CM Punk vs. John Morrison vs. the Miz in a Triple Threat match for the ECW Championship
As we head into the penultimate PPV of 2007 for the WWE, there was a feeling of uncertainty surrounding Punk and the ECW Championship. Even though he has been champion for a few months now and working his ass off every week, it does seem like his reign was beginning to run on fumes a bit though part of that could be due to not having any fresh challengers for the title. Given that going into this show we now still feuding with Miz and once again feuding with Morrison, it was clear the main event pool on ECW was very shallow to the point that it seemed like more of the focus was on Miz and Morrison now being tag champions and Punk just felt like the third wheel. While it doesn’t seem like Punk was in any danger to lose the title here, there was some question as to how much longer he was going to be champion as he was starting to feel bigger than ECW and he seemed poised for a breakout going into 2008.
On the 10/30 ECW, Morrison defeated Miz to earn a title shot for next week and later that night, Morrison was on commentary during a Punk match and he would leave Punk laid out after the match. On the 11/6 ECW, Punk defeated Morrison thanks to interference by Miz and on the 11/9 Smackdown, Punk defeated Jamie Noble by DQ when Miz and Morrison got involved as this match was made. On the 11/13 ECW, Punk defeated Noble in a rematch only to be attacked by Miz and Morrison, and on the 11/16 Smackdown, Miz and Morrison defeated Matt Hardy and MVP to win the WWE Tag Team Championships. Given that they had Miz and Morrison win the tag titles 2 nights ago, it now made the match seem obvious that Punk was going to retain though there was always a chance they could pull a surprise.
Punk gets a good pop from the crowd while Miz and Morrison had solid heat as heels, and this was a good match to have as the opener for the show. The three men square off to start as Miz and Morrison charge Punk only for Punk to knock both men down, and Morrison rams Punk into the corner and the two men pound on Punk before stomping on him. Punk catches Miz with a kick and Morrison pounds on him before whipping him into the other corner, and Punk leaps over him and hooks a sunset flip for a one count as Morrison slingshots him into the corner with Punk landing on the middle rope. Morrison avoids Punk as he hits a springboard crossbody on Miz for a one count and he hits a side dropkick on Morrison, and he sends both Miz and Morrison to the outside and then he hits a suicide dive onto both men on the floor. He throws Morrison into the ring only for Miz to grab at his leg and Morrison gets a shot in on Punk, and Miz throws Punk back into the ring and they hit a double suplex on Punk as Morrison holds him from behind while Miz pounds on him. Miz then holds Punk from behind as Morrison pounds on him and attempts a springboard only for Miz to shove him over the top to the floor, and he hits a back suplex on Punk for a one count and he hooks a camel clutch on as Morrison gets on the apron and Miz knocks him down. Punk hits a standing enzurgiri on Miz and Morrison hits a slingshot low dropkick on Miz who falls to the floor, and he ducks a shot and hits a modified backbreaker on Punk before hitting a neckbreaker for a pair of two counts. He hooks a cobra clutch on Punk who fights to his feet and breaks the hold as he kicks at Morrison repeatedly, but Morrison rakes the eyes and tosses Punk over the top as Miz grabs him by the legs and drops him onto the floor. Miz gets on the apron and Morrison catches him with a knee as he hits a suplex back into the ring for a two count, and Miz ducks a shot and hits an inverted Russian legsweep for a two count before whipping him into the corner and splashing him for a two count. He whips Morrison into the corner again only for Morrison to catch him with a boot to the face and he hits a slingshot corkscrew splash for a two count as Punk breaks it up. He pounds on Morrison and puts him on the top rope before going up himself as he hits a hurricanrana into a powerbomb from Miz for a two count as Punk breaks it up with a low dropkick, and he gets a two count on Miz and they trade blows until Punk gets a pair of kicks in. He hits a side dropkick on Miz and then he hits a pair of clotheslines and a back elbow before hitting the running knee in the corner, and he hits the running bulldog on Miz for a two count and then he hits a double underhook backbreaker for a two count. Morrison hooks a rollup and grabs the tights for a two count and Punk kicks him in the face repeatedly, and he hoists Morrison onto his shoulders as Morrison grabs the rope and Punk tosses him onto the apron. He pounds on Morrison and avoids a charge from Miz who knocks Morrison off the apron as Punk hoists Miz up and hits the GTS which gets the three and he retains the title.
The match itself was pretty good as all three men worked hard and put on a solid title match. It’s funny because Punk’s singles matches with both men were fairly decent to ok while this match ends up probably being the best of all the matches to this point, but it was still a really good outing for all three men. They did a good job in having Punk be the underdog against the tag champions, though eventually Morrison and Miz do go after each other because they both want to be champion and they had solid chemistry. I do think the match could’ve used a few more minutes because it was really getting going before it ended, but again it was a good choice to be the opening as the crowd was hot for Punk and they did pop big for him when he won. Punk retains the title over Morrison and Miz as all three men move on.
Final Grade: ***
