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By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

ECW HITS

Kane vs. Benjamin: ECW got off to a good start with the opening match. Shelton Benjamin had one of his best recent matches. He and Kane worked really well together. The match went a decent length and had good back and forth action. Benjamin got to show off his great athleticism with his leap to the top rope to flip Kane off. Kane should be given credit too, as very few big men in wrestling history would have been able to take that bump (can’t imagine Kevin Nash pulling that off). WWE did a good job of setting the stage for the match based on Benjamin’s elimination of Kane from the mini-Battle Royale last week. They played off that well with Kane’s early attempts to throw Benjamin over the top rope. The match told a story as Benjamin worked on Kane’s knee. Neither guy got sustained offense for too long, which meant the match never dragged. The count out finish is always disappointing, but points to more matches between these two, which I would be o.k. with.

Colin Delaney: Delaney continues to be a major reason to tune in to ECW each week. He plays his part to perfection. I laughed out loud when he shook his head as Tazz attempted to introduce a video package of his in ring beatings. It was good to see him actually get in some offense (really it was good defense) on Miz & Morrison. Tommy Dreamer’s save in the end was a nice touch for a couple of reasons. I have been saying that Delaney needs to be involved in a storyline that doesn’t involve just getting squashed by monsters. Dreamer’s appearance suggests that they will be working together against the Tag Team Champions. That is a new and interesting direction for Delaney. I am also happy to see Dreamer involved in something as he had been off of t.v. for a long time before his few recent appearances. I look forward to seeing where this goes from here.

Punk vs. Burke: This match essentially served the purpose of a squash match. It accomplished the same goal, in making CM Punk look strong after his recent losses. He needed a chance to bounce back and get a win over an established talent. Elijah Burke hasn’t been on t.v. much lately, but he was in the Royal Rumble and is still well established with the fans. The match worked better than a typical squash, because Burke got in enough offense to remind the fans that he is a credible opponent. That makes the win more important than if Punk had easily defeated a nameless jobber in 2 minutes. This match didn’t go very long, but long enough to give the fans some nice action. The end sequence was particularly strong as Punk caught a leaping Burke and nailed him with the Go To Sleep.

Chavo’s Fiesta: This is a marginal Hit for me. It was good to see Chavo Guerrero’s ECW Title win treated as such a big deal. The celebration also gave a chance for an update on Vickie Guerrero’s condition, and allowed Edge to give a rub to Chavo as being part of his familia. I enjoyed the video tribute to Chavo that Edge presented. I would have liked to see some of his early footage from WCW, but it was still a well produced highlight package. The problem is that Chavo just isn’t very good on the mic. He gave a decent promo, rubbing his victory in the fans’ faces, but it wasn’t as good as it could have been. It wasn’t bad, just not good either. Punk’s appearance was fun. It was fairly obvious that there was something fishy about the Mariachi guy with his back to the camera, but it was still a fun reveal.

ECW MISSES

None: This was a good episode of ECW, one of the best in recent memory. There was nothing bad to complain about. I was expecting to put Kelly vs. Victoria in the Miss column when the match started, but it wasn’t bad. Kelly looked better than she ever has in a match. She didn’t mess anything up. It was a clean match. It wasn’t good enough to get a Hit, but it was good enough to not get a Miss. Last week I took a wait and see attitude with the debut of Kofi Kingston. I may have been generous in not giving his debut a Miss, but I felt that part of his problem was the indie wrestler he was working with who seemed to be off in the ring. But, that was last week. This week I was more impressed with Kingston. He looked better than last week. The verdict is still out on him. I wasn’t impressed at all in week 1, but was slightly impressed in week 2. I’m still not giving him a Hit yet, but this week he definitely earned not being in the Miss column (as opposed to last week when he probably should have been). Couple those few decent segments, with the multiple Hits above, and you have a good show.

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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