CM Punk vs. John Morrison vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Chavo Guerrero (w/ Bam Neely) vs. the Big Show in a Fatal 5-Way Singapore Cane match
We now enter the dog days of summer of 2008 and as I mentioned back at Judgment Day, Punk was really spinning his wheels by this point as he was still holding the Money in the Bank briefcase, but he had no real feud and was just jumping from match to match on ECW. He had pretty much outgrown the brand by this point as when this match was announced, you figured he was probably not going to win even though he could be seen as one of the favorites given who was in the match. Thankfully with the Draft coming up at the end of the month, he was finally going to be leaving ECW and going to one of the other brands as he continues to tease when he could potentially cash in though the question was who he would cash in on. Having said that, he would end up having this last big match here as part of ECW and you wondered if he would win and end up getting the title shot at the next show.
On the 5/20 ECW, Armando Estrada announced that Punk, Morrison, Guerrero, and Dreamer would face off in a Fatal-4 Way Singapore Cane match to determine the Number One Contender as the caveat was all four men were former champions. Later in the night, Punk and Dreamer fought Guerrero and Morrison to a no contest in a tag match when Show attacked all four men and announced as a former ECW Champion that he was adding himself to the match to make it a 5-Way. On the 5/27 ECW, video packages were shown of each man winning the ECW Champion and that night, Show defeated Dreamer and Guerrero defeated Punk while Kane defeated Morrison and Miz by DQ in a handicap which led to a brawl with all 7 men with Show and Kane having a staredown to end the show. Given there were only two weeks between Judgment Day and this show, this was a fine enough build and there was good intrigue as to who would face Kane at Night of Champions.
Punk, Show, and Dreamer get good pops from the crowd while Morrison and Guerrero had solid heat as heels, and there is no shortage of Singapore canes as we have four set up on poles in the corners as well as a trash can full of them at ringside. Show wastes no time and kicks Morrison in the corner to start the match as Punk, Guerrero, and Dreamer go after Show, and Morrison goes up top only for Show to shove the other three away and he pounds on Morrison in the corner. He hits a headbutt on Guerrero and pounds on Dreamer before hitting a headbutt in the corner, and Punk kicks at Show only for Show to hit another headbutt and he hits a slam on Guerrero before slamming Morrison on top of Guerrero. He drops an elbow on both men and hits a slam on Dreamer only to miss the elbow as Punk kicks at him repeatedly, and Morrison hits a running knee on Show and Dreamer hits the DDT on Show as Guerrero goes up top and hits the Frog Splash on Show. All four men climb each of the corners and grab the canes as they beat on Show with the canes repeatedly, and Show shoves Guerrero and Morrison away as Punk and Dreamer beat on him with the canes and they use the canes to hit a double clothesline that sends Show over the top to the floor. Guerrero and Morrison beat on Punk and Dreamer with the canes as Guerrero sends Punk through the ropes to the outside, and Morrison chokes Dreamer with his boot and the cane as Punk pounds on Guerrero and sends him into the barricade. Guerrero recovers with an uppercut and grabs the cane only for Punk to move and Guerrero hits San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawn Merriman in the front row by mistake, and Punk kicks at Guerrero and tosses him to the floor as he grabs the cane only for Guerrero to avoid his swings. Guerrero pounds on Punk who trips him up and he slingshots him into the announce table, and he gets on the table with the cane as Merriman asks for the cane which Punk gives him and he hits Guerrero with the cane. Show rams Morrison into the barricade and kicks at him as the Miz runs down to the ring and nails Show, but Show kicks him away as Punk throws Guerrero back into the ring and Show sends Miz into the barricade. He grabs the steps and hoists them up only for Morrison to hit him in the knee with the cane as Show drops the steps and he falls face first into them, and Guerrero catches Punk with a back elbow only for Punk to hit a powerslam for a two count as Morrison gets in the ring and hits Punk in the back with the cane. Dreamer rolls back into the ring with a cane and hits Morrison with it before using the cane to hit a pump handle suplex, and he hoists Punk onto his shoulders only for Punk to slide off and he hoists Dreamer onto his shoulders though Dreamer blocks the Go To Sleep. He trips Punk up and hooks a Texas Cloverleaf on until Morrison breaks it up by hitting Dreamer in the back with the cane, and we see Show is cut open above his eye as Guerrero goes up top only for Morrison to nail him as he goes up himself though Guerrero blocks the superplex. He tosses Morrison to the mat as Punk steps on Morrison’s back and hits the running knee on Guerrero, and he sets Guerrero up for the superplex as Morrison grabs Punk and hits a powerbomb on Punk who hits the superplex on Guerrero with Dreamer getting hit in the head by Guerrero’s legs. Show gets to his feet and kicks at Neely as he grabs a cane from the trash can and hits both Neely and Miz with it, and he grabs another cane and hits Morrison as he attempts a slingshot plancha and he beats on Morrison with the cane. He grabs the can and puts it on the apron as he gets back in the ring and shoves Punk away before grabbing another cane, and he beats on Punk and Guerrero repeatedly with it before hitting Dreamer in the back with it. He grabs another cane and beats on Dreamer and Guerrero with it as Dreamer grabs a cane and charges at Show who blocks the shot, and he grabs Dreamer by the throat and hits the Chokeslam before putting him in the corner and grabbing another cane as he hits Dreamer in the head with it which gets the three and he wins the match as Kane watches on from the back.
The match itself was pretty good as all five men worked hard and put on a surprisingly fun match. All five men were hitting their groove by this point and they had good chemistry as they had a good formula of Show looking dominant early, the other four guys taking him out briefly, and then Show dominating at the end to win even with that nasty cut over his eye. I thought having the interaction with Merriman was fun too as he was a big name in San Diego at the time and it got him a good pop, and for the 9 minutes they got they did a good job getting enough in and they used the canes efficiently throughout the match. You kind of figured Show would win after he put himself in the match and having the staredown with Kane the previous week, and Dreamer was the best guy to get pinned as it keeps Morrison strong as one half of the tag champs, Guerrero strong given where he was with La Familia, and also Punk strong as Mr. Money in the Bank. The crowd was into the match and popped for Show when he won. Show gets the win over Punk, Guerrero, Dreamer, and Morrison and gets his title shot later in the month as all five men move on.
Final Grade: ***
