Powell's Blog: Christian returns to WWE and suddenly ECW looks like a hot show - could it be related to MyNetwork TV's struggles?

Tuesday, February 11 – 12:00 P.M. (CT)

-The debut of Christian was initially a mix of shock and disappoint for this viewer, but I warmed up to the idea by the time the show concluded.

I still believe WWE skipped a few chapters and missed out on months of storyline material by not revealing Christian as Jeff Hardy's mystery attacker. Christian and Jeff could have had their first match at WrestleMania and had a lengthy feud together.

An Edge and Christian reunion on Smackdown would have been great, and eventually could have led to a great series of E&C vs. Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy matches. Once that played out, they could have turned Matt against Jeff and set up their feud together.

However, WWE took a different path. It's possible we'll still get everything I mentioned above, just in a different order. After all, a reunited Matt and Jeff vs. Edge and Christian might be even bigger business if WWE plays its cards right.

One thing to remember is that just because Christian debuted on ECW, it doesn't mean we won't be seeing him on the other two shows. John Morrison and The Miz pop up on the other two brands on a regular basis, so there's no reason that Christian can't appear on Raw and Smackdown in the weeks and months ahead.

-Don't look now but ECW is suddenly a hot brand. I was losing some faith in ECW over the last two weeks because it looked like they were just going through the motions creatively. The departure of Matt Hardy left the brand without its top star, and the formula of having Boogeyman work the second match every week was getting old in a hurry.

And then came last night's show. Christian debuted and immediately filled the void left by Hardy. Tyson Kidd and Natalya made their ECW debuts. A video package teased the return of Evan Bourne.

Jack Swagger is a great young champion with tremendous upside. I still have high hopes for Paul Burchill and Katie Lea. The Tommy Dreamer retirement angle has potential. The Miz and John Morrison are the best tag team in wrestling right now. Matt Striker is the best new broadcaster to come along in ages.

Suddenly, the Tuesday night throwaway show looks like a legitimate brand that could provide first-rate programming. What a difference a week makes.

-It might be just a coincidence, but I wonder if the extra attention paid to the Tuesday night show has anything to do with MyNetwork TV's lack of stability. The network is clearly on shaky ground and I don't think there's any guarantee it will survive 2009.

WWE would prefer to find a new broadcast television partner if MyNetwork TV went under, but unless FOX decides to get onboard with WWE then the company could be out of luck. As such, it's wise to beef up the Tuesday night show and get WWE viewers in the habit of watching Sci-Fi just in case. Again, this is purely speculation, but the timing is interesting.