baltimoresun.com

« Awesome Kong reportedly KO’s Bubba The Love Sponge | Main | Comment of the Week »

January 20, 2010

Quick hits on ECW

• The Abraham Washington Show, which was “guest-hosted” by Santino Marella and featured Vladimir Kozlov, was one of the worst segments I have seen on a wrestling show in a while. The crowd let them know it, too, first by their apathy, and then by their booing. I am usually entertained by Marella, but he really wasn’t that funny in this segment, and Kozlov was just plain awful. He is supposed to be a Great Khali-type lovable monster now, but the crowd either hasn’t figured that out or doesn’t care. Even Tony Atlas – whose exaggerated laugh always gets a chuckle out of me – seemed off his game. After sitting through this excruciating segment, I wonder if people now have a greater appreciation for Washington’s talent. I know I do.

• Marella did get in one funny line, although only insider fans would have gotten it. He said that Washington had come down with a case of Gastro-Laurinaitis. For those who don’t know, John Laurinaitis is WWE’s executive vice president of talent relations.

• Christian and William Regal had a good match, which was no surprise, but neither was the result – Christian won by disqualification due to interference by Ezekiel Jackson.

• I wonder if the confrontation between Zack Ryder and The Hurricane that also involved Rosa Mendes and ring announcer Savannah is going to lead to some mixed tag matches. Savannah, whose real name is Angela Fong, is actually a trained wrestler, and from what I have read, she’s a decent worker.

• The match that saw Trent Barreta and Caylen Croft defeat Yoshi Tatsu and Goldust was OK, but I thought it dragged a bit.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:55 PM | | Comments (14)
        

Comments

Wow actual wrestling stuff. Maybe more wrestlers need to slap someone for saying something that they didnt agree with so we can get more of this.

I agree, Kevin. I can't tell if they are trying to get Kozlov over, and more importantly, why? He hasn't done anything... literally... He's like Mark Sanchez. He only really does two things. Roars, and then gets pinned. (Sanchez hands off the ball and cheers like he's a member of the Spirit Squad) Kozlov had potential at one point. He's a judo champion, but I can't tell that from his matches. He's 37, and they kinda just gave up on him after the HHH run. So, haven't we?

Kev, what is your opinion on wrestling as it is today?
With WWE not recognizing its younger talent, ECW being what is going from a C show to and F show and TNA looking up but then falling flat with the booking of Hogan and the older stars; it seems that we are in a dyre time with wrestling.

Certainly it is hard to top the original Monday Night Wars and The Attitude era, but I am personally starting to lose interest.

RESPONSE FROM KE: The most disappointing thing to me is what is going on in TNA. I was really excited about the company after Bound for Glory. Now, not so much.

Savannah was also the "Queen of FCW" (as Angela Fong). She's no Hamada, but she's a better worker than most women in the WWE. And as an aside, she's a lot nicer to look at than most of the Divas, in my humble opinion.

Here's a pretty decent match she had with Alicia Fox: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvr13dPc32Q

Is it me or did you just give Abraham Washington a compliment?
If I recall correctly you bashed him pretty well in the past. I still think Washington is horrible on the mic and his show is just not funny or entertaining at all.

I know that Santino segment was pretty bad, but I'd just rather have superstars hosting their own segments like Christian's Peep Show, Jericho's Highlight Reel, Edge's Cutting Edge, or even Carlito's Cabana. At least they don't laugh at their own jokes or make racist remarks like Abraham Washington.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I did criticize Washington when he first started in WWE, but then he started to grow on me. This is not the first time that I have said that I think he has talent. Just last week I said that I thought he would make a good heel commentator. Some of the Abraham Washington segments have been funny -- although Tony Atlas has a lot to do with that.

Goldust - most over person on the ECW roster behind Christian.

"Goldust - most over person on the ECW roster behind Christian."

That has to rub the WWE higher ups the wrong way. They basically threw him on ECW because they don't have jack for him to do on the other brands and he ends up being over as hell. I wonder if it all started out of a misplaced attempt at irony?

Am I the only one that was hoping for a cat fight between Savannah and Rosa? Oh, yeah - PG-13. [sigh]

ECW doesn't need to exist anymore. That show is so horrible ever since they completely gutted the roster.

They either need to cut it or bring back guys like Bourne, Swagger, and the Hart dynasty who have done nothing since leaving the brand.

"That has to rub the WWE higher ups the wrong way. They basically threw him on ECW because they don't have jack for him to do on the other brands and he ends up being over as hell. I wonder if it all started out of a misplaced attempt at irony?"

they could turn him into his heel stalker persona from when he first entered WWF put him in a title feud with Christian and he would still be massively over.

Is it me or is Byron Saxton trying to hard to be a heel announcer? He simply comes off as annoying.

I always liked Goldust, loved his old entrance with Terri and how he would do things in the ring to totally boggle the minds of the guys he was wrestling. He's gotten himself into decent shape too, if you recall how he looked in that Santino Marella thing of ex-champions like Honky-Tonk man and all, Goldie looked like he was about to bust through his seams. Not anymore. He looks pretty trim and he's a good wrestler.

Before he left WWE he was cutting all these promos dressed all in black with white face paint; almost like a darker Undertaker, (Can't recall the name he was going to use) but when he made that debut he bowed out of the WWE and said he didn't know what he was doing anymore, that the Goldust character basically killed his career.

Might make for an interesting angle if Cody and Ted split for Goldust to come back as Dustin Reynolds?

"I wonder if people now have a greater appreciation for Washington’s talent. I know I do."

__________________________________

Sure, just like I appreciate the talent of a cat whose tail gets caught in a rocking chair. Abe has the perfect voice to be a mime. He really missed his calling.

The most disappointing thing to me is what is going on in TNA. I was really excited about the company after Bound for Glory. Now, not so much.

Hmmm, that statement does a lot to characterize the difference between WCW and TNA. Eric Bischoff has a statement on "The Monday Night War" DVD where he says he made a loud noise to get all the WWF viewers to look over, and then they shifted to watching the product.

TNA made a loud noise on Jan. 4th to get the looks, but is there anything for people to shift their viewing habits? It seems like most just went back to watching what is in front of them (WWE).

Perhaps an article outlining the difference between WCW and TNA would be an interesting read.

Post a comment

All comments must be approved by the blog author. Please do not resubmit comments if they do not immediately appear. You are not required to use your full name when posting, but you should use a real e-mail address. Comments may be republished in print, but we will not publish your e-mail address. Our full Terms of Service are available here.

Please enter the letter "t" in the field below:
About Kevin Eck
The Baltimore Sun's Kevin Eck blogs about professional wrestling.
E-mail Kevin.
-- ADVERTISEMENT --

Cast your vote
Most Recent Comments
Photo galleries
Sign up for FREE local sports alerts
Get free Sun alerts sent to your mobile phone.*
Get free Baltimore Sun mobile alerts
Sign up for local sports text alerts

Returning user? Update preferences.
Sign up for more Sun text alerts
*Standard message and data rates apply. Click here for Frequently Asked Questions.
Blog updates
Recent updates to baltimoresun.com sports blogs  Subscribe to this feed
Charm City Current
Stay connected