ECW Progress Report: Three weeks into the year..

OK, so, it's been three weeks since the new year has begun. Here's ECW's score card:

1.4: Week 1
1.1: Week 2
1.3: Week 3

Week one was the best ECW has had in months. It was highlighted by Matt Hardy fighting Mark Henry in a rematch from the week prior. Week two was highlighted with Jack Swagger winning the ECW title. Week 3 had a fatal four-way main event. So, why the spike, the fall, and then the rise back into normal gear? Hmm....let's look at each week and see what happened.

Matt Hardy beat Mark Henry soundly in the main event on Week 1. Jack Swagger took on and defeated Finlay in his biggest victory yet. Katie Lea clawed through Alicia Fox and the Boogeyman crushed an opponent. I'm not exactly sure why more people started to watch this week. I would say that it was the inclusion of the Boogeyman and his return to his gross actions. He has been maintaining some popularity. It could be the fact that people got word of what was going to happen and wanted to see Hardy beat Henry and Swagger beat a popular guy like Finlay. Who knows at this point? All I know is that ECW did pretty good to start off the year.

Then, the next week comes, and it's all downhill from there. ECW gets its worst rating in a while, in a 1.05, rounded up to 1.1. Not only is this bad, but for the first time in its existence, TNA has defeated ECW in the ratings.....when they were at their regular times. The only time TNA has done otherwise was when ECW competed directly against TNA during December. This was not welcome news for any WWE pundit especially if a major title changes hands that night. Jack Swagger became the new face of ECW beating Matt, and no one watched. Not to mention the fact that Tommy Dreamer announced his potential and eventual retirement if things don't go his way pertaining to winning the ECW title before his contract expired on June 6.

Why? Two words for ya: American Idol. If the WWE is not looking to win back their core contingent of fans anymore then, this is a big problem. Almost everyone and anyone watches American Idol. It's reality television, unscripted and ready to watch, with plenty of goofiness, enough of you to get a reason to watch for the rest of the night or next week. I foretold that this would happen, but alas, the WWE is rather short-sighted to prepare.

The week following that, ECW did regular business. What was on the card? Just a Matt Hardy/Jack Swagger showdown of sorts, Ricky Ortiz getting a win, the Boogeyman terrorizing Paul Burchill, and a fatal four-way where John Morrison got the victory over Miz, Finlay and Mark Henry. The ratings then grew, despite American Idol's existence. So, what's the deal?

Perhaps, the hardcore ECW followers of this version have wised up to what is happening beforehand. I'm not entirely sure what's the reason, at this point, and I would probably analyze more on it if I had a better understanding on the ratings situation, or a better understanding over the trends of ratings. I doubt I can, but I will say this.: I knew ECW would be in some sort of trouble with American Idol returning. It's taking the fans that the WWE is utilizing the most for its money and its ratings: the casual fans. Reality television is still the gold mine of media these days. I doubt that's something the WWE can handle.

I guess I'll call it off here for today. I say that only because I'm on the cusp of a great analysis coming three weeks from now. I'd mention it at this point, but it's very spoiler-filled. So, I'll wait until I post this. That should give you about....30 seconds or so of suspense. Take care for the week.

By the way, I'd suggest you catch the Royal Rumble for 2009. It's really worth it.