Analysis revisited: Tale of the Tape - Part 1: The new ECW vs. TNA

This is a repost and a revision of a blog I posted on Myspace that was worth reposting for this blog. I think it is still prevalent to this day.

Here's the link to the original:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=28910381&blogID=186724571&Mytoken=1C7C1F8F-CD15-44C7-8BE559A50FE2AFB5217581790

Now, here's the revision:

I have spent the last few months and years watching both TNA wrestling and the new ECW. Both shows give a different look or have been trying to give the wrestling fan a different look at the world of professional wrestling.

ECW was once an upstart wrestling organization situated in Philadelphia. For seven years (1993 – early 2001), they have been a source of some of the most violent, innovative, and cutting edge forms of professional wrestling to date. ECW provided fans with a different style of wrestling as well as a different batch of wrestlers that some said were not ready for the major organizations. However, due to monetary problems, the organization had to fold and sell its wares to their competitor, the WWE. However, as of June 13th 2006, the ECW brand of wrestling has returned to television under the auspices of Vincent K. McMahon, owner of the WWE. ECW can be now found on prime time television for one hour on Tuesday nights. It is billed as "a new breed unleashed", touting a new generation of ECW wrestlers for the new generation of fans.

TNA (Total Non-stop Action) is a 6-year-old organization that was created as a subsidiary of the NWA under the watch of the Jarrett family, until the agreement between TNA and the NWA had subsided. Since then, TNA has been its own entity. For the past 6 years, TNA has been providing viewers with some of the hottest talent in the wrestling industry straight from the independent wrestling circuit. Due to the popularity of these talents, the popularity of TNA grew steadily. The TNA formula is simple: build an organization with high octane professional wrestling from these new talents as well as the veteran talent that may or may not have been given a fair shake in the major organizations. So far, this formula has earned TNA spots on cable television and now they are a prime-time television show which is on every Thursday at 9 P.M. for 2 hours. This is much better than their failed stints at different times and networks in the afternoon and at late night.

Now, since TNA and ECW have co-existed, a few questions have come up. Which has a better showing as an television show? Who would win if they were put head-to-head against each other? It's no secret that ECW's resurgence is the WWE's attempt to compete with TNA on TNA's level. The main question this blog asks is this: can this new ECW compete with TNA?

I decided that in order to make this fair, I broke down the competitive analysis into 4 categories: Presentation, Ratings, Talent, and Wrestling Ability. It will be along these lines that the two groups will be compared and contrasted. So, with all that said, here we go!

Presentation
ECW
The new ECW is, without a doubt, not the original ECW. There is no question about that. However, in the presentation aspect, those in charge have taken it upon themselves to make it completely different from the original ECW. This not only alienates the real, die-hard ECW fans, but it also kills the credibility of the product. When people hear "ECW", they look forward to what the original brand offers: professional wrestling, cutting edge promos, hardcore matches, and innovative moves and wrestlers. The new ECW has veritably none of that. Instead, we are given one hour of WWE style matches, where the ECW originals (RVD, Sabu, etc.), lose to wrestlers that they would never lose to in the original ECW. Also, we get silly gimmicks and happenings like Kelly's Striptease, Macho Libre, and, of course, interpromotional matches with wrestlers that have no business being in an ECW ring. As for hardcore matches, don't bother. They aren't implied, they are stipulated. This means that all matches aren't hardcore. For the first time in ECW history, there are disqualifications. If you were looking for anything close to the original ECW, look elsewhere. This is WWECW. Since its inception, things have changed. Now, instead of just getting what I mentioned earlier, we get one original losing to everyone in Tommy Dreamer, no more stupid gimmicks or strip-teases, interpromotional matches with Raw and SD, to the point where they just have Raw or SD stars wrestle on the show to take up time, veterans trying to retain some semblance of importance wrestling on the show, and a great place for the young and new talents of the WWE to showcase their skills. The last point made seems to be the major selling point for ECW at this point in time, and is now the major focus.
TNA
TNA does exactly what they say they will do: give you total non-stop action. The matches are fast paced and well wrestled. They tell stories in themselves. The talent is very energetic, well-known via the indy circuits, and professional. The promos are on-point, although not always. And, even though, lately there has been more talk then action, the higher-ups are quick to make that change to improve the product. In short, they live up to what they bring to the table and the fans are not disappointed. That was then, but now, it's different. There's actually more talk, but still the same action. However, there are dumb storylines and gimmicks clogging up the airwaves, older stars from WWE and WCW main-eventing the show, and women wrestling with the utmost of excellence which is the only selling point of the show.

Winner: ECW, because there is a lot less talk, and a lot more action.

Ratings
ECW
ECW is on Tuesday nights at 10 P.M. That's just 24 hours from the second hour of WWE RAW. Smart move. ECW gives a back-to-back wrestling feel with the timeslot choice, allowing WWE fans to keep watching wrestling twice in a row. Also, that's the main part of ECW's ratings. The WWE fans are watching the show, knowing full well that a former WWE star they liked, a current WWE star they like, or an ECW star that made a killing in the WWE is on ECW. So, when the ratings come in, you know who's been watching: the WWE fan or mark, not the die-hard ECW fan. Currently, the die-hard ECW fans are few and far between, while the WWE marks are in full effect. ECW will be moving to 9 P.M. on 9/30/08. Since its inception, ECW went from a high of 2.7 to a low of 1.2, just recently.
TNA
This is where TNA falters. They are situated on Thursday nights at 11 P.M. and Saturday nights at the same time. Quite frankly, no one is watching wrestling at those times. Heck, no one is probably home at those times either since it is around the weekend. Why this situation? Spike T.V. did not want another wrestling show on their network, clogging up their chance to show original television. Another problem w/ the ratings involves the fact that most viewers know the outcome already and won't want to see it all turn out if they do not like it, through spoilers via the internet. TNA may want to consider going live to alleviate this, and they did. During the course of the two year run of the new ECW, TNA moved to 9 P.M. and added an extra hour to boot, with Saturday at the same time as before at 11. Did the ratings improve? Absolutely. It went from the .5s and .6s to 1.0 and 1.2. The only problem with all of this: that's the highest it has ever been. It has never gone past 1.2. Now, there was one time when ECW lost to TNA in a ratings war, but that was in December, and ECW was pre-empted to Thursday against TNA's 2nd hour. However, since then, not even 2 hours of TNA can merit higher ratings than 1 hour of ECW

Winner: ECW because it has consistently risen much higher than TNA Impact many times.

Talent
The talent roster of ECW is a slim one. Not only are they short many wrestlers, but the wrestlers they do showcase probably have no place in any ECW-related program. The Big Show is the best example, as he has always had the WWE or WCW feel to him. He just doesn't fit in with the ECW feel. It takes away from the product. He is not the only one, either. Wrestlers that have failed to excel on Raw or SD! have found solace here. These include Rene Dupree, Matt Striker, and Hardcore Holly. Test and Shannon Moore are just examples of wrestlers that were recently re-hired but won't be overly utilized on a Raw or SD! event b/c of their bad track record on Raw or SD! Mike Knox is a new blood from the WWE farm systems that looks more like a Raw/SD! guy than an ECW guy. As for the ECW originals, only the ones that matter (Sandman, Dreamer, Sabu, Mahoney, RVD) are utilized, and job out at times to the new guys. The others (FBI, Stevie Richards, C.W. Anderson, Jazz) are not even necessary, so, they are kept home. The only exception to the new talent rule is CM Punk, who fits in on any show and can give a great showing as a wrestling talent. He's just in ECW so the RAW/SD! guys don't look bad compared to him. Currently, a lot of changes have been made. Most, if not all of the aforementioned wrestlers were either fired, died, moved to another brand, or even downgraded to announcing (That's you, Striker). The talent roster once again slimmed down, but, the quality has improved. Apparently, they took the example of C.M. Punk and started to add talent that was either in need of retooling or new to the game with a lot of potential. The Miz and John Morrison make up two very entertaining and talented heels after some stints on Raw and SD. Mark Henry, Matt Hardy, and Finlay, and Chavo Guerrero are some veterans added to bring some depth to the young roster as well as help them work a little better in the ring. Mike Knox has re-surfaced as a top talent and a threat. Lastly, the new stars that are coming through make up the best and brightest from WWE's farm systems, or at least those that have been around and ready to go. Evan Bourne, Gavin Spears, Ricky Ortiz, and Jack Swagger are the talents, and they bring a lot to the table.
TNA
TNA has about 20 more pieces of talent to use than that of ECW. In fact, they can go to other uncontracted talents from the past and utilize them when they must, in order to put together a match or two. 80 percent of them are utilized. No one is left out. In fact, they just recently picked up Kurt Angle, who was in the new ECW. That's more than enough to put their talent pool over the boundaries. Currently, the amount of talent TNA has over ECW is still pretty high. However, the amount of them that are utilized has dropped significantly to my estimation. This is a trend that is growing steadily only due to the fact that there is no farm system TNA can go to in order to grow talent. So, they have to either stop using talent and/or release them to keep the show fresh with people that will work or that can be used. The talent that is not being used however, do not have the star power to keep themselves on t.v., unlike others like Kurt Angle, who has been changed dramatically, Samoa Joe, who has also changed, along with A.J. Styles, Christian Cage, Sting, Rhino, and even Booker T. So, it's not a total loss. Throw in the fact that you have a division full of women that can wrestle like no other, and that's still enough to get over the hump.

Winner: TNA

Wrestling ability
ECW
There are only very few ECW stars with wrestling ability. This is the ability to make a match interesting along the lines of pro-wrestling. The ECW originals that do have this ability are not very polished at it (except RVD). This is mostly due to the fact that they specialize in hardcore matches that has degenerated their bodies and their wrestling efficiency. As for the new blood, only CM Punk and Matt Striker fit the bill when it comes to wrestling. The others are too cliched from the WWE style of things. Their matches look clunky, rushed, and sometimes silly. This, of course, is all in good fortune for "sports entertainment", which is something that ECW hasn't majored in since its inception. Currently, ECW has improved in the wrestling ability aspect and dramatically. Finlay, Matt Hardy, and Chavo are excellent wrestlers. Morrison and Miz also have some severe credibility. Evan Bourne and Jack Swagger are also great talents to have as wrestlers with their great skill along with a better utilized Bam Neely and Mike Knox. So, the overall wrestling ability has improved, albeit slightly.
TNA
A good portion, maybe 95% of the wrestlers in TNA have wrestling ability that puts ECW to shame. This is due to the facts that there are more wrestlers in TNA and they are allowed to showcase their craft as much as they can. Kurt Angle alone makes up for most of that wrestling ability TNA presents. However, the entire X Division and some of the tag teams in TNA also bring a lot of ability to the table. The matches will look spot-on most of the time, and the moves will be well-executed for the most part. You won't go home unhappy after seeing some of these guys in action. Currently, this hasn't changed. The only thing keeping from being a standout thing is some of the dumb storylines surrounded by them. But, if you eliminate that, the wrestling ability of TNA is immeasurable. When they say they have the most talented roster in the world today, they aren't kidding. Just look at the quality of some of their ppv matches compared to some of the ECW stuff. Sadly, the quality has dwindled, but not by much.
Winner: TNA


In closing, TNA was better when I wrote this originally. After two years, they are about even. TNA has more quality wrestlers and two hours to utilize these guys. Basically, they have a quantity of quality talent. If you look at the roster on TNA and take what they have done matchwise in and out of TNA, you see what I mean. However, when it comes to ratings and presentation, ECW beats TNA hands down. ECW is one hour of little talk and lots of action. The storylines aren't so mind-bending that you have to take an aspirin. Some stars are entertaining enough to keep you watching long enough to see something you might like. Lastly, the focus of ECW was changed dramatically. It went from a show that was trying to be a legitimate brand competing with Raw and SD to a developmental brand that is showcasing new talents, prepping these talents for the future, and utilizing older veterans who have lost their standing on their respective shows. They are the new top stars of ECW. Throw in some ECW stars wrestling some Raw and SD stars on the show and vice versa, and you have the new ECW in a nutshell. Simply put, the expectations of the show were lowered greatly by fans, bookers, agents, etc. and it's paying off because nothing great is expected, but when it happens, it's a good thing. This is probably why TNA is not doing so well. The presentation is off. They continue to look like a lighter version of WWE or WCW, and that's a big turn-off.

That's what I think. Now, what do you think?