The ECW Tournament to determine the new #1 Contender for the ECW Title

[Blade]

This was announced on ECW last night by the GM. From what I can gather, the tournament will be made up of past ECW champions and current ECW stars. It's going to be an elimination tournament with 16 men. Last night, Kane pinned Zack Ryder to advance and Jackson pinned Kolov. The winner of the tournament will become the number 1 contender for Christian's title.

Personally, I think this is a great idea. It helps out some of the younger guys by letting them get taught by more established stars, and it'll give some guys something to do until the Rumble. Plus we could end up seeing some really great matches. How about Morrison vs Tatsu or Punk vs Benjamin?

The full list of former champions taking part in the tournament hasn't been fully announced, but if I had to guess, I'd say the 8 will be: Kane, Jack Swagger, CM Punk, John Morrison, Matt Hardy, The Big Show, Mark Henry and Tommy Dreamer. That is definately not a bad list of wrestlers. And it's a nice coincidence that currently none of these guys have anything real to do, so this tournament has perfect timing.

So what does everyone think? Will it be entertaining? Will it help ratings? And who's actually going to win it?

 

[JBK2008]

I think this is a really good idea and it gives a lot of guys something to do that aren't being a used a whole lot right now. As far as a winner goes, I'd save that until the first round is at least over. Kane looked pretty good last night over Zack Rhyder, but I didn't care too much for the Jackson/Kozlov match, mostly because it was way too short considering we've been waiting weeks for these two to face off. I like the idea of this tournament and I'm looking forward to the winner, whoever that may be to face Christian.

 

[The Doctor]

I'm looking forward to the tournament, but they really should have announced the brackets. Kane/Ryder was interesting, and I hope we get more interesting matches. There are so many things that could happen, maybe even a return by a true ECW original!

I'm a little upset by the Jackson/Kozlov match, since I really, really wated Zeke to become a face.

 

[hermogenes]

Shall we have a guess at the next brackets?

- (already announced) Swagger vs Tatsu (I guess Swagger will win)

(guesses)
- Tommy Dreamer vs Vance Archer (to have Vance win it)

- CM Punk vs Shelton Benjamin (really though one, not sure they would let Shelton get one over Punk)

- Regal vs Henry (maybe Zeke helps Regal get the win here)

- Goldust vs Matt Hardy

and not really sure about the last one!
I have a few doubts if they would bring Punk or Morrison to be beaten in a first round match. But that leaves guys like Regal and Shelton way off the title picture at ECW.

I would expect the final four to be someone like Kane, Regal, Shelton and Matt Hardy.

Anyway...just guesses

 

[King Patrick Star]

I think the idea of the ECW Homecoming is a great idea, but of course, as usual, I would have tweaked it a bit. First I would set up a 32 man Tournament to determine the new Number One Contender for the ECW Championship. I would bring in two ECW Originals from the Heyman Era, namely RVD and Sabu. Then I would invite all the former ECW Stars (not just the former ECW Champions) that are currently on the Red or Blue Show. That would give me a total of 18 Superstars. Add that to the 14 current members of the ECW roster minus Christian and you have 32 Superstars. That would be a month and a half of meaningful Tuesday nights with matches that have a purpose.

December 15th to January 5th would be 4 first round matches on each show.
January 12th (my birthday) to January 19th would be 4 second round matches on each show.
January 26th would be 4 third round matches.
January 31st, at the Royal Rumble, would have the 2 semi-final matches and the finals, with the winner getting a shot at the ECW Title at the Elimination Chamber PPV. That’s 3 ECW matches at a major PPV.

You already know who’s on the ECW roster. Just to make sure, here’s a list of former ECW Superstars currently on TV at the beginning and end of the week, plus Bill Alfonso’s Extreme Team.

1. Big Show
2. Chavo Guerrero
3. Evan Bourne
4. Kofi Kingston
5. Mark Henry
6. The Miz
7. Sheamus (I'd have him go far, 3rd round or Semi - Finals, teasing a WWE / ECW Title Unification, but ends up losing)
8. CM Punk
9. David Hart Smith
10. Finlay
11. John Morrison
12. Kane
13. Matt Hardy
14. Mike Knox
15. Rey Mysterio (Heyman’s ECW)
16. Tyson Kidd
17. Sabu
18. Rob Van Dam

Just for $#!+s and giggles, while all this is going on, if possible, I’d have the Edge / Christian program (feud or team up, whichever you prefer) take place, so the ECW Champ would still be placed on a high profile match at the PPV, even without a Title defense. Maybe E & C should be the team to challenge DX at the Royal Rumble.

What do you think?? Would this work for ECW fans past, present and future?? By Past, I mean fans of RVD / Sabu and the “Extreme” Raw and Smackdown members. By Present, I mean fans of WWECW today. By Future, I mean the new fans that can be garnered through this concept. Who would you have face Christian in February??

 

[Theo Mays]

I love the idea personally. It is a great way to determine the number one contender and most of the former ECW champs are stuck doing nothing. I don't think we will see Morrison or Punk participate however. I just don't think they'd bring them in. Maybe Morrison, but I don't see Punk doing it. And we have Swagger vs. Yoshi next week and I'm hoping Swag joins Big Zeke and Kane in the battle royal.

I'm thinking other matches could be....

Archer/Dreamer (Archer wins)
Hardy/Chavo (Hardy wins)
Regal/Benjamin (Benjamin wins when Kozlov gets involved and Zeke stops that from happening)
Henry/Croft or Barreta (Henry wins)
Hurricane/Croft or Barreta (C/B wins due to Burchill interference)

 

[Remix]

So, essentially it's like the Championship scramble they had on SD back in 2008. If an established superstar challenges Christian and they have a good, long match when they have their match, and follow it up with a feud (which will probably be cross branded, bringing small amounts of hype for ECW, which could up the ratings) this could be a good thing for the winner (which could go either way, depending on the challenger), the loser (who gets a title feud out of it), the ECW title (which will be defended in high profile matches again, and probably be hyped up on two shows). Personally my pick to win is Morrison or Swagger. both are on their way to the main event, and aren't doing much right now (Punk and Henry are doing something (albeit not much in the latter case), Kane, and Matt haven't been relavent in years, Chavo's a jobber, McMahon's retired from in ring competition, the ones in ECW wont provide cross branded hype (which as I see it is the point of including the former champions) and RVD and Booby Lashley afrent even in the company).

the only person other than those two who stand a chance is The Big Show, who's also be a good choice seeing as he won the title while it was still important and was one of the best WWECW champions while he held it (he was defending the title against people like DX, Kane (jobber though he is) and the Undertaker) and like Swagger and Morrison he has nothing to do following the split up of Jerishow. However him winning would seem to go against the youth push that WWE's going on with Ventura's conspiracy and Sheamus being WWE champion. Personally I want Morrison to win and it would make sence since in theory the ECW championship's closer to the main event than the IC title and thus him winning it would be one step closer to the Main event that he's being primed for. but also because I'm a mark for John Morrison (admitedly it's mainly that second point that makes me want him to win the ECW title)

 

[NC_BMAN]

The ECW homecoming is a great way to showcase a lot of the WWE talent without having them involved with a storyline of any kind because lets face facts here up untill a couple of weeks ago the creative team at WWE has not been as good as it has been in the past but thats another topic for another forum, anyway back to the tournament. This might be a short tournament but I could see this in the long run adding a little bit of credibility back to the ECW (World) Championship. All of the matches that you could possibly have is great and to think who they will feature can be any number of former ECW Champions but the question is who will be the next contender to take on Christian? Lets see we know that Kane has advanced and so has Jackson so then I would have the following matches

Tatsu/Swagger
Benjamin/Chavo
Hardy/Dreamer
Regal/Show
Archer/Henry
Punk/Goldust.
(Winners are in Bold)

Then during the battle royal have the last three being Jackson, Regal, & Hardy. Koslov would come down to the ring and distract Jackson & Regal causing them to be eliminated and then that would leave Hardy as the winner. Because from a fan's standpoint to see Christian M. Hardy for the ECW (World) Championship would be a match that could be the sleeper match at the Royal Rumble from the history that these two have together.

I doubt it would happen this way but one can dream though.

 

[Tenta]

Am I the only one that hates this tournament? Am I really the only one that thinks this absolutely buries ECW?

Look, it's very simple; the entire brand is going to be buried, in one fell swooop, because WWE is too lazy to put any Creative backing behind ECW. They can't find a way to create a challenger for Christian's ECW Title, so they took the lazy route, plucked wrestlers that are really doing nothing on either brand, and bringing them in for cheap pops. While it may seem great, it really isn't. Consider this observation; the contestants from ECW, so far, have been thoroughly outmatched by their "Homecoming" Counterpart. Zack Ryder was overwhelmed with facing Kane, and I frankly don't like Yoshi Tastu's chances against Jack Swagger. At the rate their going, ECW is probably going to lose most of their roster in the first round. They already lost one of their roster members, and he was considered one of the most promising candidates for the ECW Title. While this may be the WWE's way to build another superstar in ECW, I highly doubt it. After all, if the WWE had any intention on giving an ECW member the title shot, they would have done it right then and there, and we'd already know who was going to face Christian at the Rumble. No, instead, the WWE is going to bring in some folks from the other brands, embarrass ECW, and then put Christian into a title match with that guy. All because WWE creative was too lazy to build up a viable challenger on ECW.

I don't like it one bit. And I'm shocked so many people have taken a fancy to it.

 

[King Patrick Star]

Whatever happens to Extreme Championship Wrestling, I’ll always have a place in my heart for it. Seeing it in the Earthquake’s view made me think, is this Tournament designed to get the ECW Championship, not only off of Christian, but also off of ECW?? Could this be the beginning of the end of the Extreme WWE Show?? If a current ECW Superstar wins this Tournament, then my doubts will be gone, but if the winner is someone from Team Red or Team Blue, we can probably see this in the future.

I just hope to GOD that this does not happen!! HAHA!!

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

The concept of the tournament seems solid, but as Tenta has already stated ECW may end up getting buried by the tournament.

With ex champions like Punk, Bigshow, Kane and even Hardy getting a shot at the championship If Christian gets defeated by any of these Ex champions it would make the brand as a whole seem lesser this is where the problem lies.

ECW needs an injection of time and talent, it needs the writers to get off their asses and start working better programs then a couple of blow off matches.

If they care about ratings why not trade superstars, have ECW on WGN america and Superstars to Scyfy, this way the WWE can focus on building ECW as a brand in total and due to the fact that WGN actually need WWE to help build the network why not focus on a product that has a name brand and is established this way also their wont be any shifting of so called named talent of even closure of the brand in total and if the idea works then hopefully ECW will get alot more focus.

but i digress, Imo the WWE needs to focus on building ECW talent in order to get a credible contender for Christian and so far there are only three viable contenders, Shelton, Dreamer and Regal.

and sad truth being that maybe the injection of an already established champion such as CM Punk or even show against Christian may elevate the status of the Champ and even maybe the belt, but the brand as a whole no it will just make it look weak.

 

[Big Sexy]

Am I the only one that hates this tournament? Am I really the only one that thinks this absolutely buries ECW?

Look, it's very simple; the entire brand is going to be buried, in one fell swooop, because WWE is too lazy to put any Creative backing behind ECW. They can't find a way to create a challenger for Christian's ECW Title, so they took the lazy route, plucked wrestlers that are really doing nothing on either brand, and bringing them in for cheap pops. While it may seem great, it really isn't. Consider this observation; the contestants from ECW, so far, have been thoroughly outmatched by their "Homecoming" Counterpart. Zack Ryder was overwhelmed with facing Kane, and I frankly don't like Yoshi Tastu's chances against Jack Swagger. At the rate their going, ECW is probably going to lose most of their roster in the first round. They already lost one of their roster members, and he was considered one of the most promising candidates for the ECW Title. While this may be the WWE's way to build another superstar in ECW, I highly doubt it. After all, if the WWE had any intention on giving an ECW member the title shot, they would have done it right then and there, and we'd already know who was going to face Christian at the Rumble. No, instead, the WWE is going to bring in some folks from the other brands, embarrass ECW, and then put Christian into a title match with that guy. All because WWE creative was too lazy to build up a viable challenger on ECW.

I don't like it one bit. And I'm shocked so many people have taken a fancy to it.

The ratings on ECW have been worse then normal lately and this is a great way to get them up. Some ECW talent may lose, but I wouldn't necessarily say they are getting buried. Zack Ryder losing to Kane is nothing to be ashamed of. People aren't going to look at Ryder now and say he sucks because of a loss to Kane.

Pretty much everyone on the ECW roster has already had a chance to defeat Christian for the title so why would they just automatically give these guys another shot? Ryder, Regal, Benjamin, and Tatsu have all had title shots. Goldust doesn't really need or deserve a shot and Jackson and Kozlov are still kind of feuding with each other. There was no one who really deserved the next shot.

With this tournament it gives guys like Kane, Swagger, and Matt Hardy who aren't doing anything on their respective brands a chance to be utilized. It also gives guys like Benjamin, Tatsu, and Jackson a chance to really earn a title shot.

 

[Dagger Dias]

So what does everyone think? Will it be entertaining? Will it help ratings? And who's actually going to win it?

This thing is probably going to be bad for the current members of ECW because if they were good enough to be picked as #1 contender then they wouldn't need to bring back former champions who are now on the bigger brands. I don't see anything good coming out of this if a former champion wins it other than Dreamer. He would be my pick as the final champion if the ECW title is going to be retired. Anyone else though, Christian should defeat them. Honestly? Guys like Swagger, Punk, Morrison, Kane, etc are better off on the bigger rosters. ECW is not only the "C" show but also it might not be around much longer given the rumors. It would not benefit any of them to win this and be stuck on ECW again.

Despite that.... I think it will be entertaining and might help out the ratings for a couple of weeks.... but I really don't think it is going to benefit any of the wrestlers involved because none of the former champions would benefit from holding the ECW title again other than Dreamer and the new guys are obviously not ready to hold it either or else this tournament would not even be happening. Christian should still win no matter who comes out of this tournament as #1 contender.

 

[Big Sexy]

This thing is probably going to be bad for the current members of ECW because if they were good enough to be picked as #1 contender then they wouldn't need to bring back former champions who are now on the bigger brands. I don't see anything good coming out of this if a former champion wins it other than Dreamer. He would be my pick as the final champion if the ECW title is going to be retired. Anyone else though, Christian should defeat them. Honestly? Guys like Swagger, Punk, Morrison, Kane, etc are better off on the bigger rosters. ECW is not only the "C" show but also it might not be around much longer given the rumors. It would not benefit any of them to win this and be stuck on ECW again.

Despite that.... I think it will be entertaining and might help out the ratings for a couple of weeks.... but I really don't think it is going to benefit any of the wrestlers involved because none of the former champions would benefit from holding the ECW title again other than Dreamer and the new guys are obviously not ready to hold it either or else this tournament would not even be happening. Christian should still win no matter who comes out of this tournament as #1 contender.

I don't see how anyone could think this is bad for the current ECW guys or for the former ECW guys.

Former ECW Superstars- This gives them a chance to actually do something. When was the last time Kane did anything of note on Smackdown? When was the last time Matt hardy won a big match? When was the last time Jack Swagger even appeared on RAW? This tournament helps make these guys relevant for a few weeks.

Current ECW Superstars- This gives them a chance to prove they deserve a title shot by defeating some former champions who are now on the bigger brands. Having a match between Shelton, Tatsu, Regal, Ryder, and Jackson to determine the number one contender would be stupid. It'd be a bunch of guys who already failed to beat Christian competing for another chance to lose to him. In this tournament they have the opportunity to get wins over some big names and really earn the title shot.

 

[Tenta]

I don't see how anyone could think this is bad for the current ECW guys or for the former ECW guys.

Now let's see why.

Former ECW Superstars- This gives them a chance to actually do something.

So it's WWE's admission that they don't know how to use these guys. most of the guys you've mentioned aren't that hard to book, man.

When was the last time Kane did anything of note on Smackdown?

Good question. Better one; when was the last time Creative allowed Kane to be Kane? Kane's whole purpose in WWE is destroy. Pure and simple destruction. And when Kane isn't doing that, he's pretty worthless. Kane could be a viable contender for the Heavyweight Title. He still has good to great matches. All creative needs to do is allow Kane to be Kane. Not demote him to something that's far below him.

When was the last time Matt hardy won a big match?

I'd argue Matt has yet to win a mid card match. I don't see why he can't challenge the IC Strap. The WWE is in need of mid card faces, now that their IC Champion is a heel-monsterish character.

When was the last time Jack Swagger even appeared on RAW?

Well, one could also claim Swagger should have never been promoted to Raw. Point being, while everyone else you've mentioned is now firmly established Raw or Smackdown characters, Swagger isn't. We've all learned, either through our own theories or from how we perceive things, that all of these men have "graduated" ECW, and are to move on. The WWE can't simply force the wrestlers back to ECW when they feel they're not doing well. It only leads us to think less of the individuals

This tournament helps make these guys relevant for a few weeks.

Or, it sends out a secret message that we have nothing planned for these guys, so we'll throw them here. Sheamus is an ECW alumni; was he not given an invitation? What about Morrison? Simply put, I doubt it, because the WWE has plans with them. And the WWE fans are not stupid. We can tell when someone's not getting used

Current ECW Superstars- This gives them a chance to prove they deserve a title shot by defeating some former champions who are now on the bigger brands.

Again, if ECW superstars were going to be pushed to get the title shot, why would WWE waste the time to bring back alumni? Wouldn't they be more worried about building an angle to run with for seven weeks, and steal the show at Royal Rumble? I'd honestly rather see that.

Having a match between Shelton, Tatsu, Regal, Ryder, and Jackson to determine the number one contender would be stupid. It'd be a bunch of guys who already failed to beat Christian competing for another chance to lose to him. In this tournament they have the opportunity to get wins over some big names and really earn the title shot.

I hate to sound negative here, but if the WWE is hesitant to give these men a chance to beat Christian, what makes you so certain they're going to go over on men who are more firmly established within the WWE universe?

 

[Dagger Dias]

I don't see how anyone could think this is bad for the current ECW guys or for the former ECW guys.

The reason I said that is because I don't think the former ECW guys would benefit from holding the title again. Also, the current guys should be focusing on getting better for when they get moved to one of the bigger brands.

Former ECW Superstars- This gives them a chance to actually do something. When was the last time Kane did anything of note on Smackdown? When was the last time Matt hardy won a big match? When was the last time Jack Swagger even appeared on RAW? This tournament helps make these guys relevant for a few weeks.

It does give them a chance to do something. I have no problem with them being in the tournament.... But if one of them wins this thing, they will be stuck on ECW. Why would they want to be the champion of the "C" show when they could be going for the midcard (or later on world) titles of the two "A" shows? Kane, Swagger, and Matt aren't doing that great I will admit you're right there. Still, going back to ECW would feel like they are being demoted, in my opinion.

Current ECW Superstars- This gives them a chance to prove they deserve a title shot by defeating some former champions who are now on the bigger brands. Having a match between Shelton, Tatsu, Regal, Ryder, and Jackson to determine the number one contender would be stupid. It'd be a bunch of guys who already failed to beat Christian competing for another chance to lose to him. In this tournament they have the opportunity to get wins over some big names and really earn the title shot.

This part I agree with you on. I honestly hope that one of these guys wins #1 contender if Dreamer doesn't, because I don't want to see anyone from Raw or Smackdown get demoted to ECW unless they are too boring for the bigger shows.

I'm willing to debate this further if you still disagree.

 

[Big Sexy]

The reason I said that is because I don't think the former ECW guys would benefit from holding the title again.

If that's the only reason you don't like this then I agree. However, I don't think they are going to have one of the former champs win the tournament.

Now let's see why.

Dope

So it's WWE's admission that they don't know how to use these guys. most of the guys you've mentioned aren't that hard to book, man.

I'm not going to argue that they aren't being booked right because it's a well known fact that they aren't. But as long as creative is going to ignore them, why not give them something to do?

Good question. Better one; when was the last time Creative allowed Kane to be Kane? Kane's whole purpose in WWE is destroy. Pure and simple destruction. And when Kane isn't doing that, he's pretty worthless. Kane could be a viable contender for the Heavyweight Title. He still has good to great matches. All creative needs to do is allow Kane to be Kane. Not demote him to something that's far below him.

But he is never going to be that guy again. Creative has made that clear many times over the last few years. Right now he is used as someone to put guys over and that is most likely what he will do at some point in this tournament.

I'd argue Matt has yet to win a mid card match. I don't see why he can't challenge the IC Strap. The WWE is in need of mid card faces, now that their IC Champion is a heel-monsterish character.

He should be challenging for the IC title by default. If Morrison goes to the main event then Hardy and R Truth are the only mid card faces left on Smackdown. However, Hardy seems to be getting completely ignored right now so spending a couple weeks on ECW isn't going to hurt him.

Well, one could also claim Swagger should have never been promoted to Raw. Point being, while everyone else you've mentioned is now firmly established Raw or Smackdown characters, Swagger isn't. We've all learned, either through our own theories or from how we perceive things, that all of these men have "graduated" ECW, and are to move on. The WWE can't simply force the wrestlers back to ECW when they feel they're not doing well. It only leads us to think less of the individuals

But again it's not like this is a permanent move. This tournament is being booked as a "homecoming" for former champions. This isn't being viewed as a demotion. The ECW Title is still on par, if not slightly above, the mid card titles in terms of prestige. So Swagger coming back for a few weeks to compete for the ECW title is better then him not appearing at all on RAW.

Or, it sends out a secret message that we have nothing planned for these guys, so we'll throw them here. Sheamus is an ECW alumni; was he not given an invitation? What about Morrison? Simply put, I doubt it, because the WWE has plans with them. And the WWE fans are not stupid. We can tell when someone's not getting used

Some of the IWC fans aren't stupid, but the casual wrestling fan isn't going to see this as a bad thing for these guys. This tournament is getting these guys on TV and giving them something better to do then what they have been given lately.

Again, if ECW superstars were going to be pushed to get the title shot, why would WWE waste the time to bring back alumni? Wouldn't they be more worried about building an angle to run with for seven weeks, and steal the show at Royal Rumble? I'd honestly rather see that.

What's more impressive? A guy like Yoshi Tatsu or Shelton Benjamin beating Zack Ryder and William Regal in some fatal four way number one contender match. Or having one of the ECW guys go into a tournament and defeat former champions like Swagger, Matt Hardy, and Kane to get a title shot.

I hate to sound negative here, but if the WWE is hesitant to give these men a chance to beat Christian, what makes you so certain they're going to go over on men who are more firmly established within the WWE universe?

If an ECW guy does not win this then I will agree that it is a bad idea, but if one of the ECW guys overcomes the odds to win this tournament then I think the tournament will have served its purpose.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

This is probably the best idea that the WWE have come up with for the current schedule of ECW concerning right now and the championship match at the Royal Rumble. There isn't much that could really happen, and here is why:


- ECW is a one hour show that is taped before a major show.
- The roster size on the brand is very limited.
- The brand has the lowest ratings out of the three.
- Christian has successfully defended his championship against every possible legit contender there is currently on the ECW roster.
- Those that could be consider are either restricted by storyline or not credible enough to be a contender yet.


Now, having a look through these facts... it seems to me that ECW is out of options when picking a suitable and fresh new opponent for Christian and the belt. Having any one of the wrestlers on the Dub roster would be repetitive, something creative clearly does not want for such a small show. Here is another set of facts to analyse:


- The time between TLC and RR is greater than most of the PPV-PPV time periods for the majority of this year with Christian as the champion.
- There are people on other rosters who aren't currently doing anything noteworthy and need something to do.


So, since for such a small show it would be very very difficult to book a feud between Christian and the challenger, keeping fan interest and having a match at the end where you see something new from both competitors... and there are guys floating around the rosters... why not just go ahead and throw something together that would make the challenger look like a legit threat the ECW championship? It just makes plain sense.

As you saw, Kane went over Zack Ryder in one of the first matches. Is this a complete bury? No... Zack Ryder is being given the spot on ECW to develop a character and his skills as a singles wrestler to hopefully move to another brand and take it to the next level. Having him lose is considered alright as he is still coming into his own. Kane on the other hand is coming from SmackDown and is a well-established character. You have him lose to a developing talent and Kane will get "buried" essentially, although he has enough fan support to eradicate that. So, the Dub will not get buried by this entire tournament itself. Only the superstars have the potential of doing so.

Names like Matt Hardy, Tommy Dreamer, Jack Swagger, The Big Show, Mark Henry, CM Punk and Chavo Guerrero... what do they have in common? They are former ECW Champions and right now have nothing really going on at the moment. Why not give them something to do temporarily and kill time before anything serious can happen storyline-wise on their respected brands by giving them a spot in the tournament? I'd rather see these guys wrestle on the Dub than watch them collect ring rust. Not only this, but most of these names have some value to them, and could potentially get some viewers switching the channel and gaining some better ratings.

This entire tournament will be nothing but good for ECW. It gives a chance for people to step up their games, show us what they are made of (and why they are a WWE superstar) and making the challenger look legit come the RR. They don't have sufficient time to build anything that will keep interest other than this and will effectively make ECW that much more viewable than randomly-inserted matches without a proper cause other than talent development.

 

[hermogenes]

Wow, nice discussion here!

I kinda get the idea behind each point of view, but I am still leaning more towards "The tournament is a good idea".

Jickie really got me with his arguments abouth the ECW roaster being small, this giving unused Raw/Smackdown stars a chance to "do something" while building up ECW ratings (hopefully) and ECW stars.

I guess we will only find out the true purpose of this whole thing by the end of the tournament.

Scenario A:
A ex-champion wins the title shot.
Scenario A.1:
Christian retains. They've build up Christian for a upper-midcard (maybe even ME) position for after the Draft. ECW kinda gets lost but its "fixable" since the roaster might get renewed.
Scenario A.2:
Christian loses. BAD BAD idea. ECW gets buried big time. Maybe it will be a way to keep the title in a "well-known" star and get Christian somewhere else, but still not good for the brand.

Scenario B
A current ECW star wins the title shot.
Scenario B.1:
Christian retains. Same thing as the past few months. Won't really do much good for anybody.
Scenario B.2:
Christian loses. A new ECW star has risen. Not only has this star beaten Christian for the title, but also gone past former champions and solid wrestlers such as Kane, Hardy, etc...

In conclusion, it better be Scenarios A1 or B2...otherwise it will have been a waste of everyones time, including the SuperStars involved.

 

[Trill Co$by]

I want to get excited for one reason, and one reason only.... Kane in a title hunt.

The only problem is that I know that Kane is just not meant to have gold anymore. Nor does he need it. Kane's at a point in his career where a title will do so little to help him. Not to mention, his last title reign was a joke as he got robbed when he got traded to Raw. Maybe now he'll be put back on ECW and given something to do.