By Chris Newth, PWTorch.com Specialist Contributor

Extreme Championship Wrestling
October 23, 2007
Upcoming PPV: Cyber Sunday (last episode before PPV)

ECW STORYLINES AND FEUDS

Welcome to the tenth 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)

Attention readers! Beginning two weeks after Cyber Sunday, which would be the week of Nov. 5-9, I will be poring through my email messages looking for the most creative and interesting storyline idea for an ongoing WWE feud. If you happen to spark a great idea that would enhance a current feud for Raw, ECW, or Smackdown that week, send it in to the email address listed at the bottom of this article. Three ideas will be chosen—one for each Raw, ECW, and Smackdown—and posted on this column at PWTorch.com.

Decisions will be based on creativity, clarity, and relevancy. Here are some guidelines to help your chances of being chosen:

(1) Be sure that you write about WWE feuds. I don't currently have a TNA column.

(2) Write about a feud that's already established on one of the shows. Don't speculate with dream matches or feuds between two people not currently in a program together.

(3) Don't ignore the elements of the story that have been featured so far. Use the current storyline as a starting point from which you can build your own continuation.

(4) Have your idea be something that WWE could start to get into next week, not something that they "should have done."

(5) Be realistic. Don't include features that would be nearly impossible for WWE to pull off.

(6) Originality is paramount. Try to avoid falling into formulaic booking traps.

(7) Time your storyline for the short-term. Aim to talk about developments for the next few weeks and up until the next PPV, not year-long Wrestlemania plans.

You can be as detailed as you'd like, but please don't exceed 20 lines. The emphasis can be on whatever you'd like. If you want to just discuss the value of your specific storyline and how it might enhance character, go ahead. Or maybe you would rather include detailed coverage of what we should see in backstage vignettes or promos. Creating a visual depiction is always great. Talk about what each character is saying, what they are doing, what their emotion is, etc. Talk about the purpose for each segment.

This opportunity is exclusive to the Storylines and Feuds sections of PWTorch.com. Remember, this is a feature that's geared toward posting story ideas. No analysis, please. And don't forget to include your first and last name in the body of the email. I won't post anything without crediting the writer.

And now to ECW.

It's still interesting that WWE has decided to mold this entire brand around a small group of people. If the talent exchange with the Smackdown brand was meant to broaden the available roster, why are they still not using a lot of ECW-exclusive wrestlers? Where are three of the four men that were battling for a shot at the ECW Title a month ago (Kevin Thorn, Tommy Dreamer, and Stevie Richards)? And what about Mike Knox or Boogeyman?

The criticism about a lack of babyfaces on the brand is a valid one. Generally, if you're going to have an excess, it's better to have it be heels than faces. After all, that would allow the focus to be put on a few key characters who have a lot of challenges in front of them. Balance, of course, is ideal. ECW can feel a little overrun with heels lately, but it only becomes a real problem when you start to have them fighting each other (like an Elijah Burke versus Nunzio match). That's when something should probably be done. The good news is that Punk—and Balls Mahoney to a certain extent—is set apart from the rest of the locker room in a top babyface role.

Right now, ECW is a struggling brand. You can tell that WWE is trying to utilize different strategies in order to find some kind of successful format. Look at the difference between this one-hour show and the one-hour TNA episodes that used to air. I'm not trying to suggest that one technique is better than the other, but there is a distinct disparity here.

ECW is putting a lot of time on very few individuals, unlike TNA's method of shoving as many stars into the show as possible. The rhythm is a lot different as a result. This show might not be the strongest one out there, but the feuds and storylines that are shown are pretty decent. The live feel also helps.

C.M. Punk [artist Jess Hicks (c) PWTorch]

ECW Champion C.M. PUNK vs. BIG DADDY V (w/ Matt Striker) or THE MIZ (w/ Extreme Expose) or JOHN MORRISON (3 weeks)

It seems as though the format to this week's ECW episode mirrored that of this week's Raw. If you noticed, it didn't quite work. Why? Well, the key issue involves the heel/babyface dynamic. On Raw, you had two overly-popular babyfaces and a heel verbally and physically battling each other for votes. On the other hand, ECW was filled with exclusively heel battles. The problem? Most people don't care about heels fighting other heels.

So the format that worked so flawlessly on Raw failed on ECW, and the reason is pretty obvious. Personally, I enjoy Morrison's character, and I think Miz is really growing into his newly elevated heel persona. But when they argue about who people should vote for, it gets a little tiresome. Most people aren't rooting for either one (or Big Daddy V for that matter). So the bickering between Miz and Morrison—although understandable in the context of the story—isn't particularly engaging. The only positive aspect of it is that we can see how egotistical these two guys are, but that could be portrayed in a multitude of much more valuable ways.

The Punk-Mahoney exchange, Morrison-Miz argument, and tag team main event were copy/paste strategies taken directly from Raw. The final match saw Punk pin Morrison after the Go 2 Sleep, and the babyface team concluded the show on a high note.

The story here, as it's been for the last few weeks on all WWE TV, is about superstars acting a certain way in order to curry favor with the fans. Cyber Sunday voting was the underlying theme in everything, and it provides a temporary distraction from any meaningful story here. After all, C.M. Punk doesn't really know who he's against, and WWE isn't trying to feature one heel choice over another too blatantly (although Big Daddy V's omission from this main event is pretty telling).

Overall, this whole combination was mediocre. It will likely improve when the environment clears up after this week's PPV. Some better concentration of key feuds will help things become more enjoyable.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 7 [down 0.5 from last week]

Previous Feuds
Big Daddy V: Boogeyman
C.M. Punk: The New Breed, John Morrison
John Morrison: C.M. Punk
The Miz: Balls Mahoney (ongoing)

THE MIZ (w/ Extreme Expose) vs. BALLS MAHONEY (13 weeks)

Alright, so the feud between Miz and Mahoney continues this week, but only to a certain extent. Remember, Cyber Sunday is pulling Miz into the main event and away from Balls, so this feud is getting a short little vacation for the time being.

This week, Captain Caveman (as Joey Styles aptly references every time Balls appears) joyously touted his date with Kelly last week and even participated in the main event when he teamed with the ECW Champion against John Morrison and The Miz. Nothing too major has occurred with this feud in the last few weeks because of all the Cyber Sunday hype, but since it's in its thirteenth week, diluting the rivalry with some other characters was a nice little break from the usual.

Also this week, Miz expressed a reaction to Kelly's date with Balls. He made it short and sweet. Since he's a "nice guy," he's not going to fire her. After all, how could he have as much fun doing that as he could have with the alternative? I apologize ahead of time for this next sentence: Instead, he's going to make her life Mizerable (I had to).

Okay, this is a good step. Now the audience can expect Miz to show how terrible a person he is. Perfect. Here's a smart strategy for how this feud can play out: Miz mistreats Kelly for the next few weeks, really depicting how heelish, egomaniacal, and smarmy his character really is.

They shouldn't fall into the TNA Robert Roode/Ms. Brooks route where every week Roode is just shown being disrespectful and mean to his manager on the way to the ring. Mix it up. Use the strategy that has worked so well for Matt Hardy and MVP, where each week something new happens that furthers the story. However, instead of basketball, chess, and arm wrestling, show Miz mistreating Kelly in different, specific ways each week. It will raise the stakes and emphasize a need for change.

Now insert a hero: Balls. Mahoney will put his foot down and demand that Miz stop. He puts something important on the line, such as a stipulation where he will quit ECW if he loses or he will offer his contract to Miz if he loses. Then you can take it in many directions. If they want to end it, they can have Mahoney win. If they want the feud to continue and get more involved, they can have Miz win to put Balls and Kelly into even more of a dilemma. So far, the structure of this story has been solid, especially in the last few weeks.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 7 [same as last week]

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

BIG DADDY V (w/ Matt Striker) vs. KANE vs. THE GREAT KHALI (w/ Ranjin Singh) vs. MARK HENRY (2 weeks)

This feud began last week when C.M. Punk chose Kane as a special partner against Big Daddy V, Miz, and Morrison in a Handicap Tag Team Match. This week, Mark Henry was thrown into the fray. I'm not sure how effective it is to choose this feud to be the one that appears on both Smackdown and ECW every week, but there are a few good reasons for its existence.

First, it has an originality appeal. These four characters have each been built individually as tough, giant monsters in WWE. To put them together is a gimmick in and of itself. That's exactly what they're aiming for with next week's upcoming Monster Mash Battle Royal on the Halloween edition of ECW television.

Secondly, it's a feud that gives each man a purpose without keeping them in an awkward position at the upper-midcard without a belt. It's always strange to see how heavily WWE pushes guys like Big Daddy V, Kane, and Mark Henry when you realize that they don't often (or sometimes ever) win titles. How are guys that are portrayed as powerful as they are not at the top of every WWE card with titles around their waists—or, more likely, over their shoulders? This is a chance to highlight their power without involving them with world champions.

And finally, this type of feud is going to concentrate these men into one or two segments on the show. For fans that don't appreciate The Great Khali, Mark Henry, and Big Daddy V destroying valuable wrestlers in their own separate rivalries, this one corrects that problem. If they weren't being booked together, they would likely be given smaller guys who would job and look bad. And instead of seeing Khali face Batista, Big Daddy V face C.M. Punk, and Mark Henry face Undertaker, now those top babyfaces get a chance to face other deserving stars on the rosters while the big guys battle it out with each other.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 5 [same as on Smackdown]

Previous Feuds
Big Daddy V: Tommy Dreamer
Kane: Finlay
The Great Khali: Batista
Mark Henry: The Undertaker

POTENTIAL FEUDS

(1) Elijah Burke vs. Nunzio?
(2) Kelly Kelly vs. Miz & Extreme Expose?
(3) Smackdown wrestlers vs. ECW wrestlers?

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. Please insert a word in the subject line that deals with a wrestling topic or write something such as "WWE," "feud," or "Nunzio" so that I know it's not junk mail.

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