By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

ECW HITS

Opening Segment: This was not a good episode of ECW and this was not a great start to the show. But, it was a mostly good start and it gets a marginal Hit. I liked that Shelton Benjamin and Christian sold the effects of their TLC ladder match. I liked the mutual respect shown in the hand shake which fit in well with the pre-match build. I liked how Benjamin said that he considered punching Christian instead of shaking his hand. William Regal's interruption was well done to bring the special appearance by Kane into the forefront. The opening gave Tiffany a chance to (sort of) explain the ECW Homecoming and it set up two big matches for later in the show. It was well done, but I wasn't thrilled with either of those matches. I wasn't thrilled with Tiffany's performance or Benjamin's mic work.

Abraham Washington Show: This was one of the best Abraham Washington Shows. I have really grown to love Tony Atlas in this role. His laugh makes me laugh. I particularly liked this week how he kept interjecting one liners into the show like when he said that Washington should have won Diva of the Year. Maria was good in her role and I like when she said that she wasn't surprised that Washington didn't win a Slammy since she has seen his show and Atlas interjected "it stinks!"

ECW MISSES

Hurricane vs. The Ripper: I was disappointed in this match for a few reasons. For one, this is the continuation of a feud that has been going for quite some time and WWE seemed to rush into this match too quickly. Then, the match itself was only 5 minutes. It wasn't as good as their previous matches had been. The crowd was totally dead for it, so maybe a longer match would have been a bad idea. I also liked the potential of The Ripper and The Beautiful Nightmare. It might have been a chance for the Burchills to show more personality. I was disappointed that Paul Burchill was unmasked so soon in this angle. But again, considering the dead crowd, maybe they were justified in ending it now.

Raw Rebound: Was it just me, or was this the longest Raw Rebound in history? It seemed like it went on forever. There were three hours to cover, but instead of focusing on one or two main themes from Raw, they tried to cover the entire show and it didn't work. Plus, the show sucked. Who wanted to relive it? And as I have said many times before, who is watching ECW and not Raw?

Regal Turns on Kozlov: Nobody seems to care about the budding feud between Ezekiel Jackson and Vladimir Kozlov. So far, Jackson has been the babyface while Kozlov has been the heel. WWE is switching gears here with this all seeming to be a master plan by Regal to turn on Kozlov as he cost him his match against Jackson and then beat him up afterward. Of Jackson and Kozlov, Jackson would seem to be the better choice for a babyface. I don't really want to see Kozlov as a face. I don't really want him on the tv at all, but he works better as a heel. I could be wrong. Time will tell. However, for now I feel that WWE seemed to be doing this just to swerve the audience for the sake of swerving the audience. And I don't think anyone really cares.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and Superstars 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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