BIG NEWS: ECW appears to be coming to an end

[Ambiguous Turd]

Source: PWInsider.com

- Sources say that WWE may be implementing some major changes to regarding the ECW brand. Apparently the letters "ECW" may be gone soon.

WWE has been in talks with the SyFy network about the future of the ECW brand. WWE is planning a major re-branding and word is that WWE will still keep the 10pm time slot and may introduce a new TV show similar to WWE Superstars on WGN America.

Now, based on this news, we are going to need all of the WWE Shareholders to come into this thread, from the "Let's Rename ECW thread" ... the ones who said that "the ECW is fine the way it is BECAUSE it's smart business to take advantage of the ECW name". As if you actually think anyone is going to think this ECW is the same as classic ECW of old, and get hooked because of it.

As others and I have said, that well dried up of every last drop of water a loooong time ago. Therefore, it makes ZERO shred of sense to continue calling it ECW, especially if you aren't going to rename ECW in what it stands for, because it obviously isn't "Extreme Championship Wrestling". But you can't continue calling a show by 3 initials, without giving those initials a name.

Well, it appears that one of two things is going to happen. Either:

1) The show WILL be renamed. And if that's the case, I expect all the Shareholders who said to the contrary in the other thread, to fall in line in here ... since you've been told that the company priorities are now otherwise.

OR

2) WWE will do away with the ECW Brand altogether. And if that's the case, I also expect all the Shareholders who currently stick up for the ECW product today, to abandon those principles to tow the company line. Remember, your job is to agree with whatever direction the company takes at all times.

So if you supposedly "enjoyed" the concept of an Advanced Training & Development Show ... and WWE now tells you that they want a show like Superstars to take its place .... then you all need to Tell the rest of us "How great an idea that was ... and that this is the Best idea that WWE has ever had regarding the Brand".

Now, I have NEVER, EVER embraced the idea of a national advanced Developmental Brand at all. My feelings are that there are more than enough training and development measures already in place in WWE.

1) FCW
2) House Shows
3) Dark Matches at TV tapings

and that those methods are evidently not being used up to their potential. Having a cheap WWE Developmental Brand on TV only cheapens the WWE image, if WWE wants fans to think of it actually as a true third Brand of the company.

So I am in complete agreement of them doing away with the concept currently in place, and replacing it with a WWE Superstars-like show.

As a matter of fact, I will say that what is the best idea they could do would be to take this new show, and WWE Superstars, and assign EACH show to a Brand.

Assign the new show to Raw.

Assign WWE Superstars to Smackdown.

In essence, we would be re-creating the old concepts of WWF Superstars (for Smackdown) and WWF Wrestling Challenge (for Raw).

That way, each Brand has a second show to work with talent not featured as often on TV. That way, they can ALSO use these shows to debut new talent, as well. But they would not be considered WWE Developmental shows. But they would be the "B" shows for each Brand.

So, I'd like to hear a couple things from everyone.

1) What do you feel about ECW as it currently is, closing up shop and being Re-branded? Is this a mistake on WWE's part or is it the right decision to make?

2) What do you think WWE should do with the program IF they do away with ECW?

 

[Leafy]

WWE is messing up a great system they had. They would put stars they were unsure of on ECW and guaranteed ones on Smackdown and Raw. (Which has worked oppositely almost, hmm) There is no reason for them to close, as much as an ECW fan I am this is not worth it. We didn't want to kill it! We just wanted a name change. I hope this is as false as the Swagger story.

 

[PEP3]

Personally, I think watching another "Superstars"-style show is pointless. I have actually enjoyed watching the ECW brand. It's been made easier by the fact that I held no special affinity for the "ECW" name and did not expect it to live up to any previous product produced by Paul Heyman. Instead, I allowed the current TV product to stand on its own and entertain me based on its own merits.

In what is strictly a personal opinion, I believe having different brands available on each of the various network affiliates is good for viewers. It gives us an opportunity to watch three separate products while enjoying a consistently stylized WWE product. And, if I'm to be honest, I tend to enjoy the ECW brand more than RAW on significant occasions, so I would hate for that to disappear entirely.

However, on the flip-side, I can also see how it could harm the WWE to a small degree as well. Some cable providers or packages likely do not offer some of the necessary channels to see all three, leaving groups of viewers completely in the dark about a portion of WWE programming. This would potentially decrease PPV buyrates, etc. By adding a re-cap show, it would give SyFy viewers access to portions of all WWE performers/product.

At any rate, my personal feeling is clear. I sure hope this is a falsehood. ECW is a fun product, features good in-ring performances and allows some of my personal long-time favorites (Goldust!) to shine. It would suck for that avenue to simply disappear!

 

[rko57]

At least Christian gets to move on up! I personally think they could rename it, but they should keep the show! Why not WCW? lol

But seriously, the ECW has given us great things since it became a minor leagues for the WWE. They need to at least keep the ECW concept so that they can keep giving us new superstars!

 

[BladeRunner]

The majority of people who loved ECW back in the day have hated the new ECW almost from day one. Yeah, at first they really had ECW as best it could be in WWE. Paul Heyman, the classic ECW wrestlers, etc. It was actually pretty cool imo. Then it got turned into something wholly different. And it's made people despise WWE for "denigrating" the "good name" of ECW. I see that attitude no matter where I go or who I talk to.

Now, I have a feeling that the actual show itself, as it is right now, will not change a bit. They're just changing the name to suit what it is at this particular moment. Which is not "Extreme Championship Wrestling". At all.

This is a great idea that should've been thought up a long time ago. WWE wasn't fooling anyone with the name ECW. It didn't attract anyone. And if it did make them watch because its name was ECW it then made people hate WWE for destroying ECW.

Finally they're going to name the show for what it is. It's about time.

 

[johnbragg]

I hope that they don't kill the Tuesday Night Wrestling brand. I hope they just rename it to bring the name in line with the reality of what the show is.

When they started, the idea was to revive ECW. You had Paul Heyman, RVD, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, a cable timeslot, and the momentum from two very successful One Night Stand Pay Per Views. You had Kurt Angle and the Big Show. And you had some new talent to fill out the roster. And you had 2.0 and change ratings for a while.

But things happen. ECW gets taped before Raw or Smackdown rather than at its own tapings. Pot advocates get arrested and de-pushed. Olympic Gold Medalists with broken freakin necks get addicted to pain pills and have WWE terminate their contracts early. Paul Heymann clashes with Vince and Stephanie and gets sent home.

A December to Dismember PPV was a complete and total disaster.

So the ECW experiment came to an end. ECW was not going to be reborn under WWE ownership. But there was still a show on Tuesday nights, a contract with SciFi and some foreign TV channels.

So ECW became WWE Developmental TV. Vince McMahon's New Breed challenged the remaining ECW Originals, and soon the originals were gone from ECW and from WWE. And, as often happens with prospects, none of the New Breed stuck around as successful wrestlers, although Matt Striker became an announcer.

I don't think that another Superstars show would work very well. Superstars as it is usually has three matches, one from Raw, one from SD, one from ECW. A second Superstars show would mean six matches from two shows. Ending ECW would free up a dozen wrestlers to work pointless undercard matches with no story and no future, but is that the way to go?

On the other hand, Superstars on WGN gets almost as good ratings as ECW on SyFy, and SyFy is a better network. Maybe ECW is just performing at the floor for a wrestling show on national cable, so changing the format can't do any harm.

Maybe this is a good business move, but I've never bothered to watch Superstars, while I have occassionally caught ECW. I never bothered to watch Velocity, and I almost never watched Sunday Night Heat, the old B-Shows.

 

[johnbragg]

WWE has been in talks with the SyFy network about the future of the ECW brand. WWE is planning a major re-branding and word is that WWE will still keep the 10pm time slot and may introduce a new TV show similar to WWE Superstars on WGN America.

A "major re-branding" would be renaming ECW on SyFy something else. I'd go with FutureShock, but that and every other non-ECW possibility was overwhelmingly voted down on the Rename ECW thread.

"Introducing a new show" could mean ADDING a show on SyFy. Maybe Mondays at 8 p.m? Screw you, TNA?

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Well, luckily the source on this is PWI, which I give about as much credence as I do to claims that Punk is in the Doghouse.

Either way, IF this is true, it's a horrible move. ECW has been a very entertaining hour of wrestling ever since its inception. I'm not Baron Von Smarkington and decry the WWE for not making it extreme. I'm quite comfortable with it being a developmental brand, because it has proven to be a very entertaining show. Midcarders have the chance to main event, and re-establish themselves on the brand. Wrestlers have the opportunity to be repackaged and start getting over on television and get slowly eased into things. For the channel and timeslot it has, it does very well ratings-wise. There is basically no additional cost to run the show either. Most of all, it lets guys who debut get a chance to get some momentum. They get to see how they would do on television on a bigger audience than they normally would have. By getting the chance to develop their skills and presence in something longer than 4 minute matches, it really gives them a chance to succeed on Raw or Smackdown once they get moved there.

Most wrestlers who debut on the two big shows rarely ever get the chance to gain some footing. Usually, they'll debut, and soon find themselves in over their heads and swallowed up by the people who are already on the roster and had places before.

Without ECW, a lot of guys on the Raw and Smackdown roster who are currently getting pushed may have had to wait longer to get their chance. Look no further than Kofi Kingston. He had some growing pains his first couple of months on ECW, and now he's on the verge of superstardom. If he debuts on Raw, he doesn't get the patience that would have been required.

And I'm sick of the "HURR, IT'S NOT EVEN EXTREME CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING" criticism that goes on around here. The brand name gives it the instant interest factor that it wouldn't get otherwise.

 

[Spillz3000]

I say go with the change. Make another Superstar like show. I love Lord Sidious's idea of making the new show Raw's B Show and Superstars Smackdown's B show. I think if ECW ends they should actually hold a special draft show on Raw or Smackdown and have the respective GM's pick the vacated roster clean.

I can see pretty good storylines out of this such as Christain being picked up by either brand and he can go on about how he was the champion of his brand and never lost his belt. He then injects himself into the World or WWE title hunt pointing out that since he never lost his belt he should be first in line to get a crack at that particular brand's most prestigious championship. It can immediately inject Christain into the Main Event by fueding with the champ or the current contenders to that champ.

During the draft they can show all the ECW wrestlers in the back wondering which brand they will be picked up by. SmackDown and Raw can then continue their rivalry fighting over the best wrestlers from the ECW brand. I really think this could be very entertaining.

Also I don't see how you guys think this would ruin the introduction of new stars. The B shows can still serve that purpose of introducing new talent and showing talent that otherwise don't get that much oppurtunity to wrestle on the main shows. If the new stars start to rally up impressive victories/crowd backing then move them up. You can still judge if a wrestle can get good heel or face reactions to move them up.

Hell even have co-gm's to oversee the B shows. Don't get me wrong you can still have the regular GM's be on there but if they are going to interject stupid things like Vickie Guerrero doing this random job then you might as well have her overseeing Superstars since she consults with Teddy Long anyway. You can have Tiffany or whoever oversee Raw's new B show since there will be no Special Guests hosts on that show. You can even have her consult with the Guest Hosts on Raw to help them run the show(with most of the guest host crap we have seen it'd be nice to have a wrestling driven person help guide them).

I don't know I actually see a lot of good possibilities with this one. Only time will tell I suppose.

 

[Dagger Dias]

So, I'd like to hear a couple things from everyone.

1) What do you feel about ECW as it currently is, closing up shop and being Re-branded? Is this a mistake on WWE's part or is it the right decision to make?

2) What do you think WWE should do with the program IF they do away with ECW?

I do enjoy ECW the way it is right now (a developmental show), but like many others, I never felt the name ECW felt right. The only 2 problems I have with ECW are its name and the fact that it is only one hour long. The talent initiative is awesome though, because there are often new people coming in.

I think WWE should empty the roster by sending everyone to Raw or Smackdown. Someone mentioned doing a draft about it, that'd work. They could make an even bigger deal about where the more popular guys like Christian will be going. Once there is no longer a third brand, then the ECW timeslot can be used for a Heat/Velocity type show.

Sidious, your idea of having this "new show" be a B show for Raw while Superstars becomes a B show for Smackdown would be a fantastic idea. It would be just like the good old days when there was Heat and Velocity as the two B shows while Raw and Smackdown were the A shows.

That's honestly what I think should happen.

 

[The Doctor]

While the whole B-Show idea is a good one, I hope that this only means they're renaming ECW. ECW is the best WWE show on TV today, even though nobody watches it. It has my favorite wrestlers, great matches, interesting storylines, a strong champion, and it's regularly entertaining which is more than I can say for RAW or Smackdown.

I hope this claim is false, because I love ECW too much to see it go.

 

[Coco]

Well, it appears that one of two things is going to happen. Either:

1) The show WILL be renamed. And if that's the case, I expect all the Shareholders who said to the contrary in the other thread, to fall in line in here ... since you've been told that the company priorities are now otherwise.

OR

2) WWE will do away with the ECW Brand altogether. And if that's the case, I also expect all the Shareholders who currently stick up for the ECW product today, to abandon those principles to tow the company line. Remember, your job is to agree with whatever direction the company takes at all times.

So if you supposedly "enjoyed" the concept of an Advanced Training & Development Show ... and WWE now tells you that they want a show like Superstars to take its place .... then you all need to Tell the rest of us "How great an idea that was ... and that this is the Best idea that WWE has ever had regarding the Brand".

Yes, we get it. You think people who support the WWE don't think for themself. How droll. How controversial. Will you be recording the responses in your little black book as per usual?

Now, I have NEVER, EVER embraced the idea of a national advanced Developmental Brand at all. My feelings are that there are more than enough training and development measures already in place in WWE.

1) FCW
2) House Shows
3) Dark Matches at TV tapings

and that those methods are evidently not being used up to their potential. Having a cheap WWE Developmental Brand on TV only cheapens the WWE image, if WWE wants fans to think of it actually as a true third Brand of the company.

STRONGLY fucking disagree. Even if dark matches, house shows, and FCW were being used in the best was possible, you still couldn't pluck someone from there (as could be done with someone who has had a good build on ECW) and put one of the top belts on them right away. Fact is, ECW does a great job establishing people for the two main brands. Shit on the first CM Punk title reign all you want, the crowd ate that shit up with a spoon when it happened and fucking worshiped Punk when he came out for his promo the following week. Then they made the mistake of booking his first major PPV defense against a more over face. Shitty booking once he got the belt killed Punk, but smart booking could have taken that reign to the moon.

Matt Hardy came out of ECW with more heat than he's ever had. Not the developmental brand's fault Matt is an injury prone, out-of-shape never-was who can't work the stick. He got a huge chance coming out of ECW though because of the momentum he built there. A talent worth a main event spot would have taken that ball and run with it.

Bobby Lashley established himself very well on an uncrowded third brand and had a major showdown where he looked like a strong candidate to end John Cena's longest and best championship run.

John Morrison and the Miz are in the midcard/upper midcard right now because they were introduced to the WWE audience at large (or repackaged) through ECW.

Dark matches, FCW, and house shows are nowhere near on ECW's level.

Can't wait to see Christian move. Unlike your Swaggers, Bournes, and Sheamus', Christian's been built superbly.

So I am in complete agreement of them doing away with the concept currently in place, and replacing it with a WWE Superstars-like show.

Shareholder.

1) What do you feel about ECW as it currently is, closing up shop and being Re-branded? Is this a mistake on WWE's part or is it the right decision to make?

Big mistake. You're introducing new talents and having the top dog there promo and put on lengthy (by WWE standards) matches on a regular basis to see if they have what it takes to rise to the top when they're moved to the big leagues while at the same time establishing a connection with the audience which they wouldn't do as well through dark matches, house shows, and FCW. Couple that with ratings success by Sci Fi standard and the fact that production costs can't be a huge deal because they travel with SmackDown and ECW has quietly become a real gem for the company.

A new B show for each brand will go the way of Heat and Velocity. Too much of that wrestling for you. Sure, Paul London vs. Jimmy Yang was fun to see on a regular basis. But new B shows for each brand won't have as much direction and purpose as the current ECW, and such filler shows aren't needed when the A-shows have a ton of filler every week.

B shows are a fine idea, but in execution the WWE will fuck it up.

2) What do you think WWE should do with the program IF they do away with ECW?

Not fuck it up.

 

[johnbragg]

This relates to the news/rumor that the ECW brand and Superstars on WGN could be finished, to be replaced by B-Shows for the Raw and Smackdown brands.

Essentially, going back to the brand extension before ECW, when Raw had Heat and Smackdown had Velocity as B-Shows.

So the poll question is, do you prefer the old Heat/Velocity setup or do you prefer the ECW/Superstars setup?

For WWE Shareholders, some TV RAtings averages from Gerweck.net

Superstars 2009 0.86
ECW 2009 1.17, 2008 1.25, 2007 1.47, 2006 1.88
Heat 2003 0.99 2002 1.11
Velocity 2003 0.75

ECW has been steadily sliding, but compare to RAW and SD
RAW 2009 3.6 2008 3.27 2007 3.61 2006 3.9 2005 3.81 2004 3.67 2003 3.76 2002 4.01
SD 2009 1.93 2008 2.33 2007 2.64 2006 2.46 2005 3.04 2004 3.18 2003 3.30 2002 3.52

Not sure why Gerweck.net doesn't have ratings for Heat or Velocity from 2004 or 2005. TWNPNews.com has them, but doesn't provide averages for the year.

This thread is highly mergeable.

 

[Coco]

Shareholders? Did Sid make an alt or did he put something in the water?

Easily ECW and Superstars, mostly so we can keep ECW. A strong developmental brand that has sent guys to the big two with great momentum trumps two filler shows that won't be used as well as they could be. Do we really need filler shows when the two main shows have tons of filler as it is? Do we really need those filler shows at the expense of the most efficiently booked hour of wrestling on TV? We test future top guys in lengthy matches, guys promo regularly to test their metal there, guys are intoduced to the audience in a way that dark matches and FCW can't, and guys have been sent from ECW to Raw or Smackdown ready to be thrust straight into the main event or upper midcard. Not only that, but ECW is just plain funner to watch most weeks than Heat and Velocity were (except on weeks where Velocity gave you an awesome cruiser match involving London and Wang or someone of the sort and a Benoit-Regal match.)

To appeal to the Shareholders: Since producing stars creates money down the road and Heat/Velocity type shows creat zero (0) stars with the way WWE books them, and since ECW does better numbers than Heat/Velocity type shows would (The best on Sci Fi!), I have to say that the only logical choice would be to keep the ECW developmental factory open for business.

Of course WWE doesn't operate in the same logical realm as the rest of us, so who knows what kind of crazy shit they'll pull.

 

[johnbragg]

Shareholders? Did Sid make an alt or did he put something in the water?

I'm taking Sidious' label and running with it. There is a place for Shareholder talk, i.e. this is what I think will help/hurt sales/ratings/business etc. There is also a place for fan talk, what I personally enjoy. I'm hyping the Shareholder label a bit to distinguish the two areas.

The difference between me and Sidious is that he uses Shareholders to mean something like "WWE Cult Members". I think you can be a Shareholder and disagree with the moves that are being made on business grounds.

And killing the Tuesday Night Brand would be a mistake on business grounds, IMO. You're right about ECW being a better place to groom stars than Heat and Velocity were. I never followed those two shows, really, since they were the second string, most easily dispensed with shows. As B-shows, they're total "red-headed stepchildren." They get the less important talent, less attention from the writers, fewer people watching them, and it spirals down to the point where USA didn't want the shows when WWE came back to USA.

Which would draw more interest some time next year: Carlito vs Dolph Ziggler as the featured match on Tuesday Night Heat, with both of them jobbing on Raw once a month or as a match for the SyFy Network Championship on "WWE Tuesday Night Trauma"?

 

[NSL]

I'm against them moving/changing the show...It has nothing to do with being an anti-Shareholder, it has to do with ECW being the only WWE show I currently give a damn about right now, and don't get that channel. Even leaving it on SyFy, and changing it, is a stupid idea. It's working fine the way it is, with Christian defending against all comers, and mid-card feuds building up everyone else.

This sucks...

 

[colalella2891]

I was gonna post a thread on this Sidious but you beat me to it. I'm so glad that this may happen. It's so stupid that they have ECW as the name for this show, because it's NOTHING like what it was, and it's just a rip-off/joke of what ECW was. I dunno if i'll still watch it, because I barely watch superstars either, but it will make me feel better to rename or even replace ECW.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I was gonna post a thread on this Sidious but you beat me to it. I'm so glad that this may happen. It's so stupid that they have ECW as the name for this show, because it's NOTHING like what it was, and it's just a rip-off/joke of what ECW was. I dunno if i'll still watch it, because I barely watch superstars either, but it will make me feel better to rename or even replace ECW.

So, you want something to be changed despite the fact that you don't like/watch the show to begin with, and you won't watch whatever the show gets replaced with?

Out of all the things I've read on this forum, this has to be up there as one of the most asinine things I've ever read. It doesn't matter if ECW is nothing like it was. It's perfectly fine the way it is, and it's the one show I make sure I watch every week if all else fails, because I'm guaranteed an hour of entertaining wrestling a week with up and comers. The show, for the most part, isn't that storyline-heavy, and the matches are long for WWE standards.

Again, I really doubt that they're thinking of replacing ECW with another Superstars. PWInsider is the only site that's reported this. If Alvarez or Meltzer say that this is a possibility (without their words being twisted around like they usually are), then that's one thing.

As far as I'm concerned, ECW is going to be there for the long haul, and I'm more than okay with that.

 

[Remix]

I didn't think that ECW changing its name was going to happen (though if it does, I'm sure i'll continue not to care), and I'm still not convinced it will. However I was of that opinion for a different reason. I thought that is didnt make sence for branding reasons. I like drawing paralells, so I'll draw one to elaborate. The advice here to become recognisable is not to change your name. The same thing applies to products as well. WWE would exxentially have to ****e out the name changes to avoid a drop in the numbers, and possibly cause a one week spike (before people realise that its still shitty ECW), so its just not worth the effort.

 

[johnbragg]

I didn't think that ECW changing its name was going to happen (though if it does, I'm sure i'll continue not to care), and I'm still not convinced it will. However I was of that opinion for a different reason. I thought that is didnt make sence for branding reasons. The advice here to become recognisable is not to change your name.

ECW ratings averages:
2006 1.88
2007 1.47
2008 1.25
2009 1.17

I think this indicates that all of the juice has been squeezed from the ECW orange. Maybe a more "Heyman-esque" ECW would have kept more of the audience that ECW on SciFi attracted in the summer of 2006, but this isn't that show.

Think of the original ECW as Jack-in-the-Box seasoned curly fries. Say Jack went bankrupt and was bought by McDonalds. McDonalds launches a new product, onion rings, using the Jack Curly Fries name.

People loved Jack Curly Fries, heard about Jack Curly Fries. They try "McDonald's Jack Fries," which are onion rings. Some people like them and keep buying. A lot of people are mad that they aren't Jack Curly Fries.

But sales are down. Everyone knows that McDonald's Jack Fries aren't the old Jack Curly Fries. Why not just have the box say "McDonald's Onion Rings" instead of "Jack Curly Fries"?

If the problem is the onion rings, then nothing will matter anyway. But isn't truth in labeling worth a try?

 

[The Doctor]

Well, it seems like all they're doing is changing the name of the show. I'm glad they're not planning on shutting down the show completely.

What should the new name be? WCW? Tuesday Nitro? I'm not a big fan of FutureShock because that sounds like a board game or children's toy.

 

[gd]

If they just change the name, it's no big deal at all. Sure, there may have been a big thread and controversy made about it, but in the end, does it really matter what the show is called? Not at all, it's about the actual content.

I think it would be a HUGE mistake to abandon the current system of the Tuesday Night slot being a separate brand that includes a mish mash of wrestlers. Sure, it may not be the greatest show out there, but it's consitently entertaining and really helps out wrestlers who may be lost in the shuffle. If they have nothing to do, ship them off to ECW so they can find something that works.

Changing this into another WWE Superstars type show was just be awful. Shows like this, or Heat and Velocity, are just pointless. It's the wrestlers that no one cares about who can't make it on either of the big brands, so they just waste their time having matches with others pointless wrestlers. No one really cares, I certainly don't. I have no idea what has happened on Superstars for months, and it doesn't really matter.

With ECW, you have some of those lower level guys, but you also have people like Christian or Regal who have some prestige and can help the lower level guys move up on the card. Yoshi beating Regal and hanging with Christian is a big deal. But, if he beats someone like Chris Masters or Primo on Superstars, no one will care at all.

Keep the system the way it is, change the name if you like, it doesn't matter to me.

 

[colalella2891]

So, you want something to be changed despite the fact that you don't like/watch the show to begin with, and you won't watch whatever the show gets replaced with?

Out of all the things I've read on this forum, this has to be up there as one of the most asinine things I've ever read. It doesn't matter if ECW is nothing like it was. It's perfectly fine the way it is, and it's the one show I make sure I watch every week if all else fails, because I'm guaranteed an hour of entertaining wrestling a week with up and comers. The show, for the most part, isn't that storyline-heavy, and the matches are long for WWE standards.

Again, I really doubt that they're thinking of replacing ECW with another Superstars. PWInsider is the only site that's reported this. If Alvarez or Meltzer say that this is a possibility (without their words being twisted around like they usually are), then that's one thing.

As far as I'm concerned, ECW is going to be there for the long haul, and I'm more than okay with that.

Wow dude, you need to relax. I've read a ton of shit on here about people complaining about the ECW name, that it really stands for 'Entertainment Championship Wrestling' and what not. It's just my opinion that having the show named ECW is stupid. And, it DOES ruin some credibility that ECW had years ago. Like Sidious said in the original post, it makes NO sense whatsoever to keep the name ECW.

And I don't give a shit if I don't watch it, it's all one product. So yes, I would prefer if they changed the name.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Wow dude, you need to relax. I've read a ton of shit on here about people complaining about the ECW name, that it really stands for 'Entertainment Championship Wrestling' and what not. It's just my opinion that having the show named ECW is stupid. And, it DOES ruin some credibility that ECW had years ago. Like Sidious said in the original post, it makes NO sense whatsoever to keep the name ECW.

And I don't give a shit if I don't watch it, it's all one product. So yes, I would prefer if they changed the name.

I need to relax? I think I raised some good points as to why you have no right to criticize a show you don't watch.

So now you want me to get into a ******ed argument about the name of it? I'm not. The name is fine as it is. This is the only place where I see people still bitch and complain about the ECW name. If people really think that the new ECW dampens the old ECW, they need to grow up. They are two entirely separate entities. The ECW name gives the third brand an instant interest factor. It's evolved from a rehash to a place where people develop and fledgling midcarders get a second chance. Sheamus, Punk, and Kofi are three top wrestlers and just three examples of success from the ECW brand. The ECW Brand gets the job done in building people.

And again, you don't watch the show, and you have absolutely no right to criticize it. TNA isn't really my cup of tea, but because I don't watch it on a constant basis, I really don't criticize it.

 

[Sean Valjean]

Keep things the way the are, but ECW is long overdue for a name change. I was thinking of naming the show "Genesis" since it's where a lot of star begin their careers, but TNA already uses that name so that's a no-go. Knowing how uninspired the WWE naming system is these days, the name will probably be a bland, literal meaning of the show; like "WWE Developmental" or the "C Show". Either that, or they'll change it to Nitro or Thunder.

I just hope they don't change the show's purpose. ECW is a great place for new comers to develop on tv and for established guys who have lost their way to reinvigorate their careers. I doubt the WWE would be stupid enough to do that, but it wouldn't be the first time I've overestimated their intelligence and been wrong.