By Chris Newth, PWTorch contributor

With Judgment Day now in the books, it's time to shift focus once again to another WWE feud. After examining the Orton-Triple H rivalry on Raw as well as the Edge-Hardy storyline on Smackdown, the next feud should come straight from the ECW brand, and what better time than during the lead-up to WWE's next PPV: Extreme Rules?

Although the new heel faction on ECW—consisting of David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd, and Natalya—has a tremendous amount of potential, the brand's main event rivalry pitting ECW Champion Christian against the pompous former champion, Jack Swagger, is currently the most compelling storyline on Tuesday nights.

This history between Christian and Swagger isn't very extensive. Christian was able to become the number one contender and ultimately defeat Swagger for the ECW Title, and Swagger has been on the chase ever since. Although not a major focal point on ECW's television show, the premise of Christian using Swagger's own cheating tactics to keep the title around his waist has been a continual theme on PPV.

But WWE has strategically inserted two other characters into this storyline to enhance the feud even more. Recently promoted interim General Manager of ECW, Tiffany has been a proverbial thorn in Swagger's side for months. Those two have shared multiple backstage segments, and they have butted heads numerous times, especially after Tiffany received her executive promotion.

Also added to the equation is Tommy Dreamer, whose own storyline is ramping up as the June 6th deadline nears. Months ago Dreamer set an ultimatum for himself: if he doesn't win the ECW Title by the time his WWE contract expires, he would voluntarily retire. Well, the first week of June is quickly approaching, and Dreamer has since been thrust into the middle of the ongoing Christian-Swagger rivalry.

This week advanced the entire storyline nicely in the span of three days. On Tuesday night, Swagger refused to leave the ring at the start of ECW, prompting Tiffany to assert some executive authority in order to gain some control of her show. After threatening to ban Swagger from any future ECW Title match, the All-American American conceded, but that didn't stop him from shoving Christian off the entrance ramp onto the concrete floor below. An apparent knee injury caused by the fall made Christian's match against Paul Burchill more difficult, but the ECW Champion managed to pull out a victory nevertheless.

Two days later on WWE Superstars, Christian granted Tommy Dreamer an ECW Title opportunity—an admirable act to prove that he's not only a fighting champion, but also a generous guy who realizes Dreamer's predicament. The match ended in a no contest when Swagger jumped onto the ring apron and started fighting with Christian. After the match, it appeared that the tension between Dreamer and Christian was on the rise as Dreamer felt cheated from a great opportunity that was completely destroyed by Swagger, and even partly destroyed by Christian, who may not have had to start fighting his current rival in the middle of a title matchup.

Overall, this Christian-Swagger feud is truly solid. Christian serving as a fresh babyface in WWE is working very nicely, and he's using his veteran status to complement Jack Swagger's relatively newcomer status (especially as a main-eventer). Both characters are well-developed, and Swagger is growing into his heel role particularly well, even though he's constantly backing down to Tiffany's threats.

The cheating aspect of the rivalry is an underlying factor, but not something that's driving the storyline forward; there's just enough of it to add flavor to the narrative without diluting it. And Dreamer's involvement adds another dimension because it puts Christian in an awkward place—although he wants to give a fellow babyface veteran a fair shot at the title, he also wants to put an end to his current quarrel with Jack Swagger, who just refuses to get out of the picture.



Comments? Suggestions? Thoughts on the storyline? Feel free to email me at newthtorch@hotmail.com.

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