| December to Dismember | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster featuringThe Sandman, parodying the movieSilent Night, Deadly Night | |||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Entertainment | ||
| Brand | ECW | ||
| Date | December 3, 2006 | ||
| City | Augusta, Georgia | ||
| Venue | James Brown Arena | ||
| Attendance | 4,800 | ||
| Buy rate | 90,000[1][2] | ||
| Tagline | You better watch out... | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| December to Dismember chronology | |||
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The 2006December to Dismember was aprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced byWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held primarily for wrestlers from the promotion'sECWbrand division and was WWE's only non-One Night Stand PPV to be ECW-exclusive. The event took place on December 3, 2006, at theJames Brown Arena inAugusta, Georgia. Despite it being an ECW-branded pay-per-view, some wrestlers from theRaw andSmackDown! brands also worked the show. It was the second and final event in theDecember to Dismember chronology, after the original1995 event that was held by the formerExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion; WWE acquired the assets of ECW in 2003 and launched their own ECW brand in May 2006.
Themain attraction on the eventcard was an ExtremeElimination Chamber match for theECW World Championship. It featured wrestlers fighting in a ring surrounded by a steel structure of chain and girders. The six participants were defending championBig Show,Bobby Lashley,Rob Van Dam,Hardcore Holly,CM Punk, andTest. Lashley won the match and the ECW World Championship afterpinning Big Show following aspear. With his win, Lashley became the first African-American to hold the ECW World Championship. The featured bout on theundercard was atag team bout betweenThe Hardys (Jeff Hardy andMatt Hardy) andMNM (Joey Mercury andJohnny Nitro), in which The Hardys were victorious.
The event had an attendance of 4,800 and received about 90,000 pay-per-view buys, with 55,000 of them domestic buys—the lowest buyrate in WWE history until the introduction of theWWE Network in 2014. Critical reception was also very poor, with many regarding it as one of the worst PPVs in WWE history. Although it was scheduled to be held again in 2007, the show was canceled after WWE discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs followingWrestleMania 23 in April 2007.
In 2001, theExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion was closed down due to financial issues andWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) acquired the assets in 2003.[3] In May 2006, WWE launched a thirdbrand dubbedECW in which former talent from the defunct promotion, as well as newer talent, would compete.[4] In 1995, ECW held an event titledDecember to Dismember.[5] WWE revived this event as apay-per-view (PPV) for their ECW brand, and it was scheduled to be held on December 3, 2006, at theJames Brown Arena inAugusta, Georgia.[6]
Outside of the weeklyECW on Sci Fi broadcast, the ECW brand's television program, the pay-per-view received little buildup on eitherRaw orSmackDown!, as WWE concentrated more on advertising theSurvivor Series pay-per-view that aired one week prior to December to Dismember.[7] At this time, the main storyline on theRaw brand featuredtag teams,D-Generation X andRated-RKO,[8] and theSmackDown! brand's main storyline featuredBatista andWorld Heavyweight ChampionKing Booker.[9] The buildup for December to Dismember began in the middle of October, six weeks before the event.[10]
Themain event at December to Dismember featured anExtreme Elimination Chamber match for theECW World Championship. On the October 24, 2006 episode ofECW, Rob Van Dam defeated the ECW World Champion Big Show for the second consecutive time. Per the stipulation, if Van Dam were to defeat Big Show again, in aladder match, he could then choose a time to face the Big Show for the ECW World Championship.[11] Van Dam chose to have his title shot at the December to Dismember pay-per-view.[12] Authority figure,Paul Heyman, authorized Van Dam's decision and added him to the Extreme Elimination Chamber contest for the ECW World Championship along with Big Show and four other ECW superstars.[13] The remaining four participants for the Extreme Elimination Chamber match were decided through standard singles matches. The first person to qualify for the match wasSabu, who defeatedKevin Thorn on the October 31, 2006 episode ofECW.[13] The following week, CM Punk and Test qualified by defeatingMike Knox andTommy Dreamer, respectively.[14] The final place was to be given toHardcore Holly in a contract signing segment on the November 14, 2006 episode ofECW. As Holly was making his way to the ring,Bobby Lashley, a wrestler from the SmackDown! brand, 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 announced anExtreme Rules match, between Van Dam and Holly, on the November 21, 2006 episode ofECW. If Holly were to defeat Van Dam he would take his place in the Extreme Elimination Chamber; Van Dam however won the match and cemented his place in the Extreme Elimination Chamber.[16] Van Dam continued gaining momentum going into the December to Dismember pay-per-view, as he, along with team members Sabu, Lashley,John Cena andKane, defeated the team of Big Show, Test,Umaga,Finlay andMontel Vontavious Porter in a 5-on-5, elimination tag team match, at the Survivor Series pay-per-view.[17] On the final episode ofECW 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, Big Show was disqualified in his match against Lashley as Test and Heyman'sSecurity Force (Doug andDanny Basham) assaulted Lashley.[18]
The other main rivalry heading into December to Dismember was between theHardy Boyz andMNM (Joey Mercury, Johnny Nitro andMelina). Unlike the Extreme Elimination Chamber rivalry, this one did not includeECW superstars and only featured members of the Raw and SmackDown! brands, making the pay-per-view non-exclusive to ECW, spanning all three WWE brands.[18][19][20] The buildup to the match between them began when Nitro andJeff Hardy started to feud over theIntercontinental Championship onRaw.[21][22] The two competed in several different types of matches, including a ladder match.[8] The Hardy Boyz had just teamed up for the first time since 2002, when they defeatedTony Mamaluke andLittle Guido Maritato on an episode ofECW.[16] At Survivor Series, The Hardy Boyz, along with D-Generation X and CM Punk defeated the team of Nitro, Rated-RKO (Edge andRandy Orton), Mike Knox andGregory Helms in a traditional Survivor Series team elimination match.[23] The next day at the December to Dismemberpress conference, The Hardy Boyz announced an open challenge for the pay-per-view. Later that night onRaw, Nitro accepted the challenge, announcing the return of Mercury and the "one night only" reformation of MNM.[19] On the following episode ofECW, MNM attacked The Hardy Boyz after they defeatedElijah Burke andSylvester Terkay.[18] Meanwhile,Voodoo Kin Mafia, a tag team from theTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)promotion, issued a statement via the TNA website stating that they had accepted The Hardy Boyz' open challenge for December to Dismember.[24] However, Voodoo Kin Mafia did not appear at the event, and WWE never acknowledged their challenge. Only two matches were officially announced for the pay-per-view before it aired.[6][25]
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentator | Joey Styles |
| Tazz | |
| Interviewer | Rebecca DiPietro |
| Ring announcer | Justin Roberts |
| Referees | Scott Armstrong |
| Mike Posey | |
| Mickie Henson | |
| John Cone |
Before the event went live on pay-per-view,Stevie Richards defeatedRené Duprée in adark match, a non-televised match used to generate excitement in the crowd.[27]
The first match that aired was the tag team encounter betweenMNM (Joey Mercury andJohnny Nitro) andThe Hardys (Jeff Hardy andMatt Hardy). After a back and forth match, which lasted over 20 minutes, MNM performed aflapjack DDT on Jeff. During apinfall attempt,Matt Hardy made the save and performed adouble neckbreaker on both members of MNM. Jeff thenSwanton bombed Nitro and made the winning pin.[6][28][29]
Next wasMatt Striker versusBalls Mahoney in a "Striker's Rules" match, a match with "no gouging of the eyes, no pulling of the hair, no maneuvers off the top rope and, most importantly, no foul language".[6][30] Mahoney won the match after he performed aspinebuster and pinned Striker for the victory.[6][29]
After the match between Mahoney and Striker, Sabu was depicted as being injured backstage and unable to compete in the Extreme Elimination Chamber match.[6][31][32] In reality, however, it was rumored that Sabu had animosity surrounding him backstage and was said to be uninterested at television 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 don't respect him because of that". This was reportedly part of the reason he had been scripted to be easily defeated by Umaga on an episode ofRaw a few weeks earlier.[8][33] WWE chairmanVince McMahon wanted to put Hardcore Holly in Sabu's place, so Bobby Lashley would have more villains to overcome. Paul 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.[6]
In the second tag-team match of the night,Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay defeatedF.B.I. members Little Guido Maritato and Tony Mamaluke. Burke pinned Mamaluke after performing aForward Russian legsweep on him and gaining the pinfall.[34] After the match, Terkay performed aMuscle Buster on Maritato.[29] 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 moves used by TNA wrestlers,Jeff Jarrett andSamoa Joe, respectively).[6]
A standard match betweenDaivari and Tommy Dreamer followed withThe Great Khali accompanying Daivari to the ring but was ejected from ringside early on for interfering. After Daivari won the match using aroll-up, Khali came back out to the ring and gave Dreamer achokebomb.EMTs came out to help Dreamer get up, but he ended up getting up on his own and headed backstage.[6][29][35]
The next match of the night was anintergender tag team match, with Kevin Thorn andAriel against Mike Knox andKelly Kelly. Before the match began, Kelly Kelly was shown wishing CM Punk, her on-screen crush, luck for the main event. The end of the match came when Knox abandoned Kelly Kelly in the ring and Ariel performed alegsweep, a variation of a takedown, on Kelly Kelly before covering her for the win.[29] Following the match, Ariel and Thorn attempted to attack Kelly Kelly, beforeThe Sandman interrupted and hit Thorn repeatedly with akendo stick.[6][36]
The main event was the Extreme Elimination Chamber for the ECW World Championship. After a segment earlier in the event showed an injured Sabu was unable to compete in the match, it was decided that Hardcore Holly would take his spot in the match. Before the match began, Paul Heyman announced the rules of the match and explained that each superstar had a weapon with them in each of their pods.[29] Before entering the ring, Heyman had a conversation backstage with Big Show, that was unseen by television viewers, with him revealing that for the first time in his professional career he was not motivated to give the promo.[25] Rob Van Dam and Holly were the first superstars to begin the match and one of the other four competitors were then released from their pod every five minutes afterward. The first person to be released from his pod was CM Punk, who entered the match with a steel chair in hand. Test then followed, five minutes after him, with acrowbar. Punk was the first eliminated from the match, after Van Dam performed aFive Star Frog Splash from the topturnbuckle and covered him for the 3-count. Moments later, Test charged and delivered abig boot to Holly, eliminating him. Van Dam was the third person eliminated, after Test delivered adiving elbow drop from the top of a pod and pinned him. When it was Bobby Lashley's turn, his pod would not open and he could not exit it because Heyman's Security Force had bolted the door shut. Lashley then used the table that was with him to smash through the pod, allowing him to escape. He then delivered aspear to Test to eliminate him. Big Show, was the final man to exit his pod and had abaseball bat wrapped inbarbed wire in tow. Lashley was able to block Big Show's swing of the barbed wire bat with a folding chair and then threw him into the pod, causing him to bleed. Lashley managed to reverse achokeslam into aDDT and then delivered a spear to win the match and become the new ECW World Champion.[37][29]
Critics had a negative reaction to the pay-per-view, with the only match that received praise being the Hardy Boyz versus MNM tag team match.[38][39]Slam! Sports rated the pay-per-view 4 out of 10 stars, stating, "the two matches that were promoted saved this thing from being a debacle".[6] In the 2007Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, the event was voted the "worst major wrestling show of the year", despite being a 2006 event, with 2006's award going to UFC 61.[40] December to Dismember is also considered to be one of the worst PPVs in WWE history. PWInsider's Mike Johnson called it one of the worst PPVs ever.[41]
Less than 24 hours after thepay-per-view, WWE announced on their official website that Vince McMahon had sent Paul Heyman home, citing "slumping television ratings and a disgruntled talent roster as causes for Mr. Heyman's dismissal".[42] Heyman was escorted from the Coliseum and sent home. He was also immediately pulled from ECW'screative team after the altercation. McMahon was attempting to put the blame on Heyman for the poorly received pay-per-view despite Heyman having been overruled on multiplebooking decisions, and after a meeting with Vince andStephanie McMahon, Heymanlegitimately left WWE but remained under contract. Heyman was against the decision of Bobby Lashley beingbooked to win the ECW World Championship, and instead wanted to have CM Punk win it, a decision McMahon disliked.[25][43] This situation was cited by Punk inhis controversial worked-shoot promo in 2011, in which he referred to the idea as one in which "Heyman saw something in Punk that nobody else wanted to admit."[44] Upset at how the event turned out, Tommy Dreamer and Stevie Richards both asked after the event to be released from their contracts. Both requests were refused by McMahon and WWE's Vice President of Talent RelationsJohn Laurinaitis.[7]
Not long after December to Dismember, Big Show was offered a long-term contract extension by WWE, reported to be around$1 million a year. He declined the offer, however, reasoning he was burned out and hurting physically.[6][25][45] On the first episode ofECW to air after December to Dismember, Big Show and Bobby Lashley would compete in a rematch for the ECW World Championship. Big Show lost, thus ending their storyline feud,[46] and he announced his retirement from wrestling,[47] although he made his return in 2008 atNo Way Out.[48]
After the storyline feud with Big Show ended, Lashley entered a short program with Rob Van Dam, which led to Van Dam earning a title match on the January 2, 2007 episode ofECW. The match between the two ended in a No Contest after Test interfered during the bout.[49] Test's interference led to a storyline with Lashley, leading to a title match at theRoyal Rumble, which Lashley won by countout.[50]
This was the only ECW branded pay-per-view WWE produced before the decision was made to discontinue brand-exclusive PPVs followingWrestleMania 23 in April 2007, which resulted in WWE reducing the amount of yearly PPVs produced.[51] Before the change, an event for 2007 had been planned.[52]
| No. | Results[6][29] | Stipulations | Times[53] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1D | Stevie Richards defeatedRené Duprée[27] | Singles match | — | ||||
| 2 | The Hardys (Matt Hardy andJeff Hardy) defeatedMNM (Joey Mercury andJohnny Nitro) (withMelina)[28] | Tag team match | 22:33 | ||||
| 3 | Balls Mahoney defeatedMatt Striker | Striker's Rules match | 7:12 | ||||
| 4 | Elijah Burke andSylvester Terkay defeatedThe F.B.I. (Little Guido andTony Mamaluke) (withTrinity)[34] | Tag team match | 6:41 | ||||
| 5 | Daivari (withThe Great Khali) defeatedTommy Dreamer[35] | Singles match | 7:22 | ||||
| 6 | Kevin Thorn andAriel defeatedMike Knox andKelly Kelly[36] | Mixed tag team match | 7:43 | ||||
| 7 | Bobby Lashley defeatedBig Show (c) (withPaul Heyman),Test,Rob Van Dam,Hardcore Holly, andCM Punk[37] | ExtremeElimination Chamber match for theECW World Championship | 24:42 | ||||
| |||||||
| Eliminated | Wrestler | Entered | Eliminated by | Weapon | Method | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CM Punk | 3 | Rob Van Dam | Steel chair | Pinfall | 12:35 |
| 2 | Hardcore Holly | 2 | Test | None | Pinfall | 12:45 |
| 3 | Rob Van Dam | 1 | Test | None | Pinfall | 14:15 |
| 4 | Test | 4 | Bobby Lashley | Crowbar | Pinfall | 19:42 |
| 5 | Big Show | 6 | Bobby Lashley | Barbed wire baseball bat | Pinfall | 24:42 |
| Winner | Bobby Lashley | 5 | N/A | Table | ||
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.
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.
Media related toDecember to Dismember (2006) at Wikimedia Commons