By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

ECW HITS

Kingston & Bourne vs. Knox & Benjamin: This was a good opening tag match, a better quality match than anything on Raw. I find it interesting that on a one hour show like ECW, WWE is willing to allow these guys to have a 5 minute match, while on a two hour show like Raw, WWE is only willing to let their Tag Team Champions have 3 minute matches. I know that 5 isn’t very long, but that match was still longer than any match that Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly have had on Raw in a few months. I would still like to see it go longer, but it was fun while it lasted. Evan Bourne has been impressive in his first two weeks on ECW. There is an excitement to him, like Paul London and Brian Kendrick. I’d love to see him in a match vs. either of those guys.

Main Event: Miz & Morrison vs. Kane & Punk was a solid Main Event. I have mixed feelings about the ending of the match, but I can’t think of a better way to book it without cheating involved. I am glad that the Tag Champions got the clean win. They needed that for their own credibility. Hopefully this will put an end to their feud with Kane & Punk, allowing someone else to move up and get a Title shot at Night of Champions. This will also allow Kane to move on and focus on his upcoming ECW Title defense against The Big Show. The problem with all of this is CM Punk. Where does he go from here? He hasn’t been booked to be very strong since winning Money in the Bank. He has the briefcase, but doesn’t look like Championship material. He did a good job of selling his rip injury during the match, so the fact that the Miz came in illegally and kicked him in the ribs, setting up John Morrison’s finisher gives him an out. But, I don’t think it is much of an out. I realize that I’ve mostly just talked about the end of the match, and where these four go from here. That is because the match was solid and entertaining, but nothing stood out as being great or special to specifically mention.

ECW MISSES

Bourne’s Identity: This is not the first time that WWE has introduced a new wrestler, only to change his name a week or two later. I still remember being slightly amused at a new wrestler coming out, handling his own ring introduction, calling himself, “Mr. Anderson . . . Anderson.” I guess it worked out for Kennedy, so maybe Evan Bourne will work out for Matt Sydal. I just wish that WWE would put a little forethought into these things. Why call him Sydal last week, but Bourne this week? It is insulting to my intelligence. Do they think I won’t remember his name? Evan Bourne is an o.k. name I guess, but it isn’t very good.

McMahon Mania Recap: I hated sitting through these segments live, so why do I want to see them again? From what I’ve read, WWE higher ups are not happy with how the segments went. From what I’ve read, Vince McMahon himself was not happy with his own performance. I know they want to push Money Mania, but showing the dull phone calls in a long video recap is not the way to go. Shouldn’t they have shown a recap of the Highlight Reel? That was clearly the shinning moment of the night. Even showing clips of the build to John Cena vs. Triple H would have made more sense.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.

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