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Tatsu vs. Ryder: This was a good episode of ECW and it got off to a good start with the #1 contender match between Yoshi Tatsu and Zack Ryder. My only complaint is that it wasn't the main event. Sure, they wanted Chris Jericho vs. Christian to be the main event, but that match hadn't been made yet, so why wasn't this scheduled to be the main event? I'm just saying. Getting past that, Tatsu and Ryder worked hard and put on a good match. There was a lot of energy from Tatsu and we actually got to see more offense from him in a bit of a longer match which was good. Ryder performed well too. ECW has done a nice job of building to the eventual Tatsu vs. Christian ECW Title match and this was a good part of that build.
Shaemus - Benjamin: Somehow, working with Shaemus lit a fire under Goldust's ass recently and the two of them had a very good feud. Shaemus' current feud with Shelton Benjamin got off to a very poor start the first few weeks. However, it has been picking up lately. Shaemus gave a Hit worthy promo last week and the attack from Benjamin this week was great. Just like Goldust, Benjamin showed more fire than we are used to seeing from him which is obviously a good thing. After the bad start, this feud is finally moving in the right direction.
Christian vs. Jericho: I have very fond memories of this tag team back in the day which broke up over a heel Trish Stratus (or at least she turned heel at WrestleMania 20 when she kicked the babyface Jericho to the curb in favor of the heel Christian. Times have changed.). These two had great chemistry together back then and they showed it again here working a very good 15 minute match. They haven't had the chance to work together (at least on tv) in a long time, but they worked well together here. I really liked the final few minutes of counters and near falls. Christian did a great job of selling the Walls of Jericho and almost tapping out before reaching the bottom rope. It was good to see the ECW Champion getting the clean win.
ECW MISSES
Can ECW Get a PPV Match?: Seriously, I'm asking. I understand that the dominant theme of Bragging Rights is Smackdown vs. Raw, but does that mean ECW can't be featured? Seriously, I'm asking. I know 1/3 of the show will be one match and that the 7 on 7 tag will be very long and the Fatal 4 Way for the World Title will be too, but still, ECW can't get a match? Seriously. I was thrilled when Chris Jericho made his surprise appearance as I wanted to know what was going on. I thoroughly enjoyed his match against Christian. But, where will it lead? It sounded stupid to have the show end with an ECW announcer asking the question about the PPV, "who will win the ultimate honor of bragging rights?" when clearly the answer won't be "ECW." I would love it at the end of Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown if Christian led a team from ECW out to beat the crap out of the others and make a statement. Smackdown was so good for quite some time, but its quality has been slipping ever since Undertaker took Jeff Hardy's spot as the #1 babyface of the brand. ECW has been delivering good shows most weeks, but not getting any respect from the company. Obviously, it isn't real and Christian isn't going to make an actual statement on behalf of the show, but I'll take a scripted one. Seriously.
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.
