Opening Segment: ECW was a good show this week, and it got off to a good start. It was nice to see Armando Estrada in person after only hearing his name mentioned lately. It was also nice that he seemed to be playing a more even handed general manager, as opposed to the total heel role that he had been playing. Chavo Guerrero was solid on the mic talking about being upset at hearing so much praise for CM Punk being the future of the company. Punk did a good job when he came out of showing intensity in being upset over Chavo calling him a stepping stone. They had a very nice verbal exchange to set up the Main Event.
Tag Title Feud: I am really enjoying this feud between the Tag Team Champions, John Morrison & The Miz and Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore. WWE has done a good job of building up Yang & Moore as a credible team. They are also a fun team to watch. I have never been a big fan of Shannon Moore, but he at least brings some energy to his matches, and Yang brings even more. They now have multiple wins over the Champs in non-title situations. The 15-minute challenge next week for the Tag Team Championship has a lot of potential to be a very fun match to watch. I am suspecting this feud to continue beyond that, and that is a good thing. Perhaps a Tag Title match at the Royal Rumble. I am much more interested in this feud than anything Raw has going with their tag team division.
Colin Delaney: I thought it was odd that Delaney got some mic time before his debut last week, but it makes more sense this week. He is so far playing his part very well. He really did look nervous in his first appearance, and looked more confident this week. His attempt to get Tazz to change his match vs. Big Daddy V was good as well. It will be interesting to see how long WWE goes with him as a jobber. It is nice to see them having a full time jobber, as opposed to just getting local indie wrestlers to fill that role from week to week. He has a chance to connect with the audience, who will be waiting and waiting for him to finally get his first win. If handled correctly, he could become a fun underdog character.
Main Event: Chavo Guerrero vs. CM Punk was a good t.v. Main Event. The match had some good action and told a story as Chavo worked on Punk’s knee. It was also a case where something important, an ECW World Heavyweight Title shot, was on the line, which added to the drama of the match. In these cases, the challenger almost always wins in order to keep the feud going and earn that Title shot, but Punk won which was a surprise. I really expected Chavo to win, so it was nice to get an unexpected ending. Clearly in the long run, WWE is building Shelton Benjamin up for a feud with Punk, but Chavo is a good choice for a short term feud in the mean time. However Chavo lost, so that might be the end of the feud, which would be disappointing. It was a good match and I would like to see more of these two in the ring.
ECW MISSES
Two Jobbers: On a one hour show, WWE shouldn’t be using two jobbers. Having one on like James Curtis to help establish Shelton Benjamin makes sense. Having one on like Colin Delaney to set up his character as a huge underdog makes sense. But, do we really need both in the same show? In a two hour format where there are plenty of other matches, it would make sense to have two matches with jobbers. However, in a one hour show, with only a few total matches, having two jobbers just seems lazy to me.
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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