This time in the WWE was defined by the brand split. RAW and Smackdown had their own PPVs but ECW only had One Night Stand. To even things a bit, WWECW was given a PPV slot between the Survivor Series and Armageddon called “December to Dismember.” RVD won a #1 contenders match to face Big Show as the main event of the PPV. Only problem was, this was announced several weeks ahead of the actual PPV.
To add some interest to the PPV, the one on one match was changed to an Elimination Chamber and filled with Punk, Test, Sabu, Show and RVD. One spot remained, and WWECW was still in need of starpower. So do we bring over Cena for a night and have him compete? Maybe Batista? Kane even? Nope, how about Bobby Lashley? Yes, the Bobby Lashley who debuted against Simon Dean and was out of the company about six months after this PPV.
Along with those six Superstars, we get another announced match: the Hardys made an open challenge to any tag team; MNM (Joey Mercury, Johnny Nitro and Melina) were the second team to accept. Interestingly enough, the first team to accept were the New Age Outlaws … who were in TNA at the time. That offer got shot down rather quickly. So, here we go: December to Dismember was to go to air with two whole matches. TWO!
We begin with the Hardys vs. MNM. This was before Nitro became John Morrison, before Mercury became one half of J&J Security, before Matt Hardy became WWECW champ and before Jeff Hardy became Willow, TNA’s version of Bray Wyatt mixed with TNA’s version of Jeff Hardy. Joey Mercury was the only one with ties to the original ECW; he had a cup of coffee in ECW as part of a tag team with Christian York. Anyways, the two teams have a solid if unspectacular match. The announcers, Tazz and Joey Styles, referred to this as the last time these teams would ever meet; they met two weeks later at Armageddon in a four-way ladder match.
Next up, we had Matt Striker vs. Balls Mahoney. Had these two been feuding in WWECW prior to the PPV? Nope! Before the match could begin, Matt Striker, your other teacher, began by announcing “Striker’s Rules:” there would be no hair pulling or bad language. This is the first and last time “Striker’s Rules” were ever implemented. And it didn’t matter; Balls Mahoney won anyway. Ok…
Following that was Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay vs. the FBI. Again, had they feuded before? Nope! Burke and Terkay won but perhaps the most notable part of the match was Terkay utilizing the Muscle Buster during the match. The fans chanted “TNA! TNA! TNA!” appropriately. C’mon, Terkay! If you’re going to steal from Samoa Joe
- Don’t do it in Georgia! and
- DON’T STEAL FROM SAMOA JOE!
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