2006

June 13th: The new face of ECW, Kurt Angle, made his Sci Fi debut a memorable one. The Wrestling Machine dominated ECW veteran Justin Credible with an incredible display of aggressive shoot style wrestling, showing the Trenton, New Jersey fans what the new Kurt Angle is all about. After the match, Angle addressed RAW’s Randy Orton, who will be his opponent at Vengenace. “Orton, I’m going to do the same thing to you at Vengeance as I did to you at One Night Stand, which is to make you tap out. You’re looking at the new face of ECW.”

June 20th: The sophomore edition of ECW on Sci Fi was nothing short of a major success for Team ECW. Rob Van Dam and Kurt Angle thrived in their debut as a tag team, and Sabu had an extreme warm up as all three men generated momentum for their huge matches this Sunday at Vengeance.
The ECW World Heavyweight Champion and the Wrestling Machine proved to be the unstoppable duo that everyone expected them to be when they dominated WWE representatives Randy Orton and Edge. The contest, which on paper would appear to be a classic confrontation between four of the wrestling world’s best turned into a chaotic brawl typical of what one can expect in an ECW ring. Van Dam, who was competing in his first match on ECW on Sci Fi, brought nothing less than his A-game. RVD used a variety of martial arts kicks, both from the mat, and the top turnbuckle in neutralizing his WWE opponents. At one point, Van Dam appeared to be ready to put the match away when he set up Orton for the Rolling Thunder, but interference from Lita sent RVD crashing over the top rope to the arena floor. Team WWE tried to take advantage, and Orton even hit a RKO on Angle, but on this night, in front of their loyal ECW fanbase, Van Dam and Angle were not going to be denied. The newly crowned Champion used his WWE Championship to block a spear attempt from Edge, and then capitalized by delivering a devastating 5-Star Frogsplash to give ECW the victory, and the advantage heading into Vengeance.

June 27th: Tuesday afternoon, it was announced that the Rob Van Dam vs. Kurt Angle match would carry a special stipulation. If Angle won, he would be inserted into the Championship match at July 15’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, turning the Triple Threat into a Fatal Four-Way. Tuesday night, Angle told the ECW fans what being a Champion meant to him.
“What you don’t know, is that every day since April 2nd has been a failure to me. Because, April 2nd was the last day I held a Championship”. The Olympic hero continued. “Inside, I hate myself because I am a Champion. I am the greatest Champion this business has ever seen. Tonight, I’m going to put Rob Van Dam in such agonizing pain that he’s going to wish he could go back in time and choose a different line of work. When your name is Kurt Angle, failure is not an option.”
For Kurt Angle, failure might not have been an option, but on Tuesday night, it was a reality. The Wrestling Machine gave a first-class performance, but the reigning WWE and ECW Champion was up for the challenge.
Angle owned the early portion of the match, using his vast arsenal of mat-wrestling techniques to ground the high-flying Van Dam. RVD eventually fought back, using a variety of trademark martial arts kicks to gain the advantage. However, Angle had Van Dam well scouted because when RVD went for his signature Rolling Thunder, the Wrestling Machine was ready and countered it into the Ankle Lock.
Somehow, Van Dam fought his way to the ropes and escaped the Ankle Lock, earning himself a second chance in the match. RVD took advantage of his new lease on life, countering an Angle Slam attempt into a spike DDT, and then sealing the deal with the Five-Star Frogsplash.

Credit: WWE.com