Is NXT better than ECW was?

[donutman]

Funny. The majority of people hated WWECW. But sometimes you don't notice how good something is, until its gone. I like WWECW for the fact it gave guys like Zack Ryder who are underused in RAW/Smackdown, a chance to shine. They were able to build up guys like Kofi, CM Punk, and Shaemus. It gave them more room to grow before they moved up to the big shows.

I still like NXT because its different. Throughout the weeks, you can really notice who is ready for the big time and who is not. If they suck, they get cut and we won't have to deal with them. If they look good, they'll stay on camera. Honestly, they should combine both the style of WWECW and NXT. The rookies should have to interact with some vets other than the Pros.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Personally, I disagree with this because I honestly saw very little actual purpose for ECW. The ECW brand in and of itself was for all intents and purposes dead on its feet for the last 2 years of its existence. In all honesty, I saw it as being only a slight notch above Superstars and that's only because the WWE put the slightest effort in making ECW seem relevant. Overall, with the exception of Christian in general, there wasn't anything on ECW I was remotely interested in.

As far as NXT goes, you'll not hear me say that it was perfect because it wasn't. I do think personally that the WWE could have tweaked a few aspects of it here and there to make it more than it was. NXT, however, actually made me feel as if the show mattered whereas ECW didn't. NXT featured completely fresh faces and made them the focus of an entire show intended on potentially building new stars for the company. ECW always struck me as something more along the lines of existing just to be able to give Raw and SmackDown undercarders something to do.

Don't get me wrong, some legitimate stars and great wrestlers in the WWE did get their first big exposure on ECW but the show still was only ECW in name. While I wasn't a big fan of the original ECW anyhow, WWE's version just never sucked me in.

The NXT Rookie Challenges overall were lame and I do think the show could have drawn bigger ratings by including the likes of John Cena and Randy Orton as pros for the show. You'd often see very solid to downright great wrestling content on both ECW and NXT, but ECW was a show that never felt particularly important to me as the WWE didn't necessarily try to make it so.

 

[MrLM31]

I believe NXT has been a bigger success than ECW ever was. NXT has had only to seasons have have brought some of the FCW talent to the forefront, ECW never really did this as they were far more interested in god awful Tommy Dreamer title runs and storylines.

However, WWE really made a severe error in judgement making NXT season 3 all divas as this had flopped big time. Women's wrestling is on a major downwards slope right now and now two weeks into the season it has it's own commentary team tearing into it. Plus if they are looking for a new network for the show this season is going to be far more of a hinderence than help.

 

[martymcfly]

I'll be honest, I miss WWECW show. As pointed out by soundofmadness, it really gave many wrestlers--both rookies and veterans--a chance to shine. It also allowed rookies to develop a fan base (if faces) or at least a background following (if heels) so that when they made the jump to one of the big shows, they weren't coming from out of nowhere.

Unfortunately, so many former ECW wrestlers have become lost in the shuffle. For example, until someone mentioned him on another thread, I had completely forgotten that yoshi tatsu was still around. From what i remember, he could put on quite a show in the ring but there's just no room for him right now with all the other main eventers on raw. Same for zack ryder. He actually was given a chance to shine, and based on posts on this forum, was able to collect an impressive cult following.

I also thought the show itself was decent. There were actually some weeks where we saw more (and better) wrestling action than raw. Outside of the abraham washington show, for the most part ECW seemed more about getting to the action.

NXT on the other hand is hard for me to care about. I don't care who wins inane contests like keg carrying or obstacle courses, or hearing about their 30 second promos about "anything they want". The actual winner is meaningless and the idea that fan voting or the pros actually do anything is a farce. Since WWE will put on their shows whomever they want I just don't see NXT accomplishing anything meaningful. And now their development roster is picked clean and it seems they've run out of ideas altogether, not to mention the piss poor ratings, it's time to do something else.

 

[An Angry Blonde]

Everything I'm going to say is all frrom my opinion so don't give me to much shit for it...

#1. NXT season one bored the fucking hell out of me, while the first year and a half from ecw kept me watching almost every tuesday. I mean I got to see some extreme matches from new guys doing there thing without being out shined by legends like hhh,taker, ric flair, shawn micheals,etc.

#2. ECW gave new guys the oppertuntiy to prove their worth, a chance to shine, and a chance to improve w/o being in the shadows of to many pros. NXT doesn't always have any Wreastling matches in it so I fail to see anyy point of nxt when there are few matches, plus very few/no storylines, no title to go after, and seems like a nock off of suervivior(for a lake of a better show/example.)

#3. ECW was something different than the other shows, with its own gm, roster, and title. Hell even the rookies on eccw were better than the crap nxt prodicies.And that includes nexus who can't do shit with out the rest of the group to back them up. Tell me the last time a nxt rookie won cleanly, excluding DB. ECW aslo had the miz and morrison with the dirt sheet, plus the big red monster, and a heel mark henry. Plus the one time matt harty won a heavy wieght title(yes i count the ecw title a me title cause it is.)

Who is better well ecw is the winner to me because it was a place were un used talent, or new talent to become something before they enter the big leagues(raw and smackdown.)

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I think NXT is better than WWECW for the simple reason that NXT has contributed to two of the best storylines seen in the WWE this year. The Nexus and the Daniel Bryan/Miz/Michael Cole storylines have been some of the best stuff that we have seen in years. This makes the contribution of NXT to the overall WWE programming greater, in my opinion, than ECW.

WWECW just came and went. It was extreme when it started out but Vince realised that such a product would not work with the national TV audience. So he watered down the product and though we did see some great wrestling on the show, it is fair to say that the show did not leave a lasting impression. People say it is the show that produced guys like Punk and Sheamus but in all fairness Punk got real stardom when he went heel and that happened on Smackdown. No one pretty much remembers that Sheamus feuded with Goldust on ECW and it might be said that he could have become what he is today even without ECW.

Hence, in my opinion, NXT is better than WWECW.