Kurt K. of Milwaukee, Wisc.: (0.5): Best Match: Burke vs. Dreamer. Worst: Punk vs. "Mr. Bodyslam" Mike Knox. So after three weeks of decent matches leading up to the title shot at No Mercy, they just throw away all goodwill by having V crush Dreamer for the shot. Why did they bother with the series if that's what would happen? I couldn't be any less excited that Mabel gets his first PPV title shot in 12 years. McMahon comes on and makes the same announcement they had on the website all day. At least there was progression in the Balls-Kelly storyline, as they revealed Miz owns Extreme Expose's contracts. Still, I don't want to see Viscera vs. Punk, and was mad I was teased with the more compelling Tommy trying to win it one more time storyline. And where the hell is Dancin' Stevie Richards?

Jay Povo of Sturbridge, Mass. (2.5): Best: Burke-Dreamer Worst: BDV, no John Morrison. After a good while of solid programming, ECW picked a bad time to have a poor show. The biggest crowd reaction all night was for Vince's announcement about Cena, who is on another show. Not good for the product. The feud between the Miz and Balls puts me to sleep. Mike Knox is a terrible wrestler; why not have Kevin Thorn out there against Punk? A win over Thorn would make Punk look better going into No Mercy. Speaking of this Sunday, I groaned when Tommy Dreamer won the no. 1 Contenders match, as they unnecessarily buried Elijah yet again. Then the uberheel GM came out to change the rules, and I smiled in anticipation of John Morrison, only to groan again at the disgusting sight of BDV. Why does this fat, no talent, waste of TV time get pushed ahead of the younger, more athletic guys like Burke, Morrison and Thorn? I just don't get it, and it drives me crazy.

Steve Sutcliffe of New York, N.Y.: (2.5): So after building up the elimination chase for three weeks, which featured a bunch of entertaining matches, including the one this week, "creative" completely destroys any semblance of continuity, consistency, and goodwill by putting Big Daddy V in the title match. Dreamer-Punk had the makings of a good match, one that many fans actually wanted, yet we are subjected to another bait-and-switch. Ugh. WWE somehow finds a way to punish those loyal viewers who actually tuned in to watch the entire elimination chase. Don't even get me started with the nonsensically over-competitive C.M. Punk-Mike Knox match. Way to make the champ look terrible a week before the PPV, against a wrestler who hadn't been on TV for months up until a week or two ago. I doubt a single viewer out there was going to purchase No Mercy solely based on the ECW Title match, but this week's program completely nullified even that remote possibility. The rest of the show was business as usual, meaning it was fairly boring and repetitive. The Balls Mahoney-Kelly Kelly storyline continues, the new twist being that the Miz owns Extreme Expose's contract. Brilliant. The only interesting part of the show came when the crowd cheered Cena getting stripped of the title and Vince being visibly angry.

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