Is NXT better than ECW was?

[Tastycles]

It's a topic so simple, I'm afraid it's already been done, but I can't see anything to suggest it has been. NXT has replaced ECW basically because ECW wasn't pulling its weight anymore. NXT has received ratings in keeping with ECW, despite having bigger stars on it, and even more importantly, having publicity on Raw and Smackdown, something I've never seen for ECW in recent years.

NXT is certainly something different, but is it more entertaining than ECW? For me it probably is, but that isn't so much the innovative nature of NXT that has done that, but the roster. I think most of the rookies are more interesting than the likes of Vance Archer, and the pros are all guys that I like, so I am probably liking it more, but there's not much in it. But what about you? Is NXT better than ECW or is it the dud that people thought it would be?

 

[Ferbian]

I actually think it's better than the ECW I experienced (having been a fan for, well basicly a years time by now) and I must admit I never really bothered to tune into ECW, more like checking the results the day after than watching it.
But NXT I've catched every episode thus far, and I must say it keeps me interested, even thou the ratings has been failing every week (hopefully it will improve) I can't say I'm not liking it, because it brings something slightly new, and the fact that there's actually interesting pro's on the show is definitely something that makes me want to watch it, especially because I wanna see who is most likely to be popping up on Smackdown or Raw in a few months.

So yes, NXT is better than ECW was.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'm personally enjoying NXT more than ECW. I like the overall concept of the show and the show genuinely seems to have a focus. ECW was a show in which you'd generally get a good, solid 1 hour wrestling show but it didn't really have a purpose. Nothing that happened on ECW seems to have been important enough to have any sort of impact on the other WWE brands.

With NXT, I do see something of a purpose and a means of building young stars that hasn't been done before. Daniel Bryan, or Bryan Danielson if you prefer, is already pretty over with WWE fans. The WWE seems to be pretty high on him to put him in the spot that he has. Most of the Rookies do have something, some more than others, but NXT is a way to allow them to shine and potentially be build independently on their own shows without the possibility of having them designated to just being "one of the boys" and getting lost in the shuffle. Not to say that such a thing still couldn't happen, but to do so would really negate what's supposed to be the purpose of NXT in the first place.

 

[Cracka Jack]

Yeah, I'd have to say that NXT is a lot more entertaining than ECW was, but I fear that this may only be because it feels very fresh right now. But what about six months from now? A year? That's the big question on my mind: if they can keep up the excitement and keep it from getting stale. Also, ECW wasn't exactly bad. There was a time (when guys like Swagger and Bourne were around) when I genuinely enjoyed the show almost every time I watched it.

I think chemistry between the pros and rookies is what could, and probably should, make or break this show. Miz and Bryan are the perfect example of this, with the tension that they are showing with each other. If the other pairings could find relationships that work this well, but without just copying it, this could become WWE's finest program. I probably shouldn't get my hopes up too much though, as not all the rookies have much star potential. Still, I like what I've seen so far.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

No, certainly not at this point. NXT is entertaining and they're doing a good job with at least 4 of the rookies, but at this stage during the new version of ECW, RVD & Sabu got busted and it created a great and memorable episode of that particular show. So far NXT has been good but forgettable.

 

[Checkmate]

I personally enjoy watching NXT more than ECW, but the comparison is pretty apples and oranges. Sure, they are both wrestling, but one is more of a traditional show, while the other is some reality-wrestling hybrid. I guess the slight variation on the show is what makes me a bit more interested, as well as all the attention to the rookies. It just seems like something more suitable for an hour long show.

Is NXT better though? Not really. It hasn't been stellar in ratings, granted the time slot and all. While the product may be more entertaining at times, it still is quite new and untested. One can only speculate how it will hold up over time. At this point in time, it is relatively the same in ratings quality, even if I'd rate it higher in entertainment quality.

 

[Dagger Dias]

NXT is absolutely more entertaining than ECW. I was never truly comfortable with ECW as the third brand, things were fine with just Raw and Smackdown. We all know how things eventually went downhill for ECW. I did really enjoy the New Talent Initiative, though. It became the place to see the guys who might be the future of WWE, which is exactly what NXT is doing. NXT is a superior show to ECW because WWE has made me very interested in seeing what the future holds for each of the rookies. Every week I'm wondering what's going to happen to them next and look forward to watching it. That was not the case particularly often with ECW. I'd prefer to watch a show of rookies training with their mentors rather than a show full of jobbers fighting for a belt that lost nearly all of its prestige.... so, NXT is easily the better show.

 

[Tenta]

I'll start off by bluntly stating that I completely disagree, and that I'd never expect Tasty to have such a knee jerk reaction to a show that's only three weeks old. At this point, ECW wasn't nearly as watered down as it would become. RVD was champion, he was working as champion, and the show was actually a rating's success. It wasn't until December to Dismemeber that the show really started to slip down the tubes.

NXT has received ratings in keeping with ECW, despite having bigger stars on it,

Well yeah, the show's only been on for three episodes. I'll wait much longer before I praise NXT's ratings.

and even more importantly, having publicity on Raw and Smackdown, something I've never seen for ECW in recent years.

Not exactly a fair comparison. The whole point of NXT is to introduce the WWE audience to the new breed of superstars. Meanwhile, the WWE made all attempts to separate the three brands, Raw, Smackdown, and ECW. Besides, ECW's Heavyweight Champion was making frequent appearances on Raw, working with the top two draws in the company at the time, Edge and John Cena. It wasn't as though ECW was barren from publicity.

NXT is certainly something different, but is it more entertaining than ECW? For me it probably is,

That's merely a judgement call on your part. Personally, I see NXT as a watered down version of Raw and Smackdown. At the very least, at its original state, ECW did offer something that at least something different to the Raw and Smackdown programming.

but that isn't so much the innovative nature of NXT that has done that, but the roster.

The only person I find myself giving a shit for on NXT is Daniel Bryan. Of course, he's the star, so I'll compare him to RVD, who was the star of ECW at its beginnings. At this point, RVD is better than Daniel Bryan. I would rather watch an RVD match than a Bryan Danielson match, and he draws more of a crowd than Bryan Danielson does. Either than that, NXT is really a one trick pony, and relies completely on that pony to gallop all the way home.

I think most of the rookies are more interesting than the likes of Vance Archer, and the pros are all guys that I like, so I am probably liking it more, but there's not much in it.

Again, you're going to have to be more specific. If we're comparing the shows in their time frames, ECW was better at this point in its origins than NXT is. You're referring to ECW programming that had become nothing like the original, and alienated people as being the "developmental league".

But what about you? Is NXT better than ECW or is it the dud that people thought it would be?

It's not a dud, parse, but it's not better than ECW was at this point in it's birth? Now, ECW as it was in its dying day? It'd be like comparing NXT to WCW programming in 2000 from eyes. Sure, it's better than the worst of a dying brand, but it certainly doesn't match what ECW was capable of.

 

[wrestlefan1billion]

is a kick in the left nut better than a kick in both nuts? they both sucked, but atleast ecw was a stand alone show. nxt is a pos. seeing a bigass dave otunga with r-truth and the miz bitching at someone with way more skillz and experience than his own reality show ass. wtf? i hope it ends. it is even worse than the xfl.

now the original ecw, that was the shizz...

 

[Notorious718]

I've been entertained by NXT so far but that's not to say that I completely prefer it over ECW when it comes to building up superstars. While I'm loving the whole concept of mentors and up and coming rookies, the absence of ECW has made it harder for many former ECW stars to really shine.

Evan Bourne, for instance, was destroyed by Sheamus this past Monday. He has so much more potential than being beaten in two seconds every other week. The good thing is that he is winning his matches in the weeks in between but they hardly went over five minutes. Zack Ryder had great matches on ECW that made me buy him as a legitimate superstar but then he jobbed to MVP. This is why ECW was so great for guys like them. They were afforded decent time for matches and really got a fan base going.

I'm not taking anything away from NXT, it's a great show and I find the concept very intriguing. But IMO (and this is just my opinion), ECW's absense has been hurting a few superstars.

 

[Mr. TM]

NXT is certainly better than ECW was at the end, and ever since TJ Wilson left the show. That ECW was highlighted by Christian, who is on NXT, plush you get people who are actually half interesting on the show, which was not the case for many in ECW. ECW was never must see TV for me, but NXT draws me in each week, getting to see actual growth of talent. It is also interesting to note that even though there are no titles ever on the line, its still interesting.

 

[HBKevin]

NXT is an interesting game show wrestling concept. WWE ECW was cool at first imitating the hardcore style of the original, with RVD, Sabu, Sandman, Dreamer, etc., but it got pretty bad by at least 2008. I missed long periods of watching ECW, because it just sucked so bad at times, but I kept coming back to give it more chances, until the end. But by the end there was no logical reason for it even to be called ECW, there was no similarity at all to the original. After they kicked out all the originals but Dreamer, they could have at least renamed it.

 

[P. Nut Butters]

HAHAHA ROH BYAN DANIELS BECAUSE HE ON Nxt as wlel and he losses all times even to GRAET KHALI WHO LOOK ****** FEATURES AND GOT CRAZY LUMP BACK FROM STERAIS AND WEIGHTS AND EATING CURRYS IN PAKISTANI

WTF is up with the poster before me?

Anyways, I personally don't think NXT is any better than ECW... or much worse to be exact. It's great that WWE is giving some young guys a chance to get exposure, that's what I've always loved about that Tuesday night slot. The concept of NXT is good, but to me it's proven to be just another wrestling show on your television every week.

What's going to be interesting is the outcome and the futures of those who competed in NXT. While, I don't think the show is all that stellar, and it's not as unique as I originally expected, I think it's going to go a long way in helping some fresh blood get out into the ranks of the WWE.

Hopefully they'll have bright futures, because there sure is talent coming from that show.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'm enjoying NXT much more than ECW because there's really an overall point to NXT. ECW was a solid wrestling show in which you'd often find quality matches, but the entire ECW Brand gave me the feeling that it was little more than a dumping ground for some wrestlers that were deemed a little to valuable to just be outright let go.

NXT is an interesting concept and I've enjoyed it overall even though there are still a few bugs that haven't been worked out. I hope the WWE can find another channel for the show.

 

[AmericanDragonSW]

I can't agree on NXT because there are just so many things with it that bother me. The only guys that have any real shot are Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater and of course Daniel Bryan. Speaking of which, having him lose every single match is just godawful, almost as godawful as having to listen to Michael "I'm not Jerry Lawler but keep trying to be" Cole bicker moan about this guy every single week. "0 and 8" "0 and 9" "0 and 10", for god's sake Cole shut your piehole already. You make Mike Adamle look like Jim Ross. And then there's these challenges which are getting dumber and dumber. It has elements of Tough Enough but here's the thing, there was more of a realistic element to Tough Enough and some of those competing in it you actually cared about. Wade Barrett has potential but he needs a new finisher because the one he has is about as lame and corny as the "Cranium Crunch". The phrase of "We Want Wrestling" comes to mind because I'm sure as hell not getting it from NXT.

 

[Project Zero Wrestling]

The Short answer is Yes, because people are interested in seeing how it turns out, in the end nobody cared about ECW

 

[Kenny Powers]

The NXT concept is better overall then just a minor league third brand second rate ECW show. I think that the matches on ECW weren't great but better then the matches we have been seeing on NXT. There haven't been many matches on NXT or great caliber matches because of the rookies which is expected. I'm just not a fan of the game show competitions that last half of the show.

NXT was a better idea then the WWE ECW, but NXT hasn't impressed that much lately. I guess we will have to wait and see what the finished product of NXT will be, but both shows are pretty mediocre.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Uh, fuck no, namely becuase no television program on planet fucking earth is worse than NXT.

From every single damn aspect, NXT is a shit failure, and ECW could have accomplished the exact same damn purpose. Except, you know, with no silly contests, and less cookie cutter green horn battles.

ECW was regularly an action packed, interesting show, that ALSO got young guys over. 8 at a time? True, it didnt. Usually at least 2 at a time though, which is plenty. They could accomplish the exact same goal they are reaching for with this abomination of a show by keeping ECW around, and providing us with title chase storylines, and good matches.

Ah, for shame.

 

[Honkey_Kong]

NXT as a concept was a great idea. It gives national exposure to these newcomers and let's them get over before they join the main roster. Plus some of us have gotten in to it. We here in the IWC even have been discussing who of them we think is going to become world champ. And don't kid yourself, non-internet wrestling fans are doing that when they talk wrestling to each other as well.

But leave it to the WWE to ruin a good concept...

The matches are too short for us to be able to assess if they're good or not. The challenges are absolutely ******ed and get even more ******ed every week. And half of the show are those video montages that we saw the night before on RAW and will see again on Smackdown on Friday. And it seems like a waste of time. I understand they have to sell the pay per view, but anybody watching NXT, also watches raw and/or smackdown. And this gross misuse of time makes their matches what 3 minutes if that? Look at Bryan Danielson's matches he barely had any time. That guy could put on 60 minute iron man matches with Jake The Snake Roberts and make them interesting to watch. And he barely gets 3 minutes?


I hope they continue the NXT concept, but fix the problems with the show.

If they need to get rid of a show, move Superstars to WWE.com and put NXT in it's spot.

The only major problem I have with NXT is I know this is going to prevent those vignettes from being aired that the WWE used to air when a new wrestler was going to be debuted. I miss the old Razor Ramon and Val Venis vignettes.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Yes, NXT is "better" than WWECW, but you have to understand that while it was better, saying that WWE's NXT is better than WWECW here is like saying 99 cent toilet paper is better than 89 cent toilet paper – they're both equally as cheap and unsatisfying for the most part, and often defective in that they don't actually provide you with what you actually wanted when watching either.

In WWECW's case it was ECW-esque booking with a lot of "extremes" instead of Smackdown/RAW's trash feuding over the ugliest title in pro-wrestling history, and in NXT's case it was an Ultimate Fighter style reality concept in which wrestlers were eliminated from the show every few weeks after wrestling each other instead of having to carry a keg around the ring as though the fastest winner would somehow be a better wrestler for it.

 

[aphazel1]

In my humble opinion, NXT is not even close to being as good as the WWE/ECW. I admit that WWE/ECW was FAR from perfect, though I think it could have been a hell of a lot more if Vince had actually tried. All he needed was at least one decent story writer to construct a new definition of “extreme” for a new generation. Keep in mind, that doesn’t necessarily mean “hardcore,” it could have been all about an attitude, a certain look, or a variety of other features that could’ve re-branded “extreme” for today’s viewers. NXT, unfortunately, is like watching Double Dare with wrestlers...Anyone old enough to remember that ridiculous show? Anyway, I love the idea of giving new talent an opportunity to showcase their skills and hone their craft on a third brand that has a mix of vets & rookies BUT I don't want to watch wrestlers run obstacle courses and sell magazines, that is just plain stupid. Since I DVR almost everything because of my weird work schedule, I usually end up fast forwarding through most of NXT.

I also think that NXT needs a title, IMO, that would bring a lot more interesting possibilities to the table and give a little more credibility to the rookies. When they make it up to the main roster, selling themselves as a former champion (ECW or NXT) gives them more credibility than being the winner of some goofy contest. If the vets and the rookies are competing over the same title/goal, like the ECW for instance, it gives their struggle and success a little more credence….but that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.

 

[Yoshikawa]

My personal opinion is that NXT is better then ECW i never watched ECW it was more of an occasional thing if nothing eles was on my when it comes to NXT i make a point to watch it and i look forward to it while its ratings are pretty low I enjoy seeing new talent such as Darren Young and his paring with CM Punk while i no he is gone now aside from Brian Danielson, Darren Young was my next favorite.

But back to the topic ECW was good for elevating stars like MIZ and MORRISON it was most enjoyble to watch them but other then that I had no real need to watch ECW other then Christan.

If i had to choose out of the 2 NXT is the way to go

 

[.]

ECW was cancelled in favor of NXT because officials for both SyFy and WWE were unhappy with ECW’s rating which were usually in the 1.1-1.3 range. I can’t imagine that either side is happy when consistently NXT is pulling in 1.0s or lower. The biggest problem with ECW was the name ECW. The brand was resented because it no longer resembled the hardcore promotion based out of Philadelphia. The problem is that many people could not look past that and look at all the good things ECW was doing. During much of 2009 ECW was actually putting on better shows than WWE’s “A” Brand, RAW. That’s why this column in going to look at what ECW evolved into, WWE’s “C” Brand that was the place for young talent to debut and perfect their craft working with established veterans, not the shell of the Original ECW it tried to be when it 1st debuted.

The 1st thing I want to do is compare ECW and NXT. Towards the end of ECW, it was used as a place to introduce new talent to the WWE audience and see if they were ready to be moved to one of the two big brands. NXT is essence is the same thing, although they go about it in two different ways. ECW was not a pseudo reality show, it was a wrestling show. This allowed the debuting stars to come on to TV and act like wrestlers. When they talked they weren’t talking about rainbows and butterflies like on NXT, they were cutting wrestling promos. They cut promos on how good they were or their purpose in ECW or why they didn’t like another competitor, whatever the case was, they were honing their craft on the mic talking about things relevant to a wrestling show. On NXT you have “The Walking Tampon” Matt Striker as the host of the show giving the NXT Rookies topics to talk about and rarely if ever do they have anything to do with wrestling. “Daniel Bryan, give me your thoughts on toothpaste.” Really? Most of the time the Rookies rambled on incoherently and then Striker would grab the mic out of their hand before they’re done talking. Clearly the format on ECW is better for people to show what they could do on the mic, but what about in-ring work? Well, on ECW we consistently saw matches that were given 7-12 minutes and fell in that **1/2-*** range. The new comers were put in the ring with either jobbers to showcase their offensive skills or they would be given matches with established veterans so they could learn the proper way to work a match. This is not the case on NXT. Sometimes we had to wait until 40 minutes into the show to get an actual match and then they tried to squeeze 3 or 4 matches into a 25 minute span. The matches were rushed and short and you never got a chance to gauge what the Rookies were and the Rookies never got a chance to improve in the ring. There were never any long matches between Rookies and Pros were the Pro could work with the Rookie in the ring and teach him how to improve in the ring. Most of the matches were between Rookies. When you mix green with green, it’s still the color green. Look at what’s going on with The Nexus, WWE has thrown 7 green rookies into one of their hottest angles in a while, yet they only have confidence in 2 of them in the ring(Tarver and Sheffield suck in the ring, Deal with it.). This is the reason why you see Justin Gabriel and Wade Barrett doing nearly all of the stable’s in-ring work.

I feel ECW was a better vehicle to get talent over. CM Punk, Sheamus, Jack Swagger, John Morrison, The Miz, Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne are all ECW alums and are now the future of WWE. Would these men all be as established as they are if they were the cast of a Season of NXT? I don’t think so. Swagger feuded with Christian. Sheamus feuded with Goldust. Punk feuded with Chavo Guerrero. Kofi feuded with Shelton Benjamin. Christian, Chavo, Goldust and Shelton are all very good, professional workers that aided in the development of the newcomers they wrestled.

You’re saying “Ok, Now you’re beating the point to death that ECW was better format to get young guys over. Are you done?” No, I’m not because ECW wasn’t just for new comers, it was for veterans too. Everyone bitched and moaned that Christian was buried on ECW, but what has he done since? The answer is nothing. When he was on ECW he was on that show every week having matches with a variety of guys in the *** range, not to mention he was on PPV nearly every month. Has Christian had a singles PPV match since ECW ended? The answer is no. He’s only been on 2 PPVs, WrestleMania and Money in the Bank and both times he competed in the MITB Ladder Match. When you look at it like that, ECW wasn’t so bad for Captain Charisma, now was it? Look at other guys that were ECW Champions, like Mark Henry and Matt Hardy. Look, we all like to make fun of the walking Kool-Aid jug, but the best run of his career was on ECW and he’s had no direction since he was moved off that brand. Pretty much everything I said about Christian can be said for Hardy. Even though, I think Christian is a much better overall talent than Hardy, Hardy has plenty of fans and I think they enjoyed him being on top of the “C” Brand more than the way he has been used since. NXT has not provided this same landing space for veterans. Sure, they have Pros, but the show’s not supposed to be about them. They sit on the ramp, pretend to give a shit about what’s happening, occasionally have a match and then maybe they’ll talk about their Rookie. I’m sure Christian was yearning for another match with Ezekiel Jackson during his stint on NXT.

The last thing I want to touch on really doesn’t have anything to do with NXT but it’s another reason why having ECW around was beneficial to WWE. Let’s look at the ECW Roster when the show went off the air. We had the stable of William Regal, Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson. Regal is on RAW and aside from a couple of 2 minute comedy tag team matches has done nothing. The same can be said for Kozlov. Jackson, who has the distinction of being the last ECW Champion actually had some momentum but was injured before he could make an impact and has been out ever since. The likes of Vance Archer and Abraham Washington have been sent back to FCW and only recently has Archer resurfaced on SmackDown. The DudeBusters and Yoshi Tatsu were all good young acts that have fallen into obscurity since the end of ECW. Shelton Benjamin and Gregory Helms have joined the future endeavors club. There’s Zack Ryder, who I actually like, that was headlining ECW shows against Christian, is now nothing more than a joke and whipping boy for main event talent on RAW. Goldust can’t even get air time as a comedy act and even more insulting to him he’s a Pro on the all Diva NXT Season 3. We already covered what then end of ECW has meant to Christian. I know many of these guys frequent Superstars regularly but that show doesn’t have the clearance ECW did and that show is doing just over 500,000 viewers weekly so it’s almost as if they’re not on the WWE radar. The point of the matter is that moving off of ECW and onto a bigger platform has not been a good thing for any of these guys. You could make the argument that none of them are good enough to deserve real spots, but there’s Christian who we know that’s not the case. Shelton Benjamin would still have a job with ECW and Yoshi Tatsu would be wrestling regularly and getting better now his career is seemingly over before it even got started.

Look at the sixteen male NXT Rookies that have debuted in the first two seasons. How many really deserve to be on WWE TV, maybe two? That’s less than half. Don’t you really think for those seven guys it would have been better for them to debut maybe two at a time on ECW and work with guys like Regal and Goldust, than being bogged down by the nonsense on NXT and having to work with guys that don’t belong on WWE TV? I do. Then for the Michael Tarver’s and Lucky Cannon’s of the world, they can stay in FCW and continue to improve and not be rushed to TV because WWE needs to fill out a cast for a season of NXT.

How many wrestlers right now could have done with ECW? Shad? Drew McIntyre? Amongst others could have used this to show what they really were capable of doing. Develop personalities and show the crowd why they should care for them.

 

[The Doctor]

I must say I agree. While overall I have enjoyed NXT, I don't think it can be argued that it is in any way better overall than WWECW. ECW was my favorite WWE show on a weekly basis. I got to see simple storylines, young and old stars that were misused elsewhere, and good matches. It was consistently good. NXT on the other hand, while enjoyable, has many problems. Some challenges were entertaining. Others were embarrassingly bad. The matches are not really of a very high quality, since with the exception of Kaval and Daniel Bryan, the wrestlers are pretty darn green.

That isn't to say that there are things NXT does better than ECW. For example, NXT has the fantastic video interviews with the young superstars that really get you into their characters and familiarize yourselves with the wrestlers. ECW usually just threw a guy like Ricky Ortiz or Vance Archer out there and gave him time to sink-or-swim. More often than not, they sank, because the show didn't give the audience a reason to care about the wrestlers.

The other thing that NXT does better than ECW is the pro-rookie tandem. It makes for some ready-made storylines and interactions, like Bryan/Miz, or Kaval/LayCool. I also think that the pro pairing helps the rookies out a lot. I mean, Kaval really seemed to learn how to show a good personality during his time with LayCool. Kayfabe or not, it made for a logical explanation as to why that was so.

But that's just two things. Everything else about ECW was better than NXT. People were showcased more, the matches were better, and the show was consistently solid as opposed to NXT's rollercoaster of highs and lows

((Also, totally not liking the shot at Tarver. How can you compare him to Cannon? Tarver is the man, a future WHC.))

 

[.]

((Also, totally not liking the shot at Tarver. How can you compare him to Cannon? Tarver is the man, a future WHC.))

I apoligize but seriously, people bitch about Heath Slater when Slater is actually a better wrestler than Tarver just with MMG style mic skills. Tarver and Sheffield are alot alike; Both looked like shit on NXT but when Nexus came along, alot of peoples opinions changed as they both were shown being much more serious and scary.
I compare him to Cannon because he is the worst of Nexus in terms of wrestling. I'll put it this way: There's a reason he was one of the first few of team Nexus eliminated in the first few minutes.