By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

ECW HITS

Benjamin vs. Archer: On a lame duck episode of ECW, it was nice to see them tie up this loose end with the culmination of this feud. The feud has been well presented and built by WWE. Unfortunately, I don't see that much in Vance Archer at this time, so I haven't been a big fan of it. However, I do appreciate building a mid card feud into a main event match. The match itself was a marginal Hit. It had pretty good wrestling action. They did a nice job with the no DQ stipulation. It wasn't overdone. They had the nice spot with Archer getting to the ropes trying to break the submission hold from Shelton Benjamin, only to be told by the referee that it is no DQ. There was some use of weapons, but only to enhance the action. It also had a satisfying ending with Benjamin coming out on top. I had one major issue with the match, but you'll have to wait and see what that was (if you can't guess).

ECW MISSES

Tiffany: I have complained multiple times about the lines that Tiffany is scripted to say. I'm not a huge fan of her as a performer, but she is ok. But, her character is stupid. From lopsided trades, to letting Sheamus just leave the brand, to silly statements "defending" the lack of ECW on certain WWE PPVs, she has looked really bad as the General Manager. The same was true this week when she said that ECW going off the air isn't a bad thing. I understand wanting to hype the new show and to set into motion the idea that all the wrestlers in the meeting will become free agents. However, isn't the show that she runs going off the air? I am right about that, right? Isn't she losing power in this deal? Maybe I will be shown to be wrong as she will be the head of NXT. But, I still believe she should have more pride in her show that to be having a celebratory party at its demise.

Blood Check: WWE has to from time to time retrain the audience. By that I mean, if you aren't going to do chair shots to the head (which you shouldn't do), then you have to retrain the audience into buying other moves as being just as dangerous (Randy Orton's punt is a great example, or Big Show's knock out punch). Right now, WWE seems to be trying to retrain the audience into accepting the fact that there can't be any blood in a match. I am ok with not allowing blading any more. However, if there is an accidental cut in a match like the small one on Shelton Benjamin, it makes no sense to stop the match at that point. I know there is precedent in other sports, but it is a total distraction during a match. It takes the fans totally out of the action and I guess I don't really understand the motivation behind it. If WWE has a good reason for doing it, then I haven't heard it. It just seems like going too far to be blood-free, especially considering that whenever someone gets a nose bleed (like earlier in the show, or Undertaker at The Royal Rumble), they don't stop the match.

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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