James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (7.0)

Another solid show from the ECW brand...except for the Abraham Washington Show at the top of the broadcast. That was horrid TV. Seriously, a guy is presented as a heel because he has red hair and is from another country? Seriously? Talk about playing to the lowest common denominator and low IQ booking. Top it off with the unbearably aggravating cross-talk from Sheamus, Shelton, Abe, and Atlas. Ugh squared.

That aside, this was a very good show with a nice focus on the mid-card to continue reinforcing the characteristics of the top stars on the brand. ECW champ Christian vs. Zack Ryder told a good story in the ring and delivered a refreshingly competitive singles match-up for a WWE title belt. Perhaps I had carry-over from the fiasco known as the U.S. Title match on Raw the previous night, but I half-expected William Regal to make a run-in in the middle of the match to interrupt ECW's title match offering. We're apparently still getting Christian vs. Regal after Christian retained the belt, but at least the feud continued after the match.

Tony Donofrio, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.5)

A very solid and satisfying edition of ECW. The title match was good (and maybe even a little better than the last encounter between Christian and Zack Ryder). I didn't mind William Regal challenging Christian at the conclusion of the match, with one exception and one condition. First, I didn't like that Regal pretty much called the Christian-Ryder match a joke. Secondly, I don't mind the interruption if Ryder stays in the title picture. I think his in-ring work has proved that he is ready to be at the top of the ECW card. His character is also one of the strongest on the show right now and he deserves to keep that spot for awhile.

Was it just me, or did they tease a possible Katie Lea and Hurricane/Gregory Helms pairing with Paul Burchill telling his sister to stay away from him? That could be an interesting twist to what has been a pretty good feud so far. I wasn't thrilled with Burchill losing to Yoshi Tatsu but the explanation that Helms/Hurricane's mind games have affected his in-ring abilities, I will buy for now.

Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson continued to look strong this week, even if it was against 2 jobbers again. I'd love to see these two eventually end up in the tag title hunt. Off the top of my head, I can't recall the tag titles ever being defended on ECW and it would be a nice change to see that happen. Also, having Chris Jericho and Big Show advertised for the show surely would help boost the ratings and maybe even give some WWE fans that don't watch ECW a glimpse at a pretty good one hour show that they skip over from week to week. In other words, it could be a good way to add to the base audience of ECW.

The low point of the show once again was The Abraham Washington segment. I don't think it's nearly as bad as it has been in recent months but it's surely not good! With that said, I'm intrigued by the emerging Sheamus-Shelton Benjamin feud. These two could have some really good matches that will hopefully elevate the both of them. All in all, another very strong showing for the ECW brand this week.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.5)

The Christian vs. Zack Ryder match really carried this show. Hard to believe Ryder was sitting at home with nothing to do only a few months ago. He has really come into his own in the ring and on the mic. I'm kind-of glad William Regal is still in the title picture (if only in his own mind), but I didn't like how they seemingly forgot about Ryder after the match. Hopefully, he doesn't lose his spot at the top of the ECW card.

I don't know if it was or not, but it felt like the Abraham Washington show was shorter this week. Add in the sweet threads that Sheamus came out wearing, and it was probably the best Washington segment to date. Yeah, Washington made some lame and dated attempts to paint Sheamus as a heel, but that's what Washington does; he's a character that plays to that lowest common denominator that James Caldwell referenced in his roundtable. Burchill vs. Tatsu was a fine match and I guess they haven't given up on Tatsu quite yet.

Regal's henchmen squashing the jobbers was fun. I could watch them do that every week. That was about a .6 on the Nathan Jones scale of squashing (for that reference, check out the Jones vs. Shannon Moore match from Smackdown on Youtube). And they got in a nice plug for Goldust vs. Regal on Superstars tomorrow; I'm a bit surprised they left Goldy off ECW this week considering the reaction he got last week, but at least they got him on Superstars.

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