By Chris Newth, PWTorch contributor

Extreme Championship Wrestling
June 3, 2008
Upcoming PPV: Night of Champions (fourth-to-last episode before PPV)

ECW STORYLINES AND FEUDS

Welcome to the thirty-eighth 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 Champion KANE vs. WWE Tag Team Champions JOHN MORRISON & THE MIZ (5 weeks)

After Punk faced ECW Champion Kane in the main event matchup on ECW, John Morrison and The Miz attacked an unsuspecting Kane, hurling punches, kicks, and knees to The Big Red Machine. The show closed after the assault showing Morrison and Miz happily standing tall as Kane lay injured on the mat.

Of course, had The Big Show not been injured at One Night Stand—had he been available to really begin his singles feud with The Big Red Machine—this week's ECW would have undoubtedly emphasized their issues and the ECW Title instead of continuing the tiff between Kane and the reigning WWE Tag Team Champions. However, WWE needs to buy some time with Show's absence, and this may be the logical way to do it. There really isn't too much to this storyline. Miz and Morrison seem to be against Kane simply because Kane's the babyface champion. Morrison has more reason to dislike The Big Red Machine because he sometimes finds himself in contention matches for the ECW Title. Overall, however, this rivalry is just meant as filler, with neither heel having a chance to beat Kane individually.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 6 [same as last week]

Previous Feuds
Kane: Finlay, Big Daddy V, Shelton Benjamin, Chuck Palumbo, Chavo Guerrero
John Morrison & The Miz: Jesse & Festus, Yang & Moore, Dreamer & Delaney

ECW Champion KANE vs. THE BIG SHOW (2 weeks w/ 1 week hiatus)

Show didn't, well, show this week after suffering a face injury at One Night Stand in the Singapore Cane Match that determined the number one contender (a match that he won, by the way). It is expected that Kane will resume this feud upon Show's return, but for now it looks as though WWE is supplanting Miz and Morrison in Show's stead.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): n/a

Previous Feuds
Kane: Finlay, Big Daddy V, Shelton Benjamin, Chuck Palumbo, Chavo Guerrero
Big Show: Floyd Mayweather, The Great Khali

CM PUNK vs. BIG SHOW vs. WWE Tag Team Champion JOHN MORRISON vs. TOMMY DREAMER vs. CHAVO GUERRERO (3 weeks)

In the opening contest of ECW, CM Punk, John Morrison, Tommy Dreamer, and Chavo Guerrero fought in a Fatal Four-Way Match with the winner advancing to face ECW Champion Kane later in the show. The match ended when Chavo hit his frog splash on Dreamer before Punk lifted him into position for the Go 2 Sleep. Punk delivered the move and covered Chavo for the win. After the match, Punk celebrated by holding up his Money in the Bank briefcase. In the main event, Punk met Kane one-on-one. The match ended when Kane delivered a chokeslam for the three count after many near-falls and a GTS attempt.

The Fatal Four-Way Matchup, essentially a rematch from One Night Stand without the sticks or Show, was a nice gesture on WWE's part to alleviate some of the disappointment for Show's necessary absence this week. Even better was the match between Kane and CM Punk. It's refreshing to see WWE put Punk in a competitive main event match against the ECW Champion and almost make it seem like he could pull off a victory. The near-falls and multiple signature move counters made both competitors look strong. Perhaps luckily for Punk, the conclusion of the show was not Kane in celebration, but rather Kane in a beating. Overall, this feud featuring ECW's top contenders is likely over now that Big Show has won the top spot against Kane at Night of Champions. The real question is whether WWE starts something significant here with the remaining wrestlers or whether they decide to hold off until the WWE Draft in a few weeks.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): n/a

Previous Feuds
CM Punk: Elijah Burke, John Morrison, Chavo Guerrero
John Morrison & The Miz: Jesse & Festus, Yang & Moore, Dreamer & Delaney
Tommy Dreamer: John Morrison & The Miz, Mike Knox
Chavo Guerrero: Rey Mysterio, CM Punk, Kane
Big Show: Floyd Mayweather, The Great Khali

COLIN DELANEY vs. ARMANDO ESTRADA (11 weeks w/ 3 weeks hiatus)

The show began with the ECW crew moving things out of Armando Estrada's office. When asked, they responded by saying that the General Manager told them to get rid of his stuff. Suddenly, Teddy Long appeared to give Armando the bad news: ECW has a new GM, and his name is Theodore Long. Why? He didn't specify. After the first match, they cut back to a conversation between Long and Estrada. Long said that the WWE Board of Directors put him in charge, and he wanted to dock Estrada some pay because McMahon's Million Dollar Mania required a lot of space in the budget. When Estrada pleaded for money, Long said that he was a fair businessman. Long then put Estrada in a match against Matt Hardy, which somehow is a business compromise.

The match between Hardy and Estrada was predictably short, and it concluded with Hardy winning after the Twist of Fate. After the match, Teddy Long's music hit, and he stepped out on stage to tell the referee to stay where he was. Long told Armando that he's giving him one more chance to prove that he deserves all the money in his contract. He introduced Colin Delaney as Estrada's next opponent (a reversal of the Estrada-Delaney formula), and Colin ran to the ring. He rolled Armando up, but Estrada kicked out. However, Colin eventually picked up the win after reversing Estrada's reverse lifting DDT into another roll-up. After winning, Colin celebrated with an equally happy Matt Hardy.

Later in the back, Estrada pleaded Long to keep him until the draft because he might be shifted to Raw or Smackdown. Long was about to fire him, but decided that he could still wrestle on ECW, but not as an official ECW wrestler. Instead, Estrada now has to earn his contract, much like Colin did. "You know, what goes around comes around, playa," Long said.

This is a strong midcard storyline for ECW. The fact that so many segments were dedicated to it had more to do with establishing Teddy Long as a GM that would right Estrada's wrongs than anything else. If Long simply showed up and did very little, his new position in WWE wouldn't appear very significant. As for Estrada, it's nice to see the writers place him in a position from which he must earn the right to be called an ECW Superstar. If they didn't want him to be GM and they also didn't want him to manage anyone, it's a smart move. At this point, he has no credibility as a wrestler, so having him earn it makes sense. The storyline itself is also strong as Long flipped the entire thing around, with the advantage now in the babyface's corner. Let's see how this plays out with Armando scrambling for employment.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 7 [up 1 since last week]

Previous Feuds
Colin Delaney: John Morrison & The Miz
Armando Estrada: n/a

KOFI KINGSTON vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN (7 weeks)

This week, Kofi Kingston joined Tazz and Adamle on commentary as Shelton Benjamin went one-on-one with Matt Sydal. The match wasn't a squash; Sydal got some nice moves on Benjamin. The action eventually spilled to ringside, and when the referee was nearing his ten count, Benjamin gave Sydal a powerbomb right onto Kofi Kingston at the announce table. Sydal and Kingston fell from the chair to the floor, while Shelton reentered the ring and won the match via countout. After the match, Kofi stormed the ring to attack Benjamin. They fought to ringside before Benjamin tossed Kofi into the steel steps. The segment ended with Shelton smiling at his handiwork from the stage as Kofi struggled to get to his feet.

This has turned into a really strong rivalry on ECW. Kofi and Shelton have been feuding for almost two months, and this week continues Benjamin's ongoing momentum against his rival. The introduction of Matt Sydal into the mix was curious. Will he be part of McMahon's promised group of new Superstars or was this a one-week role to advance the Kofi-Shelton feud? The fact that Sydal got a few nice moves on Benjamin during the match hints at the former. Overall, this continues to be an entertaining segment of ECW television, and although it looked a little lopsided in the outset with Kofi winning every match and Shelton providing no threat, things have clearly leveled out in favor of an even back-and-forth fight. Nicely done.

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

Previous Feuds
Kofi Kinston: n/a
Shelton Benjamin: Kane, CM Punk, Money in the Bank

KELLY KELLY vs. LAYLA (5 weeks w/ 2 weeks hiatus)

Where have these two been? It's probably safe to say that this one is over for now (at least until they decide to reignite it for the umpteenth time). It would be really smart for WWE to draft either one of them to another brand and place another diva in ECW. The Kelly-Layla rivalry wore itself out months ago.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 1.5 [down 1 since last week]

Previous Feuds
Kelly Kelly: Miz, Layla, Victoria
Layla: Kelly Kelly


CONCLUDED FEUDS

(1) Kelly Kelly vs. Layla
(2) CM Punk vs. Big Show vs. John Morrison vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Chavo Guerrero


POTENTIAL FEUDS

(1) Kane vs. Big Show
(2) CM Punk vs. Kane
(3) Theodore Long vs. Armando Estrada
(4) Shelton Benjamin vs. Matt Sydal


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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