Getting ready for "Mane-ia"

Getting ready for "Mane-ia"

Mr. McMahon was smiling like a Cheshire cat on ECW on Sci Fi after he fulfilled his “guaran-damn-tee” to pin ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley on Raw. But Lashley dampened the Chairman’s mood when he showed him that he wouldn’t let his beatdown on Raw cripple his determination to defeat Umaga at WrestleMania 23’s Battle of the Billionaires.

Sure, McMahon had stocked the odds heavily in his favor on Raw – he made the match a no-disqualification contest and employed the services of his Battle of the Billionaires representative to help him get the win and brutalize Lashley.

But, as McMahon emphasized to the ECW World Champion, no one beats him. The Chairman promised Lashley that he and Donald Trump at WrestleMania will join a long list of others who have fallen to his feet.

“I can't wait to see Umaga, the Samoan Bulldozer, stick his thumb down your throat and come down on you from the top rope and go splat, just like he did to you last night [on Raw]," McMahon said. "I can't wait to see the look of your face when you realize you've let Donald Trump down, that you've let everyone down. And at the end of the night, I, Vincent Kennedy McMahon will still have my head of hair, and your future, Bobby Lashley, will be bleak, very bleak."

Lashley conceded that he did not have much to smile about after the beating he absorbed he on Raw. However, the determined ECW World Champion vowed he would feel better after he defeats Umaga and watches Trump shave McMahon’s head. (WATCH)

"Listen, you old bastard," Lashley said. "At the end of WrestleMania, you're going to be a bald son of a b***tch."

McMahon-Umaga and Trump-Lashley do not have much in common. But the battling billionaires do trust their respective WrestleMania representatives, almost like the trust seen in the members of the ECW Originals and the New Breed.

Balls Mahoney did not fare well against ECW loner, the deranged Snitsky, but fellow ECW Original Rob Van Dam had better luck in his match.

New Breed captain Elijah Burke battled Original counterpart RVD in one last confrontation before the two factions’ fateful Eight-Man Tag Team Match at WrestleMania. The two sides have traded victories before their showdown on April 1 at Ford Field in Detroit, but the back-and-forth battle between Burke and RVD ended when the Originals' captain pinned his young rival following the Five Star Frog Splash. The New Breed (Marcus Cor Von, Kevin Thorn and Matt Striker) attacked Van Dam after the match, but they were chased off by the rest of the ECW Originals, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer and Sandman. (WATCH)

RVD gave his fellow Originals momentum going into WrestleMania. Is this a harbinger of what awaits the New Breed and the Originals in their battle for the legacy and future of ECW? Order WrestleMania 23 this Sunday and find out.

Trust is something the participants in WrestleMania 23’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match lacked as they squared off in an Eight-Man Tag Team Match on ECW on Sci Fi. Edge, the winner of the first Money in the Bank match and a favorite in this year’s contest, was teamed with straightedge ECW Superstar CM Punk and Matt and Jeff Hardy against Finlay, King Booker, Randy Orton and Mr. Kennedy. He admitted to his teammates that he disliked them as much as they did him, but he advised them that they should band together to take out some of the members of the other team to increase their odds of victory at WrestleMania.

Meanwhile, the opposing Money in the Bank team had its own trust issues. Orton and Kennedy would not discuss prematch strategy with Booker and Finlay, so Booker was wary of Orton and Kennedy before the match and tried to form a pact with Finlay.

In the end, Booker, Finlay, Orton & Kennedy defeated Edge, The Hardys & Punk, but it was really every man for himself. Edge walked out on his team shortly before the loss, and despite their victory, Booker, Finlay, Orton and Kennedy fought each other after the match. Punk, Matt and Jeff Hardy then took aim at their victorious opponents, and even The Hardys looked like they were going to come to blows when the brothers both scaled to the top of a ladder in the middle of the ring after the match.

As this all unfolded, the Rated-R Superstar watched it all from the arena entrance, laughing. This kind of cunning strategy helped Edge win Money in the Bank at WrestleMania 21 and ultimately win the WWE Championship. It could help him repeat history at WrestleMania 23 this Sunday.

Want to relive some of the ECW on Sci Fi action as you prepare for WrestleMania? Check out each match in its entirety on ECW.com’s Hardcore Hangover.

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