Well folks, it's finally going to happen, Chris Benoit vs. CM Punk. This Sunday in my hometown of Houston, TX for Vengeance which I will be attending live. Meaning I get to see both Finlay/Benoit and CM Punk/Benoit within 6 months of each other.
So it seems now WWE is going to further push ECW as some sort of glorified developmental. That's fine I guess and I suppose have Benoit there was a veteran to "train" the new guys. But why is Nitro there? He's been with the company for years and established himself well as a heel and had multiple title reigns. He fell pretty hard b/c of bad booking though. Maybe tonight is a step back in the right direction for him with a pretty quick and dominant win over Nunzio.
Punk/Cor Von and Burke/Benoit matches were short, but decent. But good God, Brown almost killed Punk there with that botched powerslam. I'm surprised he didn't get a concussion or serious damage from that. What the hell happened there? I hope Punk's OK.
A Nitro/Punk feud will be fantastic, even if the title isn't on the line.
Honestly, it doesn't matter who gets the belt Sunday, because both guys will make for good title reigns. The problem is that Benoit is such a big fish in this pond that he'd have to face someone the girth of Viscera for the feud to have any credibility. He hasn't faced Cor Von in a singles bout yet, and that's the best match-up I can envision. As much as I like Thorn, he hasn't established himself enough to fight for the title, much less challenge Benoit for it. Burke? He just got beat solidly.
The official ECW recap doesn't mention Dreamer's injury, and I hope he's OK.
Nitro's debut reminded me of playing a new CAW on a WWE video game: pick a jobber, try-out all your top moves, win with a swanky finisher. I feel bad for Nunzio/Guido. Seems like the draft could have sent him a cruiserweight to fight.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
I only saw the Nitro match, and he really looked like a star, and maybe even a little out of place on that show. To think that about 6 months ago he was involved in a mini feud with Cena (with K-Fed). This guy has the "it" look mentioned elsewhere on this board, I just hope he can put it all together. I could see him being shifted to SD in a few months and really taking off there.
Dean! Have you been shooting dope into your scrotum? You can tell me! I'm hip!
I think Punk/Benoit is a good matchup to lend some small bit of possible credibility back to the new ECW title, though I would have also been happy with a Burke/Punk matchup; those guys are the obvious breakout stars of the new ECW.
One question I had last night: When did he go from Little Guido Maritato back to Nunzio?
They really rushed the ECW Title situation. It's not as if the belt was worth enough in the first place to be damaged by leaving it vacant for a while. An 8-man tournament leading to the next PPV (whatever the hell that is thesedays) would have at least given ECW some sort of direction and ready-made main events for the next month. It just seems a bit of a waste to run through it in the space of a week just to add an extra match to Vengeance.
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Originally posted by CTXAn 8-man tournament leading to the next PPV (whatever the hell that is thesedays) would have at least given ECW some sort of direction and ready-made main events for the next month.
Are there even 8 people in ECW that can be considered title contenders?
I was pleasantly surprised that Punk vs. Benoit is happening. I'm looking forward to it the most out of anything at Vengeance. If they get enough time and lay out their match properly, it ought to turn into something special. In fact, this probably is the best pure wrestling match for the ECW Title since ECW was reformed.
I was looking over the post-Draft ECW roster. At first glance, it looks like ECW is more like Heat or Velocity than ever before, but taking a closer look, honestly, I think it's a small group with a lot of potential.
Six quality guys at the top half of the roster: Benoit, Punk, Burke, Cor Von, Thorn, and Nitro. All solid wrestlers capable of good matches in any combination with each other, with Benoit as the cornerstone. Nitro and Punk in particular are young and have a ton of potential to be breakout stars. In fact, they kind of are each other's opposite numbers: a straight edge guy vs. a Hollywood celeb-wannabe. They're of comparable size. They could become great rivals. Burke, Cor Von, and Thorn are all very good characters. A series of matches with Benoit will teach them all a lot. Any of those six can be ECW Champion. The six of them together are a really interesting mix and contrast of wrestlers.
Then you have Dreamer, Nunzio, Stevie Richards and Balls, who have ties to the old ECW and can still deliver in the ring when given the opportunity to show their stuff. Beneath them are Viscera and Boogeyman as comedy/oddball characters. I don't love either of them but they can be useful in certain circumstances and each have entertainment value. There's Miz, who I can't stand but is actually better in the ring than he ought to be.
There's a lot that can be done with this group. If Paul Heyman had this roster a decade ago, he'd have put together good shows. With the proper booking, patience and attention to detail, ECW could become a fun little show with this roster. And yet, I can't muster up the enthusiasm that ECW won't continue to be bungled.
Originally posted by John OrquiolaWith the proper booking, patience and attention to detail, ECW could become a fun little show with this roster. And yet, I can't muster up the enthusiasm that ECW won't continue to be bungled.
That pretty much sums up the current iteration of ECW. They've always had the tools, but no one smart enough to use them.
Originally posted by CTXAn 8-man tournament leading to the next PPV (whatever the hell that is thesedays) would have at least given ECW some sort of direction and ready-made main events for the next month.
Are there even 8 people in ECW that can be considered title contenders?
There aren't even four judging by the mini-tournament they ran, but it wouldn't have hurt anyone on the roster to at least be perceived at that level even for a week.
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Not to mention that just about anytime there's been a tournament, you get some degree of enhancement filler to the brackets. If they wanted to build it up for (I guess Great American Bash would be next?) you could have done:
- Benoit - Striker
- Burke - Dreamer
- Cor Von - Mahoney
- Punk - Thorn
I would leave Nitro out of it, not wanting to job him so soon after his brand debut. I'd have no problem slipping Stevie Richards into Mahoney's spot if you prefer, but he seems to get no love from creative. The problem I have with this match is that I figured Benoit/Punk would be the ECW match you build toward for next WrestleMania, not something you rush into a throwaway PPV with next to no build-up.
Normally, I love pick up new movies and stuff on DVD, but when it comes to the older cards that have the blurring, I'll stick with picking them up on VHS. I'd rather have the original copies than the altered versions. A question to anyone who own these:...