ECW's Young Talent Rising

The ECW may be viewed as sort of a minor league for the WWE, although it still has its share of star power. Matt Hardy as ECW champ, Mark Henry, The Miz, and John Morrison as viable heels and Finlay/Hornswoggle as an entertaining duo all help the show these days. It may lack divas since the departures of Extreme Expose (Brooke, Kelly, Layla), but it has a beautiful blonde assistant for GM Teddy Long in Tiffay. There's also returning WWE Diva Alicia Fox who's easy on the eyes as well. Last week's show saw a classic Extreme Rules match featuring Mr. Extreme himself, Tommy Dreamer against Jack Swagger. Those are the sort of matches ECW was built on, and hopefully it continues to feature them.

Aside from all that, ECW has several young stars who look like they will be the power stars of the future WWE. One of them is currently sidelined, as Evan Bourne is recovering from a bad landing, healing his ankle up. It's unknown at this point if Bourne will be returning to ECW or Raw based on his backstage encounter with Raw's Snitsky. Also on ECW you have the cocky young superstar, Jack Swagger, Ricky Ortiz, who's also undefeated, and the newest guy, DJ Gabriel, who not only has wrestling moves but also dance moves in the ring. His gimmick may wear out fast, but he's got potential based on his physique and abilities in the ring. Any of these guys can eventually move on to bigger and better things as they each look like potential wearers of WWE gold, whether it be the IC or US title.

The ECW title picture itself may heat up fast with these guys in the mix. On last week's show, Jack Swagger informed Matt Hardy he's the top contender for the ECW title, since he's done with Dreamer. Ricky Ortiz may also have a claim, as the young Ortiz is undefeated. DJ Gabriel, while only facing amateur talent so far, may also have a claim to make in the coming weeks. We may be heading for a mini tournament to determine the new top contender which would make for exciting ECW action. A Triple Threat between Hardy, Swagger and Ortiz might make for one heckuva PPV match.

As Kevin Eck mentioned on a recent Ring Posts blog, Matt Striker has quickly become one of the best commentators in the business. He definitely has a grasp on the material, wrestler names & moves, more so than his predecessor, recently resigned Raw GM, Mike Adamle. Then again, Striker's been in the business against many of the superstars, and that will always bring more to the tables, ladders and chairs of ECW.