Extreme Edition

New talent. New angles. New interest. WWE has done a great job of breaking away from the "same old, same old" over the past 48 hours, and it's made their product infinitely better. Last night's ECW was no exception, as I found myself being entertained the entire show; I was even entertained by guys I used to hate.

Case in point, Mark Henry. I've almost worn out my remote from how many times I've changed the channel when he came on in the past, but God help me, I'm actually digging the big guy as ECW champion. I get the impression that Dan does, too, but then again, he digs guys in general.

Henry opened up ECW with what I considered to be a very solid promo. He talked about how he was the savior of ECW by keeping the title away from two men who were not on ECW. What I like most about Henry's promos is that they don't seem forced. He talks naturally, it doesn't sound like someone scripted a prim and proper dialogue for him to use. I think Henry's a good fit in this spot.

I mentioned in my Night Of Champions review that I would rather see Finlay in the main event as opposed to in tag team matches. I stand by that statement; however, I certainly will not dismiss an entire match because of my personal booking opinion. Finlay and Hornswoggle teamed up with Matt Hardy last night to take on the John Morrison, The Miz and Chavo Guerrero.

All six competitors put on a solid showing, hopefully extending the feuds amongst them. ECW's roster is a lot smaller thanks to the draft and thanks to the discontinuation of sharing talent with "SmackDown!", so they can't afford to make hodgepodge matches every week.

On the topic of ECW's depleted roster, last night GM Teddy Long announced that he was beginning an initiative to expand the roster by bringing on more talent. I'm sure this is being used solely to give a shot to a few guys they needed a way to bring up rather than to give everyone in FCW a shot on TV. The first such guy to get that shot was Atlas Ortiz, who debuted last night against the Cuban highballer, Armando Estrada.

He didn't seem very over for a face, and his match was too short for me to really give a conclusive evaluation of his skills, so hopefully he'll get a little more time and I can get to know him better. He needs to change his appearance, though; he looks like the offspring of Kofi Kingston and Carlito.

The main event of the night featured Mark Henry against Colin Delaney. Henry's still no Ric Flair in the ring, but speaking to a point that Rico Montana has made several times (and I think I may have made once in reference to Khali), his wrestling style fits him. He's a big dude who isn't very agile, so his moveset reflects that. Punches, kicks, clotheslines, slams. It fits not only as a big guy, but a heel.

Besides, with how often wrestlers are using bigger and bigger spots for their finishers, his World's Strongest Slam is almost reminiscent of old school wrestling. Let's be honest here; if a guy that big and that strong were to pick you up, slam you down, and fall on you, forget three seconds-you're probably not moving for a good three minutes.

It seems like WWE is on the right track again, and I'm hoping that the trend continues. A potential feud between Henry and Dreamer does actually interest me, not necessarily because of how great their matches will be, but because there would be real emotion behind the match rather than spots. A monster champion, a face challenger who fans are squarely behind-that's wrestling writing in its purest form.

Tha Results:
*Finlay, Hornswoggle, & Matt Hardy def. Chavo Guerrero, John Morrison, & The Miz
*Atlas Ortiz def. Armando Estrada
*Mark Henry def. Colin Delaney

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