What if ECW survived....INITIALLY.

[Jason Old School]

The following is the fantasy booking of an ECW January 2002 PPV. Let me know what you think. What if WWE had only purchased WCW and NOT purchased ECW. What if someone else (who had as deep of pockets as Ted Turner) had purchased ECW and kept it alive as WWE’s main competition. If that would have happened in 2001, this would have been my very first PPV of 2002 as a kickoff of the re-birth of ECW. My version of an ECW re-birth would have been 50% the best of ECW’s product and 50% the best of WCW’s product. It would be a 2-night kickoff PPV; Saturday AND Sunday.....again, let me know what you think, would love to hear your comments...here we go!


[ ]...brackets denote belonging to a faction

Broadcast Team:

Ring Announcers
—David Penzar
—Gary Michael Cappetta

Interviews
—“Mean” Gene Okerland
—Jeremy Borash
—Lee Marshall

Ringside Broadcast Team #1
—Joey Styles
—“The Living Legend” Larry Zbyzsko

Ringside Broadcast Team #2
—Tony Schiavone
—Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
—“Rowdy” Roddy Piper

Broadcast Team #3
—Scott Hudson
—“The Proffesor” Mike Tenay
—The Honky Tonk Man

​

ECW World Heavyweight Championship Match

Champion
“The Franchise” Shane Douglas [The Dangerous Alliance] w/ Francine, Paul E. Dangerously, and Mr. Hughes
V.S.
Challenger
“The Macho Man” Randy Savage


Ladder Match for ECW Television Championship

Champion
“Mr. PPV” Rob Van Dam w/ Bill Alphonso
V.S.
Challenger
Jerry Lynn


ECW Cruiserweight Championship Match

Champion
Chris Candido [Dangerous Alliance] w/ Tammy Sytch, Paul E. Dangerously, and Mr. Hughes
V.S.
Challenger
Juventud Guerrera


20-Team Gauntlet Battle Royal (Royal Rumble style, but when 1 member of team is eliminated the whole team is) for vacant ECW World Tag-Team Championships

—Bad Breed (Axl & Ian Rotten) [The Asylum] w/ Warden Cyrus (aka Don Callis)

—The Public Enemy (“Flyboy” Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge) w/ “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart

—The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) w/ “The Nasty Girl” Missy Hyatt

—The Can-Am Express (Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon) [The Alliance] w/ “Superstar” Bill Dundee

—The Rock’n’Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson)

—The Fantastics (Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton)

—The Southern Rockers (Rex King & Steve Doll)

—The Texas Hangmen (Killer & Psycho) (aka Disorderly Conduct; Mean Mike & Tough Tom) w/ “Dirty” Dutch Mantel

—The Destruction Crew (Wayne Bloom & Mike Enos) (aka The Beverly Brothers) [The Stud Stable] w/ Col. Robert Fuller

—Badd Company (Paul Diamond & Pat Tanaka) [The Syndicate] w/ Scott D’Amore

—The French Canadians (Jacques Rougeau & Carl Oulett) w/ “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart

—The Demolishers (Axis & Smasher) (aka Demolition) w/ Baron Von Raschke

—The Pitbulls (Pitbull I & Pitbull II) w/ Jason Knight

—The Jurassic Powers (Scott Norton & Hercules Hernandez) [Mega-Bucks Enterprises] w/ Ted Dibiase & Verble (aka Virgil)

—The Disasters (Monsoon & Tsunami) (aka Typhoon & Earthquake)

—The New Samoan Swat Team (Samu & Tama) w/ Afa

—The Steiner Brothers (“Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner & “The Dog-Faced Gremlin” Rick Steiner)

—The British Bruisers (Davey Boy Smith & Johnny Smith) w/ Capt. Lou Albano

—The Gangstas (New Jack & Mustafa)

—The Roadwarriors (Hawk & Animal) w/ Paul Ellering


War Games

The Dangerous Alliance
—“The Perfect One” Curt Hennig
—King Kong Bundy
—The New Skyscrapers (“Psycho” Sid Vicious & “Primetime” Brian Lee)
W/ Madusa, Paul E. Dangerously, and Mr. Hughes
V.S.
The Dream Team
—“The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes
—“The Natural” Dustin Rhodes
—Barry Windham
—“The Russian Nightmare” Nikita Kollof


Hardcore War Games

Sullivan’s Army of Darkness
—Kevin Sullivan [Devastation Inc.]
—Abdullah the Butcher [Devastation Inc.]
both w/ Gen. Skandor Akbar
—Big Van Vader w/ Harley Race
—Sabu w/ Bill Alphonso
V.S.
The Hardcore Dream Team
—“The Innovater of Violence” Tommy Dreamer w/ Beulah McGillicuty
—“The Hardcore Legend” Terry Funk w/ Dory Funk Jr.
—Cactus Jack
—The Sandman


30-Minute Iron Man Match

“The Chosen One” Jeff Jarrett w/ 911
V.S.
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat


Fatal 4-Way for #1 Contendorship to ECW World Heavyweight Championship

Ken Shamrock w/ Bruno Sammartino
V.S.
Vampiro
V.S.
Konnan
V.S.
Masato Tanaka [The J-Car Corporation] w/ Gary Hart


Rey Mysterio Jr.
V.S.
The Great Sasuke [The J-Car Corporation] w/ Gary Hart


Jushin Thunder Liger
V.S.
Ultimo Dragon w/ Sonny Onoo


ECW Rules Family War

The Dudley Family
—“Big” Dick Dudley
—“Little” Snot Dudley
—“Little” Spike Dudley
—Chubby Dudley
—Dudley Dudley
—Dances With Dudley
w/ Sign-Guy Dudley & “The Quintessential Studmuffin” Joel Gertner
V.S.
The Full-Blooded Italians
—Little Guido Maritato
—Big Guido Maritato
—Tony Mamaluke
—Vito Lagrasso
—“The Italian Stallion” J.T. Smith
—“The Main Man” Tracey Smothers
W/ “The Big Don” Tommy Rich and Sal E. Graziano


Doom III (Butch Reed, Tony Atlas, and Tony Norris (aka Ahmed Johnson)) w/ Sister Sherri Martel
V.S.
The Armstrong Brothers (Brad Armstrong, Scott Armstrong, and Steve Armstrong) w/ “Bullett” Bob Armstrong


“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan [The Alliance] w/ “Superstar” Bill Dundee
V.S.
“The Carribean Heartthrob” Al Perez [The J-Car Corporation] w/ Gary Hart


4-Way King of the Mountain Match for #1 Contendorship to ECW Cruiserweight Championship

Psychosis
V.S.
Super Crazy
V.S.
A.J. Styles
V.S.
Kid Kash w/ Jason Knight


The Ugandan Warriors (Kamala & Kamala II (aka Uganda)) [Devastation Inc.] w/ Gen. Skandor Akbar & Sgt. Friday (aka Kim Chee)
V.S.
The Sheephearders (Butch Miller & Luke Williams) (aka The Bushwackers)


Best of 5 Series
New Japan v.s. All Japan

Legends Match
New Japan
Tatsumi Fujanami
V.S.
All Japan
Riki Choshu

Tag-Team Match
New Japan
Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima
V.S.
All Japan
Jun Akiyama & Jinsei Shinzaki

For IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Champion (New Japan)
Kensuke Sasaki
V.S.
Challenger (All Japan)
Toshiaki Kawada

6-Man Tag-Team Match
New Japan
—Masahiro Chono
—Hiroyoshi Tenzan
—Shinya Hashimoto
all w/ Sonny Onoo
V.S.
All Japan
—Genichiro Tenryu
—Hiroshi Hase
—Akira Taue

For Triple-Crown Heavyweight Championship
Champion (All Japan)
Mitsuharu Misawa [The Alliance] w/ “Superstar” Bill Dundee
V.S.
Challenger (New Japan)
The Great Muta [The J-Car Corporation] w/ Gary Hart


The Badstreet Boys (Christian York & Joey Matthews)
V.S.
PG-13 (JC Ice & Wolfie D)


Mil Mascaras [The Alliance] w/ “Superstar” Bill Dundee
V.S.
Cien Caras


Prince Iaukea
V.S.
Cybernetico


The Moondogs (Spike, Spot, and Cujo) w/ Richard Lee
V.S.
The Syndicate (Simon Diamond, Johnny Swinger, and “The Enforcer” C.W. Anderson) w/ Scott D’Amore


La Parka
V.S.
El Canek


The Headhunters (Headhunter I and Headhunter II) [The J-Car Corporation] w/ Gary Hart
V.S.
The Carribean Connection ( Ricky Santana & Fidel Sierra)


Carlito Colon
V.S.
Miguel Perez Jr.


The Extremists (Devon Storm & Ace Darling)
V.S.
Los Villanos (Villano IV and Villano V)


Carlos Colon
V.S.
TNT (aka Savio Vega)


20-Man Cruiserweight Battle Royal

—Perro Aguayo
—Perro Aguayo Jr.
—Hector Garza
—Jerry Estrada
—Negro Casas
—Silver King
—Latin Lover
—Heavy Metal
—El Dandy
—El Hijo del Santo
—El Samurai
—Pierroth Jr.
—Tiger Mask IV
—Gran Hamada
—Octagon
—Blue Panther
—Dick Togo
—Taka Michinoku
—Shinjiro Ohtani
—Koji Kanemoto


The Asylum (The Convict (aka Nailz), The One Man Gang, and Bruiser Mastino (aka Mantaur)) w/ Warden Cyrus
V.S.
The House of Humperdink (“The Beast From the East” Bam Bam Bigelow, Brutus Beefcake, and “Iceman” King Parsons) w/ Sir Oliver Humperdink


Justin Credible [Mega-Bucks Enterprises] w/ Dawn Marie, Ted Dibiase, and Verble
V.S.
Kevin Von Erich w/ Thunderbolt Patterson


8-Man Elimination Tag-Team Match (Survivor Series style)

—“Old School” Steve Corino [The Syndicate] w/ Jack Victory and Scott D’Amore
—Greg “The Hammer” Valentine w/“The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart
—“Dr. Death” Steve Williams [Mega-Bucks Enterprises]
w/ Ted Dibiase and Verble
—Black Bart [The Stud Stable] w/ Col. Robert Fuller
V.S.
—Bob Backlund
—Mikey Whipwreck
—Al Snow
—Flash Flanagan


The Patriot [The Alliance] w/ “Superstar” Bill Dundee
V.S.
Tonga (aka Haku) [Devastation Inc.) w/ Gen. Skandor Akbar


The Alliance (Chris Chavis (aka Tatanka) and Norman Smiley) w/ “Superstar” Bill Dundee
V.S.
The Stud Stable (Bobby Eaton & Jimmy Golden (aka Bunkhouse Buck)) w/ Col. Robert Fuller


“The War-Machine” Rhino w/ “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart
V.S.
2 Cold Scorpio


“The Japanese Buzzsaw” Tajiri [Mega-Bucks Enterprises] w/ Ted Dibiase and Verble
V.S.
Lash LeRoux​

 

[Jason Old School]

So LOTS OF FACTIONS!!! Almost all of them heel, with a few babyface factions:

The Dangerous Alliance:
—Paul E. Dangerously
—Mr. Hughes
—Madusa
—“The Franchise” Shane Douglas
—Francine
—Chris Candido
—Tammy Sytch
—King Kong Bundy
—The New Skyscrapers (“Psycho” Sid Vicious & “Primetime” Brian Lee)

The Asylum:
—Warden Cyrus (aka Don Callis)
—The Convict (aka Nailz)
—The One Man Gang
—Bruiser Mastino (aka Mantaur)
—Bad Breed (Axl & Ian Rotten)

Jimmy Hart Guys:
—“The War Machine” Rhino
—The Public Enemy (“Flyboy” Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge)
—Greg “The Hammer” Valentine
—The French Canadians (Jacques Rougeau & Carl Oulett)

The Alliance:
—“Superstar” Bill Dundee
—“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan
—The Patriot
—“Native American” Chris Chavis (aka Tatanka)
—The Can-Am Express (Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon)
—Mil Mascaras
—Norman Smiley
—Mitsuharu Misawa

The Stud Stable:
—Col. Robert Fuller
—Bobby Eaton
—Jimmy Golden (aka Bunkhouse Buck)
—Black Bart
—The Destruction Crew ( Wayne Bloom & Mike Enos) (aka The Beverly Brothers)

The Syndicate:
—Scott D’Amore
—“Old School” Steve Corino
—Jack Victory
—“The Enforcer” C.W. Anderson
—Johnny Swinger
—Simon Diamond
—Badd Company (Paul Diamond & Pat Tanaka)

Mega-Bucks Enterprises:
—Ted Dibiase
—Verble (aka Virgil)
—Justin Credible
—Dawn Marie
—“The Japanese Buzzsaw” Tajiri
—“Dr. Death” Steve Williams
—The Jurassic Powers (Scott Norton & Hercules Hernandez)

Devastation Inc.:
—Gen. Skandor Akbar
—Kevin Sullivan
—Abdullah the Butcher
—Tonga (aka Haku)
—Sgt. Friday (aka Kim Chee)
—The Ugandan Warriors (Kamala & Kamala II (aka Uganda))

The J-Car Corporation:
—Gary Hart
—The Great Muta
—The Great Sasuke
—Masato Tanaka
—“The Carribean Heartthrob” Al Perez
—The Headhunters (Headhunter I and Headhunter II)

The House of Humperdink:
—Sir Oliver Humperdink
—“Iceman” King Parsons
—Brutus Beefcake
—“The Beast From the East” Bam Bam Bigelow

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Why are there so many guys who were under WCW contract when they were brought by WWE on this? It would be asinine to assume that every single WCW talent would scorn WWE and head to ECW, a company that A already couldn't pay the workers it had under contract and B) was never going to be mainstream enough to have a deep pocket investor take a shot on them.

 

[Jason Old School]

Why are there so many guys who were under WCW contract when they were brought by WWE on this? It would be asinine to assume that every single WCW talent would scorn WWE and head to ECW, a company that A already couldn't pay the workers it had under contract and B) was never going to be mainstream enough to have a deep pocket investor take a shot on them.

I may be wrong, but I thought that everyone included were WCW guys that WWE chose NOT to bring over. As far as I can tell none of them went to WWE unless it was years later. I didn’t include WCW guys that went to WWE in WCW’s buyout like DDP, Booker T, Kanyon, Harris Brothers. Some guys I think had already switched to WWE too but there were lots of guys I would have loved to use but didn’t such as Dudley Boyz, Raven, Saturn, Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero, Jericho. If there are any listed that you know for sure are incorrect, I would love to hear it.

 

[relentless1]

ECW brand was shit, even more so than WCW at the end. No way you make a decent run with that company as outside of its small but vocal hardcore fanbase you weren't going to find much in the way of fan or sponsor support, everybody seems to remember ECW with rose tinted glasses but in reality it was a niche product that had a very low ceiling as far as capital gains are concerned

 

[enviousdominous]

If ECW had a massive comeback special that displayed any semblance of organization or planning, fans would wonder if it was really ECW.

It's my understanding that Vince and Paul were in cahoots long before ECW and WCW came crawling to Vince, begging that Vince cover their debts.

It should also be noted that ECW spawned a bunch of copy-cat companies (FCW, XPW, CZW, etc.) I imagine that ECW's capability to survive and manage to produce a big-money PPV would also involve those companies going belly up at around the same time.

 

[Jason Old School]

I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD CLARIFY THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD. I just meant what if ECW survived INITIALLY. I’m not saying I think they for sure could have competed long-term with WWE and survived until today. Vince is a heck of a businessman! I’m just imagining what it might have looked like if someone other than WWE bought ECW. I disagree with the post earlier that they would not have had a nationwide fan base. EVERYONE who considered themselves a wresting fan during that time at least knew of ECW. They knew they were the number #3 company and they knew they had a different product than the other two. I know in that day that they couldn’t have aired a show on Monday that competed with Raw or Nitro but I DO think that if they would have had a live show on a different night of the week...even on Thursday head-to-head with Thunder, that fans would have been all over that. So, I think if WCW were gone, they would have automatically been elevated in the eyes of fans to the #2 company simply out of a lack of anything else out there. And we as fans had gotten accustomed to having 2 companies that competed with each other! And if there could have been another guy out there say a Rupert Murdoch or a Donald Trump (one of those guys could have definitely gotten a tv deal) who could have shelled out the dollars just like Ted Turner did for Bischoff, then all you would have needed would have been a good business manager. Someone better than Bischoff, and someone who could get the best out of people. You needed someone to harness the good things Heyman, Dusty Rhodes, Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Sullivan, etc. brought to the table and package it all together. I mean Bischoff consistently beat THE Vince McMahon for quite a long time and Bischoff was AWFUL! Heck, I could have done a better job than him. Surely there was someone out there in the wrestling world that had that skill set to do this. So...if you had that owner and if you had that manager....this is something we could have had rather than the death of wrestling as we knew it. Also, I’ve gone back and looked at some of the questionable ones, but it looks to me like all these superstars would have been contractually free to sign with an ECW reboot. (a reboot launched into the mainstream) Again, would love to hear from you guys, and not just about the idea itself but the card, the factions, ALL THOSE MANAGERS AND VALETS!!!! Let me know what you like and what you don’t!

 

[FromGlasgowScotland]

It would have been interesting and better for wrestling if ECW survived, WCW closed around the same time and wrestling in my view has never been the same since. There was no shortage of new talent around this time they may have had wrestlers like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode, James Storm, Chris Daniels, Eric Young, Nigel Mcguiness, Bryan Danielson and CM Punk work for them instead of going to TNA or ROH plus a few of th ex WCW guys. There was definitely still demand for ECW as watch any wrestling shows around this time all you heard was ECW chants for years later as well as the initial success of the WWE, ECW reunion shows. Especially if they could have kept some of their original talent like Tommy Dreamer and Rob Van Dam I think we could easily have had a few more good years.

 

[Mhall004]

37 ( I believe I counted right) matches in 2 days on PPV?
Multiple Battle royal, royal rumble style matches and a 30 minute iron man match......
Sorry just sitting here thinking about how long these shows would have to be and the price tag that would be on that kind of a way...way over filled event. WOW

 

[Jason Old School]

Well the 30-minute iron man match and the gauntlet tag-battle royal plus the war games matches and the 8-man elimination tag WOULD ALL take time. Probably would have to be split between 3 nights. Maybe 2-night PPV (3 hours a piece) (with some matches on 1 hour pre-show) and then some leftover matches the following Monday or Tuesday night on the weekly live programming. Would be EPIC!!

 

[Heisenberg]

Asinine post. As said above, a ton of those WCW names were under contract with Turner and sat home getting paid. WWE already had taken The Dudley Boyz & Taz, would have certainly paid to sign Rob Van Dam, and given his previous history with the company, Johnny Polo, aka Raven probably would have came too. Not to mention Rhyno, who at the time was the last ECW Champ I believe. No way Paul E. would stick around without almost full control. So what's left? Lance Storm probably would have interested WWE, and a couple other names. WWE was at a peak. Anybody free of contract that they chose would have went there. Any WCW guy that wasn't on a big deal to sit home like Booker, DDP would have still chose WWE. So all that to say an ECW reboot in 2002 would have went about the same as it did when WWE tried to do it. Horribly.

 

[Elias Crow]

There are some decent matches and ideas in there but like someone else mentioned the card is way too bloated. In general it reminds me a lot of the early days of ECW when they were Eastern Championship Wrestling with lots of WCW and WWE cast offs and a few newcomers like Sabu, Taz, Sandman, etc. that hadn't found their voice yet. (Although I think Sabu had wrestled quite a big in Japan.)

You get bonus points for putting in Jurassic Powers though. Loved those guys.

I'm a huge ECW fan but it had its years when it wasn't so great. Anything before 1995 and after 1998 wasn't all that good, if not downright awful at times. 1995-1998 was some of the best stuff ever in my opinion though. Those were the years right before WCW and WWF raided their top talent so they had a great mix of established, new, and international wrestlers. And it was a lean production. No 20 minute in-ring segments, they focused on wrestling.

Fun exercise and great question, but I'm also ok with ECW being a thing of the past. They died long before the company closed. I thought the PPVs that WWE and TNA did in 2005 were pretty good. The reboot WWE tried in 2006 was a travesty though.