How would you have fixed December to Dismember?

[NegativeFeedback]

December to Dismember was the least successful PPV of all time, having been sandwiched 1 week after Survivor Series and 2 weeks before Armageddon. The build-up was completely uninteresting with only 2 advertised matches, and Paul Heyman has infamously derided the PPV saying it was not anything like his own vision.

Here's how I would have fixed the show. Firstly, I would have announced the Chamber and announced that all the qualifying matches will take place on the same show. All matches under Extreme Rules of course.

1. Rob Van Dam vs. Tommy Dreamer

Paul Heyman would mess with RVD and force him to beat his best friend for a chance at the ECW title. The build-up to the PPV would focus a lot on the battle between two ECW icons. Give them 15 minutes and RVD would go over and secure a spot in the Chamber.

2. The Sandman vs. Test

Sandman and Test would start up a mini-feud once their match-up is announced and at the show, Test would beat him to a pulp showing a huge aggressive side, making people think he'll be a formidable foe in the Chamber.

3. CM Punk vs. Mike Knox

Their feud would continue with Punk pinning Knox and having Kelly leave with him. Knox would be pissed, and they can continue settling their feud after the show too. Crowd would be hot for Punk.

4. Sabu vs. Daivari w/ The Great Khali

Debut Daivari and Khali against Sabu, and have them build up to a match on the show. Have them torture Sabu outside the ring, but at the PPV, Sabu gets his revenge and makes quick work of Daivari. Daivari sics Khali on Sabu post-match, but RVD makes the save. He wishes him good luck for the match tonight.

5. Stevie Richards vs. Hardcore Holly

Push Richards as a sentimental favorite, but have Holly beat him and then cut a promo about how he will take down all of the crowd's favorites.

6. The Hardys vs. MNM

Keep this nice attraction on the show where the Hardys answered MNM's open challenge and have the Hardys beat MNM just like they did on the real show.

7. Striker's Rules: Bobby Lashley vs. Matt Striker

They should slowly make Bobby part of ECW instead of leap-frogging him over everyone else into the title picture. Debut Bobby on TV as Heyman's new top signing, and after signing the contract, have Bobby take Heyman and his two stooges down.

Have Striker cut a promo about how he can improve on ECW by adding his own rules to it, and issues an open challenge. Instead of facing Balls, Bobby comes out and loses the match via DQ when he gets extreme on Matt and nails him with a chair. This will slowly gain him the trust of the ECW crowd before his push later in the year for the Battle of the Billionaires.

8. Extreme Elimination Chamber for the ECW Championship: The Big Show (c) vs. CM Punk vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Test vs. Hardcore Holly vs. Sabu

Firstly, Test and Holly make it to their pods, then Sabu, then RVD, and then Punk makes his way to the ring to start the match. Big Show comes out and cuts a promo about how he will maul EVERYBODY in the match, especially because they've all been through grueling Hardcore matches already.

Now, this was Heyman's original idea that Vince nixed, but it was brilliant. Punk starts off with his chair in hand, brawls with Big Show, and chokes him out to the Anaconda Vise in 4 minutes guaranteeing the crowd a new champion.

Then comes RVD and they take each other to the limit. Then bring in Test, and Holly, and at the end Sabu comes in for some insane spots.

Have RVD pin Holly, then Test pins Sabu and it comes down to a three-way-dance. Punk ends up nailing Test down with the GTS and Punk and RVD keep at it for 5 more minutes until RVD succumbs to the Anaconda Vise as well.

Punk ends up crowned the new ECW Champion and the crowd goes wild for rooting for the underdog. Heyman is pissed at ringside. Kelly comes out to celebrate with Punk and he plants a big one on her. They celebrate to end the show.

On the following Tuesday, Punk pins Show in his rematch and solidifies himself as the new top guy. Mike Knox gets a title match at Armageddon to end his feud with Punk, while RVD and Sabu feud with Khali and Daivari, and Lashley keeps feuding wtih Heyman's stooges.

Lashley can eventually gain the title afterwards, but I don't think it's necessary yet. Once he's gained notoriety on ECW, Trump can choose him as his representative. After winning at Mania, Vince targets ECW as a whole, and wins the ECW title from whoever is champ, just so Lashley can take it off him afterwards.

So what do you guys think? Good idea or you have something better? Comment below, let me know!

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I wouldn't have booked it. It didn't serve any purpose. You can swap it all around, make new matches and it'll still be a skipper.

ECW should've just been features in one, maybe two, matches on each PPV. They didn't have the depth to put on a full card. Nor the time to book one correctly.

Anyway, Cyber Sunday was a worse show than D2D that year.

 

[NegativeFeedback]

I wouldn't have booked it. It didn't serve any purpose. You can swap it all around, make new matches and it'll still be a skipper.

ECW should've just been features in one, maybe two, matches on each PPV. They didn't have the depth to put on a full card. Nor the time to book one correctly.

Anyway, Cyber Sunday was a worse show than D2D that year.

Both ECW One Night Stand events were two of the most successful non-WrestleMania PPVs of all time. And the ECW DVD is the most successful DVD release of all time with 400,000 copies sold. To say they don't have the depth to put on a full card is short-sighted.

 

[dman1373]

they needed a a big match to get buyrates. And the thing was they had a bunch of mid carders and guys from a watered down version of ecw on the show. The best they had was big show, who at this point was a jobber to the stars. If they wanted buys, they should have held off on the the john cena vs sabu match that they had at vengeance and do it that night in either a barb wire match (doubt if they would have gone for that) or a steel cage match. That would have sold tickets.

 

[Reflection]

I am in the minority regarding this, but I did not dislike the PPV at all. I remember I was around 13-14 years old back then, and I have to say I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. The matches weren't bad or too boring, especially if you compare them with the stuff we witness these days like Los Matadores, Tons of Funk, Miz vs Kofi match infinity etc... So I was really surprised when I learnt that it had drawn less than any PPV before it, and that record is still unbroken. I think its because it was an ECW only PPV, and also due to lack of adequate publicity.
The most memorable match of the night, the "Extreme Elimination Chamber" match was one of a kind; I had never seen anything like that before, EC matches are always entertaining, and adding weapons to the mix was a good touch IMO. I also liked that a new champion was crowned that night. When I started watching (I was just browsing through the channels and came across the program. I wasn't even aware that it was gonna air), it felt a bit odd that only ECW superstars were having matches (instead of John Cena, DX, Undertaker etc.), but by the end of the show, I was happy to have watched it.

 

[The Brain]

First of all, I would have made it the only ppv in December and moved it later in the month. This show took place only one week after Survivor Series and two weeks before Armageddon. That’s three pay per views in four weeks. $150 on wrestling pay per views in one month? No thanks. I used to order every ppv but I didn’t want to order a bad ECW ppv one week after a weak Survivor Series. I found a bar that showed the ppv and decided watching the pay per views at a bar wasn’t a bad deal. I went to that bar for just about every ppv for the next six years. I know I’m just one guy but December To Dismember cost WWE six years worth of ppv buys from me.

As for the show itself I would have gone with some big singles matches over the Elimination Chamber. I get more excited for well hyped singles matches than thrown together multi man gimmick matches. Bobby Lashley vs. Big Show would have been a good main event for the title. I like the idea above about John Cena vs. Sabu in some kind of hardcore match. The only problem with that is Sabu should have probably gotten the win since it was the ECW ppv and I don’t think Cena should have lost to Sabu at that time. One other big match could have been face vs. face RVD vs. CM Punk. It didn’t need to be a personal feud, just a match built on respect. Punk is the popular up and comer and challenges RVD to show that he belongs in big matches. I’m sure they could have put on a match ECW fans would have appreciated.

 

[TheHorndogSays]

Both ECW One Night Stand events were two of the most successful non-WrestleMania PPVs of all time. And the ECW DVD is the most successful DVD release of all time with 400,000 copies sold. To say they don't have the depth to put on a full card is short-sighted.

One Night Stand however was a reunion show full of people coming back for a reunion of sorts. December to Dismember was to act like a separate BRAND PPV and not just a reunion PPV. I agree with the poster who said that there was no depth to have this as a BRAND PPV. The problem was they basically put the entire roster at the time in one match so the remaining 2 hours were filler. I would have simply had the Extreme Elimination Chamber match take place at Armageddon. It seems to fit the mold of the armageddon theme.

However for the sake of assuming, let's go with the original question of how to fix the brand PPV and keep it as a brand PPV and not a reunion PPV. This was around the time of the Heyman/Vince struggle which ultimately led to Heyman leaving the company. The only real way to save this PPV would have been for Vince to let Paul run it as he saw fit. That power struggle is what killed this PPV.

 

[Wolf Pac]

With how popular CM Punk was at the time, I think Punk vs Show could've made an interesting main event for the title. Show was the top heel and Punk was the most over guy on the brand, Show was the giant and Punk was the small guy, Show was the champion and Punk was the up and comer, the underdog. The crowd would've been really been invested in Punk, and just imagine the pop he could've gotten winning the belt from Show. They could have began the feud between Show & Punk after Cyber Sunday, and at Survivor Series put Punk on Team Cena in the Team Cena vs Team Show match and have him eliminate Show during the match, eventually leading to Punk becoming the #1 contender for the title at the PPV.

With the Hardys on the show, another big match, a dream match in fact, that they could've booked are The Hardys vs RVD & Sabu. If I remember correctly, it was The Hardys who threw out the open challenge for the PPV, not MNM. The Hardys could've began their feud with MNM at Armageddon in the 4-Way Ladder Match. MNM could've still been on the show though and faced The FBI instead, which actually would've been a decent match.

My card...

1) MNM vs The FBI

2) Tommy Dreamer vs Hardcore Holly (could've been a good hardcore match)

3) Sandman, Balls Mahoney & Stevie Richards vs Test, Mike Knox & Daivari (ECW originals facing the new vision of ECW)

4) The Hardys vs Rob Van Dam and Sabu

5) Strikers Rules: Bobby Lashley vs Matt Striker (I like the idea of Lashley squashing Striker to gain trust with the ECW crowd)

6) ECW Title: Big Show (c) vs CM Punk

 

[Y 2 Jake]

To say they don't have the depth to put on a full card is short-sighted.

Mate, you've made a Bobby Lashley vs. Matt Striker match. If there was any depth to the roster at that time, then why is Matt Striker on there? If we were bring back any ECW legend that wasn't with the company at the time, why is Bobby Lashley featured and why isn't it another tribute show?

WWE had to have The Hardyz vs. MNM on the card because no matter what they did, the card was going to involve people like Sylvester Terkay, Kevin Thorne, Elijah Burke and all those other guys that never caught on.

 

[Dagger Dias]

There was no way that this show was going to be a success. Too many factors were there that were working against it. This show was one week after Survivor Series that year. ONE WEEK APART. Then, only 2 more weeks afterward, they had Armageddon. 3 PPV's within a month timeframe. Both Survivor Series and Armageddon were a much bigger deal than December To Dismember. From DAY ONE they had made ECW out to be inferior to Raw and Smackdown. WWE had watered down their version of ECW so much at that point that few people cared. So even if it were the only PPV event that month it still would have drawn awful numbers.

One thing that could have been a big help would have been including bigger names such as those from Raw or Smackdown. The argument will inevitably be made that this was supposed to be an ECW exclusive show. The Hardys were in a match on this card and they were not on ECW at this time. So why not include more Smackdown or Raw wrestlers on the card then? The show should still have been centered around the Extreme Elimination Chamber with the use of weapons. More gimmick matches might have helped. A Ladder or a TLC match could have been a good addition. They also should have made it be the only December PPV that year. Many of the matches from Armageddon could have been on this card, then keep the Extreme Elimination Chamber match and tag team match from this card, and more fans would have purchased this event surely.


1. Kane VS MVP in an Inferno match

2. Gregory Helms VS Jimmy Wang Yang for the Cruiserweight Championship in a Ladder match

3. The Undertaker VS Mr Kennedy

4. The Hardys VS MNM

5. Daivari VS Tommy Dreamer in a Tables match

6. Batista & John Cena VS Finlay & King Booker

7. Bobby Lashley VS Big Show VS RVD VS Hardcore Holly VS CM Punk VS Test in an Extreme Elimination Chamber for the ECW Championship.




That's a card I would have ordered at the time. It takes care of the more interesting matches from both December to Dismember (while keeping that name) and Armageddon. Last but not least, I'd move it to the week of December 17, when Armageddon was held, so the fans have more time in between Survivor Series and this new December To Dismember card.