PPV Thoughts:

While I liked the show there were several aspects of the show that I thought could have been better:
1.  Put Mike Awesome and Tanaka as the main event.  First, its the World Championship Belt; treat it like it actually is.  Secondly, you know these guys are going to put on a great match so let them finish the show and leave the audience with a good taste in their mouths.  Having the heels win the final match is kind of a letdown and takes away from the overall show.

2.  My last column was praying that RVD - Taz wouldn’t be a straight J.O.B. match.  It was.  After all the matches Taz has been in where he kicks out of everything to see him be pinned after one frog splash was strange.  Everyone knew that the belt wasn’t going to change hands but that doesn’t mean that there doesn’t have to be any drama in the match.  I liked the first few minutes of the match but after that it was nothing special.  Something needed to spice that match up and it never happened.  Could you imagine the reaction if RVD put the Tazmission on Taz and Paul E came out and had the bell rung saying that Taz tapped out, ala Bret Hart - Vince McMahon?  That would have been tremendous.

3.  N2R is ECWs showcase event.  However, if we didn’t know this, would you be able to differentiate between the 6 PPVs?  To me they all look the same.  Don’t get me wrong, you know your going to get a great show with ECW but N2R doesn’t stand out like it should.  I think Paul E was worried about overbooking again this year so he held back on angles and focused on wrestling.

4.  57 run-ins in one match.  Just because the wrestlers are at the show doesn’t mean that they all have to be used.  However, if you insist you MUST have Tom Marquez.

Having said that there was plenty that I did like:
1.  Awesome v. Tanaka.  Another tremendous match.  I could watch these 2 wrestle every week.  Best match of the night.  One of the best of the year.

2.  Three way dance with Super Crazy, Tajiri and Jerry Lynn.  I expected this to be the best match going in and I wasn’t disappointed (although it match was surpassed by Awesome and Tanaka).  To me Jerry Lynn is the best wrestler going in ECW.  Now it’s time for him to get the clean pin over RVD for the TV Title (OK, it probably won’t happen but I can wish for it).

3.  Cyrus was tremendous on commentary. I had mixed thoughts on the first PPV he announced on but now I can’t image Joey going it alone anymore.  Cyrus is able to come off as a credible wrestling color commentator in addition to providing humor.  No other color commentator out there today can mix the two together like he does.

4.  I had my first look at the Simon and Dick gimmick.  That’s some funny stuff.

5.  Jazz getting planted by Dick.  She’s talented, but I find her annoying.

6.  Nova’s Smash Mouth

7.  The cocktail napkin
 

Overall, I thought the show was pretty strong.  Each match accomplished what it was ultimately trying to whether it was great wrestling, brawling, putting guys over, angles or in a lot of cases a combination of those.  On a scale of 1-4 I would give it a solid 3.