By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

ECW HITS

Hurricane vs. Ryder: I enjoyed this match. Both The Hurricane and Zack Ryder needed something to do after their recent feuds came to an end. I liked Ryder's opening promo. It was solid. Hurricane was good in his interruption. The physicality at the end worked well to set up a match between the two. I was a bit confused why the match happened right away. It would have been better to have them face next week to build on this week's interaction. I also didn't like the clean win for Ryder (I'm fine with a clean win in general, but not in the first match between these two. That basically puts an end to the feud before it got started). That is a fair amount of negativity in this Hit, so I guess we will call it a marginal Hit for the pre-match interaction and for the actual quality of the match itself which was good.

Goldust vs. Baretta: So far so good on the budding feud of Trent Baretta & Caylen Croft vs. Goldust & Yoshi Tatsu. I liked last week's match between Croft and Tatsu and I enjoyed this match as well. It wasn't quite as good, but it was still good. It went a decent length and featured some nice wrestling. Just as Croft was impressive in his debut singles match, Baretta was too. Goldust continues to perform well when given the chance. This has potential to be a fun feud.

Christian: I enjoyed listening to Christian on guest commentary during the over the top rope challenge for the finals of the ECW Homecoming. I liked how he referenced his previous stint as a guest commentator and brought the announcers a list of good questions to ask during the match. I am not a fan of the ECW announce team, but Christian helped out here.

ECW MISSES

Over the Top Rope Challenge: This match had some promise with the skill of some of the wrestlers involved (though not all). I liked how it started before it officially started with Shelton Benjamin attacking Vance Archer to further their feud that started a few weeks ago. But, the match itself just didn't do it for me. I was particularly annoyed at how Evan Bourne was eliminated so early in the match without having a chance to do anything cool. Benjamin eliminating himself to eliminate Archer was stupid. We've seen battle royale (although this technically wasn't one) big man vs. big man stare downs way too many times (often involving Kane) for the Kane vs. Ezekiel Jackson confrontation at the end to feel special. It just wasn't a good match.

Jackson Wins: I predicted two weeks ago that CM Punk would win the ECW Homecoming. I was wrong. Part of me is happy that I was wrong as Punk can be in the Royal Rumble itself and it is nice to see a current ECW Superstar held up as the #1 contender instead of a current Raw or Smackdown wrestler. However, Punk vs. Christian was the best possible match. Christian vs. Tatsu or Benjamin or Matt Hardy or Bourne would all have had a chance to be quite good. But Jackson vs. Christian? Ugh. I am not looking forward to that match at all. I'm not looking forward to Orton vs. Sheamus either. The assumed Smackdown triple threat could be good, but at this point the Royal Rumble match itself is seeming like the only good reason to order the PPV.

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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