Tommy Dreamer's Deal Is Almost Up

[TUFFY54]

Firstly... I am disgusted by the amount of hate that gets vigorously spewed at Tommy for time-to-time on this board.

And to call him something like a "****e" is uncalled for. Yes Tommy was emotional when Vince gave ECW a "One Night Stand". But then Vince crushed him by turning the name of the company he sweat, bled, and broke himself for into a lame third-rate bastardized child of his brand extension to make a few extra bucks. What Vince did was tarnish the ECW legacy by creating something that in zero ways reflected what ECW was, yet giving it there name. Do you realize that there are teenagers who's only familiarity with ECW is WWECW??? If I were Tommy that fact would make me want to commit suicide. So yes he was also emotional when Dixie(even without benefit of being able to use the ECW initials) went all-in to give ECW the closest thing to a proper send-off that it could get in 2010. ECW was Tommy's life... forgive the man for caring still. I imagine getting to wrestle at Hardcore Justice for Tommy meant about as much to him as it would mean to me to see my late father one last time (Would that make me a "****e" for being emotional?). And it is unfair of anyone to not understand that and criticize him for it.
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Dixie didn't do shit to give ECW a proper send off. Vince did that in 2005. The first One Night Stand was amazing, and probably better than 90% of the original ECW pay per views that I ordered. Tommy got to main event with one of his best friends against his biggest rivals. The next year Tommy was in the semi main event with his idol Terry Funk against two of the biggest stars in WWE history. THE ECW ORIGINALS FUCKED UP WWECW. Vince gives RVD the push of a lifetime and he says thanks by getting arrested for drugs a week after become world champ and being made the face of a relaunched brand. Not to mention guys like Axel Rotten got offered contracts and were fired before the brand ever relaunched for getting fucked up and no showing events. Was Vince supposed to bank his investment of guys like a drunk middle aged Sandman, a drug addled Sabu, or Balls Mahoney. Sure, WWECW wasn't perfect, but it did give us stars like CM Punk, Tyson Kidd, Ezikel Jackson, and Jack Swagger. Not to mention giving a boost to people like Matt Hardy and Christian.

There's another flaw in your "Dixie gave them a proper send off" theory. Tommy won the damn ECW world title on PPV and held it for 6 weeks before losing it on another PPV. That isn't exactly going out with a wimper. HardCore Justice was a terrible PPV. It wasn't a fraction of what ECW used to be. It was awful. THEY JUST DRESSED A FAT GUY UP AND TOLD PEOPLE HE WAS THE BLUE MEANIE. It was also voted the worst PPV of 2010 by the Wrestling Observer. PWI wrote an article on it calling it "sad", and saying "hopefully this is the last time some promoter tries to make a quick buck by reliving the last century with guys who really can't preform anymore". Half of the originals didn't even show up, including Paul Heyman. They guy that they were trying to bring into the company with the PPV said he thought it was a bad idea and didn't give it his blessing. Vince did a hell of a lot more of ECW than Dixie Carter ever did, including helping them out finacially before they shut down.

If ROH offered to put Dreamer, Raven, Sabu, Sandman, and Rhyno on a PPV and call it a hardcore show, Dreamer would fall to his knees crying his eyes out screaming that Cary Silken means everything to ECW. Dreamer has never done on thing to reinvent his character or be fresh. All he does is offer God like praise to who ever will let him blade himself in one more match while fans chant ECW.

Dreamer has never moved on from the mid 90's. Jericho, Beniot, Guerrero, Mysterio, The Dudleys, Mick Foley and many other have been able to make a name for themselves in every company they worked for. Dreamer has never been anything more than "that guy who used to be in ECW".

I don't know your family, but your dramatic quote about "wrestling at HardCore Justice would be like me being able to see my late father again" is obscene. How the hell do you equate getting cut up with barded wire for the 1000 time in your 5th farewell show to seeing a dead family member. I sure loved high school football, but I sure as hell wouldn't equate playing one more game to seeing my dead grandfather.

On a final note, it is hard to take any of your talk about emotion and loss and thanks seriously when you look at your screen name. YOU CALL YOURSELF PAPA PILLMAN, AND PAPA PILLMAN MURDERED HIS WIFE AND YOUNG SON.

 

[GrandSword]

He could possibly be a better colour commentator than Taz, Taz brings no enthusiasm to anything he says anymore. If Dreamer is willing to cry in the ring, maybe at the booth he's willing to yell and scream and come up with some insight instead of let the pigeons loose... I'd give him atleast a trial...

And yeah Dreamer and Lance Storm were the ECW bookers for Heyman. And they managed to do a decent job. Dreamer could probably be able to put some good twist on matches and help with character development.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I think that TNA should resign him and give him a role similar to what he had in his WWE run. Putting people over, with a few good hardcore matches every now and then. Dreamer has put over a lot of stars and he would be an asset to TNA in such a role due to them needing to constantly work on establishing new people. I hope they have him continue there in any role whether the role be as a wrestler, manager, authority figure, or even someone backstage. He's good for the federation and it would be a mistake to lose him.

 

[Brian in Austin]

According to a little snippet I read a little while ago, Tommy Dreamer's deal with TNA is set to expire in about a month's time. His time in TNA has been pretty lackluster, though I don't think that's much of a shock to most people. Do you think TNA should resign Dreamer? And, if so, in what capacity?

I've never been a fan of Tommy Dreamer. I think he's very much the epitome of an overrated IWC darling and brings nothing to the table in TNA. There's a locker room filled with younger, heathlier and overall much more talented wrestlers.

I've never been that impressed with Dreamer in ECW, WWE, or TNA. He's living off his ECW days and when I watch him now, he's barely able to compete in a 10 minute match. This heel turn has been kinda silly and stale to me and I was glad to see them write AJ/Daniels over Ray/Dreamer tonight. That was the right outcome and now they need to move AJ on from Dreamer, but my guess is it will continue to the next PPV. And it wouldn't shock me to see them put over Dreamer in the PPV for some unknown, and quite silly, reason.

If anything, those running TNA have shown me they are not good decision-makers and clearly don't understand the impact of some of their storylines.

I suggest he move backstage as a road agent or even booker as I do believe Dreamer has a lot to offer off camera. But his days on screen have long since passed.

 

[DangerousDave]

The last thing I want to see on my TV screen is Tommy Dreamer. TNA can keep him as long as they keep him in the back and out of sight. No promos, no matches, no run-ins to break up a brawl. Yes, there are other older wrestlers like Papa Puff, Jarrett, & Sting, but at least they are entertaining and elevated their careers above jobber. Give one of the younger guys Dreamer's spot on the card. Fuck Dreamer.

 

[MoeIsBetter]

I don't mind Dreamer cause you need those old recognizable vets. Every era had them. The problem with TNA is the older vets that aren't 60 are ALL old big name WWF talent (Rock, SCSA, HHH, etc). TNA is doing what they can but we gotta realize that at this stage of TNAs career they just can't get those guys.

 

[Papa Pillman]

Dixie didn't do shit to give ECW a proper send off. Vince did that in 2005. The first One Night Stand was amazing, and probably better than 90% of the original ECW pay per views that I ordered. Tommy got to main event with one of his best friends against his biggest rivals. The next year Tommy was in the semi main event with his idol Terry Funk against two of the biggest stars in WWE history. THE ECW ORIGINALS FUCKED UP WWECW.
I don't know your family, but your dramatic quote about "wrestling at HardCore Justice would be like me being able to see my late father again" is obscene. How the hell do you equate getting cut up with barded wire for the 1000 time in your 5th farewell show to seeing a dead family member. I sure loved high school football, but I sure as hell wouldn't equate playing one more game to seeing my dead grandfather.

As for the first part of your quote... I agree that the first couple One Night Stands in theory were very appropriate send-offs for the ECW guys; however, Vince ruined that by not allowing them to be the final chapter... he just had to capitolize on the name- because money is his only true concern. And as for bastardizing the ECW name, it wasn't about who the talent was, it's not about "ECW originals"(Hell, ECW was partially built on being a revolving door of talent for the two major companies), it was about WWECW not representing ECW accurately. ECW was a specific style and identity that wasn't maintained. ECW had a very signature style, and it wasn't just about blood and death matches- those waned in the final years; but it was about a certain approach to how matches were competed, and it damn was about no-DQ and no countouts. WWECW turned ECW into a another generic WWE also-ran broadcast just a half notch above their saturday morning programming. Hardcore justice was about the gesture, and maybe it wasn't a great "wrestling" card from any type of purist perspective, but those guys gave it their all, and poured their hearts(and blood) into it- just to get that once last chance to honor their past, their way, without some outsider coming back to spit on it. And it worked out for both sides as it turned out to be TNA's second biggest buyrate number of the year.

And as for the second part... unless your illustrious "high school football" career lasted for ten years, and you put your whole life and ability to support
yourself/family on the line for it, and you not only played offense and defense but were also the offensive and defensive coordinator, and you helped pick the team, and you did the administrative work for the football program, and fundraisers on the weekends, and two-a-days the whole offseason, and you bled during every game and most practices, and hundreds (sometimes thousands) of people bought tickets and screamed your name knowing you were destroying your body for them in the name of your team; unless all of that was the case, then your comparison between your affection for your mighty "high school football" playing days and Tommy's affection for ECW; and the fact that you could even draw the two together in an analogy- well, it shows how much you really JUST DON'T GET IT. You're either ignorant, clueless, or both.