Abraham Washington Show

Nothing was more satisfying than watching the Shelton Benjamin rack up his third straight win, but Abraham Washington's show was the best part of the night. It was simply the best part because they did what RAW did not, they properly built momentum for their  main event match.

Christian and ECW champion Tommy Dreamer were both guests on Abe's show and to my surprise the show was fantastic and Abe wasn't that bad as before, I might (a strong might) actually like the guy.

I don't know what it was, but his jokes were doing it for me. His role was close to perfect on the talk show. Christian and Dreamer appeared on the show as friends going into a title match at NOC and Abe was the annoying instigator with the cheesy jokes. Both tried to keep their cool as Abe took jabs at Dreamer.

A series of words were exchanged between the two, which all won quote of the night. Christian played the aggressor and showed some heel-like qualities taking some shots at fan favorite Dreamer.

The show ended with two vicious slaps, one from both Dreamer and Christian as Abe pleaded to save the fight for Sunday in an effort to save his set. Christian might actually have a shot at being Jerich's partner. ECW really makes the most of their one hour.

Quotes of the Night:

• "Introducing the man who'll do anything for a Klondike bar...Tommy Dreamer!" - Abe Washington to Tommy Dreamer
• "Since your a technician, would you mind hooking a brother up with some free cable?" - Abe Washington to Christian
• "The real reason why you want to go back to Philly is to stuff your big fat face with Philly cheese steak sandwiches!" - Abe Washington to Tommy Dreamer
• "If I take you to the extreme you wouldn't be here next week" - Tommy Dreamer to Christian
• "I'm tired of your cheesy lines lego head"- Tommy Dreamer to Abe Washington
• "When I take your title are you gonna cry again?" - Christian to Tommy Dreamer
• "Did anyone ever tell you that your jokes are corny and haven't been original since 1991?" - Christian to Abe Washington
• "His name is Jehovah Witness..no I'm not a Christian" - Abe Washington on After the Bell.

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