Extreme Championship Wrestling November 20, 2007 Upcoming PPV: Armageddon (fourth-to-last episode before PPV)
ECW STORYLINES AND FEUDS
Welcome to the fourteenth 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 ECW broadcast was curiously more diverse than usual. It featured a match with the ECW Champion, a tag team contest with Miz and Morrison scouting the competition, a divas segment with Kelly Kelly and Layla, and the generic big man bout. Also, it was an early Thanksgiving celebration, complete with a table of festive culinary treats.
In the opening bout, C.M. Punk faced Kenny Dykstra from Smackdown in what was another byproduct of the business relationship between Vickie Guerrero and Armando Estrada, who barely ever shows up on his own show. The match was interesting and competitive, but it's not good to see Punk take seven minutes to do what Chuck Palumbo has been doing in less than two for the last few months. Of course, Punk eventually won with the Go 2 Sleep, but that begs the question: who is Punk's next challenger for the ECW Title?
Also on the show, Elijah Burke claimed to have convinced his good friend, Shelton Benjamin, to come from Raw and join the ECW brand. That's an exciting acquisition for WWE's Tuesday night show. It does raise questions about brand transitioning, however, as it looks as though people can shift shows willy-nilly if they want to.
And finally, Kevin Thorn re-emerged this week with a fresh look. He cut his hair and now wears more traditional wrestling attire. In his squash match against Nunzio, his Original Sin maneuver was used to finish off the Pugnacious Pizon. Look for more squashes against lower mid-card Smackdown talent before this character gets an angle. Oh, and although his gimmick is inherently mysterious, give us some more information on the guy.
And now to the feuds:
THE MIZ (w/ Extreme Expose) vs. BALLS MAHONEY (17 weeks w/ 3 weeks hiatus)
I'm officially calling this one here like a doctor calls a lost patient. This one's over, and unfortunately, its conclusion was nothing more than a fading whimper. What began as an interesting feud that bolstered both Balls Mahoney and Miz ended up forgotten and discarded.
Overall, the feud was put together pretty well, and it certainly built characters out of two people who largely were ignored by both WWE and the fans. The most fascinating feature of the Balls-Miz feud is that it was so successful and interesting despite the lack of strong characters (and workers) initially. It became one of the best examples of how a strong storyline can enhance even the weakest of feuds.
Since Balls Mahoney and the Miz never had a final confrontation of any sort, the only remnants of this rivalry lie in Kelly Kelly's defined role as contracted manager to Miz.
Intrigue Level (out of 10): n/a
Previous Feuds
Miz: no notable feuds since coming from Smackdown
Balls Mahoney: no notable feuds in recent memory
KELLY KELLY vs. LAYLA (1 week)
This week, footage was shown depicting a backstage tiff between former dance partners of Extreme Expose, Kelly Kelly and Layla. Then Layla walked out to cut a rather decent promo on Kelly, claiming that she's prettier and whatnot. Silently, Kelly walked out behind Layla with some chow from the table, which prompted the commencement of a good old-fashioned food fight.
There isn't too much to this feud yet, although there may be some potential despite the limitations of the women involved. The backstage clip of Layla running into Kelly and starting a shoving match was really weak. I mean, WWE should have given them something a lot more meaningful with which to work. Just having these two bicker over looks and pushing each other for no other reason than to be mean is ridiculously dull.
Although Layla alluded to the situation in her promo, why doesn't WWE utilize Kelly's problematic situation with Miz as the perfect springboard for this storyline with Layla? After all, they are both technically under Miz's management contract anyway. They have the perfect excuse here. I mean, here they are, both legally stuck with one another, yet they don't get along. It's feud magic.
Plus, they can go so many ways with it. Maybe Miz treats Layla with courtesy and respect while simultaneously disrespecting Kelly. Or maybe Miz grants Layla the power to make decisions for Kelly since he's busy with tag team gold at the moment. It's up to WWE to do something with these two, and because there are so many possibilities using the current history, they should be employing that history for a stronger story, extending it beyond the idea that they simply don't like each other.
Intrigue Level (out of 10): 4.5
Previous Feuds
Kelly Kelly: n/a
Layla: n/a
WWE Tag Team Champions JOHN MORRISON & THE MIZ vs. JESSE & FESTUS (1 week)
It might not be safe to say that Miz and Morrison are going to have to face Jesse and Festus at some point for the WWE Tag Team Titles, but judging by what we were given on Tuesday night, that seems to be the case. Morrison and Miz were out scouting this week as Jesse and Festus took on the former champions Deuce and Domino in a tag team contest on ECW.
The match resulted in a win for the relatively new Jesse and Festus, which may have put them in line to receive a tag match for the belts in the coming weeks. Not much else can be said about this potential feud, but I really think the writers can work a lot more on this odd tag team between Miz and Morrison.
Clearly they had their problems in the past, and each of them has a unique personality. They should be letting the audience see their antics backstage, including how they talk to one another, how they act, what they say, etc. It would be more engaging than their less-than-stellar commentary with Joey Styles and Tazz.
Intrigue Level (out of 10): 5
Previous Feuds
John Morrison: C.M. Punk
The Miz: Balls Mahoney
Jesse & Festus: n/a
BIG DADDY V (w/ Matt Striker) vs. KANE (6 weeks w/ 2 weeks hiatus)
This week WWE continued the lackluster feud between Big Daddy V and Kane. A Handicap Match was issues pitting Big Daddy V and his manager, Matt Striker, against Smackdown's Kane. The contest ended when Kane pinned Striker after delivering a Chokeslam from hell. Big Daddy V soon came back to knock out the Big Red Machine and stand tall to close the show.
It's just so difficult to get into a feud like this. Other than the fact that we know their massive sizes, viewers are given nothing as to who they are as people. Big Daddy V stands around looking angry while Striker touts his size and capabilities. And Kane just shows up each week with little to no backstage presence that we are privy to, and he does his job in the ring. It's such a basic, boring formula; there's no story to it.
Where is the premise of the feud? We know the obstacles set forth by Big Daddy V, but what are the stakes if Kane is to lose? What does Kane want? We know that V wants to hurt Kane, but we don't know why. When the writers consistently ignore these basic questions for 6 consecutive weeks, one has to wonder what the point to all this is. The matches themselves aren't that fascinating to watch, so what is it?
Intrigue Level (out of 10): 3 [down 0.5 from Smackdown]
Previous Feuds
Big Daddy V: Tommy Dreamer
Kane: Finlay
CONCLUDED FEUDS
(1) C.M. Punk vs. John Morrison vs. The Miz
(2) Balls Mahoney vs. The Miz
POTENTIAL FEUDS
(1) C.M. Punk vs. ??
(2) Shelton Benjamin vs. ??
(3) Kevin Thorn vs. ??
(4) 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 "Stevie Richards" so that I know it's not junk mail.
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