James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (6.5)

I like the progression with Finlay as a character who doesn't really have an agenda other than beating people up. Back to his old-school (relatively old-school) Smackdown roots of just being the guy who likes to fight. His inclusion in the five-way ECW Title match at The Bash is a good touch.

I also liked D.H. Smith picking up the intensity just a touch in his main event match against Christian. He's a major work in progress, but he has a lot of upside and WWE needs to be patient with him. Using Christian as the "veteran hand in the ring" to work with Smith was a good touch. Christian isn't being looked at as a major star in WWE right now, unfortunately, but if he continues to be the veteran on ECW for the rest of this "2009 Draft year," I expect him to be rewarded with a nice push on Raw or Smackdown in 2010.

Jack Swagger continues to just be awesome. His charisma seems to jump off the TV even more each week. (He does look a bit bigger too, of note.) ... Evan Bourne being squashed by Mark Henry was questionable. I'm reserving judgment until the follow-up, but I'm not too excited about where this is going or how it will - if it all - benefit Bourne. ... No Kozlov smiling this week left me disappointed. Sadness.

Brian Hoops, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.0)

Lots of emphasis on wrestling on this show. Christian deserves tons of credit for carrying David Hart Smith to a match of this caliber as it was one of Smith's better matches since returning to the active roster. Post-match was good as well as Finlay returned, apparently to help Christian fend off Smith and Kidd, but also laid out Christian.

Evan Bourne and Mark Henry match was good for what it was as both carried out their roles very well, not sure how this helps elevate Bourne, which should be their focus. Swagger vs. Dreamer was another very good match with Swagger gaining the much needed win and revenge on Dreamer to keep their feud moving forward. Without the backstage skits or poorly booked angles, there is very little negative to say about ECW and a lot of positives. Great hour of wrestling.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.5)

Christian vs. David Hart Smith was a fine opening contest, but nothing too memorable. With Finlay's new-found aggression, I'm hoping he returns to his old theme song. I guess Mark Henry beating Evan Bourne makes sense, with Henry being in the ECW Scramble Match for the title at The Bash now. But really, Bourne should be in there ahead of him or even Finlay. He would add another dimension to that match that neither of those men could bring to the table.

Swagger vs. Dreamer was fine, and even though we've seen the match numerous times before, this one had a different angle, as Swagger is chasing the champion Dreamer at this point. Lots of confusion at the end as to whose side everyone is on, but I guess that'll be sorted out come next week's show and even perhaps at The Bash.

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