When WWE Chairman Vincent Kennedy McMahon appeared before the live crowd on the February 2 edition of “ECW On Syfy” and announced that the company’s third brand would go “off the air” on February 23, few fans and insiders were shocked by the news. After all, ECW had been on life-support since the dreadful “December To Dismember” PPV in 2006, had cancelled sole-branded house show events early on due to a lack of interest from old-school ECW fans (and confusion from WWE fans) and eventually performed so badly in the ratings that the “Syfy” network had began talks with WWE about giving the show a complete overhaul. Bearing all these factors in mind, it was a matter of “when” (rather than “if”) WWE would pull the plug on what had long been considered the “C” show. However, what WAS surprising was McMahon’s rather flat and blasé speech regarding the closure of ECW. After a “big announcement” regarding the brand had been hyped up for half the show, the WWE Chairman merely came out to the stage and said (and I quote, with full credit to WWE):
“I would like to proudly announce in three weeks' time that ECW will be going off the air. I would like to thank all the technicians, cameramen, directors, producers, everyone, and certainly all the Superstars who made ECW the success that it truly was. But, I'd also like to thank in advance all of you who will be responsible for the success in bringing a new, innovative, never before seen program broadcast at the very same time here on SyFy. This will be the next, next evolution of the WWE. This will be the next evolution of television history. Thank you very much."
That’s right: McMahon “proudly announced” ECW’s demise, like it was some unwanted ball and chain that had attached itself to him and his company for the past 3 or so years. Bear in mind that it was Vince who made the decision to purchase the company name, image rights and video library and make money off it, yet when it’s all over, he’s suddenly “proud” to announce it’s disappearance? It would have looked better if he’d said, “I regret to announce that ECW will be closing down and going off air in 2 weeks’ time”, or something to that effect. Instead, ECW came across as a “plaything” that he’d got bored with and simply discarded.
“I would like to thank all the technicians, cameramen, directors, producers, everyone, and certainly all the Superstars who made ECW the success that it truly was.”
Yes, you got it. McMahon gave thanks and showed gratitude to everyone involved with HIS version of ECW, but made no mention to the contributions and the sacrifices made by those who were part of the original outfit. Original ECW stars such as Taz were understandably miffed by being omitted from the speech, especially when it was their actions that made the original company a success and allowed Vince to launch his own (inferior) product off the back of it.
McMahon’s remarks and lack of respect for the original ECW sums up his overall attitude towards ECW in general. He never got what ECW was about (had he done so, he wouldn’t be pulling the plug on the product as we speak). It was shocking to hear, but in one of Rob Van Dam’s interviews with The Sun, the former ECW Champion spoke of how Vince believed that he had conditioned fans to chant “ECW” and that the passionate original ECW fans were not true representatives of the average wrestling fans (i.e. they were still considered a “cult” and an outdated one at that). After fighting a losing battle in his attempt to keep ECW faithful to the original blueprint on which it was supposedly based, Van Dam left WWE and has been very vocal about the company’s “mishandling” of ECW ever since.
Before we look at the circumstances that led to WWE reviving ECW in the first place, let’s go back to the very beginning; the birth of Extreme Championship Wrestling.
ECW was born in 1992 and was originally known as “Eastern Championship Wrestling.” It was run by Tod Gordon and serving as head booker was the late Eddie “Hot Stuff” Gilbert.
In 1993, Gilbert was replaced by Paul Heyman, who had previously worked for WCW (World Championship Wrestling) under the name “Paul E. Dangerously”, a loudmouth heel manager and announcer. Heyman had found success managing “The Dangerous Alliance”, a powerful faction of “bad guy” wrestlers that had challenged WCW heroes like Sting and The Steiner Brothers. However, when Heyman got lost in the on-going power struggle that was WCW, the “Alliance” got disbanded and Paul was soon out of a job.
When Heyman became ECW booker in 1993, he decided to break the rules, be anti-authority and very non-PC (basically, do everything he COULDN’T do in WCW). One of the first major steps was to break away from tradition (they double-crossed the National Wrestling Alliance by having “The Franchise” Shane Douglas throw down the NWA World Title after winning it, in a move that caused great controversy at the time, and even today, remains a “hot topic” for pro wrestling historians). Once ECW was considered a “renegade” promotion, Heyman had the name changed to the more-appropriate “Extreme Championship Wrestling.”
ECW soon gained a cult following in the Philadelphia area from where it was based. They managed to get onto local television and were later syndicated into other areas of the U.S.
The style of ECW was very different to what wrestling fans had grown accustomed to. ECW featured profanity (a definite “no-no” for the WWF and WCW at the time), blood (both the WWF and WCW refrained from featuring bloody matches from around 1992), strong violence (WWF had been “family-friendly” since the mid-late 1980’s and WCW had clamped down on violent matches due to pressure from Turner higher-ups), scantily-clad women (again, neither WWF or WCW would have attempted to go down this route at the time) and a gutter-mouth crowd that loved their wrestling but would (harshly) let the wrestlers know if they screwed up in their match.
But it wasn’t just about the language, sexuality and violence. ECW soon became known for offering superb high flying wrestling from Mexican stars such as Rey Misterio Jnr and Psychosis and technical master-classes from Dean Malenko and the late Eddie Guerrero. All 4 of these men later found work in WCW (and later WWE) thanks to their original exposure in ECW.
Of course, the brawling, “anything goes” style was a huge part of ECW’s appeal, especially to those fans who had become bored or had “outgrown” the out-dated WWF product (and prior to 1996, the WCW product). Mick Foley (who had willingly left WCW after feeling that his physical sacrifices in some brutal matches against Vader had not been rewarded correctly in the contract department) and Sabu tore the ECW arena (a Bingo Hall in Philadelphia) down with their awe-inspiring displays of anarchy and hardcore wrestling, while the cigarette-smoking, beer-drinking and Singapore Cane-wielding Sandman was the very definition of the term “anti-hero”, long before Stone Cold Steve Austin made his way onto the scene (Austin actually had a stint in ECW himself, albeit a brief one. Fresh off being fired from WCW by Eric Bischoff, Austin showed up on ECW TV and mocked “Easy E”, Hulk Hogan and WCW in a series of hilarious skits that demonstrated his flair for comedy (something that wouldn’t be fully expanded upon until his post-“Invasion” heel turn in 2001)).
ECW also featured some truly groundbreaking angles and story lines. Who could forget the bitter rivalry between Tommy Dreamer (a guy who “earned his stripes” in the company by taking a brutal caning from The Sandman) and Raven (who’s talents had largely been wasted in WCW as “Scotty Flamingo” and in the WWF as comedy heel manager “Johnny Polo”). It was based around the simple premise of both men being in love with the same girl (Beulah McGillicutty), but it led to some seriously violent and bloody matches and moments, including the time when Raven “broke” Dreamer’s fingers and when Raven left a skull-sized dent in a steel-chair when Dreamer hand-cuffed him to a steel cage and swung the weapon directly at his head.
Perhaps the biggest controversy for Raven and ECW was the infamous “Crucifixion” angle in 1996 (Kurt Angle, then fresh off his Olympic Games Gold Medal win and a guest commentator at an ECW show; was so offended that he stormed out and demanded that Heyman and his team not let him be seen or heard on camera during the segment. The footage was left on the cutting room floor, although it was seen for the first time ever on WWE’s “Rise & Fall Of ECW” DVD, released in 2004).
The sight of Sandman being hoisted up on a cross, wearing a “crown of thorns” was a step too far, even for not-easily-offended ECW audience. Raven was later sent out to the ring by Paul Heyman to apologise (the irony of the situation is that WWE ran a similar angle in 1998, when Undertaker “sacrificed” Stone Cold Steve Austin on a cross-shaped “symbol.” Granted, there was no “crown of thorns” involved and it wasn’t as blatantly sacrilegious as the Sandman angle, but it was still a rather blasphemous move (WWE’s defence was that Undertaker used a “symbol” rather than a crucifix).
ECW also featured pro wrestling’s first lesbian story line (a move, which according to Tommy Dreamer on the aforementioned “Rise & Fall Of ECW” DVD, got them kicked off every local station in Philadelphia), regularly included man-on-woman violence on TV and PPV (Francine and Beulah were the first women in any major company to receive brutal moves from the men, such as pile-drivers, or be driven through tables) and wasn’t afraid to take shots at the “enemy” (usually WCW; they once ran an angle where Mick Foley/ Cactus Jack got huge heat from the crowd for begging “Uncle Eric” to take him back).
ECW also took a few shots at the WWF, but in 1996 (after Paul Heyman officially took over the reigns of the company from Tod Gordon); they began a working relationship with the “guys up North.”
At WWF In Your House: Mind Games in September, ECW Stars, Sandman, Taz, Tommy Dreamer and even Heyman himself were sat ringside during the opening match between Mabel and Savio Vega. Sandman spat beer in Savio’s face, as McMahon convincingly criticised this “local, up-and coming” renegade group, while a brief “ECW” chant broke out (well, there WERE in Philadelphia).
The cross-promotion continued in 1997, when ECW “invaded” Raw and took over the show with their brand of anarchy and violence. The WWF helped ECW publicise their first PPV (“Barely Legal”) in April of that year (the show was headlined by a bloody and emotional ECW World Title Match between veteran Terry Funk and Raven, who would leave to rejoin WCW just a few months later).
At Hardcore Heaven, Tommy Dreamer fought WWF announcer and occasional wrestler Jerry “The King” Lawler (a genuine ECW critic) in an entertaining brawl that featured a surprise appearance from one of the original WWE Divas, Sunny.
ECW was now officially on PPV and was making waves as an “alternate” company that offered much more than just “blood n’ guts.” Unfortunately, both the WWF and WCW had started to take notice of some of the talent and ideas that they showcased, and so many of ECW’s top names were persuaded to “jump ship” to WCW and the WWF.
However, ECW coped remarkably well during these difficult times, at least when it came to building new stars. They lost ECW World Champions like Raven, Taz and Mike Awesome but they replaced them with the likes of Rhino, Justin Credible and Steve Corino. They had trouble retaining stars (due to the bigger and better deals being offered elsewhere) but they never had any problems creating them.
In 1999, ECW got their first nation TV deal with TNN, but it proved to be a curse for the company rather than a blessing. The show got cancelled in October 2000, following many disagreements between Paul Heyman and TNN (Heyman even did an edition of “ECW On TNN” where he “dared” the channel to throw him off the air. He also introduced a story line where “The Network” was made up of various heel wrestlers and led by Don Callis (“Cyrus”)).
ECW continued to lose money as wrestlers went unpaid but the fans stuck with them until the end, and the company never short-changed its audience. All involved gave it their all until the axe came down in April 2001.
WWE staged an ECW “reunion” show in June 2005 entitled “One Night Stand.” This came after the success of the WWE-produced documentary DVD “The Rise & Fall Of ECW”, released in 2004. WWE obviously felt that there was still an audience for this sort of product, 4 years after the company’s demise.
The first ECW One Night Stand was a superb PPV. It looked and felt like a true ECW production (it was held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, a regular “home” for ECW back in the day). WWE Superstars (who were there to “invade”) were booed out of the building by the foul-mouthed, “anti-corporate” ECW fans, the matches were superb, the promos were from the heart and not scripted and in general, the show beat the proverbial trousers off anything WWE themselves had or would offer on PPV all year.
Therein laid the first problem. WWE wrestlers, big-wigs and McMahon himself must have been embarrassed and somewhat miffed that they had offered the olive branch to ECW for one night only, and they were the only thing wrestling fans were talking about months later. The failure of the WCW/ ECW “Alliance” story line in 2001 proved that WWE hates giving credit to something that wasn’t their creation to begin with. So rather than give the praise, they usually set about destroying that creation or “remoulding” it in their image.
The ECW destruction didn’t begin yet, however. “One Night Stand” got a big buy-rate and so the following year, WWE staged another one. They also announced that they would be relaunching ECW as a separate WWE brand in the week following the PPV itself.
ECW One Night Stand # 2 was admittedly more “WWE-heavy” (WWE Superstars got involved in matches and segments, and some of them didn’t need to be there at all, to be honest) but the ECW style was still there. Rob Van Dam (long considered the best wrestler never to have won a World Title) beat John Cena (who deserves a ton of credit for “shutting out” the barrage of verbal abuse and hand gestures from the “anti-WWE” crowd) to win the WWE Championship, and Paul Heyman would later announce RVD as the new ECW Champion as well.
But then it all began to fall apart on that awful first edition of “ECW On Sci Fi.” Although the show had the “brick wall” ECW entrance (and wrestlers entering through the audience) and a few old-school ECW fans in attendance, the show again featured WWE Superstars (a bad move if they wanted to make ECW a true “alternative”), a ridiculous “Zombie” character (who had the hell caned out of him by Sandman, much to the delight of the fans) and a stripper character (Kelly Kelly, who it should be noted, as since gone on to become a pretty good in-ring performer) who was so nervous, she had trouble removing her top (and let’s be honest here: There was never any chance of her exposing too much, so why bother in the first place?).
It wasn’t long before ECW looked like a “poor man’s WWE.” At first, it seemed to be stuck rather awkwardly between the two products (the old ECW and the current WWE). You had WWE-style booking and WWE wrestlers showing up, but you also had Ric Flair rolling around in thumbtacks and Tommy Dreamer nearly impaling himself on barbed-wire boards.
When WWE staged the disastrous “December To Dismember” at the end of 2006, it was the beginning of the end for ECW (or least the one we all knew and loved). The show was booked around WWE Superstars, in WWE-style and was vocally blasted by the live audience (after this the old-school ECW fans gave up on WWE’s watered down version of the product). It was headlined by a dreadful “Extreme Elimination Chamber” Match, won by Bobby Lashley (who wasn’t over, even with the WWE audience) after ECW favourite Sabu had been “taken out” of the match in a lame angle backstage, while up and comer CM Punk (someone who fans of the original ECW would have got behind) got eliminated early, despite reportedly being Paul Heyman’s choice to win it.
Of course, when the PPV bombed, Heyman got the blame and got “sent home” (this despite the fact that according to reports, WWE had changed the booking of the show to their liking after shooting down or altering some of Heyman’s ideas). He was eventually let go by WWE completely and in June 2007, Rob Van Dam also packed his bags, sick of banging his head against a proverbial brick wall and seeing his requests for ECW to be booked correctly fall on deaf (or just plain ignorant) ears.
Eventually, Vince McMahon did remould ECW into his vision of what it should be like. He eliminated the hardcore, foul-mouthed (but different and passionate) ECW fans by driving them away with his WWE-style booking of the brand. He released several big name “ECW Originals” like Sandman and Sabu, while others like Justin Credible just gave up and wanted out so badly that it was like they’d “forced” his hand. He made himself the ECW Champion, officially turning the product into a joke and had HHH make lame “Bingo” jokes when they showed up on the programme (because God knows they couldn’t go long without showcasing the “real” stars of the show, the WWE Superstars).
The less cynical fans and insiders out there may argue that WWE’s version of ECW wasn’t all bad, that it offered a home for younger talents to ply their trade before reaching the “big time” (i.e. Raw and SD!). Certainly, CM Punk benefited from early exposure in ECW and eventually became a WWE World Champion (that is, after much doubting and politics from WWE bookers and higher-ups). However, how many people will remember the “good” the new ECW did in 5 or 10 year’s time?
ECW routinely got screwed in the “WWE Draft”. They would lose the few big names or talented guys they had and then get saddled with failed projects that were unsuccessful on the main stage. They entered a ludicrous “talent share” initiative that made a mockery of the whole “competition between brands” premise to begin with, and were never portrayed as an equal or a potential threat to Raw or SD! (on the plus side, they had a hot General Manager in Tiffany, although few people will remember her stint as an “authority figure” in a few years time).
The main reason WWE’s ECW failed is in this very sentence. It was “WWE’s ECW.” Apart from those two nights in 2005 and 2006 (at the PPV’s), it was never allowed to stand on it’s own two feet as a stand-alone company. It was always about WWE, because they know best and in their eyes, ECW was just an outdated cult that could never expand beyond filling a Bingo Hall in Philadelphia.
If you never manage to catch the original ECW in it’s heyday (and provided you are aged 18 years and over), I urge you to check out some original “Extreme” action via You Tube, or via video or DVD, as this will truly showcase what ECW was truly about.
Meanwhile, Vince and WWE can have THEIR ECW. They can have all of it. And they can put it on the shelf next to other failed projects like the WBF, the XFL and the “Invasion” angle of 2001.
Source: http://attitudesmash.blogspot.com/
