ECW Hits

Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy: Henry continues to impress me and we're starting to see why WWE officials cared enough about him to bring in Tony Atlas with the goal of helping Henry take better care of himself physically. Hardy is always good in the ring and this should be a good, long-term feud. I enjoyed the play on that lousy pay-per-view finish with the referee not seeing the interference by Tony Atlas this time around. The closing moments of the match was solid in that it made it appear like Hardy would have won the match has Atlas not interfered. Oh, and you gotta love the sleeveless dress shirt and tie look that Atlas debuted.

Evan Bourne and Tommy Dreamer and Super Crazy vs. John Morrison and The Miz and Chavo Guerrero: This was a fun six-man tag. There were two ECW Originals in the match, yet it was the incredible moonsault off the top rope and to the floor by Bourne that drew the first ECW chant I've heard in ages. By the way, it's great to see Super Crazy get a chance to strut his stuff again.

Evan Bourne: He might be the most over wrestler on the ECW roster. His amazing acrobatic moves are absolutely tremendous and I've been looking forward to watching ECW more ever since he debuted.

Todd Grisham and Matt Striker: I already enjoy this duo more than Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler. They seem more passionate about the product, and Striker has been especially impressive. He's just a natural on commentary and I like the way he slips in more background information on the wrestlers than most other announcers do.

Mike Knox and Finlay: Knox is really growing on me. His look is much improved and I believe he can become a legitimate player in WWE if they push him properly and he continues to develop more confidence. His feud with Finlay has been solid so far and I'm looking forward to their first match next week. I'm just praying that they let these two brawl and keep the Hornswoggle comedy to a minimum.

ECW Misses

Gavin Spears debuts: This is no knock on Spears. He impressed me with his aggressiveness and he got a better match out of Ricky Ortiz than anyone else in ECW thus far. Rather, my disappointment is in the way WWE is introducing most characters with no real buildup. The R-Truth vignettes on Smackdown are proof of how helpful a series of vignettes can be. I'm not saying every wrestler should get his own vignette, but I don't think the company is doing young wrestlers like Spears and Scott Goldman (a/k/a Colt Cabana) any favors by introducing them with short pre-taped promos that air seconds before their debut matches.

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