My thoughts on ECW.

[SavageTaker]

I have thought about doing this for a while now,and since i have nothing better to do,well im just going to write about ECW.

I never really enjoyed the original ecw,although i will give them credit where credit is due.they did make hardcore wrestling popular and revolutinized it.
But there's something a man once said that i agree completely with,and that is that the original ECW was Extremely Crappy Wrestling.if you didnt figure out who it was then ill tell you,it was jerry lawler.

I agree it was extremely crappy wrestling,but that doesnt mean i dont like hardcore wrestling,well i dont to an extent.

I only like hardcore,and i mean real hardcore matches when they are needed for a feud,I.E HBK vs jericho feud or Undertaker vs Edge feud.

i dont like the fact that these guys went out there and were hardcore and taking bump after bump just for the sake of doing it.

I think had Ecw not been the way they were they could have been more succesful and maybe still be around today.

Now im going to talk about todays ecw,while i know many people are angry at what it is because it doesnt represent anything the original ecw did,i understand why vince did it.But i think when vince was thinking about bringing back ecw,that he was going to make it similar to how it was before but then change it to the way he wanted it to be.he was going to keep it the way it was back then just for a while to please the original fans.

Although i do understand why he did and why he chose the name ecw,i just wonder to myself,does he not remember he has the rights to use names of old shows he had and that wcw had,and that the AWA had.he could have used Action Zone or heat or velocity and many countless others,but the bottomline is that maybe he thought the ecw name would attract more people,idk but that maybe what his philosophy was.

Also although i dont get to catch todays ecw,i wanted to make it clear that it is doing better ratings than the original ecw ever did.

The only thing im afraid of and i highly doubt it,but it's still possible,is that they make a WCW DVD and then have a reunion show then they bring back nitro or thunder.i doubt it will happen though but i could see the dvd happening and i believe it's already in the works and i could also see the reunion show happening,but them bring back WCW nitro or thunder i dont see it happening.

Well there it is,what are you thoughts?

 

[RH23]

I was a fan of the original ECW. They were so innovative and what sucks for them is that WCW and WWF stole a lot of their roster. So to say ECW was Extremely Crappy Wrestling wouldn't make sense since their roster was raided. I cant stand the new ECW. When it first came back on Sci Fi, i thought it was okay. It had ECW originals and decent feuds. As far as a WCW reunion, i cant see it happening in the near future considering some WCW guys are contracted to TNA. As for bringing back Nitro or Thunder, i couldn't see that happening either simply because there isn't enough superstars on the WWE roster.

 

[2xtreme09]

Today's Ecw is okay. It could be way better. The young talents brought to ECW like Jack Swagger, Evan Bourne, Ricky Ortiz, and Dj Gabriel are good wrestlers. Although I think Ecw needs more air time. At least 2 hours. But if they are going to get two hours they need more titles. Bring in the Ecw tag championship back. It will get a lot of prestige. But the draft is gong to change ECW. In a bad or good way I am not shure. Jack Swagger is going to go and he may be hated, but he has a LOT of talent. Evan Bourne and Christan are likley to go to RAW. If ECW gets rid of them, they need sombody to carry ECW on their back. Finlay.....well i dont know if he can do it. Tommy Dreamer he has had a HUGE improvement i have seen the last two weeks. But not enough. I would think bring Rey Mysterio to Ecw. Give Dj Gabreial and Ricky Ortiz more time. Oh and before i forget Tyson Kidd is a GREAT wrestler. I think put a rivalry against Dj gabriel will get them both more popular.

 

[Scott Free]

I started watching the original ECW and didn't find their garbage matches all that great, but they had something else too, innovation, because between the garbage they also threw in Lucha Libre, Japanese wrestling and some great new talent that was bypassed by both WCW and WWE, like Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, RVD, and others, and they managed to build up feuds in a way that was truly unique, they also had an edge, which the WWE stole and renamed "Attitude". The original ECW was a phenomenon that gained a loyal fan following and grew too big for Paul Heyman to manage, and by managing I mean financially, for even in it's last days, ECW was performing in sold out live events. The real reason Vince keeps the name ECW on his bland WWE version is basically so that today's younger viewers will only remember that abortion instead of the real deal, anything the WWE didn't start never existed, that's their thinking. I wish they would just drop the name already and call it something else, the only thing Extreme about the WWECW is the lack of care they have for that show. Leave what's dead rest in peace I say.

 

[kurious420]

well ecw was litrally the nirvana of wrestling it was fairly short-lived but changed the business forever and much like nirvana had a cuilt following and as much as i hate to sound repetitive in my post i must once again go back to the nirvana comparison because much like nirvana the original ecw became much more popular years after it died then it ever was when it was alive and as to your jerry lawler quote ecw acually had number of great competitive technical matchs in there day.

 

[SavageTaker]

Regarding My Lawler Quote i wanted to make it clear that i dont think that the wrestlers there couldnt wrestle,because they could,but by adding the hardcore element it made it feel IMO that people would have thought that they were hiding their lack of talent by doing all of these hardcore things,which obviously isnt true.

I dont mind hardcore matches at all unless it made sense to have them.if ECW had lowered the amount of hardcore matches and instead built up feuds and to end them or along the way have some hardcore matches then it would have not only made the feud feel special but also the match would have felt like big thing and like something important.But by having every match be extreme rules it really didnt feel special at all and after a while i felt they over did it and it just made all of these guys who had tremendous amount of talents IMO it made them feel like just another extreme guy.

 

[bulldog76]

I watched The Rise and Fall of ECW a couple of weeks ago and something hit me; ECW got too far away from its basis. Professional wrestling is still wrestling with predetermined outcomes. ECW fought tooth and nail to get away from everything WCW/NWA was and got too far. It drowned. I felt WCW did the same thing. While WWE has at times, it always comes back to its basics. TNA from what I have seen and heard tries to get too innovative. That could be costly. No one is learning from the ECW's mistakes:
1) expanded too much to meet a thin audience and 2) get too far from professional wrestling. You can get away with a lot. Stupid stories, no stories, bad booking, but you cannot overcome not being a wrestling show. Once the likes of Jericho, Guererro, Malenko, Benoit, and Mysterio left, it was like, "Who needs wrestling, we can just beat the %@$# out of each other."

ECW I believe is looked at in a positive because of the necessary changes it forced the WWE to make; namely be more believable. It opened doors Vince probably would not have walked through otherwise; or at least not until later. We may never have seen a DX, Stone Cold, Rock, Hell In The Cell, evolution of the Undertaker amongst other things if it wasn't for ECW.

 

[mikeRC]

Regarding My Lawler Quote i wanted to make it clear that i dont think that the wrestlers there couldnt wrestle,because they could,but by adding the hardcore element it made it feel IMO that people would have thought that they were hiding their lack of talent by doing all of these hardcore things,which obviously isnt true

ECW wasn't violence, violence, violence. Ofcourse there were hardcore matches but many of the more technical stars of ECW stayed away from barbed wire baseball bats and tables. Guys like Jericho, Benoit, Austin, Guerrero, Tazz, RVD, Mysterio could all go out and have matches that didn't involve weapons and nobody would say "how unlike ECW". Technical wrestling, especially when Eddie and Dean ect were there, was a trait of ECW.

and instead built up feuds

Ok ECW had incredible feuds that no other promotion would've done at the time. Some of the greatest Promo artists ever came through ECW. They made you hang on their every word and really believe what they were saying. But ofcourse that in no way is a part of building feuds.



As for ECW now it should in no way be compared to the old ECW. It's just an hour long smackdown with less talent. The only thing it's used for is to test FCW stars.

The idea that WCW would be ressurected is ridiculous. ECW was ressurected because the Rise and Fall dvd was a smash. Probably because it was so good and because ECW was very unknown to a lot of people. WCW was huge and is known by far more people than ECW. Plus the WCW dvd is unlikely to have Bichoff, Hogan, Sting, Nash, Russo where the ECW dvd had almost every important figure.

 

[ThePeoplesChampion]

honestly today's ecw is a disgrace to the name....and i only seen a couple matches from there but they was great.....and another thing EXTREME championship wrestling meaning pretty much weapons....yet nothing on this ecw...sure maybe one chair...they should move it to thursday and name it thunder since they cant really bring back nitro since it was on mondays wit raw.

 

[rolltide_pisco]

If you look back at the original ECW, every match wasn't hardcore violence with chairs, tables, barbwire, etc. They had long, quality matches. Did Lance Storm or Chris Candido use weapons in their matches? Or what about Taz? Every match got to tell the story. It wasn't 5 minute squashes. Most of the time whether on pay-per-view or television, every match went at least 10-20 minutes. They tore the house down with that fast-paced wrestling. They showed respect to the smart marks and they smartened up the fans who didn't know how the business worked.

As far as that program on Tuesdays nights, we can all say ECW is being buried more but IMO, thats not ECW. It's not hurting the original ECW's legacy cause the fans won't accept it as being linked to ECW. The WWE will try to twist it as it is ECW but it's not. It's a last resort show thrown on by Vince McMahon to put all the developmental talent on that will never make it big on RAW or Smackdown. I can't tell you who wrestles on that show and what the storylines are cause I don't watch it. Who would want to?

Btw, who the fuck is Jack Swagger anyways? lol

 

[avi01]

ECW today is a joke and an insult to Paul Heyman in some way. I would have much prefer that they give that show some other name.It isn`t really extreme and we already have a B show in smack down. ECW is like the C show.

 

[ronbot09]

ECW would be at least on Smackdowns level if they had a longer run time and at least one more title. It only seems fitting that Extreme Championship Wrestling (key word there being Extreme) have at least the Hardcore Championship or at the very least take a belt from WCW like the Television title (but maybe rename it lol) or even the European title. One of those (run time or more titles) would make the stories intresting or get the show out there on the PPV cards.


Oh and if it's going to be called Extreme wrestling where are all the hardcore matches the show isn't Extreme untill One night stand or whatever they changed it to rolls around and then they are upstaged by Raw and Smackdowns extreme matches lol

 

[Mjolnir]

One thing I like about the current run of "ECW" is that in the hour time slot, you usually get 3 or four matches. Granted some are squashes, but still there is a lot less filler than Smackdown or Raw. I DVR my WWE shows, and can watch Smackdown in ~45 minutes, Raw in about an hour (because of the overrun). ECW takes about 40 minutes... For the 1 hour time slot, you actually get more bang for the buck with ECW.

IMO they have to stop with all of the shitty Raw rewind, slam of the week, etc. There are wrestlers in the locker room (at every show), who you don't see... there are dark matches... I would much rather watch a dark match or a mid-card promo then see what HHH did to Orton on Raw for the third time in a week. Do they think we have the memory span of a goldfish?

Back to the question at hand... ECW, more bang for the buck... and I agree, use the guys who are there. The "developmental stars" like Swagger, Bourne, Kingston, Gabriel, Kidd, Knox, etc. that came through ECW have been showing that they have pretty good stuff. Give these guys some spotlight on Tuesday nights!

 

[Bud78]

I don't know if any of you actually watch wrestling other than Raw so you can see all of your favorite stars give half-assed promos but if any of you actually take the time to watch ECW you may just find what some fans actually like to see, WRESTLING.

There is more wrestling in the one hour of ECW than there is the two of RAW on a weekly basis. I for one love getting a chance to see young, up and coming superstarts who actually get an oppurtunity to be featured on a show and who are allowed to have some midcard feuds and more than 7 minute matches. If any of you have watched Swagger's title run the matches have been incredible and this kid is the real deal. To be honest the only person who doesn't work on ECW is Finlay because in all honesty, what has he ever brought to the table in professional wrestling. I remember when he started in WCW and he looked like the biggest assclown ever, with a half shoulder pad connected to a studded leather jacket.

Tyson Kidd, DJ Gabriel, Ricky Ortiz, Bourne, Swagger, Christian, MIZ AND MORRISON all wrestle on ECW so get your heads out of your asses and check it out. No they don't have contract signings or home invasions so if that is what you are looking for look elsewhere.

As far as the old ECW goes I was aware of it in its hayday but I live in South Dakota and we did not get to see ECW broadcasts. ME and my friends purchased a few PPV's the one I remember most Bubba Ray ended up in the main event wrestling for the belt against TAz I believe. But I remember the PPV was absolutely solid top to bottom and worth every penny. When watching it now on 24/7 there are a few gripes I have.

SANDMAN is and always was absolute and utter garbage. No move set, singapore cane is his best move. If I ever have to see him try and drop a leg of someone from the top rope I might cry. There talent roster was raided but the Sandman was pathetic. Don't get me wrong ECW had guys who could wrestle, so why was this guy at the top of the company for so long wrestling for a belt when I don't remember him ever beating anyone.

If you have been watching ECW some of you may have seen the rise of Louie Spicolli over the last several epidsodes. This is what I respect about ECW Louie had not major mic time, he had no storyline and he certainly does not look like your typical top tier wrestler. But anyone can see the guy had the goods in the ring and there were no better people to look past a guys outward appearance than the ECW fans. I know this has nothing to do with the rest of my post but Louie was great and I wish he would have had a longer run with us on Earth.

Bottom Line- OLD ECW is dead, if you want to see the ganstas hit people with garbage cans for 20 minutes, do a blade job, and then use the Nasty Boys finsher plus a chair go back to 1996, this is 2009 and that shit don't fly no more. And again it is no longer Extreme Championship Wrestling, just ECW.

 

[rightphitt]

I think that wwe has done a great job with ecw. I do believe that they should change the name of it though.

There are usually good matches on there and love watching the next generation of wrestlers come forth. I do agree that they need to get rid of some of the older farts like finlay and henry and them. But also with this draft I am expecting to get even better balance of wrestlers on the show.

Its a great way to break in young talent without thrusting them into the spotlight of smackdown or raw. Also gives wwe a chance to see what these younger superstars can do with giving them title experience. Or bringing in established guys like kennedy and see if they really can carry the wwe product on their backs in the future

In my opinion good job vince!!

Agree???

 

[Shockwave]

i personally can't stand ECW as a brand. Back in it's heyday it was an entertaining wrestling promotion but since Vince brought it back as a WWE brand, i think it's just become a slightly higher version of the FCW training facility with the only difference being that ECW gets a global t.v slot

 

[wiKid hoRse]

ECW is the only wwe show that i go out of my way to watch. it's as close to a pure wrestling show on tv atm. i am sick of the soap opera getting in the way of the wrestling. if they added 30 more minutes and got rid of the hhh promos (the raw rebound, ect) then it would be ok.

the old ecw was great. sure it didn't have all the polish but it catered for nearly everyone. technical wrestling, high flying spot fests and hardcore brawling. it did an amazing effort considering the talent and budget. without it wrestling would not be what it is today (some might say that isn't a good thing) as both the wwf and wcw blatantly ripped them off. all the kids out there should watch the rise and fall of ecw, probably the best wwe dvd imho.

 

[nthomas504]

I think that the best thing for ECW is for the ECW superstars to be able to compete for the World Championship and hold the Titles. Jack Swagger could do it, Evan Bourne could as a wonderboy type angle (via CM Punk, Mysterio), or Tyson Kidd. I think that ECW is often times not bad, but overlooked as a serious brand.

 

[truk24]

Just rename it Entertainment Championship Wrestling. Then move on to give another hour, and make it two hours. Add some tag teams should the tag team titles become unified for all the shows. Maybe even add their own mid card title like the TV title, or the Cruiserweight world title.

 

[Jersey Wannabe]

Todays Ecw is more like the old version than you may think.
Its a farm league to the 2 big ones Raw and Smackdown.
In the past it was an unofficial Farm league to WWF and WCW.
It features veterans looking for a push and another shot at the big time.
ie 2009-Matt Hardy,Christian 90s-Early 00s Sid Vicious, Austin, Foley.


A WCW dvd will be released because WWE is all about the money.
As for a reunion tour, I doubt it all their main eventers are retired or in Tna and no one is going to pay to see a reunion of 3 count or the jung dragons.

 

[DD84]

I used to hate the new ECW, but then I got to thinking and started liking it. Really, they don't try to associate this ECW with the old. It is just a start for the wrestlers who are too good for FCW, but aren't ready for Smackdown or Raw. They also have some pretty good, young wrestlers with Swagger, Miz and Morrison, TJ Wilson, Bourne and Paul Burchill. It helped out Finlay, Henry, Matt Hardy and Bobby Lashely a lot, all of them were on Smackdown and got better, imo, one ECW. Matt moved to Smackdown and now is feuding with a former WWE Champion and a member of the Grand Slam Championship club, Lashely moved to Raw and was ready for the main event, but left. Henry and Finlay are both in ECW's main event, and it helped Punk, a triple crown winner. So it isn't terrible, but it isn't the original.

 

[Chris in SC]

Old ECW was what it was, it was different and entertaining, but then WWE took the talent and packaged what made ECW interesting into the 'Attitude' era and ECW had no chance. Like a Wal-Mart coming in to a town and killing all the cool little mom-and-pop stores.

When I first got back into wrestling about a year ago, I didn't care much for new ECW. Now, it's ahead of Smackdown in my eyes. It just seems like a wrestling show and less like a second-rate soap opera like Smackdown. Smackdown needs new producers or something. Not even JR can carry it for me.

The one-hour thing works for ECW, it forces them to focus since they have less air time. Frankly, it seems like Smackdown is struggling to put together 2hours of programming. And they usually have days to tweak/produce it before air time.

If they did go two hours, bring back the Hardcore title and let guys who love highspots, but aren't the most compelling characters have a place (like Shelton Benjamin)

I don't have a problem with ECW being the 'minor league' of the WWE. The up-and-comers have that fire and comes out in thier work, even if they aren't polished at it yet. Makes it fun to watch. Plus, it keeps guys that you love to cheer for like Finlay and Dreamer involved who wouldn't get air-time without ECW.

And the commentary is good, there's that banter between them that hasn't been there since the JR/Lawler days.

Now, ECW without all the Raw replays (or limit highlights of Raw to 5 minues) and add another match each week would be awesome.

Oh yeah, they need to get rid of Hornswoggle.