ECW is returning to its original time of 10 P.M. I would say this means something, and it might, but then again, it might not. For close to a year and some change, ECW has been at 9 P.M. Since it has, we've been treated to the TV-PG style of ECW. We've seen Hornswoggle make all kinds of mischief, we've seen some bad angles and gimmicks, and we've even seen some decent matches, for the most part. Will this be any different when they move? Well, Hornswoggle's on RAW now, so maybe. But, wait! The Miz and Morrison are gone, too. This does leave room for some serious analysis then....or not.
You see, the whole matter is that, well, it might not make a difference at this point. The move didn't help the ratings. In fact, they got worse. So, what's the big deal with the move back, then? Well, there are two schools of thought as far as that is concerned. There really isn't much to them, but it does seem kind of odd to make the change in the middle of everything, and out of nowhere, with little or no fanfare. But, even in the WWE, there's a method to the madness.
The first set of thinking is this: they are making the move to return to the way things were in 2006. They are going to return to the way things were when Heyman was at the helm and Vince was watching him. There will be some interesting gimmicks, match-making, and even decent storylines. Of course, it will be heavily edited and changed in case of the possibility that it feels too much like the "old school" ECW. Still, it will be interesting to see that style utilized with the new talent. All they need to do is call up Heyman, get one of his supporters, like Gabe Sapolsky, and you got yourself a show.
The second set of thinking is this: everything will remain the same, but the move is to regain the ratings it has lost. Vince McMahon made it clear, again, in another meeting, that ECW won't be the way it used to be. He feels that those days are over. It's time to move on. However, as the move was made and the time slot changed, the ratings took a nosedive, and a huge one, albeit, it was over time. This was caused by a number of things, honestly. One thing was the competition it was against. Forget the males because they found sports to watch and decent episodic television. For the kids and others, there's American Idol. Now, the WWE will say that they've beaten American Idol in the ratings. However, we all know that's just a big joke, especially since it's not even the season finale, when the ratings really rise. But, let's be honest. Even when American Idol wasn't on, they lost big in the ratings. Now, when your ratings are equal to that of your competition at times, and then, worse, something has to be done. But will a timeslot change work? It might since 10 P.M. on a tuesday night is still relatively a dead zone, unless it's baseball. I guess it all depends on your audience.
So, the change is coming. I'd write more, but what else can be said? ECW is going back to its regular time, and quite frankly, it's about time, I suppose. I don't know. I don't think this will increase the ratings with either the hardcore or the casual fan. This is because the casual fan doesn't even know what ECW is, let alone watch it. As for the hardcore fan, well, they can't be bothered with this version of ECW only because it's not authentic. It's a big waste of time and effort on their part to watch. So, what's the point? There really isn't one. Just know that you ECW watchers have to wait another hour, and have to tune yourself back to 2006 again to catch this show. Let's hope your interest returns, too, because after seeing the first ECW since the draft this year, things could stand to be better, well, at least in the big picture of it all.
Next week (which is subject to change), I start analyzing the new draftees. It will be Vladimir Kozlov, Ezekiel Jackson, Zack Ryder, and Natalya and D.H. Smith, respectively for their respective weeks. This should be fun, so stay tuned.
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