By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

ECW HITS

Fu Naki & Yang vs. Miz & Morrison: This was a much better match than I expected. I was expecting a squash and was surprised when it cut to commercial. Kung Fu Naki and Jimmy Wang Yang in a two segment match? It turned out to be good. I am not a fan of Funaki's new gimmick, but I have no problem with him as a performer. I would love to see a better role for Yang. So, I have no problem with the two of them giving The Miz and John Morrison trouble. The match dragged in the middle with the prolonged beating on Funaki, but it picked up nicely at the end, leading to a very nice sequence with Yang missing the moonsault and Morrison nailing the springboard kick for the win.

Henry - Atlas: It was interesting to see some tension between Mark Henry and Tony Atlas. Henry played his part very well, as did Atlas. I liked the change in tone after it appeared that Henry had a change in heart and stopped berating Atlas. I don't know if a babyface turn will work with Atlas. He is a legit Hall of Famer, but he is also very unknown to many modern wrestling fans, who only know him from his current role. Will they respond to an eventual turn? If the writing is done right and the performances are good, then there is a chance for it to succeed. So far so good for step one in the process.

Slammy Award Winning Announcers: Todd Grisham and Matt Striker deserved the award for Announcers of the Year. They haven't been together long, but they have developed better chemistry then Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross and Tazz. They find a way to give each other a hard time, without it feeling forced. Grisham doesn't play the "cheer for the babyface" play by play guy, and Striker doesn't play the "cheer for the heel" color commentator. I like that Grisham can give as well as take. He has handled himself well in the role. Striker has been a revelation. His line that worms taste like cold spaghetti and dirt was one of the best lines from an announcer all year. They make bland matches more fun to watch. The main event is an example. It wasn't a bad match, but it wasn't very good either. Yet they made it more watchable. They did a great job of building up Tony Atlas for example. Newer fans got to hear what made him special in the ring once upon a time. They do a good job every week, but perhaps because of winning the award, I was even more appreciative of that job this week than most.

ECW MISSES

Slammy Recaps: Fortunately, WWE decided not to replay the video package on Mr. Kennedy's movie, so when we see it on Smackdown, it will only be the second time. Unfortunately, they showed three recap videos on the Slammy Awards. I enjoyed Raw. With one major exception, I liked the Slammy segments. However, I just saw them last night. I don't need to see a recap. As I've said before, I don't need to see any recap on ECW, and I can't imagine too many fans who do, since nobody watches ECW who hasn't already seen Raw.

Hardy's Promo: I like short and sweet, but Matt Hardy's promo about Vladimir Kozlov's challenge was a little too short for my tastes. He is the ECW Champion. He should be the centerpiece of this show. His role should not be relegated to a ten second (give or take) promo. What he said was good, and he delivered the line well. However, I would have liked to see more t.v. time to the Champion.

Boogeyman: I hope WWE takes the dead silence that Boogeyman was met with from the live crowd as a sign that he needs to go away again. The gimmick has had its moments. He has provided us fans with some entertainment. But, was anybody at home missing this guy? It didn't sound like it from the live crowd's response. It is just the same thing as before, only with slightly more freaky face paint.

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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