James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (1.5)

Embarrassing. Offensive. Disappointing. Waste of time. Pick your word or phrase to describe the post-ECW-roster-raided episode. I'm all for new talent debuting on ECW TV, but to throw four new wrestlers on the show without any background or introduction seemed like a classic example of WWE not having a clue what they're doing long-term with the product. Donald Trump was desperation. 15-man trade was desperation. FCW invasion was weak.

The opening segment of the show with Shelton and Yoshi was quite possible one of the worst segments of the year, but then it was topped by The Abraham Washington Show. Shelton Benjamin doing a "mock the Japanese culture" gimmick was so bad. Not only was it offensive and written for a five-year-old, but it was a complete waste of Shelton Benjamin, who had a chance at a fresh start. Instead, WWE booked him to play the same bit role he's been stuck in for years. For whatever reason, they simply don't see him as a serious, main event act.

I haven't seen Abraham Washington on FCW TV, but according to Cody Endres, who does an awesome job covering FCW's weekly show, Abraham's debut segment was nowhere near what he's capable of. No surprise, as WWE took his developmental gimmick and watered it down, just like they did with Armando Estrada a few years ago. Abraham interacting with the Bella Twins was painful to watch. Just painful.

The main event with Christian & Dreamer vs. Regal & Kozlov was fine, but we're faced with a Dreamer vs. Kozlov title feud. Based on the clunky exchange they had mid-match, I'm dreading that potential singles match-up about as much as another episode of ECW TV.

Dominick Mayer, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.5)

Overall a pretty strong show tonight. Regal and Kozlov looked really good in the main event, and I'm interested to see where the title picture goes moving forward. Elsewhere, Sheamus looked strong in his TV debut, though if he's supposed to be a heel, the crowd was popping for him as a face a little bit. There was a lot of new-guy overload tonight, which is awesome, but they'll need a couple more weeks to see which of these characters will sink and which will swim.

The Abraham Washington interview segment showed that Washington has some mic presence, but the tradeoff is that he's been saddled with a terrible character. The Bella twins being terrible on the mic didn't help. The reasons I still gave this show a middling score are twofold. First, the Raw Rebound, which made the show go into overrun and was unnecessary as always. Second was the Benjamin-Tatsu segment, which was some of the most insensitive stuff WWE has written in a while. That was like watching Mickey Rooney do terrible impressions decades ago. Not at all what Benjamin's character needed when he can't get over to begin with.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (3.5)

The first half of this show was just beyond bad. I mean, WAY beyond. The second half was fine, but couldn't make up for the opening 30 minutes. Those who thought Shelton Benjamin would get new life on ECW were probably disappointed right away. Having to sit through Benjamin's spiel and not even get a real match out of it was dumb. I know WWE has a penchant for changing wrestlers' names once they move up to the big time from developmental, so I thought it was strange they did change anyone's who was on the show tonight.

The first segment may have been dumb, but the one that followed was just plain excruciating. They give Abraham Washington a talk show, but have him play it straight? I felt sorry for the guy out there- he had NOTHING to work with and even after watching it, I have no idea what his character was supposed to be. The Bellas are arguing again, even though it felt like they just dropped that storyline. And this thing went on FOREVER.

Sheamus, on the other hand, had a nice debut, and he really shows promise. Too bad they couldn't keep Finlay on the brand and do an Irishman vs. Irishman feud. Plus, Sheamus would get to work with a veteran known for taking younger guys under his wing. The main event was solid, but nothing was really hinted at as far as the ECW Championship goes.

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