The Return of ECW

[Kugzilla]

Sounds almost too good to be true, and perhaps 2-3 years after they should have done this, but Check this out from PWinsider.com and see for yourself.

http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=17629&p=1

[Papagolash]

HAH I was just about to post that info. ECW ECW ECW ECW!

[Kyle]

I love ECW, but I don't know if it's a great idea.

For one thing, where is it going to run at? Will they still do the Arena in Philly and Hammerstein Ballroom, or are they going to relocate somewhere (the article alludes to the fact that it may replace OVW in Kentucky)

Second, is it going to be on TV? If not, it doesn't do us a lot of good.

Third, does that mean RVD and Joey Styles are going to get bumped there? I'd really like to see RVD stay in the WWE Title hunt, and Styles stay on RAW.

Fourth, is this going to be like a reunion type thing where it's all the old ECW wrestlers, are they going to make it the new minor leagues like OVW with some older wrestlers to get them started and have all the new prospects come through there, or is it going to be a third brand in addition to RAW & Smackdown (and if that's the case, how are they going to squeeze in even more PPVs)?

Yes, I know there's no answers to any of these question...just some things I'm wondering about.

WWE has a hard enough time maintaining two brands, I'm not sure how adding a third one will work, although adding ECW basically cuts TNA's legs out from under it since ECW will have a lot of cruiserweight/hardcore action that is TNA's bread and butter.

[Kugzilla]

Obviously, we don't know yet, but I am wondering if they are going to have ECW sort of take over as the new OVW. Heyman has been booking there for a while and by all accounts is tearing things up. PErhaps they are going to give him his old material and have him incorporate it into something new that could get its own 1 hour show on TV, or something on the web. ANy number of scenarios are possible, buy by my account, probably the best news is that Heyman will be booking an ECW style product and that, my friends could be entertaining.

But, why would Vince do this now? I don't trust this all from their persepective.

But, we shall see. I hope its not just a ploy to get more attention for ONS.

[Kyle]

ECW brand coming back



by Dave Meltzer

Dave@wrestlingobserver.com

In a story reported on earlier today by Pro Wrestling Insider, WWE is indeed bringing back the ECW brand name for merchandising purposes as well as some form of weekly television and house shows.

The decision appears to have been finalized in the past week as several former stars were offered three-year contracts.

Paul Heyman will be in charge of the brand. It is believed this will be a mix of both former ECW wrestlers and new WWE developmental wrestlers.

It is expected this will lead to some significant changes in the WWE television product as well. The company is not looking to add a third day of television taping. It would likely be handled similar to the Superastros deal in the late 90s, with weekly matches taped before either the Raw or Smackdown tapings.


Sounds like it's more of a trial run than a full-fledged comeback.

I get the feeling that this could be bastardized pretty quickly if they're taping at RAW or Smackdown shows. I think it could lead to a lot of "ECW Invasion" type shit that's never worked in WWE.

It'd be better if they made it local somewhere like OVW, and ran it fairly autonomously from WWE.

[FAZ8218]

If that happens I will start watching wrestling again... E-C-W! E-C-W! E-C-W!

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/2066/saburvd0cn.jpg

[Mick32]

I just hope that Vince McMahon can be on ECW, because we certainly don't get enough of him on WWE television right now.

[commish13]

ECW wasn't about the name, it was about the attitude and the mindset. That shit is long, long gone and any attempted recreation is going to bastardized and very much not the same.

That's not saying that it won't be good, but if anybody expects it to be what ECW was, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

[Kugzilla]

Again, I don't trust Vince with the product, but if by some chance, he's realized that Heyman can give him awesome stuff at times, then I think it could be interesting....

[Taso]

Its a bad idea, a very bad idea. Considering the whole fact that the WWE is a bigtime corporation with lawyers and insurances and all that other shit, do you think they will allow the same shit that ECW used to do, I once saw RVD take a dive from the balcony of the Elks Lodge right into the ring, do you think that the WWE corporate people would allow all that again?

[commish13]

Again, I don't trust Vince with the product, but if by some chance, he's realized that Heyman can give him awesome stuff at times, then I think it could be interesting....

Interesting, sure, but not ECW.

It will be about as ECW as the PPV was last June. That being in name only. There were some elements and aspects there and some nice nostalgic moments, but it wasn't ECW.

[Nimrod]

Awful idea

[Kugzilla]

Interesting, sure, but not ECW.

It will be about as ECW as the PPV was last June. That being in name only. There were some elements and aspects there and some nice nostalgic moments, but it wasn't ECW.

Agreed-but it never could be. I'm excited simply b/c I think it could be fun wrestling. And if you all follow the indy scene, you know that there has been record attendance at ROH shows, not to mention the buzz OVW has had. There's loads of talent out there waiting to be seen, and Paul E. had always had a great eye for that. If they are giving him even enough to put a show on WWE.com once a week, and the occasional RAW or Smackdown appearance, it can't be bad.

ECW ONS last year was a lot of fun-but of course it was not the ECW of old-ECW it its heyday was the right workers in front of teh right audience, as PAul said on the Rise and Fall DVD. ECW was a time and place that clicked-it can't and won't be what it was-but that doesn't mean that it could not be something fun-

But I still don't trust Vince. I'll reserve judgement on it-he's been hiding Paul's talent for years so it does not trump his current "creative" team. (and yes, the quotes are on purpose) If nothing else, it's a neat thing to speculate on...especially on this board...where speculation runs rampant....

;)

[Kyle]

Its a bad idea, a very bad idea. Considering the whole fact that the WWE is a bigtime corporation with lawyers and insurances and all that other shit, do you think they will allow the same shit that ECW used to do, I once saw RVD take a dive from the balcony of the Elks Lodge right into the ring, do you think that the WWE corporate people would allow all that again?

Well, they did let Super Crazy hit a moonsault out of the balcony at Hammerstein at ONS last year.

But you're generally right, and especially if they're going to be taping before RAW and Smackdown shows, the arenas they will be in just won't allow them to do some of the shit they did before.

The only way I could see this working is if they basically create at as a seperate entity different from WWE, let Paul Heyman run it as the CEO where he can make all the decisions, and have Vince and WWE just simply invest in it so that they can reap the profits, but basically keep their distance, and especially stay out of managing the company.

But I could never see Vince doing it.

[commish13]

The only thing Heyman should be in charge of is booking.

He's the worst businessman in the history of ever.

[Kugzilla]

The only thing Heyman should be in charge of is booking.

He's the worst businessman in the history of ever.

True enough-and he'd likely be the first to admit it. If you've caught any of OWN in the last months, its been really good stuff-tight shows and good promos and some real solid work in-ring. He's great at creating.

I jsut wonder why Vince would do this now, when he could have done it a year or even two ago and made loads of money then, a time when the biz was down somewhat. If this is just another case of him "creating" something just to "beat" it I'll be pissed.

Maybe he is trying to position a promotion that can "directly" compete with TNA and places like ROH-create a little skirmish there, while keeping WWE way above it, which of course it is in viewership and money. If he created the brand extension to give his product 'competition,' perhaps a WWE backed "ECW" product could be a 'rival' to TNA.

I don't know. But that's kinda cool too.

[FAngel]

Everyone sit on it and wait to see. People jumped down Vince's throat for bastardizing ECW by "expoliting the name" to do One Night Stand last year, and were up in arms about the WWE guys invading. And what happened in the end? It was a hell of a lot of fun.

Nothing is going to bring back the "old" ECW - just like O&A don't do the same stuff as they used to on commercial radio, and just like video games aren't made the same way they were back in the NES days. I've grown damn tired of people who can't change with the times, whether it's wrestling fans, entertainers, politicians, or anyone else.

If you're that desparate for the older stuff, stock up on DVD's and tapes, as there's plenty out there. In the meantime, give Vince and company a chance for once in your life, and see if this may actually work itself out.

[Mick32]

Didn't Vince try this and install Stephanie fucking McMahon as head of ECW? This could have worked in 2000, maybe. I don't think it could work in 2006.
Four words: ECW Champion Triple H.

[Papagolash]

Didn't Vince try this and install Stephanie fucking McMahon as head of ECW? This could have worked in 2000, maybe. I don't think it could work in 2006.
Four words: ECW Champion Triple H.


That was during an angle on WWE, not IRL.

[Kugzilla]

All told, I still say that I don't trust Vince, but this could be interesting. There are people saying that they may do ECW mathces before RAW/SD tapings. Others are saying now that it may take over the Deep South Territory. Who Knows? I was going to order ONS stand anyway, but I think we will see something there that deals with this.

SAbu, Sandman, Rotten, Francine, and others have been signed. So, whatever else, this is happening-we just don't know what it means or what form it will take. I hope they run house shows and find a way to broadcast them.

[Mick32]

That was during an angle on WWE, not IRL.
This whole thing will be a WWE angle.

[Kyle]

I don't know...they're supposedly going to air it in the 2 AM "AM Raw" timeslot as it's now being billed as "to be announced."

WWE is also inquiring about doing house shows from the ECW Arena.

[FAngel]

Strap in, kids...there's a LOT of press that came out today about this.

The official website for Dayton, Ohio's Nutter Center confirms that the 6/7 WWE event will be "WWE vs. ECW Head to Head" on their events page. a 20 man Battle Royal is listed as the main event, with a number of WWE Raw talents listed as appearing. The website does not list any "ECW" talent beyond Rob Van Dam at this time.

The show is officially billed as "WWE and See No Evil present WWE vs. ECW Head to Head." Ticket prices are listed as $42, $32, $27, and $22. For more information, visit www.nuttercenter.com/, then click on "Upcoming Events."

As mentioned this afternoon by PWInsider.com, WWE will be taping a 2 hour special that will air later that night on the USA Network to promote that weekend's ECW One Night Stand PPV in New York City.



For ECW fans, the impossible dream may be about to become a reality. WWE has entered negotiations to book the former ECW Arena on Saturday 6/24 for an Extreme Championship Wrestling house show in Philadelphia, PA. The venue, which has been remodeled since the company shut down operations in 2001, is now known as the New Alhambra Arena.

During ECW's legendary run, the former Bingo Hall was the base of operations for ECW during its rise into a cult phenomenon in 1993, hosting major ECW events every few weeks. It was also the site of the company's first PPV, Barely Legal, in April 1997.

With the reputation of having the best ECW shows, the Arena was a throwback to the legendary old "smoky arenas" where the in-ring action was so intimate that you could end up with the ECW stars landing in your lap, diving over (or past you) into the third row onto their opponents, or even decimating your entire section of seating during bloody brawl. The venue quickly evolved into a special destination point for hardcore fans to converge from all over the globe for major events. Many of the fan chants and antics that have become synonymous with ECW over time were born in the venue, which was considered at the time to have the greatest of any ECW venue for atmosphere.



-Both articles written by Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com

This is going to be a very interesting summer.

[Standby]

I don't really post on the off topic threads much, but this one caught my eye, and yes, I too had heard the same news from Meltzer and PWTorch (my preferred site).

To be honest, I'm cautiously optimistic about this. OVW has been flourishing in its region where it gets TV time, for two reasons I think. Paul Heyman has been booking it, and it has remained an autonomous promotion from WWE, who owns it or funds it (I don't know the specifics of their original link up). The only time we see them linked together on TV is noticing a piece of talent make their way from OVW to Velocity or the two shows. We've seen this with Boogeyman, the Spirit Squad (don't get me started, way to stick the top of OVW's talent in an awful gimmick; that won't haunt their individual careers...), and will hopefully see CM Punk do the same thing.

If McMahon is going to let Heyman book this, with his financial backing, that would be the best situation, as Paul has fully admitted and shown he's not the best businessmen, but a fantastic booker in OVW. If it has little to no interaction with WWE on air and in angles, that would be great too. I think for it to work, it should be treated like a franchise of WWE, where the money comes in to McMahon, and he just leaves it alone. As awful as that is, I could deal with that more than him delving in headfirst to ruin a product.

Is it going to be tough to bring back the flavor and attitude that was ECW? Should this have happened years ago? Yes and yes. WWE has lost some of the people who made ECW what it was (Dudleys, Raven, Rhino...). However, I think they can make this into a new generation, the next coming of ECW, along with those familiar names that we remember.

WWE can be more successful if they use the ECW brand as a contantly-evolving thing, not something stuck in the better days of wrestling.

[Moneysnatch25]

OVW has been flourishing in its region where it gets TV time, for two reasons I think. Paul Heyman has been booking it, and it has remained an autonomous promotion from WWE, who owns it or funds it (I don't know the specifics of their original link up).


I agree wholeheartedly....as far as OVW goes, it's owned by Danny Davis (not the ref) and still to some extent Cornette. Vinny doesn't own it so that's why it gets no mention whatsoever on tv.

[CM Mark]

nice
ECW signs several Superstars

As first reported by WWE’s new mobile alert system, ECW has signed the following:

Sabu
Jazz
Axl Rotten
Balls Mahoney
C.W. Anderson