New name for ECW?

[HBK-aholic]

ECW. Extreme Championship Wrestling, supposedly. Can you tell me when we last saw anything extreme on there? ECW is a different brand of wrestling to the WWE. They had completely different styles, and ECW was loved for it. Hardcore was second nature to ECW and they did everything extremely well.

Now, it's a training ground for WWE superstars. There is nothing hardcore about it. It's nothing special, and there is no extremeness anywhere on the show. The name needs to be changed in my opinion. It needs to be with the WWE fully, and simply a TV show such as Raw and SD.

It would be known as the 'C' show, as it is now, but the way ECW was thought about would be different. I think it'd be a nice way to make the next chapter in the brands life, hopefully giving it more credit and gaining more popularity.

 

[Shocky]

ECW: Evaluating C-Show Wrestlers. Pretty much what ECW means. The original ECW is all dead. There is absolutely nothing that relates it to the past, minus Tommy Dreamer. There is a new belt, they have fucking Todd Grisham as an announcer for christ sake. ECW lives in name only, certainly not in spirit. Mr. McMahon has finally been able to kill ECW. No longer will you hear ECW being chanted by the crowd, because this current abomination doesn't get that type of reaction.

In the truest sense of the word, this ECW show is just a renaming of a show itself. It is nothing more then Either Tuesday Night Heat or Velocity. This has always been my major complaint about the WWE and the brand extension, the lack of individuality of the brands. ECW is nothing more then a developmental brand, when in actuality it could be a highly entertaining brand if it had a personality.

 

[ronthony717]

I kind of agree.. ECW is the old stomping grounds for the extreme... And we get it very rare in the new version cause it has changed from extreme to learning school... But if u think about it, these guys like cm punk and evan bourne and ortiz and even morrison and miz can all say that their careers really started to get. Huge thanks to ecw.. They have held the title from ecw.. When punk was moved to raw he was talked about as the former ECW champion.. Kofi kingston won't the ic title and they kept sayin that this kid is a former ecw superstar... It sounds right and its great to see all of these young guys gettin their start on ecw and becoming top stars.. That's why I kind of agree with u.. Ecw used to be hardcore with weapons.. Now its hardcore with brand new talent.. Mind u I am an old fan of the origional ecw

 

[Paul Revere]

It really doesn't matter if they call it ECW, because the real ECW died years ago. It's just a name now. There is nothing they could change it to that would make the show better. It's just a better version of a WWE developmental fed show. It's really more the quality of the show, than it is the name. The only way to gain popularity and ratings is to have better stars on the show and make it more entertaining. I am a very loyal WWE fan, but I haven't watched ECW in months. My TV time can be much better spent. Something is wrong with your show when Matt Hardy is carrying the show. If they changed the name it would still be a crapfest. So, no, a new name wouldn't accomplish much, but some superstar shuffling and maybe some better booking would. I wonder if that Raw/ECW talent exchange goes the other way too. That would help make ECW watchable.

 

[joejoe]

They should re name ECW. Mostly because this new ECW is a better overall product than the original.

Don't belive me? Go watch some of the old ECW PPVs and matches. They usually had 1 good match if that and the rest was a clusterfuck of spot monkees and guys willing to blade.

People think the new ECW sucks in comparison to the rest of the WWE brands and product as a whole. I won't argue the point that ECW is the lowest brand on the totem pole but compared to the original ECW its miles ahead.

Production value is better, matches as a whole are better because they tell stories and don't just end with 300 people in a high school gym cheering and chanting after someone lights themselves on fire.

That's not pro wrestling thats a freak show. Any idiot can go and get themselves hurt or cut themselved to get a cheer. But pro wrestling is an art form.

I can't recall watching any original ECW match and being glued to my seat to see who would win the match. I could care less. The only reason I stayed glued to my seat was to see what they would do next to eachother.

So yes change the name of ECW because it is a better product than the original.

 

[Dead Kennedy]

Why would WWE do that? ECW is a well-known name that Vince legally owns the rights to, so why wouldn't he keep the name to capitalize on a household name? It's business after all.

I can see why old-school ECW fans are pissed off at WWE for "misusing" the trademark of ECW. I don't think Vince McMahon can grasp what ECW was and what the fed meant to many people. But guys, it was never Vince McMahon's intention to restore the original ECW, but rather start out with a "lite" version of usual ECW programming, see how that worked out and then try to do something different with it. Which eventually of course, he did. The old-school ECW fans hated the new product and eventually turned away from WWECW, giving the program crap ratings.

Today, ECW exists in name only. But I think in many ways, the new ECW serves a great purpose - allowing up-and-coming talent to establish themselves in a smaller brand instead of getting buried in the cards of Raw and SmackDown and more seasoned talent to re-invent themselves. But I don't think Vince McMahon will change the name of the brand until it stops being profitable. I just doubt it's gonna happen.

 

[Rusty]

Yes while I agree with Becca as ECW is no longer 'extreme', I just can't see the WWE changing it's name. It seems as if people have stopped comparing the modern day ECW to the old school and hardcore ECW. People have slowly learn to accept that ECW is now a development show for young up and comers, rather than a gimmick filled show. There are hardly any ECW Originals left on the show so Becca does have a point in saying that ECW should have a new name.

But the WWE has the rights for the ECW Trademark so I can't see why they would even bother changing their name. It doesn't bother me personally too much, but ECW does have an extreme rules match every now and then. So I think it should just stay the way it is now. As Hardcore Kennedy mentioned, if the ECW name still makes a profit for the WWE, why should they change it anyway? I enjoy ECW as I love watching new talent like Evan Bourne start to make a name for themselves as well as watching great mid-carders such as Matt Hardy, The Miz and John Morrison.

So as much as I would like to see ECW get a different name, I doubt the WWE would change it. It doesn't make a huge difference to me and it certainly doesn't stop me from watching the show. I don't think a name change would gain new viewers anyway so I reckon the WWE should keep the name unless they really feel they need to get away from the ECW name.

 

[Tim]

ECW needs a new name. ECW will not get a new name. The WWE like to won the rights to things, and if they don't need to change the name to get rights to it, why would they?

The ECW name is recognised. Imagine if WWE suddenly changed the name to something like GDE, people would suddenly go wtf just happened? WWE realises that people know the ECW name, and are trying to use it to get more money out of people. But I don't think it's working too ell.
However, a name change doesn't bother me. With ECW, Im just like "It's called ECW. That's great." I don't think a name change would do anything much. Even though ECW isn't extreme anymore, how many people refer to it as Extreme Chamionship Wrestling? Now ECW is just three initials that mean absolutely nothing.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Does it really matter?? Really?? its just the name of a brand. the damn third teir brand with random heatless newbs wrestling every week. Who gives a shit whats its called. It could be called "cupcake unicorn plasma bomb mayhem" and the same niche of people would watch it. And please, dont give me the "desecrates the ECW name" shit. ECW, as overrated as it was, is more of an ideal, a style, a time, rather than a promotion. Who gives a damn. The names of the programs, and the brands themselves, is entirely meaningless anyway. at least "ECW" makes it sort of like a different league. if you think about it, the name "Smack Down" is entirely stupid. When was the last time the rock was on that show??? Silly. But here we have a thread on the name of THIS program. Showing that kind of thing absolutely means nothing.

 

[jpfizzle]

I don't think it needs a new name. As Norcal so elegantly described- It's just a name. My thoughts are that the name ECW carries with it a certain degree of well, prestige.

At the moment ECW is little more than a farm territory or feeder territory for RAW and SMACKDOWN, this is emphasised by the fact that they felt they no longer needed OVW. What ECW does is provide an alternative to the fans of the big leagues of wrestling (pretty much what it did back in it's day actually) If they gave it another buzz-word name like smackdown, Raw, or Impact we have just another show. The name ECW and the name WCW should they ever use that will always carry a degree of weight with it.

Saying change the name because it's not Extreme anymore is like saying change the name World Wrestling Entertainment because I no longer find it entertaining!

 

[TheOneBigWill]

I'm gonna take the third option available. I see Becca debating why the name should be changed because it's anything but what E.C.W. really was. I see NorCal debating why it's just a name and shouldn't matter what the show is called. I'm taking the third option of..

If the show wasn't called "Extreme Championship Wrestling" and didn't have the history of a former company backing it, it'd be nothing less than Sunday Night HeAT or Velocity. Last time I checked, neither of those shows made it big with the fans. While this show might not be doing much better, because of the name-value alone it's still saying with it's head above water.

The look, the name, the identity of the show rests on the history someone else created for it over a decade ago. This show wouldn't be where it's at, with the ratings it gets, if it didn't use the E.C.W. legacy as a selling point.

Sure it isn't the same. Hell no you don't get extreme violence each month, let alone each week. But what you do get, is a silent little embrace that comforts you in knowing you're at least watching a program that's using the name that made it famous(ish) in the first place.

It's the same exact concept of T.N.A. using the "N.W.A." label to jump their company in the first several years, before being forced to drop the label because they didn't pay royalties to use it.

Call the name a 'blanket' a comfort if you will, to those who like watching wrestling in general, but don't want to hurt their fragile little minds with making them think they're wasting an hour of their lives watching a different version of HeAT or Velocity. Instead, they're watching a show that has a Championship all it's own. And initials of a former top 3 Wrestling Company.

SO YES.. the name DOES matter, but not for the reasons some might think.

 

[Slyfox696]

While we're at it, we need to do some more name changes:

Smackdown: Needs to be changed because the Rock doesn't wrestle there anymore.

Raw: Needs to be changed because it's the most polished and produced show in wrestling history

Ring of Honor: That code of honor stuff went bye bye a long time ago.

World Championship Wrestling: They weren't world, they were southern United States.

Total Non-Stop Action: They stop a lot.

Pro Wrestling Guerilla: They don't have gorillas wrestling.

Combat Zone Wrestling: Needs to be renamed because they don't have any wrestling, just idiots hitting each other with light bulbs.

America Wrestling Association: They weren't a national promotion, they were North Central.


Etc. You get the point.


Changing the name would be stupid. A name of the show doesn't have to necessarily describe it's content. Hell, why isn't the third brand Extreme? Because they don't hit each other with barb wire baseball bats? They have the only high flyer in the WWE with Evan Bourne, they have Mark Henry as a main-eventer, Matt Hardy as their champion, and Matt Striker as a color commentator. That's pretty extreme, and a far cry from anything else the other shows are doing.

I can see why old-school ECW fans are pissed off at WWE for "misusing" the trademark of ECW. I don't think Vince McMahon can grasp what ECW was and what the fed meant to many people.

False. Vince McMahon knew EXACTLY what ECW meant to people. It meant to people an overglorified garbage promotion that went out of business because it's style of promoting only appealed to a small niche of audience.

Why the fuck would Vince McMahon want to promote that?


ECW was simple marketing. You give fans a good taste of nostalgia, show them the best of what they want, and then hook them on to your product. It's like hooking someone on cocaine. You give them a little bit for a good price, and then when you have them hooked, you can give them whatever you want.

But the current ECW is already more popular than the original ECW ever was. And that's what all the blind ECW fanboys don't understand. You can criticize the current ECW all you want, but it sells better than the old one ever did.

 

[My$terio_Fan]

I don't think ECW should change it's name. I think almost everyone know's that this ECW is nothing like the old. They are using the name to try and capatalize off it. Even though their is 0 hardcore on it the name still helps draws and makes it seem like a "some what" of a legit lesser brand. The name really doesn't matter and people realize it's ECW in name only and nothing more.

 

[-John-]

If WWE wanted a third brand they should've called it something different anyway. I dont understand the need to drag ECW's Name even more throught the mud! WWE's Third Brand may not have failed so bad if they would've called it something else so people wouldn't be tuning expecting something and there receiving something entirely different.

The Main problem in June 2006 was that ECW Revived Version is something entirely different to 1997's ECW and with all the promoting, ECW Hardcore fans wanted to tune in whilst the Typical WWE fans weren't as bothered. Whereas if WWE would have called this brand under a new name then WWE Fans would've tuned in instead of ECW Hardcore fans.

 

[Slyfox696]

If WWE wanted a third brand they should've called it something different anyway. I dont understand the need to drag ECW's Name even more throught the mud! WWE's Third Brand may not have failed so bad if they would've called it something else so people wouldn't be tuning expecting something and there receiving something entirely different.

How is the WWE dragging ECW's name through the mud?

That makes no sense. ECW was a bingo hall full of drugged up and washed out wrestlers, misfits that no one wanted. Anyone with any quality that came through there was gone in a year's time, if it took that long. They promoted piss bucket shows, terrible wrestling, and died because of it.

How can your drag ECW's name through the mud, when ECW's name was nothing but shit to begin with?

The Main problem in June 2006 was that ECW Revived Version is something entirely different to 1997's ECW

Yes, I agree.

It was better.

and with all the promoting, ECW Hardcore fans wanted to tune in whilst the Typical WWE fans weren't as bothered. Whereas if WWE would have called this brand under a new name then WWE Fans would've tuned in instead of ECW Hardcore fans.

Why would WWE fans have tuned in more to a different name? The first show for ECW did over a 2.0 rating. However, since the WWE had let Heyman book the first few cards, the shows were clusterfucks of terribleness. They were awful. The best thing they ever did was take Heyman out of having power over the show. Once that happened, the show improved.

By that time, though, the show had already lost significant portion of its audience.

 

[2012isbs]

WWE has gone PG which means less Hardcore and more wrestling PG doesn't mean Chairshots, fire and blood galore it means Athleticism, finishers, and less High risk spots.
Original ECW could never get a PG audience unless the rater was blind deaf and retarted. I mean RVD's Nickname was the whole fuckin show try to get PG with that.

 

[LMaruko]

It seems a lot of people are upset on the whole WWE-ECW thing. Unfortunately, Vince McMahon is a legitimate businessman and also a very successful one.

If Vince wanted to change the name, he would have done it when he first got it. As it still remains ECW, he's grandously using it for great marketing, and even still, people STILL watch it because it has some ties to the old ECW (wrestlers maybe, but that's it).

Also for the fact that Paul Heyman just used meathead druggies for his own benefit to hurt one another and call it a show/PPV. Sure, it paved the way for some superstars because they were known to put their life out there and be made a mockery of. The old retired ECW wrestlers are back on drugs, alcohol, or excessive painkillers to ease so much pain, suffering, and demetia memory that they had in the "glory days." Granted, ECW isn't "extreme" and should be the flagship hardcore show (maybe pushing the PG and time slot past the kiddie's bedtimes) and bring in RAW is WAR/Attitude days whereas all the wrestlers who DO put their bodies on the line make an appearance and kick the holy crap out of one another. Maybe bring in ratings for ECW as PG is mostly for RAW and Smackdown. But the name change, whether we like it or not, will not happen, and Vince will milk the product until it has a lower rating than A.M. RAW.

 

[Milkyway!]

Well becca, since you thought it, mind telling me what you would like to call it??

then, mind telling me the name, and will it still have the name credibility that ecw has right now?

The originial ecw is dead. simple as that. (as stated by others) this new ecw, isnt extreme, it hasnt been since sabu/rvd were removed from the show...like 5 weeks since it was reborn...this new ecw is just called ecw because, it has name credibility.

 

[justinsayne]

I've been wanting them to just change the name to Velocity pretty much since it hit the air, a few years ago I made a thread similer to this, where I suggested they change the name to velocity and nearly everyone that posted in that thread bit my head off, but I still think it's a better name than ECW for several reasons A.)I've always felt calling ECW was basically false advertising as it's nothing like the real ECW, B.) WWE has shitted all over the ECW name, thus ripping any "credibility" the name may have ever held away, and C.) there are plenty of wrestling fans who don't even remember the original ECW cause the were either not fans at the time, or just didn't care to pay any attention to it, also I just like the name Velocity for a show, I just think it sounds cool, not to mention is a perfect name for a show that features guys like Evan Bourne, Morrison, Matt Hardy, and Chavo Guerrero

 

[jmt225]

I actually think they'll change the name real soon.

Personally, I don't think they'll keep 'World Wrestling Entertainment' that much longer either. It's only a matter of time before Vince changes it to something like 'World Wide Entertainment' and if that does happen like I fully expect it to, then 'Extreme Championship Wrestling' wouldn't be a suitable name for a WWE brand.

Anyway, I absolutely loved the original ECW. I first heard about from some college guy from my mom's work, and then would see pictures of the wrestlers in different magazines. Guys like Raven, Sandman, Sabu, and Taz just looked so fucking cool to me. Then I saw when they 'invaded' the WWF and after that I had a choice to either order Wrestlemania 13 or Barely Legal (my mom let me order on wrestling pay-per-view a month back in those days). And even though Wrestlemania 13 turned out to be great, I ordered Barely Legal and never regretted it. I would order every ECW pay-per-view from that point on until they turned to shit, which was when Taz left. Also, I was able to attend two ECW house shows back when it was around and they were by far the most fun I’ve had at any wrestling events.

Since then I've been able to collect uncountable amounts of tapes and DVDs from the organization. Snd without any doubt in my mind, ECW from 1995 until the end of 1997 is my favorite era in wrestling.

Anyway, fast forward to 2005, One Night Stand was awesome. Build up to it was trash, but the show itself was fucking awesome. Come One Night Stand 2006, another awesome pay-per-view. However, come that next Tuesday on Sci-Fi, nothing but absolute garbage. It disappointed me at the time, but that didn't last long, because I didn't really expect for WWE's version of the brand to be anything like the original. If I want to watch the original, I'll just pop in a couple of some ECW DVDs and I'll be more then satisfied.

However, I will say that I am happy the ECW brand was created in the end. Why? Because without this brand existing, RVD, my second favorite wrestler of all time, never gets his much deserved World Title run (which he should've fucking got it in 2002, but that's beside the point) and I strongly believe that if WWE's ECW brand was never created, then CM Punk would've stayed in OVW much longer and he wouldn't have had any of the success he has had since debuting for the company. So, at the end of the day, I'm glad WWE made this brand because of those two things (well, make that three since Miz and Morrison's awesomeness probably would've never been brought to us without the show, either).

 

[CCS]

I dont see why anyone would want a ECW name change. The name ECW gives the brand prestige. It makes winning the brands title a honor. If you changed the name to lets say "Velocity." Winning the Velocity title would not mean nothing. It has no history. When someone wins the ECW title it has years of history behind it and it is a legitamate acomplishment. There would be no good in changing ECW's name.

 

[TheGreatSPAMbino]

Ya they could slightly alter the name i mean it could still be ECW, but just like ECW changed from Eastern Championship Wrestling to Extreme Championship Wrestling you could go from Extreme Championship Wrestling to some other version of the ECW accronym. So i guess i fall somewhere in between, its a partial name change which allows them to esentially milk the name of ECW and its prestige while at the same time not be stupid and claim to be extreme when they are not and shit on the old ECW. Maybe they could go with like Evolution Championship Wrestling since it develops new stars. just a thought.