WWE official buys ECW brandname

[Guest Trivia247]

WWE has officially acquired the ECW tape library from American Cable Productions and are currently looking over the tapes in Stamford, CT. WWE placed approximately $250,000 owed to ACP in a trust account and after all the footage is examined, the money will be given to the former ECW production team. As of right now, WWE are free to do what they wish with both the ECW brand name and tape library.

 

The 6/28 edition of Velocity scored a 0.8 cable rating, with a 1.6 share.

 

The 6/28 edition of Confidential scored a 0.9 cable rating, with a 2.0 share.

 

The 6/29 edition of Sunday Night Heat scored a 1.0 cable rating, with a 2.0 share.

(Thanks to 1wrestling.com)

[Guest Choken One]

Quarter of a Millon? Pretty cheap...

 

Wonder if Heyman does a plea bargain

 

"If you give me my ECW tapes...I'll NEVER say the word LOGIC again! DEAL?"

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

Fuck you, Vince.

[Guest NoCalMike]

Well, time to wait and see what comes of this.....

[Guest Raven_Effect01]

Well, time to wait and see what comes of this.....

Absolutely NOTHING, you know WWE only bought it just so it couldn't be used on TV anymore because they hate acknowledging their former competition in a positive light. If you watched WWE in 2001, you'd know what I'm talking about.

[Guest Duncan Eternia]

Let's see if WWE actually does something with this investment unless the WCW assets.

[Guest Downhome]

Well, WWE did use the WCW name slightly. They put some Hogan and Rey Mysterio Jr. matches from WCW on their DVD release, etc...

 

I expect them to just do something like this with the ECW name, once they come out with DVDs of guys who used to be in ECW.

 

I want ECW the company to come back somehow, but don't even think for a second that this will happen, there is no way Vince would restart that up.

 

Although I would if I was him. Just have Vince back it and make Paul Heyman be the president/promoter, and we'd really be cooking.

[Guest bob_barron]

Fuck you, Vince.

I don't get it

[Guest subliminal_animal]

It's probably just a standard response.

[Guest JMA]

Well, keep in mind that Vince didn't really have a problem with ECW. As far as I know, Heyman and McMahon were always on good terms. Not to mention ECW inspired the "Attitude" era (Vince has even said this). If we're lucky, he may reopen it as a developmental territory. It's still better than nothing.

[Guest Choken One]

Fuck you, Vince.

I don't get it

It's an Habitual impulse reaction.

[Guest JHawk]

What it means is that Vince McMahon is running out of excuses not to start his own 24 hour wrestling channel.

 

All he needs is the Mid-South library from Bill Watts' ex-wife and maybe the old World Class footage and he's good to go.

[Guest bob_barron]

Fuck you, Vince.

And another thing-

 

Fuck that Vince McMahon for trying to keep ECW alive. Fucking asshole

[Guest Choken One]

I dont want an ALL-WRESTLING CHANNEL if Vince is running it...

 

I'll dig a Wrestling on demand channel though...

[Guest bob_barron]

Nevermind

[Guest JHawk]

My guess would be that if a McMahon is directly involved with a wrestling channel, it would be Shane since he's the one in charge of "new media".

 

I'd give anything to be in charge of programming that channel if it ever comes about.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

Fuck you, Vince.

And another thing-

 

Fuck that Vince McMahon for trying to keep ECW alive. Fucking asshole

Bob, the best comparison I can make is Ted Williams to a Red Sox fan. ECW was, is, and forever will be my favorite promotion. I look back at my ECW tapes, and just remember all the fun I had watching ECW. I remember the innovation of US wrestling, I remember the lengths visited to please the fans, and I remember wrestlers busting their asses to put on an enjoyable show. But now Vince owns that. Vince owns a part of me. And Vince won't do anything really good with it. Sure, he'll throw in a couple matches as extras on DVDs here and there, and he'll probably use the ECW logo from time to time, and maybe a couple of segments on ECW's downfall (which, personally, I think would make a good Confidential). But it's still VINCE McMAHON owning something that was devised to be ANTI-VINCE McMAHON. It's E C FUCKING W now owned by VINCE Mc-FUCKING-MAHON. Don't you find FAULT in that? This means that the ECW DVDs will, more than likely, be stopped being released, printed, and for sale. This means that Vince owns every bit of his competition of the past 20 years.

[Guest bravesfan]

What it means is that Vince McMahon is running out of excuses not to start his own 24 hour wrestling channel.

 

All he needs is the Mid-South library from Bill Watts' ex-wife and maybe the old World Class footage and he's good to go.

 

What's a good base price for a channel of this magnitude?

 

It's possible, that there's not enough interest in this type of offering, for Vince's liking. If initial membership falters, I could see a HIGH monthly change for the station.

 

Me? I'd pay upwards of 29.99 a month for this channel. Why? Tape trading sales would go through the roof!

[Guest Choken One]

HBO on Demand is g 9.99 a month and wrestling being a lot narrower of an Audience would cause a higher price of $21. 99 a Month.

[Guest JHawk]

Hey, if I can get the fucking Golf Channel for free when they have Tiger Woods on maybe once a year, then I don't see the point in a charge for a wrestling channel.

[Guest bravesfan]

But it's still VINCE McMAHON owning something that was devised to be ANTI-VINCE McMAHON. It's E C FUCKING W now owned by VINCE Mc-FUCKING-MAHON. Don't you find FAULT in that? This means that the ECW DVDs will, more than likely, be stopped being released, printed, and for sale. This means that Vince owns every bit of his competition of the past 20 years.

 

"Competition" is a pretty hefty word to throw around with ECW v. WWF (and for that matter, ECW v. WCW).

 

And wasn't ECW privately funded by McMahon anyway? ECW wasn't "ANTI-MCMAHON", when the WWF gave Heyman a national audience to showcase their talents, when they "invaded" in 1996.

 

And Vince won't do anything really good with it.

Why in god's name would McMahon purchase the library to begin with, then? Don't you think he has a purpose spending a good amount of money to establish SOMETHING with the WCW, AWA and ECW libraries?

 

They are three DEAD promotions. There is NOTHING to capitalize on the companies with, except for their tape libraries.

 

Actually OWNING the promotions for his own entertainment does nothing to stroke Vinnie Mac's ego - killing them off in the first place accomplished that. On the other hand, profiting off of them with a wrestling channel, home video releases and other ventures is what makes this a WISE decision on Vince's part. They may be dead, but they're still established names that can be used for financial purposes.

 

Hey, if I can get the fucking Golf Channel for free when they have Tiger Woods on maybe once a year, then I don't see the point in a charge for a wrestling channel.

 

Then why should Vince even venture into this alley in the first place? Besides advertisers, where will Vince be able to recoup financially?

[Guest Choken One]

With an On-Demand Network.

 

There you get subscribers to your target audience....

[Guest JHawk]

That doesn't work either, Choken, because my cable company offers Golf Channel on demand for free.

[Guest Choken One]

that's golfchannel using network footage...

 

HBO ON DEMAND is what WWE would shoot for...

 

The ability to take an Large Libary and having the Paid Suscribers pay a good sum for...

 

You get the Advertisers with On screen Promotion

 

I.E Snickers logo on the corner...and Ads play as you purchase your selection...

[Adam 0]

Hey, Im not bothered, I'm still gonna order my ECW tapes from independant tape companies that don't charge heaps.

[Guest bob_barron]

But now Vince owns that. Vince owns a part of me.

 

Blame Paul Heyman- it’s not Vince’s fault ECW is dead.

 

And Vince won't do anything really good with it.

 

You don’t know that- we’ll probably see a lot better video packages and DVDs.

 

But it's still VINCE McMAHON owning something that was devised to be ANTI-VINCE McMAHON.

 

ECW was SO anti-Vince McMahon that they accept money from him to stay alive. ECW was SO anti-Vince that they agreed to appear on a few RAWs. ECW was so anti-Vince that Paul Heyman jumped ship the minute his company ended.

 

It's E C FUCKING W now owned by VINCE Mc-FUCKING-MAHON. Don't you find FAULT in that?

 

Nope. Considering I never gave a damn about ECW- I couldn’t care less.

 

This means that Vince owns every bit of his competition of the past 20 years.

 

I think calling ECW competition is a bit of a stretch.

[Guest Super Pissed Smark]

Number of years Vince has owned WCW's library: 2 1/2 ?

 

Number of WCW DVDs or tapes released: 0

 

Number of ECW DVDs or tapes likely to be released in future: 0

 

Number of successful business startups by Vince McMahon Jr.: 0

 

Increase in total number of paying customers for Vince-owned businesses last 3 yrs.: 0

 

Decrease in total number of paying customers for Vince-owned businesses last 3 yrs.: pretty freakin' huge.

 

Likelihood of successful launch of Vince-owned All-Wrestling Channel in near future: slim

[Guest Trivia247]

ECW even in the briefest glimpses of the Alliance bullshit was seen as more of a threat of the WWF team than did the WCW team. That shows respect to the promotion to make them look tougher while WCW team looks like micky mouse.

 

Vince did have better ties to ECW, unconfirmably he probably had some stock in the company. Vince often sent wrestlers down to ECW like a farm fed. In 1999 the likes of the Headbangers, TAKA Michinoku, Funaki, and others did brief stints there. and of course the majority of former WCW wrestlers went to ECW first before going to WWF.

 

few people in ECW truly disliked the WWF even though they did make comments on air about them. Joey Styles and Tod Gordon were what the last holdouts and Gordon was more inclined than Styles was. heh you can still see Styles doing home shopping bullshit late at night selling coin collections.

[Internet Warfare 0]

If Vince started a wrestling channel I would only get it they had puroresu, but I bet Inoki wouldnt any thing to do with him.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

com·pe·ti·tion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kmp-tshn)

n.

1. The act of competing, as for profit or a prize; rivalry.

2. A test of skill or ability; a contest: a skating competition.

3. Rivalry between two or more businesses striving for the same customer or market.

4. A competitor: The competition has cornered the market.

 

By definition alone ECW was a competitor for WCW and the WWF. To say otherwise would be denying that ECW was a wrestling promotion.

 

ECW started as an alternative to the cartoonish product that Vince McMahon was producing. ECW was always the more mature-oriented product. I don't see how the company could have been anything but anti-Vince from a creative standpoint. Business standpoint? You're right, Paul accepted donations and deals from Vince, because the two never had much venom for each other, because they both were against a common enemy in WCW. That still doesn't change that they were competition, though.

 

WWE...no, Vince McMahon has yet to release anything WCW related save for a few extra matches on DVDs. He's yet to release full-on WCW tapes/DVDs, or anything else. What makes you think he won't just release the occasional ECW match?

 

And Bob, I can't blame Vince for PURCHASING the rights and tape library of a company I was a devoted fan of? You're right, it's all Heyman's fault that Vince McMahon paid for the footage and rights to the name "Extreme Championship Wrestling." I guess I just forgot that it's somebody else's fault whenever Vince decides to buy something.