Nice choice for new ECW GM
The announcement of Tiffany as the interim ECW general manager (she replaces Teddy Long, who will be the new Smackdown GM) Tuesday night was a surprise, but I like the choice. It’s nice to see a fresh face in the mix and, judging by her performance on the mic on Tuesday’s episode of ECW, it looks as if she can talk. Plus, she looks great in a business suit.
The other change on ECW was former Tough Enough contestant Josh Matthews replacing Todd Grisham as play-play-announcer. I have read good things about Matthews’ work in Florida Championship Wrestling, but I thought his performance was a little uneven in his ECW debut. As I said, however, fresh faces – or voices – are certainly welcome.
As far as in the in-ring action, I enjoyed the six-man that saw Evan Bourne and The Colons defeat John Morrison, The Miz and Tyson Kidd, as well as the fatal four-way, which was the opener of the Elimination Chase for the right to face ECW champion Jack Swagger at the Backlash pay-per-view on April 26.
I like the format of the chase. It begins with a four-way, and whoever gets pinned is eliminated. So next week there is a triple threat and then a singles match. I didn’t expect Mark Henry to be the first man out. I thought for sure it would be Tommy Dreamer. I really don’t want to see Dreamer get the shot. I’m hoping it’s Christian.
NOTE: I need to thank a few more people who helped me out during WrestleMania weekend in Houston. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Brian Fritz, who does the popular Between the Ropes show out of Orlando, Fla. Quite simply, there would have been no live blogging from WrestleMania without him. My laptop was acting up and he was kind enough to let me borrow his. Also want to thank my longtime friend and videographer Chris Dolan for his effort – as well as putting up with my occasional crankiness. And last but not least, thanks to Adam Hopkins of WWE for all that he did to make covering WrestleMania a pleasurable experience.
Comments
Kevin-
How much do you think GMs like Teddy Long and Vicky Guerrero get paid?
Is it anywhere near what the wrestlers make?
RESPONSE FROM KE: I don't know how much, but I feel confident saying that it's not close to what the stars make.
Posted by: Elevation | April 8, 2009 6:36 PM
Why not Dreamer? I mean, he literally IS ECW. I mean, without him, ECW is just kind of.. there. I probably only say this because ECW is what I grew up watching, but Dreamer is the best thing going in all WWE. Here's hoping for a title run in the near future. Anyways, nice read as always, you always do put out an awesome column, even if I disagree sometimes lol.
Posted by: Patrick | April 9, 2009 3:34 AM
Neither should they be paid what the wrestlers make.
These guys put their bodies and health on the line when they wrestle, and deserve to be paid more than a glorified puppet.
Posted by: Andrew Anderson | April 9, 2009 4:10 AM
hey how can you say christain over dreamer?
look at who made the origanl ecw what it is, and look at who has time left in this industry
dreamer is running out of time, he deserves a final push into what eva spotlight ecw is.
i hope he gets a exterme send off. he was a part of a attuide area and he does not beling(much like stone cold) in a pg era
RESPONSE FROM KE: I mean no disrespect to him, because he has paid his dues, but I just have never been all that excited to watch him.
Posted by: delliott | April 9, 2009 6:29 AM
Considering Vickie G.'s such a heat magnet, she probably deserves more than she's getting now.
Posted by: Everett W. | April 9, 2009 9:01 AM
Jack Swagger is far too young to add a pocket square to his suit. He needs to get some fashion advice from Y2J.
Posted by: Barr | April 9, 2009 11:03 AM
While I think the Elimination Chase is a good idea for ECW it doesn't make any sense why they would start it the episode before the draft. What happens if the participants are on another show next week? Knowing the WWE they won't get drafted to another show or they'll continue showing up on ECW until they're eliminated. Either way it would have made much more sense to just wait a week, but since when does anything in the WWE make sense?
Also Kevin, I'm actually pulling for Tommy Dreamer in the chase. It would be nice to see him win the belt one last time and then retire with it. No one meant more to the real ECW than Tommy Dreamer and he deserves a chance to go out on top. To say that his in-ring abilities have declined is obviously a huge understatement but that doesn't mean he couldn't have an amazing ECW style hardcore match. "The Innovator of Violence" should take a page out of Mick Foley's book and bring out his Kendo Stick, some barbed wire and a couple of tables and go out in a true blaze of glory. Would the WWE do it? Probably not, but with all the talk lately about legends having one last goodbye I think its time for Tommy Dreamer have his.
Posted by: Bill | April 9, 2009 12:02 PM
Its entirely possible Matthews was suffering from PTSD.
He spent all weekend at the Axxess booth calling the same 3 minutes of the same three matches with fans.
I'm sure he was worn out vocally and mentally after that.
Posted by: Bruce | April 9, 2009 12:07 PM
I disagree - not that it matters. Wrestling doesn't need any more reasons for female performers to be disrespected and considered of a lower quality than the males. However, I don't suppose there's any real reason to hope that the average wrestling fan will stop being sexist and primitive.
Posted by: Micah | April 9, 2009 1:49 PM
Kevin,
Just wanted to say kudos an all your Wrestlemania coverage, it really was great and I was looking forward to reading your take on the show come Monday morning. Sorry to hear about the car accident, glad everyone's ok.
As far as the new GM's are concerned, I like Teddy Long, but I think he's more suited to ECW with Tiffany as his assistant (NOT that I am opposed to more screen time for her AT ALL). I liked his 'new superstar initiative' and thought it was working well with the fresh talent he's brought in. I thought JBL would have been an outstanding choice as SDGM - hopefully they'll find a good vehicle for him to get mic time, b/c I thought he was great on SD color-commentary.
Posted by: Tanker 15 | April 9, 2009 2:49 PM
Regarding Josh Matthews, it's not like Todd Grisham leaves big shoes to fill.
Posted by: Sean the Cynic | April 9, 2009 6:17 PM
I am apparently in the minority, around here, but I hope that Dreamer is the next one to be eliminated. I simply would rather watch Christian or Finaly. I do agree that Dreamer should have one more moment in the spotlight, but I would rather see him built into a contender through singles competition.
Posted by: Christopher | April 11, 2009 12:17 PM