What’s up wrestling fans? You know, titling these ECW columns is becoming easier and easier each week. All I have to do is pick from the gallon of vocal vomit that comes from Mike Adamle and I’ve got myself a gem. But I’ll reserve my Adamle talk for the end of the column, which is quickly becoming a weekly staple. Tonight, ECW emanated from Des Moines, Iowa, and aside from a couple of solid in-ring matches, this felt like a run-of-the-mill broadcast to me. Not to say that’s a bad thing, it just is what it is; the show wasn’t great but it also wasn’t bad. That said, let’s breakdown tonight’s action.
We start off tonight with General Manager Armando Estrada in the center of the ring surrounded by Dreamer, Punk, Chavo and Morrison. He announces that a fatal four-way Singapore Cane Match will take place at One Night Stand to determine the number one contender to Kane’s ECW title. I like this match. Not because of who will win, but the idea of the match itself. I think these guys, if given time, can have a great bout. The problem of course will be time. Most likely we’ll see a 6-7 minute, fast-paced match with either Big Show or Chavo coming out on top. Although this isn’t the most ideal situation for this type of matchup, I think it will be fun nevertheless.
Back from commercial break and we are introduced to our first contest of the evening, The Miz vs Kane. What needs to be said here other than it was a Kane match. That doesn’t mean it was bad or good, just that it was typical. Aside from some out of the ring stuff that freshened things up a bit, if you’ve seen a Kane match then you’ve seen this match. Out of a possible 9 stars, I’ll give this opener 4.5 stars.
After a decent start to the show, things picked up in the form of Kofi Kingston vs Shelton Benjamin. Once again Kofi continues to impress me. This guy brings something innovative to the ring every time he wrestles and tonight was no exception. We saw a great back and forth contest here, with some really unique offense and defense from both competitors. Kofi hit a Japanese arm drag with his leg, and Benjamin reversed a “Boom-Boom” leg drop into a roll-up. When it was all said and done, Shelton was able to break Kofi’s winning streak by scoring the pinfall. I hope this isn’t the end of this feud, and I’d love to see it make its way to PPV, because these two have a classic waiting for them. I also see why Dusty Rhodes was so fond of Benjamin: they have the same hair. 7 Stars.
Next up we have a mixed tag match featuring Kelly Kelly and Colin Delaney vs Layla and Mike Knox. What made no sense to me here was that instead of having Colin and Knox battle it out with limited participation from the girls, they allowed Kelly and Layla to do most of the work while Knox quickly disposed of Delaney. This was a sleeper of a match, which saw Kelly pick up the win over Layla when she hit a version of a Fameasser she calls the “K2.” 3 Stars.
What happened after this match was the interesting part. General Manager Estrada makes his way to the ring as Delaney lay broken in the middle of it, and demanded that the ref ring the bell and start an impromptu match between himself and ECW’s newest member. It dawned on me here that WWE has a really unique talent in the form of Armando Estrada. He is the first General Manager/Commissioner I can think of that is believable as an actual wrestler (Not counting Ric Flair who was a wrestler before becoming a GM). WWE cannot drop the ball on this one! They have a heel general manager who can actually back himself up! Estrada is bigger than half the ECW roster, so he can play the part of the tyrannical GM and kick your ass at the same time. There is a unique, creative approach here that WWE could really push.
Following a Raw Rebound and a commercial break, it is time for our main event of the evening, CM Punk and Tommy Dreamer vs Chavo Guerrero and John Morrison. This was an excellent main event. Both teams worked very well together, and we actually saw some really nice offense from Dreamer. I guess that was his end of the deal for doing the job yet again. The finish saw Chavo hit the frog splash on Tommy for the win. Following the match, Big Show made his way to the ring, cleared it with a series of chokeslams, and officially entered himself in the Singapore Cane Match at One Night Stand. Can he do that? 7.5 Stars.
Overall this was another episode of ECW. 2 great matches and 2 mediocre matches made this a fun, albeit usual broadcast. I like the representation from ECW at One Night Stand. Most people will complain that Kane should have a match at the PPV considering he’s the champion, but I’ll take a 5 man Singapore Cane Match over a Singabore Kane Match any day. I give tonight’s ECW broadcast 5 Stars.
Nick’s Notes:
-Kane was slammed into the ring post back-first by The Miz yet he sold the damage to the back of the head. Why do wrestler’s do this? I understand that they are selling where the pain is “supposed” to be, but if the move lands somewhere else, why not just sell the pain there? Makes no sense and it bothers me. Announcers will do this too. Especially Michael Cole. A kick lands in the stomach and he calls it as a “stiff kick to the jaw!” Why?
-What’s with The Miz’ hair? It looks like a divot from a golf course made of horse manure.
-Kelly is hot. Like, real hot.
-What happened to the “Alejandro” in Estrada’s name? What happened to him saying it to the crowd?
-Colin’s new entrance music is really good. Worth the wait I guess.
Adamle Assploits:
“The man is so cool his aura can be felt from outer space!”-He worked on that for 13 years.
“He may be in traction after this match is over!”-But if he’s still walking, why would he need traction?
“Miz is on three dollar bill street!”-I was hoping Tazz would explain that one to us, but apparently he didn’t know what it meant either.
3 weeks after getting Miz and Morrison’s name right, Adamle succeeds in screwing them up again. Poor Tazz, he has to correct the man on the air.
“That was plain evil!”-(X4)
“This is like the Tommy Dreamer of old!”-We’re to believe he’s familiar with the Tommy Dreamer of old?
Thanks again for reading, and please send any and all feedback to [email protected]
