ECW Hits

Jack Swagger wins the ECW Championship: I will get to the actual match in a moment, but I love that WWE gave Swagger the ball here. There are a lot of complaints about the brand extension and particularly, when WWE decided to bring back the ECW letters as a third brand, not many people were accepting. However, having two, and now three brands, allows WWE to put a major title on a young, talented star like Swagger. Kudos to everyone involved.

Jack Swagger vs. Matt Hardy: The match itself was very fun to watch and lasted nearly twenty minutes. The match was definitely worthy going in of a “big match,” and it certainly lived up to the billing. I wonder though if they will have a program between the two because Swagger should not be losing at this point and Hardy has a built in situation with his brother, Edge, and Christian on Smackdown.

Tommy Dreamer’s promo: I mentioned in a column sometime ago that Dreamer is one of those guys that will always be over and that will always have credibility regardless of how many matches he loses. Dreamer was money during his promo and if done correctly, a championship feud with Swagger could be huge. Imagine the reaction if/when he does win the ECW Title. Imagine how that could potentially turn Swagger into an awesome babyface.

Matt Striker: Striker continues to shine and not only is he a great color analyst, his analysis adds positively to the matches he is calling.

ECW Misses

DJ Gabriel and Alicia Fox: Those who are familiar with me know I have dug this act since it debuted. However, I wonder where they can go with it. That is my problem with these two; I am just not sure if they can be taken seriously in a serious program.

Todd Grisham: When Grisham and Striker first teamed up, they became a very good announce team in a relatively short period of time. It seems painfully obvious that Grisham has less freedom now than he did before and his performances are starting to seem “Michael Cole like.”

The Boogeyman: Speaking of people I cannot take seriously, Boogey is a waste of time for me. I know he is entertaining to some, but where is the long term value in him? Also, I hate the “pump handle slam into a powerslam” finisher. It makes no sense to not just lift him to powerslam position because that is where he ends up anyway. The pump handle part of it is illogical.

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