-- 8/4 ECW TV Reax

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (9.0) Best: Christian vs. Dreamer. Worst: Jackson vs. jobber. It has to say something when "The Abraham Washington Show" isn't the worst thing on ECW. Ezekiel Jackson still can't really be trusted beyond three moves (taking forever between each one). Kozlov's one-upsmanship doesn't seem to be catching on with the crowd. Goldust got another reasonably good match out of Sheamus. The match was still pretty basic, though, so Sheamus still has yet to take hold as a worker. For once, Smackdown gets a replay, and one that counts. There was some subtle goodness on the show like Tiffany needing to go elsewhere to take a business call. It led to Burchill snorting at the "ridiculous" Hurricane save. It is ridiculous, but still better than most of what Raw delivered and fits with Hurricane. There was also the sneaky way that Striker fit Edge into the conversation by way of the 7-Eleven promotional campaign. (For the curious, I shall be enjoying my own Slurpee in an Edge cup.) Christian and Dreamer turned in a sweet Extreme Rules match. Nice spot with the car door; not a usual object for a weapons match. But my attention still comes back to opening segment. It was wise to have the "Abraham Washington Show" segment open the program to let the Christian-Dreamer match wash the taste out of our mouths. It was still pretty terrible in terms of childish "Smurf" content, attempted Arsenio channeling, and fairly lame "American Idol" sendoff. But who knew Shelton Benjamin could sing? Not quite well enough to quit his day job, but a nice little surprise. Zack was competent enough with the chops. Both he and Zack Ryder got some mic time, which led to a nice brawl to kick off what could be a good match series. Had the written material been better, it would have been a two-bagger for ECW.

James Multari of Albuquerque, N.M. (7.5): Best Match: Shamus vs. Goldust. Worst: Abraham Washington's show again. I will go in order of appearance. First, Washington is only getting heat cause he sucks. Wrong kind of heat and he needs to stay down in Florida until he is forgotten about and can get repackaged. Zack Ryder gets a hometown pop and where does Shelton Benjamin stand at this point? Is he a tweener depending on the opponent? ... Jackson and Kozlov's back-and- forth is going one of two ways: a feud or a tag team. I am hoping for the latter. When is the last time we saw a large dominant tag team in WWE that doesn't look like 5'11" high schoolers on roids? ... Sheamus vs. Goldust was a well-worked match. Sheamus wrestles like a throwback to the '80s, which some may complain about. Goldust needed the post-match attack to stand out after a defeat. Yet, I think its time for him to go back to being Dustin Rhodes. ... Christian and Dreamer had a good 18 minutes in a hardcore match. It was what it was. I love a throwback to the old ECW as much as the old-school fans, but Dreamer isn't what he used to be and Christian doesn't belong anywhere near Extreme Rules. Both have had better matches with each other. It was fine to have it on TV, but who steps up going into Summerfest??? (Yeah, I know.)

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for an "ECW 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, click here.

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