By Chris Newth, PWTorch.com Specialist Contributor

Extreme Championship Wrestling
September 4, 2007
Upcoming PPV: Unforgiven (2 weeks away as of airdate)

ECW STORYLINES AND FEUDS

Welcome to the third edition of ECW Storylines and Feuds.

For those wondering about the Intrigue Level system that I employ, you can refer to the numbers as follows:

10 (excellent), 9 (great), 8-6 (very good, good, pretty good), 5 (decent; has its good and bad qualities), 4-3 (needs work, poor), 2 (bad), 1 (terrible)

This week's episode of ECW was chock full of wrestling action. In fact, practically half of the entire airtime was dedicated to in-ring competition, which is why you'll notice that only four feuds were featured on Tuesday night. It was interesting to notice the various stages at which each of these rivalries currently reside. The Miz-Mahoney feud continues, the Richards-Thorn feud kind of continues, the V-Boogeyman feud is reignited, and the Punk-Morrison feud is concluded (at least temporarily). On that note, let's begin with…

ECW Champion C.M. PUNK vs. JOHN MORRISON (11 weeks)

Well ladies and gentlemen, that was it. This week provided what viewers took the time to wait for - the payoff. And what a payoff it was! Witnessing C.M. Punk's deserving victory and the crowning of a new ECW Champion was truly exciting, especially since title changes are rare to find on free TV.

This is why storylines are important, and it's also what all feuds hope to achieve. Let's break this one down into its fundamental components.

The feud began approximately three months ago - accentuating the value of a protracted build - when then-Johnny Nitro was named as Chris Benoit's replacement at the Vengeance PPV. Winning that match, Nitro held onto the ECW Title as he continued the rivalry with Punk. WWE felt the need for a quick gimmick change, so John Morrison was born.

So what specifically made this feud successful? Well, it was a combination of length, build, storyline, and character.

Considering that the Punk-Morrison rivalry began at Vengeance without much of a break thereafter, the length of their battles has obviously been sufficiently extensive. Eleven weeks is a strong rivalry length.

The build has also been well-orchestrated. Weeks have gone by with Punk coming out on top, while other weeks featured victories for Morrison. Also important were the down weeks where Morrison was given a chance, particularly after his gimmick change, to compete in a few quick squash matches.

The storyline for this feud is easily identifiable - despite Morrison's cheating tactics, C.M. Punk repeatedly and fairly regains opportunities at the gold. The story played out well, as Joey Styles and Tazz did an impressive job highlighting the key theme for the last few weeks. Tazz succinctly expressed this element as soon as Punk won the championship by exclaiming, " C.M. Punk is the new ECW Champion, Joey, and he did it the old fashioned way: he earned it."

As for the character element, both John Morrison and C.M. Punk have been developed nicely. Morrison is so full of himself that his abstract speech (which is exclusive to his character) matches his personality appropriately. Although much more information should be divulged about him, Morrison is adequately built considering his short tenure on the ECW brand.

C.M. Punk's character is even more well-rounded. Let's see how many details I can list about him. I know that:

-he fights fairly and doesn't cheat to win.
-he lives a straight edge lifestyle that involves no drinking, smoking, or drug use.
-he cherishes his tattoos, and each has some kind of personal meaning to him.
-he loves competition.
-he doesn't believe in luck.
-he's confident and always willing to stand up to his enemies.
-he doesn't get overwhelmed and frustrated with a heel constantly cheating.
-he tries to get under the skin of his opponent, especially when they have used unfair tactics.
-he has an extensive martial arts background, including kenpo karate, Muay Thai kick boxing, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

All of this information, coupled with Punk's natural charisma and the reaction he gets from the fans, leads to the overall success of his career. The ECW Title match was outstanding, and the feud itself is indicative of a well-planned and well-executed functioning narrative.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 9 [up 1 from last week]

Previous Feuds
John Morrison: n/a
C.M. Punk: The New Breed

BIG DADDY V (w/ Matt Striker) vs. BOOGEYMAN (9 weeks w/ 4 week hiatus)

So after weeks of battling Tommy Dreamer and a host of jobbers, Big Daddy V has renewed his interest in taking out The Boogeyman. These two do have a contemporary history (See the Previous Feuds listed below), but apparently there doesn't seem to be enough depth in the current ECW roster to do a more efficient job mixing up rivalry participants.

Their original attempt at sustaining an interesting feud fell flat, and this one's chances don't seem too much better. Matt Striker and his high diction are going to be the wildcard element here. The only problem is that neither Big Daddy V nor The Boogeyman speak, so there can't be any intriguing dialogue interaction.

The Boogeyman's purpose is interesting to consider, and I don't even think WWE quite knows what it is. He's a guy that doesn't speak, and he enjoys scaring people. But this "monster" image doesn't accomplish much; it certainly doesn't succeed in frightening Big Daddy V, and it isn't meant to scare babyfaces. Although, it does gross the announcers out.

Big Daddy V is a decent character. Just notice how much more credible he is as this incarnation than he was as the World's Largest Love Machine. In mere weeks, WWE transformed him with a character overhaul. Whereas in the past nobody used to question someone's victory over Viscera, a win of any kind over Big Daddy V is sure to appear impressive.

So many weeks have passed that this storyline has basically started anew. Only time will dictate how events unfold from here, and not enough has happened to assign it an accurate intrigue rating. Let's see where it goes. If this is the alternative to pushing V by giving him multiple nameless jobbers, it may be preferable.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 5

Previous Feuds
Big Daddy V: Boogeyman
Boogeyman: Big Daddy V

THE MIZ (w/ Extreme Expose) vs. BALLS MAHONEY (6 weeks)

After some nice progression last week, this one's starting to drag again. How many weeks must we watch the same things happen? Mahoney loses yet another match to The Former Reality Star, and Kelly Kelly again enters the ring to observe Balls's condition.

The only difference this time is that unlike last week where Miz, Layla, and Brooke walked away in a state of confusion and indifference, this week they suddenly cared. Miz physically pulled Kelly away from Balls as the remaining Extreme Expose members criticized her sympathy for Mr. Mahoney.

As far as character-building is concerned, Miz is showing some personality, while Layla and Brooke are void of almost any kind of human traits. If these people aren't talking much, their actions must speak loudly, and because the same things are transpiring week after week, that isn't happening either.

Kelly's interest in Balls's safety must be defined. Too many weeks have gone by for WWE to continue to withhold this information. As for Mahoney, it's understandable that to evoke sympathy, he must lose; however, his numerous losses are borderline pathetic. Ultimately, if the audience doesn't feel that he has a chance, there's no way they can get behind him, even when he and Kelly play the sympathy card.

There's just nothing new worth noting here. Further advancement needs to occur soon, and some kind of dialogue is going to be required to clear things up. The premise is still intriguing, though.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 6 [same as last week]

Previous Feuds
Miz: no notable feuds since coming from Smackdown
Balls Mahoney: no notable feuds in recent memory

STEVIE RICHARDS vs. KEVIN THORN (7 weeks)

Despite the notion that this one may have concluded last week with Kevin Thorn's rather emphatic victory on ECW, their mutual involvement in yet another match this week might hint at the feud's attempted longevity.

The match resulted in a win by Elijah Burke on the less-popular ECW Original, Stevie Richards, so perhaps it is the transition from a Thorn-Richards rivalry to a more fresh Burke-Richards altercation. In any event, there isn't much to say here. There was just a brief match that had the originals suffer another loss to a team that is less unified than they are.

With the absence of a storyline as well as very little descriptions and distinctions of specific characters, this segment didn't provide much. It was just a time-filler that served no particular purpose but to give Richards, Dreamer, Thorn, and Burke some screen time.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 3.5 [down 0.5 from last week]

Previous Feuds
Stevie Richards: n/a
Kevin Thorn: no notable feuds in recent memory

FEUD CONCLUSIONS

(1) Elijah Burke vs. Balls Mahoney
(2) Kevin Thorn vs. Stevie Richards?

POTENTIAL FEUDS

(1) C.M. Punk vs. Elijah Burke?
(2) C.M. Punk vs. Big Daddy V?
(3) C.M. Punk vs. Armando Estrada?
(4) Elijah Burke vs. Stevie Richards?

Thanks for reading, everyone. If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to email me at newthtorch@hotmail.com. I appreciate all of the feedback.

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