The Day After
On the first WWE program since the big shake up of the draft we got to see what remains of ECW after they lost their champ; Kane and their biggest name in CM Punk. And in what could have been a fairly poor show due to the talent loss we actually got to see a nice mixture of the new with the old tonight. It started off with what can be considered a passing of the torch of the major ECW superstars as CM Punk tagged with newcomer Matt Hardy against Miz and Morrison. Overall the match was not bad as all these guys can handle themselves in the ring. And other than the very brief interference and botched call of Hornswoggle tormenting the Miz, the match went off without a hitch. The major significance was the win by Hardy and a potential preview of who he most likely will face for the ECW title. Since Kane is now a part of Raw look for the title to be in Hardy's hands in a few months. This should develop into a program with Morrison as these two will be the big draws now of ECW. One has to imagine the move to ECW for Hardy was to test his abilities being the number one guy for a brand. There are many who feel he can be one of the top stars in the WWE and this will be the prefect proving grounds for him to hone his craft. And now that Punk is gone, it's time to push Morrison for his move off this brand too. Both Hardy and Morrison are very athletic and up tempo in the ring and I can see plenty of great matches out of these two. Unfortunate I really don't see Hardy peaking higher than he is now with the US title as I feel his personality will hold him back as he is kind of flat. Most likely it will be the Morrison who moves onto a bigger role in the company.
The next match was perhaps the match of the night as Kingston and Benjamin took it to the extreme. I have stated many times in the past this was another good example of how this brand can be extreme without going overboard like the old days. Nothing major happened so the injury risk is limited but it is still not your conventional match. There were a few fantastic bumps as Benjamin slammed Kingston into a garbage can, Benjamen taking a barrage of hits up side the head via a garbage can lid and finally Kingston flipping Shelton into a can set in between the ropes. And this does not even include the great athletic moves of both men who had plenty of acrobatic moves off the ropes and great displays of strength with variations of body slams. If they can bring a match of this intensity to ECW every night the rating would improve dramatically and the extreme portion of the name would no longer be a joke.
The we had are obligatory Mike Knox match against Evan Bourne. Bourne's high flying style was a bit hampered by Knox's lumbering antics but he still showed he can make a name for himself in this business. Another way to keep the Dub extreme is to go with the high flyer and risk takers route and Bourne fits that mold perfectly. Just look at your roster and you see there are plenty of guys who fit the bill. You have Bourne, Hardy, Kingston, Morrison, Elijah Burke and Chavo. Put any mix of these guys together and you have the recipe for some explosive moves in the ring. And if you really need to go extreme add ladders and tables for a spicy mix. It was too bad Bourne had to lose to Knox as I feel Bourne has the better chance of becoming something if he can establish himself over the other high risk guys. Knox on the other hand finds himself in the same vein as Snitsky, Kozlov, and Mark Henry as nondescript brawlers who really bring nothing to the table.
And speaking of my good friend Mark Henry, he had the pleasure of boring us in the final match of the night against Kane. This was a terrible way to end a show that started off with two good matches as it really established nothing. First Henry gets the win, thus sending Kane into Night of Champions with a loss. Second with the Big Show at ring side you would have figured there would have been some after match theatrics. Big Show even stood up at the announces table during the pin making you think he would have done something. But with all three of these guys not part of the ECW roster you have to figure there is no sense really developing anything between them as the ECW title will move onto a roster member in the near future.
The next match was perhaps the match of the night as Kingston and Benjamin took it to the extreme. I have stated many times in the past this was another good example of how this brand can be extreme without going overboard like the old days. Nothing major happened so the injury risk is limited but it is still not your conventional match. There were a few fantastic bumps as Benjamin slammed Kingston into a garbage can, Benjamen taking a barrage of hits up side the head via a garbage can lid and finally Kingston flipping Shelton into a can set in between the ropes. And this does not even include the great athletic moves of both men who had plenty of acrobatic moves off the ropes and great displays of strength with variations of body slams. If they can bring a match of this intensity to ECW every night the rating would improve dramatically and the extreme portion of the name would no longer be a joke.
The we had are obligatory Mike Knox match against Evan Bourne. Bourne's high flying style was a bit hampered by Knox's lumbering antics but he still showed he can make a name for himself in this business. Another way to keep the Dub extreme is to go with the high flyer and risk takers route and Bourne fits that mold perfectly. Just look at your roster and you see there are plenty of guys who fit the bill. You have Bourne, Hardy, Kingston, Morrison, Elijah Burke and Chavo. Put any mix of these guys together and you have the recipe for some explosive moves in the ring. And if you really need to go extreme add ladders and tables for a spicy mix. It was too bad Bourne had to lose to Knox as I feel Bourne has the better chance of becoming something if he can establish himself over the other high risk guys. Knox on the other hand finds himself in the same vein as Snitsky, Kozlov, and Mark Henry as nondescript brawlers who really bring nothing to the table.
And speaking of my good friend Mark Henry, he had the pleasure of boring us in the final match of the night against Kane. This was a terrible way to end a show that started off with two good matches as it really established nothing. First Henry gets the win, thus sending Kane into Night of Champions with a loss. Second with the Big Show at ring side you would have figured there would have been some after match theatrics. Big Show even stood up at the announces table during the pin making you think he would have done something. But with all three of these guys not part of the ECW roster you have to figure there is no sense really developing anything between them as the ECW title will move onto a roster member in the near future.
