ECW Extreme Extracts 09.15.09

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: William Regal def. Hurricane
• Match Two: Yoshi Tatsu def. Zach Ryder
• Match Three: Zach Ryder won a 10 man Battle Royale to become the NEW #1 Contender!

The main theme of the show:

Well kids, a new star was born on ECW tonight. Zach Ryder has taken that next step and is now on the top level of the brand. I really have to hand it to the bookers because I thought they did a fantastic job on pushing Ryder. First he had a really good match with Yoshi and even though he came out on the losing end, he still looked really good. And Yoshi looked good as well which is important as I believe creative sees the Japanese superstar as the next big thing for the brand and they want to keep him looking strong. Back to Ryder, it’s clear that his talent and ability have not gone unnoticed by the creative team and this new push is a reward for that hard work. It also shows that they are willing to take a risk since this will be a new experience for Ryder, being a focal point for ECW. Ryder has been impressive but he is far from a sure thing. Still, I applaud ECW’s creative team for being willing to take the risk and potentially create a solid and impressive WWE superstar for years to come. Ryder really caught some attention and maybe even surprised some people some weeks back when he took Christian to the limit in one of the better matches on ECW this year. Since then he has continued to bust his tail in other matches and has started to gain a reputation as a guy who can go in the ring. His mic work has been very solid as well and his catchphrase has really gotten over. Think about it, whether you like Ryder or not, you definitely are aware of the “woo-woo-woo, you know it!” A funny thing about that, most of you may not know that phrase originated on The Dirt Sheet starring Miz and MORRISON. Isn’t interesting that what could have been a throw-away line has been one of the keys to Ryder’s success? As for where this feud with Christian could go; well that’s anyone’s guess at this point. To be honest, I can’t see their match being on the next PPV, mostly because Ryder is still untested and maybe unknown to the larger WWE audience. In the end though I think that could bode well for Ryder as it would give him the chance to have a nice long feud with Christian. I could even see them putting the belt on Ryder if he steps up his game even more now that he will be one of the stars of the show. They did it with Swagger, why not Ryder? Christian has shown in the past that he can have great matches with young guys on the way up so however this feud works out for Ryder I am positive that he will be better off for it win or lose.

The minor theme:

Ryder’s ascension isn’t the only thing featured on ECW tonight. The Battle Royale allowed for other feuds to continue; namely Shelton/Sheamus and Hurricane/Burchill. Both these feuds have potential and even though I think Hurricane/Burchill has more, the intensity level is rising between Shelton & Sheamus and that could turn out to be really fun. I can’t help but wonder if Regal is somehow going to be involved in Burchill’s feud with Hurricane although it would seem an odd fit. Burchill though has a ton of potential and a continuation in his feud with Hurricane should go a long way in helping to realize that potential. I really liked the new element they added tonight in Paul saying his motivation tonight was to get back at Hurricane for putting Katie in harm’s way last week. Whether that’s true or not, it still gives the heel some actual motivation which makes for a more compelling storyline. Once again it seems that ECW is poised to have interesting feuds up and down the card and all things considered I think it is truly the best booked wrestling show on TV.

Other quick thoughts from the show:

* We saw Paul Burchill but no Katie Lea? Oh no! Wait a second….

Much better!

* I quite enjoy looking at the Bella twins but they really serve no purpose on ECW. Hopefully they are working on their wrestling skills off camera otherwise I can’t see any reason to keep them around.

* Let’s hope that Yoshi’s backstage interaction with Goldust isn’t a signal that they will be working together more. I could see Yoshi as with a mentor and I could see Goldust being someone’s mentor but I don’t see them working together.

* Speaking of Yoshi, great match buddy!

No, I bow to you!

* I really enjoyed Regal’s interaction with GM Tiffany. The way he was kissing up at the beginning just killed me. Regal is the man!

* Thanks to 411mania Forum legend middlehead for the sweet pictures!

* A super strong episode this week. That makes two in a row!

* Next week I have a big announcement about ECW Extreme Extracts so you don’t want to miss it!

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 World’s Strongest Man, Mark Henry! Mark Henry is a guy that you can point to as an example of just being patient and letting things work out on their own. He came up on Raw and did his Olympian gimmick, joined the Nation of Domination, and was Sexual Chocolate (which led to one of the worst bits of Wrestlecrap ever.) After all that, he was sent back down to developmental to languish and maybe quit. He then took a hiatus from wrestling to once again concentrate on weight lifting. He briefly returned in 2002 but crowd apathy and a knee injury sent him back to OVW. After that he spent the next couple years being brought back up briefly before injury would take him off TV. By this time it seemed to many fans that Mark Henry’s previously unprecedented 10 year contract was an albatross for WWE and that he was a complete waste. Finally in 2007 he came back to WWE and after a really good feud with the Undertaker WWE put him on ECW and just let him be. Mark got over as a monster heel, helped to legitimize the ECW Title and Matt Hardy as a singles star, and basically resurrected a career that was as dead as dead can be. He even helped get over Tony Atlas! The interaction between those two was just too much hilarity for words. Anyway, we all know what Mark is up to now on Raw. I was really rooting for the big guy at the PPV but as we saw on Monday, his team with MVP is still going strong.

Here is Mark on Raw last night:

And here is Mark’s contribution to Wrestlecrap:

*to all my international readers, I use Hulu.com because they are an official site for WWE video content and thus it’s where I can get the highest quality WWE videos. Plus they won’t get taken down like Youtube videos tend to be.

Reader email:

Loyal Extracts reader Aaron sent me this doozy:
I read… and can’t disagree… with the following observation:

Since the “15 Man Trade” and the introduction of the 2009 Class of FCW, ECW has been having a Tournament of Feuds.

The first round featured Zack Ryder v Shelton Benjamin while Goldust faced Sheamus.

Now, Sheamus meets Benjamin and the feud will likely lead to one of them becoming the new #1 Contender for the ECW Championship.

That is a pretty astute observation Aaron and it seemed plausible before tonight. I know people have been clamoring for a Christian/Shelton feud ever since the Gold Standard was moved to ECW but let’s not forget that Ryder had a whale of a match a while back with Christian and a feud with him and Ryder should be pretty fantastic. But where does that leave Regal? Maybe a feud with Hurricane or an up and coming babyface like Yoshi? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Clearly though, Shelton is going to have his hands full with Sheamus.

Remember readers, send me a list of your favorite moments from ECW on SyFy thus far. I will compile them for an upcoming special edition of ECW Extreme Extracts!

* 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. 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!