SMACKDOWN SPOILERS AS ON 2/19

* Chris Jericho comes out to start SmackDown and says he will win the Chamber. Edge comes out to a big pop. He talks about spearing Taker last week. Jericho tells Edge to pick the RAW Champion for WrestleMania for his own good. The lights flicker and Edge spears Jericho.

* Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler takes place until Drew McIntyre comes down in a suit. Dolph tries to take advantage but Kane chokeslams him for the win. Drew comes in and hits his finisher on Kane but Kane reverses it.

* Rey Mysterio cuts a promo backstage and says he will win the Elimination Chamber.

* John Morrison & R-Truth vs. CM Punk & Luke Gallows is announced for tonight.

* Cryme Tyme defeated Trent Baretta and Caylon Croft in a good tag match.

* John Morrison is interviewed and says his ankle won't make him miss the Chamber. Truth comes in and says he will win the Chamber but tonight, he and Morrison will beat Punk and Gallows.

* CM Punk and the Straight Edge Society come out. Punk cuts a promo and says he will win the belt at Elimination Chamber this Sunday. Tons of heat for Punk.

* Punk & Gallows vs. Morrison & Truth ends in a no contest. What looked like Undertaker's pyro went off during the match, everything stopped but nothing happened. Match is restarted. Morrison was really playing up his ankle injury. The referee called for the bell when Morrison went to kick Punk but kicked the ring post and went down in pain. SES beats Morrison and Truth down until Rey Mysterio comes in for the save. They beat him down and pose in front of Rey to a ton of heat. 

* Teddy Long is shown backstage. He says he will take action against Shawn Michaels for super kicking him on RAW. Mickie James comes in and Vickie Guerrero announces it will be Mickie vs. Michelle McCool next week with Vickie as the referee.

* Maria, Matt Hardy and The Great Khali vs. The Hart Dynasty is up next. The Dynasty gets the win when Natalya pins Maria. Maria walks up the ramp pissed off with Matt right behind her apologizing.

* Maria is shown backstage arguing with Matt Hardy about him letting their team down. Michelle McCool and Layla come in and make fun of them.

* Edge vs. Batista is next. No pyro for Batista, simple entrance but a big pop. Edge comes out to a big pop also. Batista stalls to start the match. Edge takes the mic and says John Cena was right about Batista. Finally they wrestle and it's a good match. Edge spears Batista and Taker's bell hits and he appears in the ring. Taker chokeslams Edge. Taker chases Batista off. Chris Jericho appears in the ring and hits the Codebreaker on Edge. Taker comes back out and stares down Jericho to end SmackDown after Jericho motions to the World Title.

BACKSTAGE NEWS ON FAREWELL ECW

There were people within WWE who wanted to honor the ECW legacy on last night’s show by bringing back old ECW names for appearances. The feeling was that it was more important to get WWE NXT over and close out ECW quickly so they chose not to bring any old faces back.

Vince McMahon made the decision to put the ECW Title on Ezekiel Jackson last night so he would have momentum going to the SmackDown brand, where he will likely be kept with William Regal. The latest word is that the duo will end up on Fridays after it was first believed they would go to RAW. Some on the WWE creative team wanted Christian to retain the belt to give ECW a “happy ending” but that idea was shot down.

NO EDGE VS BATISTA, UPDATE ON ECW DVD, BRET HART INJURY

As far as we can tell from the SmackDown spoiler reports, Batista vs. Edge was not announced for this week’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. No word if the match is planned.

There were some rumblings within WWE yesterday of the company doing another ECW DVD later in the year but it’s not something that’s confirmed.

To keep with the Bret Hart injury storyline from RAW, WWE posted on their website that he has suffered “a broken left leg in addition to ligament and tendon damage.” 

Y2J ON ECW'S END, EZEKIEL MAKES HISTORY

Chris Jericho wrote the following about ECW on his Twitter earlier: “Goodbye WWECW. But as those of us who were there know, ECW really died in 99.”

Not only did Ezekiel Jackson make WWE history last night by winning the final ECW match but he now holds the record for the shortest ECW Title reign. From the moment the bell rang until the show went off the air, Ezekiel had the title for 2 minutes and 59 seconds. He beat The Sandman’s previous record of 6 minutes and 32 seconds.

WWE RETIRES ECW TITLE

WWE’s website has confirmed that the ECW Title is retired. There was speculation last week that it may be kept around as a mid-card draw for some pay-per-views but it looks like that idea was shot down.

ECW syfy report 16/2

Dark Match:
* Jimmy Wang defeats Tyler Reks with a moonsault in a good match. Reks cut a heel promo before the match.
ECW on SyFy:
* A video for the ECW history is shown. Tonight they will reveal the stars of NXT.
* Big Show & The Miz defeat Goldust & Yoshi Tatsu to retain the tag titles in a good match. Miz gets the pin on Goldust.
* It’s announced that Chris Jericho will be paired with Wade Barrett and Matt Hardy paired with Justin Gabriel, not a typo, on NXT
* Tiffany comes out but is interrupted by Zack Ryder and Rosa. Ryder is upset he didn’t get the last ECW Title shot at Christian.
* It’s announced MVP will be paired with Skipp Sheffield on NXT.
* Abraham Washington is the guest on his own show. Shelton Benjamin and Vance Archer interrupt, having words with each other. Trent Baretta and Caylen Croft come out. Vladimir Kozlov comes out and takes everyone out except Benjamin. They shake hands and that’s it.
* It’s announced Carlito will be paired with Michael Tarver and The Miz will be paired with Daniel Bryan (Danielson) on WWE NXT.
* It’s announced Christian & Heath Slater will be paired up on NXT. The ECW Title match is up next.
* Christian comes out and cuts a promo on ECW, talking about Tommy Dreamer and being proud to be the longest reigning ECW Champ in WWE history. He says tonight he’s fighting for the ECW Originals. Christian says he’s proud to be the last ECW Champion.
* It’s announced CM Punk will be with Darren Young on NXT.
* Ezekiel Jackson comes out with William Regal for the ECW Title match under Extreme Rules.
* They brawl almost the whole match. Zack Ryder runs in but Christian stops him. Rosa slaps him until Tiffany comes down and fights with Rosa. They use steps, trash can lids, shopping carts and other stuff. William Regal runs in at the end but Christian hits the Killswitch on him. Zeke puts Christian through a table for the win and the ECW Title.
* It’s announced R-Truth will be paired with David Otunga on NXT.

DETAILS ON NXT

The speculation is over. After all the questions about how WWE NXT, which replaces ECW starting next week, would operate, the answer is finally clear–and, just for the record, it is not going to be a science fiction show.

In the same vein as shows like “The Ultimate Fighter” and WWE’s own “Tough Enough,” a Daily Variety article confirms that the series will employ a reality premise, following eight rookie Superstars from FCW as they work their way towards a spot on RAW or SmackDown.

The eight new wrestlers will each be paired with a WWE veteran mentor, “with egos often getting in the way, as they learn the ropes of competing in the ring in front of live audiences, creating characters and speaking on camera,” says the Variety story.

WWE is teasing the series as a window into how the company truly operates.

“These kids crash and burn a lot,” said Vince McMahon. “By putting them into this environment we’ll find out if they can make it. There’s no better way to develop skills than being in front of an audience. And that makes for good television.”

The show, set to air weekly year-round, will be broken into two or three seasons. As per earlier reports, it will also feature a new “look and feel” for WWE programming.

SUPERSTARS ADDED TO NXT ROSTER

As reported earlier, the new WWE NXT show will feature wrestlers from Florida Championship Wrestling, who will be paired off with WWE veterans in their quest to make it to the main roster.

Here’s a look at the nine wrestlers who are expected to be part of WWE NXT: Season 1, which debuts next Tuesday night on Syfy:

- Justin Angel (FCW Champion)
- Daniel Bryan (formerly Bryan Danielson)
- Kaval (formerly Low Ki)
- Skip Sheffield
- Joe Hennig (son of Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig)
- Brett Dibiase (son of the Million Dollar man, brother of Ted Jr.)
- Darren Young
- Heath Slater
- Michael Tarver

WARRANT ISSUED ON Y2J

A bench warrant for the arrest of WWE Superstar Chris Jericho was issued this morning when neither Jericho nor an attorney representing him appeared today for a scheduled court hearing in regard to his arrest for public intoxication last month in Kentucky, with Gregory Helms. Jericho was fined $253 for failing to appear today.

WCPO in Cincinnati reported the warrant being issued today and noted that either Helms or someone representing him did appear before the court to pay a fine regarding to Helms’ arrest that evening.

BACKSTAGE REACTION ON JERRY SPRINGER

While word was not initially available on what the talent thought of his on-air performance, Jerry Springer was “super over” backstage at WWE RAW, with sources saying the positive reaction to his presence was second only to that of Bob Barker.

NXT UPDATE

In conjunction with the official press release detailing the WWE NXT concept, WWE filmed a more detailed commercial in support of next Tuesday’s premiere. Presently in post-production, it was unclear if WWE planned to air the spot on tonight’s ECW finale

Y2J RESOLVES BENCH WARRANT ISSUE

Shortly after news broke from WCPO in Kentucky that a warrant had allegedly been issued for Chris Jericho’s arrest, the WWE Superstar reportedly resolved the issue.

According to TMZ, Jericho called into the court early Tuesday afternoon and agreed to pay the fine, so the arrest warrant is no longer in effect.

In a Twitter update Tuesday afternoon, Jericho denies he encountered any issue with the court: “Paid my fine on time and never had a court date. I’m free to walk the streets…Sorry, TMZ, wrong again.”