[2007-09-04-WWE-ECW] CM Punk vs John Morrison

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Superstar Sleeze]

ECW Champion John Morrison vs CM Punk - ECW 9/4/07

 

John Morrison cutting faux-Jim Morrison promos is way more entertaining psychobabble than Bray Wyatt. Why did they ever drop that gimmick? It makes Morrison's incredibly wooden delivery actually bearable. Then again I am a total Jim Morrison mark so maybe I am alone.

 

In addition, to this I was shocked how good Morrison's offense looked in this. I was expected Kofi-levels of lightness, but his kick to Punk when he was on the apron and then that dropkick was actually pretty nasty. I decided to review this mostly because this is considered Punk's first great WWE match and it was indeed very good. It is the ideal Punk match in that it is fundamentals-based with strong escalation and investment in his character. The year 2007 had a lot of great wrestling for WWE, but due to the polarizing nature of Cena, there have been few feel-good matches. This was a great feel-good match and Punk was wicked over with the crowd. For my money, he was the most universally accepted babyface in 2007 for WWE. The first highspot was a springboard dropkick for Punk and he immediately goes for the cover this put over the need to win this match because coming up empty handed means no more championship matches. Punk gets some nice kicks in and then a simple suplex punctuates the segment with another pinfall cover. Morrison uses the trunks to pull Punk into the ropes. Morrison wants a sunset flip powerbomb, but Punk hits an Asai Moonsault. Awesome psychology heel comes up short on his awesome move and the babyface gets to hit his sweet move to send us to break. Back from break, Morrison catches Punk trying his springboard clothesline and powerslams him. Tazz points out that Morrison and Punk have had a lot of matches and this was a case of Morrison knowing what was coming, well-done. Joey Styles has improved from ECW, he now speaks in complete sentences and does not just shout out random move names. Morrison gets a little chinlocky, but he does connect with his offense. The finish run is over like rover. The superplex is used to level the playing field and both men take a standing 8 count to get up. Knee/bulldog combo gets a lot of love from the fans. Morrison gets his finish combo of Pele/Starship Pain for two. Has a split-legged anything ever looked good? Morrison wants the Moonlight Driver then tease G2S only for Morrison to O'Connor Roll, grabs the tights and ropes. The crowd is totally on his case. Is this 2007 or 1987??? I love this crowd. Proof that MORE cheating is needed in wrestling. Tons of heat for Punk's response roll up. The Go 2 Sleep and pinfall get a huge pop!

Awesome wrestling. This is wrestling 101, but laid out perfectly. We need more wrestling like this, very, very entertaining. ***3/4