ECW: 3rd February 2009

I'm going to try hard to regularly watch more WWE programming this year, as I lost interest in the second half of 2008. There's plenty worth watching, and ECW is often where a lot of this is hidden away - Finlay, Miz, Morrison and Bourne are all excellent, and Swagger has got my interest. I assume Matt has now moved.

Opening match was Paul Burchill versus Tommy Dreamer, which served the dual purpose of aimlessly putting Burchill over for a push that will never come, and continuing Dreamer's current (and final?) storyline about trying to prove he still has what it takes. Match was short, and led into a great segment where Miz and Morrison berate Tommy until he snaps. I have this concern that they will eventually split Miz and Morrison up, turning one (the one who will inevitably get the big push) face. It basically happens with all the teams at some point. They should resist that urge, because both are such naturally good heels, and promos like this show it.

Skipping swiftly past the Boogeyman-Noble match, we have the main event, which is Finlay against Jack Swagger. These Jack Swagger title matches all open with some nice matwork, but this was all Finlay schooling his younger opponent. Swagger uses his amateur skills almost to show off a little. Finlay, here, is deliberate and methodical, flowing easily from one hold to the next and demonstrating his dominance.

I liked how this frustrated the less experienced Swagger, who tried brawling instead, which Finlay also used against him, and I really liked the desperate hurling of Finlay into the second buckle to finally turn the tide. Finlay did a great job selling his rib injuries, and Swagger is certainly someone who is comfortable controlling the middle of the match with some meaningful body part work. It was the arm with Matt Hardy in both matches, and here he shows he has a good range of holds to work over another body part. The finish kept Swagger looking strong, while allowing for some crowd pleasing revenge from Hornswaggle, and it all means we get a PPV match, which works for me. A one match show, but it's a good match in any circumstances, and a really good TV match.