Kofi Kingston: This Hit is for Kingston doing something I have never seen before in 20+ years as a wrestling fan. When Matt Striker attempted to throw Kingston out of the ring, he somehow bounced his neck off the top rope to land on his feet in the ring. That was one of the damnedest things that I’ve ever seen! It was very strange, but effective, which fits in with Kofi Kingston perfectly. There is just something about the guy that I like, and it seems that the live crowds are responding to him as well (although not as much this week). The post-match attack by Shelton Benjamin worked well, and I look forward to seeing this undercard feud continue.
Delaney’s Celebration: After months of trying to get his ECW contract, Colin Delaney finally did with his win over a surprisingly cut Armando Estrada. The match seemed anticlimactic for some reason. Estrada has been the one keeping Delaney from getting the contract, so it makes sense that he would earn it by defeating Estrada, but for some reason the win itself didn’t seem to resonate. But, Delaney made up for that with his great celebration afterwards. He seemed genuinely thrilled to finally get that win and the ECW contract. His interaction with the fans and Tazz was great. It will be interesting to see where WWE goes with him from here, as he will presumably be punished by Estrada for the victory.
Use of Guest Commentary: I enjoyed seeing multiple wrestlers on guest commentary throughout the show. Stevie Richards had something going with his comeback storyline, but WWE screwed that up. At least he got to be on this week to lend some credibility as an ECW Original for the 100th episode. Shelton Benjamin wasn’t very good on commentary, but at least his presence during Kingston vs. Striker helped keep a focus on his feud with Kingston. Finally, Miz & Morrison provided some fun doing commentary during the Main Event. The Main Event itself was a solid tag team match of CM Punk & Kane vs. Chavo Guerrero & Bam Neely (good enough to not get a Miss, but not Hit worthy either). They are entertaining characters and giving them a chance to have this much mic time is a good idea. I am curious to see if they go into a feud with Punk & Kane. It seems like an odd choice as they seem to be going for Punk vs. Chuck Polumbo and I can’t imagine Chavo not continuing his feud vs. Kane. But, I am intrigued by the possibility. The use of guest commentators can be overwhelming and I don’t think doing it for three matches every week is a good idea. But, they do help to cover for Mike Ademle. After all, whenever a guest commentator is talking, Ademle isn’t. It also gives guys like Benjamin a chance to talk about a feud without giving him promo time which is important on an hour long show.
ECW MISSES
Ademle: My problem this week isn’t so much with Mike Ademle’s announcing, but with his scripted apology at the start of the show. I don’t care about announcers as characters. I like Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler because they are good at what they do. I have never been a fan of using Ross as a character, getting involved with Vince McMahon for instance. So, I don’t want to see an angle built around Ademle (or Ross, or Michael Cole, etc.). And, if you are going to do it, at least do it right and have him explain why he walked out last week. If an explanation was there, I missed it. I guess WWE was trying to build intrigue last week, but it didn’t work, and it led to this lame opening this week.
Kelly’s Expose: Of everything that has happened in the first 99 episodes of ECW, Kelly’s Expose is not one that I wanted to remember. I know I have given Kelly’s Expose (and the expanded version, Extreme Expose) Misses many times, so why not one more? What particularly bothered me about this one is that it is just more of the same. We’ve seen Kelly vs. Layla for so long, and I just don’t care. It seems like they’ve been feuding forever. With only one hour, and with a roster that has trouble getting air time (other than looking foolish on Raw), why even use Divas like this on ECW? Use them as valets, but there is enough women’s wrestling on Raw and Smackdown that we don’t need it on ECW too.
ECW Nostalgia: It makes perfect sense to do highlights (or lowlights depending on your point of view) of the first 99 episodes of ECW. The problem is that they served as a reminder as to how bad the show is and has been. Some of the clips were just bad clips of moments that I didn’t want to remember. Some of the clips were good, but just reminded me that ECW’s best days are likely behind it. Being reminded of Rob Van Dam isn’t going to make me want to tune in next week. I hope WWE can fix ECW, but I don’t hold out much hope. I hope that after 100 more episodes, we will be able to look back and say that 101-200 were better than 1-100, but I doubt it.
Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.
For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.
LATEST PRO WRESTLING TORCH NEWSLETTER #1039 (17 PAGES)
This issue begins with a cover story by Wade Keller who attended Brock Lesnar's first UFC victory on Saturday night in the semi-main event in front of a record-setting crowd in his hometown. Keller's BBL looks at Lesnar's place in MMA and in what ways he seems more comfortable than ever... Bruce Mitchell's Memo examines the dilemma of Chris Benoit and the Hall of Fame... Sean Radican reviews the two latest TNA DVD releases... In-depth coverage of the TNA Hard Justice PPV including Keller's match report with star ratings and the newsletter-exclusive Roundtable Reviews... Jason Powell's "Page 2 Buzz" with scoops and insider analysis... WWE Newswire, TNA Newswire, and ROH Newswire with insider news, big story analysis, and notebook tidbits... Plus Keller's reports on Raw, Smackdown, and Impact, the Top 5 Stories of the Week, and more....
