If one of these guys could have held the ECW title, who should it have been?

[Zigglerfan227]

I had always wondered how things would have been if Shelton Benjamin or William Regal or even Zack Ryder had won the ECW title. We all probably have different views on the ECW title and if the WWE used it correctly or not, but I do not want to get into that. I am going to give you a list of people who I felt could have held the ECW title and you tell me which one is the best choice.

Here is the List:

Paul Burchill
Zack Ryder
William Regal
Finlay
Shelton Benjamin
Mike Knox
Hardcore Holly
Test
Elijah Burke



If there is a wrestler that I did not mention that you think should have been the ECW champion, let me know. Try to choose one of the wrestlers from my list.

 

[Jason Scene]

I was expecting this to be about the Original ECW, and not the bad, poor, shitty WWE ECW. But I will answer your question anyway.

Out of everyone on your list, the person I would want to have seen hold the ECW Championship is Elijah Burke. He has shown since he went to TNA, that WWE wasted him, well he showed it in his first few months in TNA. Now hes gone very dry. He had in-ring skill, his microphone skills have became evident since he signed for TNA and overall he had something. And if TNA were to release him, I'd place a bet that WWE would snap him up.

But, the person I think the ECW Championship would have benefited from it the most has to be Paul Burchill. Burchill had a lot of promise, and people thought he was the real deal, yet he kept falling flat due to stupid booking and angles. The Pirate was bad enough, but the Katie-Lea angle was almost as bad.

If he had won the ECW Championship and held it for a bit I think it would have done him well to get over. But, he didn't and now he works indies.

 

[Richard]

I think William Regal should have won the ECW Championship.

When he was feuding with Christian for it, he had about a million title shots and never got it. I truely think he should have had a reign with it, even if it would be very short say only from one PPV to another to go back to Christian but I think it would have benefitted Regal well to pick up some, well not gold, but silver. Decent in the ring, can cut a decent promo and I think would have been a great ECW Champion.

 

[Calderownz]

Paul Burchill
Zack Ryder
William Regal
Finlay
Shelton Benjamin
Mike Knox
Hardcore Holly
Test
Elijah Burke

Considering that ECW was essentially a developmental territory, I think that it would have helped Elijah Burke or Shelton Benjamin the most. Regal and Finlay aren't going to need this to get them over. They're fine.

Knox simply wasn't going to make it for me, personally. Ryder's gimmicks kills it for me. So, I think that Shelton or Burke made the most sense.

 

[achromat666]

I was also hoping this was for the Original ECW, however there is some validity to the notion at least. the WWE ECW was designed to develop talent that had not been proven but had a ton of potential. So the original idea to put the strap on someone like Benoit I always assumed was to test anyone that they felt was worthy of the belt and really put them through their paces. I think they would have stood a better chance if they stuck with this formula instead of going down the route the eventually did.

And for the record even this watered down ECW as difficult as it was to watch was better than the NXT to follow it. not that it's saying much.

At any rate...

Shelton Benjamin and William Regal are the smart choices based on my previous assessment of testing the new talent. Hardcore Holly fits this mold as well and all three could have worked had they taken the promotion seriously. Burke, Burchill, and Knox could have used the rub with these guys before heading up to SD or Raw and Ryder just needs a gimmick change. He's never going to do much with it above what he's already doing, which is not much.

 

[The Chosen One of WZ]

The only person on your list that wouldn't have had major bullshit reign is Test.

Test was a monster in the glory year of WWECW (2006). I was a big fan of this Test and always thought he should have won the Extreme Elimination Chamber.

If Hardcore Holly or Mike Knox had mic skills they could have had a good reign too.

Correct me if im wrong. Didn't William Regal hold the ECW championship.

 

[Zigglerfan227]

The only person on your list that wouldn't have had major bullshit reign is Test.

Test was a monster in the glory year of WWECW (2006). I was a big fan of this Test and always thought he should have won the Extreme Elimination Chamber.

If Hardcore Holly or Mike Knox had mic skills they could have had a good reign too.

Correct me if im wrong. Didn't William Regal hold the ECW championship.

Sorry man, Regal never held the ECW title. It would have been nice if he did though.

 

[Zigglerfan227]

I was also hoping this was for the Original ECW, however there is some validity to the notion at least. the WWE ECW was designed to develop talent that had not been proven but had a ton of potential. So the original idea to put the strap on someone like Benoit I always assumed was to test anyone that they felt was worthy of the belt and really put them through their paces. I think they would have stood a better chance if they stuck with this formula instead of going down the route the eventually did.

And for the record even this watered down ECW as difficult as it was to watch was better than the NXT to follow it. not that it's saying much.

At any rate...

Shelton Benjamin and William Regal are the smart choices based on my previous assessment of testing the new talent. Hardcore Holly fits this mold as well and all three could have worked had they taken the promotion seriously. Burke, Burchill, and Knox could have used the rub with these guys before heading up to SD or Raw and Ryder just needs a gimmick change. He's never going to do much with it above what he's already doing, which is not much.

I like your post. I am sorry that I did not talk about the orginal ECW. I actually enjoyed the WWE's ECW. In fact, I thought that ECW was sometimes more enjoyable than Raw, Smackdown, or Superstars. Of course, I definitely love the original ECW and the WWE's version was not better.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

It has to be Shelton Benjamin or Elijah Burke.

We are seeing how good Burke can be when given the opportunity, he has really got over as The Pope in TNA, and he is a great athlete with strong mic skills. A run with the ECW title could (and probably would) have led to his promotion to either Raw or Smackdown and could have really benefitted him as it did with CM Punk and John Morrison. I could quite easily have seen Burke in a similar spot to Morrison, Cody Rhodes or Kofi Kingston right now. He is definitely a missed opportunity in WWE.

As for Benjamin, we all know how good in the ring he is. He could have brought legitimate wrestling talent back to the forefront of the business, as a champion who can actually put on stunning matches rather than a spot monkey (Jeff Hardy), slow, muscle bound monsters (Batista) or average in ring-performers (John Cena, The Miz etc). Benjamin could have dominated ECW, and if he had been given a mouthpiece to cover up his quite weak mic skills, I think he would have been brilliant for the brand. Shelton v Christian or Shelton v Punk would be something I would pay to see.

Plus, over time Shelton could take over the mic work himself and develop his mic skills. He has always held himself back with his poor promo skills, but as the ECW champion (a position of responsibility, but not on a major show) he would get plenty of time to work on his skills.

I think either Burke or Benjamin would be the best picks for a ECW title run, but if I had to pick one I would slightly lean towards Shelton.