By Chris Newth, PWTorch Contributor

Extreme Championship Wrestling
January 8, 2008
Upcoming PPV: Royal Rumble (third-to-last episode before PPV)

ECW STORYLINES AND FEUDS

Welcome to the nineteenth 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 had a nice variety of acts this week. There was a title match, a dance contest, some promo time, a Colin Delaney segment, and a continuation in the Chavo-Punk feud. But the show has a tendency to feel unimportant, and that's the challenge WWE faces when putting these shows together. Is the Smackdown-ECW talent exchange working? It's one strategy, but whether it's better than brand-exclusive talent is up in the air. The problem may be that WWE isn't shipping over a lot of big-name talent to their Tuesday night show. It's generally mid-carders sent to face off against ECW mid-carders.

Shelton Benjamin's segments continue to be a part of the show that does not yet belong to an established feud. Benjamin maintained his push this week with a backstage promo to hype the importance of the Royal Rumble Match. He related his gold theme to the PPV, claiming that winning the Rumble will be hitting the motherload. Of course, he's looking to win the battle royal and move on to headline WrestleMania in a world title match.

Now to the feuds!

ECW Champion C.M. PUNK vs. CHAVO GUERRERO (4 weeks)

This week, C.M. Punk was pitted once again against Chavo Guerrero. The match stipulations were the same as last week: if Chavo beat Punk, he'd earn a shot at the ECW Championship. In what was one of Chavo's better matches, the main event went pretty long, but it ended in a disqualification. See, Chavo thought that he could use the ECW Title as a weapon. When he brought it into the ring, the referee noticed the giant belt in his hands and promptly disqualified him. I have noticed that the referees are getting stricter with that kind of thing; they no longer need to witness an act of violence with a weapon. Wrestlers are now DQ'ed when they're caught holding an object in the ring.

So the story is simple. C.M. Punk has to keep giving Chavo what are essentially Number One Contender matches, and Chavo keeps losing. Because the General Manager of ECW is a heel, Chavo will likely continue to face Punk each week with the same stipulations. What is in this for C.M. Punk? Oh yeah, nothing. Well, I take that back. "The only thing he's addicted to is competition." Well, there's that. In any event, it's a fairly decent story in terms of keeping things moving, although it's incredibly predictable.

The most interesting element here involves Chavo's role on the show. He not only competes against C.M. Punk in a full-fledged rivalry on ECW, but he's also involved with other matters that pertain to Vickie Guerrero on Smackdown. Will he keep showing up on both shows every week, or is it likely that one of these roles will be cut? It's an interesting idea to incorporate a wrestler in two completely separate storylines on two shows, but you'd never think WWE would use Chavo for that part.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 6 [up 0.5 since last week]

Previous Feuds
C.M. Punk: Elijah Burke, John Morrison
Chavo Guerrero: Rey Mysterio

WWE Tag Team Champions JOHN MORRISON & THE MIZ vs. JIMMY WANG YANG & SHANNON MOORE (5 weeks)

ECW kicked off with the big 15 Minutes of Fame Match for the WWE Tag Team Championships. Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore were looking to bring the titles back to Smackdown. The match rules were simple: whichever team scored the most decisions within a 15-minute time limit would be named the winner. The first point went to Miz and Morrison when Morrison rolled Yang up for a three count. Next, Yang evened the score by landing his top rope standing moonsault finisher on Morrison.

With only seconds left on the clock, Yang went for another moonsault and hit Miz, but he couldn't cover because of a problem with his knee. The clock ticked away, finally reaching the 15-minute mark to stop the match. Both teams had a single point, and in the case of a tie, the champions retained. Miz and Morrison barely escaped with their championship gold, and Yang and Moore looked impressive yet again.

For fans that enjoy really solid in-ring athleticism, this feud is the reason to watch ECW on Tuesday nights. It has quickly become the single feud that almost guarantees a decent match each and every week. In fact, you can't really find a storyline backing for the rivalry since everything revolves around what has happened in the ring. It started with a great, pretty random match that WWE seemed eager to get behind. Then it turned into a seemingly fluke win for the babyfaces. And now it's a run of wins with a recent draw that urge everyone to look forward to next week's match.

Overall, this feud has been booked solidly. Everyone is playing their roles right, and they are exciting to watch on television. The only thing missing is some explanation of character. If the storyline doesn't exist beyond what happens in the ring, that's fine, but they should be giving us a chance to get to know Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore a little better. Get some promos going or show them in the back interacting with each other or those around them (perhaps Miz and Morrison). A little information in the character department can go a long way. It's a nice little feud, but with so little to work with, it will be difficult to maintain in the long-run.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 7.5 [up 0.5 since last week]

Previous Feuds
John Morrison: C.M. Punk
The Miz: Balls Mahoney
Jesse & Festus: n/a

KELLY KELLY vs. LAYLA (7 weeks w/ 2 weeks hiatus)

Kelly Kelly and Layla were set to face off in a dancing competition of some sort. Hosting the contest was Lena, one of the participants in the last WWE Diva Search. She introduced Kelly, followed by Layla. Layla and Kelly did their dance number, and Lena was about to reveal the results; however, before she named a winner, Lena entered herself into the contest. She then danced around the ring for a little while before continuing her emcee duties. The results were not surprising. Kelly won by popular vote, but Lena ended up the winner. Sound familiar, anyone?

Overall, I'm not even sure what this was. According to WWE.com, Lena is a Smackdown diva. Her presence on ECW may have been a one-night deal, but the end of the segment suggested otherwise. While Lena boldly strutted down the ramp, Kelly and Layla were left in the ring sharing a look of confusion and anger. It was as if both of them found a common enemy, so they put their own problems aside. It was awkward. Does this mean that Kelly and Layla are no longer feuding?

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 3 [down 0.5 since last week]

Previous Feuds
Kelly Kelly: n/a
Layla: n/a

THE RISE OF COLIN DELANEY (3 weeks)

ECW has found its new light spot. His name is Colin Delaney, and he's the unknown jobber who has ambitious aspirations to become a WWE Superstar. The problem? He's only had three matches in his entire life. His lack of experience is explicitly mentioned on each broadcast, which helps justify the constant losses. What keeps people watching? Well, he has this visibly broken look about him. Every time Tazz talks about how he's doing, he responds looking very depressed and beaten. And every time his opponent is announced, sheer dread creeps onto his face. His expressions are interesting to watch.

So far, he's jobbed to Shelton Benjamin and Big Daddy V. This week, his opponent was announced as The World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry. Henry defeated Colin within a minute using the World's Strongest Slam. It's a formula that just works.

The idea of having a regular jobber on the show that is likeable and interesting is brilliant. It not only gives the audience this sympathetic, almost miserable character to watch every week, but it also allows other talent to squash him. Furthermore, there is a whole storyline behind it. Here's this kid who has dreams to make it big in WWE, but he's entirely inexperienced. Is it believable that he'd get there? Well, no, but that's where you have to suspend your disbelief.

If they just keep up the story, it's going to continue providing some decent TV. And once he gets his first win (which shouldn't happen for a long time), the audience will (ideally) be excited for him. In the meantime, it's all about getting the crowd behind this kid. A few more weeks showing him get beaten down in various ways by various people will help, and they should also try other things too, such as backstage vignettes. ECW has a good act here, and they should keep it going.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 6

Previous Feuds
Colin Delaney: n/a


CONCLUDED FEUDS

(1) Big Daddy V vs. Kane
(2) Chavo Guerrero vs. C.M. Punk?


POTENTIAL FEUDS

(1) Shelton Benjamin vs. ??


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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