Christian To ECW

[klunderbunker]

It's moments like these that make me miss being a mark. This was just great and so well pulled off. As Tony Schiavone would have put it, "We never saw it coming!" Except in this case we actually didn't. This was a minor version of the Cena trick and another showing that WWE still has it when it wants to. It's going to make people want to watch the show more often even though there's not oging to be another shock like this for awhile. Then when ratings start sagging, boom, another shocker. Very well done WWE.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

It's been a while since the last IC25 / NorCal throw down. So this provides said opportunity. I am going to present the counter point - the Christian return was shit for several reasons.

I chortle at every moron who is seething about this. This was absolute BRILLIANCE by the WWE. Kids, prepare yourselves for a NorCal assault on your senses

Ok, I'll try to contain myself...

1. It was a SUPRISE. For fucking ONCE something wasnt all over the web, something wasnt being speculated on, just nothing. Complete, and utter mark out moment, for the first time since last January. As a matter of fact, there was a thread started on this very site YESTERDAY speculating Chrisitian was simply returning to TNA.

Sure, it was a shock. That's because 9 out of 10 wrestling fans rate Christian far higher than this, and expected to see him on a show where he could make an appreciable impact. Fans expected him at the Royal Rumble, and expected he'd be a part of the Hardy angle, because that is where people figured he'd make the biggest splash.

NO ONE saw this coming AT ALL.

You're right! NO ONE saw it coming. NO ONE saw it at all! Because NO ONE, save for yourself and 5 or 6 other people, watch ECW! If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to hear it...

I literally stood up in my living room, screaming "NO FUCKING WAY!!! NO FUCKING WAY!!! NO FUCKING WAY!!!".....Has that EVER happened on an ECW show, let ALONE in the WWE since last January?? Fuck no, not nearly to this degree at least.

When you ask "has THAT ever happened," what is "THAT?" Epic disappointment? Realizing that the return of former Intercontinental, Tag Team, Light Heavyweight, and NWA World Champion Capt Charisma is being relegated to the "C" show to wait for the winner of Jack Swagger vs Finlay!?

2. This, should, by all purposes, raise the stock of ECW, and its ratings, at least a bit.

Well how much further could it have dropped? No place to go but up! YOU could have shown up on ECW last night, and the announcers would have said "well, this'll make the show better."

HOW many people were sitting around saying "FUCK!! I missed it!! I never watch ECW!!"

<IC25 Raises his Hand>
Damn this life of mine! I was watching Scrubs...

...you think the WWE doesnt know that??? I bet you all dont ever miss an ECW again.

I bet I do. At least until ABC moves Scrubs to Wednesdays in March.

3. This is perfect for Christian. Of course, everyone will be stupid, and want to see him BACK mixed with Edge, and the Hardys A FUCKING GAIN. Which is foolish. Let the man establish himself, on his own. He is obviously plenty over without any of them, becuase for the few that WERE watching the program, it sounded like a motherfucking BOMB went off in that arena when he made his entrance. May have been the loudest ive ever heard a crowd during an ECW broadcast. Awesome.

Perfect for Christian? Yeah, this is PUNISHMENT for Christian. He went to TNA, and now he wants to come back. NorCal, do you forget that we are dealing with Vince McEgo? It makes perfect sense that, while fans wanted Christian back on Raw or SD, that he gets sent to a show that is actually being outdrawn by TNA Impact.

4. It works for ECW, and the ECW roster. They need a legit face challenger, and now, they ECW has its WM title match.

Well no shit. ANYTHING would work for the ECW roster. It's a show where Tommy Dreamer has a freaking storyline, it MUST be weak!

There was quite obviously no place for it there before, if Jack Swagger was going to be the most prolific star in the match. Now they have Christian. How the fuck do they plan on passing the next 7 weeks?? No damn idea. I can only assume that Christian WILL be taking this title, at WM, or before it. He is going to be the face of this show, he is going to run this show.

Right. Assume Christian beats Swagger? And then, even assume Christian is the champ and has a feud with a Paul Birchill. THEN WHAT? Keep John Morrison or the Miz on ECW? Oh man...that's like, 12 weeks of ECW programming...

Really, some of us shouldve seen it coming. WWE made it pretty obvious just letting Hardy walk off ECW like that, after a heel turn. thing is...

NO ONE did. thats why this was absolutely perfect.

You're right, NorCal. None of us saw this coming. And that's because we all gave WWE more credit than they deserved, and they let us down again.

 

[Uncle Sam]

As a long standing believer of it being the platform and not the star that matters (otherwise why does TNA not get higher ratings?) I am absolutely laughing my ass off.

Yes, this is good for ECW. In the same way that, I dunno, it would be good for a pre-school to have the magnificent SlyFox as their basketball coach. Christian is too good for ECW. Well, not for long. His stock is plummeting fast. This is comparable to Test returning to the WWE.

I also suppose we'll be dropping the "Cage" from now on. Shame.

 

[Mustang Sally]

It's a funny thing. A lot of us were waiting for his return to be handled in a major way; either he would show up at the Royal Rumble and alter the outcome of the big match, or he would return on the biggest stage of all in April. Instead, he gets shoved in there on WWE's smallest stage.

At first, I figured that he approved the move, apparently wanting to be a big fish in a small pond. That's okay because he can be the prime player in ECW for awhile before he gets shipped to Smackdown or RAW.

But, you know what? The idea occurred to me that putting Christian in ECW could be WWE's way of taking a shot at TNA. After all, that's the program that TNA fans seem to point at, saying:

"TNA got a 1.2 audience share while ECW only got a 1.1. TNA beat ECW! WOW!"

Now, if Christian can boost ECW's rating a couple of basis points (which I think he can), it looks as if he came there to take a crack at WWE's competition.

Kinda cool.

 

[psykohurricane]

The best thing about this is that Christian will probably get a wrestlemania match now since i doubt they would give him the ECW title before wrestlemania, the bad news is that JAck Swagger wil continue to be ECW Champion until then unless they decides to go a different way and have Finlay feud with Christian over the title but i doubt it. So yes, i'm happy that Christian is back and is on ECW simply because it give ECW the star power they needed since MAtt Hardy left a couple of weeks ago.

 

[a7xoff]

Christan coming back to WWE/ECW was IMO a pretty good move. Now the way he came back, I don't think helped anything. I mean he just randomly shows up. I mean if WWE wanted to help ECW's ratings, why not promote Christan returning. I'm sure plenty of people would have watched ECW last night to see him come back. The only reason I saw that he was back was that I looked at wwe.com and saw him in the ECW review. If I had known he was coming back I probably would have watched... Now as far as what it could do for ECW...

I think Christan can help ECW out a lot. I mean they need a good veteran on the show. Someone who's been in WWE for a while, and is known very well outside of tag teams... Hopefully he's able to help some of the newer guys out and get ECW out of the gutter a little bit. With him being on ECW, I do think that he's able to be on Raw and Smackdown as well? We'll have to see where WWE goes with him, but there is certainly a lot of potential. Obviously his first target is the ECW championship. Good for him and welcome back Chris

 

[ad21k]

While I am with the majority in believing having him debut on ECW is probably the best way. WWE should have had christian return the night before on Raw, just to cut a promo to say he would be on ECW, just showing up on ECW doesn't help ratings much because only a fraction of the people who watch Raw watch ECW.

As far as Christian returning on ECW, it really benefits both ECW and Christian. ECW have there title match for Mania, and Christian v Swagger if done well could be one of those matches that plesently suprises at mania. In Christian ECW also have an established talent, who is a relatively big name, certainly the biggest on ECW at the moment. This will only enhance both the credability of Swagger as champion, and of the ECW title in general.

 

[andymcg]

I think to do with the rateings wise, more people may now tune in to NWO to see if he interferes this weekend to see if he will help Finley (seeing finley helped christian) and also more people tune in to ecw next week.

Onto why hes in ECW ? i think this is a very good move indeed, when jericho returned it was over hyped for months and he well , flopped to begin with. Puting Christian on ECW is a good move as it keeps the pressure down low for him and they can build him slowly, startin from the ECW title then a move to Raw or Smackdown in the draft.

Anybody else see a triple threat at WM25, Christian Finley and Swagger for ECW title ?

 

[Softcore McLimpdick]

I def. see him winning the ECW title at WM. Its the best option they have for him right now. And it gives the ECW title some credibility. I hope that down the road in '09 he moves over to raw or smackdown. I would like to see him go to RAW and wrap up the unfinished business he had with sorry ass Cena right before he got moved to Smackdown and left.

 

[CCS]

I'm excited to see Christian on ECW. This should give him some time to build a bit of momentum again before he takes off to be on RAW. Christian is apparently going to be the face of ECW now that Matt Hardy is gone, he entertained me more last night than Matt did his entire ECW run. Christian will for sure be winning the ECW title at wrestlemania, and I think that's a good thing for both Christian and the title. But for now I'm just happy that Christian is finally back!

 

[TheSnapshot]

first of all. good job wwe, nobody was especting to see the debut of Captian Charisma on the final show before a PPV (AND in ECW)
This was a good move. In sd! is Edge, and Christian would have been stuck as Edge´s sidekick, and in Raw his face character could never get a world title reign soon.
With this, is obvious that Christian will be ECW Champion in WM25. Or u think is gonna retain Swagger?

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Well my jaw suddenly dropped when i read the post on here this morning. Captain Charisma, on the C show?

At first i thought 'what a waste' but then i doubt i'd have thought the same thing if i'd actually been watching the show. After a few puzzled moments, i too realised that this was great for 3 reasons:

1. He's not going to be shoved immediately into a program with Edge or the Hardy's, because personally, that's the last thing i'd want after having that as the focal point of the tag division between those 4 for a whole two years.

2. He can chop and change shows every now and then, while remaining the top face on ECW, and faces are in short supply on ECW aren't they? Finlay, Boogeyman, Ortiz and that's it isn't it?

3. There's a great chance he'll be involved in WM somehow, and i shall mark out til i pass out.

 

[Unrated Superstar]

Haven't posted in a while, but I'm a huge Christian fan, so this is a topic I can really get into.

Since most of the focal points of this issue have already been made, I'll keep this mostly limited to what I feel remains to be said.

Ok, admittedly I was a bit disappointed (although happy to see him at all) when I saw he was debuting in ECW. But then I realized it makes more sense than some give it credit for.

First off, how would he have made a bigger impact by being involved in the Hardy/Edge storyline? He would have been mainly a pawn in the game. How would that have benefitted him? You might as well call him an "Edgehead".

And how can you possibly try to say this is a "shot" at TNA? First off, WWE doesn't care enough about TNA to take such a big shot at them. You only see that the other way around. If WWE wanted to really take a shot at TNA via Christian, they could've just made him Boogeyman's next victim. But making Christian eat worms to bust TNA's balls wouldn't have done anything for anyone. There's no reason they should punish Christian for leaving and coming back, and as far as I can tell, they're not. He wasn't a main eventer when he left WWE, and this is certainly a step up as he is being featured much more prominently (albeit in ECW) than he was when he left, so if anything, WWE is ACKNOWLEDING Christian's success in TNA by bringing him in with a way bigger push than anything he had before. For pete's sake, he came in and beat a brand's champion right off the bat. Who cares if it's ECW? You can't argue that it's still significant and should help ratings. It'll certainly make me more interested in watching it. Much better than him being brought in as Edge's henchman.

Bravo, WWE.

 

[butsecks]

This was a dumb move. being thrown in ecw? c'mon. WWE is already making a fool out of him with this. if he were to move to smackdown or raw chances are it would have been a MUCH better move. they don't see you as a main eventer when you debut out of nowhere in a third rate brand.

 

[Vintage Nick]

This was a dumb move. being thrown in ecw? c'mon. WWE is already making a fool out of him with this. if he were to move to smackdown or raw chances are it would have been a MUCH better move. they don't see you as a main eventer when you debut out of nowhere in a third rate brand.

ECW is a brand where people build up their careers, win the ECW title, then move over to RAW or Smackdown after their task is done. Christian just got back to the WWE after being absent for 3 years. What were you expecting, he returning and suddenly tossed into the WH/WWE championship run? He needs to get noticed again in WWE, but after last night it seems that people have not forgotten. Give him time, and then let him appear on RAW and Smackdown.

Besides, Smackdown and RAW are almost chock full of main eventers right now. On RAW you have:

John Cena
JBL
HBK
Chris Jericho
Randy Orton
Baista (He's out but meh)
Rey Mysterio (He's stradling the line of upper midcard/lower main event)

Smackdown you have:

Edge
Undertaker
Triple H
Jeff Hardy
Vladimir Koslov (Eh? Well...he's been pushed to hunt the ME scene so...)
Shelton Benjamin (Well...IMO it seems they're teasing him to be put into there, but until he drops the U.S. title..)
Big Show

ECW has like...well, I don't know, but Christian could also help improve talent as well before he makes the big move.

 

[Sean Valjean]

Everyone else has pretty much said what I've been thinking, so I'll only say one thing.

Could the announcer's reaction to CC's return been any worse? Seriously, what the fuck was that last night? Christian returns in shocking fashion and all Todd Grisham can say is "It's.....it's Christian." That really took away from it, at least for me. That's the only downside to him being on ECW. Had he returned on Smackdown, J.R. would've freaked or at least sounded a little more than mildy interested.

 

[KillBill]

I like it. I got home from work and was getting food, got a text, said Christian on ecw, I was like no way, running up the stairs. That was a shock. Its a good start for him, he can only go up. Hopefully he is in good, so he can put in good words for guys like Petey Williams, who get released. Would make for an exciting show.

 

[Dagger Dias]

There was a really bad storm going on where I live (stephenville, TX) during the beginning of ECW last nite, so it cut off in the middle of Swagger talking to the crowd. I went into my kitchen to grab a snack and went back in my room to wait for the tv to come back on. It did a moment later, and to my reaction was "Huh!? Christian!? What the heck is HE doing there!?" because the tv came back on right as Christian said he was there to save Swagger's life etc.

I doubt that Christian will be on ECW for very long. Feud with Swagger and have a great match at wrestlemania, but after that he will probably get moved to Raw to feud with Cena or Orton, I'd like to see him on Smackdown but like many have already said he would get overshadowed by Edge.

He could have been used in the frontline over on TNA but this is better for both Christian and WWE, can't wait to see what happens next, now I have a reason to watch ECW other than boredom lol

Nice move by wwe but I hope he switches to a bigger brand soon.

 

[chidodger]

I'll admit, I really wasn't too excited about another Swagger/Finlay main event segment last night, but when Christian debuted, it changed everything. I'm guessing he'll be thrown into the ECW main event at NWO turning it into a tripple threat match, as well as having Christian or Swagger win without pinning each other (sucks to be Finlay). If Christian wins it, I don't think things look too good for Tommy Dreamer's chances down the road, but if Swagger wins it, I can totally see Dreamer winning the title at WM. Either way, I think the WWE caught alot of people offgaurd with Christain last night, and I'm already looking foward to next week's ECW on scifi. Christian with the miz and morrison would make a nice stable, and I think them vs the legacy could become a top fued within the WWE.

 

[Chill]

I think it was a brilliant idea to bring Christian back on ECW. Firstly, it was a shock and people will almost certainly tune in to see what becomes of him on the "C brand". So from a ratings perspective, this should work wonders for ECW..I think it's fair to say that nobody expected him to go to ECW so WWE has introduced an element of suprise.

Being on ECW will also allow Christian to reestablish himself and I expect him to completely dominate the show...he will be the face of ECW for a while.

However, I don't feel he will spend an extended amount of time there ...it won't be long before he transfers to Raw or Smackdown where he rightfully belongs but for now I understand WWE's decision to put him where he is at, though not being a particularly big fan of the "CLB" I don't care which show he is on though he should be an asset wherever he is.

 

[I own a set of balls]

ECW debut was nevertheless awful.


Now lets discuss his future.



IF he were to be drafted, I can see it going both ways. Either Smackdown or RAW.

Now I don't mind that much that he returned on ECW, but what will happen after he gets drafted?


In my honest opinion, he'll just be jobbing to John Cena and Batista on Raw, or to Triple H on Smackdown.


This is why I'm not all that FOR for Christian's return, hell change his theme to the TNA one.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Everyone else has pretty much said what I've been thinking, so I'll only say one thing.

Could the announcer's reaction to CC's return been any worse? Seriously, what the fuck was that last night? Christian returns in shocking fashion and all Todd Grisham can say is "It's.....it's Christian." That really took away from it, at least for me. That's the only downside to him being on ECW. Had he returned on Smackdown, J.R. would've freaked or at least sounded a little more than mildy interested.

Does it REALLY fucking matter?? Do you think the general fan gave a flying rats ass how Grish reacted to Christian walking out unexpected??? I didnt even HEAR him, becuase I was too busy screaming "NO FUCKING WAY!!!" becuase the WWE just pulled off a fantastic suprise. Its like people complaining he didnt "get the clean win"...do you all REALLY think anyone will even slightly remember these things in 6 months??? During the title match at WM?? Fuck, Next week even??? Not hardly. Lets be real, and stop being such ridiculous nit pickers.

 

[Shocky]

I've watched it twice Norcal, and it is pretty awful. Grish has proven why he is absolutely terrible and probably one of the worst, if not worst announcer ever, and that includes Mike Adamle. It's like Michael Cole calling Mick Foleys first WWF title win, just not right.

It sounded forced, and it sounded like he knew it was coming. Matt Striker acted shot. Moments are made visually, yes, but the audio track of his return is completley ruined by Grish and his inability to fluctuate his voice in excitment or distraught. One can only wonder the wonderful words of Joey Styles and Oh My Godding everyone to death, or King giving us one of his epic yelps.

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

I dont know man, i think WWE putting him in ECW is a good idea. It gives him a chance to get the fans into him, gives him a midcard title to compete for and once that's done and if it goes well i think he'll get a push towards Smackdown.

I really think that it would be stupid to not have him somehow over the next 12 months fued or be involved in some way with Edge, a story invovling these 2 once great tag champs would pull in people.

ECW is good for his return and i think if/when he gets drafted to SD or RAW he will received a decent push if he proves himself on ECW first.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

See Shock, I can understand that he undersold it, but I just dont feel like it matters much at all. As I said, dont the road, after the overall impact, no one will remember the match, or how fucking GRISH sounded, of all people, when he walked out. This was about bringing Christian back, and about giving an air of suprise to the WWE. Both were accomplished, and to go so far as to mark Grish down as a low point of the return, is if it was MARRED by it, is extremely over analytical, and a tad silly in my opinion.