First Batch of Reader Thoughts on the ECW Talent Initiative

The following is from Charles

I think it is a good thing to always have new stars brought in but I would be careful how you go about doing it.For one I wouldn’t bring so many in at once because I know I became uninterested when u hav 4 new wrestlers I have never seen before and they have had 0 build up…and I also would not have a nobody wrestler beat a guy like shelton benjamin with 1 kick because that takes away from shelton a guy who should be in the world title picture…I would take more time building up a couple guys at a time then bring in more later….

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The following is from Tomas

The WWE debuted 4 new talents on ECW because DJ Gabriel, Zack Ryder, Ezekiel Jackson, Paul Burchill and Vladimir Kozlov have zero charisma. This “New Talent Initiative” is a joke. WWE can’t properly build the plethora of stars they have now because HHH and Cena bury them on TV (i.e. MVP and The Miz). WWE should focus and concentrate all their efforts on building the stars they currently have on their roster before they bring in the next batch of ‘Future Endeavors’ fodder. Yoshi Tatsu is another one of WWE’s caricature personalities, his name is awful, his music is awful, but his hair is FANTASTIC! Which is more than I can say for Sheamus, who has nothing going for him. Sheamus seems completely out of place in a wrestling ring. It’s like watching Conan O’Brien wrestle. Abraham Washington Who? This guy needs to go back to the homeless shelter he crawled out of, right along with the Bella Twins. Just as I was about to give up and change the channel a beacon of hope appeared on my screen, Tyler Reks. I always thought it would be a great idea for a wrestler to be named “T-Rex” and Tyler Reks is close enough. If this guy can work as well as he talked, he’s going to be the next Rocky Maivia. One out four are horrible odds, so I sit and wonder: How does the WWE stay in business? Sheamus! Give me a break.

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The following is from John

Hopefully this New Superstar Initiative won’t be like last years that brought us Gavin Spears (released), Ricky Ortiz (“enhancement talent”), Braeden Walker (released), DJ Gabriel (MIA), Evan Bourne and Jack Swagger. The problem with this is that they are bringing up guys that just don’t pan out that well. Last years group gave us two superstars that are really worth anything in Bourne and Swagger. This year, we’re getting Sheamus(who should have debuted a while ago), Yoshi Tatsu, Abraham Washington (who’s my guess to be the first get released) and Tyler Reks. Of these four, I really only see superstar potential in Sheamus, as long as they play him up as a younger version of Finlay.

Hopefully in the upcoming weeks, we get some more guys that should be brought up from FCW hitting ECW, and this time having a good group that stays around for a while.

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The following is from Bryan

First off, I am a huge fan of the site. You guys do a tremendous job at keeping tabs on the wrestling world.

Now, on to ECW. I hear many people complaining about what was done to ECW through the “trade” but I have to completely disagree. I honestly think that some needed changes have been made. There are a number of workers in the FCW that have seemed to out grow developmental ground and are ready for their big break. In my opinion, those wrestlers are Sheamus, Tyler Reks, and Drew McIntyre. Yoshiatsu can also be very entertaining but I still do not see him as the same caliber as those that I just named.

Room needed to be made on ECW to give these prospects a bigger stage. Sheamus made an intriguing TV debut on Tuesday and it will be interesting to see what Reks has in store tonight on Superstars. McIntyre is now working the dark matches so hopefully his promotion is not too far away. As for Abraham Washington, I did not care for his character in FCW and I care for it less in ECW. His only hope is to be some sort of commentator or interviewer and I expect his time in WWE to be short lived.

As for those complaining about the WWE draining ECW of The Hart Dynasty, Jack Swagger, and Evan Bourne, I think you have to understand that those guys were in need of more spotlight on a more marquee show. ECW has been a great wrestling show recently but it is simply not good for the company to have superstars that are way over with the crowd stuck in a C-show while people like Goldust and Santino take up space on the flagship. WWE works the best when it’s top stars are on Raw because that is the show that is given the most attention.

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The following is from Bill

My two cents: Of the four new ECW talents, I am most interested in Yoshi Tatsu. Maybe that is because he is the only one who didn’t speak on Tuesday‘s episode of ECW on Sci-Fi. His match was short (very short), but he left me wanting to see what else he was capable of in the ring. The Abraham Washington segment left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he seems capable of becoming a good mic worker as he gets more experience. On the other hand, however, the jokes, questions, and interaction with the Bella twins were all pretty lame and seemed forced. As for Sheamus, I like his lack of a tan which is very rare in the world of professional wrestling. Neither his match nor mic skills left an impression on me though. It seemed like the crowd couldn’t care less, which Matt Striker covered up by saying they were “in awe” of him. Ha ha. ECW is definitely the place for guys like this to develop though. Not sure what to think of Tyler Reks yet. I’ll have to

wait to see his match on Superstars to get a vibe from him. So far, he just reminds me of Ricky Ortiz, which is not a good thing.

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The following is from Toby

Not too sure what to think about the new talent initiative quite yet. Yoshi Tatsu didn’t really even have a match, one move is all we saw. Looks like he could be a high flyer, which would be good since Matt Sydal (aka Evan Bourne) is now on Raw. Abraham Washington seemed to drop the ball BIG time in my opinion. If a guy gets a talk show, seems like he should be entertaining and good on the mic. I saw neither of those qualities from Abe and quite frankly the crowd was completely dead for that segment. Would have rather seen Goldust go back to being mysterious and ambiguous and have his own segment. It was a total waste of 5 minutes!