When WWE decided to revive ECW as a 3rd brand last year, there were those that believed this was doomed to ultimately fail. At present, counting announcers Joey Styles & Tazz, about 1/3 of the active ECW roster is made up of "ECW Originals". There are 4 "Original" ECW wrestlers left: Tommy Dreamer, Stevie Richards, Balls Mahoney, and Nunzio (formerly known as Little Guido; he went back to the WWE-created alias earlier this year with no explanation). The majority of the roster, including GM Armando Estrada, came over from the other brands. At last count, however, there are only 12 wrestlers, 3 divas, 2 referees, and 3 announcers (Styles, Tazz, and ring announcer Tony Chimel, who recently traded places with Justin Roberts)).

For that reason, in addition to boosting ECW's weak ratings, WWE creative decided that the tribe of extreme could use a little help from their traveling partners from Smackdown. That's why, starting this week, you'll see Smackdown & ECW talent cross over between shows. This gives ECW champion CM Punk the opportunity to match his skills against some of Smackdown's top stars. Can you picture Punk vs. US champion/tag titlist Montel Vontavious Porter? I can. How about John Morrison, the former Johnny Nitro, renewing hostilities with old foes Batista, Rey Mysterio, or Matt Hardy? There were already rumors surfacing of Big Daddy V (formerly Viscera) being moved to Smackdown for an inevitable feud with Undertaker.

Of course, we can already assume what the worst case scenario might be. If the ratings don't improve for ECW, it's very possible the tribe of extreme could be folded into the Smackdown roster, raising the prospect of a title unification match between Punk and current World champion Batista.

There is, however, one problem with the present scenario. It was sprung on the fans, both live in the arena in Birmingham, England and watching on television tonight, without warning. There was no time to advertise that there would be, to use a well worn cliche, "shocking changes to ECW". That eliminates the curiosity factor, and forces WWE to rely on word of mouth spread through the internet over the next three days before Smackdown airs to get ECW fans to sample the Friday franchise.

In the GM's office, Vince McMahon now has a safety net set up for Vicki Guerrero should she falter as GM and a merger does happen. She gets shunted off to the side, and ECW GM Armando Estrada would be promoted to take over Smackdown. I give them through the winter before there's talk of a merger.

Meanwhile, the Turk has come a'calling again, pruning the Raw roster by 3. Two were expected, as Booker T & wife Sharmell, who renounced their royal gimmick, were released Monday, with the release taking effect 10/27, the day before Cyber Sunday. Tuesday, Shawn "Khosrow" Daivari was cut, ending a 3 year stint with the company (Booker had been with WWE 6 years). Daivari was reduced to being a fish out of water after being shifted to Raw in the June draft, denied the cruiserweight title. I suspect that Booker & Daivari will resurface in TNA during the winter. Daivari can give the X division a boost, and hopefully will be allowed to be himself without being stuck with a xenophobia-inducing gimmick. Booker already has a working relationship with TNA through his PWA promotion in the Houston suburbs. Upset over PWA being snubbed in favor of the revived Florida Championship Wrestling, a clear case of cronyism at work, Booker saw the 60 day suspension handed down last month as the last straw, and slowly made his transition out of the company. In one fell swoop, Vince McMahon has given the competition a developmental territory they can call their own. I see PWA being linked officially with TNA by the turn of the year, if not sooner.

And, then, there's Ric Flair. He, too, is in limbo, with rumors persisting that he, too, wants out of WWE after 6 years. All he has to show for that time are 2 World tag team titles (w/Batista) and a Intercontinental title run, all of it between 2004 and 2006. What I think is going to happen is that Flair will be kept on ice until he's inducted in the Hall of Fame in March, and then he'll quietly strut into the sunset (well, as far as WWE's concerned, that is). I wouldn't be at all surprised if Flair ultimately turned up in TNA, still in search of title #17. Like Booker, he'd have to deal with the oblivious-to-modern-times Vince Russo in the creative office, but this is where old friends/rivals like Jeff Jarrett and Jim Cornette could serve as buffers.

Oh, and after 2 weeks of 2-hour episodes of Impact, not much has changed. The storylines still lack that one necessary ingredient that would make viewers care. Common sense! Russo, please call your service. Your career is over. As Stone Cold Steve Austin would say, that's all I have to say about that!