Matt Hardy Wins ECW Title

by Jack Windham
September 8, 2008

Matt Hardy has been elevated to the top spot on the brand now that he's won the ECW Heavyweight Championship.

New Champion

When the championship scramble match was announced for ECW, there were really only two wrestlers that fans believed would be walking out of the ring with the belt.

Nothing against Chavo Guerrero, the Miz, or Finlay, but very few wrestling fans believed that they were winning the title at Unforgiven.

The two heavy favorites in the match were reigning champion Mark Henry and Matt Hardy.

After gaining his second pinfall in the match, Matt Hardy was able to walk away as the new ECW champion.

Well Deserved

Whether you like him or you don't like him, it's hard to argue that Matt Hardy deserves this opportunity.

I was really glad to see WWE rewarding him with the United States Heavyweight Championship a few months back.

Now, I'm even more excited that he's been given the opportunity to carry the ECW brand on his massively popular shoulders.

Long Reign

With the way the ECW roster is set up right now, Matt Hardy has a chance to be a long reigning champion.

First of all, there's not a babyface on the roster that management is dying to push into the top spot to replace Matt Hardy.

Evan Bourne is a nice young wrestler, but he doesn't have that momentum like CM Punk did when he first started out in ECW.

Secondly, the ECW roster is filled with plenty of credible heels to challenge for the title.

Between Chavo Guerrero, Elijah Burke (remember him?), John Morrison, Mark Henry, Mike Knox, and the Miz, the new champion has plenty of challengers to work with.

Outside the Box

I know the chances of this happening are going to be really low, but if WWE wanted to use "outside of the box" thinking, then the rewards could be tremendous.

To promote Jeff Hardy's upcoming challenge of the WWE Heavyweight Championship, they should have him challenging his brother for the ECW title.

Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy for the ECW Heavyweight Championship.

If that match was on television, the ratings would soar. If it was on pay per view, the buyrates would do the same thing.

Closing Thoughts

I'm really glad that WWE finally decided to put the ECW title on Matt Hardy. Now, they need to build on that.