James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (4.5)

New ECW champion Tommy Dreamer was the star of the show, Christian is playing a great 'tweener right now, and Jack Swagger is one of the best heels in pro wrestling, but little else seemed to matter on this week's show. First off, Dreamer is being presented like a legit star by WWE for the first time in some time, if ever. Sure, he took a powerbomb from Christian through a table in the opening segment, but the focus is completely on him. He carried himself like a star in the opening segment and he made the save for Christian at show's end to be in control. Dreamer is the right man to be ECW champion right now.

The main event was okay. Christian and Tyson Kidd had some great exchanges, but otherwise, D.H. Smith is doing nothing right now. We need some personality from the big man before he becomes another personality-less big man with big man moves like Paul Burchill. Let's add some color to the black and white picture.

The rest of the show was filler. Evan Bourne is in the danger zone right now, unfortunately. He's winning matches, but the "buzz" around his character has slowly faded ever since WWE put him in this program with Mark Henry and Tony Atlas. It doesn't help him to be grounded on the mat or working with a castrated Hall of Famer.

Why was Kozlov smiling? He still has a job and he still has TV time. Otherwise, I have no idea what the heck WWE was going for with him pretending to be a happy-go-luck big man after playing Grumpy Gus squash machine for several weeks on ECW. At least I'm intrigued, which is more than I can say about the previous six or seven weeks he's been on ECW.

Tony Donofrio, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)

ECW coming off of Extreme Rules was a strong show, at least pertaining to the main players. The opening segment was very captivating. I wonder if Christian is going to start a slow burn towards being a heel or will play the 'tweener role for a while. There were a few gaps in WWE's storytelling last night though which hurt the rating on the show, but only slightly. If Tommy Dreamer was too hurt to compete, he surely didn't show that after the main event when he flew to the ring like a bat out of hell swinging the kendo stick. In Dreamer's 20 plus years (most of them in the original ECW), he's been through tables countless times and that hadn't kept him from competing afterward. Also, what constitutes a "tag" in tag team matches? Physicality between Christian and Jack Swagger was acceptable once as a tag but not the other 2 times. Can we get some clarification on that? However, seeing the Hart Dynasty in the main event again is very refreshing as they continue to show their worth and potential week after week (unlike that other stable of young 2nd/3rd generation wrestlers that has been booked into the ground on Raw).

Evan Bourne taking on Tony Atlas was what it was. It wasn't very exciting but I figured Bourne would get over with some sort of post-match attack by Mark Henry, and that's exactly what happened. I will give Atlas some credit though. I know he's not a full-time performer and he surely didn't do anything special but the guy works a better match right now than guys like Khali and Kozlov. I know that's not saying much but let's keep in mind how old Tony Atlas is!

Speaking of Kozlov, what was with the silly smile that he kept flashing? Is this a sign of things to come or did something happen in the back that was sooooo funny that he couldn't help but keep breaking character in front of the live crowd? The sad part is, Kozlov (at least how it came off on TV to me) isn't even getting the "go home" heat anymore! It seemed like he almost was getting no reaction at all. If that's the case, that's a worst case scenario for him and if it keeps up, he might be receiving the "future endeavor" treatment sooner rather than later.

Overall, ECW was still a decent show last night, but the mid-card on the show didn't deliver like it has in recent weeks and months. Here's hoping that the ECW Title won't be on Dreamer for long though because (as I said in my PPV "Hits and Misses") he can't be expected to put on the types of matches that he did in his prime, week after week (see Mick Foley, TNA Champion).

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.0)

I wish the task of making Tommy Dreamer seem credible happened in the weeks leading up to his ECW Title win, rather than the week following it. Dreamer's on-again off-again quest for the ECW Title should've been a more focused part of the show heading into Extreme Rules. Perhaps it would've made his title win all the more satisfying. But in the end, they only pushed it for a week or two before the PPV. The opening segment was good, and it's a breath of fresh air to have a heel and face chasing a face champion.

Other than the main event, which gave the Hart Dynasty a nice win even though Christian and Swagger were at odds during the bout, the matches on the show did not stand out. We got another Kozlov squash, with Vladimir for some reason hearkening back to his "I love Double-Double E" days by being a smiling goofball. The worst part about it is the announcers didn't even mention it. It really makes the announcers look bad and less credible when they fail to mention obvious things like that and Umaga talking for the first time. It really tells me they think the viewers are too stupid to catch the switch, so they don't need to be filled in on the "why" aspect.

I wasn't happy to see Tony Atlas in the ring again after his last time out months ago. The storyline with him and Mark Henry is slightly intriguing, but I wish someone other than Evan Bourne was playing the foil. Just feels like he's being wasted in that role.

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