Chris Forbes of Galt, Calif. (8.0) Best: Bourne/Ortiz vs. Chavo/Neely. Worst: Dreamer-Estrada. WWE put a decent effort into this week's ECW broadcast. But perhaps the reason was the impressive color commentary by Matt Striker. I'll admit that I nearly cringed when they panned the camera revealing Striker filling in for Tazz (perhaps filling in for Mick Foley on Smackdown?), but I rather enjoyed his commentary. Here's hoping that he "fills in" more often. I am in awe of Evan Bourne (still getting used to not calling him Matt Sydal). He has the potential of either carrying the ECW brand or being a worthy mid-card talent on Raw or Smackdown. As for Ricky Ortiz, I think it's still too soon to make a call on his potential. Mike Knox's promo on Finlay was impressive. Maybe those two can have a decent match. Just leave Hornswoggle out of it. Dreamer-Estrada was passable. A rather predictable finish. Braden Walker (okay, dumb name... he should have stuck with Chris Harris.) looked better than he did on his debut, but still nowhere close to his shape in TNA. The Catatonic is one of my favorite moves, but since other wrestlers have similar moves, I'm sure he'll use something else, but I pray it isn't the fisherman suplex. Miz and Morrison are of course ripping off a popular staple from Conan O'Brien, but it was still entertaining. Matt Hardy has been one of my favorite performers since the Version One days, and I'm not sure if they will take the ECW Title off of Mark Henry (who I've never been a fan of) so soon, but it's almost obvious that they have picked Matt Hardy to carry the ECW brand.
Shane Bennett of Frankfort, Ky. (8.0): Best Match: Striker Commentary. Worst Match: Too many WWE Commercials! I know my score seems high for ECW and as I was thinking back on the actual matches, none were super impressive. The reason the score is so high is due to the fact that ECW only has one hour to get these wrestlers over and I thought last night's ECW was a perfect example of how to do it. No one was missing. No storylines dropped. We saw a slight, but important advancement in the Mike Knox vs Finlay story. Mike had his chance to punch Finlay out, but didn't do it. The classic heel move. He can't wait to beat the guy up until he is confronted. Not bad mic work. Evan Bourne is a really fun superstar. Chavo and Bam have done a wonderful job of making Evan feel different and feel like a star on the show. Ricky Ortiz has still yet to impress me. He has a unique look but his matches are blah at the moment. Not bad, they just lack character. And speaking of lacking character, Chris Harris had none. He actually looked a little chubby and slow in the ring. Even Striker commented more about the other guy than Walker. Ahh, Striker. I am not sure how others will feel, but this guy was money on commentary for me. I like the way he interjected wrestling trivia into the commentary thus adding more weight to comments like "This is the biggest match in ECW history" or "That Evan Bourne really impresses me" or "I've never seen a move like that." We know he has seen a lot. We know he is very familiar with wrestling history so when he makes a comment like that it has a lot more weight than John Cena mentioning that he and Batista will have the biggest match in WWE history. Is he out of his flippin' mind? But I have digressed. Striker was great and I think he should stay where he is. Wonderful on commentary. Put everyone over, good or bad. Money! Speaking of money, how f-ing over is Mark Henry? I never thought I would see the day that Henry would be over. ECW feels more branded than any other show. The fans really like their guys. When Miz and Morrison were having fun with Henry and the Champ's music hit, the crowd became (temporarily; it is Mark Henry after all) unglued. And then later when Morrison accidentally punched Henry, the fans all gasped. Henry has been portrayed as this big, mean, monster. The fans are buying it. I am buying it! I can't believe I am excited about a Mark Henry title run. Hardy was okay on the mic but man, he is over too! Good job ECW guys for getting your points across quickly without sacrificing importance. The champion should be the last part of the segment. Hear that, Raw? My only complaint is that ECW still feels like the "Home Shopping Network" of the WWE. Christ, every two seconds there is a Raw rebound or a Smackdown rewind, or a WWE shopzone or WWE 24/7 or WWE Did You Know? Or a SummerSlam spot. We get it guys. Plus there are still two weeks, why not wait and have them run down the card the Tuesday before? They only have an hour, quit pumping it full of all your other garbage. Fans are never going to buy into the fact that ECW is legitimate until you quit telling them how unimportant their own brand is. Why don't we see an ECW rebound on Monday and Friday's? The happenings last night were every bit as big as some things on Monday and Friday nights.
We welcome your 1-10 score and comments on this show for a "ECW Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on Raw, click 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....
