Destor
11-10-2006, 05:54 AM
ECW, that name used to make me giddy. I know I'm not alone. I remember back when the WWE were putting Football player Laurence Taylor in the main event of Wrestle Maia, while WCW was having Flair under card against Savage whilst Hogan was Main eventing against Vader (a feud that carried over the television show Bay watch,) the was still one company in America trying to give us something we would enjoy. That company was ECW. While the WWE was giving those crap fests here's what ECW was giving: The amazing Tommy Dreamer and Raven feud, Cactus Jack versus Terry Funk (and most memorably,) Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko putting on wrestling classics.
ECW continued to give us an amazing product right up until it's very last show. and in 2001 it just ended. Fast forward to 2005. The Internet is buzzing about the return of ECW with the Pay-Per-View One Night Stand. What a night for long time ECW fans. It was everything one could hop for and more. The excitement continued later that ear when we learned that there would be a ONS II. And even more so once we found that ECW was finally going to make a full time return with it's own live TV show. Things couldn't have looked better for the loyal ECW fan.
Things started off a little rocky. ONS II was mediocre at best. And the debut of ECW on Sci-Fi was one of the biggest disappointments I have ever experienced. But slowly the NEW ECW product one a lot people over, and vastly improved becoming what a lot people believed to be the only saving grace for Mainstream Wrestling. ECW enjoyed alot of success, they became Sci-Fi no.1 rated program as well as the no.1 program on Tuesday night on several occasions. And despite of this it appears that the WWE has decided to kill ECW, by any means necessary.
Recently the WWE has given up on promoting ECW as ECW and are turning ECW into a full fledged WWE brand. Changing the guys from “Extremist’s” to “Superstars” and the “Vixens” to “Diva’s” would not do anything. Dunn’s thinking as reported in The Observer and other dirt sheets is what we the fans are too stupid to realize that the WWE owns ECW, so these changes were necessary to boost the ratings.
In the week before this change was put into place, ECW on Sci Fi drew a 1.7 Rating. The week of Extreme Strip Poker the rating went up a whopping .1 to a 1.8 rating. I believe last week the rating was down to 1.6 and this week…well, we don’t know the number yet. But as these ratings have shown us ever since Dunn went forth with his make ECW more WWE theory there has NOT been an upswing in the ratings.
Add to that the fact that Vince wants to cut down on “Extreme Rules” matches. I mean it’s a joke to begin with since Vince McMahon couldn’t work a regular match if his life depended on it and here he wants to cut the balls off of ECW. I honestly can’t understand this company sometimes. It’s like they have a whole bunch of retards in charge and they screw up things that can’t possibly be screwed up.
Read this blurb from The Observer
WWE has confirmed that ECW house shows will be discontinued as of December, with the brand instead touring with Smackdown. The feeling is that they sent ECW out on the road before they were ready for house shows, so now they are taking a step back. WWE had a greatly reduced budget for marketing ECW events (possibly as low as $500 per show) which is probably why they had a hard time getting word out about the shows.
Now it’s not really that hard to promote a show. God knows guys on the Indies do it all the time. They get what they can with ticket sales and pray to God the DVD makes up the rest. At the root of it is a little thing called word of mouth. Word of mouth is when the fans see something good and they tell others to go check it out. In this day and age we have this thing called the Internet and aside from it’s glorious porno downloading capabilities it is, believe it or not, a HELL of a promotional tool. Ring of Honor would not have survived past six months if it wasn’t for the Internet and the word of mouth on the product that traveled to the farthest reaches of the world.
When I read the WWE spent as little as $500 to promote a show which is what some companies spend on a show total to promote ECW it makes me laugh. I mean it’s painfully obvious that the WWE wanted ECW to fail. Set it up as the inferior product just like it was back in 2001 during the Alliance. Take away everything that was ECW and water down what was left. Throw in the usual bunch of generic vanilla hosses and hold back the guys you know can make money in favor of the guys that look good in the weight room.
Take RVD for example. RVD is by far the most over guy in ECW. He finally won the ECW Title only to have it taken from him because of that little drug arrest thing. I mean I find it funny that Vince doesn’t want to put the belt back on him because of that. It could have been bad publicity but no one really cared. He’s Mr. 420…it’s to be expected of Rob Van Dam. I mean back in the day EVERYONE was on one drug or another. Hell everyone still is on one drug or another. Just because RVD goes busted in a speed trap in Ohio doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be given the chance to shine. It’s all about making money and RVD is a proven draw for ECW. Granted he wasn’t selling out huge arena’s, but for the small theater’s that ECW was running in back then RVD was a huge draw and they routinely drew pretty damn well. Hell I remember reading that ECW was out drawing WCW back in 99 and 2000 in some cities. The thing about ECW is it was never supposed to be something huge. It was always meant to be something small.
So if RVD is out of the picture I can see why they would stop running ECW Shows. I mean it’s bad enough when the WWE does cookie cutter results for the same shows over and over. Add to that no promotion and no word of mouth and it’s a wonder no one is going to these shows. It’s like I said the WWE set up ECW to fail. I think deep down Paul Heyman knows that was the intent of the WWE. I mean why would they want ECW to succeed. If they did they would just run things the way they were run back when ECW was in business. All you need is ECW to be ECW and just make sure the WWE covers the overhead and ECW would not fail. But as I said they watered it down and turned it into a shell of it’s former self. Now it’s a WWE “brand” like RAW and Smackdown and if there is even an ECW at this point next year I’ll be very surprised.
Then again the fact that ECW is even here now is very surprising. One can argue that even thought the WWE might have set it up to fail, ECW succeed anyway. As it is it draws the highest ratings on the Sci Fi network so NBC Universal was very happy with the show. But as happy as they were NBC figured “Well it’s all the same company so make sure there’s cross over appeal for USA and RAW” and that’s really where everything started to go wrong. No offense to fine folks at NBC who I’m sure at one time or another knew how to run an actual network. But all this cross over stuff just does not work in the long run. It’s like I said before. If RAW and Smackdown show more or less the same thing why would I want to watch ECW if it’s the same thing along with it.
I mean look at this Champion of Champions thing they just had at Cyber Sunday. By all accounts it was a train wreck. What purpose did it serve to only have one championship on the line? Luckily it wasn’t the ECW title because if it were you know Cena would have won. I didn’t watch the PPV and I’m sure many of you didn’t either because $40 is way to much for a PPV especially for one that could easily be an extended episode of RAW. From what I read of the results they did a spot where The Big Show got knocked out and was out of the match for seven minutes. If The Big Show is in that bad of shape why not just get the belt off of him and let him rest up. He’s gone more then above the call of duty and deserves some time to rest. But even with him in this match all it did was make the ECW World title seem inferior to the WWE and World titles. ECW in the WWE always has to look weaker. It’s an ego thing with Vince…he couldn’t allow some little fed from Philly to show up his product just like he wasn’t about to let a bunch of rednecks from Atlanta show him up in 2001.
With this Champion of Champions thing over the next thing for ECW is this Extreme Elimination Chamber. How they plan on fitting the Elimination Chamber in a small arena I don’t know, but this PPV is going to make or break ECW. If it doesn’t draw huge numbers then ECW might as well be Deep South or Ohio Valley. It will just be a place to send guys who can’t cut it on the A or B shows. It comes back to the issue of not putting the belt on RVD. Aside from Sabu he’s the only one who could possibly carry ECW as a top star but McMahon would never want RVD to become a bonified top star. If he did he would have won the World title from Triple H in 2003.
It made me laugh when I would see Linda McMahon on CNBC talking about how ECW would be launched to expand on the market. If the WWE were serious about having ECW expand on the market we wouldn’t be reading about how they barely spent $500 promoting a show. The WWE has many means at it’s disposal. One of the largest multimedia networks in Universal, the Internet, trade papers, radio ad’s, etc. There is no reason for ECW to be failing and here it is barely drawing 1,000 to a show in Saginaw because the WWE can’t be bothered doing what should come natural to them and that’s promoting.
It honestly makes me wonder how TNA ISN’T competing with them right now and then I remember TNA is equally stupid when it comes to these sort of things. I mean they are trying to make Jeff Jarrett a baby face and The James Gang a lame version of DX. I suppose things in ECW could be worse. A report circulated this weekend that since Vince won’t put the belt back on RVD they were eying Test to be the next ECW World Champion. Maybe in 2001 when he wasn’t just another roid freak it might have worked as it was rumored he might become the new WCW Champion. Now if Test getting the title leads to RVD or Sabu ultimately getting it then all is not lost. C.M. Punk hasn’t been able to hit the stride he had in ROH so until they revive the World Television Title he’s going to be doing his Mui Thai stuff for a long while to come.
Well we’ll see what happens come December to Dismember. It’s all ready shaping up like a Smackdown PPV with one big match and the rest being filler. If you’ve read any ECW House show results that will give you a good idea of the card under the Elimination Chamber. It’s funny how I can remember the worst thing about ECW being was who was going to jump ship next because Paul bounced another check. Now it’s who isn’t jumping ship but who is jumping onto the ship.
It’s not all bad for ECW though. I will say I’m glad they put Sylvester Terkay on ECW. The Taz mark in me loves the idea of another “shooter” coming in and just dropping people on their heads and making people tap out. It’s not a complicated character and even someone with limited creative ability could book him as a slap in the face of UFC. Then again in the WWE a slap in the face is making someone look weak and inferior. Why else would they take a guy who with time they could have built up to be the new Brock Lesnar only to hot shot him out with everyone wondering who the hell he is. Now if they would just let him wear his Bruiser Brody boot’s it would all be good.
ECW is loaded with potential, but despite this, it's designed to fail.
ECW continued to give us an amazing product right up until it's very last show. and in 2001 it just ended. Fast forward to 2005. The Internet is buzzing about the return of ECW with the Pay-Per-View One Night Stand. What a night for long time ECW fans. It was everything one could hop for and more. The excitement continued later that ear when we learned that there would be a ONS II. And even more so once we found that ECW was finally going to make a full time return with it's own live TV show. Things couldn't have looked better for the loyal ECW fan.
Things started off a little rocky. ONS II was mediocre at best. And the debut of ECW on Sci-Fi was one of the biggest disappointments I have ever experienced. But slowly the NEW ECW product one a lot people over, and vastly improved becoming what a lot people believed to be the only saving grace for Mainstream Wrestling. ECW enjoyed alot of success, they became Sci-Fi no.1 rated program as well as the no.1 program on Tuesday night on several occasions. And despite of this it appears that the WWE has decided to kill ECW, by any means necessary.
Recently the WWE has given up on promoting ECW as ECW and are turning ECW into a full fledged WWE brand. Changing the guys from “Extremist’s” to “Superstars” and the “Vixens” to “Diva’s” would not do anything. Dunn’s thinking as reported in The Observer and other dirt sheets is what we the fans are too stupid to realize that the WWE owns ECW, so these changes were necessary to boost the ratings.
In the week before this change was put into place, ECW on Sci Fi drew a 1.7 Rating. The week of Extreme Strip Poker the rating went up a whopping .1 to a 1.8 rating. I believe last week the rating was down to 1.6 and this week…well, we don’t know the number yet. But as these ratings have shown us ever since Dunn went forth with his make ECW more WWE theory there has NOT been an upswing in the ratings.
Add to that the fact that Vince wants to cut down on “Extreme Rules” matches. I mean it’s a joke to begin with since Vince McMahon couldn’t work a regular match if his life depended on it and here he wants to cut the balls off of ECW. I honestly can’t understand this company sometimes. It’s like they have a whole bunch of retards in charge and they screw up things that can’t possibly be screwed up.
Read this blurb from The Observer
WWE has confirmed that ECW house shows will be discontinued as of December, with the brand instead touring with Smackdown. The feeling is that they sent ECW out on the road before they were ready for house shows, so now they are taking a step back. WWE had a greatly reduced budget for marketing ECW events (possibly as low as $500 per show) which is probably why they had a hard time getting word out about the shows.
Now it’s not really that hard to promote a show. God knows guys on the Indies do it all the time. They get what they can with ticket sales and pray to God the DVD makes up the rest. At the root of it is a little thing called word of mouth. Word of mouth is when the fans see something good and they tell others to go check it out. In this day and age we have this thing called the Internet and aside from it’s glorious porno downloading capabilities it is, believe it or not, a HELL of a promotional tool. Ring of Honor would not have survived past six months if it wasn’t for the Internet and the word of mouth on the product that traveled to the farthest reaches of the world.
When I read the WWE spent as little as $500 to promote a show which is what some companies spend on a show total to promote ECW it makes me laugh. I mean it’s painfully obvious that the WWE wanted ECW to fail. Set it up as the inferior product just like it was back in 2001 during the Alliance. Take away everything that was ECW and water down what was left. Throw in the usual bunch of generic vanilla hosses and hold back the guys you know can make money in favor of the guys that look good in the weight room.
Take RVD for example. RVD is by far the most over guy in ECW. He finally won the ECW Title only to have it taken from him because of that little drug arrest thing. I mean I find it funny that Vince doesn’t want to put the belt back on him because of that. It could have been bad publicity but no one really cared. He’s Mr. 420…it’s to be expected of Rob Van Dam. I mean back in the day EVERYONE was on one drug or another. Hell everyone still is on one drug or another. Just because RVD goes busted in a speed trap in Ohio doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be given the chance to shine. It’s all about making money and RVD is a proven draw for ECW. Granted he wasn’t selling out huge arena’s, but for the small theater’s that ECW was running in back then RVD was a huge draw and they routinely drew pretty damn well. Hell I remember reading that ECW was out drawing WCW back in 99 and 2000 in some cities. The thing about ECW is it was never supposed to be something huge. It was always meant to be something small.
So if RVD is out of the picture I can see why they would stop running ECW Shows. I mean it’s bad enough when the WWE does cookie cutter results for the same shows over and over. Add to that no promotion and no word of mouth and it’s a wonder no one is going to these shows. It’s like I said the WWE set up ECW to fail. I think deep down Paul Heyman knows that was the intent of the WWE. I mean why would they want ECW to succeed. If they did they would just run things the way they were run back when ECW was in business. All you need is ECW to be ECW and just make sure the WWE covers the overhead and ECW would not fail. But as I said they watered it down and turned it into a shell of it’s former self. Now it’s a WWE “brand” like RAW and Smackdown and if there is even an ECW at this point next year I’ll be very surprised.
Then again the fact that ECW is even here now is very surprising. One can argue that even thought the WWE might have set it up to fail, ECW succeed anyway. As it is it draws the highest ratings on the Sci Fi network so NBC Universal was very happy with the show. But as happy as they were NBC figured “Well it’s all the same company so make sure there’s cross over appeal for USA and RAW” and that’s really where everything started to go wrong. No offense to fine folks at NBC who I’m sure at one time or another knew how to run an actual network. But all this cross over stuff just does not work in the long run. It’s like I said before. If RAW and Smackdown show more or less the same thing why would I want to watch ECW if it’s the same thing along with it.
I mean look at this Champion of Champions thing they just had at Cyber Sunday. By all accounts it was a train wreck. What purpose did it serve to only have one championship on the line? Luckily it wasn’t the ECW title because if it were you know Cena would have won. I didn’t watch the PPV and I’m sure many of you didn’t either because $40 is way to much for a PPV especially for one that could easily be an extended episode of RAW. From what I read of the results they did a spot where The Big Show got knocked out and was out of the match for seven minutes. If The Big Show is in that bad of shape why not just get the belt off of him and let him rest up. He’s gone more then above the call of duty and deserves some time to rest. But even with him in this match all it did was make the ECW World title seem inferior to the WWE and World titles. ECW in the WWE always has to look weaker. It’s an ego thing with Vince…he couldn’t allow some little fed from Philly to show up his product just like he wasn’t about to let a bunch of rednecks from Atlanta show him up in 2001.
With this Champion of Champions thing over the next thing for ECW is this Extreme Elimination Chamber. How they plan on fitting the Elimination Chamber in a small arena I don’t know, but this PPV is going to make or break ECW. If it doesn’t draw huge numbers then ECW might as well be Deep South or Ohio Valley. It will just be a place to send guys who can’t cut it on the A or B shows. It comes back to the issue of not putting the belt on RVD. Aside from Sabu he’s the only one who could possibly carry ECW as a top star but McMahon would never want RVD to become a bonified top star. If he did he would have won the World title from Triple H in 2003.
It made me laugh when I would see Linda McMahon on CNBC talking about how ECW would be launched to expand on the market. If the WWE were serious about having ECW expand on the market we wouldn’t be reading about how they barely spent $500 promoting a show. The WWE has many means at it’s disposal. One of the largest multimedia networks in Universal, the Internet, trade papers, radio ad’s, etc. There is no reason for ECW to be failing and here it is barely drawing 1,000 to a show in Saginaw because the WWE can’t be bothered doing what should come natural to them and that’s promoting.
It honestly makes me wonder how TNA ISN’T competing with them right now and then I remember TNA is equally stupid when it comes to these sort of things. I mean they are trying to make Jeff Jarrett a baby face and The James Gang a lame version of DX. I suppose things in ECW could be worse. A report circulated this weekend that since Vince won’t put the belt back on RVD they were eying Test to be the next ECW World Champion. Maybe in 2001 when he wasn’t just another roid freak it might have worked as it was rumored he might become the new WCW Champion. Now if Test getting the title leads to RVD or Sabu ultimately getting it then all is not lost. C.M. Punk hasn’t been able to hit the stride he had in ROH so until they revive the World Television Title he’s going to be doing his Mui Thai stuff for a long while to come.
Well we’ll see what happens come December to Dismember. It’s all ready shaping up like a Smackdown PPV with one big match and the rest being filler. If you’ve read any ECW House show results that will give you a good idea of the card under the Elimination Chamber. It’s funny how I can remember the worst thing about ECW being was who was going to jump ship next because Paul bounced another check. Now it’s who isn’t jumping ship but who is jumping onto the ship.
It’s not all bad for ECW though. I will say I’m glad they put Sylvester Terkay on ECW. The Taz mark in me loves the idea of another “shooter” coming in and just dropping people on their heads and making people tap out. It’s not a complicated character and even someone with limited creative ability could book him as a slap in the face of UFC. Then again in the WWE a slap in the face is making someone look weak and inferior. Why else would they take a guy who with time they could have built up to be the new Brock Lesnar only to hot shot him out with everyone wondering who the hell he is. Now if they would just let him wear his Bruiser Brody boot’s it would all be good.
ECW is loaded with potential, but despite this, it's designed to fail.