The Specialists
LOGIC CHECK - 8/26: Keeping tabs on what made sense, what tested suspension of disbelief, and what was just ridiculous Aug 27, 2008 - 10:25:15 PM
The show opened with Teddy Long dancing his way out onto the ramp after a somewhat less than stellar introduction from his main squeez... er... assistant, Tiffany. He was very excited to announce that ECW will also be contributing a Championship Scramble match to the Unforgiven Menu. Long then directed the viewing audience to WWE.com for a complete breakdown of the rules for the Scramble since there isn't enough time on ECW to get through them all. I'm just kidding, of course, I'm sure if you included the overrun there would be plenty of time to give the rules their proper exposition.
Thoughts: What's more exciting than two Championship Scramble matches? If you said "three Championship Scramble matches!" then you probably came up with the concept in the first place. On the plus side, at least this ECW title match is guaranteed twenty minutes of PPV time. It's also a good idea as it will give WWE another theme PPV that they can brand for years to come. The Scramble match has potential to be something fresh and unique if they devote the proper amount of attention to making sure that each match stands out from the others. Seeing the rash of injuries lately should be more than enough motivation for WWE to start elevating some of the young guys involved.
Me and My Shadow...
Mark Henry was understandably less than pleased with Teddy Long's piggybacking onto Mike Adamle's concept. He showed up in the G.M.s office to proclaim how unfair this whole match was to him as the champ. Teddy listened to every word the World's Strongest Champion and his hypeman had to say but was umoved. A few Teddyisms later, Henry and Atlas stormed off, presumably on the hunt for a Theodore Long to English dictionary.
Thoughts: This was a pretty good segment; naturally, Henry would be upset since this particular concept is not very champion friendly. Henry continues to grow as an entertainer and I look forward to each time he gets the microphone. It's pretty incredible to think about how far he has come as a performer, both inside the ring and out. A few more months of being booked like this and the taste of Sexual Chocolate will be forever removed from our collective tastebuds. It's kinda strange to see Tony Atlas reduced to playing Flava Flav to Henry's Chuck D but seeing as Henry is firing on all cylinders right now, I'm not sure what else you would do with Atlas' character. Someone find this man a giant clock.
Mama said Knox you out...
Mike Knox and Finlay had their long awaited first physical confrontation in a qualifying match for the Championship Scramble. With title aspirations on the line, both men proceeded to pound the holy hell out of each other in a very stiff match. Knox had the advantage until he decided to take a swipe at Hornswoggle which allowed Finlay to seize momentum. Hornswoggle returned the favor by slipping a grand total of two shillelaghs into the ring with the first being confiscated by the ref. Using this distraction, Finlay blasted Knox with the second shillelagh and scored the pin.
Thoughts: This was a pretty methodical match until the pace quickened once Finlay began his comeback so it didn't really feel like these two men, who had to separated by a mob of people last week, were really trying to hurt the other. That's odd because given the way Knox has been portrayed lately, I thought he would be the aggressor and try to take it to Finlay as hard and as fast as possible. It also would have helped further the fued along if Knox had gone over since it would give Finlay something to seek revenge on next week, especially if the loss had come after some kind of assault on the Swog. It's also kind of strange to have the fan favorites cheat to win. I'm not sure what the message is for all of the fans of the Irish duo when their heros have to resort to treachery to win a match.
Logistical Ruminations:
- Nothing says extreme like an Irishman, a leprechaun and a bunch of kids frolicking around in the ring.
- Evan Bourne should have been put in the Scramble. Not as a knock on the Miz, who has improved a great deal and is a decent heel in his own right, but Bourne would have added a much needed energy boost at Unforgiven. No one watching the PPV on Sunday, who doesn't watch ECW, is going to be heading over to Sci-Fi to watch the Miz. Seeing someone with such a flashy and innovative offense like Bourne's might have been able to bring over some new viewers.
- Chavo Guerrero is only employed because of his last name.
- I feel bad for Tommy Dreamer. The poor guy has been buried so deep that NOAH was able to dig him up and they're having him take on Morishima next weekend.
- I like how Hardy and Morrison kept reversing out of each other's finishing moves. Those two had a great match that really sucked you in with the nearfalls and their combined sense of urgency towards scoring the pin. Too bad about Morrison though, it'll be interesting to see how he fits into the ECW title picture after Unforgiven.
- That Bangkok line was so ridiculously awful. I just can't believe someone was actually paid to put that to paper.
- No Ricky Atlas?
The Judgement:
This was a great hour of WWE television. It's so nice to watch a wrestling program from start to finish and have the complete focus be on the world title. I'm not very thrilled with the choices for the Scramble because the match-up doesn't exactly induce a sense of excitement. Chavo and the Miz are just really bland wrestlers and Finlay's style isn't really suited for a match with a frenetic pace. We got some longer matches tonight and everybody worked really hard to put over how important the ECW title is.
Score: 8.0
That's it for this edition of the Logic Check. I'll be back on Friday with my usual warped take of As the Impact Zone Turns.
Got a comment? Have a difference of opinion? Drop me a line at adunn.torch@gmail.com.
ABOUT ME:
I've been a wrestling fan for twenty years, I reside in Dallas, Tex. and I wish I had as many nicknames as John Morrison.
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