By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

ECW HITS

Opening Segment: ECW got off to a good start. On a one hour show, I typically am less thrilled with a long talking segment than on Raw or Smackdown, but they are needed from time to time, and this was one of those times. Plus, this one was well done. Christian gave a good brief promo about becoming the ECW Champion. I liked how he anticipated Jack Swagger interrupting him, only to be interrupted by Tommy Dreamer instead. The home town crowd seemed to really respond positively to Dreamer. Swagger's eventual interruption was also well done. He cut a good promo about Christian cheating and Dreamer not deserving a Title shot (maybe he's got a point), and about getting his rematch at Judgment Day. Tiffany then came out to set up the PPV match, plus the main event for this week.

Kidd vs. Finlay: It was refreshing to watch Finlay wrestle without Hornswoggle at ringside. His match with Tyson Kidd was good. Kidd has shown a lot of high flying ability, but he showed more in this match with his mat based attack and his knee submission holds. He also showed a lot of personality with his yelling at Finlay during those holds. The match had good action and told the story of Finlay's injured knee and his attempt to overcome that injury. My only complaint was that a shillelagh shot to a knee, even a previously injured knee, shouldn't get a three count. That should have been a set up for Kidd's cool spring board elbow drop finisher that he hasn't been able to use in a few weeks. This was a chance to get that move over against an opponent the stature of Finlay. But, that was a minor complaint in an otherwise good match.

Dreamer vs. Christian: This was a good main event ECW Title match. It wasn't great, but with Tommy Dreamer at this point in his career, I don't think it would be smart to expect more than a good match, which is what it was. Christian played more of a heel role with Dreamer as the local underdog. The dynamic worked well. They both worked hard to put on a good 13 minute match. Christian worked on Dreamer's arm, while Dreamer was able to hit some high impact moves, like the superplex and the reverse DDT to stay in the match. It built nicely to the Swagger interference. That made sense given what happened at the start of the show. He got his heat back after losing the Title by taking out both Dreamer and Christian in the end in a dominant performance. I assume they are setting up a triple threat for the PPV.

No Raw Rebound: ECW was good two weeks ago when there wasn't any Raw footage. It wasn't as good last week when there was. It was better this week when there wasn't. Now, the lack of a Raw Rebound wasn't the only reason why this week's show was better than last. Last week didn't feature any good wrestling, while this week had two good 10 + minute matches. But, getting to watch ECW without having to sit through a long video recap of what happened the night before is always preferable.

ECW MISSES

Kozlov: One of the things that I liked about Vladimir Kozlov's initial push last year on Smackdown was that he was built up as a strong unstoppable heel fighter, not as some anti-American gimmick. I always thought it was stupid and low class of the wrestling fans to chant "U-S-A" during his matches when he wasn't playing up his Russian background and never once said anything bad about America. However, WWE is now playing into those xenophobic issues by having him wear a Russian military uniform. His talk about global domination isn't quite anti-American, but it is closer to those issues than he has been before. He got over as a heel before, he doesn't need to do the tired foreigner gimmick. Plus at the end of the day, he still sucks in the ring.

Gregory Helms: This Miss is for casting Gregory Helms as a backstage interviewer in the first place. Now, he hasn't wrestled on tv in quite awhile. It is possible that he is hurt and can't wrestle, and I haven't heard about it. If that is the case then at least this is a way to keep him on tv until he can wrestle again. But, if this is a case where WWE is moving him out of the ring then I am against it. He is a very talented wrestler. He should be given a chance to show what he can do in the ring against someone like Tyson Kidd or Evan Borne. I'd like to see those matches. He was good in the role, and his "whats up with dat?" question at the end was funny. If this is just a way to reintroduce him and set him up to eventually wrestle again, then it will be fine as it is a chance to show some personality and do some mic work. If that is the case, then in a future Hits & Misses I will rescind this Miss. But for now, I am disappointed that this is what he was brought to ECW to do.

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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