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ECW ON SCI-FI ROUNDTABLE REVIEWS 4/21: Caldwell, Mayer, Parks rate and review

Apr 21, 2009 - 10:40:50 PM
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James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (7.5)

I'm convinced Jack Swagger and Christian sold some PPV buys for Backlash on Sunday. Swagger was great in his role as the young, cocky heel champion. Christian was great waiting his turn to take control as the veteran, cool babyface. Cap it off with some physicality from Swagger to tease the ECW Title match on Sunday and you have a great concluding segment to this week's ECW TV. I'm hoping for 15 minutes for Swagger vs. Christian at the PPV. We'll see how it goes down, but Swagger is just spot-on as a heel champion right now.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Paul Burchill, who continues to do nothing. I don't like criticizing people's in-ring ability because I believe most wrestlers are trying their best and trying to work hard in the ring, but Burchill is just severely lacking as a performer. Perhaps he needs another gimmick change or a haircut so we can see his facial expressions, but it's darn-near boring to watch him work over an opponent. Evan Bourne bumped around and created movement when he could to enhance the match, but things didn't get interesting until the finish of the match when Bourne busted out the sweet SHooting Star Press.

Hornswoggle had a fine send-off to Raw, but I hope Tyson Kidd doesn't become a Jamie Noble-esque whipping boy on ECW. He deserves a far-better fate and could be a valuable wrestler for the ECW brand to fill in those undercard segments on a weekly basis before he moves up to consistent TV main event opportunities. Kidd's future is very bright and it would be a shame for him to become fodder for comedy segments along with Natalya. D.H. Smith would be a welcome addition to the Hart Foundation 2009 fold after Natalya planted seeds with the Bret Hart reference on this week's TV.

Dominick Mayer, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.5)

Good show tonight. I was happy with the opening segment just because it looks like this time, they're making a legitimate attempt to honor the brand split. Hornswoggle got a big sendoff in front of an appreciative English crowd. I really enjoyed the Burchill-Bourne match, because it showed not only that Bourne can sell like a champ, but Burchill finally got the showcase that the IWC has been begging for for a while. He looked good. The Kozlov squash was the Kozlov squash, but it worked. His new finisher is definitely a step up. The final segment was a good push for Backlash; hopefully they'll be able to make up for the Wrestlemania no-show.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.0)

The Hornswoggle-Natalya opening segment was OK. It didn't make Natalya look particularly good (not that she has much credibility in the women's division anyway, sadly), but she did show off some good mic skills in the process. I wouldn't mind a Tyson Kidd vs. Finlay feud. Another Kozlov squash was "meh." I'm more in line with Dominick's opinion of the Burchill vs. Bourne match than James'. I thought Burchill looked good. Yes, he did spend a bit too much time in rest-hold territory, but it was smart psychology to ground Bourne, and who knows, it could've been orders of the agent to slow the match down like that.

I'm looking forward to Christian vs. Jack Swagger, since they've put on quality matches in the recent past. I didn't think Christian would win, but after tonight, I'm not so sure. Kozlov would seem to be a perfect (well, as perfect as Kozlov can be) first opponent for Christian. Not sure where that leaves Swagger though, unless they do a non-title feud with Bourne.


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