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LOOKING AT A 'BACK TO BASICS' EDITION OF ECW 
by Buck Woodward

No strip poker.  No split screen.  No promising things you can't deliver.  After last week's waste of time, ECW went back to basics this week.  Matches, storyline progression, and no ga-ga.  With five bouts crammed into the one hour show, there wasn't time for any of them to go long, however most of the matches had some sort of storyline connection and none of them were bad.  With ECW finally having a PPV to work towards, the December To Dismember, it will be interesting to see what issues are created (and in some cases continued) over the coming weeks to set up the card.

Onto my thoughts on the show: 

Plusses: I like that they started the show with a recap of the Rob Van Dam title loss to the Big Show.  It gave meaning to the main event, especially for new viewers (or those with short term memories). ... At the same time, I liked the way the history between Sandman and Striker was shown during Sandman's entrance.  While WWE often replays things that happened ten minutes ago, they tend to ignore the past, and just try to explain it with a quick comment from the announcers.  Showing the clips is far more effective in getting the issue across to the viewers. ... I really enjoyed the Striker vs. Sandman match.  Striker working on Sandman's leg and constantly looking to get the cane was good strategy, and the fans got a taste (but not enough to satisfy them) of Sandman blasting Striker with the cane.  The fans were left wanting more, and that's a good thing.  While some may have not liked the countout finish, it made sense.  It fit into Striker's character, and got the fans to hate him that much more.  I'm looking forward to the followup. ... While I still question having Rene Dupree lose after spending all those weeks building him up, the rematch with CM Punk was better for him than the first bout.  Dupree was allowed to get some offense in, and looked solid, before losing to Punk.  It was good but short (like a lot of things on the show).  The aftermath worked back into the Punk-Mike Knox storyline, and you'd have to be blind (and deaf) to not see how over Punk is getting with the crowd. Punk was great yelling at Knox from the ring, and it came across as "more real" since Punk was yelling at Knox, rather than grabbing a microphone and cutting a promo. ... The Test-Balls segment and match was enjoyable.  It was kind of an old school segment with the arrogant top heel being challenged by the underdog babyface, and the heel then tries to run before being pulled into an "impromptu match".  I liked how Test worked on the arm of Balls, and the crowd got into Balls when he made his comeback with the spinebuster.  I sort of wished Balls was selling the arm more when he was punching Test, but that is a minor gripe.  Test got the win, and they are doing a good job getting him over as a top heel on the brand. ... Big Show vs. Rob Van Dam was an okay match, although I wouldn't say it was a great bout.  Van Dam needs to work on his punches, as they just look weak.  However, Show displayed a lot of personality when he trash talked Van Dam while slapping him around.  The finish was good, in that it continued the Holly-Test feud, and gave RVD the win to set up him finally getting a rematch for the title.  I was surprised Paul Heyman and Basham Security didn't make an appearance to try and keep RVD from winning, but obviously they wanted to get over that Test was doing Heyman's bidding, and in truth, multiple run-ins wouldn't have added anything to the match. 

Minuses: I will be so happy when the Marine drops this weekend and theaters start pulling it.  Then maybe we can get away from the twice-an-hour plugs for the thing. ... I'm going to venture a guess that WWE wants Rebecca to talk slowly because they think it comes off as sultry or something.  Instead, it just comes off as slow, and it just seems odd on a show that should be fast paced (since it is only an hour).  The promo with Rob Van Dam just came off as awkward.  RVD isn't a great promo to begin with, and this just seemed to screech the show to a halt. ... It would have been nice if during Big Show's promo we got more of an explanation as to why Van Dam was getting a match with him.  Essentially, the only reason we were given was "because Paul Heyman felt like it".  It would have been a lot more effective if Show emphasized that he demanded RVD so he could get rid of him for good, rather than just making it a footnote at the end of his yakking about being the "Champion Of Champions". 

A Mixture Of Both: Test is no genius on the mic, but the storyline between him and Hardcore Holly was recapped and his new "ruthless" persona was emphasized well. ... Sabu vs. Shannon Moore was a quick squash, and served no real purpose other than to give Sabu a win and show he can get a victory without a chair or table.  Both men seemed to suffer from a loose middle rope, and it dipped greatly when they would go for springboards.  Still, they did the best they could with it, but in a two minute match, it is going to be hard to accomplish much. ... 

Unanswered and Rhetorical Questions: 

Did we get a "double header" main event to make up for the crap we had last week?

Can Rebecca talk any slower? 

Why do Balls and Test wrestle with facial piercings in?

Did you catch Tazz' dig on Styles that he "loves" Georgia (which is where Styles lived for a few years and hated)?

What was Big Show looking at during his promo? 

Where was Paul Heyman and Basham Security during the main event?

Did you notice there were no "Extreme Rules" matches this week?

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