I recently gave up watching WWE and TNA programming consistently, but my DVR is still set to record all four wrestling shows each week. The other morning on the treadmill, I selected the February 8th episode of ECW rather than jumping off to insert a Ring of Honor DVD (I thought I had one in, but I didn’t). Much to my surprise, they got the first segment exactly right. The “15 Minutes of Fame†WWE World Tag Team Championship Match was as well executed as you could hope for on free TV.
TODAY’S ISSUE: 15 Minutes of Fame on ECW
Reigning champions John Morrison and The Miz have had their hands full lately with the combination of former Jung Dragon-turned redneck, Jimmy Wang Yang and former 3 Count heartthrob-turned MFer-turned Prince of Punk, Shannon Moore. The high-flying cruiserweights have given the champs a run for their money in previous matches, and last week on ECW they got another shot at the gold.
In today’s standard business plan for both WWE and TNA, the purpose of weekly television is to encourage house show attendance, merchandise sales, and most significantly, pay-per-view buys. This tag team title match went a long way in building a solid story that, if mirrored in terms of quality by three or four other feuds company-wide, might actually make a ppv worth the $40 ticket, just to see the blow-off between these two rival teams.
Recycling a gimmick match Morrison himself employed as ECW Champion a few months back, the tag titles were on the line in what boils down to a 15-minute Iron Man Match, in which the team with the most decisions when time expires wins the match and the titles.
The story thus far was that Yang and Moore had come close to winning the gold before and actually defeated the champs in a non-title match a few weeks ago, so Miz and Morrison were running out of tricks to keep these determined challengers at bay. That loss to Yang and Moore was the first and only defeat the champs had suffered since winning the gold on November 16th and it must have shaken their confidence a bit.
So the challengers had nothing to lose, while the champs found themselves facing a very good team who they knew could beat them, and who, thanks to the match format, they couldn’t count on sneaking away from with a cheap win. This time, Miz and Morrison had to at least keep up with Yang and Moore in order to retain their titles.
Both babyfaces got the chance to play Ricky Morton in this quarter-hour outing, starting with Moore enduring abuse at the hands of a highly aggressive Miz and his rockstar-like partner, Morrison. After wisely attempting two quick pin covers on Miz following the opening bell, Moore found himself in the “wrong part of town†and the heels cut off the ring and began dominating young Shannon.
Once Moore managed to tag Yang, the Asian Redneck immediately shifted the momentum with his high-energy offense, catching Morrison flat-footed and taking control. But like true heel champs, Miz and Morrison cheated to regain the advantage and score the first fall to take the lead 1-0 with almost four minutes gone in the match.
After escaping from the “tree of woeâ€, Yang hit his gorgeous moonsault press on Morrison for a fall to tie the score 1-1, but Miz quickly caught his leg from behind and now it was Yang’s turn to play face-in-peril. Part of the reason this match caught my eye was the perfect execution, clear focus and aggression the champs showed in punishing Yang’s leg. It was also a wise move within kayfabe, since most of Yang’s offense is aerial and kick-based. Joey Styles correctly noted that the longer they pounded on Yang’s wheel, the less chance there was of the challengers breaking the tie while the time continued to tick away.
Yang absorbed the champions’ high-impact offense until the 2:30 mark when he managed to reach Moore and tag out of the match. “The Reject†was a proverbial house-of-fire, utilizing flying body-blocks and high-risk attacks against both Miz and Morrison. Having miraculously recovered from his leg being pulverized for half the match, Yang hit a breathtaking plancha onto Morrison from the top rope to the floor, while Moore drilled Miz with a vicious neck-breaker inside the ring, nearly scoring the fall to take the lead.
Moore continued to pound Miz as the clock ran down. With 40 seconds left to go, Yang tagged in for the final time in the contest. He threw everything but the kitchen sink at Miz who, time and again, somehow found a way to get his shoulder off the mat before the referee counted to three
As time ran out, the challengers proved they could definitely beat the champions when Yang hit another magnificent moonsault press on Miz and covered him. But the bell rang before the ref reached three, even though Miz looked to have no chance at kicking out of the attempted pinfall. The tied score and near-miss by Yang at the finish made it clear that had there been four more seconds on the clock, the titles would have likely changed hands.
The next match between these two teams should take place at the Royal Rumble, and the best choice would be to switch the titles to the faces and let the heels chase until ‘Mania. That being said, however, I wouldn’t be surprised if WWE lets Miz and Morrison defeat the challengers in their next meeting and move onto something else. Long term, engaging storytelling is NOT McMahon’s strong suit after all.
But for 15 minutes WWE was spot on. It’s too bad they don’t do more of this type of programming. A solid arc backed up by hot in-ring action adds up to entertaining television and encourages fans to pay for the privilege of seeing the final chapter in the saga. It would behoove WWE (and TNA, for that matter) to produce more angles and matches like this one.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled reality.
p.s. – “Better three hours too soon, than one minute too late.†– William Shakespeare
Before you go, check out Ivan Rushfield’s TNAnalysis, Big Andy Mac’s ROH Rankings, and Jonathan Kirschner’s All Things Indy for some good stuff around the Pulse Wrestling horn.
