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By Chris Newth, PWTorch contributor

Extreme Championship Wrestling
February 26, 2008
Upcoming PPV: WrestleMania (fifth-to-last episode before PPV)

ECW STORYLINES AND FEUDS

Welcome to the twenty-fifth 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)


C.M. PUNK vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN or ELIJAH BURKE (2 weeks)

ECW's main event featured a Triple Treat Match between Punk, Benjamin, and Burke to determine the Number One Contender for the ECW Championship. The match ended when Punk hit the GTS on Elijah Burke for the clean victory. After the match, Chavo had a stare-down moment with C.M. Punk.

Well, it looks like Punk and Guerrero are at it again. It's nice to see WWE keep Punk in the main event of his brand, but considerations about new opponents for Punk and Chavo were looking really good. They should do an intense job redefining this feud next week to avoid having it simply become a lazy continuation of what we've already seen.

Personally, it may have been more interesting to see a Fatal Four Way buildup to a future ECW Title Match so that Benjamin and Burke could remain involved. However, if the goal is to take this one to WrestleMania, Benjamin is already involved in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match (making it impossible for him to take part in the ECW Championship bout). As for Burke, it looks as though he's going to find himself back in a place where showing up will be a rarity, and those infrequent occasions will only exist as opportunities for someone else to go over.

Chavo Guerrero needs to step up as a heel presence on the show. He's attracting the wrong type of heat (people just don't want to see him). He can certainly accomplish it, but WWE should give him something specific with which to work. His recent loss to essentially a one-armed Rey Mysterio didn't do him any favors. Punk's ability as a top babyface directly correlates to his heel opponent, so having a strong heel to play against him is important for his character's success.

The good thing about this storyline is that Punk is showing a strong pattern in his ECW career. When John Morrison was champion, Punk would win every Number One Contender's Match that took place. Now he's doing it all over again. Here's hoping next week will reinvigorate the audience with some anticipation heading into an ECW Championship match featuring Punk and Chavo one-on-one.

What should you look for next week? A new angle or perspective from which WWE can tell what is essentially the same story

Intrigue Level (out of 10): n/a [Benjamin and Burke are likely out of this program]

Previous Feuds
C.M. Punk: Elijah Burke, John Morrison, Chavo Guerrero
Shelton Benjamin: Kane

KELLY KELLY vs. LAYLA & VICTORIA & LENA YADA (5 weeks w/ 1 week hiatus)

This week, Kelly Kelly teamed with the undefeated Kofi Kingston to face the team of Layla and Santino Marella (in a strange twist). The story revolved around Maria's Playboy participation: Santino is her strongest critic, while Kelly fully supports her. Meanwhile, this helps spice up the Kelly-Layla feud, so it has multiple purposes. The match itself featured a Kelly/Kofi double-team dropkick, and it ended when Kelly was able to hit her Fame-Asser-type finishing move for the mixed tag team victory.

Although it was quite a stretch to logically place Santino and a partner against Kelly and a partner for their differing stance on Maria's decision to pose for Playboy, this match was good in that it put an end to Kofi's squash matches. Now the onus is on WWE to find a new place on the roster for Kingston. Perhaps this marks the beginning of an inter-gender team between he and Kelly. In any case, the lack of roster depth on ECW creates a problematic situation for Kofi. And as for Kelly, she's rolling right now. Her popularity is impressive, and she recently established a new finishing maneuver, one that has resulted in a second consecutive victory for ECW's Former Exhibitionist.

What should you look for next week? Any clue that may suggest whether this week's match was a one-time deal or whether anything here will continue into next week

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 4.5 [up 0.5 since last week]

Previous Feuds
Kelly Kelly: Mike Knox, The Miz, Layla
Layla: Kelly Kelly
Lena: n/a

COLIN DELANEY & TOMMY DREAMER vs. JOHN MORRISON & THE MIZ (5 weeks)

Tommy Dreamer was shown giving Colin Delaney a pep talk backstage. He told him that it all starts in Colin's heart. "Even you can be a champion," Dreamer stated optimistically. Colin looked like he was in complete understanding. "Hey Tommy, you think one day when I become a champion I can get my own entrance music?" Dreamer stared back silently, as if he couldn't believe what he had heard.

In his first official tag team match, Colin teamed with Tommy Dreamer to face John Morrison and The Miz. The bout ended when Dreamer threw Miz into Colin. When those two bumped heads, Dreamer was able to deliver a DDT for the win. So Colin did prove to be indirectly useful.

The backstage pep talk was great in that it told us a lot about these two characters. First, Tommy Dreamer's role is now established as a mentor figure. Secondly, the goal is to ultimately get the WWE Tag Team Titles. And finally, we learned that Colin wants entrance music. Personally, I think the most important item we learned was the third one. Why is that so important? It's always good to know a character's inner motivations and desires.

Knowing that Colin wants his own entrance music is something that's more revealing than you'd think. He really wants to be a WWE superstar, and he wants all that comes with that position. Tommy might think that the championship is the only goal, but Colin has his sights on something much more humble; he wants music that can serve as an identifier, that can differentiate him from others and give him more of a presence. The idea that he would probably be content with smaller things is telling for his character. Most people probably didn't even consider the fact that he didn't have entrance music or that the music, even if it's extraordinarily generic, will be important to him. Nicely done.

What should you look for next week? The WWE Tag Team Title match between Miz & Morrison and Dreamer & Colin

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 7 [up 0.5 since last week]

Previous Feuds
Colin Delaney & Tommy Dreamer: n/a
John Morrison & The Miz: Jesse & Festus, Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore


POTENTIAL FEUDS

(1) Kofi Kingston vs. Santino
(2) Stevie Richards vs. Mike Knox


Thanks for reading, everyone. If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, feel free to email me at newthtorch@hotmail.com. I greatly appreciate all the feedback that I receive, and I will respond to every email. Please insert a word in the subject line that deals with a wrestling topic or write something such as "WWE," "feud," or "Nunzio" so that I know it's not junk mail.

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