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ECW HITS

None: This was bad. Perhaps on another night on a better show, I would be more likely to give the main event tag match a Hit. But, not in the mood I'm in after watching this show. Besides, there were too many sloppy spots and too much Vladimir Kozlov for me to really consider giving that match a Hit. The one thing that came closest to getting a Hit was William Regal's subtle acting after the match. He smiled and clapped it up for Kozlov after their win, but seemed to be glaring at him behind his back. But, I'm afraid that was way too little, way too late to save this show. This was a case where the bad show exposed the weakness of the announcing duo. I like Matt Striker, but I miss his chemistry with Todd Grisham. I know that others here at PWTorch (I think James Caldwell in particular) have pointed out how much silence there is during ECW matches. It hasn't really bothered me until this week. Striker and Josh Mathews did not seem up to the task of trying to make this show seem interesting. They did not help all of the debuting superstars, but I'm not sure Jim Ross would have been able to do much with what he had to work with in this case.

ECW MISSES

Total Re-launch: Some readers left comments on my Raw Hits & Misses saying that I didn't get the purpose of ECW which is to introduce new stars from FCW to the WWE before moving them to Raw or Smackdown. It isn't that I don't get it, I just don't like it. That concept of ECW is fine, but the execution is piss poor. A legit case for moving Jack Swagger and Evan Bourne off of ECW in that they appear ready for the big time of Raw can be made. Can the same be said for the Hart Dynasty? David Hart Smith has hardly been back from a long hiatus before being shifted to Smackdown. He isn't ready. Ricky Ortiz wasn't ready after his time in ECW before being shipped to oblivion on Smackdown earlier this year. The real problem is that when you shift several wrestlers at one time, leaving a gaping hole in the roster, you have to introduce too many new faces at the same time. WWE is throwing stuff on the wall and seeing what sticks. In addition to four wrestlers making their ECW debuts or rebuts (I think I should trademark that), there were four totally new wrestlers debuting on the same night. It was too much. Yoshi Tatsu's debut was ok, because he was in a "match" against an established star like Shelton Benjamin. However, he had not been introduced prior to this, and we learned nothing about him other than the fact that he is Japanese, gets offended when people make fun of him for being Japanese, and he can throw a good kick. We saw none of his wrestling potential. Why have a new talk show host introduced to interview the Bellas who nobody cares about? In general, having a promising talent like Shaemus debut against a non-roster jobber like Oliver John would be fine. However, it only works if we know who he is before hand. Having him walk out to face a guy we've never seen before, when we've never seen him before, is a mistake. Tyler Recks' debut came next. Again, in general having him introduce himself to his first opponent isn't a bad idea. However, when the opponent is a newly arrived to ECW, newly repackaged Zack Ryder, it is hard to get excited about him. Ryder has looked good lately, and their match on Superstars can be good, but at this point I was wanting something more than just another random debut.

The Abraham Washington Show: ECW was a disaster and I addressed most of the problems above. However, one segment stood out as being so far worse than anything else that it had to get a Miss. That segment was clearly the debut of the Abraham Washington Show. This was terrible. Washington's jokes (his monologue if you will) were terrible. I wasn't sure if they were supposed to be funny or not, but they weren't. If they weren't supposed to be, then they didn't do a good job of getting that fact over. His interview with the Bellas was excruciating to watch. Does any one care who is older, or got better grades in school? Does anyone care to see them upset about being accused of having fake hair? I know I don't. I kept waiting for someone to come out and interrupt all of this crap, but they never came. Seriously, this was a disaster that needed saving. Where was the Hurricane when you need him?

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and Superstars 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.

Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.

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