By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

ECW HITS

Opening Segment: After WWE put on a mostly bad week of tv last week, this week got off to a good start with a good Raw. ECW followed nicely, starting with the opening of the show. It was simple but effective follow up on what happened at the end of last week's show. Christian was good in being more serious in his challenge of William Regal. Regal was great on the mic in declaring that he has the power now and demanding that his ECW Title shot come next week in England. It makes sense, but I hope that doesn't mean that ECW will be shut out of another PPV. I also liked the dropkick from Christian at the end, sending a message to Regal.

Regal vs. Goldust: This was a good short match. It was nice to hear Goldust still getting a strong reaction from the fans after he has been in limbo since his great feud with Shaemus ended. He got in a good amount of offense, but the pre-match attack by Christian gave the #1 contender an excuse for taking time to eventually get the better of his opponent. Regal did not get much offense in, but that actually worked well to set up his running knee as a strong finisher. That was all he needed to get the win over Goldust. It sets it up in the minds of the fans as being a major threat to Christian next week.

Burchill - Hurricane: I have liked parts of this feud, and not liked other parts. This was definitely a good step towards the blow off match next week. Paul Burchill has improved and will presumably be moving on to Smackdown (just my assumption) with his sister so she can actually work with some other Divas. He played his part well, as did Hurricane. I liked the dueling lines about Halloween. Also, since his return, Hurricane hasn't gotten much (if any) mic time, so it was good to hear him speak here. It reinforced him as a character in talking about having fun, the fans being behind him and the chicks digging super heroes. And it was effective set up to a big match next week. ECW did that for two matches which is more than you can say for the other WWE shows most weeks.

Final Segment: Just as ECW got off to a good start, it also had a strong ending. The main event was a good, but short tag match (assumed it would go two segments) of Christian & Yoshi Tatsu vs. Ezekiel Jackson & Vladimir Kozlov. It was a bit formulaic, but it had good action. The ending was very good as the pace quickened, Tatsu hit a big plancha taking Jackson out of the match, and Christian got the clean win over Kozlov. Christian looked strong as the ECW Champion, while Kozlov wasn't really hurt much since the Ruthless Roundtable's deal is strength in numbers and physical beat downs, as opposed to marks in the win column. They got their heat back right away with another vicious beat down of the Champ after the match.

ECW MISSES

Tiffany's Music: I meant to comment on this last week in a Miss for the Abraham Washington Show, but it slipped my mind. Tiffany's new music is terrible. She is supposed to be an authority figure, yet she comes out to music more befitting a teenage pop star singing about wanting boys. It doesn't exactly set the tone for someone who has the power and responsibility that she does.

Ryder's POV: I've given these types of segments Misses many times in the past (baby's POV of Vince McMahon, Randy Orton's POV of his father with blood streaming down his face, etc.), and although not everyone agrees with me, I will continue to always give them Misses. It is a production technique that does not belong on pro wrestling where we are asked to suspend our disbelief in a different way from movies and other tv shows. It is totally ridiculous that we would be able to see what Zack Ryder was seeing when he looked at Rosa Mendes. It takes you out of the moment and is not needed in any way.

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.

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