5/26 ECW TV Reax

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (7.0): Best: main event. Worst: Bourne vs. Henry. ECW was solid, as usual, but the small roster came back to haunt the show again. Dreamer suddenly turned aggressive and hungry. I'd be fine with this, except there was a pause in the timeline where Dreamer's urgency to beat the contract deadline could have been played out better. That said, now that the urgency has increased, it is being played out well. Did Bourne piss someone off, or was there just no one else for him to have a match with than Mark Henry? Finlay and Kozlov were accounted for elsewhere, and the main event had five active wrestlers involved. Really, was there no one else? What's the difference between Hardcore Rules and No Holds Barred? If Christian wins now (and the hints on the show say he will), Swagger can't whine about cheating, which no one pointed out during any segment on the show. Kozlov gets a handicap match with two jobbers; wow, big deal. I almost feel sorry for Kozlov right now. The main event was okay, but I'm hearing Haas-dead heat for D.H. Smith. The crowd was pretty much dead after the opening segment, but D.H. in the ring for long stretches didn't help. The Harts are going to need more members to balance this out or a new attempt to re-form the Hart Foundation will sour quickly. Matt Striker is my Dennis Miller (comparing the jobbers to Punk and C. Thomas Howell, which was on the money), and I like it.

5/28 WWE Superstars TV Reax

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (9.0) Best: Finlay vs. Swagger. Worst: Denver-WWE replay. The ratings may never show it, but ECW and Superstars is becoming a nice little tag team of good WWE programming. All of the matches were solid, which leaves me with a few qualms. The Denver-WWE publicity stunt was a blessing and a curse, so replaying the situation wasn't much help. Putting Shelton and Charlie back together may help the tag team division, but there is this "creative has nothing" taste I'm left with as far as Shelton goes. What was J.R. thinking injecting Michael Vick into the conversation? It seemed so unrelated to both the match and Primo. Cryme Tyme earned at least one tag title shot in the past, and yet they were forgotten. At this point, a case could be easily made that the statute of limitations on using the title shot has expired. The video explaining the show's theme song was nice. Finlay-Swagger took the longest time to remember Finlay's eye injury from Tuesday's ECW, but at least they did remember. Then there was no attempt to test it, as in other matches where someone has sustained some injury prior to the match. Swagger going for the shillelegh served as an early tease for the hardcore match. It also further defines Swagger as a classic cheating (or nearly cheating) heel. My biggest beef about the Cena-DiBiase match goes to the Cena-Show story. The STF may be Cena's submission finisher, but is it the only option he has? I'm guessing WWE is banking on people forgetting that Cena has modified the STF in the past, finishing off Umaga with a rope-aided version at Royal Rumble 2007. WWE also needs to lay off forcing the "Randy Orton Influence" issue. So far, only the standing dropkick has come close in comparison; the rest of the "influenced" moves don't come off as they should. The show ended with the image of DiBiase tapping out to the STF, but he had a solid moment of oozing arrogance earlier. Looks like WWE sees more and more to like in Ted DiBiase Jr, and they're on the right track promoting him.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on these shows for a "TV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on ECW and Superstars, click here.

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