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Last night’s ECW on Sci-Fi was one of the best laid out shows the brand has had, in my opinion.
When John Morrison first unveiled the new gimmick I felt like he was reading a cue card but now after some weeks of him getting his feel for it I realize he is trying to sound like Jim Morrison speaking from stage, and not just look like Jim Morrison. (I know light shines on marble head, right?) Anyway, I really liked his promo in the opening segment. I liked that the way he ran down each opponent without giving more favoritism to the heels over the faces, well except for CM Punk which I thought he made some really great points about. (Let me preface what I am about to say here with: I am a CM Punk fan first seeing him on some MLW cards in 02 and later in ROH so please understand I say this as a fan of his) How many shots is he going to get at the title? I loved the line about being straight edge means you don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t chew tobacco, don’t use drugs and apparently … you don’t win championships. I also liked that there wasn’t the regular babyface interruption to Morrison’s promo. He made his peace and left head held high. I think they are doing a nice job with this character.
Stevie vs Thorn was a good solid back and forth with Stevie playing a good underdog. Stevie looked crisp as well and this mini-feud I think has really forced Thorn to work harder. I didn’t mind him going over Stevie, because frankly you can’t expect Stevie to sneak by every time out, but did any one else feel like this was the final match in this feud? Thorn beat him decisively and didn’t attack post match or cut a promo… he just left the ringside area. I kinda feel like that is the last we have seen of this pairing. Maybe I’m wrong though. I was actually thinking when Stevie was making his ring entrance how this would be a perfect feud to have Stevie reintroduce the bWo to help in his battles against the big Vampire-like fella. I actually also think that Thorn should join Matt Striker’s stable. For some reason I feel like Thorn and Big Daddy V would be an excellent force to be reckoned with ala the Barbarian/Abdullah pairing years ago in Florida with Matt Striker in the Paul Jones role.
The Balls & Kelly Kelly storyline is nice but the backstage stuff is really tired. I don’t get why after Miz just insults Balls weeks after week, why Balls greets Miz the same way backstage “ ‘sup Miz†shouldn’t Balls be a little more in your face to this cocky heel who mocks him relentlessly? The Balls/Burke match was fun, and it was great to see the Nutcracker Suite again, but I didn’t get having Burke pin Balls clean. Granted I wasn’t sure who was going to go over here to begin with, I wasn’t surprised to see Burke win. I would have preferred to see Miz and the girls interfere or distract Balls allowing Burke to get the win then I would have a clean pin. I mean Burke has been completely moved out of the spotlight recently and Balls, who just got a clean win last week, is once again meant to look like a loser. I think it would have been better for him if he “looked like a loser†because of Miz. When Miz got on the mic, was anything he saying not true? Oh and just a prediction, Kelly Kelly is going to turn on Balls and reveal she was only flirting with him because the Miz thought it would be funny. Just my own theory.
The Main Event was a very solid match and one of the better TV Fatal Four Ways I had seen in a while. I liked the idea that Big Daddy V came across as unstoppable and that the only reason he wasn’t involved in the decision was his own mistake and not some superhuman effort by one of the other 3. I didn’t understand why Boogie Man was in the match, I feel like Tommy Dreamer would have added more to it. I thought Punk and Miz worked hard together and I was glad to see Punk get the win. I really liked after the match with V cleaning everyone’s clocks only to get into the ring and Punk had already left the winner. Punk also was great as he was just soaking up the win and not showing any fear of V standing in the ring leering at him. I liked the closing shot of Punk walking up the ramp and in the distance in the ring Big Daddy V is staring a hole through him. This shot is juxtaposed against Taz’s commentary about Punk having to look over his shoulder for Big Daddy V… cool image.
All in all I really thought this was one of the better ECW on Sci Fi episodes. Out of 5 Stars I’d give it a 3.75.
Sean Weymouth
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I want to focus on two points of feedback for the 8/28 ECW Show:
John Morrison: I really like the rock-star persona they are building for him. The slo-mo special effects while cheese, to open the program, made me sit up and take notice. It seems to add an air of credibility as to why he is so "cocky."
CM Punk: Which is it WWE Creative? Is he your next big thing? Or just another "take them to the brink, then shove them down" talent.
Summerslam see's Punk counting the lights and then Morrison POINTING IT OUT tonight. Oh but don't worry, Punk wins and we are supposed to forget about the crap-tacular match Sunday.
Greg Tallman
Hopatcong, NJ
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I just watched ECW for the first time in a long time as I do not get it at home and here is my feedback.
Does WWE not watch the show? Look at all the signs in the crowd, the t-shirts and most importantly the reaction that CM Punk gets and yet they don't realize they should put the belt on him. The John Morrison character is decent but the only reaction he gets is when he makes silly jokes and when he bad mouths Punk. Overall the opening segment was decent as it made some interest for the main event and gave some heat to Morrison, but why not have the 3 challengers jousting about who is better?
The Thorn vs. Stevie match was a decent TV match with Thorn pounding Stevie for most of the match. Tazz and Styles did a good job selling the feud and trying to make the fans care about it by going through the background of the story. Stevie will get a pop no matter what and having Thorn fighting with him elevates him and helps him develop his character by working with such a solid veteran. Thorn wins with the Tower of London which is an eye appealing move. I guess Thorn wins the feud and will move onto what? being fodder for Morrison?
Steph, Linda and Shane will appear next week on RAW. Does anyone care besides Vince and HHH? They really need to go somewhere with this angle or end it because it is dragging and lost its steam weeks ago.
Boogey promo video was alright. Could they not find any in ring footage because there sure was a lot of worm eating going on in it. He isnt a good in-ring performer but the character is over and somewhat entertaining at times.
Miz vs. Balls segment was pretty good. Cheesy but it did what it was supposed to by furthering the Balls and Kelly angle. Did Brooke know her L was backwards?
John Morrison and Punk were good together in the back with Armando, but after months of the same thing can they make it interesting again?
Why buy the PPV they show it on TV for free on Raw, ECW and Smackdown the following week.
Elijah Burke still wrestles? I forgot about him. Where is his football playing tag partner?
How cheesy is it to hear Styles promote SCI-FIs shows? It reminds me of him hyping RollerJam on TNN.
Good for Balls to be an original and actually have an angle on the show. Elijah Burke is such a waste of talent. ECW could be the best of the 3 shows
if someone wrote the storylines to promote the best talent and characters rather than the people they like. Balls and Miz will now have a program fighting over Kelly I guess. Better than nothing I guess.
The Condemned…no two thumbs up from Ebert and Roeper, but Maxim said it was good and so did some random local newspaper so it must be top notch. Kane must sleep well at night knowing his movie wasn't a flop like the other two movies with main eventers in them.
So by the looks of things the main event of Summerslam was HHHs return according to the buy the replay commercial.
Big Daddy V has the biggest man boobs I have ever seen. He needs a singlet that covers those things up.
Diva Commercial: Women can wrestle.
Raw Commercial: Just so everyone knows Vince's angle is the most important.
Main Event: Big Daddy V vs. everyone to start was effective and makes sense. I didn't know there was any logic in the booking meetings. BDV is a much more effective than the champion on Smackdown. At least he has some wrestling moves and people care what he is doing. Hopefully BDV didn't kill anyone when he flipped into the front row. This was a solid main event with each wrestler getting some action in the match with Punk as the focus. Was anyone else waiting for Morrison to cost Punk the match? Does anyone believe the Miz as a wrestler? Punk uses Samoa Joes slam. What a finisher. Good every time I see it. Good to setup a feud with BDV and Boogy for a later date. It took me to the end of the match to realize Stroker was the manager for BDV.
Craig Shaw from Huntsville, Ontario
