ECW Extreme Extracts 08.11.09

Hi everyone, and welcome to ECW Extreme Extracts! Extreme Extracts is not a full on recap column of ECW. Instead I highlight some of the angles and storylines and even speculate from time to time where they might be heading. Don’t forget, in addition to the comment section below you can email me as well with any questions/comments and you’ll see your letter reprinted on the Earth Wide Intertubes.

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Let’s chat about tonight’s episode of ECW…

Show results:
• Match One: Shelton Benjamin def. Zach Ryder
• Match Two: Kozlov def. Jobber
• Match Three: Yoshi Tatsu def Paul Burchill
• Match Four: Tyler Reks def. Jobber
• Match Five: William Regal def. Tommy Dreamer

The main theme of the show:

Well now. Tonight’s show was a real nice way to bounce back from last week’s disappointing episode. In fact, I think every segment of the show tonight was well done. The highlight for me though was something that I thought was the only positive thing from last week’s show, the importance of the ECW Championship. The last two segments had major championship implications and I think both of them were very effective in driving home the importance of being ECW Champion. Tonight’s edition of the Abraham Washington Show was maybe the best one to date due in no small part to Christian as well as Abraham Washington himself. Christian came off looking like a total star and when he said he wanted to be “the man” in ECW I certainly believed him. Christian was perfect in transitioning from being the wise guy who cracked right back on Washington’s jokes to being serious and passionate about the ECW Championship and about his friendship with Tommy Dreamer. For a champion and a championship to be meaningful, the crowd has to take the champion seriously and Christian has been able to do that while still retaining his wit and humor in moments that call for them. The Christian that left WWE a few years ago would not be able to so adeptly fill this role but I believe that Christian’s time in TNA as a champion really taught him how to be a champion rather than just a mid level comedy heel. When you are the champion, you are the face of the company (or in WWE’s case face of the brand) and with the weight of the belt comes the weight of carrying that company on your shoulders. It doesn’t really matter how big or small the company is, the pressure is still there and it is a crucible through which you are ultimately judged. Some guys rise to the occasion and some guys don’t but Christian was able to prove he could be a champion in TNA and as a direct result he is now a two time ECW Champion.

The Abraham Washington show also served as the official announcement that the new challenger to Christian is the venerable William Regal who came out to cut a quick but effective promo about how he is even more brutal than Dreamer and that through that brutality he will take the title from Christian. Notice once again that it is not about Christian the man, rather it is about the ECW Championship. It seems like every week I make the point that the ECW Championship is the focus of every man vying for the title rather than having a personal score to settle but that is only because every week the writers of ECW effectively make that point abundantly clear. In that same vein, Regal made his brutal nature abundantly clear in his match with Dreamer with his singular and almost obsessive focus on targeting Dreamer’s left arm which was injured during last week’s Extreme Rules match, even going so far as to try and tear the bandage with his teeth, a move that did not go unnoticed by Matt Striker. Regal showed even more brutality after he scored the pinfall by putting a helpless and defeated Dreamer into the Regal Stretch, prompting a run in by Christian. Regal’s goal was to deliver a message to the champion and it was obviously received loud and clear. Simple and effective booking has become the trademark of ECW and tonight was just another example.

The minor theme:

Sometimes a crowd really makes the show. Canadian crowds are known for being passionate and tonight was no different. Right off the bat the crowd was into all the matches and segments of the show and it made for a more enjoyable home viewing experience. Sure, tonight’s show had a lot of great action and there wasn’t anything that was a drag but having a hot crowd really helped enhance everything we saw. Maybe it’s just the mark inside of me but when I hear a crowd getting excited for something going on in the ring, it make me get excited for it too, almost like we are enjoying it together. So kudos to the Edmonton crowd, you helped turn a good show into a great show!

Other quick thoughts from the show:

* Five matches tonight but two of them were squashes so nothing really seemed rushed. I know some of you might point to the opening match being rushed but…

* The Shelton/Ryder match being kind of short was the right move. Obviously this was just the first match in what will be a series of encounters between these two guys and having the vet take advantage of a mistake by the less experienced guy was the logical choice. Besides, Shelton has a quick “hit you out of nowhere” finisher so having him beat Ryder somewhat suddenly makes perfect sense. I’m excited to see where this might go.

* Speaking of excitement, we finally got the debut of the Hurricane in the ring and the crowd seemed really into it. I was never a big Hurricane guy but I did get a charge out of seeing the character again after a few years off. Burchill seems like a good foil for him at this point. Plus with Paul Burchill comes Katie Lea and we all know that that means…

Hello sugar.

*I’m glad we got to see Reks and Yoshi back on ECW this week. While Yoshi is clearly the bigger star now, I think Reks could have a bright future as well. The more I see of him the more I like.

* Much better show this week, I really enjoyed it from top to bottom.

ECW Alumni Spotlight :

In an effort to show how important ECW is to developing new talents every week I am going to highlight anything significant involving a WWE Superstar that either got their start on ECW or made their biggest impact on ECW before moving to Raw or Smackdown. This week’s focus is the one, the only, THE MIZ!

Now Miz has had kind of a tough go of it on Raw since coming over from ECW. Even so, he has been involved in quality matches with John Cena and has not seemed out of place in his interactions with other top stars. He had a rather big moment this week when he came back as the “Calgary Kid” in order to regain his job on Raw after he was “fired” last week by guest host Jeremy Pivin. You can check out the match below:

LINK: The Calgary Kid vs. Eugene!

It’s clear that Miz has a ton of potential and is just a natural pro wrestling heel. Plus I think he has a pretty cool story. When he was just a guy on the Real World he talked about his dream of being a pro wrestler. He then moved on to Tough Enough where he showed that he had the athletic gifts necessary to enter the WWE. After a few years in developmental he finally got to the main roster and the rest is history. Sometimes old times like to gripe about how young guys don’t seem to have the passion for the business that they id back in the day but it’s clear that Miz does have that passion and is living out his dream. Good for him and good for us since he is indeed AWESOME.

Reader email:

None this week.

* That’s it for the Extracts this week. Any comments can be made below. And if you have an opinion on the show that you’d like me to print in next week’s column, email me at andy(dot)critchell(at)gmail(dot)com. I’m also posting a blog here on 411 that you can check out here. Also, make sure to check me out on the UBS Evening Movie News Report over on the Movie Zone where I post the Interactive Babe Photo News Brief each and every week.

Have a great week!