ECW: The new breed unleashed...reborn

The year was 2006. June 13 marked the return of ECW as a television entity. It returned to the Sci-Fi Channel with some fanfare. The WWE had just finished another One Night Stand PPV which was drastically worse than the year previous due to heavy involvement from the WWE creative team, a general lack of original ECW talent, and matches that were littered with WWE talent. This television return could be the catalyst to reinvigorate interest in ECW despite the faulty PPV event. I mean, the main event at the event had RVD win the WWE title, and on the television show, he was about to be crowned ECW champion (even though the belt had little merit since this ECW was a WWE product and not its own entity). This was a great thing for ECW fans and RVD fans because he finally broke through the glass ceiling and reached the top. This would be the perfect way to start off the ECW television run. So, did it? Yes....and no....

For the episode, we got the following things:
-RVD getting the title, only to get embarrassed by Edge and John Cena, making him look weak
-a zombie got caned by the Sandman
-Kurt Angle steamrolled Justin Credible, another ECW champion from the past
-Test got a small promotional vignette
-Kevin Thorn appeared in front of the camera
-There was an extreme battle royal with a handful of originals and some new bloods. Sabu won it.

At the end of the day, the episode was seen as a very sloppy one that few were happy with, but at the end of the day, the ratings showed something very interesting. The final score was a 2.7, meaning at least, 2 to 3 million people watched. That was impressive for two reasons:

1) it was on par with Raw and Smackdown that week
2) it was a one-hour WWE wrestling show that merited a high rating for the first time in weeks, or months, or even years.

After that, the show slowly started to drop in ratings, remaining in the mid to low 2s but, strangely enough, the show merited better ratings on certain weeks than SmackDown, which was a 2-hour WWE-created show. ECW had more viewers than Smackdown. That is something to talk about. Since then, the ratings have dropped dramatically as the WWE writing staff continued to alter the content of ECW and the WWE brass continued to release different ECW originals, only to allow for only WWE-trained talent to be on the show. Yet, I can't help but wonder something.

If the ECW fans knew that this wasn't going to be the original ECW, why did scores of them watch the first episode? Why did some of them leave when the next episode came around? Why did it out-rate Smackdown? There is no doubt that when the idea of ECW returning to television came to fruition, there was some intrigue as to what was in store. There was some mystique as well, but above all, there was hope. There was hope that this was going to be like the ECW of old, and just as interesting this time around. There was hope that this would give fans a change in what they have been seeing in WWE television. I mean, even the old school pundits liked the show because, unlike its peers, there were a few things they had that helped the show's quality. But, alas, that was flushed down the toilet within a year of its return. Can ECW do this again? Can they be that brand that stands out and outscores its peers? I think so. So, what could ECW do to make sure of this?

First, they need key talent. If there was anything that worked for the new ECW is was this aspect. They had Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, and ECW originals some of, if not most of the fans were familiar with and enjoyed watching. Kurt Angle was a wrestling expert that cut an excellent and vicious pace when wrestling. He could outwrestle virtually anyone in the ring, anytime. Rob Van Dam is that ECW original who was so versatile and innovative in the ring that it just amazed everyone who watched. People chanted his name in an ECW event from the beginning of the show until the end, well after his match finished. He was very laid back about his approach, too, and made being cool about wrestling a very cool thing to do. As for the other originals, well, they made up the icing on the cake. Their gritty nature, their extreme fighting style, their adverse attitudes, and their connection to the original ECW is more than enough to bring out the passion in some of the ECW faithful. Mahoney, Dreamer, Sandman, Sabu, the F.B.I., and the like were a motley crew of extreme goodness for your viewing public. These were all very key in the talent department.

Second, they need better content. I was amazed to hear how many rave reviews ECW got for being more action-driven and less promo-driven. For the first time in a while, the action did the storytelling for the fans. I accredit Paul Heyman for that. The action was also very hard-hitting and innovative at times. It gave the fans an alternative to what Raw and Smackdown had every week, which was mostly driven by promos and drama and not on action and matches. I guess this move was made for ECW because it was only an hour long, but the time was at hand for more action on Raw and Smackdown, and it could not have been more evident.

Lastly, they need creativity. Vince, I understand you're running the show and all, and that what you say will ultimately be the final word on the matter, but don't you think that maybe you need ECW to be ECW and not some watered-down, emasculated version of itself? I say this because it will give you variety. It will make the WWE versatile when it comes to wrestling content. Even if you remove the extreme stuff, you can have the solid wrestling aspect of the show. That would be something worth watching and something worth money. Leave it to Paul Heyman to make things right. He is a genius, by the way. Thanks to him, we have an ECW brand to talk about. You can also thank him for certain stars acting the way they are now or were, like Armando Estrada. Just give some creative thought to ECW and you will make it a very watchable show.

Currently, none of these hold true. The talent, albeit mostly new and different, do nothing to fit in as key talents. If they do, they are due for a change of scenery via a new brand, or they have done all they can to make ECW watchable. The only problem is, they helped themselves more to be established elsewhere. Now, this is something that is proper for ECW's new direction: create new talent and prepare them for their new endeavors elsewhere. However, this doesn't do much for the show's quality as the wrestlers lack just that for the most part. There are no key pieces of talent that stand out to make ECW watchable for the talent, especially since the established talent moonlights on other bands to put those brands over.

As for content, well, that's nothing to write home about either. They have gone from selling action to selling pointless and passionless promos. If that wasn't bad enough, there's too many goofy things going on here and there to take the show seriously, as well as...shudder....recap footage of other things from other shows to get those shows some attention. Pointless filler and fluff crowd up ECW to the point where instead of having 4 or more matches in an hour, they have 2 to 3 with dull, repetitive nonsense. It makes this ECW look more like WWE Heat.

As for creativity, I'm sorry, but I don't find taking Smackdown castaways and lampooning either their goofy gimmicks or their inability to draw on bigger shows on ECW as creative. It's not fair to cast off some of the established stars to ECW, but the WWE doesn't see them as part of a plan. Sadly, they still don't see them as such. So, we go to the new guys. With the exception of a few guys, there really isn't much creativity to go around. The storylines are sad, the angles are foolish, and the wrestlers don't seem very passionate about getting this show to be watched on a daily basis. They are just going through the motions, as it seems.

Believe me when I say this. I know this ECW can be as good as its peers. In fact, I hope it does. I think they can make the new stars a very key form of talent in the show if they can come off as interesting or as innovative as their current ECW new superstar, Evan Bourne. As for content, let's see some action here. No more fluff and filler, just some action. As for creativity, just sit down and write something that makes sense. Otherwise, hire back Heyman or at least look into Gabe Sapolsky, former ROH booker. Do ECW that favor, will ya?

ECW was all about the new breed of ECW stars, unleashed on the world of professional wrestling. It intrigued us to see what it would become and if it had the potential to do exactly what it promised. What we've seen is wasted potential, pandering only to those who'd rather see ECW fail or at least remain sub par, according to the "audience of one", Vince McMahon. ECW can be reborn, rebuilt, and respected. If it is, it will be the one thing the WWE needs to shake things up again.