December to Dismember (2006)

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December to Dismember (2006)
Details
Promotion World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand (s) ECW
Date December 3, 2006
Venue James Brown Arena
City Augusta, Georgia
Attendance 4,800
Pay-per-view chronology
Survivor Series (2006) December to Dismember (2006) Armageddon (2006)
December to Dismember chronology
December to Dismember (1995) December to Dismember (2006) Final

December to Dismember (2006) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and starring their ECW brand. It took place on December 3, 2006 at the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia.[1] Its name is derived from the December to Dismember event held by the original Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1995.

The main event was an Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship. The six participants were defending champion The Big Show, Bobby Lashley, Rob Van Dam, Hardcore Holly, CM Punk and Test. Lashley won the match and the ECW World Championship by pinning Big Show last after executing a Spear.[2] The main match on the undercard was a tag team bout between The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) and MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro), which was won by The Hardys.[3]

The pay-per-view had the lowest buyrate in WWE history, with only 90,000 people ordering the event.[4] Although it was scheduled to be held again in 2007, the show was canceled after all pay-per-view events became tri-branded, which would have meant there would be pay-per-view events with the entire roster on two consecutive weeks.[5]

Contents

[edit] Report

[edit] Background

Outside of the weekly ECW broadcast, the pay-per-view received very little buildup on either Raw or SmackDown!, with WWE concentrating more on the Survivor Series pay-per-view that aired one week earlier. At this time, the main feud on the Raw brand was D-Generation X versus Rated-RKO,[6] and the main feud on the SmackDown! brand was Batista versus King Booker.[7] The buildup for December to Dismember began in the middle of October, an entire month and a half before the event occurred.[8] The tagline for the pay-per-view was "You Better Watch Out..." and the official theme song was "Bodies" by Drowning Pool.[9] This was the only ECW brand exclusive pay-per-view produced by WWE before the decision to include wrestlers from all three brands—Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW—on all pay-per-views.[10]

The Big Show as ECW World Champion
The Big Show as ECW World Champion

After winning a shot at the ECW World Championship by defeating The Big Show in a Ladder match on the October 24, 2006 episode of ECW,[11] Rob Van Dam cashed in this championship opportunity at the December to Dismember pay-per-view.[12] ECW representative Paul Heyman honored Van Dam's wish by adding him to the Extreme Elimination Chamber match along with five other men, including The Big Show, the ECW World Champion.[13] The remaining four wrestlers who competed in the match were decided through qualifying matches. The first person to qualify for the Elimination Chamber was Sabu, who defeated Kevin Thorn on the October 31, 2006 edition of ECW.[13] The following week, CM Punk and Test qualified as they defeated Mike Knox and Tommy Dreamer respectively.[14] The final place was to be given to Hardcore Holly on the November 14, 2006 edition of ECW after he signed a contract. As Holly was making his way to the ring, however, SmackDown! superstar Bobby Lashley kayfabe attacked Holly and signed the contract himself to gain the sixth and final place in the Extreme Elimination Chamber.[15] Although the six spots in the bout were filled, Heyman booked a contest between Van Dam and Holly in an Extreme Rules match on the November 21, 2006 edition of ECW, with the stipulation that if Van Dam lost, Holly would get his spot in the Extreme Elimination Chamber. Van Dam won the bout.[16] Van Dam continued his momentum into December to Dismember as he, along with team members Sabu, Lashley, John Cena and Kane defeated the team of The Big Show, Test, Umaga, Finlay and Montel Vontavious Porter in a 5-on-5 elimination match at Survivor Series.[17] On the final episode of ECW before December to Dismember, Van Dam defeated Sabu. Later in the show, CM Punk faced Test, but both men were counted out in their bout. In the main event, The Big Show was disqualified in his match against Lashley as Test and Heyman's Security Force kayfabe assaulted Lashley, causing the disqualification.[18]

Johnny Nitro looking out to the crowd
Johnny Nitro looking out to the crowd

The other main rivalry heading into December to Dismember was between The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) and MNM (Joey Mercury, Johnny Nitro and Melina). Unlike the Extreme Elimination Chamber rivalry, this one did not include ECW superstars and was only between members of Raw and SmackDown!, making the rivalry span all three WWE brands.[18][19][20] The feud began with Nitro and Jeff engaging in their own feud over the Intercontinental Championship on Raw,[21][22] with the two competing in several different types of matches, including a Ladder match.[6] The Hardys had just teamed up for the first time since 2002 on ECW when they defeated Tony Mamaluke and Little Guido Maritato.[16] At Survivor Series, The Hardys, along with DX and CM Punk defeated the team of Nitro, Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton), Mike Knox and Gregory Helms.[23] The next day at the December to Dismember press conference, The Hardys made an open challenge for the pay-per-view. Later that night on Raw, Nitro accepted the challenge, announcing the return of Mercury and the "one night only" reformation of MNM.[19] That Tuesday on ECW, MNM attacked The Hardys after they won their match against Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay.[18] Meanwhile, Voodoo Kin Mafia, a tag team from the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion, issued a statement via the TNA website stating that they accepted The Hardys' open challenge for December to Dismember.[24] Voodoo Kin Mafia did not turn up at the event, and WWE never acknowledged the challenge. Only two matches were officially announced for the pay-per-view before it aired.[1][25]

[edit] Event

Bobby Lashley during his ECW World Championship reign
Bobby Lashley during his ECW World Championship reign

Before the event went live on pay-per-view, Stevie Richards defeated René Duprée in a dark match.[26] The first match that aired was the tag team encounter between MNM and The Hardys. After a back and forth match, which lasted over twenty minutes, MNM performed the Snapshot on Jeff and looked set to win. Matt, however, broke the pinfall and performed a double neckbreaker on MNM. Jeff then performed a double Swanton Bomb and pinned Nitro.[1][3][27] Next was Matt Striker versus Balls Mahoney in a "Striker's Rules" match, which, according to Striker, meant "No gouging of the eyes, no pulling of the hair, no maneuvers off the top rope and, most importantly, no foul language."[1][28] Mahoney won the match with a Balls Buster.[1][27]

After the match, Sabu was shown kayfabe injured backstage and unable to compete in the Extreme Elimination Chamber match.[29][30] His place was taken by Hardcore Holly.[1] In reality, however, it was rumored that Sabu had heat on him backstage and was said to be disinterested at TV tapings. Rumors evolved stating that WWE viewed Sabu as being "useless" in normal matches and that he could only perform in matches that included "stunts and tables and they [WWE] don't respect him because of that." This was reportedly part of the reason he had been squashed by Umaga on an episode of Raw a few weeks earlier.[6][31] Vince McMahon wanted to put Holly in the match, so Lashley would have more heels to overcome. Heyman was legitimately unhappy with the decision, saying that Sabu's high-flying wrestling would be "the ideal showcase" inside the Extreme Elimination Chamber.[25] The fans inside the James Brown Arena chanted "bullshit" during the segment.[1]

In the second tag-team match of the night, Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay defeated F.B.I. members Little Guido Maritato and Tony Mamaluke. Burke pinned Mamaluke after performing an Elijah Experience on him.[32] After the match, Terkay performed a Muscle Buster on Maritato.[27] During this match, the fans inside the James Brown Arena chanted "TNA, TNA" (a reference to WWE's rival professional wrestling promotion as well as two of their performers utilizing those moves in Jeff Jarrett and Samoa Joe, repectively).[1] A singles match between Daivari and Tommy Dreamer was next. The Great Khali accompanied Daivari to the ring for this match but was ejected from ringside early on for interfering. Daivari won the match using a schoolboy pin. Khali came back out after the match had ended and hit Dreamer with a chokebomb onto the stage. EMTs came out to help Dreamer up, but he got up on his own and headed backstage.[1][27][33]

A Mixed Tag Team match followed as Kevin Thorn and Ariel faced Mike Knox and Kelly Kelly. Before the match began, Kelly Kelly was shown wishing CM Punk luck for the main event. The finish of the match came when Knox walked out on Kelly Kelly, leaving her on her own in the ring. Ariel performed a legsweep on Kelly Kelly for the pinfall.[27] Ariel and Thorn attacked Kelly Kelly after the match, but The Sandman appeared and hit Thorn repeatedly with his Singapore cane.[1][34]

The Elimination Chamber structure.
The Elimination Chamber structure.

The final match was the Extreme Elimination Chamber main event for the ECW World Championship. Before it began, Paul Heyman came out to the ring and explained how the match would work and said that there was a weapon in each of the four different pods that housed the wrestlers.[27] In a conversation with The Big Show before he made his way to the ring, he revealed that for the first-time in his professional career he was not motivated to give the promo.[25] Rob Van Dam and Hardcore Holly started off the match, with one of the other four competitors entering every five minutes afterwards. The first person to be released from his pod was CM Punk, who entered the match with a steel chair in hand. Test came out five minutes after Punk with a crowbar. Punk was the first person eliminated from the match when Van Dam performed a Five-Star Frog splash. Moments later, Test hit Holly with a big boot and then pinned him. Van Dam was the third person eliminated after Test, standing on The Big Show's pod, performed a diving elbow drop with a steel chair. When Lashley's pod was supposed to open, he could not get out of it because Heyman's Security had bolted the pod shut. Lashley used the table that was with him to smash the pod open, allowing him to get out. Lashley then hit Test with a spear to get a pinfall. The Big Show was the final man to exit his pod and enter the match, with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. Lashley blocked The Big Show's swing of the bat with a steel chair and then threw The Big Show into a pod, causing him to bleed. Lashley managed to turn an attempted chokeslam from The Big Show into a DDT and then speared The Big Show to win the match and become new ECW World Champion.[2][27]

[edit] Aftermath

Other on-screen talent[35]
Role: Name:
Commentator Joey Styles
Tazz
Referee Scott Armstrong
Mike Posey
Mickie Henson
John Cone
Interviewer Rebecca DiPietro
Ring announcer Justin Roberts

Less than twenty-four hours after the pay-per-view, WWE announced on their official website that Vince McMahon had sent Heyman home, citing "slumping television ratings and a disgruntled talent roster as causes for Mr. Heyman’s dismissal."[36] Heyman and McMahon clashed on the plane to the North Charleston Coliseum.[37] After a producers' meeting,[37] Heyman was escorted from the Coliseum and sent home. Heyman was also immediately pulled from ECW's creative team. McMahon was attempting to put the blame on Heyman for the poorly received pay-per-view, and after a meeting with Vince and Stephanie McMahon, Heyman legitimately left World Wrestling Entertainment but remained under contract.[37][38][39] Heyman was against Lashley being booked to win the ECW Championship, however, McMahon stated that fans would be happy to see a new champion and a ten-minute celebration.[25][37][40] In early-2008, in an interview with The Sun, Heyman stated how he would have booked the Elimination Chamber main-event, which included having Punk enter first and quickly eliminate the Big Show via submission. According to the interview, McMahon disliked the idea, but Show liked the direction Heyman was heading. Heyman also stated that he kept going to McMahon on the night of the pay-per-view saying that “The people are going to throw this back in our face.”[37]

Not long after December to Dismember, The Big Show was offered a long-term contract extension by WWE, reported to be around $1 million a year. He turned it down, however, because he was burned out and hurting physically.[1][41][42] After December to Dismember, Show faced Lashley in an ECW World title rematch, which Show lost.[43] He was not seen on WWE TV thereafter and his contract was not renewed before it expired in February 2007.[44]

Critics and fans had a negative reaction to the pay-per-view,[45][46][47] with SLAM! Sports rating the pay-per-view 4 out of 10 stars, stating "the two matches that were promoted saved this thing from being a debacle."[1] In the 2006 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards the event was voted the worst major wrestling show of the year.[48]

[edit] Results

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.

Elimination # Wrestler Entrance Weapon Eliminated by Elimination Move Time
1 CM Punk 3 Steel chair Van Dam Five-Star Frog splash 12:35
2 Hardcore Holly 2 N/A Test Big Boot 12:45
3 Rob Van Dam 1 N/A Test Diving elbow drop with a steel chair from the top of The Big Show's chamber 14:00
4 Test 4 Crowbar Lashley Spear 19:42
5 The Big Show 6 Barbed wire
baseball bat		 Lashley Spear 24:42
WINNER Bobby Lashley 5 Table

[edit] See also

Professional wrestling
Portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa MacKinder, Matt (2006-12-04). Lashley has a December to Remember. SLAM! Sports. Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
  2. ^ a b c d Tello, Craig (2006-12-03). Mission accomplished. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  3. ^ a b c d McAvennie, Mike (2006-12-03). B-listed. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  4. ^ (2007). "Key Performance Indicators" (PDF). . WWE Retrieved on 2007-10-23.
  5. ^ WWE 2007 Annual Shareholders Meeting (WVX). Stamford, Connecticut: WWE Corporate.
  6. ^ a b c Zeigler, Zack (2006-11-20). Breaking Down in Baltimore. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  7. ^ DiFino, Lennie (2006-11-24). Prelude to Survivor Series. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  8. ^ Rote, Andrew (2006-10-19). December to Dismember announced. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  9. ^ Medalis, Kara (2006-11-27). Bodies. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  10. ^ WWE (2007-03-14). "WWE Pay-Per-Views To Follow WrestleMania Formula". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-09-28.
  11. ^ Tello, Craig (2006-10-24). Reaching the top. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  12. ^ Zeigler, Zack (2006-10-27). RVD picks his spot. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  13. ^ a b Tello, Craig (2006-10-31). Tricks and treats. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  14. ^ Tello, Craig (2006-11-07). Messiah's revelations. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  15. ^ Tello, Craig (2006-11-14). Lashley unleashed on ECW. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  16. ^ a b Hunt, Jen (2006-11-21). One Man. One Mission.. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  17. ^ Starr, Noah (2006-11-26). Team Cena topples the Extreme Giant. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  18. ^ a b c Hunt, Jen (2006-11-28). Countdown to dismemberment. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  19. ^ a b Dee, Louie (2006-11-27). R-K-Anarchy. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  20. ^ DiFino, Lennie (2006-12-01). The end is near. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  21. ^ Dee, Louie (2006-11-06). Payback is a Dick. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  22. ^ Zeigler, Zack (2006-11-13). Rated-RKO Champions. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  23. ^ Dee, Louie (2006-11-26). D-Xtreme dominance. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  24. ^ Bottoms, Rock (2006-12-07). TNA Wrestling: BG James Talks About Voodoo Kin Mafia, WWE. The Wrestling Post. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  25. ^ a b c d Williams, Scott E. (2007). Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of ECW. Sports Publishing LLC, pp. 258. ISBN 1596702257. 
  26. ^ a b c December to Dismember 2006 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  27. ^ a b c d e f g h i Martin, Adam (2006-12-04). December to Dismember PPV Results - 12/3/06 (New ECW Champ...). WrestleView. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  28. ^ a b c DiFino, Lennie (2006-12-03). School dazed. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  29. ^ Waldman, Jon (2007-05-15). ECW Original, Sabu, among Tuesday releases. SLAM! Sports. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  30. ^ Meltzer, Dave (2006-12-03). ECW December to Dismember match-by-match coverage. Wrestling Observer. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
  31. ^ Martin, Adam (2006-12-02). More on Sabu being in 'hot water' with WWE and Big Show's WWE status. WrestleView. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  32. ^ a b c Hybrid beatdown. WWE (2006-12-03). Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  33. ^ a b c d Hunt, Jen (2006-12-03). Punjabi power trip. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  34. ^ a b c Starr, Noah (2006-12-03). Sandman saves the day. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  35. ^ a b c d e f g December to Dismember 2006 results. CompleteWWE.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-30.
  36. ^ Heyman out. WWE (2006-12-04). Retrieved on 2007-10-23.
  37. ^ a b c d e Rothstein, Simon (2008-02-04). Paul Heyman: Why I left WWE. The Sun. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
  38. ^ MacKinder, Matt (2006-12-05). Heyman ousted: Storyline or fact?. SLAM! Sports. Retrieved on 2007-10-23.
  39. ^ What Paul E did next.... The Sun (2006-12-15). Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  40. ^ Anderson, Anna Elizabeth (2007-10-17). WWE Continues to Dismantle the ECW Brand. National Ledger. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  41. ^ Madigan, TJ (2006-12-02). Ho-ho-horrific violence expected at ECW PPV. SLAM! Sports. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  42. ^ Williams, Scott E. (2007). Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of ECW. Sports Publishing LLC, pp. 257. ISBN 1596702257. 
  43. ^ Hunt, Jen (2006-12-05). Mission accomplished. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
  44. ^ Tello, Craig (2006-12-06). Show's over. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  45. ^ Anderson, Ken (2006-12-05). ECW December to Dismember - REVIEWED. The Wrestling Blog. Retrieved on 2007-10-14. “I would stop short of calling it the worst pay-per-view of all time, but it’s certainly among the worst. ECW as a brand is dead, and the WWE should definitely take notice that a sizable portion of their ECW fanbase is chanting “TNA” during a WWE PPV.”
  46. ^ The dgnr8 #13 - Best and worst of 2006. TWNPNews.com (2006-12-30). Retrieved on 2007-10-14. “Worst PPV of the year:
    Two shows are on my list for this category, one from November and one from December. Can you guess? Cyber Sunday and the ill-fated December to Dismember.”
  47. ^ ECW in crisis as Heyman fired. The Sun (2006-12-07). Retrieved on 2007-10-14. “For those of us who have had to sit through the slow and tortuous second death of ECW, though, it was to be expected. That sound at Sunday's awful December To Dismember show - between the crowd's chants of "where's my refund" and "bulls**t" - was the coffin being shut.”
  48. ^ Meltzer, Dave (2007-01-22), “2006 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards”, Wrestling Observer Newsletter (Campbell, CA): 1-12, ISSN 10839593 

[edit] External links

World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Royal Rumble • No Way Out • WrestleMania • Backlash • Judgment Day • One Night Stand • Night of Champions
The Great American Bash • SummerSlam • Unforgiven • No Mercy • Cyber Sunday • Survivor Series • Armageddon
ECW December to Dismember
1995 • 2006
Former pay-per-view events
The Wrestling Classic (1985) • This Tuesday in Texas (1991) • King of the Ring (1993-2002)
In Your House (1995-1999) • Bad Blood (1997, 2003-2004) • Fully Loaded (1998-2000) • Over The Edge (1998-1999)
InVasion (2001) • December to Dismember (2006) • New Year's Revolution (2005-2007)
Former International pay-per-view events
One Night Only (1997) • Mayhem in Manchester (1998) • Capital Carnage (1998)
No Mercy (UK) (1999) • Rebellion (1999-2002) • Insurrextion (2000-2003)