ECW- "Empty Championship Wrestling"

[Mr. 619]

As in the brand was emptied pretty badly after the 15 superstar trade. I apologize if there is already a thread about this.

Let's look at who ECW lost first:

The Heart Dynasty: Two up and comin guys that are a great tag team. And Natalya of course. She will get to compete in the divas division on smackdown and Smith and Kidd might have a better chance at tag team gold as well. But it's two heels that were on ECW every week. They would get more time and develop better I think if they stayed on ECW at least till the next draft.

Mark Henry: I think this guy had another ECW title reign still in him. I think he could have worked well as a face too there if given a chance. One of ECW's bigger names and its a blow to the brand to have him leave.

Finlay: He wasn't ever going to win the ECW title, but he was great for the brand putting over young guys like the Heart Dynasty and it looked like Zack Ryder too. What will he really accomplish on smackdown? They have better guys that do that job already on smackdown, they don't need him.

Evan Bourne: This was a stupid move. If he goes, it should have been to smackdown. But this guy should have stayed on ECW, Untill the real draft. This guy is what the new ECW is all about. He could have been ECW champion. On raw he will get lost in the clusterfuck that is their midcard.

Jack Swagger: This was the bigget blow to ECW. He was the top heel on ECW. He should have won the title from Dreamer at The Bash. Him and Evan Bourne could have fueded over the title when his thing with Christian and Dreamer got old. On ECW he got mic time every week and was developing immensly. On Raw, he will be a midcarder, and on Raw that means you job to the main eventers all the time.

ECW lost alot of good talent, now lets look at who they gained:

Shelton Benjamin: Probobly the best aquisition. Most likely to replace Swagger. There is potential here, but he has sucked really bad lately.

The Bella Twins: I like them, but....why are they here?? There are no other divas on ECW except Katie Lea who hasnt been seen for a long time anyways. Waste of space on ECW.

William Regal: I pray to God that he tags with Paul Burchill because that is all that he is good for on ECW. He will not be ECW champ and he will most likely just job to people. He will do Finlay's job, but worse.

Goldust: This could be good. WWE could actually push Goldust, I would mark out if they did. Most likely he will flop though and just job to Koslov or something though.

I used the term empty because right now, talent lost>then talent gained. Who's left? Christian, Dreamer and Hurricane are all great. But those who complimented them are now gone. What made ECW great the last few months is ruined. What does everybody else think about this?

 

[King Patrick Star]

I, like many others, love the original ECW, but we all need to face the facts. ECW is only one letter better than FCW. ECW is the televised developmental program for the WWE. It is, as sad as it is for me to say this, equal to Superstars. ECW is, and as long as it’s on the air, meant to be “raided” of talent. It’s the home of future Raw and Smackdown stars and it’s the home of Raw’s and Smackdown’s unused veteran talent. People need to stop complaining about this topic. At the next draft, the same thing will happen again and again. It’s just reality, folks.

 

[Coco]

Oh for the sake of fuck. Every time ECW loses somebody we get this sort of reaction. But in case you haven't noticed, ECW is designed to be raided on a semi-annual basis. They get new guys called up from developmental or midcarders every few months and give them a chance to be a big deal in a small pond. It helps get them over and they move on. It's what the brand is designed to do. This should shock absolutely nobody. Swagger, Finaly, and Henry were ready to go. The audience knows who Bourne and The Harts are and now they gets spots in the big time. New guys will get called up to replace them. New midcarders will step up. The process will continues, and it will continue to be a success. This process got Punk, Lashley, Morrison, Miz, Kofi, Hardy, and so on over at a new level. Time for new guys to go through the system.

 

[Thriller Ant]

Coco is right. ECW is the bridge between FCW and Raw/SmackDown. It is a way to get guys on TV and see if they have a future in the company. That's why I enjoy watching it because you get that first look at the future of the WWE. Look at it this way, without ECW, Braden Walker and DJ Gabriel would have debuted on Raw or Smackdown and that is the only possible way those two could have been bigger failures.

 

[tLight]

Im assuming they sent Shelton to ECW to give him a run with the ECW title much like they did CM Punk and Morrison. If he can help carry ECW, maybe he can some day hold a real legitmate Main Event Title.

The Bella Twins need to be fired. I have nothing nice to say about them, pink slip those hoes and lets move on.

Golddust was probably shifted to ECW so he can job to the younger guys on the roster, which is fine, because its not like he could ever have a legit run with any title anytime soon. He's also good at helping younger guys out in the ring, and hes a vet (this is his 7th run with the WWE right?)

Regal is a perfect fit for ECW, no one really cares about him, and no one really cares about ECW. He'll be a fine replacement for Finley.

As far as the people the lost, its a shame, but Bourne was suppose to be moved to Raw last year prior to in injury. He's to talented of a performer to be on the C-show

Mark Henry has proven that he can be dominate and it was time for a change, hopefully we can see him beat up the likes of Triple H on Raw from now on and not have him turn face.

The same thing can be said for Jack Swagger, this kids got unlimited potentioal and I can see him being the Next Big Thing. Hopefully he doesnt get buried on Raw by the Nose.

As for The Hart Dynasty, they needed to go to a bigger show, where they can all be show cased. Now you can have Kidd and DH Smith go for tag gold, and Natalia can be put into the womens division. They couldnt of sent them to Raw because they have a simular gimmick to Legacy, the only major difference is the Hart Dynasty wins matches.

 

[NSL]

As much as I don't like all these guys leaving ECW, I am happy for them, for moving on to greener pastures. Swagger and Bourne belong on live TV, and Henry seems to have adapted well to the scene, finally.

Finlay is no big loss, but seems to be on a run as a heel, so let's see what happens before we pan the decision. The Harts leaving is the worst move in my eyes. DH Smith has just returned, and Kidd hasn't been on TV all that long. Maybe they'll get a chance at the tag titles, but they add to an already stocked heel roster on Friday nights.

Shelton doesn't seem to be doing much, now that he's on ECW, big surprise. This is the one show where he can be credible as a champ of any kind, and he jobbed out to...Hold on, let me look up his name...Still looking. Oh, here it is. Yoshi? He's done. If he doesn't start climbing the ladder soon, he'll be gone before you realize DJ Gabriel is still on the roster.

Tyler Rex and Abraham Washington seem like big wastes. Rex has a good look, but feuding with Zack fucking Ryder can't be a good way to start your TV career. Washington was just dying out there, and made the Bellas look like promo queens. That should never happen.

Sheamus FTW. He has a great fucking look. Think Snitsky, during the Kane feud. Except...You know...Talented. I know he was squashing a jobber, but at least he wasn't getting squashed by a jobber (Here's looking at you Shelton).

The Bellas. 'Nuff said. They need to GTFO. And, quickly. They don't look good, they can't wrestle, and they're bound to hurt someone. The shitstorm that is a Bella feud, will not be pretty. Unless they end both their careers.

 

[Chimera]

ECW is cool the way it is now. You get the first look at the new guys and they get a chance to develop as performers. I actually enjoy ECW more than Raw right now. If you can seperate this ECW from the original version, youll see that it is being used the same as it was back in the 90s. Namely a televised farm league for the big 2. Now its Raw and Smackdown instead of WWF and WCW.

 

[Kanye South]

I was thinking that ECW was going to suck too, until, the next day. It seems William Regal is finally going to win a major title, which should be alright. Benjamin is.....well Benjamin. If he gets the belt, he deserves it, but if he doesn't, it won't be surprising. Also, I think that they should have moved Santino to ECW, instead of Goldust. Not only did they break up the tag team thing that Goldilocks and Horny had going, but they wasted an oppurtunity. If Santino gets off of Raw, he could still be comedic outside of the ring, but get serious in the ring. Kind of like the old Kurt Angle. Apparently this guy can wrestle, because he was originally supposed to be Kurt Angle's protege, and not just anybody gets that job.

As far as the new talent, they all suck, so far. Yoshiarigotamisushipenus, the guy who squashed Benjamin doesn't look like anything special. Tyler Rex (Why is it spelled Reks?) looks like a surfer-type dude, so we'll see how that goes. Sheamus just looks like a bigger version of Finlay. Abraham Washington could have potential as a GM, but we'll see. Also, he looks like the guy who was Barack Obama in his "match" against Hillary in '07. However, these talents can improve, so I will be tuning in next week to see how it all plays out. Maybe next week I'll see a little bit more of The Hurricane.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

and people have the nerve to say that the WWE doesnt know what its doing, and that ECW doesnt look legit. Well, threads like THIS shit certainley disprove that notion.

ECW is NOTHING but a training ground. Its a place were old wrestlers hang out to refresh and rebuild, and its a place were brand new talent can be showcased, and get practice working in front of TV cameras, and large, live audiences. Nothing else. When a guy has thoroughly done these things, he goes to one of the big shows, and makes money for the WWE. Thats the way it IS, has BEEN, will always BE, and SHOULD be. Get a clue.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

NorCal makes a very good point. This is what the wrestling industry has been longing for since the depletion of the territorial systems. Now, wrestlers don't have to face the option of either being shoved into the spotlight right away or stay and rot in OVW. There is a middle ground where they can stay and get some more experience and...you know...pay their dues.

Now, if we can just get some viable competition going...then the industry will be looking really good.

 

[klunderbunker]

Yeah I'm with the other bold named guys here. ECW is AAA and that's just fine. It's a one hour show on a tuesday night where you can see the very young up and comers and some veterans that aren't going to do anything on the main shows. That is just fine for me. These guys are too big for FCW but not ready for Raw or Smackdown. Give them a place in the middle like this and it's just perfect. They need national exposure but not a spotlight. Throw someone on ECW and if it doens't work, so what? Take DJ Gabriel for example. He completely bombed. So what? He took up maybe 8 minutes a week for about a month and that's it. That's not wasting much time and we know that this doesn't work. Nothing at all wrong with that and it's certainly a good thing.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

Part of why Nitro was so good was because it had a WCW Saturday Night to compliment it. The undercard (which was the heart and soul of Nitro) would not have been nearly as entertaining and technically sound had it not been for a show like Saturday Night. Saturday Night was mostly bigger than WWE's D shows like Shotgun Saturday Night, Heat, and Jakked...as it had a primetime timeslot. ECW is no different, in my opinion.

 

[Kane666]

it doesn't make sense that Vince got rid of so much talent when he could've just thrown them on ECW.if you have a wrestler on RAW and Smackdown with really nothing to do you should put them on ECW.i'm not against the trades but this really should've been done at the draft.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

They cant though bud, becuase they need the TV time to showcase new faces. They only have an hour, which equals out to about 40 minutes of actual TV time. They wont waste that on guys who they have already attempted pushes for, who it isnt "working" with. they need the time for new stars with potential, not for a dumping ground

 

[gd]

ECW is a great transition for younger talent. Instead of jumping straight from FCW on to Raw they get to get some experience on ECW first. You also have a few veterans to make the title somewhat prestigous. ECW is fine and will still be an entertaining show to watch.

Also, never compare Shelton Benjamin to Jack Swagger ever again. It's not a fair comparison at all

 

[Razor]

As in the brand was emptied pretty badly after the 15 superstar trade. I apologize if there is already a thread about this.

Everyone always says this after every draft. "Wah, this brand got fucked." OK, maybe after the big Draft they did. They got slaughtered. But they recovered. It should go to show exactly what ECW is there to do. Thrive off of new talent from FCW, and promote them when they're ready for some big time exposure. If they fail, they get demoted back to ECW. It they continue to fail, they get released. Simple logic, and it's working.

Let's look at who ECW lost first:

The Heart Dynasty: Two up and comin guys that are a great tag team. And Natalya of course. She will get to compete in the divas division on smackdown and Smith and Kidd might have a better chance at tag team gold as well. But it's two heels that were on ECW every week. They would get more time and develop better I think if they stayed on ECW at least till the next draft.

I really don't think they should have left ECW after 2 months. They aren't ready, and I fully expect them to flop on Smackdown.

Though, really, their departure doesn't hurt nor help ECW. It doesn't hurt nor help anyone.

Mark Henry: I think this guy had another ECW title reign still in him. I think he could have worked well as a face too there if given a chance. One of ECW's bigger names and its a blow to the brand to have him leave.

I'll give you this. But he's easily replaced by Goldust. Monster heel replaced by creepy face. It'll work. Especially after Dreamer drops his title to some heel they want over. Hopefully it'll be Regal, but I'm unfortunately expecting a Benjamin title reign *gag*.

Finlay: He wasn't ever going to win the ECW title, but he was great for the brand putting over young guys like the Heart Dynasty and it looked like Zack Ryder too. What will he really accomplish on smackdown? They have better guys that do that job already on smackdown, they don't need him.

I'm sure he's there to work with the women's division. He was the one helping them with the matches when we all said "Wow, they can wrestle?" You know, right up until Finlay left to ECW and couldn't work with the Divas anymore.

Also, he's there to help the mid-card out. They need a solid face to help out. Kane can only job so quickly.

Evan Bourne: This was a stupid move. If he goes, it should have been to smackdown. But this guy should have stayed on ECW, Untill the real draft. This guy is what the new ECW is all about. He could have been ECW champion. On raw he will get lost in the clusterfuck that is their midcard.

Raw has a mid-card?

..Uh, anyway. Bourne to Raw was a stupid move. He's not nearly over enough to go anywhere. Bourne to go back to ECW by next year.

But he's easily replaced by any of the new talent they brought up in the initiative.

Jack Swagger: This was the bigget blow to ECW. He was the top heel on ECW. He should have won the title from Dreamer at The Bash. Him and Evan Bourne could have fueded over the title when his thing with Christian and Dreamer got old. On ECW he got mic time every week and was developing immensly. On Raw, he will be a midcarder, and on Raw that means you job to the main eventers all the time

.

Have more faith! Swagger will dominate Raw. I guarantee it. He's proved himself capable. He'll probably get a nice, long US title reign then start off an awesome Swagger/Cena feud to start his Raw main-event career. I'm waiting for it.

Shelton Benjamin: Probobly the best aquisition. Most likely to replace Swagger. There is potential here, but he has sucked really bad lately.

There biggest acquisition? He does nothing for them. He jumps around. He has somehow managed not to get over with the crowd for how long? I mean really. He's in ECW as a final chance, I hope. Either he turns it around (which I doubt he will) or he will be fired soon.

The Bella Twins: I like them, but....why are they here?? There are no other divas on ECW except Katie Lea who hasnt been seen for a long time anyways. Waste of space on ECW.

I'm confused as well. I guess they'll be feuding with Katie Lea then!

William Regal: I pray to God that he tags with Paul Burchill because that is all that he is good for on ECW. He will not be ECW champ and he will most likely just job to people. He will do Finlay's job, but worse.

He won't be ECW champion? And why not? He's over as a heel. He's believable as a ECW champion right out of the gate. He's getting that title before Benjamin ever will, I hope. He's better than Benjamin by leaps and bounds anyway.

Goldust: This could be good. WWE could actually push Goldust, I would mark out if they did. Most likely he will flop though and just job to Koslov or something though.

Goldust for ECW champion. Or, at least, that's what I'd like to see. He'll most likely do his job, and that's put over the ECW new talent. That's what the old talent is there for, silly. To teach the newbies how to do their jobs and then to put them over on screen. Except for Benjamin. He's there to get fired in a few months. I'm calling it.

I used the term empty because right now, talent lost>then talent gained. Who's left? Christian, Dreamer and Hurricane are all great. But those who complimented them are now gone. What made ECW great the last few months is ruined. What does everybody else think about this?

Overreaction much? You seem to think ECW is more than what it is, that ECW is a stand alone promotion that should be on par with Smackdown or Raw.

It's not. It's meant to be a talent farm. Punk, Swagger, Kofi are all products of the brand. They bring in FCW and other new sign-ons, and give them a few months on TV. They go with the flow from there. If they hit it off, like Swagger, Kofi, and Punk, they get promoted. If they flop like all hell, they wallow in ECW hell.

The draft did empty ECW of main-eventers. But that's what it was supposed to do. That's what ECW is built for. What it's made for. Good thing though, everyone they lost is either replaced by who they picked up or who they sign on as part of the Talent Initiative. ECW will do just fine.

 

[NSL]

They cant though bud, becuase they need the TV time to showcase new faces. They only have an hour, which equals out to about 40 minutes of actual TV time. They wont waste that on guys who they have already attempted pushes for, who it isnt "working" with. they need the time for new stars with potential, not for a dumping ground

While I agree on everything you said, there is a fault in your claim, and this is it: If all that is true, and I'm sure it is, then why is Shelton on ECW? He's been given push after push, and hasn't gone anywhere higher than mid-card. Not even upper mid-card. At least Kofi got a shot at No Way Out (no matter the way it ended), and even Tommy fucking Dreamer has some gold around his waist.

I'm all for ECW being a training ground, and helping new talent get a fanbase, and learn the ropes, but if that's the point of the show, then guys like Shelton need to be cut loose.

 

[Kane666]

Thank you Night.all these young guys on ECW need veterans to learn from.Dreamer more than likely will drop the title to Christian or Regal.But while the older guys are fighting for the title the rookies will be getting experience and tv time.if Vince had not been so damn quick to fire so many people ECW could easily be a 2 hour show.

 

[fktizle]

If they were to close ECW, and just bring guys in on SD! like they used to, we would probably not need to see PPV's every three weeks, and it would be split between two brands like they used to do it. At this point, their is no reason for ECW to be around, except to further diminish its value. If they are going to keep it around, at least call it Entertaining Championship Wrestling, and stop making Paul Heyman cry every time he sees his creation turned into a Developmental Show.

 

[Kane666]

i bet poor Paul does cry every time he hears how shitty ECW has become.but good old Vinny Mac wanted to bury it,and buried it he has.

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

i bet poor Paul does cry every time he hears how shitty ECW has become.but good old Vinny Mac wanted to bury it,and buried it he has.

This is the most pathetic statement ive ever heard, ECW was buried when Paul Heyman wouldnt allow the product to grow, he never even prepared for the talent that was raided because he couldnt pay them due to him squandering ECW's finances.

ECW now is profitable, ECW now has actual talent and not just guys who cant wrestle, ECW has bigger crowds and better matches, they dont just rely on hardcore wrestling and over the top storylines, how long was it supposed to last with edgy storylines and porn material? it wouldnt of, the way the product is now is far better then ECW ever was...fact!!!

anyway back to the new talent aquisitions, ECW will strive from strength to strength and i believe with guys like shelton and regal putting on wrestling clinics, tommy dreamer becoming better and better as champ, christian proving his worth and will get a long run as champ.

and shemus seems to be making an impact and will probably become a champion at some point with his agressive persona.

So im hoping we will see bigger and better things from the brand IMO

 

[Kane666]

Ok whatever think what you want.But as far as the product being better now than it ever was?I'm sure 95% of people that post on this forum would disagree with you.and ECW may be profitable now but it's sure as hell boring.the show is only an hour long,you have one title,and half the roster size of raw and smackdown.i'll take the old ECW over this boring pile of shit any day of the week.