Regretfully, I didn't get a chance to watch the whole thing. I came in during the Holly/Test match, and I was pretty impressed considering how I remember them from WWE. It wasn't a classic by any means, but it was a good row, even with the cheap ending.
The interview with Sandman I found amusing, as well as Interview Chick's vacant arousal by a man smashing a beer into his face and then spitting everywhere.
The Big Show/RVD match was damn good. As I said, I missed the beginning, so initially I was under the impression that they were wrestling for the title tonight, which intrigued me. Title changes on free TV are rare, and all the more special because of it. Instead, it was a match for RVD's ability to have a match for the ECW title. Pointless premise, but both guys did extremely well. Big Show has impressed me as of late, expanding his arsenal with some new (albeit stolen) moves, the Spear and the Vader Bomb. Don't know what, if anything, he calls it, but it's a Vader Bomb. RVD's Van Daminator with the ladder (leading to a decent Big Show bladejob) would have to be the high spot of the night. By the way, did anyone notice that RVD almost got the ladder dropped on him by pure accident? The huricarana to the outside was sloppy as all hell, but it was nice to see a decisive, clean ending for once. To close the show, Show amuses me by apparently having a bawling fit on the outside and crying "No" for about 5 minutes.
I've been out of wrestling for quite some time, but ECW's return has got me somewhat intrigued. A few weeks ago, ECW felt like a watered-down WWE excuse for ECW, but here recently with RVD's quest for the title ramping up, things are starting to look up. I doubt it'll ever totally recapture the feel of the old days, but even a pale shadow of ECW is better than no ECW at all.
RVD vs. Big Show was pretty good, despite Rob damn near breaking his neck on that hurricanrana spot. I had low-expectations going in, but this was pretty good in the end.
Punk and Striker had the start of a pretty good match, but then they just moved into Punk's finishing sequence and had Knox break up the match. I wish they had like another 10-15 minutes, we maybe would have finally gotten a decent ECW match out of Punk.
Originally posted by Tenken347Punk and Striker had the start of a pretty good match, but then they just moved into Punk's finishing sequence and had Knox break up the match. I wish they had like another 10-15 minutes, we maybe would have finally gotten a decent ECW match out of Punk.
InDEED. We had nice intrigue going on (can Punk slap on the Vice if his arm's hurt) and the ending avoided answering the question. Striker looked better than Punk because Matt was doing stuff we hadn't seen from him before whereas Punk as ONLY doing stuff we had seen before. That quick slap-kick combo has gotten weaker since he debuted in ECW, and he's started to kick as much as RVD. His offense quickly devolved into clotheslined and back elbows too. This was not a great outing for him.
Holly/Test was a car wreck posing as a slobberknocker. Kudos to them for hitting the apron suplex spot, but they looked gassed. I can't blame Test too much; he hit his one-arm multiple post slam on the hefty Hardcore. That's nothing but strength there.
RVD/Show was cut short by that lengthy Test match, and that should have gone to Punk/Striker instead.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
We had nice intrigue going on (can Punk slap on the Vice if his arm's hurt) and the ending avoided answering the question. Striker looked better than Punk because Matt was doing stuff we hadn't seen from him before whereas Punk as ONLY doing stuff we had seen before. That quick slap-kick combo has gotten weaker since he debuted in ECW, and he's started to kick as much as RVD. His offense quickly devolved into clotheslined and back elbows too. This was not a great outing for him.
All right, me thinks we're overanalyzing Punk a tad much. He's a midcarder in a C brand. They're not exactly throwing him out there to light the world on fire. Let's wait till he gets a match over 10 minutes before we start grading his outings. I mean, seriously Google video has Joe/Punk II on it if anyone needs a fix. His offense has been WWE-ized, but I think nit-picking his performance every week is a little over the top. The Striker match was decent for an angle-advancement pimp.
I can't believe how much they fucked up Hardcore Holly's comeback. After his match with RVD a month ago, Holly should be one of if not the biggest face in ECW at the moment. He shouldn't even be wrestling matches so soon; he should be swinging chairs at anyone and everyone associated with Paul Heyman, building to the Test match at the PPV. Instead they had him lose cheap to Test in a slobberknocking crapfest of a match before Test beats him into a pile of shit with a chair. Wow.
I think this was actually a worse case of bungling an easy gimme than when Bam Bam Bigelow was burned saving a family from a fire in real life and then was brought back into WCW as a heel.
One negative about ECW is their lack of long-term building. We have RVD v. Big Show and CM Punk v. Mike Knox, and that's it. I can only hope they save those for the PPV, because every other feud they've started has been blown off on a random television show. I know that they've had a long wait until the PPV, but they have to start realizing that December 3rd isn't THAT far away anymore.
For a promotion that builds 80% of it's feuds in the four weeks before a PPV, it's not a surprise they're booking as they are. They had no feel for pacing or what to do at all in off months when it was just RAW and SmackDown. They could do something as simple as pretend every 4th TV show is a one hour PPV and build towards it, but they seem content to meander from week to week with occasional panic show.
They're five weeks out, so they'll probably figure out a plan and start working towards it soon, but unless they start doing lots of PPVs, I'm thinking the long term planning will be vastly out numbered by the long term stalling and insta-undercard feuds to fill out the PPV.