ECW Shines: Shelton, Ryder, Goldust

Breaking Point update: A match has been added to the lineup which includes D-Generation X taking on Legacy in a "Submissions count anywhere match", supposedly a first of its kind.

If you missed last night's episode of ECW on SyFy, you missed two great wrestling matches. In one encounter, Shelton Benjamin went up against Zack Ryder to continue their recent feud. In another match, the main event, it was Goldust taking on Sheamus in a No DQ, No Countout match.

When I first saw Goldust's name announced as part of the trade to ECW I didn't think much of it, but he's definitely putting on some good performances against Sheamus. Goldust makes a smarter addition to the ECW lineup than I originally thought because he can help the young guns make a name and get the start of a push they need. Case in point is the Celtic Warrior, Sheamus, another guy I wasn't big on until last night's match. He looked like he could hang with Ezekiel Jackson and Vladimir Kozlov after last night's showcase main event. And honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Regal adds him to the mix of foreign, ruthless talent to stack the odds against Christian, Tommy Dreamer and the rest of the roster. I don't see anyone out of the new talent initiative beyond Sheamus making a big name for themselves in WWE, although Yoshi Tatsu probably has that silly Funaki type appeal, unfortunately, because he seems to have some skills.

Now on to Shelton vs. Zack Ryder. I've never been a huge Shelton fan, but last night made me even more convinced that this guy's the real deal. If anyone on the roster deserves an ECW title shot it's Shelton, and if anyone deserves to wear that belt beyond Christian, it's also Shelton. He picked up an excellent win against opponent Zack Ryder last night, as he sprang off the ropes and landed a flip/neckbreaker move in amazing fashion. The guy's a true worker, he's rarely injured, and for some reason he hasn't been rewarded with the ECW title....yet. He should be because it's highly doubtful WWE will give him the World or WWE title at this point.

As for Kozlov and Jackson, a truly dominating tag team. Granted they don't seem to fight anyone beyond amateur jobbers, but these guys should be facing Jericho/Show at Breaking Point. I could easily see Kozlov & Jackson as the Unified Tag Team champions, and that just may be in the cards for the future. Problem is, WWE would prefer keeping its tag title between Smackdown or Raw right now, when ECW gets less of the spotlight.

There was also a new addition to the Abraham Washington show, which I found humorous. Mark Henry's former cornerman, Tony Atlas, is now like Dave Letterman's Paul, or Jay Leno's Branford Marsalis...basically Atlas stood near a mic, introduced Abraham Washington and laughed throughout the bit as if everything everyone said was funny. Honestly, Abe is really generating some major heat, so maybe he'll translate that into more of a career as someone's manager. Nonetheless, some good action on the show last night, including a music video highlight version of Taker vs. Michaels from Wrestlemania 25.

Next week, let's hope for more great action as The Hurricane (Gregory Helms) faces Paul Burchill in another feud showdown.