"ECW" 8-25-09 Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

SummerSlam saw ECW Champion Christian score a shockingly quick victory over William Regal. The celebration was short-lived however as Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekial Jackson hit the ring to make the winner look like he had lost.

ECW #168
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 @ 10 p.m. ET/9 CT on Syfy

[Azrayel]

What a boring opening for a show. Its bad enough Regal lost in 8 seconds but to continue rubbing it in made it worse made Regal look bad. On top of that it seems the creative writing team plan on having a "how fast can you beat someone in x amount of seconds" thing like WrestleMania

Sheamus vs Goldust ended terribly. The match was good, but a double count as a finish? Tiffany should have come out to continue this watch as a Falls Count Anywhere match or something.

I'm not understanding this,if someone can answer is Shelton Benjamin a heel or is he a face?

Ryder and Benjamin vs Tatsu and Reks was another good match with a bad ending. Benjamin had a attitude the whole match instead of cooperating with Ryder. (Yes I am aware of Ryder not cooperating at times as well)

Regal vs chrisitan- This match wasn't as good as i expected it. Seemed a little slow and boring.

Overrall this was an ok ECW and was atleast a better line up then Raw last night.

[RedNinja84]

tatsu and Reks have some moves, I'll have to keep an eye on them.

[Condiment King]

I thought this was a solid ECW that mainly tried to keep established feuds going, and in that case, it succeeded.

I thought the opening was pretty darn good. I liked the Bill joke. Humor with Regal doesn't seem as forced as with other people like Tommy Dreamer, because Regal's so good on the mic. Regal calling Christian "sunshine" is hilarious. I don't really like having one-on-one matches lead to rematches. I feel like Regal/Kozlov/Jackson vs Christian/Dreamer/somebody else and if Regal's team wins, he gets a shot, would have at least held off on Regal-Christian II for awhile. But that's nitpicky. I'm just glad this feud didn't actually end after the horrendous Summerslam decision.

Sheamus vs Goldust ... for some reason I just really like this feud. Both bring a genuine energy to it. Goldust yelling "C'mon Sheamus" seems to be full of taunting, and Sheamus is perturbed that Goldust isn't just going without a fight. I'm glad to see it continue, and I actually thought this double countout wasn't bad either because they played it up like both men were so pissed off and fighting that they didn't notice. So neither looked dumb, IMO.

I like Benjamin (assumedly still a heel I guess?) and Ryder feuding with each other as a team, but this singing gimmick for Benjamin has got to go. He's not very good, and, as a face, you have to be good at a novelty act like that or it just comes off like you're a dork. To think that a lot of us figured Benjamin would at least be vying for the ECW title as a consolation prize, and so far in ECW, he seems to be doing anything but. Hell, he might have been better off losing to Morrison for a fourth or fifth time on Smackdown.

The actual tag match was pretty good, and I liked the miscommunication and furthering of the angle. They shouldnt' have had a match as early as they did though (that Benjamin vs Ryder one on one match a few weeks ago).

Burchill's promo was OK. I liked that he is acting like he's not really a superhero, treating this not so much as a gimmick change and more of a fun-loving babyface acting stupid in the heel's eyes. That's an interesting perspective. Burchill should probably join Regal's faction.

The main event was alright. The ending was good. Regal is awesome, and I'm glad he's being used. ECW is utilizing their tiny roster extremely well.

[hobbyfan]

Sheamus-Goldust IV was a disappointment. Double countout? At this stage? Let's recap. Sheamus won the first two matches before Goldust won on Superstars. I'm surprised Sheamus isn't getting a rub---yet---from association with William Regal's new group, but I suspect that inevitably he will, to keep with the global theme of the "Ruthless Roundtable", as Matt Striker likes to call it.

More proof that Tiffany is 1) greener than grass on the mic and 2) written to look like a stereotype as GM is that she allowed Vlad & Zeke to be at ringside when they clearly didn't belong. They made all the difference in the world in the main event. You can argue that Christian initiated the contact with Kozlov, but that wouldn't happen if ref "Hanging" Chad Patten did the right thing and tossed the two proteges. Regal winning with the knee trembler is fine, but better if left to his own devices. At this late stage in his career, Regal is not a main event heel, and the window of opportunity for that passed some time ago.

Now, I'm in the minority that thought Shel Benjamin's mimic of Louis Armstrong was on the money. Shel hasn't been a face in a long time, and ECW can certainly use an extra babyface or two. You could see where that tag match was going the minute Tiff made it. Ryder's got a cool theme and seemingly a charismatic presence with the kids (teens & 20-somethings), but he's still not an experienced veteran. He actually falls closer toward rookies like Reks & Tatsu. Yoshi dimmed his lights with that buzzkick to the back of the head. Somewhere, Yoshihiro Tajiri is smiling.

Funny thing. Before I logged on here, I checked the report on Meltzer's site. Reviewer Phil DiLegro apparently doesn't know who Armstrong is and/or hasn't seen "Good Morning Vietnam", which includes Armstrong's rendition of "What a Wonderful World" on the soundtrack. Unfortunately, he picked this week not to include his e-addy, otherwise I'd have shot off a note to school him on ol' Satchmo.

[Azrayel]

ECW is utilizing their tiny roster extremely well.

I agree with you 100% there. Maybe if they got rid of DJ Gabriel or use him again, well then ECW has been using all their roster which I don't think has happened in a long time since ECW becoming back on air.