ECW: Getting the job done

[Showtime]

K, ECW began with arguably one of the worst years outside the ring, the RVD incident, Kurt Angle hurt then released, Big Shows injuries, reduced roster t about 9 at one point, Test, Sabu, and to top it the Benoit incident. The second year saw the title progress to middlecard status with unproven champions. Basically everyone wondered (including myself at times) when ECW would be done. Looking at ECW I think we still look wonder how much longer it will keep going, but look at what it's accomplished lately.

Bobby Lashly: Just keeping this brief, he had the ECW title when it was good, and went straight into mainevent fieds on raw after.
CM Punk:Brought up thru ECW. MITB winner and current WorldHeavyweight champion
Kofi Kingston: Brought up, there for a short few months, then becomes IC champion.
Shelton: Walked into ECW, left 6 months later, current U.S. champion
Miz/Morrison: A great long reign as tag team champions. Morrison was also an ECW champion.
Kane: Walked into ECW with a dead and tired gimmick, won ECW title, left and now is in the mainevent scene on RAW again.
Mark Henry: Current ECW champion. Career definitly at peak for him right now.

What I'm getting at here is ECW is doing and excellent job, in some cases better than RAW or SD do. It's developing talent into strong middle card and main event champions, especially recently. It's revitalized the careers or several of the above mentioned. On RAW or SD, most new talent get's used up like a sponge and thrown out. Now ECW has basically accepted it role as #3 and is developing new talent, resurrecting lost-a-drift talent, and creating worldchampions for the Big Two to play with. I like the direction that ECW is going and I think it's here to stay for many years. So do you think ECW is doing an excellent job?(yes) Does it have a long-term future?(yes) What else do you think needs to be done? (nothing, lol, well maybe improve the prestige of that ECW title) K, now all you all type now.

 

[klunderbunker]

You're right ECW has done what its supposed to be doign and the good thing is that the fans are starting to understand that. ECW is not designed to be a rival competitor to Raw and SD, but rather a bridge between FCW and the main roster. It really is little more than a glorified minor league and its doing that perfectly. The angles are making sense, guys are slowly getting over, young talent gets the chance to work in front of the big crowds, and other talent, like Chris Harris can be weeded out when its clear they don't have what it takes to work in the big leagues. Overall, ECW has rebounded very well simply because they've figured out what they're supposed to be doing, or knowing their role if you will.

 

[Dead Kennedy]

You have to take WWECW for what it's worth. It was never Vinnie Mac's intention to bring back the old ECW, just to capitalize on a well-known product name he owns the rights to. ECW has since its re-birth transitioned into more of a developmental brand than an actual stand-alone brand of wrestling, which it's doing a damn fine job of. Careers have been resurrected, rookies have made their name and the overall product has become very enjoyable.

In the beginning of the rebirth of ECW, everyone could sense that WWE didn't quite know what they were doing. Nobody wanted to see guys like Test or Mike Knox go over the ECW Originals and the old ECW getting buried, but it happened. Slowly, they turned away from that and after a period of crap from about April to November 2007 they changed the form of their product to much success.

I enjoy WWECW and while it does have its moments of "Yeah, that was dumb..." it's doing a good job of reinventing old gimmicks (Kane, although I admit that the actual re-inventing came a while later), building up-and-coming stars for their main event spot (Morrison) and creating new talent (Bourne, Kofi). With its current role in the company, I see WWECW holding out for another couple of years. I'll be enjoying them if they keep giving us viewers the kind of quality they got right now, at least.

 

[undertakerrulesmania20]

Ecw Has Done Better Then Sd Ad Raw On Building Talent Here Are Examples Cm Punk Biggest Star In Ecw Since Lashely And Now Has World Tittle, Kingston Was Ic Champ , Shelton Current Us Champ, Matt Gunning For Ecw Tittle Kane Is Back Into Main Picture On Raw And Henery Is Doing Well This S Proof Ecw Is Diffrent But Still Gives Us Some Better Matches And Feuds Then Raw Or Sd Now Bourne Will Go To Raw Or Sd Soon And Maybe Morrison And The Miz As Well

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

What's such a shame is that recently, ECW is becoming very well balanced, but at the same time, Raw and Smackdown are declining. A few months ago, ECW had no prospects and were just dead in the water, with Raw and Smackdown dominating. Now, Raw and Smackdown are hurting from a lack of talent (primarily tag teams and faces in the midcard on both shows) while ECW is stacked...albeit not stacked enough that they can afford to lose everybody to those two shows without committing suicide.

ECW is doing a great job, though, in testing talent out. Chavo has started to become a legitimate lower-main event talent in the WWE because of his status on ECW. Mark Henry is doing fantastic right now (well at least he was until they decided that he's totally incapable of defeating Matt Hardy). Bourne is becoming such a shining star (or shooting star.......ok, couldn't resist such a lame ass joke) that pretty soon, he may follow Kofi's footsteps and be ready for a midcard title reign, despite not being employed in the company for very long at all. Mike Knox right now, if booked correctly, could become the legitimate bad-ass of the ECW roster if they allow him to beat the crap out of Finlay.

All in all, ECW is the most consistent show the WWE has right now, and it seems like their gambling on building a show around wrestlers that they want to elevate to the next level seems to be working out very well and banging on all cylinders.

 

[Father:_Polley]

I have to say, ECW's talent prospects are far more interesting than the majority of the rosters on both Raw and SD. The likes of Bourne, Miz & Morrison (two guys which I admit I loathed at the start and now how moved on to appreciating), these guys are all the future main-eventers, and the likes of Chavo and Mark Henry have actually transitioned into respectable upper-mid card contenders.

Ok there is a lot to work on, especially trying to cram in the ridiculous levels of new talent they seem to have amassed over the last year into one hour of programming. But as far as overall talent progression is going...ECW is doing the business better than any of the other brands

 

[savage138]

I'll have to agree. ECW has found it's niche. I find myself more apt to watch ECW than Raw or Smackdown for one simple reason. It's more action oriented. There's usually very little soap opera-ish story telling to be found on the program too, and that's what I prefer. Take the 8-26 episode for example. As soon as the show went on the air Matt Hardy and John Morrison were going at it in one of the best matches I've seen on television in recent memory. The Evan Bourne, Miz matchup wasn't half bad either.

If ECW can continue to serve up 3, 4 or 5 matches a week in a single hour of programming we're going to see a lot of new talent. Some of which will be impressive, and others will come and go much like Chris Harris and Colin DeLaney.

ECW is the perfect thing for bridging the gap between the indie circut/minor leagues and the big time. As long as they keep 3 or 4 well known performers on the show I think it'll be around for years to come.

 

[RadioGaGa]

ECW is definitely getting the job done. Wrestlers who would get lost in the shuffle on Raw or SD are made to look like something on ECW, i.e Miz, Morrison. The 1 hour format is doing it a lot of favours as well because where SD and Raw have long promos, ECW puts on 3 or 4 matches a show. Out of the three brands it's definitely the one with the biggest focus on wrestling.

I like the way young talent is getting showcased on ECW, like Bourne and Ortiz. Without ECW they would have been left to sink or swim on the other overcrowded brands, but here they have a breeding ground where they can gradually get over with the fans until they are ready for bigger and better things on the other brands. Perfect example being CM Punk.

As for it's future, I have no idea what the Sci-Fi channel considers as good ratings but I do know that the show was on the brink of being cancelled around Christmas last year. It has improved loads since then and the ratings for ECW are consistently better than TNA Impact so what's the problem?

In closing, ECW has improved loads from last year, mainly because someone somewhere in WWE realised that the show would be better featuring more young talent, and it certainly is.

 

[My$terio_Fan]

ECW is doing what it's supposed to do, and that is making new stars. Some people still bitch & complain that this ECW isn't hardcore but this is not the purpose of the brand. The only thing this ECW has in common with the original is it's name and Tommy Dreamer, and that's it. The WWE can use this third brand as a way of elevating and getting wrestlers ready for one of the big two. Here in ECW you can have a feud, work on both your ring/mic skills, but most importantly get crowd support. Then when it's time and you have improved enough, you go on to the big leaugues. ECW has helped Bobby Lashley, Morrison, Miz, Punk, Kingston, Benjamin and others and is doing a fine job at making new stars for the company.

 

[ulimate123]

ECW is doing great TBH. Its making some new stars for WWE (Evan Bourne) and also holding its own with some excellent feuds (Tag team, ECW championship.) One thing however is that it will never reach the top of the ranks like RAW and SD! simply because of the TV time it gets.

 

[Rusty]

I agreed with the thread starter. ECW has become just as important as Raw and Smackdown, just in a totally different way. ECW doesn't have the star power as the two main brands do, but it has a unique purpose. It builds the stars of tomorrow. It turns rookies into superstars. It turns mid-carders into main eventers. On paper, ECW's roster looks pathetic compared to the stacked Raw and Smackdown. As having Matt Hardy as your top superstar, doesn't look the greatest on paper. But ECW is very enjoyable to watch ever week as it always showcases good wrestling from: Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne, John Morrison, The Miz and many more.

You take this past week on ECW for example. I think the booking was superb and adding an ECW Championship Scramble to Unforgiven, really made me smile. At least ECW will finally get an 20 minute match on a pay per view. Sometimes the booking of the show, outdoes the booking of Smackdown and Raw especially. ECW has become a development place for the youngsters and I think thats the best thing the brand can do right now. Mid-card talent gets pushed so much more easily and fluently than on the other brands. I personally don't think CM Punk would be World Champion right now, is he wasn't on ECW first.

ECW has also been doing great things lately such as giving Mark Henry a title push and getting Matt Hardy WAY over with the fans. The wrestling matches on the weekly show, are frequently better than the matches on the two big brands. It is also a great place for debuting superstars such as Evan Bourne and Ricky Ortiz. I have been really impressed with the show lately and I don't think much else about the show can be improved as I love the way it is now. The ECW championshp is also slowly getting more recognized and prestigious. Great booking and young great up and coming talent keeps me watching with enthusiasm every week.

 

[wwefan49]

I watch ECW every week. People complain that there was a ECW Championship scramble added to Unforgiven but I think its great. Like Rusty said how often does ECW get a 20 minute match on a ppv. Unforgiven will surely be one of the more enjoyable pay per views this year. These scrambles are a great concept. I like the idea of keeping Morrison out of the match to have him feud with Matt Hardy afterward. The wrestling on ECW is superb. All 4 qualifiers this week were great especially Hardy/Morrison we have alot to look forward to with that feud. ECW is basically OVW with wrestlers we recognize and somewhat intriguing buildup to storylines. The Henry/Hardy feud has been interesting.Plus ECW is televised. Also a plus. FCW doesn't need a TV deal its on Tuesday Nights. If you catch my drift. Most of the time I'm more inclined to catch ECW than I am Smackdown. ECW is my number 2 brand in sports entertainment.

 

[The Snake]

ECW is just a fun show which you could tune in and pick up on if you missed a few weeks of, nothing really needs explaining, just a nice easy no thrill show. You don't get 30 minutes of video packages explaining each storyline twice in the show, you get to watch a few matches and be entertained.

I love the ECW scramble, it could attract a few more viewers, Morrison's showing at MiTB would have done ECW no harm, and Mike Knox attacking Finlay on SD! also shows they are trying to give it some more mainstream attention, Finlay being a part-time Smackdowner! is something that also helps. I find it the easiest to watch, certainly it's the only one that I don't have to fast forward anything but commercials on if I have recorded it, with Raw and SD! having me hitting the fast forward button every 15 mins for something I have already seen.

It might be a little sexist, but I also enjoy no divas on ECW, I feel if they had a couple of Divas to try and spread the equality stuff it would spoil the flow of the show. I wouldn't go as far as saying ECW is my favorite brand, a lot of my favorite wrestlers are on SD! so that gets the nod, Im not a big fan of many of the Raw wrestlers (in terms of the actual liking of them), so Raw and ECW are about joint for me.

 

[Superstar4Life]

In all honesty, ECW is doing the job right now, and very happy they are. I use to avoid EVW TV like a virus on my DVR. It was just awful.

Now it seems to be getting better and I am liking. We are getting to see people actually shine to a degree and not get buried into the ground, like bugs on the bottom of your shoes.

Evan Bourne, Matt Hardy, Ricky Ortiz, John Morrison, The Miz, and I hate to say but Mark Herny all the reasons I watch this show nowadays. I still put in a very old copy of ECW (The Paul E. Dangerlously Era) into my DVD or VCR player when I get a chance to, but the new ECW is starting to do it for me. Now if Smackdown could do just the same then I could say I watch all WWE programming, but I think that is going to take even more time for me to get use to it.

So all and all...I would like to say congrats to ECW on doing a job well done.

 

[wrestlebomb89]

looks liek vince ddi do good with ecw.at the beginning when i saw the first few episodes i wasnt hooked to it's harcoreness...i was hooked to the new wrestlers & the storylines...the ecw originals was a good touch but it ddint need to be.but ecw is starting to stray away fromthe days when it was a roster that prodcuced crap every week, the majority of releases were coming from them & it was basically a shitty wreslter landfill.now ecw is starting to become a repectable nice show that turns nobodies into somebody...i mean look what it did to mark henry...everybody was griping & moaning about how he sucks....now look at him...people are starrting to recognize him as a credible champion.the system works....& i can understand ecw getting raped in every draft.it was basically to clear all of the top talent to start again & start making fresh new stars & bringing in new faces.if only colt cabana(fuck calling him scotty goldman) & ryan bradock were to debut on ecw...they would probly be as big as evan bourne....maybe it will happen...im interested in seeing where they go with this.THIS IS SOMETHING VINCE SHOULD FOLLOW FOR RAW & SMACKDOWN...doing what he did with ecw.

 

[Big Sexy]

ECW is doing exactly what they are suppose to be doing. They took new talent (CM Punk, Kofi Kingston) and made them title contenders on one of the big brands. They also have taken some veteran talent that was in a rut (Kane, Shelton Benjamin) and turned them back into top level talents. They're acting as a feeder for the big brands and they are doing a great job.

 

[Code Red]

ECW has its upsides, no doubt. Even I'll admit it, though I was one of the biggest critics of the brand two years ago. It's serving its purpose as a brand that elevates both new and established talent.

That said, the brand does have its weak points. I can't stand Ricky Ortiz (who is lacking both in the ring and on the mic), Mark Henry (who somehow buddied up enough to Vinnie Mac to stay around this long), Lena Yada (who can't even interview well) or Hornswoggle and his extremely tired schtick and how he has made Finlay's matches bland and predictable.

In addition, how about some of these weak finishers? The Miz has a neckbreaker - wow, how thrilling. Ricky Ortiz is a 250 lb. wrestler with a splash off the ropes as a finisher. And these two are among the most actively pushed on the brand.

That said, the brand has a good mix of talent that's been around (Matt Hardy, Finlay) and some newcomers (Evan Bourne, Gavin Spears) that can help keep up this momentum.

However, I don't understand why Vinnie Mac insists on using the name ECW. Not only is this program unlike the original ECW in every way, but he is causing the brand to depreciate in value by using the name. People will see ECW DVDs and think of the current brand rather than the cutting-edge promotion that Paul Heyman ran that WWE has the rights to. Since it's evident that VKM didn't want to bring back the REAL ECW and we have essentially a PG-rated developmental program that's nothing like it, why not change the name? Call it Tuesday Night Thunder, or Velocity ... anything else. At least you wouldn't be cheapening a valuable commodity.

 

[Disco Sucks]

ECW is doing what it's supposed to do, and that is making new stars. Some people still bitch & complain that this ECW isn't hardcore but this is not the purpose of the brand. The only thing this ECW has in common with the original is it's name and Tommy Dreamer, and that's it. The WWE can use this third brand as a way of elevating and getting wrestlers ready for one of the big two. Here in ECW you can have a feud, work on both your ring/mic skills, but most importantly get crowd support. Then when it's time and you have improved enough, you go on to the big leaugues. ECW has helped Bobby Lashley, Morrison, Miz, Punk, Kingston, Benjamin and others and is doing a fine job at making new stars for the company.

That's what bugs me personally. I'm all for a third brand to create new stars, but why tarnish the legacy of ECW with it? Granted the old ECW was all about creating new stars, but it was about so much more that "WWECW" is no where near at all. I just wish they could have named an entirely new third brand, or just shift Heat or Velocity over to that spot. ECW is still my all time favorite promotion, until McMahon got a hold of it.

Upon further reading, I realize I just echoed what Code Red said above. I'm not the only one I guess.

 

[Adel_hamra]

i don't even watch ecw anymore coz it's always the same people, the same thing over and over again...i mean, for how many weeks has finlay, mark henry, matt hardy, mike knox miz and morrison and evan bourne appear fighting the same people...what happened to the older ecw wrestlers?(the guys who were there before this year's draft)

when kane, punk and kofi, and shelton were in ecw, it was interesting

their roster sucks...these new guys suck specially that ortiz guy.

finlay should stop wrestling coz i get bored of wathcing him..referree turns around and bam, shilale to the head (however you write it) or someone grabs hornswaggle and bam, shale...you get my point..get my point...matt hardy should feud with someone his own size...some one he can actually beat...i would like to see the big show/mark henry feud again