Revisted: Rumours of ECW brand (2004)

[The Mackem]

2004, when talk of an ECW brand began to surface. I think it was about 2006 when the ECW brand came into effect.

http://www.tpww.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4805

Are the points raised before still applicable now? I notice that the board is kinda split on ECW. It's weird because it kinda has it's own 'cult' following in a sense.

[Fox]

If by cult you mean the people who enjoy it are drinking the kool-aid, then yeah, totally.

[Kalyx triaD]

Old school ECW was the shit. I loved it. WWECW is insulting when pitched as the return of ECW, but appreciated and even required from the 'A-Show B-Show C-Show' model of things. So on one hand I'm disgusted, but I do get it from an industry stand point. I wish they could have called it something else to be consistant. There's RAW, SmackDown!, and what... Extreme Championship Wrestling? That doesn't work for me, especially if you consider WWE as a prefix to the brand titles. I would simply call it "Extreme". We would have WWE RAW, WWE SmackDown!, and WWE Extreme. It's consistant, and even sounds better to me.

[#1-norm-fan]

I miss the pre-fluff Confidential :(

[Mr. Nerfect]

ECW is consistently the best wrestling show of the week. It's easy to make fun of because its World Title is often put on first-time title winners, and used to try and elevate guys rather than be elevated itself, but besides that, you get a lot of good from ECW.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It's sad that Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam left the WWE, because if they hadn't, we wouldn't even be discussing the credibility of an ECW brand. Also, if Chris Benoit hadn't of self-destructed, and we got those Benoit vs. CM Punk matches it seemed the WWE were planning, then the ECW Title would be considered a World Title, without a doubt.

[St. Jimmy]

ECW is consistently the best wrestling show of the week. It's easy to make fun of because its World Title is often put on first-time title winners, and used to try and elevate guys rather than be elevated itself, but besides that, you get a lot of good from ECW.

What's the point of being the best "wrestling" show in a company where they actually claim not to be "wrestling". I can't be assed to watch most matches anymore, it's gotten to be too boring. Especially in a mid-card full of spot-monkeys. Less flipping and more mic work.

[Kalyx triaD]

Angle, RVD, Benoit, Punk, The Ballroom = Perfect WWE/EC-f'n-W

The 2nd One Night Stand was how I wanted WWECW to be. Not really ECW of old, but definitely something different from RAW or SD!.

[thedamndest]

We're way beyond "ruining the legacy of ECW" at this point by bringing it back under the helm of WWE. Extreme Championship Wrestling will always have its place in history, and the fact that its assets were sold and have been repackaged doesn't change any of that.

When they first brought it back it was hit and miss. The style was there and Heyman was there, but the WWE oversight coupled with adding in a lot of guys that were never going to get over in that environment (Batista headlining an ECW show) brought it down. Then there was the ECW exclusive PPV before ECW was even really off the ground...terrible. When it first started it was bad.

It's improved drastically, and I attribute that to that fact that it is homogenous with the rest of the WWE product. Sure, the name doesn't make sense except for one night a year anymore, but that's better than the product being shit. With an hour of television, they don't tend to fuck around as much as Raw or SD with backstage business, so you actually do get more wrestling in the show. To me it seems like the primary complaints about it are:
1) it's not the real ECW
2) I don't watch ECW
3) I hate Mark Henry

That said, I don't consistantly watch it. I do think they have too many shows/titles, so if they combined ECW with Raw or SD I would be all for that as well. But in terms of business I guess it's serving its purpose. In terms of the WWE, it's not terrible, and for the roster size they have, it's necessary.

[Mr. Nerfect]

What's the point of being the best "wrestling" show in a company where they actually claim not to be "wrestling". I can't be assed to watch most matches anymore, it's gotten to be too boring. Especially in a mid-card full of spot-monkeys. Less flipping and more mic work.

No, ECW is just generally the best WWE show a week, whichever way you want to cut it. SmackDown! is pretty good, too. RAW is getting more tolerable, although it is also very boring at times.

[Juan]

What's the point of being the best "wrestling" show in a company where they actually claim not to be "wrestling". I can't be assed to watch most matches anymore, it's gotten to be too boring. Especially in a mid-card full of spot-monkeys. Less flipping and more mic work.

I think this is the kind of attitude that is killing wrestling tbh

[Mr. Nerfect]

Angle, RVD, Benoit, Punk, The Ballroom = Perfect WWE/EC-f'n-W

The 2nd One Night Stand was how I wanted WWECW to be. Not really ECW of old, but definitely something different from RAW or SD!.

I remember when there were rumours of WWE guys who were going to jump to ECW. I remember hoping that the following would make the leap:

Chavo Guerrero
Nick Dinsmore
Brent Albright

Although I never saw too many of the matches, I remember hearing about how great Eddy Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit were down in ECW. I figured that Chavo Guerrero could represent Eddie Guerrero (due to their relationship), Nick Dinsmore could represent Dean Malenko (for some reason their personalities, builds and styles remind me of each other), and Brent Albright could have represented Chris Benoit (as he was mentored by Benoit, and was actually released for being too similar to him). Throw an ECW Television Championship to those three men, and you could have had gold.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think this is the kind of attitude that is killing wrestling tbh

St. Jimmy is a lethal dose of POISON!