WWE Bringing Back ECW

[EricMM 0]

Let. It. Die!

 

They won't do it right, they never do it right!

[Guest Burning Hammer]

Recent and upcoming Raw and Smackdown! house show venues

 

Bradley Center seats 18,000

 

1st Mariner Arena seats 11,000

 

Verizon Wireless Arena seats 11,000

 

Show Me Center seats 7,000

 

USF Sundome seats 11,000

 

Savis Center (formerly the Kiel Center) seats 21,000

 

Now these are all venues booked for march except for the Bradley Center which they ran in January (I included it since I was there).

 

Now as you can see they aren't exactly running smaller venues for house shows except for the show me center which is the first time they are running the building according to the WWE website. They aren't drawing huge crowds but they are booking buildings that are capable of holding 10,000+ in most cases.

 

I would define smaller venues as holding less than 10,000 max capacity.

 

As far as the ECW thing goes I think it makes great sense from a business perspective for WWE. They can start it up at a very low cost, give it a timeslot that isn't producing for them right now and see what happens. At the best they can gain extra ppv revenue and at the worst they will just have another confidential type rating show on their hands which they can get rid of. As for the wrestlers if you actually get a chance to be higher up on a card with a smaller audience at least that gives you more exposure than being a jobber on Raw. That exposure can be parlayed into a fresh upper card run on Raw or Smackdown! when it is needed. I'm shocked the WWE hasn't started an ECW "rebel" brand before this. The WWE is so good at making money off of wrestling that this type of thing should have been one of the first things they looked at when to expand their business. Do what you do best.

[Guest The Winter Of My Discontent]

I kinda dig the idea.

[cbacon 0]

Hey, i'm all for it if we can chant "E-C-DUB" again They NEED Raven for this though, and it dosen't seem likley to happen.

[Nevermortal 0]

Informing the uninformed:

 

John Zandig of CZW (and perhaps Rockin' Rebel, the promoter) has a lease on the building, though I'm sure McMahon money might cancel that lease quickly.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Well...I'm sure we'll all be talking about it again when they bring up the same thing 4 months from now

[NoCalMike 0]

At ECW's peak they were selling out about 5000 seat halls. Which combined with merchandise, is still a pretty good money maker.

 

Like I have said before, if this is Heyman-controlled, and the McMahons have no say over it then ok. Also Vince can't be playing this game of, "oh look so-and-so is really popular in ECW, let me rip him out of there before he can really gain any more attention" of course since technically, it is all ONE company now, maybe Vince would just let it be.

 

I have to say, the idea is good, if done correctly. ECW will most likely never be like it was, but SOMETHING on tv for free besides WWE-brand wrestling would be nice.

 

Also, will the ring be smaller and the ropes be adjusted accordingly, to allow the different style of wrestling, or is this going to be WWE-style wrestling with an ECW label?

 

Many kinks to work out before it gets my approval, but the Torch article has been the best news yet regarding the would-be scenario.

[Guest The Winter Of My Discontent]

I like Saturday night wrestling best anyways. Its something nice to tape and watch when I get home. I remember watching wrestling on Saturday nights as a child - even moreso than Saturday mornings.

[Guest ChikoDemono]

I am all for it. Just keep Heyman away from the check book and maybe it can work.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

I went through the WWE's roster over at their website, and this is the list I got of people that would fit into a "new" Extreme Championship Wrestling.

 

Bubba Ray Dudley

D-Von Dudley

Lance Storm

Rob Van Dam

Spike Dudley

Steven Richards

Tommy Dreamer

James Maritato

Rhyno

Yoshihiro Tajiri

 

Alot of talent, but hardly enough to fill a one hour television show with good matches. If this does happen, maybe Paul Heyman would also take some of the younger talent, like Jimmy Yang, Nick Dinsmore, Nova, Paul London, Shane Helms, and World's Greatest Tag Team. They could also use local independent talent like they do ever so often on Velocity, except give them more than a few minutes to get squashed. WWE may f*ck this up, but it should be fun to watch at least one week.

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

I disagree regarding WGTT, London and Helms. They have more of a use on Smackdown helping the tag team and the cruiserweight divisions, respectively.

[Ravenbomb 0]

Man, this could either be really good or really bad...or maybe somewhere in the middle

[2GOLD 0]

How about V1?

He's not doing anything and perhaps Lita can go with him so she can have more time to learn to wrestle.

[Bored 0]

This idea is beyond stupid on every level.

[Fökai 0]

Trying to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of doing this...

 

Positives

--More merchandising opportunities.

--Midcard workers get bigger spotlight.

 

Negatives

--More of a strain on the production team.

--VERY muddled schedules for workers, who would still work Smackdown and RAW house shows, right?

--PPV payoffs too far and between?

--If the WWE tries to distance ECW from the other brands, with no advertisements or buildup between them, will fans really remember to tune in?

--Will brand's champion(s) (if any) be taken seriously along with the other brand's champions?

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

IMHO, the main benefit for WWE to do this is that they can directly compete with TNA. If they put on a more workrate orientated show, and maybe even lure away indy talent with promises of TV time, then that'll put TNA even further in the shit.

 

Also, it'd be good to have a middle ground between WWE and OVW. Somewhere for developmental talents to get noticed before being put on prime-time tv.

[2GOLD 0]

No matter what, they NEED a third brand.

 

They have too many wrestlers who do nothing, just sit around and waste time or wait for their release. You have some who don't want to be on RAW or Smackdown because they don't feel they can advance, which is seeming very true.

 

If you don't call it ECW, call it something else. Stephanie WILL be back to take over Smackdown so Heyman has to go somewhere.

 

At the least, the third brand would allow Heyman or whoever to test OVW wrestlers and get them set into the WWE style. You leave some mainstays in the third brand while the younger guys move on or stay depending on the roster situation with RAW, SMACKDOWN, THIRD.

 

It doesn't hurt, it helps the company overall. Plus it makes sense if you add the second PPV a month, at a reduced cost and PPV price like ECW's ppv prices.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

If they use it as a showcase for both the old school ECW guys as well as newer and underutilized guys (CRUISERS!) I'd be all for it. But since WWE guys probably have a higher guaranteed contract than ECW had, wouldn't it make this a risky proposition monetarily? It said they wanted to keep it low cost (make it look like the guerilla organization ECW used to be) so they'll have to use smaller arenas. I'd personally like it if they made it into ECW (maybe minus the profanity since it's TV) and not "WWE's ECW". Here's hoping.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

I think the main ones who were associated with it in the glory years, like Tazz, The Dudleys, Spike Dudley, Rob Van Dam, Rhyno, Tommy Dreamer, Stevie Richards, Lance Storm, Jazz, Dawn Marie, Nunzio, etc. They could even bring back some previous employers like Justin Credible, Jerry Lynn, Perry Saturn, Raven, etc. if they still have a penchant for sticking it to TNA. If they are REALLY serious about ECW, they could bring in the names that haven't traversed into WWE-world yet like The Sandman, Balls Mahoney, New Jack, Axl Rotten. And hey, it'd be a great place to start off developmental-talent Mike "Nova" Bucci too. And if Vince is still dead-set on killing territorial indy promotions, give The Blue Meanie a call and see if he'll shut down 3PW for a chance to return.

You need to come back to reality. There's no chance in hell Vince would hire back Credible, Saturn, or bring in Sandman, Balls, New Jack, etc. Why would they hire back these no-talent's or has-been's when they've got guys doing nothing on the roster, already? The big thing right now is the "new WWE style", so why would Vince then give free reign to an "ECW" fed to do all kinds of crazy shit?

 

This is just a bad idea, unless they use it to let lesser used guys get TV time to get them over to the crowd. They need to focus their energy on fixing their current brands rather than starting up a new one.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I think there should be a late-night ECW Classics on Spike six nights a week. You want male television? Classic ECW.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I was on board until I read "Shane McMahon may also get involved in this story if it happens, using his power to help Heyman start the rebel ECW group." Now I don't care again.

[Downhome 0]

I was on board until I read "Shane McMahon may also get involved in this story if it happens, using his power to help Heyman start the rebel ECW group." Now I don't care again.

It wouldn't make much sense if he did it on his on without help, seeing how his show will be taking the place of a WWE show that's already on. I'm all for Shane helping to stick it to Vince, but once he helps Paul get the slot, etc... then he needs to leave the ECW group.

[lomasmoney 0]

Why don't they just up the budget for OVW, give it a new name, and put all of the little used and developmental guys on tv.

[DangerousDamon 0]

Why don't they just up the budget for OVW, give it a new name, and put all of the little used and developmental guys on tv.

That's a good idea, bro. But I think WWE is hell bent on making this new Brand get off the ground.

[Fro 0]

Why don't they just up the budget for OVW, give it a new name, and put all of the little used and developmental guys on tv.

Then you're taping it in front of a crowd of 100 people in Louisville and you're going to have people messing with Cornette's booking, no thanks.

 

The reason OVW works is that people who aren't ready to be on national TV get match time, and that the guys train in one location without having to fly/drive around.

[King Cucaracha 0]

How many times does this 'rumour' have to come out before people realise it ain't gonna happen.

 

Even if for some reason McMahon gets desperate and does bring ECW back, I eagerly await the feedback on here, because it will NOT be positive. Sure, it'll be ECW by name. But not by nature.

 

The McMahons would be in charge...not Heyman. It'd just be more WWE under another name. The things that made ECW what it was at it's peak would never be used. You expect McMahon to go the extreme route? How'd he get a T.V show, because we all know that's what McMahon would want. You expect the mid-card to consist or Cruiserweights like it used to in the ECW. Take a look at the WWE now. Ain't gonna happen. Shipping in talent from around the world for exciting new matches. Not gonna happen. Vince only promotes style of wrestling. It ain't ECW style.

[Guest Your Olympic Hero]

I think there should be a late-night ECW Classics on Spike six nights a week. You want male television? Classic ECW.

The promise of ECW on every night would probably keep me away from any night-time social life.

[Fro 0]

I went through the WWE's roster over at their website, and this is the list I got of people that would fit into a "new" Extreme Championship Wrestling.

 

Bubba Ray Dudley

D-Von Dudley

Lance Storm

Rob Van Dam

Spike Dudley

Steven Richards

Tommy Dreamer

James Maritato

Rhyno

Yoshihiro Tajiri

 

  Alot of talent, but hardly enough to fill a one hour television show with good matches.  If this does happen, maybe Paul Heyman would also take some of the younger talent, like Jimmy Yang, Nick Dinsmore, Nova, Paul London, Shane Helms, and World's Greatest Tag Team.  They could also use local independent talent like they do ever so often on Velocity, except give them more than a few minutes to get squashed.  WWE may f*ck this up, but it should be fun to watch at least one week.

I would run an ECW TV taping every three weeks or so, and have these guys on the Raw/Smackdown tour.

 

Some of this group of talent would also still would work Heat/Velocity to fill out the gaps.

 

From Raw:

 

Al Snow (wrestles some and does commentary with either Heyman or Joey Styles)

Buh-Buh Dudley

D-Von Dudley

Lance Storm

Rico

RVD (flagship star)

Spike Dudley

Stevie Richards

Tommy Dreamer

Val Venis

Random Diva

 

From Smackdown:

 

Akio

Dawn Marie

Jamie Noble

Matt Morgan (the new 911)

Nunzio

Paul Heyman

Paul London

Rhyno

Shannon Moore

Tajiri

Ultimo Dragon

 

From OVW:

 

Carlos Colon

Nick Dinsmore

Nova

Johnny Jeter (future star here)

Alexis Laree

Joey Matthews

 

That's a pretty decent roster. I'd bring in a few indy guys to polish things off, like Low-Ki, Ted Hart, Sabu, Jerry Lynn, Juvy.

 

OVW guys would be brought up to fill out the lost Raw/Smackdown roster spots.

 

I'd move the CW title to ECW, then move Hurricane back over to Smackdown to give another smallish guy for Rey/Chavo to work with.

 

I'd have ECW be sort of a freelancer promotion that had a "talent exchange" deal with both Raw/Smackdown (which is why the ECW guys can work Heat/Velocity), so Benoit/Jericho/Eddy/Rey could occasionally work an ECW taping in return and have good matches to put some guys over.

 

I'd have Foley work the first ECW PPV to add some drawing power.

[Scroby 0]

I'm not to surprised this rumor has came back up yet again due to the ECW dvd coming out in a few months, but this new "brand" might work or it might not work.

It might not work if its put at the same time slots of Velocity and Confindental (sp?). Hell I say keep those two shows on because if Velocity gets cancelled out, there will be more people who doesn't go to the ECW brand w/o getting more tv time. So lets put ECW maybe on at 8 let it run for two hours till we get to WWE tv. Spike can promote this as a wrestling time or whatever else. Actually I take that back put it on at 8 let it run for an hour, that ways if it generates good ratings it can be bumped up to that extra hour. Besides Spike doesn't really have anything good on between 8 and 10...well maybe Extreme Elimation Challange. But that can be moved somewhere else.

Now take Shane the hell out of it. Don't say he owns it, don't say its his promotion cause you know what, none of the ECW fans would wanna watch it to see what "shane's gonna do next". ECW was really about good exciting matches with some small storylines around, but people generally wanted to see the exciting good matches. If Shane is in the rebel group....sorta sounds like FMW doesn't it.... He should only be in it while its on the WWE tv, and maybe make apperances every once in a great while..he could be the commish if anything at all. Sorta like Linda..there you go Shane can be Linda of the ECW.

Now I say put a lot of the ECW guys who aren't benefitting at all on the Smackdown and Raw Rosters there and put some of the WWE talent who aren't being used at all. The only one I can't really say who wouldn't go back would be Tazz. Only because I think it would screw up the commentating on Smackdown. Unless WWE wants him to work both, but I would get Tazz a differant partner other than Cole, Ross, Matthews, Coach, yes even Snow, etc etc...Style would be good but Styles is a "maybe, maybe not". As far as some of the old guys who worked for WWE, I say bring in some but not all. Raven most likely won't come back, Balls Mahoney I doubt it due he's banned from wrestling in a few states, New Jack hates WWE as it is and the Dudleys, Sandman is a maybe because some of the WWE fans will be watching ECW most likely and will be saying he stole his gimmick from Austin...I hate when marks say that now. But bring in some of the old guys from ECW just because fans will want to tune in to see them again. Sabu diffently has to go I think anyways.

And for the love of God just give control to Heyman. None of the WWE joke writers need to be in it. Just let Heyman run it, he did pretty damn good when he was booking it, so just let Heyman run it.

Now we come to PPV's. ECW should have its own PPV's, there is no doubt that they should, but I also think ECW should also be on the big PPV's. Unless WWE wants it to be completely seperate from the WWE. A lof of guys already upset because they want to be on the bigger PPV's but are not getting on them. And if they went over to the ECW brand and wasn't allowed to be on the bigger PPV's, I think they might look at the ECW brand and think they were being demoted or something.

The only titles that should be on the ECW brand are the ECW titles, not the CW title or that old stupid Hardcore title, which I hope WWE doesn't think thats a good idea to put that in there. ECW doesn't need the cruiser just because ECW never said that the Cruisers couldn't go for larger titles or stay in their own, whats the best way to put this, weight class maybe? Anybody could go get a shot at any title.

All in all it could work, but it might not work at all. But if done really correctly without the WWE having its corny ass hands on it, it should be fine. Also as long as the styles were not being the WWE style and wrestlers just going all out to have a good match, that would also be good.

[Guest Coffey]

I'll believe this "news" when I see it happen.