James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (3.5)

My low score was influenced by two factors: carry-over from Raw and my pet peeve line about wanting to see who's the better entertainer. Starting the show with another lame segment from Abraham Washington was not the right way to erase the bitter, foul taste from Monday's Raw. It only led to more poorly-written lines, an Arsenio Hall rip-off gesture (even though AH is a WWE fan), and not a single likable individual in the opening segment.

The segment was dragged down to the bottom of the pot when Zack Ryder was scripted to suggest he wants to wrestle Shelton Benjamin to find out who the "more entertaining person is." I hate that. Despise it. Loathe it. A wrestling match, at its core no matter what the year is or what the marketing b.s. is or what a corporate suit sitting in an office thinks, is to determine who the tougher, more-skilled, better wrestler is since wrestling is presented as a "shoot." There's nothing to buy into when wrestlers are selling a match on no material value. It's the type of dumbed-down writing that impairs a wrestler's ability to connect with the audience.

The ECW Title match between Christian and Tommy Dreamer was a good, physical match using the weapons in play to tell a different story than their previous one-on-one match. The lack of selling by both men, though, was frustrating. Perhaps some editing was incorporated into the presentation, but it seemed like each move had no impact on the other wrestler, as the recipient was back on the offensive in a matter of seconds. Other than the lack of selling, I enjoyed this week's main event.

Tony Donofrio, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.5)

This was a mixed-bag type ECW for me. The main event between Tommy Dreamer and Christian was definitely PPV quality. This match was more "extreme" than any of the matches were at the Extreme Rules PPV a few months back. Christian continues to be great in the ring since his return earlier this year and I can't believe he is still on ECW and not on SD or Raw. These two put on a hell of a match as you could tell that Dreamer was really in his element. However, who is next for Christian now because I don't know how much longer they can string along this face vs. face feud.

The opening segment to the show was one that gave me mixed feelings. At first I thought it was a disaster. Then, the more I thought about it, it wasn't terrible. After really thinking about it, it wasn't too bad of a segment. I like that WWE seems to want to let the fans decide which of the three (Abraham Washington, Zack Ryder, and Shelton Benjamin) will be cheered or booed. It's a much better strategy than what they have done in recent years by force feeding John Cena down the fans throats as a face.

Sheamus looked solid again and Goldust has done great in his role of being the "veteran leader" by helping the young talent along. I also like Goldust's attack afterward to help him save face. Hopefully this will lead to a small secondary feud on the brand that doesn't seem to have any.

I am not a fan of the Hurricane segments. I know the product is PG, but does anyone really believe that Gregory Helms is a superhero? As for Big Zeke and Vladimir Kozlov, each week the tension builds and I do like that. I still am curious to see where they go with these two. Do the two end up with mutual respect and form a union/tag team or will they eventually rip each other's heads off? Either way, it's nice to see Kozlov involved in something that is starting to make people care.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.0)

Well, the opening segment just dragged terribly, and I was begging, BEGGING the segment to end. I don't know what they think they're doing with the Abraham Washington stuff, but it's just unbearable. I liked Ezekiel's response to Kozlov coming out, and I especially liked his reaction and emotion shown on his face after the match on the way to the back.

I'm not sure what to make of Paul Burchill backstage. Will he come out and demand to know who the Hurricane is next week? It'll be like the Machine Guns trying to unmask Suicide. And after I thought he had something started with Goldust backstage last week. Speaking of Goldy, he had another decent match with Sheamus. Goldust is in shape and it's clear that he actually cares now, which is nice to see.

The main event was enjoyable and real good. I disagree with James about the lack of selling; toward the end of the match, each man was slow to get up and move on to the next move, even though they eventually did, sometimes with much vigor. The hardcore match works here because it's a novelty; it's one thing WWE has done right since the Attitude Era.

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