By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

ECW HITS

Jack Swagger: I haven't done an ECW Hits & Misses for a few weeks, covering Jack Swagger's introduction, so I thought I would write a bit about the All American American. I am impressed so far with what Swagger has shown in the ring, although it is too early in his WWE run to say much about his talent. He has good size, and moves around the ring well. He appears to have a cocky attitude and his constant smile could be the thing to get the fans to boo him. Having him beat up Chase Stevens after Stevens was already destroyed by Mike Knox was a nice touch. It puts him solidly in the heel category, and adds something to his otherwise undefined character. I hope to hear him talk soon. A feud with Tommy Dreamer has potential to go either way in helping or hindering his early development, so I will hold off judgment for a few weeks.

Miz vs. Morrison: I was not looking forward to this match as I will detail later, but the former Tag Champs delivered. John Morrison and The Miz put on a good match against each other. The match was very well booked, and Miz & Morrison executed the plan well also. It had a good early feeling out period. Clearly they didn't want to injure each other as both were trying to get a quick pin. The action picked up nicely after the commercial break as pride set in and both really wanted to get the win. At that point, there was good back and forth action with neither holding the advantage for too long, which is particularly important in a heel vs. heel match when the live crowd can get restless. I was worried about this leading to a possible break up for the team, but the double count down relieved some of my worries. That was a good way to end the match, and looked believable after the fall from the top turnbuckle.

ECW MISSES

Opening Segment: This is a marginal Miss. I enjoyed the early rantings of Miz & Morrison. They got in some good lines about Evan Bourne and the other newer ECW wrestlers who are pare of Teddy Long's New Superstars Initiative. The problem was when Long came out. The segment went downhill as Miz & Morrison argued with the ECW General Manager. Part of the problem is that the rhetoric sounded a bit too much like TNA, as a veteran team was complaining about having to deal with young unproven wrestlers. Part of it was that I don't want to see Miz & Morrison break up, and the fact that they were going to wrestle each other was a hint that a break up might be in the works. Also, the opening segment failed to do what its primary goal should be, which is to make me want to stay tuned in. It didn't get me excited about the rest of the show. Although I ended up enjoying the Main Event as I talked about above, I was not looking forward to it, or the possible match with Ricky Ortiz.

Tiffany: So, I guess Tiffany is the new ECW slut. I don't see much point in having her as an Assistant General Manager (or as Michael Scott might say, "assistant to the general manager"). I have complained about that before. Teddy Long needs an assistant to run a one hour show? He had trouble with his last assistant, so why do it again? And now, Tiffany seems to only be around to flirt with male wrestlers like Ricky Ortiz. If she is going to be an Assistant GM, then have her be more of a serious character. If you want her to play this character, then give her a different job. This is all about her character, not her performance.

Divas on ECW: After my recent complaints about the talent arrangement between ECW and Raw, it appears that the old talent arrangement between ECW and Smackdown is still in effect. So, can ECW wrestlers show up on any show? They can't fill one hour without help from one of the other two shows? Michelle McCool vs. Maryse was decent, and Maryse is showing improvement, but why are they having their third match in just a few weeks on ECW? Why are they on ECW at all? Will WWE ever put a stop to this brand mingling? I doubt it.

Where's Matt Hardy?: Mark Henry gave a brief promo about challenging Matt Hardy for the ECW World Championship at No Mercy. That was the only hype for a PPV match on the entire show. Hardy is the Champ of this brand, and he should be on every week, period. By not having him on, it demeans the show and the Title. It also makes it more difficult to get some of ECW's loyal fans to buy the PPV when you do so little to hype the one ECW match at the PPV.

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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