A.A Norman of Tulsa, Okla. (9.0) Best match: Punk vs. Morrison. Worst match: Thorn/Burke vs. Dreamer/Richards. About effing time! I would watch the show regularly if I thought that we were going to see action like that every Tuesday night. We have a little predictability at first with Balls jobbing to Miz and the heels vs. the originals, but the main event was amazing. If I didn't already know how it was going to turn out, it would have been quite exciting (and even though I thought I knew the ending, there were times when I thought it might have been another Internet rumor gone wrong). Great show by John Morrison and C.M. Punk. C.M. carried the show for months and deserves this. I will miss Tuesdays with Morrie-son, Tuesday Night Nitro, or whatever he calls it, but hey, 30 days, buddy!
Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (9.0): Best: Punk vs. Morrison. Worst: Striker vs. Boogeyman. Considering what the new ECW has to deal with, most especially the paper thin roster, the effort made by all should be lauded. The interaction between C.M. Punk and Armando Estrada was very good and will serve well for what's to come. Matt Striker vs. Boogeyman wasn't terrible, but it still was what it was, but at least Striker got to be in ring. I miss Striker as a wrestler. Balls vs. Miz added one more piece to their story as Kelly gets further from Miz and closer to Balls. Tazz and Joey Styles, especially Tazz, tried real hard not to bring up the New Breed-Originals feud, which confuses me as it was only a few months ago that it existed. At the same time, there could be a change up of match series, with Richards-Burke and Dreamer-Thorn to keep things fresh. Punk-Morrison should have been the match at Summerslam even if they stayed with Morrison for the win. It's a shame a major mistake cost Morrison the ECW Championship. Hopefully the time off (assuming he's also leaving) won't cause his progress he was making to go backwards. Even without the mistake, Tazz used the always classic Smith Barney catchphrase saying that Punk got the title "the old fashioned way... He earned it." And he did.
Thomas Whitworth of St. Louis Mo. (7.0) Best Match: Morrison/Punk. Worst Match: There were other matches? The simple fact that I'm compelled to write a review of an ECW show should be proof of just how good John Morrison and C.M. Punk were tonight. Giving Punk the title was long overdue. He's too good on a consistent basis to not be rewarded for it. It's just unfortunate that his big win was wasted on TV, and that it had to come as a result of the Wellness Policy and what I'm assuming will be a suspension of John Morrison. The hell of it is, is that Johnny Nitro has really come along since his move to ECW. This match is the first time I've felt that John Morrison deserves his push. Despite having a lame gimmick, he's really embraced his character and gotten it over. His mic skills are improving, and his in-ring work has become reminiscent of a young Shawn Michaels. The "Main Event" guys need to watch Morrison sell his bumps and take notes. This match really showed that he and Punk are the future of the wrestling business. The false finishes between these two had me on the edge of my seat. I was actually excited by something on WWE television for a change! It's been far too long since I've felt that way and it felt damn good. If Raw had matches like this to accompany their mediocre storylines, maybe I'd buy a PPV or two. (I'm talking to you Vince. You AND your bastard child). Speaking of Triple H, in response to Ian Carter's question in Raw Reax #2, The Latin phrase in Hunter's video means "On your knees Dog."
PWTORCH FORMAT CONVENTIONS
For the sake of clarity to our readers (and to save us time editing these same things over and over), please follow these simple conventions when writing Torch Reax:
-Wrestlers teaming together should be connected with "&" symbol (e.g. Hunter & Michaels, Devon & Ray) or with a "/" (e.g. Animal/Hawk, Harris/Storm), but not dashes and not the word "and."
-To designate wrestlers who are fighting, feuding, or wrestling each other, put a dash (-) between them (e.g. Michaels-McMahon, Jarrett-Sting, Hogan-Andre) or use "vs."
-The word versus should always be abbreviated this way: "vs." with a period afterward (not "v." or "v/s" or "VS" or "VS." or any other way).
-Plus, it's just our policy, but we don't indulge wresting promotions' strange spelling fetishes where they spell Raw, Smackdown, Heat, Impact, etc. with the haphazard capitalization of various leTTeRz. It seems very "junior high," so no RAW (it's Raw), no iMPACT (it's Impact), etc.
-Please try to avoid overuse of dot-dot-dots. If you have a thought that's "trailing off," you can use for effect, but otherwise, just use periods, commas, and our personal favorite, semicolons if you dare. We have always had a policy of only one exclamation point and no ALL CAPS. Let your words convey the meaning of your point. There's many to choose from out there.
INCREDIBLE BENEFITS! Over 50 full-length audio updates per month (iPod compatible)... New weekly award-winning Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter (text and printable pdf versions) with latest exclusive insider news, new Torch Talks, great columns, Keller's cover story, much more... Hundreds of full-length back issues of PWTorch Newsletter from late-'80s to today... Ad-free access to PWTorch.com's Main Listing... VIP Forum with interaction with other subscribers and Torch staff... Torch Talk Library with text and audio of hundreds of interview installments from last 20 years... Great layout... Deepest archives on pro wrestling history anywhere... Keller's PWTorch Today PDF Bulletins with email alerts... VIP Email reports on major PPVs and TV shows... Staff Roundtable Reviews (text and audio) followiing major events... The best staff of writers and world class reporting since 1987... We'd love for you to join us and experience the most entertaining, authoritative, experienced staff of professional reporters and commentators in the business...
Compare the value of four or five months of PWTorch VIP content to the price of just one PPV. Can you cut 25 cents a day from your budget to make room for PWTorch VIP?
AND NEW FOR 2009! Monthly "Vintage Audio Torch Talks." We are releasing for the first time ever audio versions of our text Torch Talk updates, the historical first series of insider interviews ever. Wade Keller's newsmaking in-depth interviews with wrestling's biggest names are now being made available exclusively to VIP members. But you must be a member each month, as these are not archived, so they are replaced with a new one each month! This debuted in January 2009 with a 68 minute interview with the late "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. Who's next? Hulk Hogan? Eric Bischoff? The Rock? Goldberg? Jeff Hardy?