Hello fellow PWTorch readers, my name is Michael Simmons and welcome to a new feature on the site, Under the Microscope. Every week beginning today, I'll take Tuesday night's ECW and put it under the microscope to discover things you may not have noticed if you don't watch the show closely, which, judging by the ratings, not many of you watch anyway.
Before we get started, let me introduce myself. I've been a wrestling fan for almost 20 years and this is something I've loved since the age of three. My fondest memories have been sitting in front of the television watching WCW Saturday Night on TBS. I can be the first one to tell you, I'm not the authority on wrestling and I've never been. When I was a child, I actually thought WCW Thunder was a good show (Shh, don't tell anybody). I'm not here to impress you with any extra knowledge of the wrestling business. I'm not a wrestling insider like Wade or a walking wrestling encyclopedia like Mike Tenay. I'm just a wrestling fan and Torch reader like you.
Like my fellow "Under the Microscope" colleague Lee Stevens stated in his Raw column, this is not a recap; our top-notch Torch reviewers have that covered. Rather, this is a look at some things you maybe have let slip under the radar. For instance, did you catch the Chris Harris sign in the crowd? The sign, which read "Re-sign Braden Walker" was only seen once during the show. This was probably because the person who made the sign came to their senses and realized there is room for only one boring and unimpressive wrestler in ECW, but we'll get to Bam Neely in a minute.
The format will be tweaked as the weeks go by, so bear with me and enjoy the ride while we take a journey through the Land of Extreme!
Has anyone caught on to the fact Matt Striker has filled the ECW color commentator's spot two weeks in a row even though he is listed as a Raw superstar? Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy Striker's commentary and he fits in well with Todd Grisham; however, the lines of brand separation only continue to blur when you see moves like this without at least an attempt at an explanation.
Did you happen to catch Tony Chimmel's ring introduction in which he said Colin Delaney hails from "Rochester, Minnesota?" Maybe Colin switched hometowns in one week, but I'm pretty sure Mr. Delaney comes from New York.
Anyone notice when Matt Striker name-dropped Duke "The Dumpster" Droese? Just in case you're unfamiliar with that name, Michael Droese delighted dozens of fans everywhere in the mid-'90s by portraying a garbage man. The inspiration for the character actually came from Droese's road on the Florida independent circuit.
Why hasn't anyone noticed it's taken Bam Neely five months to have his first singles match on ECW, even though he's technically an ECW superstar?
The announcers made mention of the fact that Evan Bourne spent some time in the Dragon's Gate Dojo in Japan. Bourne has toured with the Dragon Gate promotion and has held Open the Brave Gate Championship for brief time in early 2007.
Striker and Grisham also noted Bourne was the first person under 17 to gain a license to wrestle in Missouri. Bourne got his start in the St. Louis-based Gateway Championship Wrestling promotion.
Todd Grisham provided the unintentional line of the night: "It takes more than a great body to make it in the WWE." Yeah, right. That's why 90 percent of the main event-level talent on Raw and Smackdown are cruiserweights. Give me a break.
Here are a few gems from Matt Striker: "Mike Knox alluded to the fact seeing Finlay in a promotional spot for Summerslam with his son Hornswoggle... that's entertainment! That's what the "E" in "WWE" stands for." He later goes on to say, "It's what we do, we put smiles on people's faces!" Okay, maybe this was a gem from Vince McMahon. I sincerely hope these lines were fed to Striker because those words just oozed company P.R. and felt so unnecessary.
In a funny spot, Matt Striker says Ricky Ortiz needs to "learn his craft" and feels Ortiz is an arrogant person, and according to Striker, nobody likes an arrogant person. Grisham sarcastically agreed and pointed out Striker's hypocrisy in his comment. It was scripted, but still fun.
Todd Grisham failed to call the move that ended the main event: a Side Effect from the second rope. This, while is not an excuse for not calling the move, adds to the question of whether the match was supposed to end at that point. Even though John Morrison seemingly kicked out at two and even the ref stopping the count, the timekeeper rang the bell to conclude the match. It was a very awkward finish that left me asking if the finish was planned or not. After taking the move, Morrison looked legitimately hurt as he stayed in the ring for a few moments after the match until Henry and Hardy squared off. Could Morrison have been injured? Was Matt Hardy supposed to make a tag? Were Mark Henry or Miz supposed to have broken up the three count? Could it be Tony Atlas supposed to have played a role?
Or maybe they just ran out of time.
Just like ECW ran out of time last night, my time is just about up for this first edition of ECW Under the Microscope. Like I said, the format is being tweaked so if you have any suggestions, complaints, praise, or anything to get off your chest, feel free to drop me a line at Sironsim@aol.com. All feedback is appreciated. Thank you for reading!
Michael Simmons has been a wrestling fan for 17 years. He likes to think he has a pretty inquisitive mind. Quite often, he goes into deep thought about some of wrestling's greatest mysteries. You know, thought provoking questions like, "If JBL is a wrestling God, why is his finisher the Clothesline from Hell?" If you know the answer, please e-mail him at Sironsim@aol.com.
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