"ECW" Report
Oh My God!: Hardcore Holly turned on Rob Van Dam to end his short stint as a face.
You Fucked Up: Nothing too bad this week.
He’s Hardcore: Nobody.
The Extreme Rundown:
1. CM Punk beat Mike Knox. Knox ordered Kelly Kelly from ringside. I’ve said this before but I’ll repeat it again. I really hope the culmination of this storyline is Kelly Kelly established firmly as a heel. She has no sincerity as a face and comes across very unlikable even in what is supposed to be a sympathetic role. Knox dominated most of the match with punches and kicks. He hit a couple of back breakers, but Punk took over with slaps, a spinning back fist, a high knee, a uranage and the anaconda vise for the submission. This was dull but inoffensive.
This match qualified Punk for the Elimination Chamber. I said last week I had another problem with that match on this pay-per-view, and that problem is that I don’t think Punk should be in it. They have protected him very well up to this point, but he will almost necessarily be an afterthought and loser in this match. I think they would be better off giving him a convincing pay-per-view win over a quality opponent since he’s one of the best things ECW has going for it.
Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay announced they are coming to ECW. It will be interesting to see how Paul Heyman books Terkay. One would think he will feud with Punk since they both do the legit gimmick (obviously it’s more of a gimmick for Punk than Terkay). Paul Heyman came out and announced the tag team main event. He said that next week there would be an open contract for anyone who wants to enter the Elimination Chamber. That’s kind of a baffling announcement given it seemingly undermines the whole premise of qualifying matches.
2. Daivari beat Little Guido. Daivari dropped Guido on the top rope and raked his face. He hit the DDT for the pin. This was short and disappointing given the talent level of Guido. Great Khali gave Guido the choke slam after the match. Daivari’s push is really odd. He’s okay, but they are basically pushing him because they paired him as the mouthpiece for a tall guy but the tall guy is too awful to wrestle. If they had decided from the beginning that Khali was going to be the enforcer for someone, they never would have picked Daivari as the singles wrestler for him to back.
3. Test beat Tommy Dreamer to qualify for the Elimination Chamber. The crowd was into Dreamer. Dreamer clotheslined Test to the floor and hit a neck breaker and sit down power bomb for near falls. Test caught him with a low blow, hit the yakuza kick, and finished Dreamer with the TKO. This was short but effective.
4. Rob Van Dam and Hardcore Holly went to a no contest with Big Show and Paul Heyman. Basically, Big Show worked over Rob Van Dam the entire match. He gave Heyman a couple opportunities to slap and taunt RVD. Finally, RVD made the tag to Holly, and Holly immediately turned on RVD. He joined with Show to beat up RVD and gave him the Alabama slam on a chair.
I like this formula for a tag team match. It was commonly done with the Horsemen, and it tells a good story. I really liked the way they did it in a match with Dustin Rhodes and Arn Anderson against Bunkhouse Buck and Terry Funk, just as a random example. The downside is they probably gave up on Holly too quickly, and the turn didn’t really make much sense. There were chants for Hardcore Holly in this match, indicating perhaps they panicked after the weak reaction to him in his first match as a face.
Please Don’t Go:
This was a pretty standard ECW show, in line with what they have done in previous weeks. It had its good ideas and its bad ideas, but nothing really frustrating along the lines of last night’s Raw. I also much prefer a wrestling show where in three of the four matches there is a clear winner and a clear loser based on merit, as opposed to zero of seven. If they applied this formula to their better talent, I think they could build their PPV buy rates.
You Fucked Up: Nothing too bad this week.
He’s Hardcore: Nobody.
The Extreme Rundown:
1. CM Punk beat Mike Knox. Knox ordered Kelly Kelly from ringside. I’ve said this before but I’ll repeat it again. I really hope the culmination of this storyline is Kelly Kelly established firmly as a heel. She has no sincerity as a face and comes across very unlikable even in what is supposed to be a sympathetic role. Knox dominated most of the match with punches and kicks. He hit a couple of back breakers, but Punk took over with slaps, a spinning back fist, a high knee, a uranage and the anaconda vise for the submission. This was dull but inoffensive.
This match qualified Punk for the Elimination Chamber. I said last week I had another problem with that match on this pay-per-view, and that problem is that I don’t think Punk should be in it. They have protected him very well up to this point, but he will almost necessarily be an afterthought and loser in this match. I think they would be better off giving him a convincing pay-per-view win over a quality opponent since he’s one of the best things ECW has going for it.
Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay announced they are coming to ECW. It will be interesting to see how Paul Heyman books Terkay. One would think he will feud with Punk since they both do the legit gimmick (obviously it’s more of a gimmick for Punk than Terkay). Paul Heyman came out and announced the tag team main event. He said that next week there would be an open contract for anyone who wants to enter the Elimination Chamber. That’s kind of a baffling announcement given it seemingly undermines the whole premise of qualifying matches.
2. Daivari beat Little Guido. Daivari dropped Guido on the top rope and raked his face. He hit the DDT for the pin. This was short and disappointing given the talent level of Guido. Great Khali gave Guido the choke slam after the match. Daivari’s push is really odd. He’s okay, but they are basically pushing him because they paired him as the mouthpiece for a tall guy but the tall guy is too awful to wrestle. If they had decided from the beginning that Khali was going to be the enforcer for someone, they never would have picked Daivari as the singles wrestler for him to back.
3. Test beat Tommy Dreamer to qualify for the Elimination Chamber. The crowd was into Dreamer. Dreamer clotheslined Test to the floor and hit a neck breaker and sit down power bomb for near falls. Test caught him with a low blow, hit the yakuza kick, and finished Dreamer with the TKO. This was short but effective.
4. Rob Van Dam and Hardcore Holly went to a no contest with Big Show and Paul Heyman. Basically, Big Show worked over Rob Van Dam the entire match. He gave Heyman a couple opportunities to slap and taunt RVD. Finally, RVD made the tag to Holly, and Holly immediately turned on RVD. He joined with Show to beat up RVD and gave him the Alabama slam on a chair.
I like this formula for a tag team match. It was commonly done with the Horsemen, and it tells a good story. I really liked the way they did it in a match with Dustin Rhodes and Arn Anderson against Bunkhouse Buck and Terry Funk, just as a random example. The downside is they probably gave up on Holly too quickly, and the turn didn’t really make much sense. There were chants for Hardcore Holly in this match, indicating perhaps they panicked after the weak reaction to him in his first match as a face.
Please Don’t Go:
This was a pretty standard ECW show, in line with what they have done in previous weeks. It had its good ideas and its bad ideas, but nothing really frustrating along the lines of last night’s Raw. I also much prefer a wrestling show where in three of the four matches there is a clear winner and a clear loser based on merit, as opposed to zero of seven. If they applied this formula to their better talent, I think they could build their PPV buy rates.
posted by Todd Martin at 11:53 PM
3 Comments:
I'm just glad they're building the ECW brand as opposed to PPV Buyrates. And if a DX, Hardy Boyz & CM Punk team for Survivor Series doesn't build a buyrate I'm not sure what will. Punk I'm assuming will be the sole survivor in that match unless Orton or Edge eliminates him. I think that does one of two things, develops a later feud or gives Punk steam going into the ECW PPV. Punk got a great reaction last night. Knoxx did a good job of getting heel heat as well, during the match as I think that should be noted.
One would think Burke & Terkay bring with them the premise of tag titles. A television champion I don't believe to be a bad idea, but being that it is early for the brand you don't want a guy coming out and wrestling in a singles match every week with the title if he's not the world champion. I thought Daivari's style was pretty effective with bite/scratch/claw stuff. Khali is perfect for the role he's in. Draws attention away from his wrestling skill and his speaking ability and puts the focus on his only true asset.
Hardcore Holly is a hardcore fan's favorite. I don't believe the general audience to be able to buy into him as a legit face. When's Taz coming back?
On a side note, I agree that the voting turnout shows America's change in the perception of the current governmental landscape. And I think the republicans could sense this coming in and pushed the panic button as far as canidates and trying to get minority votes. I mean seriously, is there anything worse than a african american republican? Shame on you Rock, shame on you.
PS - K Fed and Britney filed for divorce...CAN'T ANYBODY IN THE BUSINESS STAY TOGETHER?!?!
Punk I'm assuming will be the sole survivor in that match unless Orton or Edge eliminates him.
There's no way, NO WAY, Aitch will allow himself to be eliminated. I'd expect both D-X members to stick around, but since Shawn can make such a good whipping boy in these types of matches I can see him getting taken out. But Triple H will at least be a survivor, possibly with Punk.
I'm just happy they did the main event tag the way they did. I really really hate the formula where the guy who is turning acts like normal the entire match, competes, beats up the heels, makes a hot tag, and then turns. I think it's much more effective to have the turner sit around on the apron and only do the heeling if provoked or tagged like last night.
I'm inclined to agree with you in that HHH took the loss on Sunday and will more than likely be getting his win back as a survivor. I could also see Kelly Kelly costing Punk in the heel turn Todd desires. The problem with making her a heel in my mind, is what male in their target audience is going to boo a 19 year old blonde?
Here's a fun question, who has the better business sense...Bob Sapp or Cindy Margolis?
And before it actually happens, since I've been one of the few supporters, I'd like to note that I feel Big Show did an exceptional job handling the roles he has been placed in over the last few months. I don't think there is a man his size with 1 (a schedule like that) 2 (a job that requires as much physical activity) and 3 (a fickle group of "reporters" who overanalyze his work and effort). The closest athlete I could come up with is Shaq. And while I don't think Big Show could run up and down the floor with The Diesel, I don't think Shaq could handle RVD's reckless kicks.
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