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6.04.2008

Tuesday Night Turmoil: Holla Holla Holla

A new era in ECW began last night. Teddy Long has officially replaced Armando Estrada as the “General Manager” in the land of extreme, Armando was immediately placed in a match with United States Champion Matt Hardy, oh, and there was a meaningless fatal four way to determine a challenger for Kane later in the show.

“Raw” drew a 3.1 rating, and the news has been taken as a negative, so with the Draft upcoming it’s time to start letting guys in store for a push get some wins and prep for glory on another show. Things have to start changing immediately, before it gets too out of hand. Teddy Long coming in as GM may be the first non-money related change of many.

It was announced that it was a decision on the part of the Board of Directors. Funny thing is, they BoD can make decisions regarding “SmackDown” GM Vickie Guerrero, and ECW General Manager Armando Estrada, but they can never decide on a new “Raw” GM.

The move with Estrada being taken out of a “management” position is one to transition him into a wrestling role, a move that I’m fine with. Armando is solid on the mic, and not too bad in the ring from what we’ve seen so far. I just hope he can get past the GM and manager stigma.

That has a lot to do with booking, and over the next few weeks he’ll have to “earn” his contract, like Delaney did, and that’s fine, he just needs to be given a few wins. While I don’t like the idea of Matt Sydal jobbing weekly, it works, and he can work a match against Armando next week.

Speaking of the debuting Matt Sydal he got a match this week against Shelton Benjamin. Maybe I missed something, but Shelton seemed to be sporting some new ink, and a fresh dye job on the dome. Sydal and Benjamin had a nice match for ECW TV and the time it was given.

The post-match scuffle between Shelton and Kofi Kingston (SOS) was better than the previous ones, only because Kofi had the upper hand throughout until the very end when Shelton turned the tables and walked out looking strong. It’s a nice change of pace to see a heel walking out looking strong.

Kofi and Shelton can produce one or two solid PPV matches if they aren’t split too soon. Unless the ECW Television title is quickly resurrected they may not have that chance though, because if neither of them has a belt they’ll be sitting at home on Night of Champions.

Colin Delaney got his chance to face Armando. Much like Armando has faced him in the past, after a match, making me believe that their feud will continue up until the draft, maybe after if there are no plans for either of these two to switch shows, though a grouping of SantinO and ArmandO seems like money to me.

As I mentioned earlier there was a fatal four way, Tommy Dreamer, Chavito, John Morrison and CM Punk going at it for a shot at Kane later. In spite of everything that has been happening lately CM Punk went over in that match. In case, you think you misread that, CM Punk got a victory in a fatal four way match on this week's ECW.

During the show we also got a cameo from Ron “Damn” Simmons. On a serious note, I’m glad to see Ron Simmons back and out of rehab. I guess it adds a little to the “Damn!” segments. Hopefully this time they don’t run it in the ground, they will, but we can always hope.

The CM Punk/Kane match was another good match, allowing Punk to look decent, but keeping the champion strong. It was nice to see a worker change his normal moves to fit his opponent. Punk hit three knees in the corner instead of one, and Kane was still able to counter out, maintaining his strength and believability as a champion.

Even in defeat CM Punk was able to stay strong. He lost because he correctly sold (hear that Cena?) the injuries he had sustained at One Night Stand, earlier in the night and during his match with Kane. In defeat he “proved his mettle,” as Mike Adamle put it. That’s three strong showings in two shows, which is something he sorely needs.

MnM hit the ring to throw Punk out and beat down Kane after the match. This appears to be something that was done in order to make up for Big Show missing this week's ECW. Show’s eye is seriously jacked up after the bump on the steps from One Night Stand.

I really like the push MnM has gotten lately, and while I’m still not a supporter of the Miz I do believe he is shining, and can continue to shine in this role. It wouldn’t be wise to separate him from Morrison just yet, because in his first attempt he didn’t get over, and I don’t believe he could get over alone at this point either.

I want to end this on a positive note, and other than giving his address out on international television for the world to see Mike Adamle did a much better job this week than he has in weeks previous. Who knows he may just come into his own as an announcer after all.

The thing about that that is troubling is the fact that for all the Draft talk one thing they’ve put over constantly is that even the announcers are eligible. I know they’ve said that in the past, but with Adamle being groomed for another show, who knows maybe it’ll happen in a few weeks.

DJB’s What to Watch:
Opening segment
Fatal Four Way>
Matt Hardy vs. Armando
Colin vs. Armando>
Shelton vs. Matt Sydal>
Kofi/Shelton post match brawl
CM Punk vs. Kane
MnM postmatch beatdown of Kane

Tha Results…
*CM Punk def. Chavo, Dreamer and Morrison
*Matt Hardy def. Armando Estrada
*Colin Delaney def. Armando Estrada
*Shelton Benjamin def. Matt Sydal
*Kane def. CM Punk

The following is an update from WWE.com
As a result of colliding with the steel steps at One Night Stand, the No. 1 contender to Kane’s ECW Championship Big Show, has been diagnosed with a fracture of the sinus cavity and possibly his orbital bone. The 7-foot, 440-pound Singapore Cane Match winner will see a specialist tomorrow in Los Angeles for further examination. Stay tuned to WWE.com for further updates. Well I wasn't able to end on a positive note after. Hopefully Show can be ready in time for his match with Kane, but it isn't entirely likely. I do hope he gets through it and does no further damage.


3 comments: on "Tuesday Night Turmoil: Holla Holla Holla"

Christopher Casúr said...

That's the second time Show's busted his nose since returning in February. At this rate, he's gonna have to wear a Rip Hamilton gimmick while wrestling.

Anonymous said...

That's a nasty fucking gash man, sucks ass for show.

nice ECW article, you make some valid points, nice to see a pretty positive article, not to mention a pretty positive show.

Sir. Jimmy Of Tha O'ster Nation said...

It's a shame that ECW dosen't get the time on PPV that the other shows do. I would really enjoy seeing Kofi and Shelton get a good 15 minutes on a PPV. Smackdown! on the PPV are becoming pretty scarce too. Brand exclusives are a thing of the past but, they should be brought back. I think once a year each brand should get it's own PPV. Backlash, Judgement Day and One Night Stand would have been perfect for this. Seeing that all these shows were schedule so close together booking them by brand and promoting them at the same time would have givin the WWE more weeks to build hype and make the matches seem more important. Not only would a different variety of workers get on the card but, each show whould get a chance to develop it's own distinctiveness. The draft could benefit from this too. If anyone in connecticut is reading this make it happen next year. Vince goes out of his way to promote his product as entertainment. It's a variety show so give it more variety please.