By Chris Newth, PWTorch.com Specialist Contributor

Extreme Championship Wrestling
September 11, 2007
Upcoming PPV: Unforgiven (5 days away as of airdate)

ECW STORYLINES AND FEUDS

Welcome to the fourth 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)

ECW Champion C.M. PUNK vs. ELIJAH BURKE (1 week)

Unfortunately, the ECW Title change between C.M. Punk and John Morrison left little time to build for a match with a new challenger at Unforgiven this Sunday. WWE did the best they could do, which is filling Morrison's place with the next most exciting person on the roster: Elijah Burke.

The charisma pervasive in this feud alone is astonishing. It's a shame that these two can't be perceived at the level of a John Cena, a Triple H, or a Batista simply because there is no one higher on the brand to elevate them on that perceptual plane. If The Undertaker, Edge, or Shawn Michaels were vying for C.M. Punk's ECW Title, not only would the prestige of that championship increase, but so too would C.M. Punk's career as a top babyface in the company.

The feud begins with C.M. Punk garnering strong crowd favor with his great mic skills. He just sounds so calm and fluent when talking. Armando Estrada, the first General Manager of ECW, is kissing up to his show's new Champion. C.M. Punk knowingly toys with Estrada, even going as far as to have him don his new t-shirt. Nice subtle merchandise plug there.

Joey Styles informs us that WWE Mobile provided exclusive news that Elijah Burke was going to be the official challenger to C.M. Punk's title at Unforgiven. Armando Estrada announces the news to Punk (who clearly doesn't use the mobile service). The interaction between Burke and Punk then gets underway. It was strong by both sides, with great charisma (as mentioned earlier); however, in terms of substance, there wasn't much here.

Burke just says something about how he's better than Punk in multiple ways. Punk, after being shoved a few times for his close proximity to The Silver Tongued Pugilist, uses an enziguiri to retaliate. At the end of the show, they both participated in the main event. Their tag team match was relatively strong, enough to at least sustain the fire behind Punk's title reign. A strong win the week after winning the title is important (just ask Jeff Hardy).

As for character, let's break this down. Last week I discussed C.M. Punk in depth, so the focus will mainly be on Elijah Burke. We know that Burke is confident. He showed this particular trait this week as he bragged incessantly. "I can see myself, Punk, defeating you at Unforgiven for that ECW Title. Why? …Because I'm more athletic than you are. I'm more physically gifted than you are. I'm more charismatic than you are, Punk," Elijah touted.

Beyond his confidence, we do know that he's a solid wrestler and great on the mic. As for his background, we haven't been given much. He used to box, and he has a strong record in terms of wins and knock outs. Since coming to ECW, he's formed the New Breed faction, where he showed leadership qualities—qualities that may not have been too great, as the New Breed eventually disbanded. His specific history with the current ECW Champion during C.M. Punk's short stint in the group was mentioned during the opening of the show, but perhaps there is something in that dynamic with which WWE can work.

Overall, this feud definitely has long-term legs. I'm sure that if given the time, the matches between these two are going to be very exciting. As for the storyline, it needs work, quite frankly. However, it's understandable that nothing of note has yet begun because there would be no time for significant development before Unforgiven anyway. The intrigue is there though.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 6

Previous Feuds
C.M. Punk: The New Breed, John Morrison
Elijah Burke: Tommy Dreamer

BIG DADDY V (w/ Matt Striker) vs. BOOGEYMAN (10 weeks w/ 4 week hiatus)

So the "big" match between Big Daddy V and The Boogeyman is scheduled to take place next Tuesday night on ECW. It's almost cringe-inducing. It's not that the characters are bad per se, but the in-ring work by both men isn't very impressive.

This week, it was Matt Striker against Nunzio. It's nice to see Striker working a match since being relegated to serving as the voice box of Big Daddy V as of late. Those two would be a great team with the combination of brains and strength, even if Striker mostly acts in a managerial capacity. Maybe alternating each week and helping one another defeat other wrestlers in singles matches would benefit them as a whole. Although it's clear that WWE is strongly pushing Big Daddy V, I don't think a semi-push for Striker along the way will prove to be a detriment for the monster. It would just kill two proverbial birds with one stone.

The feud here is pretty week. It was active over two months ago but eventually took an extended hiatus. Recently, it was reintroduced, but with nothing happening this week, its future seems even bleaker. The Boogeyman's role remains undefined, and Big Daddy V almost appears to be stuck in a feud with someone that he should be able to easily beat.

Here's hoping that the match will be short, and most importantly, decisive. This feud really doesn't matter in the long-run. People don't care too much about either The Boogeyman or Big Daddy V at this point, so trying to protect both of them with a tainted victory next week would be absolutely pointless. A clean, decisive win would at least serve some purpose.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 4 [down 1 from last week]

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

THE MIZ (w/ Extreme Expose) vs. BALLS MAHONEY (7 weeks)

This week, Balls was spared from doing the job to The Miz for the umpteenth time. Instead, Tommy Dreamer took on that task. In the mean time, Miz's push continued, and Kelly Kelly hinted that she may be out to sympathize with all of Miz's opponents.

Miz's match didn't concern itself with Balls Mahoney. He was only mentioned by the announcers, who recapped the story's progress thus far. However, the backstage segment that had Balls present Kelly with an oversized stuffed animal was well done. At least there's finally some interaction on a verbal level between some of these characters. Kelly expressed her elation at the gift, while Balls showed that he felt good about the plan, even though he had to hide in the hallway in order to pull it off.

The wildcard introduced this week was the return of Mike Knox, who cleanly beat Mahoney after a minor distraction by The Former Reality Star. His role is yet to be determined, but I suspect that this week's involvement in the Balls-Miz feud wasn't the last. His history with Kelly requires a more important role here. The problem is that if Knox is to become heavily involved, they should have hyped his re-debut a lot better. How is Kelly going to feel about all of this? And if Knox decides that he does still have feelings for Kelly, will Balls be the only one in trouble? What about Kelly's current…wait, is Miz dating any of Extreme Expose?

In just typing that last question, I stumbled upon a mystery, something that hasn't been fully explained. It's another case that needs more clarity. Why are Kelly Kelly, Brooke, and Layla with The Miz? I remember Kelly originally saying that she thought that Miz was sexy, but nothing is known as to what the personal connections between any of these four people officially are. Is Miz dating even one member of Extreme Expose, or is he just friends with them? If it's the latter case, then why do they dance so seductively around him, and why do they seem to watch him wrestle in awe and joy?

Anyway, this feud may have plateaued; it feels like it's stuck in second gear. The problem isn't obvious on the surface. My hunch is that it's just gone on too long without enough justifiable development to continue. It's understandable to build slowly when a rivalry like this is unlikely to make it to pay-per-view, but it has to move a little faster than this. For a feud that's in its 7th week, the tension must be cranked up. Mike Knox may have been brought in just in time.

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 (8 weeks)

Another rivalry of lesser status on ECW includes the Richards-Thorn feud, which is apparently still ongoing. It would have been safe to assume that it stopped about two weeks ago when Thorn finally was able to decisively beat Stevie Richards in a one-on-one bout. Styles even mentioned that Thorn was able to get the Stevie Richards monkey off of his back.

However, the last two episodes of ECW included tag team matches that featured both Kevin Thorn and Stevie Richards. The fact that neither of the two has found another rivalry yet and are still wrestling in matches with each other suggests that their feud is continuing, at least for now.

The story of their battles, however, is dead and buried. I'm not even sure if it would be smart to try to reignite this one. Both Stevie Richards and Kevin Thorn could use fresh opponents as soon as possible before they get stale themselves.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 2.5 [down 1 from last week]

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

FEUD CONCLUSIONS

(1) C.M. Punk vs. John Morrison

POTENTIAL FEUDS

(1) Mike Knox vs. Balls Mahoney
(3) C.M. Punk vs. Armando Estrada?

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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