Tha A Show Analysis

Man, I love ECW. And quite frankly, they make it easy to do so. Great wrestlers, compelling storylines, and minimal bullshit that infests "Raw", and to a lesser extent, "SmackDown!". Even the things about ECW that I don't like, the writers find a way around them.

Case in point. I really hate Abraham Washington. He does nothing for me when he's on my TV. But I really, really hate The Sophomore Douchebag, Sheamus. So what does ECW do? Puts them in one segment at the outset of the show to get them out of the way. Then, to actually make the segment entertaining, they add Shelton Benjamin to the mix. Pure gold!

I loved Sheamus' family tree. Shelton Banjamin seems to have found his stride on the mic since moving back to ECW. Maybe Shelton, and not John Cena, should be the guy who plays this generation's comedic jock. God knows I'd rather watch Shelton over Cena any smurfin' day of the week.

The Ezekiel Jackson/Vladimir Kozlov tandem doesn't do much for me. They spent months squashing jobbers, only to then team up and squash jobbers while being the cornermen for William Regal? You can do a lot more with these two guys on ECW. If Mark Henry can get over as a singles star on Tuesday nights, so can Jackson and Kozlov. Especially big Vlad. That guy is a future main eventer in a world where all is right and logical.

Yoshi Tatsu continues his win streak without actually becoming involved in a feud. I like what I see out of Tatsu. His kicks looks legit, and remind me a lot of when Tajiri was in the fed. Hopefully Tatsu gets slightly better treatment during his run than Tajiri got. Meanwhile, the man he defeated, Paul Burchill, still seems bent on revealing that Hurricane Helms and Gregory Helms are one in the same.

I can't help but think that would be more compelling if they both didn't use the same last name. Oh, well. Gregory Helms wowed all of O-ster nation during his run as Cruiserweight champion (check out the archives if you don't believe me), and Burchill has never been unimpressive in the fed, so I'm looking forward to a forthcoming match between Helms and Burchill.

Of course, in the main event, Christian took on Zack Ryder. I'll be honest; if you were to ask me right after the draft, not only would I not have guessed Zack Ryder would be in this spot right now, I wouldn't have even been sure that he would still have a job. However, it's nice to be wrong, as he put on a very good showing. Anytime you hear "Shades of Wembley Stadium" come out of Matt Striker's mouth, you know it can't be all bad. Hopefully this isn't the last we've seen of Mr. Ryder's push. But hopefully, he is not the next ECW champion.

Two months back, I said that there was no acceptable way for the William Regal/Christian feud to end without Regal getting a run with the belt (can I say that here? Belt belt belt belt belt). I still stand by that. When Zack Ryder won the battle royal last week to become the number one contender, I was very concerned that Regal's push would be instantly dropped and forgotten. But alas, I forgot that this is ECW, the land where logic dictates.

Regal and Christian engaged in a scuffle following the main event, and it showed exactly why Regal is such a good heel. He didn't try to be cool, he didn't try to be a fashionable badass, he just came out, was pompous and smarmy, and told Christian flat out that he was going to be the next ECW Champion. For how misused Regal has been in his career, I sure hope so.

O-sters, if you missed ECW, be sure to check it out, as it will be available on www.hulu.com.

The Results:
Yoshi Tatsu def. Paul Burchill
Ezekiel Jackson & Vladimir Kozlov def. local competitors
Christian def. Zack Ryder to retain ECW Championship

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