"ECW" 10-20-09 Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

R.I.P.
Captain Lou Albano

ECW #176
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 @ 10 p.m. ET/9 CT on Syfy

[hobbyfan]

2 awesome matches and 2 angles being moved forward. What else could you possibly want?

It's been a long time since Paul Burchill had a storyline that meant something, and his angle with Hurricane has gone on nicely. It's too bad, then, that he is being kept away from the title picture where he belongs. Has Creative forgotten what this man was capable of on Smackdown (2005-06)? He could conceivably extend Christian just as capably as his countryman Will Regal has. So, when he gets promo time to gloat about a clean win last week, what happens? A ersatz 'Cane shows up, setting up the real thing appearing with what looked like a bo staff, but was actually a common Singapore cane painted in Hurricane's colors (green & black). Well, there is the fact that Burchill still trails 'Cane overall......!

They were in Shel Benjamin's home state (South Carolina), and he is only given a run-in during a Sheamus squashola? Epic fail! Yes, the angle moves forward, but whose idea was it for Shea to pull up JT Quinn (the rent-a-jobber who was lifted for Marty Jannetty last night) twice when he had the match won? It goes as a DQ win for Shea instead of a pinfall, but suddenly, he moves a step backward.....

Yoshi Tatsu gets Christian next week, after dismissing Zack Ryder to become #1 contender. I guess we know how this is going to play out. Expect this to be a No Contest when Regal and co. butt in.

Yes, folks, Rosa is being repackaged as a face in ECW, since Katie needs someone to fight.

For Matt Striker: It's been 5 1/2 years since Jericho lost to Christian at Wrestlemania 20. The roles are reversed, but the result ends up the same.

I got to thinking that with 2 trades made in the last 6 months since the draft, maybe they don't do a draft in 2010. No, that would be too easy.

[Condiment King]

This ECW was pretty great, mostly bolstered by the presence of Chris Jericho. That Christian vs Jericho match was the best match I've seen on television since Rey vs Morrison about two months ago. I also loved Jericho's segment with Regal. Both were so, so fantastic on the mic in this. Regal saying hello Christopher. Regal acting like a fake gentlemen, saying "hello madame, how are you?" to Tiffany. Jericho subtly bargaining for Kozlov & Jackson. I'm glad Jericho didn't get all buddy buddy with Cryme Tyme because they are on the same team. He was ready to get rid of 'em. It was great.

I was kinda expecting Yoshi to beat Zack Ryder and here's why: Christian has defeated both Regal and Ryder twice in singles competition. It's time for Yoshi to get a one-on-one match, which I actually expect he'll lose clean, setting up the fatal four-way they've been teasing. It's only fair, I suppose, that Yoshi, who's been on quite a winning streak, gets a singles chance first. You have to question just how much Yoshi has been winning, though. I know that's odd to say, but man, Yoshi has beaten both Regal and Ryder twice as well. Sometime the ECW main heels gotta win one, you know?

I'm kinda ambivalent to the Hurricane-Burchill feud. It's a nice thing to keep both of them busy, but I'm neither enjoying nor disliking it.

ECW doesn't make the PPV again, as Christian vs Yoshi for the title is next week. A lot of people seem angry about ECW not making the PPVs anymore, but I don't really care. If anything, ECW seems like an island in the world of WWE, so maybe it's for the best that PPVs might just become RAW and Smackdown again. But if that's the case, Penguin's idea about a "Clash of the Champions" type two-hour ECW television show might not be such a bad idea.

[AJ1]

The only match I caught this week was the Yoshi Tatsu vs Zack Ryder match and I thought it was really well done and I was very suprised to see Yoshi get the victory in this one, good job Yoshi! So next week Christian will face off against Yoshi Tatsu one on one and I bet this will be an awesome match, both men are going to let it all hang out and it will be yet another brick in ECW's recent wall of greatness, it's become such a solid wrestling program over the course of the year and I wish these stars got more PPV time.

[The Penguin]

"I think that's a no." It didn't seem to do anything to anyone else, but I think Abraham Washington is much improved with Tony Atlas as his sidekick. I don't think Abe is going to be hosting ECW from now on.

They fully acknowledged Lauren Mayhew on screen this week, but she isn't any better. Do female try-outs these days consist of posing in a bikini for Johnny Ace? She clearly doesn't have any ring announcer skills.

People are really responding to Yoshi and it's just neat to see for some reason. I like Ryder, but I support Yoshi winning this match and look forward to seeing what he and Christian do together next week.

I don't think her not disrespecting Tiffany is enough to declare Rosa a face, but we'll see what happens. She pretty much just followed Beth or Carlito around on RAW so anything will be an improvement for her. Once again, Tiffany 'makes' a bone-headed decision by trading two Divas for one.

Jericho trying to recruit for Team SmackDown was an interesting plot point for ECW (would have been nice if his presence could have been advertised on RAW) and if he was trying to replace Escobar with Regal or Ryder I would have been all for it. His interaction with both Regal and Tiffany was good.

Shelton Benjamin didn't arrive quickly enough to save J.T. Quinn from Sheamus even though he still took the loss. I like seeing the intensity of this feud pick up even more.

Wow, Paul Burchill getting in-ring promo time. Feels like it's been a while. I knew right away that wasn't really The Hurricane that came out the first time, but I thought it might prompt an appearance from Gregory Helms. Instead we got the actual Hurricane carrying a big stick. I'm not sure if that's the exact same one he used towards the end of his last run as The Hurricane, but I like that cape better than the sleeveless trench-coat.

Kudos go to Matt Striker for mentioning Jericho and Christian's shared history in the early moments of their one-on-one match. The match was a quality main event and I really enjoyed watching it.

Back on the subject of Striker, if JR is unable to work on Sunday, I would like to see Striker join Todd rather than have Todd call the whole event with Cole & King.

A lot of people seem angry about ECW not making the PPVs anymore, but I don't really care. If anything, ECW seems like an island in the world of WWE, so maybe it's for the best that PPVs might just become RAW and Smackdown again. But if that's the case, Penguin's idea about a "Clash of the Champions" type two-hour ECW television show might not be such a bad idea.

Not a bad idea? It's a great idea.

[Azrayel]

It was a good ECW last night. I was disappointed that Zack Ryder losing to Yoshi, but after seeing how Condiment King put it in a point of view it makes a lot of sense to why Yoshi got the title show. (Other than his popularity)

Chrisitian vs Chris Jericho was a very good ending for ECW.

[hobbyfan]

Back on the subject of Striker, if JR is unable to work on Sunday, I would like to see Striker join Todd rather than have Todd call the whole event with Cole & King.

ECW doesn't have a match on the card again. That will free up Josh & Matt to pitch in where needed. Reteaming Grish w/Striker would work. Then, you have to wonder about going beyond the PPV, and how long JR is going to be out. They forced Joey Styles to retire from broadcasting and stuck him in the office as managing editor for the website (Cole used to have that gig) and make goofy cameos every so often. I say, let Joey come out of retirement for 1 night to cover for JR.