WON WWE News and Notes

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

ECW News:

 

For ECW to survive, Dave thinks they are going to have to draw a completely new audience, mentioning that the audience of six years ago is not large enough, and that a lot of them have moved on anyway.

 

Says the reactions to at house shows and television show that last year saw WWE give ECW a successful one last goodbye, and that it was seen as the symbolic end of ECW.

 

Kurt Angle now has torn rib cartilage.

 

Angle’s move to ECW shows that the company isn’t confident that the old ECW can carry things, and that they have a commitment to succeed, with Dave pointing out that Vince hates failure and the ECW relaunch has had a lot of publicity. Dave points out the weird dynamic of the last Raw before the PPV not being a typical ‘go home’ show, with the main angle being Vince and Hunter’s deal.

 

Even though ECW is being billed as rougher and more violent, the working idea is that this will benefit Kurt Angle, as Kurt will be wrestling a new style, playing the badass role that Tazz did, and so he’ll be taking less bumps. Dave thinks time will tell if the idea if marketing Kurt the same way as Tazz will work, even though he’s more talented.

 

ECW will air live on Tuesdays.

 

Vince had meetings with people from Sci-Fi, where suggestions were made for things like Martian and Vampire characters, and even a storyline where an ECW wrestler would go into other dimensions. Compromises were reached, with no Martians, but there will be a group of vampires. At one point, Sabu was going to lead the vampire group. Gangrel, Luna Vachon and Dennis Knight (Mideon) were going to be part of the group, but Knight looks unlikely to come in, and Gangrel might be doing something else, and be given a new name.

 

Paul Heyman will be an on-screen character, going on the road full-time. To placate Sci-Fi, they’ve been told Heyman’s character will be a cult leader of sorts.

 

A quote from one person involved with the project:

 

“The ECW project has become a monster, and not in a good way. I feel for Paul, as this is not going to be easy. He’s got enemies. The Sci-Fi channel want unrealistic material for pro wrestling on its TV show. Vince has an out-of-touch vision of what ECW is. If Paul is able to succeed with this, it will be a miracle.”

 

It’s been noted that instead of Heyman and Dreamer being in charge, everyone on the creative team will be involved and Heyman’s power, while a lot, is lessened. Dreamer’s power has been greatly lessened.

 

Vince has ruffled a lot of feathers internally. The original idea was for an internet television show and a low profile third brand. Now, with Vince in a position where he has to succeed, he’s going full on, as the original ideas were for Cena and Edge to be WWE heels with the rest of the card being ECW guys. Some are unhappy with Vince being so gung-ho for the idea. Some are unhappy with the increased workload. Some, like Brian Gewirtz and Michael Hayes, hate Heyman, and don’t like that he’s back, and has a lot of power.

 

Stephanie is very publicly 100% behind the project now it’s clear that Vince is totally committed to making it work.

 

There have been arguments over the writing of Raw, to not let ECW get over as anything more than a cult hardcore subculture of wrestling.

 

Dave says that the go-home Raw being built around Vince and Hunter, the ECW main event guys being chased off by low level WWE guys, and Cena being pushed as a babyface, are things all out of the failed Invasion playbook. There are also those saying that the Foley/Funk dynamic was originally supposed to be a major part of the promotion, but was dropped after the one interview, which just happened to be a success.

 

Sci-Fi are said to be understanding that they can’t be too outlandish, but that they are also wanting to appease the hardcore Sci-Fi fans who have been complaining. As a concession, Sci-Fi liked the idea of a non-Vince McMahon like authority figure, portraying a cult leader who has people drinking his kool-aid.

 

For small buildings, ECW will charge a flat fee pf $25 per ticket for house shows.

 

 

The Rest:

 

JBL is seriously considering retiring, due to combination of back and knee injuries. At his last Smackdown tapings, he told people this was it for him. Dave points it that it must be bad, because JBL was going to win the World title, and, in the past, played a college football game with a broken leg and wrestled through a severe knee injury wearing a big brace. Creative were told JBL would be out for three months, but JBL is saying he’ll decide then whether to come back or not. JBL has said that he feels this is it, and he’s happy with what he’s done and feels he can leave with no regrets.

 

WWE sent out a press release announcing their purchase of the Stampede tape library. WWE don’t have any of Bret Hart’s matches, as Bret purchased he rights to those years ago, when he realized those were the only matches he’d likely ever have the rights to.

 

With their library ownership, WWE are going to produce a one-hour show called “WWE Classic” using the old footage, which will be syndicated this summer. At this point, though, it will only be for overseas and not the US.

 

The Wrestlemania 22 DVD was the 4th best selling DVD of any kind in the US in its first week of release. The DVD has already shipped 212,000 units, and is guaranteed to the biggest selling wrestling DVD of all time.

 

Animal was released. He threw a fit after angles he suggested where he’d work with the main event faces were turned down. He had wanted to become an agent.

 

Wreckless Intent sold 66,000 in its first week. In week two, sales dropped 65%, which is considered very bad.

 

Paul Burchill’s pirate character was dropped. While he was having trouble working as a babyface, the main problem was that he was copying Johnny Depp and Vince had no clue what he was doing having never seen the film “Pirates of the Caribbean”. The character was created to be like Depp’s character in the film, but Vince envisioned it being more like Jean Pierre LaFitte.

 

Paul London has a staph infection in his arm.

 

Beth Phoenix suffered a badly broken jaw against Victoria on Raw and she had to have a titanium plate put in. She’ll be out for two months, which screws up a lot of plans.

 

Lillian Garcia suffered a sprained wrist and hand(?) after getting knocked off the apron by Charlie Haas.

 

Greg Gagne showed up as booker in OVW this week. He got in the ring and taught some basic moves, like dropkicks. Greg kept talking about the old days and was complaining about Vince putting his father out of business, and was trying to act tough. It was noted Gagne was out of touch, not even knowing the names of some recent headliners.

 

Big Show has been telling friends he’s unhappy with how many jobs he’s been doing lately.

 

After signing a contract to be a wrestler in ECW, Tommy Dreamer was told by John Laurinaitis on 5/31 to cancel all his Indy bookings right away. On 6/2 in Danbury CT for North East Wrestling, Dreamer refereed an Abyss vs. Chris Sabin match, saying that WWE told him he could not wrestle but said nothing about refereeing.

 

In Tacoma at Raw, during the commercial breaks, Lawler told the crowd to not chant “ECW” and chant “Raw”, to try and get an “ECW” chant going, but the crowd chanted “Raw” anyway. Then, still during the break, to get a big chant going when they came back on air, Lawler tried again to get the chant going, but to no avail. A third attempt to get a chant going also failed.

 

In the first fake Kane segment, Drew Hankinson’s Kane mask started falling off just before he went out and his pants started falling apart. When he hit the chokeslam, his tights fell apart entirely, though it wasn’t visible on TV. Vince was mad about this, figuring someone should have known the costume wasn’t going to fit correctly.

 

When the Kane/Kane II angle was first meant to start, some months ago, Glen Jacobs told Drew that his career was winding down and he was going to pass the torch to him.

 

On a weekend house show, a seven-year old fan asked Paul London why he no longer did the 450 splash, and London told the kid he wasn’t allowed to do it anymore and told him, “Isn’t that lame? “. The kid agreed.

 

To give his character credibility, Vito has been told to wear a dress whenever fans are around, and, at least at the house shows, he’s been wearing a thong as well, as a comedy spot in his match is seeing how many times the dress can get pulled up and the thong exposed.

 

And in case anyone is wondering; paraphrasing is within the rules

[Black Lushus 0]

silly Sci-Fi...they won't say shit when ECW gets them their best ratings ever.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Angle needs a vampire fang mouthpiece.

[2GOLD 0]

It’s been noted that instead of Heyman and Dreamer being in charge, everyone on the creative team will be involved and Heyman’s power, while a lot, is lessened. Dreamer’s power has been greatly lessened.

 

Great...the WWE creative is involved.

Well, this project is headed for death now.

[Angle-plex 0]

Why is reading the WON usually more entertaining than the shows?

[syxx2001 0]

The Paul London bit is funny...considering a 7 year old knows more about Paul London than the writers probably do.

[Cartman 0]

Half or more of this is garbage speculation.

[iliketurtles 0]

a storyline where an ECW wrestler would go into other dimensions.

 

 

PLEASE GIVE ME THIS

[NoCalMike 0]

ECW should get The Sinister Minister back to manage the "Vampire Cult" or whatever.

 

Funny how Steph is now 100% behind this because the WWE creative team will be involved in booking

 

I don't understand the Sci-Fi channel, I mean it's not like every fan has to watch every show on the network. I mean I may watch Twilight Zone reruns, but that doesn't mean I am tuning in to see Python vs. Super on Skelenton Island Part III. I think Raw is the only thing I watch on USA network.

[fazzle 0]

a storyline where an ECW wrestler would go into other dimensions.

 

 

PLEASE GIVE ME THIS

 

 

Bizarro-ECW! Where Sandman speaks with a british accent and gently sips tea before every match.

[tpww7 0]

So CM Punk is going to come from Dimension X to come to ECW and fight the Ninja Turtles?

 

Awesome.

[daileyxplanet 0]

The Bizarro ECW could be Eastern Championship Wrestling, and RVD could wrestle Jimmy Snuka to unify the NWA ECW Championship with the ECW World Championship.

[BorneAgain 0]

a storyline where an ECW wrestler would go into other dimensions.

 

 

PLEASE GIVE ME THIS

 

 

Bizarro-ECW! Where Sandman speaks with a british accent and gently sips tea before every match.

With a shiny black cane, and the Richard Cheese lounge version of "Enter Sandman" as his entrance music.

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

a storyline where an ECW wrestler would go into other dimensions.

 

 

PLEASE GIVE ME THIS

 

 

Bizarro-ECW! Where Sandman speaks with a british accent and gently sips tea before every match.

With a shiny black cane, and the Richard Cheese lounge version of "Enter Sandman" as his entrance music.

 

 

SOLD! Richard Cheese rules.

[ChrisMWaters 0]

a storyline where an ECW wrestler would go into other dimensions.

 

 

PLEASE GIVE ME THIS

 

 

Bizarro-ECW! Where Sandman speaks with a british accent and gently sips tea before every match.

With a shiny black cane, and the Richard Cheese lounge version of "Enter Sandman" as his entrance music.

 

 

SOLD! Richard Cheese rules.

Funny, I thought Bizarro Sandman would still be in THIS gimmick:

 

[Enigma 0]

Cue Haas of Pain bitching in 3...2...1...

[Enigma 0]

It’s been noted that instead of Heyman and Dreamer being in charge, everyone on the creative team will be involved and Heyman’s power, while a lot, is lessened. Dreamer’s power has been greatly lessened.

This made me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I can't believe some people still have to be told something like that rather than it being totally obvious to them.

[Enigma 0]

I can't believe some people who deserve it haven't died in a fire yet.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

So what does that have to do with you being retarded? Do you like fire? Do you like the bright-bright? Watch out, fire is hot. But then again, if you couldn't figure out the whole ECW creative situation, maybe you won't be able to figure that out either... maybe Meltzer should do a news report and help clue you in.

[Placebo Effect 0]

To give his character credibility, Vito has been told to wear a dress whenever fans are around, and, at least at the house shows, he’s been wearing a thong as well, as a comedy spot in his match is seeing how many times the dress can get pulled up and the thong exposed.

 

KAYFABE~!

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

I was looking forward to more Heyman lies about really "popular" sub cultures. We all know those blood-drinking goth kids in New York spend their Tuesday nights watching fake fighting on Sci Fi, thus representing Paul E.'s, NOT SCI FI's (ha!) decision to appeal to mega popular markets like "vampire kids" or whatever the fuck he called the made up demographic.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I'm sure Paul E watches CSI and will rip from their use of subculture. Vampires, Furries, Street Racers, Lil People, Transexuals, Infantalists, S&M, Boxers... and then in defending these awful plots will claim "hey, CSI does it..."

[Gary Floyd 0]

a storyline where an ECW wrestler would go into other dimensions.

 

 

PLEASE GIVE ME THIS

 

 

Bizarro-ECW! Where Sandman speaks with a british accent and gently sips tea before every match.

With a shiny black cane, and the Richard Cheese lounge version of "Enter Sandman" as his entrance music.

 

 

SOLD! Richard Cheese rules.

Funny, I thought Bizarro Sandman would still be in THIS gimmick:

 

I've said it before, but this is why he really took up drinking.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

"Furries"

 

Is that pronounced like "Fury" or like "Furry".

 

I'm not sure whether I expect Paul to have a bunch of NY Yankees with paint and baseball bats attack Van Dam or a bunch of Giant Gonzalez-clothed werewolf creatures.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

And BTW, in thos Sandman surfer pictures, Peaches' face sure looks like Triple H's.

[ChrisMWaters 0]

"Furries"

 

Is that pronounced like "Fury" or like "Furry".

 

I'm not sure whether I expect Paul to have a bunch of NY Yankees with paint and baseball bats attack Van Dam or a bunch of Giant Gonzalez-clothed werewolf creatures.

Pronounced Furry.

 

And just have a guy come out with a bunch of "cat-girls"...that will satisfy that group.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

Well,, Kimona was Leiah Meow in WCW....

[Guest hasbeen]

They could do a time travel angle with wrestlers coming out from the past (no jokes about Duggan). It would be silly, but so are wrestlers taking punches directly to the face, announcers being set on fire, you get the point. Maybe a wrestlers from the future, kind of New Breed 20 years later. They were Chris Champion and Shawn Royal from the old NWA on TBS in around 1986 for anybody who didn't know. They'd know who was going to be champ and try to prevent it, like the Terminator.

[Jericholic82 0]

no one mentioned clueless Vince not having any idea about Pirates of The carribbean movie or johhny depps character. thats pretty sad, but it has often been said that Vince doesnt focus on anything but his company so he knows little about pop culture or movies. (Vince Russo even said he would turn down these ideas simply, cuz he never heard of them,so no one else must know them-the reaosn why Tom Green wasnt the guy behind GTV as Russo planned, and why the stevie richards and blue meanies' "blonde bytch project" was dropped)

 

so Burchill's gimmick is over simply cuz he resembles the movie too much?

 

poor guy at least he had a cool entrance and finisher