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6.11.2008

Extreme Edition

O-sters, I feel very satisfied as I write this article. Last night, I got to sit down and enjoy a well put together show. With the current disparity in "Raw" viewership, it might be a better idea for Vince to do whatever he's doing with ECW instead of trying to buy more fans. Actions speak louder than words, even if those words are "Free Million Dollars".

Top to bottom, last night's ECW had solid wrestling, good feud buildup, and the overall feeling that everything that happened on the show was done for a reason. No clusterfucks or throwaways, which is a rarity on WWE programming these days.

Matt Sydal, wrestling under the name Evan Bourne, teamed with Kofi Kingston to take on Mike Knox and Shelton Benjamin. It's no secret that I'm not a Mike Knox fan, but I do think that the other three men in this match are solid workers. I'm wondering where the Kingston/Benjamin feud will ultimately lead to, and after last night, I'm hoping that Sydal's first feud involves him squashing the piss out of Knox.

Victoria beat Kelly Kelly last night. Nothing but common sense in the booking here. Victoria, one way or another, will be on a show that offers a Women's Championship, so throw parity out the window. She's a solid worker, so put her over as such so that she's a believable contender.

After Colin Delaney was denied a contract for so long by Armando Estrada, the tables have now been turned, and Estrada is the one having to fight for a contract. I like this, it's the typical "heel gets his comeuppance" steez, and will lead to Estrada getting instant heat the second he gets a contract. With a small roster like ECW's, it's a good idea to transition Estrada from manager to worker and replace him with Long, who is clearly not a worker.

Big Show and Mark Henry had a confrontation last night. Seemingly, the two are gearing up for a feud following Big Show's match with Kane at Night Of Champions. I'm not going to speculate on whether or not the ECW Title will be involved, but part of me hopes not simply because I already saw Mark Henry in a championship match once, and it's really not something I need to see again.

However, even with the Henry/Show confrontation, Kane came down to the ring as Show was leaving. I'm excited about their upcoming match at Night Of Champions. Kane and Big Show are two of the best big men workers in recent memory, and their world title match may prove to be the best of the three that night. Hopefully this year, the ECW title match goes as planned.

Okay, I can't say I liked absolutely everything on ECW. I think that the belts have gotten stale around the waists of Miz and Morrison, and I don't understand why, when you have multiple tag teams on ECW and "SmackDown!", that you're having a hodgepodge tag team get multiple title shots.

That being said, the match was still entertaining, so I won't bitch too much. In the end, Miz and Morrison retained, but with Night Of Champions coming up and no real contenders in sight, I'm wondering what will become of those titles.

I'll conclude this article by restating what I said at the beginning of this article. WWE, if you want people to watch, put out great wrestling matches and entertaining programming instead of trying to pay off viewers. You'll ultimately be richer and more successful that way.

Tha Results:
*Evan Bourne & Kofi Kingston def. Shelton Benjamin & Mike Knox
*Victoria def. Kelly Kelly
*Finlay def. Armando Estrada
*Colin Delaney def. Armando Estrada
*Hornswoggle def. Armando Estrada
*The Miz & John Morrison def. Kane & CM Punk


1 comments: on "Extreme Edition"

Anonymous said...

I'm glad i watched lastnight, cuz I forgot what a wrestling match was like to watch. ECW has been loading up the hour with matches lately, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that wrestling fans want to see matches.

The show opened up with what i thought was one of the better matches ive actually seen all year. I think that Matt Sydal is going to be more over than Jeff Harvey with the fans in a couple months, once people see what he's capable of. Shelton's really been coming into his own as not only a worker, but a personality, which is what he's always lacked.

This match pulled the curtain, but I don't see that as a bad thing like everyone else on the O show does. I think the curtain jerker is a crucial match, and shouldn't be thought of as a slap in the face, as it sets the tone for the rest of the show. That is exactly what this match did.

The rest of the show was good, no real complaints. ECW and TNA have been the best shows on in the past month or two in my opinion