ktc

Dueling Chair Shots
by Kurt La Mont
column date 09/06/2000

(Disclaimer: This column contains spoilers of events that will occur on TV in the near future. If you do not want to know what will happen please check back after you watch ECW this weekend.)

I've been critical of the booking in ECW from time to time. However, lately I have noticed a marked improvement in the booking leading up to and at the two Hammerstein Ballroom shows.

One of the major results of the Hammerstein shows were the elevated of a number of wrestlers. First, Jerry Lynn getting a pinfall on RVD and Justin Credible on the same night makes him a credible World Title contender. Having the title shot in his home state on the PPV plus those pinfalls makes you think that he has a legitimate shot when October 1 rolls around. Secondly, Steve Corino has continued his rapid ascend to the top of ECW when he had a match of the year candidate with Justin Credible. It's amazing how far Steve Corino has been elevated without really scoring a recent pin over a big name. He just goes out, bleeds like crazy and puts on great matches. The third wrestler elevated was Kid Kash courtesy of his victory over Rhino for the TV title. We've seen this push gradually over the last few months as Kid Kash became Mr. Hardcore TV, seemingly scoring win after win on the syndicated show.

The booking was also improved as it lacked the predictability of most shows. My main complaint with the booking is that it is far too predictable and the 'stars' of ECW in my mind are protected way too much. And by protected I mean that they do not get pinned. There was a time in ECW where every match had a pin in it, regardless of who was wrestling. Ever since the move to national TV a no contest is a common occurrence in an ECW match. As a fan this is very frustrating to watch. Now if I see a RVD - Rhino matchup on TV these days I'm surprised if there IS a pin.

That was part of the appeal of the Tag Team Tournament to me. There were going to be 11 teams that got pinned in one night. A no contest wouldn't work here.

At these shows I was pleasantly surprised to see that the top tier of wrestlers were booked to be pin. At the 2 shows each of the top 6 names in ECW were pinned at least once. Justin Credible, RVD, Rhino, Sandman, Jerry Lynn, and Tommy Dreamer. While it is not too uncommon for Dreamer and Lynn to be pinned, it is extremely rare that you see RVD, Credible, Rhino, and Sandman pinned on free TV.

With the tag team format it would have been very easy to protect a number of wrestlers but that didn't happen. This is a good thing. You would have expected Chilly Willy to be pinned instead of Sandman, but Sandman was the one pinned. With RVD and Kid Kash it would be expected that Kash would be the one to do the job, but RVD did. You wouldn't expect to see the Heavyweight Champion be pinned but he was.

The improved booking is a step in the right direction but it needs to continue. There has to be doubt in the fans minds on who will win each and every match. You have to have the fans believe that there is a chance that a title will change hands every time it is defended. If this doesn't happen the matches won't be as good as they could be.

There has been a lot of buzz on the internet that these ECW shows in Manhattan will be the starting point of ECW's return to glory. I hope it is true but I am cautiously optimistic. One year ago people were saying the exact same thing about ECW when they debuted on TNN. You kept hearing that Paul E had all these great angles up his sleeve that he was saving for national TV but then we never really saw anything truly special after the first TNN taping in Queens. Then the next time ECW was supposed to be put back on the map was the after the Cyberslam show shortly after Mike Awesome defected to WCW. But shortly after that things reverted back to the ways they were again. There has been patches of greatness in ECW over the past year but ECW needs to get to the point where it greatness is the norm, rather than the exception, if they really want to make their mark on the wrestling world.

More good stuff next week.

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