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ECW TV Reax #2: "Yoshi is already on the road to being the next Funaki at this point"
Jul 1, 2009 - 10:11:49 AM


-- 6/30 ECW TV Reax

A.A. Norman of Tulsa, Okla. (9.0): Best: New faces! Worst: Losing previous talent. ECW: Freshness guaranteed! Granted, freshness may also include really, REALLY awful material. However, at least with ECW, you know you're getting to see the future of WWE still in its advent. I loved the opening segment with new guy Yoshi and old guy Shelton, who never seemed to find his niche in working the microphone, but finally seemed to get a crowd reaction with his mockery. Meanwhile, Yoshi won the crowd over too with his quick kick victory. The next guy, Abraham Washington, was the first victim of the fast forward button on my DVR after several stale jokes. Poor guy, he looked so nervous walking down the ramp. Next, as per South Park, it appears that Sheamus is a Ginger Kid, not a Daywalker. I guess this is why they had to get rid of Finlay to Smackdown and Hornswoggle to Raw? Only room for one Irish guy? Anyway, I thought the last one, T-Rex or whatever his name was, was Ricky Ortiz with a new look. I guess we'll have to tune in Thursday for his real debut? Overall, good show except for the Abraham Washington-Bella Twins segment that lasted far too long and fell really flat. I'm not sure if the blame is on the new guy or the writers for that.

Josh Rollins (8.0): Best match: Tag Team Main Event. Worst: Sheamus vs. Oliver John. Comments: great show! I love the new superstars. Yoshi took Shelton's head clean off in what I actually find to be a great booking decision. Hopefully the booking doesn't screw it all up in future weeks. Mr. Washington is awesome! He's like The Ladies Man, and I hope the cheese just keeps on coming. The main event was what it was supposed to be and made me glad Regal is on the show. It was the best part of the night, but barely. The new superstars are going to own ECW very soon and I'm ready for it.

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (9.0): Best: Kozlov/Regal vs. Christian/Dreamer. Worst: Sheamus vs. Jobber. The score may look a little high considering that ECW got fairly gutted for the trade. But it's for the fact that ECW made the most of their situation in a way that didn't look defeated. Tiffany had one of her best mic days greeting the crowd and announcing about the trades and New Superstar Initiative kicking in some new roster talent. What the hell is Shelton Benjamin doing in ECW? And jobbing on his first night, no less. Abraham Washington talks pretty smooth, but the crowd crapped on his material. Don't exactly blame them. The segment was also too long with said crapped on material. I'm fair skinned, but even I'm not as pale and fair-skinned as Sheamus. Comparing him to some of the other recent newbies, he fares on the low end in terms of impressive starts. Yoshi is already on the road to being the next Funaki at this point. Yoshi got all of one move in for his first match, so both he and Sheamus are a "we'll see..." list. This Tyler fellow seems to be good on the mic, but we'll have to see come Thursday. If it wasn't for the fact that the Raw replay had major ECW ramifications I'd say replace it with the Zack-Tyler match and let's see for ourselves now. The main event had a lot going for it. The crowd was hot for it (after having sat on its hands for Sheamus's match). William Regal seemed to most motivated I've seen of him in a really long time. Striker touting his total title wins marks the first good push in a while, too. And there was this Kozlov-Regal dynamic that was fun to watch. The snooty Brit gets upstaged (a different form of embarrassment) by a seemingly oafish Russian. Kozlov pins Dreamer that is given the feel of title contention after the match. Regal's missing the top title among his accolades. And with one wrestler to come in, the trade gives Dreamer some new opponents for the title. Bourne's, Swagger's, and Henry's departures seem like a curse to ECW, but already ECW has found some silver lining to the clouds.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "ECW TV 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 ECW, click here.


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MORE "Torch Feedback" ARTICLES
TNA Impact Reax #3: "The build for the PPV matches somehow featured Hulk Hogan despite him yet to show up on TV"
TNA Impact Reax #2: "I'm tired of non-stop talking. This isn't a Broadway play; it's professional wrestling and the best stories are told in the ring"
Thursday Night TV Reax #1: "I feel anything TNA does right is inevitably drowned out by what they fail at"
ECW TV Reax #1: "William Regal has stepped up big time since coming to ECW and he deserves a World Title run"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "The major flaw of this show was the real lack of hype for Survivor Series"
WWE Raw Reax #1: "The main event commentary was hilarious with Triple H and HBK making fun of Vince, but DX has run its course..."
WWE Smackdown Reax #1: "Batista plays the perfect bully and Rey plays the perfect hero; this is a chance to make Batista the lead heel on Smackdown"
TNA Impact Reax #2: "Hogan, as great as he was, is 15 years beyond his prime and he signed with a company touting their so-called youth movement"
WWE Superstars Reax #1: "It's time for Cryme Tyme or The Hart Dynasty to go after that tag team championship, and please stop feuding"
TNA Impact Reax #1: "The episode-long Hogan build-up made me think that I shouldn't care about anything else on the show"
TORCH READER ALERT: Did you watch TNA Impact featuring Hulk Hogan? Send your feedback on the show
ECW TV Reax #1: "William Regal is as good as it gets whether he's portraying comedy, disgust, pompousness, or pure insanity!"
WWE Raw Reax #3: "Does Randy Orton's car now qualify WWE to get a Cash for Clunkers rebate?"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "Just like TNA, we have the same problem of a three-way title match where the two opponents didn't earn a title shot"
WWE Raw Reax #1: "Finally, a noteworthy episode of Raw with actual storyline progression – a rare treat!"
WWE Bragging Rights PPV Reax #3: "Obviously the Big Show doesn't care about brand supremacy any more than I do"
WWE Bragging Rights PPV Reax #2: "The image of Orton hunched over a control panel with an evil glare on his face and his finger on the big red button was priceless"
WWE Bragging Rights PPV Reax #1: "The show wasn't really bad, just didn't seem important. It didn't feel like a special show..."
WWE Smackdown Reax #1: "The opening promo was good to introduce the Smackdown 7 ... only to kill momentum by having the entire non-captain group switched"
TNA Impact Reax #3: "It seems like you need a scorecard now to determine the heels and faces"

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