Kane vs. the Big Show vs. Mark Henry in a Triple Threat match for the ECW Championship
We come to the end of June and we have our second PPV of the month, and much has changed since One Night Stand as Kane was now a part of RAW despite being ECW Champion and Henry had been sent over to ECW in the supplemental draft. After Show won the match at One Night Stand to earn the title shot against Kane, it was a bit weird to have Henry get involved but now with Kane and Show on different brands and Henry actually on ECW, it now looked like he was probably the favorite to win the match. This was the unusual state of ECW as their champion was now on RAW and the two top challengers were at one point on a different show, but it would be interesting to see who would end up as the champion and how the match would go with three big guys involved.
On the 6/6 Smackdown, Show came out and cut a promo on the match at One Night Stand while showing off the scars from the match, and then Henry came out and mocked Show for his injury as Show challenged him to a match and Henry walked away. On the 6/10 ECW, Henry cut a promo on confronting Show which led to Show coming out and Henry demanded the first title shot if Show won, and Show agreed and they shook hands as Kane came out for his match and had a staredown with Show in the aisle. On the 6/13 Smackdown, Henry continued to make fun of Show and defeated Tommy Dreamer in a squash, and on the 6/20 Smackdown Kane defeated MVP in a non-title match as Henry came out and gave Kane a powerslam. On the 6/24 ECW, Henry defeated Kane in a non-title match while Show did commentary, and on the 6/27 Smackdown it was announced that Henry would be added to the title match and that same night, Kane and Show defeated Henry and MVP in a tag match. It was pretty interesting how quickly Henry got inserted into the match and again, it seemed like he was now the favorite to win especially since he was now the only one on ECW.
Show and Kane get a good pop from the crowd while Henry had solid heat as a heel, and the sight of these three giants in the ring together was a pretty cool sight to behold. Kane wastes no time and kicks at Henry to start the match before pounding on Show and he avoids a charge from Henry who splashes Show, and Kane pounds on Henry who reverses a whip and Kane hits a low dropkick to Henry’s knee before getting a shot in on Show. He kicks Henry to the outside and Show hits a clothesline on Kane before hitting a headbutt and he pounds on Kane in the corner, and Kane battles back as Show reverses a whip and Kane catches him ducking with a DDT for a two count. Show blocks a whip and sends Kane over the top to the floor as Henry contemplates his next move before getting back into the ring, and he and Show lock up and jockey for position as neither gain the edge and they lock up again with Henry hooking a headlock. Show whips him off and neither man goes down when they collide as they lock up again with Show hooking a headlock, and Henry whips him off and Show knocks him down as he then hits a slam on Henry and stomps on him in the corner. He hits a headbutt on Henry as the trainers come down to ringside to check on Kane and Show continues to pound on Henry in the corner, and Henry blocks a whip and pounds on Show before hitting a headbutt and he kicks Show low. He continues to pound on him as Show gets a kick in and hits a headbutt before hitting a clothesline, and he grabs Henry by the throat only for Henry to fight out of the grip and both men clothesline each other. Kane goes up top and hits a flying clothesline on Henry as he nails Show and then he rams Henry into the other corner, and he splashes both men until Henry catches him in a bearhug and Kane fights out with a series of elbows before raking the eyes. He whips Henry into a big boot from Show and both men grab Henry by the throat before hitting a double chokeslam, and Show gets a two count as Kane breaks it up and he gets a two count as Show breaks it up and they have a staredown. Kane pounds on Show who hits a headbutt and Kane gets a kick in only for Show to hit another headbutt, and he rams the knee into Kane twice in the corner and Kane catches him with a boot to the face as Show catches a kick attempt and Kane hits an enzurgiri. He goes up top only for Show to catch him coming in and he hits the Chokeslam for a two count, and Kane sits up and grabs Show by the throat only for Show to break the grip and he rams Kane into the corner. He hits a modified back suplex on Kane for a two count and goes up top as Kane sits up and nails Show first, and he grabs Show and hits a superplex as Henry hits a World’s Strongest Splash on Kane which gets the three and we have a new champion.
The match itself was surprisingly pretty good as all three men worked hard and put on a solid title match. All three men were getting into a groove by this point and they had some pretty good chemistry going in, and even with the scare of Kane getting injured, Show and Henry did well to keep things flowing. They got a good amount of time to work as they got about 9 minutes and they didn’t slow down at all, and they hit some pretty big spots throughout the match like Show slamming Henry and Kane hitting that superplex on Show. It was still a bit weird that Henry got added in so quickly and it does negate Show’s big win earlier in the month to get here, but Henry was the right guy to win as Kane and Show were on different brands and Henry had to win given that he was on the brand though it will be interesting to see how his run goes. The crowd was into the match and were divided between Show and Kane, but are not happy when Henry wins. Henry gets the win over Show and Kane and is the new ECW Champion as all three men move on.
Final Grade: ***
