I don't understand... (ECW SPOILERS)
 

You have a built-in storyline for Christian's return in the Edge/Jeff Hardy saga currently going on over on Smackdown.

Instead of giving him a big surprise return at the Rumble or No Way Out or Mania, or even a simple Smackdown or RAW return, they have him return on the red headed stepchild of a brand: ECW. Not only that, but he needs help from Finlay and Hornswoggle to beat this brand new guy?

What a fucking waste.

agreed...absolutely horrible.

A. Built in storyline means it's not a suprise return, everyone's been calling it since before Royal Rumble.
B. Swagger's been put over Matt Hardy twice, so . . .

I'll not completely defend it. But it could be worse.

I concur. Horrible decision to put him in the minor leagues. Hopefully he is only there until the traditional post-Mania Draft Lottery.

Either that, or he becomes one of those ECW guys who appear on all shows like Miz and Morrison do.

Christian returned on ECW and called out Jack Swagger. After an okay match Finlay interfered and Christian won.

ROFL that's great.

One of the only things in WWE I had any real interest in and they waste it on ECW. Nice, WWE. :y:

In fact, watching his return now, they fucked up entirely. He should have had a run-in or something, not randomly pop up in that promo.

Fuck this, lol.

Just because they're expecting it doesn't mean you have to give it to them when they think it's coming. Everyone thought Christian would show up at the Rumble and he didn't. All you had to do was have him return on RAW the next night during, say, a segment with the WWE Champ and World Champ and Randy Orton. Jeff runs out to beat up on Edge, Matt comes in to save Edge, Christian hits the ring and cleans fucking house. That would have been awesome.

Supreme wins.

huh

I think it's rather funny how any of you thought he was going to be spoon fed into a main event programme. A height he never achieved in the first place, and after leaving for TNA.

Putting him anywhere near the Main Event will only legitimise TNA. Having him wrestle and fued for the ECW title is a clear message about how TNA is regarded by Vince.

Pretty sure Christian WAS the plan until just before the Rumble. Why they changed it, I don't know, but I do believe he was in for a push at one point.

I said this in the ECW thread, but I'll say it here too: there isn't any need for Christian in the Hardy feud. Edge has zero involvement in it right now; they obviously want Matt vs. Jeff solo while Edge feuds with HHH or whatever. It's been an hour and 20 minutes. It's probably going to take some time before we see a TLC match. To the WWE this guy isn't the Rock or Austin. He doesn't qualify under the "huge return" plan.

But was he? I mean, internet rumours said so, but it wouldn't be the first time WWE have leaked false stories to swerve folk like us.

I personally thought the writing was on the wall once Dixie Carter announced that Christian was leaving for WWE, and the way they used that on TV. And I said in a thread weeks ago that I didn't believe he was going to get a rub like that as soon as he walked in.

I just think that's a very one-sided way of looking at things. To ignore the fact that Christian accomplished things while he was gone and improved on himself is just stupid, regardless of where he went. I'm not saying promote him as "Former TNA World Champion" or to even mention where he's been for the past few years, but treat him with the respect a former World Champion deserves.

Christian is a great talent and always has been. He's very charismatic, has great mic skills, and has an awesome work rate. Placing him lower in the tier of the company only hurts the company because they are not utilizing and exposing his talents the way that they can. It works against them instead of in their benefit.

A big return for Christian not only would've gotten him majorly over, but it would've helped pique interest in the WWE product and Smackdown's main event scene. And there's nothing wrong with helping to increase interest in the product. That's the name of the game.

Christian vs. Swagger is not better than Christian involved with his old buddies, Jeff, Matt and Edge.

Agreed. I, like most, would love to see an Edge/Christian feud or reunion (as I've said a few times), but it doesn't need to happen right off the bat. I like him on ECW. It allows for a build rather than coming back and being thrusted into the main event (although as a Christian mark, I want him to win the big gold belt). He won't be on ECW forever, but it's a good start for him.

From http://www.tpww.net/forums/showthread.php?p=2322993 - Oct '08

ECW needs talent

I agree with the first part.

He could have shown up on Raw.

But a return on ECW with a no name is not return of any sorts.

He is not Austin, but his return is slightly under Y2Js.

When Jeff hardy came back, it was out of nowhere, but it was a much more important return than this.

What theme did he use?

Christian with that huge ECW belt would rule.

His debut was nice. But could have been so much more.

The new remixed theme sucked.

But this is a decent way to make the ECW title mean something. An it will get Swagger over.

But it seems like such a waste.

I have been watching Wrestling for years and years. Do you have any idea how many matches I have seen that involve Edge, Christian and the Hardys?

It won't work in the Hardy angle because he isn't a Hardy. He won't work in a feud with Edge, because they are currently running the same programme with the Hardys, and him teaming with Edge is just retarded, because Edge is not only the champion, but the best entity on WWE TV for my money. He doesn't really need to be placed in a team situation.

I think he is lucky to be replacing Matt Hardy as the big name of ECW. Seeing the Hardys against one another is a better call for a Mania fued.

You're being ridiculous. He returned to challenge the ECW Champion. Would you rather of had him return to ECW and face a midcarder?

I think that his return should've been bigger but it is what it is. Xtian didn't exactly do himself any favors either by staying as small as he is. He knows the WWE and how they operate, he should've been bulking. I'll take this for what it is and be happy with it. At least on ECW he'll be having good matches and they'll most likely be given some times. Imagine when Bourne comes back.

You will pay the price for your lack of vision.

Maybe Christian's presence on ECW will pique interest in that show rather than a show that already has HHH, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Undertaker, Big Show, and Edge.

I'll file this thread under "Wrestling Fans Will Never Be Happy"

Like I said, I'll take it. I just added ECW to my DVR schedule so I guess his presence is helping at least a bit.

I'm just saying he deserved more. Why couldn't he have beaten Swagger at No Way Out in a Special Challenge match or some shit? Why ECW on Sci-Fi? It just irks me. He's better than that.

Midcarders? on ECW?

Just remember, no matter where you are on the card for ECW, you are always before an entire 2 hour show, which at least 3x as many people will see.

I've just obtained some exclusive footage of next week when the WWE, after reading some angry smark comments, team Christian with Edge to take on the Hardyz!

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God, shut up. He returned, just be happy with that. Jesus. I don't know what everybody was expecting here. Was he supposed to return and beat Cena, Swagger, and Edge all in the same night and be the all powerful mega champion? McMahon has never been a fan of Christian. Him being on TV is good enough for me as he could've gotten the D'Lo Brown treatment.

Now you hate the Sci-Fi network?

I am not a fan of their programming, no. Their weird little promo commercials are top notch, though.

Ever thought that maybe WWE is thinking that you might watch ECW on SciFi, despite hating it, now that Christian is on it?

Let's give Christian credit. He has shown that he can survive mediore (at best) booking, horrible plots and past-their-prime talent to make us even give a damn about TNA. Maybe Vinny is saying to Christian that he is looking for him to charge ECW. You guys were happy to see Matt Hardy with the silver strap, why not be excited with Christian owning the strap. Maybe we'll see a cross brand alliance with two brothers who've always wanted to be World Champs at the same time...

You all have tunnel vision with this. Really.

It is certainly giving me a reason to watch every week.

I really don't see the problem with Christian debuting on ECW. WWE gets criticized constantly for blowing their load too quick on certain angles, and when they swerve the lot of you by NOT booking an angle that we've all been waiting for for months, they still get criticized. Plus, I'm pretty sure once the Draft comes around, he'll end up on either Raw or Smackdown.

I don't have too much of a problem with it, either. I'm glad that he's back on WWE TV, and in some ways I actually prefer seeing him heading up ECW at this point instead of him getting lost in the midcard shuffle on Raw or Smackdown. Let him have a run with the ECW title, build up interest in the show for a change, and see where it goes from there.

The return could've been done a little better, though. First of all the new remix of his theme bites -- where the hell is the kick ass instrumental? It would've been better to have that interrupt Swagger than a crappy remix that had me confused for a second before I saw "CHRISTIAN" on the titantron. The promo itself was fine, and the crowd actually seemed interested in ECW for a change. I don't mind the idea of a Christian/Swagger feud, or even making it a three way feud with Finlay in there, too. Let Christian carry the slack on the mic for the feud, and Swagger's bound to benefit from working more with Finlay. In the long run it'll be good for Swagger, and maybe he'll actually be prepared for another title run in June or whenever Christian gets drafted away from ECW.

At least between Christian and T.J. Wilson I have a reason to pay attention to ECW now.

Yeah, I am still failing to see how pinning the ECW Champion on his return match is a bad thing. Especially seeing as how Swagger had only lost once before that.

Because "nobody watches ECW" and Jack Swagger is a "nobody" :roll:

but seriously, I'm tired of people being too cool for school to watch ECW. It's like some people refuse to enjoy anything that happens on ECW just because it's ECW. Get over it.

I agree. It's not that I'm "too cool" to watch ECW, I just keep forgetting it's on at 9 instead of 10. I know they changed that time months ago, but I always manage to miss it. Lately, though, I've been catching it more often. Like I said, this is definitely going to make me watch every week.

I will say, though, I hated Grisham's reaction. He didn't sound excited at all. Striker did a good job saving him with the awesome line: "This moment just became Instantly Classic!"

ECW usually is the best WWE produced show every week

Assuming the speculation was true, I'm pretty sure the reason they'd change it is to swerve us. Yay.

That's assuming truth, but it's not unlike WWE to take the logical progression and throw it in the trash to fool us.

Then again, Christian quit because Vince thought he was nothing more than a mid-carder. Why should this be different?

lolattemptedantrificialcontradiction.

:?:

I'm only too cool for school because school is shown at midnight on Friday (technically Saturday). If it aired in Canada the same time as it does in the States I'd probably watch regularly. ECW is never too bad. Wrestling wise it's usually pretty good.

Well, it's different when you aren't able to watch it, but when people completely dismiss it because "WWE doesn't give us a reason to care" is when it gets ridiculous.

I'm not saying people HAVE to watch ECW, but don't dismiss it and downplay what happens on ECW just because you CHOOSE not to watch or because it doesn't live up to your standards.

Now that Christian is on, people MUST watch ECW.

KK doesn't know what he said either, I wouldn't worry about it.

Having Mark Henry as the main guy really didn't help any. And having that damn silver belt doesn't either. It seems like everyone ignores that it's silver, too (especially WWE.com).

This probably has nothing to do with what you just said, I'm just bitching. I've always tried to tune in to ECW, but WWE doesn't seem to promote it very often, hence me missing the show quite a bit.

Not that it matters either way, but the belt is platinum, not silver.

Also, there are always at least 2 promos for ECW during the Raw telecast.

Ergo, get him on your Radio show and then people MUST listen.

I must always be in the bathroom during those, or I'm watching and doing something else at the same time.

We already have The Macho Man, so why not? Our ratings would be through the roof.

I don't mind the music so much, though I would've loved the original version.

Did you buy the Ariel pants?

ECW just ended here and I have to say, that was a good ass match.

Also, the ECW roster is starting to look really solid, sans Mark Henry and the Boogeyman of course.

Maybe they should have a Loser Leaves Town match.

Yeah, never understood the whole "Loser Leaves Town" match.

Don't the winners leave as well? :shifty:

(Well except TNA but we don't talk about them).

I'm still whoring myself out to earn the money.

How much? :naughty:

The going rate is one pair of Ariel's pants.

:-\

What a waste. All they had to do was have Christian return on SmackDown this Friday night during a segment with Edge. That would've been awesome. Why couldn't he have beaten Edge on SmackDown?

Do you know Scot Delaney?

It makes sense to put him on ECW. After jumping ship he's not immediately going to get pushed into the main event picture, but he's too over to get shuffled into the midcard. The ECW title is somewhere in between, and a logical place to put him.

The return itself was weak sauce though.

Because Edge is the WWE Champion and #1 heel on SD! going into a PPV to defend his championship and probably get ready to headline the biggest WrestleMania of all time...

1) WHO BOOKED THIS, FIRE THEM.
2) His music is awesome.
3) At least he's back, ffs.
4) This is the first I've ever watched Jack Swagger, minus this program with Christian - probably the last.

I personally thought it was a bit lame having him return on ECW. He could have at least been on Smackdown, but, none-the-less when his music hit the crowd went fucking nuts and it sent chills down my back. I'm glad he's got the same music (though slightly remixed) coz I always thought that suited him very well.

This IS WWE you're talking about y'know.

Oh. Right. Dammit. How long before he's stalking Taker's wife? :mad:

I agree, to a point. I think it has more to do with Christian's previous status in the WWE than anything else. Look, the guy was not going to headline WrestleMania. Anyone that thought for a second that we were going to get a Fatal Four Way WWE Championship match between Edge, Christian, Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy is deluding themselves. This is coming from the guy who had hopes the WWE would utilise Val Venis before his release.

Sure, the plan may have been for Christian to be behind the Jeff Hardy attacks, but that was just fucking stupid. For starters, as you could see on ECW, the fans did remember, and did pop for Christian. Bringing him back as a heel was dumb, and would have been cutting his legs out from underneath him.

With Edge vs. Triple H seemingly being the only WWE Title match on SmackDown! worth a damn (unless they do Triple H vs. Randy Orton, which leaves RAW pretty barren), that leaves Christian out of the picture entirely. So I ask you: Why bring Christian back to SmackDown! at all? Especially when a live return would have been more impactful (and it was).

Sure, you could have put Christian on RAW, but then you have to fit him in with those programs. Who exactly would he have worked with? William Regal? Would have been great, no doubt, but it is also mid-card stuff. Something with JBL could have worked, well, in the promo department. I do not want to see that wrestling match.

Without a real top face for ECW, now that Matt Hardy is back on SmackDown!, bringing Christian back as ECW's top face is completey fine, in my books. Especially since it will lead to Christian winning the ECW Title, likely at WrestleMania. It's not like Christian has a life-sentence on ECW, either. As an ECW Superstar, he can appear on all three shows, and there is a draft coming up soon. I fully expect Christian to be drafted to SmackDown!, where he can then get involved in the Edge/Matt Hardy/Jeff Hardy stuff. It's not like their tag team history is just going to dry up.

I don't get it, people complain about not having any reason to watch ECW. I think they just gave a few people a reason.

The WWE is completely right to do this, in my opinion. It may not have been the absolutely most epic way to bring him back, but all those "epic" ideas start off big and then get narrow. They lack any real foresight. For everyone who says "It was so easy to bring him back to SmackDown!!1" I want to see how people would do it. How do you bring Christian back knowing:

a) He is going to get cheered to shit-house.

b) Triple H is main eventing the SmackDown! portion of the show.

c) Christian cannot main event WrestleMania. It makes no sense to bring back an upper mid-carder and suddenly pass them off as a WrestleMania headliner. There has to be some build.

It's just not a puzzle that fits easily together. If someone can do it, I'll give them rep, but it's so much easier just to do things the way the WWE is doing. And probably more beneficial. Especially when Christian becomes the ECW Champion.

Between Christian, Tyson Kidd, Natalya Neidhart, Jamie Noble, Paul Burchill & Katie Lea Burchill, I am getting more and more reasons to watch. Oh, and they have the best commentary team in the entire company.

Actually, ECW is often the best WWE show of the week. I expect that trend to continue now.

[QUOTE=Noid;2432245]Oh, and they have the best commentary team in the entire company. /QUOTE]

Anyone else think when Christian came out the commentary was less than epic? Made me realise JR's ability to really give moments like that that special something.

Wow, i knew they would fuck this up,but not this badly. :lol:

Why are people complaining? Christian has become the star of ECW, look what it did for Matt Hardy's career. If he went to SD, he'd be stuck between Edge, Jeff, Matt, Big Show, Undertaker, Triple H etc. and on Raw he'd have Cena, Jericho, Orton, Michaels etc.
ECW is the best place to build him up as a strong main eventer

ECW is basically the OVW for WWE, it feeds other shows the likes of:

Mike Knox
Kofi Kingston
CM Punk
Jack Swagger
Evan Bourne

and had re-juvinated:

Miz and Morrison
Finlay
Matt Hardy
Mark Henry

Having Christian on ECW for a few months will increase his stock, if he came out on Smackdown as the one who took out Jeff, he'd effectivly be a bit part player in the story and instantly be de-pushing himself as Edge's puppet as they are not on the same level they once were

At least this way Christian can use ECW to get a buzz and get more over (remember he's never really been given a face run before for WWE) and then in the draft will probably move to Smackdown and feud with Edge, but with much more momentum

Fair point.

KK, it is so sad when someone asks you what you're trying to do, and then you do the same thing again. My mother used to do that. Just because you have tits doesn't make you my mother.

Dave is right, by the way. Perfectly spot-on. This is just a way to build Christian, and introduce him as an effective face character before moving him to one of the bigger brands. He'll also get a "World Title" reign out of it, I bet.

Todd Grisham is still hot and cold. He's improved to the point where he is now my favourite play-by-play guy in the WWE, but he could have lended the moment more gravity. I do have to say that I respect The Grish for not trying to be exactly like JR or Michael Cole, though. He needs to find his own way to voice surprise and lend a moment gravitas.

Grish has a got wit on him. Maybe he could just act like he is going to quit on the spot, because he cannot handle the sheer awesomeness of a moment? Something like that could become a shtick associated with the man. I think Striker handled it well enough.

I must say, Jim Ross has lost his own touch, though. Remember Chris Jericho's return. JR lended nothing to the moment, and actually dragged it down by treating it like it was so mundane. Jerry Lawler almost ruined it before it began.

I like most of your posts Kane Knight, but this is one of those occasions where you unanimously look like a total wanker.

Add to the discussions, don't just post this pontificating shit. It adds nothing to the chat and reinforces the pre-empted notion most people have that you are a self-rightous, stuck up anti-social prick.

125,000 posts, and you can still act like a total fucking asshole. For a smart guy, you learn slowly.

OVW? That's nice, but it doesn't build up Christian. Similarly, you take the lowest watched show in WWE, and what momentum does it really give Christian?

Well, actually it does. You see, I am relatively sure that the plan is to add C to ECW to boost the rating, but as a result of being the top guy on the show, he will get more mic time than if he was mid card on either of the other 2. Plus, he will probably get a 10 minute match every week.

Did you see Punk/Regal on Raw? If you did, I rest my case.

Mmmm...Condescension. That's nice.

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be learning, because none of what you're saying is actually new to me. But I'm curious. Enlighten me as to what lessons I should have learned by a given post count. Probably end up being closer to pontification than your own application of the word. Not that you're being hypocritical, mind, preaching to me what I should do and should know....

When I first read this my reaction was WTF. But thinking about it ECW could easily become The Christian Show. Which gets a :y: from me.

Now I need to find a video from last night.

Of course hell get more mic time. There's like ten people. It still goes back to "who cares?" Christian on ECW won't boost the rating. Christian speaking a lot on a show with less than a sixth of the market of one of the other WWE shows doesn't equate to anything effective, unless his only problem is he can't speak and needs time to practice before the big leagues.

A feud with Jeff would likely have elevated him better than that.

Any lack of mobility in WWE is internal, not because of placement on the show. Christian himself, for example, was mad over before he quit, but Vince saw him as a midcarder. Oops. Matt Hardy? Could have been easily retooled on Raw or Smackdown. Even now, he's jealous of his brother, who has real gold. Do they even talk about Kane's run? I haven't noticed, but....

Vince was going to push CM Punk no matter where he was, especially based on circumstances. Cena got over on his own, even with the big names he was competing aginst for TV time. Miz and Morrison are both cases of "would be pushed regardless," as well.

More importantly, the people it "brought us" are yet to be proven, save for Punk. The list of people ECW has "fed" other shows looks like, whether you like the guys or not, a veritable who's who of "future endeavors." And I like Kofi, and I hope he doesn't get fired, but I'm pretty sure he's either going to be a midcarder or FEd in the next year or so. Knox will probably be around for a while, but in the generic hoss role he could have managed on Raw or Smackdown to begin with, and...Well, with Bourne, my feelings are about the same as Coffee.

I wasn't being condescending, I was asking you to stop being condescending. I am not the person who responded to somebody innocently asking what your intentionally condescending innital comment meant..... With the same fucking condescending comment! That takes condescension to a new level, and certainly not one I'm going to.

That was a dick move. Is it hypercritical of me to point out when you are just not being nice to others, unprovoked? People line up to call you a cunt, and you go for the guy who isn't? Then I'm a happy hypercrite

There was nothing actually self-righteous or pontificating from my comments to you, since I knew you would understand what my words mean, and you never questioned them for me to repeat them with no explaination.

WHat should you have learned? How to interract with people, without them walking away and thinking 'what a superiority complex-riddled cock'.

So, what is your conclusive point? ECW should be cancelled, so there are less wrestlers on the overall roster, or less TV time per wrestler every week? Or that ECW should be exclusively for wrestlers who are very much bottom rung? Should there be no attempt to improve the ratings of the show and try to expand the brand to equivilate it to the other 2 eventualy? Is that how you would run your business?

And does ECW really only get 1/6th of Raws viewing numbers?

Fact is, some time as ECW champ, and Matt Hardy is on his way to one of the biggest singles fueds in a long time, that will culminate in a big match at Wrestlemania. He was a good guy to give the rub to the ECW juniors, and he got to work alot more promos, and have longer matches.

No matter what anyone says, C isn't big enough in the world of wrestling, to be in a fued with Edge or Jeff Hardy. Frankly, neither is Matt Hardy, but being brothers is probably his saving grace, and if he looks good in this programme, will raise his stock dramatically.

I don't think there is a TV show on mainstream TV that's main intention isn't to boost ratings. You are almost saying that it is bad business for them to do this.

And fuck Christian's push. You want a push in WWE, you should stay in WWE. Going to TNA is not the most productive way to get over with Vince.

For those that missed it:

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