By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

Here is my ECW Roster Hitlist. My Hits and Misses are based on the caliber of the Superstars, along with the way they are booked by WWE creative. In addition to Hits and Misses, I have an On The Bubble section for wrestlers who are too new to decide, or for those who are talented, but totally misused. Let me add that putting this Roster Hitlist together was ridiculous. There are only 19 names listed on wwe.com, and three of those are broadcasters and the ring announcer. I have included wrestlers, managers, and authority figures on my lists so far, which puts the number down to 16. Plus, a high percentage of those 16 are seldom, if ever on ECW any more.

ROSTER HITS

CM Punk: Punk has a connection with the audience that is much higher than anyone else (babyface or heel) on ECW. Part of that speaks to the rest of the roster, but it also speaks to Punk’s abilities. He has an interesting character, but WWE has not done enough to explore his straight edge lifestyle. He is a good talker, and has tons of charisma. He is a talented worker. I love watching him kick the hell out of an opponent. He does very fun moves. Unfortunately, he seems to have fallen in the WWE mold of having a few signature spots. He used to do more moves. He should have more variety to his moves, and bring back the Anaconda Vice as a second finisher. He definitely can improve, but he is fun to watch and does connect with the fans.

Elijah Burke: Burke could also use some improvement. He is very athletic and can work a good match. But, he can also be sloppy at times. He isn’t consistent enough to be a top star. His mic work is solid and he has charisma. He has a major upside, and is a wrestler in whom it is definitely worth investing more time. If he works hard and becomes more consistent in the ring, he has a huge future ahead of him.

John Morrison: The Tuesday Night Delight has been very fun to watch. I am not a huge fan of this new persona, but he is working at it. His has talent in the ring, and can do some great moves. Like Burke, he has to work at being more consistent. He is very athletic and many of his moves are amazing, but what about ring psychology? What about selling? He is solid in these areas, but not great. He has been bad on the mic most of his career, but he is getting better. He has improved both on the mic and in the ring since his shift to ECW and adopting this new character. That shows potential for further improvement.

The Miz: Hoo-rah! I am probably in the minority here, but I have been a fan of his since he debuted on Smackdown a few years ago. The problem with him in those early days was that WWE tried to make him a babyface. He is a natural heel. He has a cockiness to him that makes fans want to boo him. He plays his role very well. He is a decent worker. He left much to be desired in his early matches, but like Morrison, he has shown improvement. It seems like he is actually working on his craft which is a big plus. Is he near where he needs to be to truly deserve a big push? No. But, he delivers on the mic, and is starting to deliver in the ring also.

ROSTER MISSES

Armando Estrada: I liked him as Umaga’s manager on Raw. I don’t buy him as the General Manager of ECW. Part of this is that I am sick of the heel GM role. Another is that he is good in small doses, but a GM role usually requires one to be good in larger doses, and he isn’t. I would keep him around as a manager, but as long as he is an authority figure, he will get a Miss.

Big Daddy V: He is big and fat, and that is it. He is not capable of having decent matches, let alone good ones. Umaga is a monster who can work a match. Big Daddy V is not. Sure, he can look good squashing jobbers in minute-long matches. But, eventually you have to be able to do something more than that to advance as a character, and he can’t.

Boogeyman: Boogeyman is hardly on any more, so it seems odd even talking about him. He has a great look, is totally different from any wrestler we’ve seen before, and plays the part really well. But, he is a terrible worker. His matches are ugly to watch. He is fun in the back, but bad in the ring. The worm eating has run its course. I am perfectly fine with his lack of a push at this point.

Kelly Kelly: Kelly is bad at what she does. Even when they only wanted her to strip in the early days of Kelly’s Expose, she didn’t look like she was comfortable. She can’t act. She definitely can’t wrestle. She can’t even dance. She is a pretty face, and that is it. It was ridiculous when she was in a dance troupe, since she couldn’t dance. It is ridiculous that she is now wrestling, since she can’t wrestle. Her love story with Balls Mahoney started out strong, but totally went down hill. She isn’t adding to the show in any way.

Layla: Layla is a little better than Kelly in that she shows a bit more personality, and she can dance better. Maybe if given the opportunity to be a manager for the Miz she can deliver. But she is just like Kelly in her lack of wrestling ability. She should not be in the ring. She hasn’t shown enough of a reason to justify her spot on the roster.

Nunzio: I have to admit to never being a fan of Nunzio’s, going back to the days of Little Guido in the original ECW. The character is lame and stale. He is a decent worker, but not special in any way. He is a serviceable jobber, but other than that he is just taking up space.

ON THE BUBBLE

Balls Mahoney: I like Balls (insert juvenile joke here). He is a fun character. His performance in trying to win over Kelly was very good. But, he is limited in the ring. He is not a very good worker. He has a good personality and is solid on the mic. But, he isn’t being used right now. The announcers mention that he is dating Kelly, but that is all we hear of him. He can be a fun member of the roster, but his lack of a push and lack of in ring skills keeps him On The Bubble.

Kevin Thorn: Thorn has an interesting look and is a solid worker. Like Mahoney, he hasn’t been on much lately. He is never going to have great matches. He isn’t particularly good on the mic, but he is o.k. He is just a middle of the road kind of wrestler. He is decent in the ring. He is decent on the mic. He has a decent character. He is not good or bad. He is decent.

Matt Striker: I am a fan of our teacher. He has shown very good mic skills. He is obnoxious and really does a good job of getting under people’s skin. He plays his part very well. He is also a good wrestler. He isn’t great, but he is good. The problem is that WWE has stuck him in the unenviable job of being Big Daddy V’s manager, which is hurting him. He is being totally wasted in this role. Let him wrestle. Let him talk for himself, not his boring giant.

Mike Knox: Knox has potential, at least he’s shown enough of it in the ring and on the mic to keep out of the Miss column. But, he isn’t on enough to get a Hit either. Without looking at the roster online, I didn’t know if he was in ECW any more or not. When was the last time he was on?

Stevie Richards: Like Striker, I am a fan of Richards. He is a good worker who can work a match as a heel or a babyface. His feud awhile back with Kevin Thorn was good. His apparent push two months ago was nice, but it has come to an end. Again, where has he been? WWE keeps using more Smackdown talent to augment the ridiculously small ECW roster, which makes some sense. But, they have stopped using a lot of the ECW roster, guys like Richards, and thus they are left with a different, but equally small pool of wrestlers to draw from.

Tommy Dreamer: Dreamer has great passion. He can deliver on the mic. But, he is long past his prime. Even in his prime, he was never a great worker. He can have solid extreme rules type matches, but that is about it at this point in his career. There was a reason he retired a few years ago. Coming out of retirement for the re-launch of ECW made sense. But this ECW isn’t Dreamer’s ECW. So, he serves little purpose at this point as the one of the few ECW originals left. It in unfortunate that WWE has gone in that direction with the show, but they have. And, Dreamer doesn’t fit in at this point.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hitlist Specialist, providing his point of view in the Torch's hitlist format for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

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