Email This Article - Contact Us - VIP Sign-Up - Back to Home Page

|

By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

This isn't hard, folks. Take two wrestlers. Build an issue. Let it play out in different situations over a period of time. Put the spotlight on the feud near the end or at the end of the program. Create hype around the blow-off. Let the fans buy into it. Build anticipation for who gets the final word. Wala! There's your basic recipe for pro wrestling.

Add red bell peppers, a pinch of salt, and some seasoning where appropriate to create individual flavors without deviating from the basics.

Last night's ECW TV main event of Goldust vs. Sheamus was terrific, terrific pro wrestling action with WWE giving two mid-card wrestlers the spotlight to continue building up Sheamus as a future star in WWE.

Sheamus is slotted to ascend about as high as the Smackdown mid-card if and when he's drafted, but they're building him up for potential PPV-worthy match-ups against the likes of John Morrison, Rey Mysterio, and Matt Hardy.

For some reason, this simple formula of elevating new, young talent is escaping the Raw brand. They have U.S. champion Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger, The Miz, Carlito, Primo, and Evan Bourne right around the same level on the mid-card.

Instead of creating an individual feud or two featuring these potential future stars, WWE continues to book them in multiple-man matches where no one is being elevated because everyone is knocking each other down back to the same level.

Granted, the four-way U.S. Title match on Raw two nights ago was one of the top matches on the show, but at the end of the day, WWE still had a bunch of guys who don't stand out. Key example is Jack Swagger, who went from being a stand-out heel on ECW three months ago to quickly being lost in the shuffle on Raw.

The excuse of having too many wrestlers at the same level and not enough time to build at least two individual feuds does not fly at all on the Raw brand.

ECW has one less hour of TV time per week, yet they've built three - count 'em, three - distinct, individual feuds on the mid-card with Goldust vs. Sheamus, Paul Burchill vs. Hurricane Helms, and Shelton Benjamin vs. Zack Ryder. Shelton vs. Ryder has been all over the place with Shelton turning heel and face every week, but both men have a purpose.

ECW took its time making the audience buy into Sheamus vs. Goldust with a five-week program leading to last night's main event. When was the last time an audience really, really bought into a mid-match reverse chinlock? It happened last night. Raw is struggling to get the ball rolling because there won't be instant results or gratification.

The ECW brand writers are busy making stars right now. Sheamus has been elevated. Goldust has been rejuvenated. Paul Burchill now looks credible with a wardrobe upgrade. The Raw brand has more talent at its disposal, yet they can't figure out a way to create a few individual feuds that fans can get behind and look forward to on a weekly basis.

Goldust vs. Sheamus wasn't anything new or different. Their very good TV match was the product of the ECW writers laying the groundwork ahead of time. It was just good old fashioned compelling wrestling action done the right way by sticking to the basics and making sure both men came out of a TV spotlight match looking good.

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.

For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA!
VISIT OUR AFFILIATE - PROWRESTLING.NET

For UFC & MMA NEWS & BLOGS:
VISIT OUR SISTER SITE - MMATORCH.COM

Upgrade to PWTORCH VIP: DETAILS & SIGN-UP INFO

(c) 1999-2009 TDH Communications Inc. - All rights reserved.