ECW Results: 12/22/09

Swaggin' Return. "Finally, this show's worth watching again," words spoken by the former ECW Champion Jack Swagger, who returns to compete in the ECW Homecoming Qualifying Match against Yoshi Tatsu. ECW is where Jack Swagger got his start in the WWE and is currently fighting on the RAW brand, where just last Monday had a great match against John Cena. To give a sense of who Jack Swagger is, he rolled a video package of his domineering style in the ring; what he should have done was show his ECW Title win over Matt Hardy, and his various US Title hunts over on RAW.

Zack Ryder Killing the Dream. Two weeks ago, Zack Ryder instituted a challenge to Tommy Dreamer, a boy from the LI taking out the hasbeen from Yonkers. Now, the opening match between Zack Ryder and Tommy Dreamer was not a Career Threatening Match, but after losing his Qualifying Match to Kane, Ryder looked to make good on another promise, and that was to end Tommy's wrestling career. Tommy Dreamer showed some life in this match, super-plexing Ryder from the top turnbuckle and taking off his shirt for an attempted DDT, but was caught off guard to the Zack Attack. As of right now, Tommy Dreamer is still a part of the WWE roster, but will Dreamer make it past the New Year?

Abe Getting Better. Trent Barretta and Caylen Croft were guests on the Abraham Washington Show. When asked about the lack of coffee,"I can't afford drinks, this is ECW not Monday Night RAW" - Abraham Washington usually thrives on unfunny jokes, but that was humorous. Barretta and Croft claim that they will revolutionize the tag team divison - that Miz and Morrison were alright while Hart Dynasty is whatever. They should seriously take a look at true tag team wrestling from the days of the Federation and the Attitude Era before making such a bold proclamation.

Agonizing Qualifier. Vance Archer gets a new nickname, "Masterpiece of Agony;" yet, the only agony Archer can inflict is watching one of his matches. Best way to kill pay-per-view sales would be for Vance Archer to take on Tyler Reks, another failed candidate from the Superstar Initiative. The Texan is nothing like John Bradshaw, because how can you be a great heel if you never speak? Archer doesn't wrestle long enough to allow his wrestling speak for itself. The match between Vance Archer and Goldust was short lived, as Archer, after one minute, went for his Inverted Snap DDT. Three of the eight qualifiers have been revealed: Vance Archer, Ezekiel Jackson, and Kane.

"Thanks, Jack." Just like the match with Cena, Swagger took control of this match against Yoshi Tatsu. And with confidence exuding, Jack Swagger closely scouted Yoshi's kicks. His height advantage almost ensured victory, but underestimating a smaller opponent led to an enziguri to the face and a win for Yoshi Tatsu. A loss on ECW is a relief because attempting to qualify for an ECW Title shot would be a major step backwards for the future of the WWE, Jack Swagger.

ECW Results: 12/15/09

The show started off with ECW GM Tiffany congratulating Christian and Shelton Benjamin for putting on an amazing ladder match at TLC, and for making ECW proud. Shelton Benjamin took the opportunity to ask for a rematch for the ECW Title. Christian never got a chance to respond due to the interruption by The Ruthless Roundtable – mostly William Regal, upset of being overlooked for another title shot. And did anyone notice that Kane appeared at the opening of the program, “I’m baaaack…” Well, Tiffany explains why Kane is on ECW: Each week, for four weeks, she will be inviting a former ECW Champion to compete in an ECW Homecoming Tournament. On the fifth week, the winners of these qualifying matches will compete in an eight-man, over the top, showdown to determine Christian’s opponent at The Royal Rumble. The purpose of these matches is for former ECW superstars and current ECW superstars can clash.

ECW Contract Match: The Hurricane vs. The Ripper w/The Beautiful Nightmare. Two weeks ago on WWE Superstars, Paul Burchil, or The Ripper, interfered with Hurricane’s match against Zack Ryder. Tiffany issued this contract match to allow Burchill a shot at returning to ECW. The announcers stated that the Hurricane is the fearless protector of ECW, so naturally The Ripper is his arch nemesis. Yet, since returning, Hurricane has feuded with one guy –it’s annoying. For all that is good in this world, let him fight someone else, Batman has more than one foe. The last time Helms-Burchill fought was in a Mask vs. Career match, similar to Jericho-Mysterio’s Mask vs. Title match at The Bash. I mentioned last time that Hurricane resembled more like the villain than Burchill, and this match reinforces my allegations. Hurricane ripped Burchill’s mask off, and used the distraction to go for the pin. Not only was that a dastardly thing to do, but Chris Jericho used that same tactic against Mysterio to retain his title at Extreme Rules 2009. Paul Burchill not only lost the match, but he still remains without a contract. Afterwards, Gregory Helms tried to get a word in edge-wise on Burchill's reaction to losing to the Hurricane, in which he just screamed and walked away. And Helms walked away, the audience can see that he was still wearing the Hurricane costume underneath his sports coat.

ECW Homecoming Qualifying Match: Ezekiel Jackson vs. Vladimir Kozlov. Neither Kozlov nor Jackson are former ECW Champions, so why are they in a qualifying match? I don’t know why people were anticipating this match, because it was terrible. Thankfully, William Regal tripped Kozlov, allowing Jackson to execute the Ura-nage and advance to the finals the week before the Royal Rumble. Looks like Regal has abandoned Kozlov.

Abraham Washington Show: Guest, Maria. Here she comes again with legs that go on for miles, Maria is your Diva of the Year as voted by the fans. Maria is a bit more spunky and assertive, which is what she's been missing since starting in 2004. She cracked jokes at Abe's expense - as everyone does. Not much can be said about it, Maria didn't reveal any plans of becoming a better competitor or pursuit of the Women's Title.

Third Match: Trent Baretta and Caylen Croft vs. Julio Cruz and Jorge Arias. Trent and Caylen were playing the SmackDown vs. RAW 2010 video game, using the Create-a-Character to generate themselves into the video game to face off against DX. Trent and Caylen defeated the simulated DX and then fought Cruz and Arias in the ring. Baretta and Croft finished the match with an inverted atomic drop - looks like a stolen move from Team 3D. The two gamers announced that by next year they will receive a Slammy for Tag Team of the Year. Well, I beg to differ.

ECW Homecoming Qualifying Match: Zack Ryder w/Rosa Mendes vs. Kane. The Big Red Monster Kane knows what it is to be the ECW Champion; and his return to the Land of Extreme is shades of 2007 when ECW's ratings were borderline. Well guess what, the ratings are flat lining again, and here comes Kane to the rescue. It's amazing how on SmackDown, Kane is just another superstar, but on ECW... on ECW he's a real big deal. Zack Ryder had a title match a few months ago, but came up short; and he would like nothing more than to become the ECW Champion with Rosa Mendes by his side. Unfortunately, Ryder didn't win, but fell to Kane's chokeslam.

ECW Homecoming Qualified: Ezekiel Jackson and Kane.

Next Week's Guest of Honor: Jack Swagger to take on Yoshi Tatsu.

Other ECW News: Savannah is currently acting as in-ring announcer.

ECW Ladder Match Revealed; Eziekel Jackson More Ruthless?

First Match: Shelton Benjamin vs. Zack Ryder. On the last episode of WWE Superstars, after an 'urgent' phone call, Ryder's newest valet, Rosa Mendes, cost Benjamin the match. This time, Shelton was set on retribution. With no outside interference from Rosa, Ryder was able to solely concentrate at the match at hand. It cannot be said enough that these two superstars are not only the stars of ECW, but they are the future of the WWE. Ryder may have gotten lucky last Thursday, but this week, he fell to Pay Dirt.

Christian Calls Out #1 Contender. Shortly after the victory, Shelton looked on as the ECW Champion made his way to the ring. Unlike RAW's electrifying tournament, which resembled WrestleMania IV, Christian named Shelton the #1 Contender for a reason. For the past couple of pay-per-views, ECW has been overlooked. The ECW Title was not considered for a Submission match, or a Hell in a Cell Match, or to be even challenged, as a brand, for Bragging Rights. But at the Survivor Series, ECW made a stand. Christian eliminated 2 of the 5 members on Randy Orton's team to make an emphatic statement, and that is: ECW DOES MATTER. WWE's next pay-per-view, TLC, is a new concept that will feature one TLC, one Tables, one Chairs, and one Ladders Match. Since the Unified Tag Team Titles will be defended in a TLC Match, and the WWE Title will be determined in a Tables Match, why not have a ladders match? Christian chose Shelton Benjamin because he knows how to go above and beyond in a ladder match, just look at the MitB highlight reel at every WrestleMania. Christian wants to steal the show and he wants Shelton to steal the show with him. Finally, Shelton Benjamin, after making his second run on ECW, gets a shot at the ECW Title. But Christian should be weary, because it is only a matter of time that Shelton collects with Pay Dirt.

Second Match: Vance Archer vs. Alex Reynolds. This week, Archer executed a throwaway facebuster, a far more impressive finisher than the snap inverted DDT, but how effective is the move? The throwaway facebuster that Archer executed involved carry the opponent on your forearms; and seeing as Archer's opponent was a small guy, a Collin Dillane sized man, the move was executed properly. But what will happen when he is faced with an opponent matching his size or bigger?

Abraham Washington Show, feat. Matt Hardy. The other Hardy, as Abe, and everyone else, likes to call him, will be making another appearance on Scare Tactics. His first appearance took place at a psych ward where scientist were developing a chip to stimulate emotions. And from the clip that Abe showed, it looks as if it is the same tactic but with a different victim. Matt Hardy says its one not to miss, but I may accidentally forget to set the DVR to record next Tuesday, right before ECW.

Main Event: Yoshi Tatsu vs. William Regal w/Vladamir Kozlov and Eziekel Jackson. William Regal was once again looked over for an ECW Title shot, but honestly, how many are you suppose to have? Obviously, WWE is unwilling to give Regal the Championship, despite having him create a faction. Regal tried to win the match in order to get back into the title picture. What is that about? Regal's style has always been to get a shot by force, when did it start being about winning matches? A few weeks ago Tiffany mentioned about starting with a clean slate, what did she mean? The GM was absent from this week's ECW, so why did he chose to fight a clean match? Regal brought the Ruthless Round Table to ring side to have the advantage, but it turned to his disadvantage. Kozlov pushed Tatsu back into the ring, which allowed him to size Regal for the enzuigiri. When the behemoths entered the ring, Kozlov put the blame of Jackson, who turned on both Kozlov and Regal. The Ruthless Round Table has fallen, and honestly, with a leader who fails countless times - it was going to happen sooner or later.

News on Former ECW Ring Announcer: @LCMayhew No longer ring announcing on WWE for the time being bc I will b focusin on my actin and music in the new year! I will mis my new friends!

European Peeps Will Christian to Victory; Hurricane-Burchill Match Postponed?

Abraham Washington Show: Yeah... let's start it off this way. Abraham Washington, no doubt, feeding off the comedic routine Christian has built with Yoshi Tatsu: "Thank You" - "Thank You" - "No, Thank You" - "Thank You" - "Didn't I say that already?" - Real great stuff the WWE writers got going there... When asked who would leave Sheffield the ECW Champion, Yoshi Tatsu expressed Christian's tenacity in the ring would play a major factor... Then Abraham Washington took it old school, 11 years, when he recited the ever famous line, "Don't nobody understand the words that are comin' out of your mouth." That's right, Abraham Washington and Yoshi Tatsu had a Rush Hour moment, the polite Asian and the loud mouth, funny black man. The segment didn't go anywhere, didn't reveal any new challenges for Tatsu... it was a bust.

First Match: Paul Burchill vs. Goldust. Last week it was scheduled that Burchill and Hurricane would have the Mask vs. Career match in Sheffield, England; so what happened? It's unclear what exactly did go down, but best guess is that WWE didn't want to complete shatter the English moral by having Burchill possibly leaving ECW. However, after comparing the crowd reactions between Burchill and Goldust, I would have to conclude that the English people could have cared less if Burchill's dreams were shattered, as they were by "The Bizarre One," Goldust. It was insatiable how much the crowd rallied behind the California, American native. Yet, Burchill seemed to have the brute advantage, until The Hurricane appeared in the arena. With Hurricane running around the ring, it didn't take long for Goldust to capitalize on the distraction with The Final Cut. Despite winning the match, all the attention was focused on Hurricane smiling over Burchill's loss.

WWE Superstars Match Revealed: Shelton Benjamin vs. Zack Ryder. Backstage, Ryder confesses to Rosa Mendes that he likes her and invites her to sit ring side during his matches. Then we see a segment of Ryder and Rosa holding hands and skipping... This is the second time that we, the viewers, see what's going on inside the head of Zack Ryder. It's off putting to say the least to have mental visuals of another person's thoughts. I understand that Ryder's persona is from the 80's, but damn it, this is pro-wrestling! not 16 candles.

Second Match: Vance Archer vs. Jason Blackwell. Once again, Archer proves dominate in his match. But is this really the way to show the WWE Universe of what he is capable of? I for one am annoyed at these lousy exhibition matches. It doesn't do anything for the superstar to showcase four moves and call it a night. Archer tossed Blackwell around with a few slam variations and ended it with his finisher The Bull's Eye.

Main Event: (C) Christian vs. William Regal (ECW Title Match). It was a match that took up the better part of an hour, possibly the most intensified rivalry to go down in recent ECW history. The challenger, William Regal, has struck gold before in England; yet would the Blackpool native have the hometown advantage in Sheffield, and capture the long awaited ECW Title? Regal's fellow Englishmen and Christian's peeps escalated to a split decision in the crowds, chanting for both superstars. It was a grueling match and well worth watching, but the ending was literally unbelievable. Regal missed the knee trembler and locked in the Regal Stretch, how was Christian able to break free? The Regal Stretch forces your opponent to the ground, pinching the arms together making it damn near impossible to move, let alone have the arm strength to punch the attacker. I thought the third time would be the charm, but Regal failed once again in his quest for World Championship Gold. Or has he? Prior to the match, ECW GM Tiffany wished Regal luck and proposed, win or lose, that they should start a clean slate. Is Tiffany turning to the dark side, or is she seriously trying to make everyone to get along?

Side Note: Tiffany's New Entrance Theme: "Insatiable" by Jim Johnston

Sheamus' Final Night on ECW; Christian Retains Gold

Is ECW falling under? ECW has failed to make an appearance in the last two pay-per-views and they lost Sheamus to RAW. It looks as though SmackDown and RAW are the ones with all the Bragging Rights.

ECW started off with the Abraham Washington Show, which has really grown on me ever since they decided to add Tony Atlas to the segment. Washington’s guest was the ECW GM, Tiffany, who has upgraded to her own entrance music rather than borrowing Torrie Wilson’s. The identity of the song has not yet been revealed. Abraham asked the tough questions, why was ECW not represented at Bragging Rigths; and what does she have to say about Sheamus’ move to RAW? Her responses were as follows: ECW was represented because stars like John Morrison and Kofi Kingston got their start in ECW, which is hilarious that she mentions these two specifically, since they were each pinned at Bragging Rights. As for Sheamus leaving, if a superstar is dissatisfied with working in ECW, then they are not welcome. The question that impressed upon me was the fact that the feud between Sheamus and Shelton was dropped; but Tiffany cleared the air by stating that Sheamus’ final match on ECW would be against Shelton Benjamin.

Surprise Guests: William Regal w/ Ezekiel Jackson and Vladimir Kozlov. Regal begged Tiffany to reconsider giving him another title match; but, her position was still against. Tiffany even told Regal that he may never get another ECW Title shot. Then, after Tiffany made her exit, Regal started tearing down the set of the Abraham Washington Show and screaming uncouthly.

First Match: Shelton Benjamin vs. Sheamus. In last week’s post, I talk about how Sheamus called out Shelton for having a mediocre career, and for wasting his natural ability. Shelton, in an interview with Savannah, touched base on this allegation and admits that after eight years he doesn’t have much to show for it, but he’ll be damned if he gave up now. He also sees Sheamus as running away from the fight that he started, using RAW as an excuse. This match, and the following, was a pay-per-view caliber match that saw the best quality wrestling that ECW had to offer. And after seeing Shelton as the Intercontinental and United States Champion, he never looked more like a champion than he did last night. The aerial assaults and his aggressiveness show a new found spark in his career. I can definitely see him one day becoming the World Heavyweight Champion; but last night, the match belonged to the Celtic Warrior.

Segment: Gregory Helms and Rosa Mendes. Rosa is the newest acquisition to ECW, who goes on about being famous and thrilled to be on ECW. Helms wasn’t interviewing her, he had just said hello. The Burchills interrupt this meet and greet to provide a message to The Hurricane, to come to the ring next week. Challenge accepted.

Main Event: ECW Champion, Christian defends his title against Yoshi Tatsu. For weeks, Christian has been taking Yoshi under his wing because he has a bright future with the WWE, but that this match, as Christian considered, would be a lesson in losing gracefully. Christian won the ECW Title back at Night of Champions, making him the longest reigning current champion in the WWE; but, his cockiness could prove to be his downfall. The match saw a lot of close calls, and it almost seemed as if Yoshi would become the new ECW Champion; but, after a third attempt, Christian locked in the Killswitch to retain the title.

This match can go down in history as a rookie World Title shot, other examples are: 2001, Jeff Hardy vs. The Undertaker for the Undisputed Title; and 2008, Evan Bourne vs. Matt Hardy for the ECW Title.

But before Christian could congratulate Yoshi for an amazing match, the Ruthless Round Table decimated him. At this point, William Regal is just beating a dead horse, because how many times are we going to see the same ending to ECW? What ECW needs is for Shelton Benjamin to start striving for the title; heck, I wouldn’t even mind seeing The Hurricane face off against Captain Charisma.

Note: As a result of the Bells Palsy Attack that J.R. endured, ECW welcomes its newest member to the broadcast team, Byron Saxton from FCW. And taking over J.R.’s position will be none other than Matt Striker. Therefore, Friday Nights will be hosted by the 2008 Slammy Award Winning Announce Team of Striker and Todd Grisham.

GM Tiffany Injured; ECW TItle Not Defended at Hell in the Cell?

ECW opened with William Regal addressing the audience that the ECW GM Tiffany was involved in a car accident, and the doctors do say that she will make a full recovery, she is at home nursing her injuries. And because of Regal's past experience as RAW's GM, the WWE Board of Directors has made him the interim GM of ECW.

But just to assure everyone, Tiffany did NOT get into a car accident. According to her twitter account, Tiffany appeared in FCW's live TV Taping the thursday before ECW - You just might catch me in action ;)

Well, indeed she did get some wrestling action as she injured herself in the match. She fractured her humerus bone. WWE Creative team will work in the fracture as a result of the "car accident."

Now that we have that out of the way, let's take a look at William Regal's awesome GM skills: Changing the main event match between Ryder and Christian to a 4-on-1 Handicap Match including The Ruthless Roundtable. That would have been a match that I would like to have seen... however, the Board of Directors were not pleased and instead changed the main event match once again to include Yoshi Tatsu, Goldust, and Tommy Dreamer.

Never did the Board of Directors once interfered when Vickie Guerrero did any of her crazy calls: Banning the Undertaker from the WWE, Granting her then-husband Edge unlimited opportunities to the World Title, and unbelievable immunity from contesting on regular tv. But no, let's stop Regal from beating the pulp out of Christian.

ECW consisted of two matches and a segment of the Abraham Washington Show.

Now, The Abraham Washington Show featured a new guest, John Morrison? What is Morrison doing back on ECW? Anyway, he was sporting his new t-shirt available on WWEShop.com and was actually pleased with the Abraham Washington Show - which is a first, because no one ever likes to be on it or hear Abe's jokes. Then the weakest surprise guest was Dolph Ziggler. He sat down on the couch and starred at Morrison but could not get a word in edge-wise. The segment thus ended with Ziggler left alone. - No respect for "Perfection."

The first match was "The Gold Standard" Shelton Benjamin who took on Paul Burchill. Prior to the match, as Shelton walked down the ramp, he was attacked by Sheamus. He badly banged up Shelton's arm and it didn't seem possible for Benjamin to agree to face Burchill. Now, Burchill has been on a losing streak as of late, losing to the likes of The Hurricane and Tatsu, you would finally think that he could beat a wounded man, right? Shelton proved his tenacity in the ring, willing himself to victory. Shelton is the best pure athlete in the the Land of Extreme and his face change is inevitable.

The final match was an 8 man tag team match: ECW Champion Christian, Tommy Dreamer, Goldust, and Yoshi Tatsu vs. Zack Ryder and The Ruthless Roundtable. Before the match, Christian had a pep talk with his team, but most importantly it's what he said to Yoshi Tatsu, "you represent the new blood here on ECW, we're all excited about your future but we need you to step it up tonight." Not only did Tatsu step it up, he won his team the match by pinning William Regal with a Roundhouse Kick.

So far, out of the four new superstars that Tiffany signed over to ECW: Yoshi Tatsu and Sheamus have bright futures in the WWE.

The Board of Directors restricted Regal from creating any matches that would effect the ECW Championship, including #1 Contender matches. As of right now, there is no ECW Title match set for this Sunday's Hell in a Cell ppv. This would mark the first WWE ppv not featuring an ECW match since WWE decided to make their ppvs tri-branded.

In all honesty, there is no point in having one ECW match at the ppv, what's the point of dragging Matt Striker and Josh Matthews to commentate on one single match, especially if that match turns out to be 8 seconds like SummerSlam?

Plus, Zack Ryder became the #1 Contender and then had one of the best ECW title matches the following week. From not winning the title, it now leaves Christian without an opponent. And GM Tiffany did ban Regal from having another ECW Title shot, so who's next?

If ECW really wanted a match for the Hell in a Cell ppv, they should have Shelton Benjamin finally face off against Sheamus. But that's just me.

Christian Still ECW Champion; Abraham Washington Show Not Canceled; Christian's Next Challenge?

The ECW Championship match was a pay-per-view caliber match.

After earning the #1 Contender’s spot in the Battle Royal, Zack Ryder made sure not to squander the opportunity. Ryder has even studied his opponent, The ECW Champion Christian, to see if he could find any weaknesses.

And last night, Ryder took his championship match very seriously. He usually fights with his headband on, but knowing that he was one match away from becoming the ECW Heavyweight Champion, took off his headband as a sign of respect towards Christian and the ECW Title.

Christian delivered some painful smacks across the face of Ryder, who did everything he could to counter his quickness and agility. Ryder knows that he is younger and hungrier to become champion, but, even though Christian is older, quickness has been a factor in Christian’s success.
Christian delivered an array of Missal drop kicks, but Ryder kept getting up, and Ryder went on to trap Christian in a body scissors submission maneuver.

The two even countered the other’s finishing moves. Ryder evaded two Killswitches and Christian kicked out of Ryder’s Zack Attack.

In the end, it was Christian, applying it for the third time, struck with the Killswitch. Zack Ryder was on top of the world last week when he was just one step away from becoming champion, but in one fell swoop, the dream was put on hold.

Yet, Christian couldn’t celebrate for long because The Distinguished Gentleman William Regal proclaimed that it would only be a matter of time before he becomes the next ECW Champion.

Will ECW GM Tiffany allow Regal another shot at the ECW Title, or will she continue to give other Superstars a fighting chance?

ECW opened with The Abraham Washington Show. We all thought we were done with him, but the man has not been canceled - not yet anyways.

Abraham's guest was the Celtic Warrior Sheamus, who they made fun of for his heritage and pale complexion, comparing him to the Lucky Charms leprechaun.

You make Casper look like a brother! - Abraham Washington, regarding Sheamus’ pale skin.
And as always, Abraham had a surprise guest, and he was none other than The Gold Standard Shelton Benjamin.

When asked why this feud started, Sheamus replied that some cheat their way to victory, while others work hard and fight with honor - that is the way of the Celtic Warrior.

But a fight broke out when Shelton, claiming that he did research on the Celtic warriors, piled together a mock family tree of Sheamus, relating him to such characters as Carrot Top, The Wendy’s Girl, and Ronald McDonald.

Personally, that was completely out of line for Shelton to make fun of the Irish, because if Sheamus would have made fun of Shelton’s African Heritage, no one would be laughing.

But as far as Sheamus is being developed, he is moving up the ranks, from jobbers to Goldust, and now stepping in the ring with Shelton Benjamin.

And other ECW matches: Yoshi Tatsu defeated Paul Burchill; and The Ruthless Roundtable defeated two jobbers.

Donald Trump's Trade Make or Break ECW?

ECW kicked off with an announcement from the vivacious General Manager, Tiffany stating that ECW has lost a lot of great talent but has also gained some. The reality is that the trade has severely crippled ECW. Three of the five competitors from Sunday’s Scramble Match have now found homes on RAW and Smackdown.

Evan Bourne, no doubt the most exciting commodity, has also left the Land of Extreme to thrive on Monday Nights – as seen during the Gauntlet match, Evan almost pinned the WWE Champion.

The Hart Dynasty, possibly the most exciting union since The Miz and John Morrison, has left for Smackdown – in hopes to dominate Friday Nights and one day obtain both the Unified Tag Team and Women’s Titles. It is no secret that ECW is always cheated out of their top tier superstars, mainly to RAW who tend to capitalize on ECW’s hard work.

After losing seven superstars, what is next for ECW?

Tiffany, learning much from the previous GM, has reinstated the Superstar Initiative – a program that brings in fresh talent over from FCW, training grounds, over to the WWE.

The first of the new superstars was Yoshi Tatsu, a Japanese wrestler, facing off against “The Gold Standard” Shelton Benjamin, re-debuting on ECW. Not much is known about Tatsu’s wrestling technique, except for an enzuigiri that knocked the Gold Standard out cold – giving him his first victory on ECW.

ECW has also acquired a new talk show, hosted by Abraham Washington. Gimmicked as having the gift of gab, Washington is actually an instigator – badmouthing superstars and causing problems - as his guests, the Bella Twins, were about to pull hairs until they discretely left.

With the departure of one Irish Brawler, ECW has introduced the arrival of another Celtic Warrior by the name of Sheamus. During his match with a local jobber, Sheamus was instantly portrayed as a heel, driving his knee into his opponent's back for the 1-2-3 victory.

In the weeks ahead, how will the superstars from the initiative fare along with the superstars from the trade? And with three threats gone, will Dreamer have a long title reign, or has new threats emerged?