ECW Extreme Extracts 06.30.09
Posted by Andy Critchell on 07.01.2009
It's the dawning of a new era of ECW. Or at least a newer era. Or something.
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.
Do any of you Twitter? If you do, let me know and I'll post your link for you.
Let's chat about tonight's episode of ECW…
Show results:
• Match One: The debuting Yoshi Tatsu def. Shelton Benjamin
• Match Two: The debuting Sheamus def jobber
• Match Three: Kozlov & Regal def. Christian & Tommy Dreamer
The main theme of the show:
After last night's big announcement of the 15 superstar trade, ECW was all about showcasing the new talent on ECW. In fact, we saw every new superstar ECW gained through the big trade, except for Goldust. Can't say I'm upset about that as I don't know/care what Goldust will do on ECW. As for Regal, it's clear what he brings to the table; solid matches, great interviews, and a guy who does all the little things that give his character substance which hopefully will rub off on some of the new ECW superstars. Case in point; Regal's facial expressions post match. It's clear that he was upset about Kozlov "stealing his thunder" but Regal did it in a very subtle way. He wasn't demonstrative or over the top about it which is a trap a lot of wrestlers fall into. Plus it seems that Striker will mark out every time Regal is in a match and that will definitely be fun! In the case of Shelton ECW gains a great athlete and a solid wrestler but it seems to me that this run on ECW might be Shelton's last chance at being a top level guy. Shelton is a once in a generation type of an athlete and WWE clearly doesn't want to let him go but if this run on ECW doesn't work I think creative might just throw up their hands and say that they have no idea what to do with him. I'm sure TNA would snatch him up in a second if he was ever released but I don't think they would be able to make him a star either. Finally, we come to the Bella twins. Well…they are certainly super hot but what are they going to do on ECW? Outside of the MIA Katie Lea the Bellas are the only two women wrestlers on ECW. I guess we'll see where this is going. I hope they don't feud, at least not anytime soon. Overall, I think ECW did a good job of showing off the new talent and they did it in the typical ECW way; simply and effectively. Nothing wrong with that.
The minor theme:
In addition to the new faces ECW gained through the trade the show gained some more talent through the "New Superstar Initiative" gimmick ECW has had for a while to bring up guys from the developmental ranks. First we met Yoshi Tatsu, a young Japanese wrestler that clocked Shelton with a nice stiff kick after being disrespected in a pretty offensive manner. More on that later. Personally, I am excited about this guy, I think that he can bring a style to ECW that most people in the audience won't be familiar with and he might put on some really cool matches. Of course, he might be terrible. The coming weeks will tell the tale. We were then introduced to Abraham Washington and his new talk show. To call this segment confusing would be an understatement as I have absolutely no idea what exactly this is supposed to be. I know the crowd hated him. His style of talking was really odd and a little wooden. He reminded me of Stephen A Smith, formerly of ESPN, and a man that most people really didn't like. When interviewing the Bellas, he came off kind of like a nerdy that was trying to sound cool. Just like Stephen A! I'm interested to see where this is going but I'm not sure if it is in a "I hope this is good" way or in a "this will be a trainwreck" way. Then we were introduced to Sheamus in a match where he squashed a jobber. I think this guy has got a real uphill battle in front of him. He's got the size to be a star but his look is a big detriment. He is white as a ghost and he looks almost bizarre compared to the orange hued wrestlers we are used to seeing. The promo he cut before his match was pretty generic too. I know the people in developmental thought a lot of him but he didn't show anything special tonight. Finally, we were introduced to Tyler Reks in a backstage segment with Zach Ryder. Apparently they have a match on Superstars so we'll see what he can do in the ring on that show but in his interaction with Ryder he seemed very natural. His look also seemed to be unique in a good way so I feel better about him than I do about Sheamus.
Other quick thoughts from the show:
* Shelton's prematch antics with Yoshi Tatsu were pretty racist and offensive. Someone needs to tell WWE that stereotyping an Asian is just as bad as stereotyping an African American.
* Tiffany was finally back on ECW tonight and she was a sight for sore eyes! I might be in the minority but I think she is wonderful in her role. She brings a lot of energy and she's got a killer smile. Plus I think she is a pretty good talker. Glad to have her back.
*It was good to see Kozlov again too. I wish they would define his character a little more though.
*I hope that we don't lose Tony Atlas on ECW. He brings too much laughter into my life.
*I'm really gonna miss Swagger.
Single tear.
*I'm really gonna miss Mark Henry even more. I'm sure you noticed my new banner, provided by my new buddy Eric. Just so you know, Eric went above and beyond for me as that version was not the first. Here is the first version:
Vaya con Dios Mark.
Reader email:
I didn't get any this week but I do want to give props to JBBTHWK from last week for calling out Sheamus debut just a little early. Nice job!
* That's it for the Extract 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.
"* Shelton's prematch antics with Yoshi Tatsu were pretty racist and offensive. Someone needs to tell WWE that stereotyping an Asian is just as bad as stereotyping an African American."
There's nothing wrong with using racism in a storyline when it's handled correctly.
It's one thing with a situation like Booker T/HHH because Booker ended up losing without getting any real justice.
Yoshi kicked Shelton's head into the cheap seats and instantly pinned him.
Go police something else.
Posted By: Guest#7973 (Guest) on July 01, 2009 at 10:27 AM
Good read as always, I wish the other shows had a recap like this
Posted By: Gavin (Guest) on July 01, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Maybe on next week's show, the new Asian guy will spit some fried chicken and watermelon in Shelton's face....then we'll see what's-what with the racism on WWE programming
Posted By: Matt G (Guest) on July 01, 2009 at 01:19 PM
* Shelton's prematch antics with Yoshi Tatsu were pretty racist and offensive. Someone needs to tell WWE that stereotyping an Asian is just as bad as stereotyping an African American."
Dude you really need a since of humor. I thought it was pretty funny. Rest of it i agree with you though. I didn't like the guy from the talk show either. He sounded like a neard happy that he was talking to two hot girls in high school and trying to be cool.
Posted By: Guest#6383 (Guest) on July 01, 2009 at 01:46 PM
I was more offended that Shelton had to resort to such basic taunts, I mean, who didn't see the crane kick coming. I'm just saying it should have been more creative, if they were going to go down that road. I think it would have worked if he went another route in saying that this beginner wasn't on the same page as him athletically, and asked him to just leave the ring to avoid an ass whooping, then opponent fakes as if he was leaving, Shelton turns around for a minute to address the fans, turns back and then blammo, kick lands and he gets pinned. Would have been just as effective and a lot less racist. I enjoyed the show last night a lot actually, enjoyed Shamus and Regals facial expressions at the end of the match were priceless. Show was a lot of fun to watch for me.
Posted By: piperfan01 (Guest) on July 01, 2009 at 03:44 PM
Tiffany should be fired for agreeing to the trade that raped her roster. Any other G.M. in sports would be canned if they did that to their team.
Posted By: wcwchris (Guest) on July 01, 2009 at 04:36 PM
Wow,can someone tell Sheamus there is a thing called outdoors.
Posted By: jonah (Guest) on July 01, 2009 at 04:43 PM
The offensive part wasn't Benjamin's Asian stereotypes (because, as mentioned above, he got his face kicked in showing the audience that racists lose...right Triple H?). Granted, I wouldn't choose the go the route they did, but that's because I don't share the same sense of humor that Vinnie Mac does (does anyone?).
And this was also mentioned above, but the same goal could have been acheived with Benjamin underestimating this nobody and proceed from there. You not only have a built-in reason for Shelton to be pissed next week (as opposed to the racist getting his mouth shut and demanding retribution) but you flatout avoid the stupid angle that so often gives wrestling a bad name.
I'm not saying racism should never be touched in wrestling, you just gotta handle it right. The HHH/Booker situation was handled very well in my opinion, only it was totally fucked by the wrong guy going over. But up to that point it was a good piece of race-related fiction.
Finally, the real offensive part is Shelton being jobbed out yet again, this time to a debuting wrestler in the span of three seconds. That's offensive.
Posted By: neverAcquiesce (Guest) on July 01, 2009 at 04:46 PM
"Shelton's prematch antics with Yoshi Tatsu were pretty racist and offensive. Someone needs to tell WWE that stereotyping an Asian is just as bad as stereotyping an African American.'
completely agree...i actually did a video on this topic
Posted By: astone08 (Guest) on July 01, 2009 at 04:59 PM
Sheamus had a pretty good debut on ECW. Out of any of the debutants he has certainly got the best chance of being a major player. I also think his look is unique and will work for him & not against him. So in saying that I think the author of the article above is talking rubbish! Yoshi Tatsu appears to be the new Tajiri. Abraham Washington needs more segments with guests that actually have charisma to see where he really stands and Tyler Reks we have yet to see.
Posted By: Guest#1992 (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Yoshi Tatsu is a ripoff of the first live action Ninja Turtles movie, combining the names Yoshi (Splinter's master) and Tatsu (the bald bad guy).
The way Tatsu won was a ripoff of the movie, too. In the movie, Tatsu kicks a guy in the head who is bowing to him. Tatsu the wrestler wins the same way in his match. Benjamin was bowing to him and Tatsu kicked him the head.
Posted By: Nacho (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 04:58 AM
it's wwe. tatsu is non-white. He's destined for jobber status.
Posted By: fs (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 03:19 PM
Shelton's prematch antics with Yoshi Tatsu were pretty racist and offensive. Someone needs to tell WWE that stereotyping an Asian is just as bad as stereotyping an African American.
What do you expect? This is the same company that fired D-Lo for being black.
Posted By: guestwwe (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 08:30 PM
