By Michael Simmons, Torch specialist

Hello everybody and welcome to yet another week of the column that dares to go beyond what meets the eye. Ladies and gentlemen, this ... is ECW: Under the Microscope.

Just a reminder, this is not a recap. If you want match by match analysis and results, check out Keller's and Parks's ECW TV reports on the main page. If you want ECW analysis, check out the ECW Roundtable Reviews on the main page as well. This is the place that picks up on the little things you might have missed.

For instance, at the top of the show, Jack Swagger's theme, the "Get on Your Knees" hit, and the ECW Champion made his way to the ring. Unfortunately for the champ, his belt almost didn't make it with him. He dropped his belt on the ramp. To his credit, he picked up the belt shortly after.

Since his debut, Swagger has been compared to Brock Lesnar in many ways, with the legitimate college athletic background, tremendous learning curve, and even slightly in appearance. I suppose the comparisons will continue after this incident. Taken from a 2003 episode of WWE Smackdown:



Swagger is in good company, isn't he?

This week's show takes place from the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. The arena, which opened in 2003, was the site of the 2005 Royal Rumble. Before this, the Selland Arena was the primary home of WWE shows, including the '96 Rumble and 1998's Fully Loaded pay-per-view. In an interesting side note, of the 28 wrestlers and managers that appeared on that show, only JBL (known then as Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw), Mark Henry, Kane, The Undertaker, and Triple H remain with the company now.

In our last look through the Extreme Microscope, I recalled my favorite WrestleMania 21 promotional trailer, the Basic Instinct parody and in just in case you missed it, here's what I had to say:

"My favorite trailer was the Basic Instinct parody with Benoit, Jericho, Moolah, Mae Young, and Stacy Keibler. It seems like I'm missing somebody though. Hmm, I wonder what Christian is doing these days.

I'm not taking credit for Christian's return to ECW, but it may seem like instead of looking through a microscope, I may be looking into a crystal ball.

If that is the case, I really don't wonder what Ricky Ortiz is doing these days.
Almost immediately after Christian's music hit, Matt Striker nearly ruined the effect of the return, calling it "Instantly classic." For those who don't watch TNA (about 97 percent of wrestling fans everywhere), Christian gave himself the moniker of "The Instant Classic" early in his run with the company.

As I'm typing this, I'm resisting the urge to type "Cage" after Christian's name. While may know him by that name in TNA, he actually came up with that name early on in his wrestling career before he even entered WWE. It is said he spontaneously came up with the name combining Christian Slater and Nicholas Cage. While Nicholas Cage has done well for himself, let's hope Christian's WWE run will last longer than Slater's short-lived series, "My Own Worst Enemy," which only lasted nine episodes.

During the opening exchange between Swagger and Christian, Swagger referred to himself as a "wrestling prodigy." So, by my calculations, we've had a wrestling god, a wrestling prodigy, a wrestling machine, and a genetic jackhammer. Which one doesn't fit?

Tyson Kidd made his debut on ECW tonight with his valet, Natalya. Of course, Natalya made the switch from Smackdown to ECW, and Kidd, otherwise known as T.J. Wilson, finally got the call up from developmental. Wilson is another product of the Stu Hart Dungeon, and has close ties with the Hart family overall, as he is close friends with Teddy Hart, D.H. Smith, and has dated Natalya for over seven years.

Wilson's opponent this week was Bao Nguyen, a wrestler known throughout the Northern California independent scene. He trained to be a professional wrestler in January 2003 and has wrestled for many promotions on the west coast, including the Cauliflower Alley Club out of Las Vegas and Supreme Pro Wrestling in Sacramento.

The number one rule of wrestling broadcasting is rather simple: never forget who is actually wrestling, right? The line of the night came during the main event of Christian vs. Jack Swagger, in which they were headed towards the commercial break, and Todd Grisham said, "Our main event continues next...Swagger versus Striker." Right after the slip-up, Striker chimed in and said, "I'm not wrestling." (Instantly) Classic.

During Christian's match with ECW Champion Jack Swagger, Finlay sat in on commentary and quipped, "I almost forgot how good Christian was." The announcers went out of their way to not mention his TNA days, and even though they neglected to mention his two-time NWA Championship reign, he did capture the WWE Intercontinental, European, Tag Team, Hardcore and, believe it or not, Light Heavyweight Championships.

Speaking of Finlay and Christian, the two of them, along with Hornswoggle, had a few words to say to each other backstage. To be fair, Finlay and Christian spoke while Hornswoggle well, grunted. Is anyone else annoyed by Horny as much as I am? A few years ago, Stone Cold Steve Austin gave Christian a certain nickname, but to me, Hornswoggle is the real Creepy Little...

Michael Simmons goes "Under The Microscope" for ECW (almost) every week. He has been a wrestling fan for 18 years and is co-host of The Atomic Drop Wrestling Show. You can e-mail him at Sironsim@aol.com.

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