Lance Storm on the new ECW

[art_vandelay 0]

From The Fight Network's Tough Talk

 

THE NEW ECW: BY LANCE STORM

 

 

Welcome to my first syndicated commentary for the new Fight Network website. I look forward to sharing my thoughts on the wrestling industry with you each week. This week I’m going to take a look at the New ECW, which I’m sorry to say, is starting to look like it could be more aptly named the New Velocity. Apart from having it’s own World Champ and a more talented talent roster the New ECW product on the whole is starting to have more in common with the Old Velocity program than it’s Original ECW name sake.

 

The current ECW TV program on Sci Fi is more interesting to watch than the old Velocity program but still very much feels like a WWE B-Team show. When the New ECW started there was talk of their own TV tapings, their own live events, and their own PPVs, truly their own identity. Sadly this is becoming less and less the case. ECW is exclusively taped in conjunction with SmackDown, much like Velocity was back when it existed. With the product being taped in the WWE environment all the atmosphere and grittiness that was ECW is lost, and with the current talent roster consisting of mostly, completely new talent (CM Punk, Kevin Thorn) and former WWE talent (Big Show, Test, Bob Holly) there is very little association with what once was ECW.

 

They have also cancelled all future ECW Live Events. This was done primarily because of poor tickets sales and the fact that ECW attendance figures were pulling down the company average and looking bad on quarterly reports. I think the poor tickets sales can, at least in a small part, be attributed to this new product being so different from the old one. Instead of the current products blend of the New ECW and the Original ECW attracting fans of both WWE and ECW I think the blend is doing the opposite. Die-Hard loyal ECW fans find WWECW to be nothing like the original they loved so much and WWE fans view it as a lower end WWE product. WWE fans would rather see the A shows like SmackDown and RAW than the secondary WWECW events, and ECW loyalists don’t want to support a product they view as a slap in the face to the original.

 

So instead of their own ECW events ECW matches will be incorporated into SmackDown and perhaps RAW live events. This will just further water down it’s uniqueness and ECW matches will no doubt be treated as preliminary bouts (much like live event matches with guys who used to be on Velocity) compared to the WWE brand matches. As soon as an ECW World Title match is placed in a mid card spot that brand will be forever viewed as second rate. While I understand the business thinking behind this decision it will do nothing but further erode the ECW product, which is eroding at a fast enough rate already.

 

Sci Fi ratings for the ECW show have dropped significantly since its debut. When ECW began back in June it was drawing ratings as high as 2.8, now only 5 months later it is drawing 1.6, which is a 43% drop in their viewing audience. Over 1 million people have stopped watching ECW since it’s debut 5 months ago. I don’t know what kind of numbers Velocity was pulling at the end of it’s run but I would hazard to guess if it was in the ECW Tuesday Night time slot it wouldn’t be far off the current ECW numbers.

 

So with ECW’s ratings and live event status now mirroring that of Velocity where does that leave it? Well it still has it’s own PPV, December to Dismember, ECW’s first brand exclusive PPV since it’s full time resurrection. If it can produce PPV numbers ECW still has a chance of being a success. Whether it will or not remains to be seen. I tend to doubt it. I wouldn’t even be surprised to see some last minute WWE talent or matches added to the show to help salvage it. With only the one-hour of TV each week ECW has not produced a lot of brand exclusive feuds and has not as yet established a large enough portion of their roster to even fill a PPV card. With the main event being an Extreme Elimination Chamber match ECW is putting 6 of it’s top guys in one match and leaving very little talent to round out the rest of the card.

 

If I had to make a prediction, which I don’t but will anyway, I think ECW is not long for this world. If it still exists in 1 years time it will be strictly a minor WWE brand and its only true claim to fame will be destroying the legacy of the Original ECW. No more will you here the chants of ECDubb…ECDubb that company and that time will be but a faint memory, what a SHAME!

 

Lance Storm

THE FIGHT NETWORK

 

POSTED -- 11/14/06

[Timmy8271 0]

Well duh Lance. What did you expect?

 

He's right and it's sad.

[Guest Hotbutter Spoontoaster]

hold on just 1 sec, Mr. Storm, you say "New ECW" is not like "Old ECW"?! well i, for one, am shocked. shocked.

[reign 0]

he's right and the only way to fix the problem in my opinion is build to a big Mainia match with CM Punk chasing the title or get involved in a second Champions match which keeps the ECW title in the main event...with RVD and Punk I hope that SS, D2R and the RR are all big events for these two...a Raw or even SD! appearance by Punk would be good as well.....

[Wyld Cannon 0]

Even the mighty drawing power of CM Punk cannot save a brand that Vince has stopped caring about. ECW will go in Vince's toy chest along with all his other projects that he lost interest in.

[EricMM 0]

He never had any interest in ECW per se, he had interest in something that did amazing money when it was released as a DVD.

 

The new ECW from its inception has never provided that which people appreciated from the Rise and Fall DVD. So...

[cabbageboy 0]

The insanely foolish abusing of RVD is to me the biggest fuckup on the new ECW. Yeah, the guy got caught with weed. So job him out, bring him back, and put the belt back on him. This isn't rocket science. Van Dam is really the only guy on ECW right now who can carry the title with any legitimacy. Since he's so over with the ECW crowd it actively prevents anyone else from getting over as champ because it's so blatant that Van Dam should be champ.

 

Do they seriously believe fans will take to Lashley if they toss him onto ECW and put the title on him? It reeks of Mike Awesome all over again, bring in a big dude and give him the title. Lashley won't be over as a face, so they'll be forced to turn him heel.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

At least Mike Awesome had a modicum of history in ECW, and was a fairly well known worker from doing matches in Japan, etc. Awesome was relatively credible as a champion. Lashley is still basically an unproven rookie.

[razazteca 0]

At least Mike Awesome had a modicum of history in ECW, and was a fairly well known worker from doing matches in Japan, etc. Awesome was relatively credible as a champion. Lashley is still basically an unproven rookie.

Who will bring out the best in Lashley the way Masato Tanaka did when he had wars with Mike Awesome? To me its Lashley = Brockberg big guy with muscles that can't do an interview.

[cabbageboy 0]

Well, by the Awesome comparison I just meant the way of bringing a big dude in and putting the title on him, when there was an obviously more over guy to put it on both times (RVD).

 

Let's say you put the title on Lashley...then what? As a face he wouldn't beat as popular as RVD and would feud with Test and Co. That would suck. Turn him heel and he could then feud with RVD, but that would all come back to the fact that RVD has to regain at some point to pay off the Heyman storyline.

[RedJed 0]

Let's say you put the title on Lashley...then what? As a face he wouldn't beat as popular as RVD and would feud with Test and Co. That would suck. Turn him heel and he could then feud with RVD, but that would all come back to the fact that RVD has to regain at some point to pay off the Heyman storyline.

 

They could build that for the Royal Rumble where RVD gets the title and goes to defend against CM Punk for Mania. I wouldnt mind that, since Show-RVD was one of the least interesting "world title" feuds in a long time (a horrible first start to the new ECW too on top) and if Van Dam is going to progressively get the belt at some point versus just winning it against everyone else in the Chamber (Lashley can win via some fluke), a real chase is in order against an opponent that will work better with him than Show to get the belt. Lashley with the belt out of the gate kind of needs to happen almost anyway to give him some credibility from the start too, and with them short on heels, its gotta be almost certain they turn him to join Heyman's crew.

[Enigma 0]

I honestly had some hope they'd do something different after One Night Stand '06. I guess I should have seen the writing on the wall when Bill Alfonso didn't come to the ring with either Sabu or RVD.

[Hasbeen1 0]

If it gets the point where it looks like it's about to cease operations, I can see him giving the old ECW style a shot. That includes out with Big Show, Holly, Test, etc, major pushes for Sandman, etc, and only new guys that fit the style and ECW attitude.

[justcoz 0]

They almost have to align Lashley with Paul Heyman so Paul can be his mouthpiece. I think Paul being with Brock Lesnar really helped Brock's development. I'm not big on Lashley either - I think Benoit or Shelton could have used the jump more. Lashley does have that very legitimate amateur background that should be put over and Paul could really be instrumental with that. Heyman was supposedly behind Lashley making the jump and it's been said they really liked working together in OVW. So I'll give the move the benefit of the doubt since Heyman actually requested Lashley be brought over. I wish Lashley could lose some size - I think his size while looking intimidating does make him seem like another Goldberg or Monty Brown despite his amateur credentials.

 

We know the title is coming off of Big Show at the PPV and it would appear Lashley is the logical choice. While CM Punk has all of the momentum with the fan base it's too early to give him the title and there is potential money in his chase. It would be nice if the big payoff match was him vs. RVD or Sabu but there is the whole David vs. Goliath thing with Punk vs. Lashley and who knows - maybe Punk could make something of the match and they could mimic the Punk/Joe matches to the best of their ability?

[luke-o 0]

maybe Punk could make something of the match and they could mimic the Punk/Joe matches to the best of their ability?

 

The problem with that being, is that niether Punk nor Lashley are over enough to carry the brand.

 

Im a big Punk mark, and i would love to see him with a credible belt, but the only person in the WHOLE roster, credible enough for the belt, is RVD.

 

And this is where ECW's problems lie, everyone on their roster has been WWE mid card losers who couldnt get over on Raw or Smackdown.

 

Lashley is not going to save ECW, and for that matter, im not sure putting the belt on RVD is going to help either, but its the only logical answer.

 

I just wish that Vince had never started this project and he would have just left the ECW name to rest in peace.

[justcoz 0]

I didn't have a problem with them bringing ECW back. I just wish it would've stayed small and catered towards the niche TNA/ROH audience like they originally intended. At one point Shane McMahon was going to be behind the project, Heyman and Dreamer would handle the creative end and they were going to run an internet-only show and small venues. Then Vince saw dollar signs, they got a prime time television deal and with that came Kevin Dunn's involvement and then WWE creative.

 

It was obvious from the beginning when they decided against their own ECW television tapings (Dunn didn't feel they were necessary) that this was the road we were going down. Without an ECW like atmosphere the initials mean nothing. I mean, they hated that Hammerstein Ballroom show when it was the one show on the whole Sci-Fi run that had a special feeling! They are just absolutely clueless.

 

Toning down the style was understandable to protect the workers but they didn't have to announce it, do the Extreme Rules crap (we don't even get those matches anymore) and plague the shows with DQ and screwjob finishes. They simply could have had guys WRESTLE with the occassional use of a chair or table for offense. Which brings me to my final point.

 

The workers they chose to bring in to the company. Heyman was supposedly behind Test and Lashley but when Lance Storm mentioned ECW being Velocity it got me thinking. At least Velocity showcased guys like London, Kendrick, Jimmy Yang, Jamie Noble, etc. If they reshuffled the talent among the brands and put people like Benoit in there with London, Kendrick, Yang, Noble, Punk and maybe a few ROH signings like Nigel McGuinness or Bryan Danielson, perhaps they'd have something to build on as opposed to hitting the wall using guys that are seen as second rate jobbers for the most part like Test, Holly, Stryker, Shannon Moore, Rene Dupree, Mike Knox, etc.

[Hasbeen1 0]

Really, I've liked some of what I've seen from the B-squad type guys, Holly, Test, even Dupree, but this just isn't what the established ECW fans expected or want. If it was a start up show I think the reaction would be different, but it's not and there's no way it can't be compared to the old stuff.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

What it comes down to is that, we as fans need to get more active in letting WWE know how we feel, and then punishing them when they don't follow through.

[Guest Overworked]

What the ECW product as we know it before is up against in this new version is simply Vince doesn't Like constant hardcore. He puts into positions of creative power in ECW people who are not interested in Paul Heyman's or Dreamers opinions and generally are running it like a Velocity as we all well know.

 

Vince brought back ECW for whatever reason you can imagine. He wanted to make money off of the product that since its death in 01, its still talked about, written about on the internet and heard about in the arenas when a former ECW guy does something trademark. But even if he wanted to make money off of it he wanted to change it into something that he created. So it becomes luke warm, water down, cut at the knees and an embarassment. Whats his motivation for this? Maybe down deep in his vindictive nature he doesn't like hearing the ECW chant during WWE events, and so he dug up the ECW corpse just so he could humiliate and degrade and make it so pathetic, that no one would chant about it again.

 

What Vince I think doesn't get or he overlooks is that the "Fringe element" he refers to as the ECW fan base in the ECW DVD though small would still generate money for him for the ECW product that isn't this bastardized version. And they would even be loyal to Vince to an extend in buying the ECW ppvs if there were any, and the merchandise that the WWE would churn out. I mean the Sci Fi network, im sorry your never going to get big numbers watching Sci Fi to watch ECW. You won't get that big Raw ratings ever. But you would get the ECW faithful. Imagine it for a second if Vince took his hand off the chicken switch and let Heyman and those around him run ECW under his banner. Even if ECW abided by the less blood less gore aspects, but had reasonable control of the creative side, then that ECW fanbase that "fringe element" Would be going out of their way to get Sci Fi channel on their tv Just to Watch ECW. You would get decent substantial money for the ECW product, Not big Raw/Smackdown Money for WWE, but at least enough money that would still come in weekly and make it viable to keep around. If Vince and his staff would leave ECW alone and let it handle itself then Vince would profit from it.

 

We look back in the history of the WWF/E ECW relationship, it was never really something of an antagonist relationship. WWE wasn't out to Kill ECW as it did with WCW. Vince and Heyman had a working relationship while ECW was afloat, WCW wrestlers who went to ECW would go to WWF, and Vince sent wrestlers to ECW not only to help promote them but to almost use ECW as a Farm fed itself. ECW got promoted on WWF raw during the time of their Barely Legal PPV, the ECW belt scandal with Awesome was handled pretty nice by WWF/ECW in having Tazz come down and win it, hold it for a good amount of time, bringing it onto Raw and Smackdown again promoting it, losing it in a classy way to Dreamer back at ECW.

 

So I baffles me whats the motivation of just turning ECW into something you can't even look at without feeling sick and sad.

[Hawk 34 0]

I think people are too hung up on the "ECW" name aspect. It's basically OVW with a couple bigger stars and a national tv time slot and that's not a bad thing. (Well, not the current OVW but when it was good)

 

The show has been far more consistant and entertaining then Raw and isn't too far behind Smackdown despite the depleted roster and shorter time slot.

[Gary Floyd 0]

When you really remember it, ECW in it's last two years was becoming a shell of it's former self. Sure, they had Tanaka and Awesome as champs, but there was also a whole lot of shit (Dusty Rhodes and a series of underwhelming PPV's). That out of the way, it was still better than it is now.

 

Hawk is right when he says it's pretty much just OVW 2.0 at this point.

[uhftv 0]

It's amazing that there's so much common sense in that article and it's pretty much what any fan would say and agree with. So nobody's gonna listen.

 

ECW's been pretty consistent since the first month, they just lost a lot of steam because its not a big deal anymore, they really did morph into a heat or velocity type show. if they would move the cruiserweights there i think theyd be used better.

 

but i think that's part of the problem: anything more wrestling-oriented is a B-show like smackdown, because anything where wrestling is the focus becomes that way, not by intention, but because vince ignores it.

 

you could argue they depushed rvd and sabu, and with angle gone, they werent getting a major push from the other shows or ppvs. there was nothing done to replenish the ranks or move anyone up the card. so having less ppvs and tv time puts them at the bottom of the barrel from the start.

 

Another thing is: what is the point of this show? it started off as an idea for an internet show but it was pushed more when Vince saw potential for money, but where is that money?

2 ppvs a year but besides that there are no more house shows. Plus they throw them on to tapings of the OTHER shows so no one is really PAYING for the ecw name. so where's all the potential money? Did they bring back the company to sell a couple hundred tshirts?

 

i wish it was covered in this forum but there was a couple of observers a while back about some things Kevin Dunn said (that were totally stupid of course) about ecw not drawing fans because its not enough like wwe or fans dont know its a wwe show. (yeah it's just a coincidence this totally separate show just happens to love the Marine so much they air those stupid commercials just like the other shows.)

 

Storm hit the nail on the head when they try to bring in old and new fans and are doing the opposite (which can be said for any decision theyve made in the last 5 years) If Dunn and any other idiots think the problem is not being similar to wwe instead of trying to be different then how come all the shows where they had Taker, Kane, Khalli, Batista, DX, and Cena didnt get double the ratings? Who are these weirdos that watch no matter what and why cant they get more weirdos to watch?

 

I think we're screwed either way. it's not like the other shows where you can complain and stop watching. Low ratings and attendance will just put the blame on the talent and Heyman, when the reality is all the wwe-style elements are what is turning off fans. And if they go even more in that direction that ecw wont be recognizeable from the other shows and the ratings still suck they'll blame the fans and say theyre stupid for not wanting the ecw thy're giving them.

The only guarantee is Vince wont take the blame for anything.

[NoCalMike 0]

Vince just dropped the ball AGAIN. He could have made it more like ECW, which would have held the original fans, plus bring in new fans that like a different product as well as WWE-Raw/Smackdown, but much like everything else, over an extended period of time, it is much more important to Vince that he makes it known that people are watching HIS VISION of Prowrestling, rather then just have a good product that is different.

[bob_barron 0]

How could he have made it more like ECW?

 

I think ECW's been pretty good. They usually have one good long match, and the hour goes by quickly. Plus, CM Punk is getting a huge push. And Mike fucking Knox is awesome.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

I don't think it would have been too much to ask to just have NO DQ/CO implied in ECW. Not to say every match would or should be a bloodbath, but if RVD needed to use a Van Daminator w/ a chair every now and again, he wouldn't have to worry about being DQed. If the match breaks down like Lashley/Holly did last week, it could still be thrown out as a No Contest (as even the original ECW did this from time to time).

[Hawk 34 0]

I can't figure out why people are really so obsessed about the No DQ stuff. It doesn't make it a better show if all matches are "extreme". ECW usually had a good balance of straight wrestling and crazy brawls.

 

That's exactly that this version has had as well. The people that want to hate this brand are just people who actually buy into the idiotic notion that ECW can be re-done. It's not and it's actually been suprassed in the same mold by another company.

 

What this is, happens to be another brand for more wrestlers to get tv time and national exposure. If they didnt have this brand, Punk and Knox wouldn't be where they are. ECW has been good for players like Holly, RVD, TBS whom werent doing much elsewhere besides the mid-card. It gave SABU, Dreamer and Sandman steady work.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

For all WWE could do to make ECW v.2 more like the original version, the one thing they can't do is recreate the atmosphere of the original, and that more than anything is what made ECW ECW. A million groups have tried to recreate ECW and they've all failed, not because of what they did or did not do, but of what they could not do. That atmosphere can't be recreated, and that alone means any attempt to bring back ECW will always fail.

[Hawk 34 0]

Except that's where you take the internal philosophy of ECW and make a crowd care about it. It can and has been duplicated with great success but it takes a tremendous product to approach that type of rabid fanbase.

 

WWE will never be willing to wait to build such an fanbase. They have a large mainstream casual fanbase and that what makes them money but you can't duplicate it using the same methods to re-create ECW.

 

It's just reusing the name and nothing more and that's FINE. Leave it as that but alot of peopl, Lance Storm and other internet types wont even bother making the seperation and have such a issue with the "ECW" name being used here.

[NoCalMike 0]

How could he have made it more like ECW?

 

I think ECW's been pretty good. They usually have one good long match, and the hour goes by quickly. Plus, CM Punk is getting a huge push. And Mike fucking Knox is awesome.

 

 

I am not saying that ECWWE has been outright awful. For the most part there is plenty about it to like, but I just think looking back at it, since it started back up, calling the Tuesday night WWE show "ECW" comes off now looking more like a marketing ploy, then an honest attempt to re-create ECW. Vince could have easily done it, it's not hard. Could have made "ECW" a counterpart to OVW, another place to train new, younger guys, while also bringing back ECW stars of the past. Hold shows in smaller venues, and give them their own tapings. It isn't hard to do. I mean you have Paul freakin' Heyman on the paid roster, defer responsibility to him and stop using WWE creative to write shows.

 

And as far as the fanbase goes, it was there at the startup....just look at ONS, and/or ONS 2, you could have ran the same show(s) in about five different cities, and you would have got the same passion from the fans. However Vince viewed those fans as the enemy, not the consumer, merely because they enjoyed a product different from his masturabatory vision of how prowrestling should be, when Vince tried to give them Test, they rejected him because well Test is garbage, but not to Vince, so Vince goes and takes it personally and blames the fans for ruining "his show" sand then he slowly seeked to wane their interest, and looked to get by with having about 1/4th of his WWE fanbase tune in on Tuesdays.....

 

And now Vince is ready to make the stupidest decision yet for the new ECW which is putting the belt on Lashley.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

And now Vince is ready to make the stupidest decision yet for the new ECW which is putting the belt on Lashley.

 

No, putting it on Show was stupider.