Extreme Edition

Remember a few months ago when ECW was unwatchable? Remember how every week, DJB would struggle to watch an entire episode, then after being honest in his review, would get torn apart by people who had lined up and down the block to drink the Haterade? Remember how we all used to be forced to listen to Mike Adamle and all thought that he needed to go to SuperCuts and get his five dollars back?

The times, they are a-changin'. ECW has been solid for quite some time now, and the show almost seems to get better every week. Even the parts of the show that some might think are bad, still have tremendous upside to them.

For instance, nobody likes Todd Grisham, and that's never been a secret. He's vanilla as can be, and always has that deer in the headlights gleam to his eyes. ECW's solution? Matt Striker on color commentary. Fucking brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Striker last night, as his style reminded me of JBL's. Striker managed to keep control of the commentary, sparing us from Grisham's brutal play-by-play. Honestly, I think Striker is good enough to call ECW solo.

Ricky Ortiz and Evan Bourne took on the team of Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neely last night. This is a good use for Chavo in my opinion; he's not really over, but he's a veteran, he's got that Guerrero name, and he's a former ECW Champion, which does mean something on that show. Of course, it's not the best possible use for Chavo, because we all know the best thing that WWE could do for Chavo would be to bring back Kerwin White. Do it, E.

Mike Knox and Finlay continued their feud last night. I suppose this is another case of the E using Finlay in hopes of improving the skills of the other guy, much like they did when he feuded with Boogeyman (there are other examples but they slip my mind at the moment). I credit the E for this, because Knox is clearly being positioned as a quasi-monster on that show, and most people don't care if someone is an oversized freak show, they only care if he can wrestle.

Armando Estrada faced Tommy Dreamer last night in a match where he had to win or else he would be given no more chances to secure a contract. I think the end of this match was a little lame, I would have liked to have seen Delaney get involved more in the match. Let's face it, he's a skinny guy with no real heat, he needs to do really dastardly things to get him over as a heel. Just standing there as a distraction isn't going to do it. Hopefully in next week's Extreme Rules Match, he will be very violent and make every move with the intention of getting over as a heel.

Anybody else pick up a Sid Vicious vibe from James Curtis last night? The blond hair, the leather vest, the (mostly) black trunks...he really looked like the scissor man himself. Curtis would lose to Braden Walker, who is really bland. Three quarters of the time, he has that Festus-like, out to lunch look on his face, his attire really looks like that of a jobber. I know he can wrestle, but everything about him right now just screams indy. And not good indy either. Not LLW or anything like that.

During the show, it was put over that "The Dirt Sheet" was going to be presented live on ECW. I was hoping this didn't mean that it would be like Piper's Pit, because while those segments do have a place in wrestling, that's not what The Dirt Sheet is. And I'm glad it wasn't. Miz and Morrison were up to their old gags, making fun of Mark Henry, Tony Atlas, and Matt Hardy before ultimately being beaten up by Hardy and Henry. I'm glad that ECW did this; The Dirt Sheet is entertaining and putting it on TV once in a while is a great way to give it more exposure.

I do have to agree with John Morrison on one thing, though. That belt extender that Mark Henry is rocking is just knee. If you're too thick to be able to wear the belt around your waist, just wear it over your shoulder. Seriously.

Tha Results:
*Ricky Ortiz & Evan Bourne def. Chavo Guerrero & Bam Neely
*Armando Estrada def. Tommy Dreamer
*Braden Walker def. James Curtis

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