Is ECW about to end as we know it? (ECW renewed)

[haVoc 0]

I wouldn't be against ECW moving to Thursday nights to compete with TNA. Impact can't touch Raw or SD, but we could see a nice little minor league competition with ECW Vs TNA.

[mfn 0]

I wouldn't be against ECW moving to Thursday nights to compete with TNA. Impact can't touch Raw or SD, but we could see a nice little minor league competition with ECW Vs TNA.

 

Hmm, that would be pretty interesting. Maybe with a little compitition to go against, ECW can get a little more 'extreme'

 

[cabbageboy 0]

I'm torn on this. On one hand if the show is cancelled then I would initially think "Good riddance" but yet I find myself watching ECW most weeks. It's an easy show to dismiss but if you watch it then it's not that bad.

 

Hopefully they will move the guys over to SD and continue the fun storylines like Balls/Kelly, maybe let veterans like Dreamer work with the young guys. Dreamer has been on a roll lately.

[goldengreek 0]

WWE continues to dismantle the ECW brand

By Anna Elizabeth Anderson

Oct 17, 2007

 

In a move that continues to defy business sense, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) took several steps in the past few days that continue its pattern of dismantling the resurrected ECW brand. First, WWE's website posted a storyline-driven article stating that ECW General Manager Armando Estrada and Smackdown GM Vickie Guerrero were having meetings that would see performers from both brands compete on both ECW on Sci Fi and Friday Night Smackdown. Since Smackdown and ECW already tour together, and both shows are taped on Tuesday, this is just the next step in WWE's swallowing of the ECW brand name.

 

At the UK tapings for ECW, CM Punk revealed Kane to be his mystery partner against Big Daddy V, John Morrison, and The Miz; while Smackdown's Hillbillies appeared and defeated Elijah Burke and Nunzio in a tag team match.

 

It was then reported by WrestlingNewsDesk.Com that entire episodes of the ECW program that air Tuesday nights on Sci Fi would be streamed on the WWE/ECW website, a bad sign especially in light of WWE's contract with Sci Fi to air the ECW program coming up for renewal at the end of the year.

 

A former member member of Senior Management said recently, "ECW was the stuff of urban legend. It had a rabid fan base, created more memorable moments in the 1990s on their budget than WCW did with hundreds of millions of dollars, discovered more talent and created more memorable characters than anyone in history except WWE, and when it came back after 4 1/2 years, we charged 400 dollars per seat ringside for The Hammerstein Ballroom and sold it out. Not to mention a pretty impressive pay per view buyrate. Amazing how WWE puts their machine behind it and can't duplicate what was done with passion, creativity, a great fan base, and dedicated workers."

 

The brand, which achieved worldwide cult status under the guru-like leadership of Paul Heyman, has been reduced to a WWE Tuesday night time killer, compared by one WWE creative team member, who for obvious reasons asked to remain anonymous, to "the waning days of WCW Thunder ..... at least last year, when it was struggling to find an identity between Vince, Stephanie, and Kevin Dunn's vision and the polar opposite vision of Paul Heyman, the show had some momentum as Big Show had heat, and characters were being established. Now, everyone knows this is just like Heat or Velocity."

 

For those who never saw the original product, ECW was a groundbreaking promotion that forced the stale WWE (then WWF) and Eric Bischoff-lead WCW to take notice and change the way wrestling in North America is presented. Paul Heyman's completely different vision for professional wrestling became the state of the art booking and character development, so much so that he was named one of the Top 100 Marketers in the world by Advertising Age magazine in 2000. Despite the fact the company was already in free-fall due to the loss of the TNN (now Spike) network, Heyman's ability to create a worldwide audience with so few resources could not be overstated.

 

In 2004, WWE released The Rise And Fall of ECW DVD, which became a worldwide phenomenon. It was only the 2nd DVD in WWE history to surpass 100,000 units sold, and is to this day the number two best selling wrestling or sports entertainment DVD worldwide, which well over 300,000 units sold.

 

The success of the DVD lead to WWE resurrecting the brand, the first time in history that has ever happened, for the June 12, 2005 ECW ONE NIGHT STAND pay per view. One of the best-received pay per views in history, the event was a smash success, selling $400 ringside seats to the sold-out Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, and amassing over 350,000 pay per view buys. The show, which was written by Heyman, was a shocker to many backstage, as Vince allowed Heyman to produce not only the show with the agents but also announcers Joey Styles and Mick Foley. It was also the night of Heyman's now-famous shoot (inside, "truthful") comment to JBL, "the only reason you were WWE Champion for a year is because HHH didn't want to work Tuesdays!"

 

ECW was brought back again as a stand-alone brand in 2006, debuting on Sci Fi after the 2nd Annual ECW One Night Stand, which saw one of the most heated WWE Title Matches of all time as Rob Van Dam beat John Cena for the WWE Championship. But immediately, WWE started changing the formula, and reports were that Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon clashed over the re-branding of ECW. Heyman was made the Lead Writer, and even turned heel on Van Dam, aligning himself (and reuniting) with The Big Show, who was crowned ECW World Champion in a riotous victory over RVD on July 4th in Philadelphia.

 

But behind the scenes, McMahon continued to change things up without notice, and according to several sources, Heyman didn't want to just be like all the other agents and writers and duck for cover when Vince started one of his "Mr.McMahon-like" tirades. "Everyone was shocked the way Paul would stand up for what he believed in, and most of all he believed in himself," stated a writer who admits he avoids conflict with Vince because "I just want my check and don't care if that means just swallowing a lot of crap to do it."

 

On December 3rd, Heyman and McMahon clashed heavily over the December To Dismember pay per view, and it all came to a head the next day in North Charleston, South Carolina, when Heyman and McMahon had what was described by someone who was in the building as "a very hot meeting." Heyman went home, and then reportedly didn't accept WWE's offer to continue working behind the scenes in developmental. Sometime in the past few months, either Heyman's contract expired, he quit, or he and WWE quietly agreed to a parting of the ways.

 

Heyman is reportedly working on screenplays, and enjoying life away from the limelight at home with his two children. A report in New York's eclectic GOTHAMIST stated Heyman was working on a major Hi-Def digital deal with Mitchell Stuart of HQ Productions and Clear Channel's "Stripped Online: Raw and Real" music series.

[mfn 0]

Just reading that makes me miss the days of ECW. That's when wrestling actually seemed to mean something. Maybe it was all a joke back then as well, and it was just me being a mark.

 

I knew ECW was dead when they brought it back for the second ONS.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Is it wrong of me to want them, assuming they lose the TV deal in December, to make the WWE.com show wrestling while last few episodes of the aired TV show is actually a rebirth of "Tuesday Night Titans"? Maybe it will get higher ratings! Have Okerlund and Finkle host.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

I wonder what would have happened if Vince kept his nose out of ECW, and let Heyman run it. Couldn't have ended up any worse then what we have now.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

Since when did all the vids become premium/pay site on wwe.com?

[Scroby 0]

WWE continues to dismantle the ECW brand

By Anna Elizabeth Anderson

Oct 17, 2007

 

In a move that continues to defy business sense, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) took several steps in the past few days that continue its pattern of dismantling the resurrected ECW brand. First, WWE's website posted a storyline-driven article stating that ECW General Manager Armando Estrada and Smackdown GM Vickie Guerrero were having meetings that would see performers from both brands compete on both ECW on Sci Fi and Friday Night Smackdown. Since Smackdown and ECW already tour together, and both shows are taped on Tuesday, this is just the next step in WWE's swallowing of the ECW brand name.

 

At the UK tapings for ECW, CM Punk revealed Kane to be his mystery partner against Big Daddy V, John Morrison, and The Miz; while Smackdown's Hillbillies appeared and defeated Elijah Burke and Nunzio in a tag team match.

 

It was then reported by WrestlingNewsDesk.Com that entire episodes of the ECW program that air Tuesday nights on Sci Fi would be streamed on the WWE/ECW website, a bad sign especially in light of WWE's contract with Sci Fi to air the ECW program coming up for renewal at the end of the year.

 

A former member member of Senior Management said recently, "ECW was the stuff of urban legend. It had a rabid fan base, created more memorable moments in the 1990s on their budget than WCW did with hundreds of millions of dollars, discovered more talent and created more memorable characters than anyone in history except WWE, and when it came back after 4 1/2 years, we charged 400 dollars per seat ringside for The Hammerstein Ballroom and sold it out. Not to mention a pretty impressive pay per view buyrate. Amazing how WWE puts their machine behind it and can't duplicate what was done with passion, creativity, a great fan base, and dedicated workers."

 

The brand, which achieved worldwide cult status under the guru-like leadership of Paul Heyman, has been reduced to a WWE Tuesday night time killer, compared by one WWE creative team member, who for obvious reasons asked to remain anonymous, to "the waning days of WCW Thunder ..... at least last year, when it was struggling to find an identity between Vince, Stephanie, and Kevin Dunn's vision and the polar opposite vision of Paul Heyman, the show had some momentum as Big Show had heat, and characters were being established. Now, everyone knows this is just like Heat or Velocity."

 

For those who never saw the original product, ECW was a groundbreaking promotion that forced the stale WWE (then WWF) and Eric Bischoff-lead WCW to take notice and change the way wrestling in North America is presented. Paul Heyman's completely different vision for professional wrestling became the state of the art booking and character development, so much so that he was named one of the Top 100 Marketers in the world by Advertising Age magazine in 2000. Despite the fact the company was already in free-fall due to the loss of the TNN (now Spike) network, Heyman's ability to create a worldwide audience with so few resources could not be overstated.

 

In 2004, WWE released The Rise And Fall of ECW DVD, which became a worldwide phenomenon. It was only the 2nd DVD in WWE history to surpass 100,000 units sold, and is to this day the number two best selling wrestling or sports entertainment DVD worldwide, which well over 300,000 units sold.

 

The success of the DVD lead to WWE resurrecting the brand, the first time in history that has ever happened, for the June 12, 2005 ECW ONE NIGHT STAND pay per view. One of the best-received pay per views in history, the event was a smash success, selling $400 ringside seats to the sold-out Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, and amassing over 350,000 pay per view buys. The show, which was written by Heyman, was a shocker to many backstage, as Vince allowed Heyman to produce not only the show with the agents but also announcers Joey Styles and Mick Foley. It was also the night of Heyman's now-famous shoot (inside, "truthful") comment to JBL, "the only reason you were WWE Champion for a year is because HHH didn't want to work Tuesdays!"

 

ECW was brought back again as a stand-alone brand in 2006, debuting on Sci Fi after the 2nd Annual ECW One Night Stand, which saw one of the most heated WWE Title Matches of all time as Rob Van Dam beat John Cena for the WWE Championship. But immediately, WWE started changing the formula, and reports were that Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon clashed over the re-branding of ECW. Heyman was made the Lead Writer, and even turned heel on Van Dam, aligning himself (and reuniting) with The Big Show, who was crowned ECW World Champion in a riotous victory over RVD on July 4th in Philadelphia.

 

But behind the scenes, McMahon continued to change things up without notice, and according to several sources, Heyman didn't want to just be like all the other agents and writers and duck for cover when Vince started one of his "Mr.McMahon-like" tirades. "Everyone was shocked the way Paul would stand up for what he believed in, and most of all he believed in himself," stated a writer who admits he avoids conflict with Vince because "I just want my check and don't care if that means just swallowing a lot of crap to do it."

 

On December 3rd, Heyman and McMahon clashed heavily over the December To Dismember pay per view, and it all came to a head the next day in North Charleston, South Carolina, when Heyman and McMahon had what was described by someone who was in the building as "a very hot meeting." Heyman went home, and then reportedly didn't accept WWE's offer to continue working behind the scenes in developmental. Sometime in the past few months, either Heyman's contract expired, he quit, or he and WWE quietly agreed to a parting of the ways.

 

Heyman is reportedly working on screenplays, and enjoying life away from the limelight at home with his two children. A report in New York's eclectic GOTHAMIST stated Heyman was working on a major Hi-Def digital deal with Mitchell Stuart of HQ Productions and Clear Channel's "Stripped Online: Raw and Real" music series.

...umm thanks for posting a history lesson?

 

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Why is anyone thinking ECW is going to end because of two happenings?

 

1. The computer thing is most likely a test to see if how many hits it can get. I'm sure if it does well, we might see other shows get the same treatmet.

2. So Smackdown talent will show up on ECW and ECW talent will show up on Smackdown, why do people think this is some kind of merge? You guy's don't remember when ECW, RAW, and Smackdown talents were showing up on all of the shows at the end of last year? It's going to be pretty much the same thing except Raw wrestlers won't be included.

 

I was saying in the USA thread that one of Vince's options is to stream everything via the internet. It makes sense, they can reach way more people than they can via any cable network, especially considering the worldwide ramifications (someone in Europe can watch it Wednedsay isntead of waiting however long it takes for the show to air there for instance) and the fact things seem to be branching out globally.

 

I wouldnt be surprised if they put Smackdown up as well, possibly through the CW like how NBC and other networks put up shows the next day on their websites.

[TheFranchise 0]

I read somewhere that the streams are only accesible from the USA.

 

& we can watch Raw live in England.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

Yeah, you have to be in the states.....or use proxies....

[TheFranchise 0]

Yeah, you have to be in the states.....or use proxies....

You think millions (?) of WWE fans know what proxies are?

[AntiLeaf33 0]

Yeah, you have to be in the states.....or use proxies....

You think millions (?) of WWE fans know what proxies are?

 

Know what they are? Hell, I'd be surprised if they could spell it.

[Scroby 0]

Yeah, you have to be in the states.....or use proxies....

You think millions (?) of WWE fans know what proxies are?

 

Know what they are? Hell, I'd be surprised if they could spell it.

So what are they? (seriously, what are they?)

[AntiLeaf33 0]

Yeah, you have to be in the states.....or use proxies....

You think millions (?) of WWE fans know what proxies are?

 

Know what they are? Hell, I'd be surprised if they could spell it.

So what are they? (seriously, what are they?)

 

Here is my understanding of it. Whenever you surf the web, your IP address is attached to every packet you send out. A site like WWE.com will look at your IP and be able to trace what country you are surfing from. If it sees that you are from another country then America, it will block you. Using a proxy server removes your IP address from the packet and puts in an anonymous address. When WWE.com looks at the packet, it doesn't label you as being in one of the "banned" countries and allows you access.

[Guest thehartfoundation]

Hopefully it ends quickly, it is painful to watch. The only ECW originals left are Tommy Dreamer, Stevie Richards, and Balls Mahoney. Whatever happened to the Extreme Rules contests they used to have a least once a night. C.M. Punk as champ, please. Punk is a good guy, but he would never have a shot at the titles on Smackdown, Batista and Taker would lay him out on Smackdown. And sadly to say he would have no chance vs. Orton. I'd rather have Heat even Velocity back instead of this. They should have another Draft in which Smackdown and Raw picks superstars from ECW. Ohh yeah Nunzio is still there too, but along with Stevie, there are nuthin but squash wrestlers.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

Mark much?

[hyperchord24 0]

Hopefully it ends quickly, it is painful to watch. The only ECW originals left are Tommy Dreamer, Stevie Richards, and Balls Mahoney. Whatever happened to the Extreme Rules contests they used to have a least once a night. C.M. Punk as champ, please. Punk is a good guy, but he would never have a shot at the titles on Smackdown, Batista and Taker would lay him out on Smackdown. And sadly to say he would have no chance vs. Orton. I'd rather have Heat even Velocity back instead of this. They should have another Draft in which Smackdown and Raw picks superstars from ECW. Ohh yeah Nunzio is still there too, but along with Stevie, there are nuthin but squash wrestlers.

Just in case there was any confusion, wrestling, is indeed a work.

 

CM Punk wouldn't be the champ on ECW either if it hadn't been for a wrestler's death and a drug bust.

[Steviekick 0]

He would have been. They were slowly building to it.

[RedJed 0]

To be honest, I am shocked that the company hasnt stopped using the ECW brand name, and going with "Tuesday Night Extreme" or something instead, out of thinking people arent watching just because its "that old ECW that nobody watched in the first place" or some other illogical reasoning such as that.

 

And bringing SD guys as cameos on this show isnt going to help much either. It really isnt rocket science here - ECW should have always been under a unique direction of having all of the matches be moreless anything goes, like it used to be. That would have AT LEAST made the brand unique in its own way, and would have likely helped the bottom line of grabbing and keeping viewers tuned in on an off night. There still would have been issues with star depth, but if the product itself was so different than the other two shows, that would have peaked the interest of AT LEAST the old core fanbase, which I would assume would be a good million or so viewers in the least. Then add your already loyal WWE fanbase and under that direction, generating 2.XX per week shouldn't have ever been a problem if they would have used some common sense into what they were trying here.

[Boxer 0]

By any chance, are the numbers out there to see if ECW lost money the last 15 months or so since coming back?

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Well it lost a bunch of money when it was running it's own touring schedule and was pretty quickly merged with the SD! touring.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

ECW IS SAVED, SCI FI RE-UPS PROGRAM THROUGH 2008

by Dave Scherer

 

WWE just sent out the following press release.

 

SCI FI CHANNEL REUPS WWE®’S ECW® THROUGH 2008

 

New York, N.Y., October 23, 2007 - SCI FI Channel and World Wrestling Entertainment® today announced that the hit program, ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling®, will continue on the network through 2008.

 

WWE is also the producer of the No. 1 weekly basic cable TV series, “Monday Night RAW®” on USA Network.

 

This year (Jan-Sept), SCI FI has been the #1 cable network for men ages 18-34 in ECW's Tuesday 10pm time period.

 

For more information go to ECW.com http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/ and www.SCIFI.com.

[tekcop 0]

Since I'm excited about ECW being saved, watched the show's quality drop off.

[Hawk 34 0]

Since I'm excited about ECW being saved, watched the show's quality drop off.

 

Making Kane and BDV the focus is a start. Kane has proven to spike ratings before, so I'm not against Kane being a fixture on ECW. If WWE was worried about ECW getting ax'd they probably would've moved Dusty out. Just keep Dusty and his group intact.

[Guest thehartfoundation]

Hopefully it ends quickly, it is painful to watch. The only ECW originals left are Tommy Dreamer, Stevie Richards, and Balls Mahoney. Whatever happened to the Extreme Rules contests they used to have a least once a night. C.M. Punk as champ, please. Punk is a good guy, but he would never have a shot at the titles on Smackdown, Batista and Taker would lay him out on Smackdown. And sadly to say he would have no chance vs. Orton. I'd rather have Heat even Velocity back instead of this. They should have another Draft in which Smackdown and Raw picks superstars from ECW. Ohh yeah Nunzio is still there too, but along with Stevie, there are nuthin but squash wrestlers.

Just in case there was any confusion, wrestling, is indeed a work.

 

CM Punk wouldn't be the champ on ECW either if it hadn't been for a wrestler's death and a drug bust.

 

Yeah I understand what your saying, I was just saying that Punk is a poor choice for a brand's champion, there are many guys who would make for a better stroyline, and a better champ altogether. I wasn't trying to say that wrestling isn't a work, because it is.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I'd be happy if they'd just differentiate the show from RAW and Smackdown a bit more. I'm not asking for the old ECW, because that would be impossible, but don't give us the same product three nights a week.

[Hawk 34 0]

Hopefully it ends quickly, it is painful to watch. The only ECW originals left are Tommy Dreamer, Stevie Richards, and Balls Mahoney. Whatever happened to the Extreme Rules contests they used to have a least once a night. C.M. Punk as champ, please. Punk is a good guy, but he would never have a shot at the titles on Smackdown, Batista and Taker would lay him out on Smackdown. And sadly to say he would have no chance vs. Orton. I'd rather have Heat even Velocity back instead of this. They should have another Draft in which Smackdown and Raw picks superstars from ECW. Ohh yeah Nunzio is still there too, but along with Stevie, there are nuthin but squash wrestlers.

Just in case there was any confusion, wrestling, is indeed a work.

 

CM Punk wouldn't be the champ on ECW either if it hadn't been for a wrestler's death and a drug bust.

 

Yeah I understand what your saying, I was just saying that Punk is a poor choice for a brand's champion, there are many guys who would make for a better stroyline, and a better champ altogether. I wasn't trying to say that wrestling isn't a work, because it is.

 

Yeah. He is a poor choice. He's over, moves merch, a good performer and an good promo. What a shitty guy to put as the face of a brand.

[Guest thehartfoundation]

I'd be happy if they'd just differentiate the show from RAW and Smackdown a bit more. I'm not asking for the old ECW, because that would be impossible, but don't give us the same product three nights a week.

 

Totally agree, because right now it's just a bad version of the other two shows. Some of the storylines are decent though, such as the Kelly Kelly/Balls situation, but it will just end in Balls fighting the Miz for the rights to Extreme Expose's contract, we have all seen that before. Other than that the storylines have been pretty crappy.