Did John Cena derail the ECW brand in 2006?

[CM Steel]

The ECW brand made it's return in 2006 on the SyFy network in the WWE after the "One Night Stand 2" pay per-view. On the very first ECW TV show Paul Heyman made a all weapons legal battle royal in where the winner would face John Cena in a match at the WWE Vengence PPV, in which ECW original Sabu won by eliminating the Big Show. At Vengence John Cena defeated Sabu in a singles match. With Jim Ross on commantery at the booth screaming "John Cena just kicked ECW's ass"! Of course WWE chairman Vince McMahon wasn't going to allow anyone from ECW to beat his golden boy in John Cena but did Cena somewhat derail the return of the ECW brand at Vengence?

Like for example some people say at Night of Champions 2011 Triple H derailed the rise of CM Punk by writing himself to defeat Punk at the PPV. It didn't slow down the punker that much. But for the WWECW brand, it died within 4 years. So was John Cena defeating Sabu apart of the ECW comeback downfall?

 

[ThePrawnCurry]

The whole revitalisation of ECW was a mistake that took Vince 4 years to see

the PPV was magical but those days had passed and ECW mark 2 was little more than testing grounds for new stars

as soon as anyone got over with the ECW crowd, they were 'ekevated' to the main shows

With that conveyor belt, ECW was going down quick

and Sabu, he was broken by the time ECW came back around,

so i dont reckon his losses to Cena meant anything in the scheme of things.

 

[WWE4EVA!]

I do not think John Cena derailed ECW I think Vince McMahon and the writing team derailed ECW when they fired Pal Heyman and started making it nothing like the original one.

 

[AttitudeAJM]

No way. If anything John Cena was the perfect foil for the ECW originals. His match with RVD at One Night Stand really helped to show what should have been the difference between the 2 brands.

The truth is that the new ECW got off to a rocky start with RVD getting busted for drugs and certain guys just not living up to their billing.

 

[jhed1380]

John Cena did not destroy that ECW. The truth is ECW time has come and gone. Like older wrestlers that make occasional appearances we like to remember what they were however once they stayed a while we see what they are and the truth is very few ever get better with age. The ECW originals that were brought in were old tired and just not up to the challenge. Then they tried to turn ECW into a minor league program which seems to be working for NXT but it did not work and never would of because people cried foul for using killing the name ECW. We need to realize ECW was great and yes to see those guys every now and then is fine but they are not the future of wrestling. John Cena did not destroy ECW; ECW was gone by that time anyway.

 

[KangFu]

The booking and constant exodus of talent killed the original ECW. Which is why Paul Heyman bolted out of frustration after that horrible PPV with lashely winning. If Paul Heyman was given full creative control it would have been far better and successful. instead it was just a B rated WWE show with occasional extreme rules matches that weren't very extreme at all.

ECW was known for introducing younger guys from all parts of the world and getting them over. Their selection of ECW originals wasn't very good.. The tail end of ECW had young guys like Steve Corino, Rhino, Tajiri, Super Crazy, Jerry Lynn carrying alot of the shows with different styles of fast paced exciting wrestling.

instead the brought the old dinosaurs in from when ECW was first founded...
ECW was treated as a joke especially with Vince winning the belt.. There was never any real effort to

 

[Aquaman6686]

ECW had two really great periods, one from when it came back until December 2006, when it became the Bobby Lashley Fun Hour and turned to total crap. Then in 2007 when John Morrison won the title, ECW became awesome again and remained a really good show for the rest of it's tenure. Aside from a few brief periods of being boring, ECW was consistently putting on the best wrestling show on TV almost every week. The title reigns of Mark Henry, Matt Hardy, and both of Christian's were all very entertaining times. I think the show gets too much flak from the old-school ECW fans simply because it wasn't what they wanted, but from an unbiased point of view, it was a better product.

 

[joeberg]

It's easy to blame everything we don't like about the last 10yrs in WWE on Cena since he's been the face of the company for most of that time. Really though, when WWECW first went on the air and they brought out the Zombie, people looking for the original ECW could've pretty much called it a day. There's a great article from WWE.com about the whole relaunch/rebranding here.

ECW was great when it was this renegade promotion that you had to stay up till 2am to watch on the local, low power station if you could even get it to come in. PPV was great for ECW because it created a much larger potential audience without adding restrictions. It seems like ECW could have benefited from the early TNA model of weekly TV on PPV but it's my understanding that running a PPV show is expensive so maybe not.

My point is, when it went to TNN/Spike it just didn't work nearly as well. National/international shows need to appeal to the largest possible audience, something WWF & WCW had already been doing for years quite well. ECW was never really a product that appealed to everybody. It was purposely different from the big two and was only going to work for a small portion of their audiences.

TV people generally don't care about wrestling. They care about how much money a show is making/costing them. If WWF & WCW are both doing 3-5 in the ratings and ECW is only doing a 1 then why even bother with it?

When the relaunch came and it was under WWE, that gave networks a reason to want it. Had Paul Heyman won the lottery and restarted on his own...things probably would've went a lot better actually. SyFy paid for WWE though and so it was inevitable that it would get polished up and be something that someone vaguely familiar with WWE who was flipping through channels could immediately recognize as a WWE show.

If everything could be great forever, there would be no such thing as the good old days. ECW was great in its time but that time has passed. Its not coming back anytime ever so lets all just be glad we got to experience it and move on.

 

[#tamale]

No. The roster did. Outside of Kurt Angle and RVD, ECW did not start off with a great roster. Then Angle left and RVD followed soon after and the talent they had on that brand was mediocre save for a young CM Punk.

If the current NXT roster was on ECW back when it was revived, it could have been quality television.

 

[Airehk]

Interesting piece of discussion here.
In my thoughts, the WWE as a whole had a storyline to follow. I don't know if this was a pointless feud or WWE was just trying to polish up Cena even more, but I digress. Had WWE chosen to let Sabu show his dominance in a strong hardcore fashion and defeat Cena, the pot could have been stirred. ECW would have looked like a force to be reckoned with and wouldn't ave to go to another PPV to settle the score where Cena would win the "war".

Let's pretend Sabu won. He has the WWE championship, makes his rounds on Raw and SmackDown. He talks about how ECW isn't dead and they are strong, so on and so forth — naturally, he'd lose the title eventually. This would have set the tone that the ECW guys are just as good as the WWE guys because at the end of the day, they are just people and it doesn't matter what company or brand they are affiliated with. With this scenario being played out, ECW would not have been tramled on for Vince's ego, the ECW boys would have some merit to their work and everyone would look more valuable in the grand scheme of things. Just so legendary or viable stars would not have to look like Velocity/Sunday night Heat guys to who WWE acquired originally.

Alas, WWE likes to look the best with the huge ego they have what with how DDP got destroyed by Undertaker, Booker T got destroyed by Rock and Austin and the cycle will always continue as such.

 

[Nikeo]

I can't believe nobody has touched on this point yet:

The moment where Sabu was allowed to put Cena through a table on Raw. For me, that is one of the most memorable moments of the 2000's with regards to Monday Night Raw. It was a message that ECW was being taken seriously. Obviously the following years proved otherwise but, at the time, I feel that shows that the WWE were getting behind it.

ECW fans look at Sabu through rose tinted glasses. I like Sabu, at the time I REALLY liked Sabu. However, how can anyone imply that Sabu didn't go over Cena as he was "Vince's golden boy"? More like Vince's golden goose. Cena, especially back then, was a drawing phenomenon. He was the biggest star in wrestling BY FAR. Sabu was a broken down shell of a man who never drew a dime outside of ECW.

The sheer fact that Sabu was even working with the biggest star in wrestling was a HUGE rub for both Sabu and ECW.

I actually don't understand your gripe. Are you complaining that Sabu was working a Main-Event storyline or that he lost to the top face in the company? As has been stated previously that storyline was perfect in that Cena was the perfect foil for the ECW originals AND the logical conclusion was for the proven Main-Eventer to come out on top. That's why JR used that line, that was the storyline behind the feud.

You also need to look at the landscape of the company at the time. Without an understanding of what was going on in the company at the time you're looking at the event out of context.

Sabu was coming off an incredible debut with WWE. He took the then World Heavyweight (ha) Champion, Rey Mysterio, to his physical limits to the stage where neither competitor could continue. The message was clear: this guy is fucking dangerous and can go toe-to-toe with WWE's best, and hurt them. He's a threat.

John Cena was coming off of a huge loss to Rob Van Dam at One Night Stand. Further, who do you think would be working with RVD and Edge after this PPV if RVD hadn't been arrested? John Cena. Cena HAD to go over to keep up momentum and to give the fans a reason to believe that Cena was back in the title picture.

Had Cena lost, he'd have lost two straight PPV matches and wouldn't have any momentum. Don't forget - with RVD as WWE and ECW Champion he was THE guy in ECW, its top guy. Sabu, logically, was the Upper-Midcarder. He was the guy UNDER RVD. How can we believe Cena can beat RVD when he couldn't even beat the guy under RVD?

I'm sorry to be a dick but if you believe Sabu should have gone over then you simply don't have a grasp of basic booking procedures. Yes, let's invest in a guy past forty who hasn't proven he can make us money at the expense of our top earner.

To be honest, as I stated previously, I think Sabu's early WWE work was booked excellently and delivered well by the dude.

Now, onto what did derail ECW. I think RVD's bust took away from the momentum of the brand at a very, very critical stage of its development. I don't think it can be overstated just how devastating it was for the brand. While Big Show did an admirable job, he just wasn't the guy to carry the brand at the initial and pivotal stage.

Despite an IWC tendency to assign blame (without basis) to certain moments and workers, I must agree that Lashley's ECW run was terrible for that brand. It became a vessel to make Lashley. However, I think Vince winning the ECW belt, and the corresponding angle, to be golden. It would have been the perfect post-Cena angle for RVD. The heat it would have gotten with fans is immeasurable. If original ECW fans were still watching and/or cared at that point they would have been chomping at the bit for Vince to get his at the hands of Van Dam.

However, as it was Lashley going to benefit from the angle it just didn't work. Lashley was a nonsensical addition to the ECW roster in every sense.

As others have said, ECW also had some really, really good periods. Hardy, Christian, Henry and Morrison's title reigns were highlights of their respective times for me. They were great. Also, imagine what would have been if the Benoit tragedy didn't occur.

Did the brand live up to the hype? No, I don't think it did. However, going back to initial point of this thread, part of that huge hype was that ECW guys were working with top WWE stars like John Cena. Indeed, the feeling after Sabu put Cena through the table was electric.

So, did Cena derail ECW? No, not at all. That's beyond ridiculous.

Is Cena part of the reason ECW didn't live up to expectations? Partly. Cena's involvement meant people took ECW's return seriously and resulted in it being hyped to the moon. Hype that it didn't live up to.

EDIT: To the above poster. Not only was Cena not WWE Champion for this match, RVD was, but I can't believe you suggested Sabu become WWE Champion. How could a company put its biggest, most important title on a guy who had never proven to them he could make money? It'd be like putting the WWE title on on some NXT guy to get NXT over as an interesting show. It'd be a terrible mistake. Your whole plan for Sabu was already occuring with RVD as ECW AND WWE Champion.

Sabu working with Cena and RVD (who, unlike Sabu, was a proven draw worthy of the main title) working with Edge was already showing that ECW guys could hang with WWE guys.

 

[Headman]

The ECW brand made it's return in 2006 on the SyFy network in the WWE after the "One Night Stand 2" pay per-view. On the very first ECW TV show Paul Heyman made a all weapons legal battle royal in where the winner would face John Cena in a match at the WWE Vengence PPV, in which ECW original Sabu won by eliminating the Big Show. At Vengence John Cena defeated Sabu in a singles match. With Jim Ross on commantery at the booth screaming "John Cena just kicked ECW's ass"! Of course WWE chairman Vince McMahon wasn't going to allow anyone from ECW to beat his golden boy in John Cena but did Cena somewhat derail the return of the ECW brand at Vengence?

Like for example some people say at Night of Champions 2011 Triple H derailed the rise of CM Punk by writing himself to defeat Punk at the PPV. It didn't slow down the punker that much. But for the WWECW brand, it died within 4 years. So was John Cena defeating Sabu apart of the ECW comeback downfall?

This sounds like a stupid attempt to blame Cena for something else he had nothing to do with. ECW didn't fail because Cena beat Sabu. ECW failed because the product was so foreign to ECW fans that they didn't support it and people just discovering ECW saw it as a bush league brand filled with has beens and nobodys. If anything John Cena for one night made Sabu more relevant than he ever had been. It's pretty pathetic how people are still reaching for things to bash Cena for.

 

[CM Steel]

This sounds like a stupid attempt to blame Cena for something else he had nothing to do with. ECW didn't fail because Cena beat Sabu. ECW failed because the product was so foreign to ECW fans that they didn't support it and people just discovering ECW saw it as a bush league brand filled with has beens and nobodys. If anything John Cena for one night made Sabu more relevant than he ever had been. It's pretty pathetic how people are still reaching for things to bash Cena for.

I'm really not "bashing" John Cena, if anything I was "bashing" the puppet master Vince McMahon. Vince's ego did play a big part in the downfall that was WWECW. The same thing went for the invasion angle in 2001. Vince's ego is one of the other biggest things in all wrestling! ECW didn't really stand a chance for a comeback with him pulling the strings. John Cena was a bishop in Vince's little chess game with & against Paul Heyman's ECW. With Paul E. out the picture it was checkmate on everything that ECW was.

You're Welcome!

 

[HBsam31]

The original ECW One Night Stand was amazing, and even the second one was good to. They infused a lot more WWE guys into the second one but it still delivered. Then I tuned into the first ECW tv show and The Zombie was the first thing I see. I knew then that this wasn't going to be anywhere near the ECW we all knew. That's not to say it was bad. I liked the time that Punk was Champ along worth Morrison. It was just doomed from the start. No one derailed it. It was never going to succeed in the first place. As far as Sube/Cena goes Nikeo summed it up. Sabu took a step up just from facing Cena. Was there anyone that actually thought Sabu was going to win? ECW's time was gone. They should have just left it a one ppv a year.

 

[Bdub]

Didn't the WWE version of ECW derail because Sabu and RVD got busted smoking dope?

I may be mistaken but Kurt Angle was released at this time too and can imagine how different WWECW would have been with him as the top guy?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

ECW was doomed from the start and it had nothing to do with John Cena.

For one thing, ECW as it originally was simply wouldn't work on national television. That's why ECW's general success was it's own downfall. It was extremely hardcore and appealed to a cult following. It was too big to be an indy promotion but too over the top to make it as a major company. Based on the kind of trauma we've seen wrestlers endure, what's been discovered over the course of this past decade, especially when it comes to head trauma, and wrestlers dropping dead while still young men; ECW is a good example of a wrestling company not thinking about the future. It was innovative, no question about that, but with the benefit of hindsight, anyone can look back over what was happening to see that ECW was simply bad business. When ECW landed a television deal with TNN, which would go on to become Spike, the network wanted a LOT of what made ECW a success among its following toned down. As a result, ratings were in the toilet because not only was it the ECW that the audience of the company wanted, but it also didn't appeal to a majority of the fans. Even in the late 90s through today, a lot of what made ECW so appealing to some was something that you simply couldn't show on standard television.

The problem with ECW as far as WWE's attempt to restart it was the die hard success of the original ECW. Hardcore fans of the original ECW hated it because it didn't have the over the top violence and profanity. More casual fans didn't care all that much about it because, without said over the top violence and profanity, there was nothing that made it stand out from everything else. Vince believed that the name itself would be enough to keep people generally interested but that's just not how it worked out.

Without the extreme levels of violence, crazy spots and near mindless profanity at times, it was ECW in name only. With that crazy level of violence, spots & harsh language; no television network would be willing to pick it up.

 

[thebarber]

how could anybody think Cena had anthing to do with ECW being crap? The second Vince put others in charge of writing ECW television instead of Heyman was when the WWE version of ECW derailed.

 

[klunderbunker]

Yes he did, and I also have evidence he started World War II, told every child on the planet there was no Santa Claus, and lit Smokey the Bear on fire.

To blame Cena for ECW's trouble is one of the most ridiculous ideas I've ever heard. WWE's ECW was a disaster from the moment it debuted and had guys like Hardcore Holly and Test as top heels. The only thing that kept ECW going as long as it did was getting away from the old guys and making it the stop between developmental and the big time. How in the world this can be blamed on Cena is beyond me, but I assure you ECW was a wreck without Cena being there at all.

 

[Cena's #1 In My Heart]

I also believe that WWECW derailed the WWE.

It showed that the WWE no longer had the balls to be hardcore and that they had gone soft.

They dropped the ball with the most extreme promotion, they allowed DQs during matches.

It really showed off how corporate and uncaring WWE was towards the audience. The fact that they thought they could just take a built up brand with three hardcore letters and get the audience to watch it even though it was just a slightly more edgy WWE product... for a short time only too. The fact that they took all the ECW wrestlers and buried them for WWE guys.. wasn't Edge on the first ECW show with Randy Orton?!? Why wasn't Sandman and CM Punk taking on Sabu and Justin Credible or something... why weren't they trying to build a brand that would please the ECW fans instead of just their brain washed WWE fans hoping that they would think that was what ECW was truly about.

They just wanted their average viewer to think.. "Oh.. this is Hardcore.." I never watched the real ECW... but this is pretty hardcore... right guys?!? (Random WWE Mark's thoughts).

Sorry Vince, we saw through that bullshit and it just proved how soft your company had become. How corporate your company had become by not letting Heyman run wild with his own creation. Trying to preserve the company image as family and wholesome.

Just like the attitude era had died, simply because Vince doesn't have the balls to do what he did before. So now we put up with PG rip offs of other shows like Dancing with the Stars. At least they embrace what they are now... And that is why The Wyatt Family will never be as big as they can be. Because they don't have the stones to do what they need to do to get them over as credible like they did with Taker/Kane in 98 and Paul Bearer and such. Instead... they clearly avoid hitting Kane's head with the steel stairs. That is elementary right there... a flat object connecting with an object with a hole in it... the flat part won't hit the hole part where Kane's head goes!!! Could they make it anymore obvious?!? Or was the whole point to make Kane's ears ring him into sanity?

 

[Nikeo]

I also believe that WWECW derailed the WWE.

It showed that the WWE no longer had the balls to be hardcore and that they had gone soft.

They dropped the ball with the most extreme promotion, they allowed DQs during matches.

It really showed off how corporate and uncaring WWE was towards the audience. The fact that they thought they could just take a built up brand with three hardcore letters and get the audience to watch it even though it was just a slightly more edgy WWE product... for a short time only too. The fact that they took all the ECW wrestlers and buried them for WWE guys.. wasn't Edge on the first ECW show with Randy Orton?!? Why wasn't Sandman and CM Punk taking on Sabu and Justin Credible or something... why weren't they trying to build a brand that would please the ECW fans instead of just their brain washed WWE fans hoping that they would think that was what ECW was truly about.

They just wanted their average viewer to think.. "Oh.. this is Hardcore.." I never watched the real ECW... but this is pretty hardcore... right guys?!? (Random WWE Mark's thoughts).

Sorry Vince, we saw through that bullshit and it just proved how soft your company had become. How corporate your company had become by not letting Heyman run wild with his own creation. Trying to preserve the company image as family and wholesome.

Just like the attitude era had died, simply because Vince doesn't have the balls to do what he did before. So now we put up with PG rip offs of other shows like Dancing with the Stars. At least they embrace what they are now... And that is why The Wyatt Family will never be as big as they can be. Because they don't have the stones to do what they need to do to get them over as credible like they did with Taker/Kane in 98 and Paul Bearer and such. Instead... they clearly avoid hitting Kane's head with the steel stairs. That is elementary right there... a flat object connecting with an object with a hole in it... the flat part won't hit the hole part where Kane's head goes!!! Could they make it anymore obvious?!? Or was the whole point to make Kane's ears ring him into sanity?

Vince doesn't have the balls? Son, you've clearly got no concept of business. How does WWE make a lot of its money? Advertising. Will advertisers want their product associated with an ultra violent, extremely edgy, controversial and risque show? No. Like it or not, kids watch wrestling. Attitude or ECW style violence/storylines would create too much negative publicity.

ECW was never going to be, and neither should have been, a carbonn copy of the old product. It was on the Sci-Fi channel for fuck's sake.

Sorry to seem like a dick head but fans like you kinda piss me off: "OMG, Y DIDNT DEY JUS HAV BLOOD, GUTS AND GORE!!!!! DATS WAT DA FANS WANT!!!! DEY JUST DNT HAVE THE BALLZ T DO IT!!!"

If you genuinely believe what you've said in your post I'd conclude that you, like many of us, were too young to enjoy ECW originally and are instead watching it back on Youtube.

If you ARE old enough to remember ECW and STILL hold that opinion then you're not that bright.

WWE's decisions aren't because "they don't have balls", it's because they have to answer to shareholders, appease advertisers and provide entertainment that appeals to a wide range of demographics.....not just the lowest common denominator.

The reason original ECW fans weren't the sole focus of the reboot, apart from the reasons I've listed already, is because when you try to appease one single (and very, very small) demographic you alienate the others and thus have a failed product. ECW failed anyway but it lasted ALOT longer than it would have if they'd gone your route.

I think they took the hardcore aspect of ECW to the limit that American TV would allow them for that time slot and still having a "family friendly" other two shows. The problems weren't the style of wrestling, they were to do with the storylines going on.

To this day, I will assert that had RVD not fucked up the brand may have been a success. I think the consequences of that cannot be overstated, it gutted the momentum the brand had coming out of ONS and Vengeance.

Oh, and with regards the "they buried ECW guys for WWE guys". As I stated earlier, Sabu kicked the fuck out of then WHC Rey Mysterio, RVD defeated Edge AND Cena, and Sabu was wrestling John Cena. Yes, buried indeed.

Had WWE tried to appease fans like you, Jus Dynamite, their business would have suffered a great deal of damage in more than one way. If you disagree, buy a "Business for Dummys" before commenting on wrestling again. It'll help you considerably. Again, sorry to be a prick about it but I get really wound up when I talk to fans like you.

This is another case of confusing fact with opinion. An idea, storyline, character or direction for a brand/company that appeals to you does not necessarily equate to a successful concept. It's an opinion. That doesn't mean its an opinion that'll be shared by enough fans to make it successful.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Cena was never to blame for this - ECW failed because:-

a) It wasn't WCW or 2001. The time to save or "bring back" ECW wasn't 2006, or even part of the "Invasion Angle" it was when Paul was going to the wall, Vince did buy out ECW but made the exact same mistake as with WCW. Rather than buy the company, keep it somewhat autonomous and let it run, he was only after content and IP. ECW died the day the company did, same for WCW... Had Vince had the foresight or perhaps swallowed his ego enough to let both companies remain in operation, seperate from the WWF except for Mania then there was a massive chunk of change to be made and ECW would have worked.

b) Linda was running for Senate or beginning to. This was the time that PG-ification was beginning in earnest. For the first time in several years, WWE didn't have any of it's Attitude era stars at the helm, but newer more kid friendly ones and they milked that. ECW could have had a niche had they made it a TV 14 exclusive brand and not tried to get Lashley and their other "main stars" involved. When you have the PTC and others getting involved and the Mrs wanting to go to Washington, you're gonna tone it down...so ECW became Everyday Championship Wrestlling.

C) Much of the talent, particularly the "New Breed" were simply awful. There were some that had promise but fate intervened...Monty Brown was never going to be WWE champion, but he did have a shot at being a major player for ECW. Elijah Burke never really got a good chance either but the rest were pretty poor, that Punk and is perhaps the only real one who "emerged" out of ECW and has consitantly been a main event player. Sheamus has done ok, but he is top 10, not top 5. At the same time, they were busy burying the "ECW Originals" and anyone who had been an original fan was never going to stand for it.


d) Syfy was never a good fit for WWE in general, much less for a PG show. The first couple of episodes showed how badly Vince had miscalculated with that Zombie character. The Vampire guys with Gangrel then didn't really happen and before you knew it it was a toned down, watered down, PG version of a xeroxed copy of a Foley Funk match... That it was SyFy's highest rated show was not a good thing... it meant that even in that shit state, WWE programming had no business on that channel.
Ultimately ECW was in big trouble the moment that RVD was fired and Benoit put the final nail in the coffin. Had that guy just got in his plane rather than end his life, they'd have put the ECW belt on him... then watched as the cops arrested him on RAW... ECW was a lame duck after that, whoever they tried to put into the spot.

 

[King Patrick Star]

Of course John Cena did not derail ECW in 2006. I believe John Cena had nothing to do with ECW second demise.

What I think took ECW down was:

ECW was treated like NXT, only worse. The Talent Exchange was cool, but the SuperStar Initiative was a slap in the face to the ECW name. It may as well have been named NXT from that point on.

ECW needed a second hour. Yes, I understand what it was and why it was, but in order for ECW to, at the very least, look equal to both Raw and Smackdown, they should have been given an equal amount of time.

ECW needed the ECW Television Championship and the ECW Tag Team Championship and the ECW Vixens Championship. I know what you’re thinking, but if they had only gotten that much needed second hour, then having a Mid-card Title, a Tag Team Title, and a Women’s Title would have been justified. Think of the possibilities. Think of the Inter-Brand Champion vs. Champion vs. Champion possibilities. Think of Survivor Series and Bragging Rights.

ECW could have used a few more WWE names. Rob Van Dam from Raw and Kurt Angle from Smackdown was a great start!! I think WWE Champion, John Cena, World Champion, Rey Mysterio, Intercontinental Champion, Shelton Benjamin, United States Champion, Bobby Lashley, World Tag Team Champions, The Spirit Squad, WWE Tag Team Champions, Paul London and Brian Kendrick and Women’s Champion, Mickie James, would have made great additions to the ECW roster. They could have all either lost their respective Championships, or simply vacated their Titles. This would have given great depth and credible Stars for Paul Heyman to work with. Who knows what would have happened if he had access to these names.

ECW needed Paul Heyman. There is nothing I need to add to this point.

So no, it wasn't the Champ's fault.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

ECW failed because the time for guys like Tommy Dreamer and Balls Mahoney had already come and gone. Watching them in the ring, no matter what their attachment to the original ECW was just painful.

I also think you can't underestimate the amount of just bad fucking luck that hit ECW. When ECW debuted, you had guys like Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, Sabu, and CM Punk on there. For an hour long show, they had some excellent talent at the start. However, Van Dam and Sabu derailed their own careers not long after with their drug charges, and Angle left the WWE entirely to be top dog in TNA. This was right in its first few months of existence.

From there, McMahon himself seemed unable or unwilling to push any more than one person at a time, so instead of having a roster of talent that included CM Punk, The Big Show, Bobby Lashley, MNM, Christian, Elijah Burke and John Morrison, you had one or two of these folks at most flitting in and out. ECW was defined at all times by a single feud.

Last, ECW fans simply refused to allow change. If there wasn't a tie back to the old EC-Dub, then it was crapped upon. Guys like Batista and Big Show were booed as soon as they came out.

In so many ways, ECW seemed destined to only go so far. At some point it was going to have to transition away from the bloody battles it had become known for, and yet, moving away from that would've killed it in the eyes of its biggest fans.

 

[SilverBullet1929]

Nope, you can't blame Cena for this one. There's wayyyy too many other reasons for the failure of ECW that had nothing to do with Cena. Actually, Cena was rarely connected to that relaunch except for at the beginning when it made sense.

Without going on a huge rant, the easiest answer I give to anyone about the ECW relaunch failure is this... The reason the WWE's ECW brand failed is because it was named ECW. Basically the problem is the ECW name carries so much weight that it was impossible for the relaunched brand to live up to the ECW name when Vince clearly wanted it to go in a different direction.

If it was named anything else and was clearly a C-level third brand used to kinda groom up and coming talent, it have done fine. But when people tuned into ECW and saw it was nothing like Paul Heyman's ECW, they immedietaly were turned off.