Tuesday June 30 – 4:43 P.M. (CT)

WWE announced the details of the 15-man trade that shuffled the deck for the second time in a few months. Here's a breakdown on the wrestlers the ECW brand acquired. I previously posted rundowns of the Raw and Smackdown brand acquisitions.

Shelton Benjamin: A step down for Shelton, who isn't far removed from getting a decent push as a United States Champion. The silver lining is that he's now a big fish in a small pond. He's familiar with that role, as he played it previously in ECW. Many of us felt that Matt Hardy being shipped to ECW last year was a demotion, but he stepped up and made the most of it. Here's hoping Shelton does the same.


Goldust: WWE released a number of wrestlers late last year, yet hired Goldust a short time later. The story at the time was that he came cheap and that Raw lead writer Brian Gewirtz had a lot of funny ideas for Goldust as a comedy character. Here we are several months later and I'm still wondering what those funny ideas were. I guess we'll never know now that he's working on the C-show.

William Regal: Here's another wrestler who could thrive as a big fish in a small pond. He was getting the biggest push of his career as the general manager and the King of the Ring when he failed a Wellness Policy test. It's been all downhill since then. If the plan is for ECW to be the stepping stone promotion for younger talent, then Regal is a great choice for them to work with. It's not a sexy move, but it's logical.

The Bella Twins: It looks like WWE officials have lost interest in these two. They haven't been featured prominently despite the attention they generated by appearing at the top of a popular search engine ranking early in their run with the company. They're attractive girls, but they lack charisma. There aren't many women for them to work with on the ECW brand, so I have no idea what they'll do with them.

Final ECW Trade Thoughts: I've suddenly changed my opinion that Kevin McHale was the worst general manager in the history of sports. By the way, did you know Forbes magazine once claimed that McHale was the best general manager in sports? No, really. Anyway, Tiffany has taken the crown at least from a storyline standpoint. She gave up Jack Swagger, Evan Bourne, Mark Henry, Finlay, and The Hart Dynasty for the four wrestlers listed above. The Herchel Walker trade doesn't look so bad in retrospect.

Obviously, this move shows that WWE doesn't give a damn about the Tuesday night show. There's Tommy Dreamer, Christian, Shelton, and a collection of table scraps that the other brands didn't want. Yes, E&C fans, I'm as disappointed as you are that Christian wasn't moved to the Friday night show.

Was this the brand overhaul that WWE and Sci-Fi were reportedly talking about? Ugh. Suddenly, I have this strong desire to find someone who is interested in covering the ECW television show for Dot Net so that I don't have to. Send me a writing sample if you're interested.

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