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Alexander Tejeda
Brooklyn, NY
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That sure was embarrassing and pointless. I feel bad for Joey Styles and Tazz. The only funny thing was Balls chanting ECW at the end. It is no ones fault that they were involved, I feel bad for all parties involved, but the writers should be very ashamed of themselves. I hope this NEVER happens again.
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Another ECW show, another example of how even the biggest companies can forget to pay their electric bill sometimes. Seriously, what's up with the lack of lighting? The old ECW was dark, but WWE's version makes the original look like it was held on Mercury... see, because Mercury is so close to the sun... nevermind... seriously, though, they are trying to manufacture atmosphere rather than actually ponying up the dough and letting the boys go out on their own full-time. ECW isn't built for big arenas; it goes against the original, and more importantly, it goes against the image WWE is trying to sell. Pack it up and head out on the bingo hall tour, or just stop it already.
And if you thought the presentation was bad, the action was even worse. But before I get to that, can I comment on the...uh...commentary? Joey Styles used to be a well-versed wrestling play-by-play man. He was good, perhaps really good. He was, during the time of the Wars, the most knowledgeable lead announcer in the business. Today, however, he is a shell of himself. If ECW is supposed to be the "alternative" to WWE's other programs, why is Joey being forced to talk about undefeated streaks and boners rather than calling the holds? It's sad, it really is.
I gotta tell you, CM Punk disappoints me. He once upon a time put on a legit five-star match, and now he wrestles at half-speed against WWE cast-offs. Rene Dupree has never been a good wrestler, and his stint in ECW hasn't helped him any. I understand that Punk has a tougher schedule now, and because of that he can't do what he did in the indys, but the fact remains that he is just another example of a really, really good wrestler being muzzled by WWE.
Tommy Dreamer...well, this was the best match of the night, which isn't saying much, but it wasn't bad. Tommy still has some offense in him after all these years.
The main event was the Diva Extreme Strip Poker, and I have to say that while my blood wasn't flowing to my brain while I watched it, it could have been much better. How about having a poker game in something other than a WWE studio? How about a dimly-lit little room with cigar smoke filling the air? It just looked cheap and corny, and while wrestling is all about cheap and corny, this did not look like ECW T&A. Remember Kimona dancing on the roof? That was ECW, not this.
...and if Trinity flexes her peks one more time, I'm going to check her medical records, because as hot as she is, there is no way she's a woman. Does that make me gay? Maybe. But that still makes her a freak, and gay people are way cooler than freaks.
I won't even talk about the actual main event, because it was horrible. I did like the quick tags by the heels, but RVD pretty much phones in matches that aren't on PPV, and Big Show has officially become too big to wrestle. The fact that Sabu spent the match getting his butt whooped was a nice touch, because that is playing to Sabu's strengths, but the match had more flaws than anything.
Bottom line: If this is WWE's answer to TNA, the boys in Orlando have very little to worry about. At the start, I called this version of ECW "ECW-lite", but the more I see of it, I realize that I was wrong. This isn't ECW-lite, this is WWE-lite. It's the Australia of wrestling: all of the bad apples in WWE, those who couldn't find gimmicks that worked, are banished here. At least Australia has Dingos and 'Roos. And on top of that, it looks like ameture hour. There were at least two spots in the main event that the cameras completely missed (such as Sabu's counter-kick to Striker coming off the top rope) and the poor pacing of the matches stuck out like a sore thumb. The whole show needs to go back to formula. I'd give this show a 3 out of 10, and only because of the hot chicks.
Oh, and it didn't help that 75% of the show was commercials.
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I found this weeks episode of ECW to be too gimmick oriented. The women are beautiful but so what. ECW has always been about wrestling. The strip poker segments should have been on RAW or Smack Down. If Kelly Kelly isn't legal age to drink what else isn't she legal age to do? What we did get in the way of wrestling was two short matches and a decent longer match and a show filled with annoying commercials from Burger King and elsewhere. Angus Slam. Angus Slam. Quick Idea for Heyman. Invite the Vehix TV guy to ECW and have Sandman cane the sh** out of him. The matches we did see were interrupted by split screens that cut off a complete view of the match in progress. CM Punk vs. Renee Dupree was pretty good. Dupree needs a longer match to show what he can do. Punk keeps his winning streak alive. Yeah. No Mike Knox on the show.
Dreamer vs. Thorn. A repeat of last week's match except the ending. Where was Francine? This match needed a catfight to make it interesting. Heels vs Faces six man match. I fell asleep during the LONG commercial break. When I woke up I saw Sabu getting beaten up by Striker. Striker showed he could wrestle while Test did all the power moves. Sabu got beat up and tagged in RVD eventually where the two did some of there old school tag team work Did Big Show and Sandman even wrestle in this match? I don't remember seeing either of them in the ring. Three matches in a little over an hour while the dumb strip poker segments were out of place. Not a good show this week but at least it wasn't three hours long.
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Just wanted to give my 2 cents on this weeks show.. Overall it gets a 4 out of 10...This is due to Trinity and Ariel being sexy as only they can...Why wasn't Ariel in the "poker" showdown?
Cm Punk vs. Rene Dupree was ANOTHER short CM Punk match, in which he doesn't reveal much of his moveset..He needs to have longer matches, or the crowd will grow tired of him fast...Where was Mike Knox or Shannon Moore?
Kevin Thorn vs. Tommy Dreamer was yet another short match...My jaw dropped when Tommy won, is this the beginning of the end for Thorn? Ariel was smokin' as ALWAYS, she can sit on my lap anytime...
Rvd/Sabu/Sandman vs. Big Show/Matt Striker/Test was an ok match, it could've done without the constant interference with the strip poker silliness..Sandman was great !
Now for the "main attraction". When I sit down to watch sexy ladies playing poker, the LAST thing, I repeat the LAST thing, I want to see & hear are them talking about John Cena, Batista & the Marine movie !! Pointless, but I guess WWE's "golden boys who can't wrestle" have to get mentioned as often as possible....My main girl Trinity looked hot as always, but as expected didn't get much attention....
Overall this weeks show was weak, and I hope they bounce back next week
- Glenn, Norway -
