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James Caldwell, Torch Columnist (5.5)

A bit of a lackluster show, but it's tough to give ECW a below-average grade when the show fulfills its obligation as merely a simple, one-hour episode of harmless TV to fill a timeslot on Sci-Fi every Tuesday night. The main event of Boogeyman & Finlay & Hornswoggle vs. the tag champs could have been frustrating if a viewer approached the match wanting to see a quality main event, but if you walked into the match expecting typical fare of nothing being advanced and a holding pattern of Finlay losing then dancing post-match, then it's just what it is. Perhaps it will lead to a future storyline advancement; perhaps it will simply be rinse and repeat.

Jack Swagger continues to be the star of the show without needing to do much. Whenever that ECW Title match happens against Matt Hardy, it won't be a "it is what it is" episode of ECW TV. Swagger has developed into a future star, and they need to start building up that Hardy vs. Swagger program on TV to give ECW something to hang its hat on.

Paul Burchill to ECW? You can dress him up and change his look all you want, but he's still Burchill. He doesn't need to add any more body mass, which he seemingly does with every gimmick change or adjustment to the look. Dropping weight wouldn't make him any less of a menacing heel. All he needs to do is look to William Regal on how to pull off the gimmick without needing to be 30 pounds heavier than is necessary.

Jon Mezzera, PWTorch.com Contributor (4.0)

This was not a very good episode of ECW. It did get off to a good start with the Dirt Sheet starring The Miz & John Morrison. They were their usual great selves on the mic. They got in some very funny lines about their own New Year’s Resolutions, their bickering over who is going to win the Royal Rumble, and their list about other Superstars’ Resolutions. Unfortunately, the show went down hill afterwards with the appearance of the super stale Finlay, Hornswoggle, and the Boogeyman.

Things picked up nicely with the solid match between Mark Henry and ECW Champion Matt Hardy. It was another good effort from these two, building nicely to Hardy’s comeback and the very impressive looking Side Effect. Jack Swagger’s interference worked really well to hopefully spark an actual feud between him as #1 Contender and Hardy as the Champ. Henry was great in his angry look after losing via DQ.

The show went down from there. Burchill vs. Gabriel was slow and boring and I saw little value in Burchill on ECW, and having Gabriel who has the bigger upside taking most of the punishment despite getting the roll up victory. There were three video packages on the show which is too much. We got a Kizarny video from Smackdown, a Mr. Kennedy’s new DVD video, and a Raw Rebound. Give me more original content.

The main event tag match was OK. It could have been much worse if Boogeyman had actually wrestled or if Miz & Morrison had lost. Unfortunately, this feud doesn't look over.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (4.5)

ECW is usually good for one average-to-above-average match per week, but this week it was lacking. It seemed clear WWE just wanted to put on a feel-good show for the young fans, evident in how the show ended.

The Dirt Sheet was fine, as it didn't overstay its welcome, unlike segments of the past. I liked the planting of seeds that the two might meet up in the Royal Rumble. The match that came out of this segment wasn't good, but it wasn't really meant to be. They were wise in keeping Boogeyman away from the action as much as possible though. They sure gave Mark Henry a lot of offense in his match so it appears that even though it's Jack Swagger's turn for a title shot, they aren't forgetting about Henry. The match was just OK, but these kinds of matches tend to drag when The World's Strongest Man gets all the offense.

I like the move of Paul Burchill to ECW....hopefully that opens something up for him and Katie Lea. His match with DJ Gabriel was a bit below-par, but again, I was surprised that Burchill owned the match. I'm sure they wanted to test Gabriel's selling skills, but hopefully it means they're going to push Burchill too.

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