You're probably wondering about the title of this blog. Well, if you are or were an avid follower of ECW's original iteration, you remember Joey Styles saying that the greatest night of Dreamer's life was on June 6th, 1997, the night he defeated Raven, via pinfall, for the very first time. He finally exorcised the "demon" of that which was Raven, his eternal rival, and constant thorn in the backside. Many cheered him, some did not. But, at the end of the day, Tommy was vilified. This past Sunday, he won the ECW title for the second time. Congrats, Tommy.
But, wait, what about the first time? Wasn't that a greater day for Tommy? April 22nd, 2000: Tommy Dreamer won the ECW title for the first time, only to lose it within 30 minutes of getting it to Justin Credible. That doesn't prove to be a very good night, nor a very great or eventful one. But, the real kicker was what Dreamer said about that night. While he celebrated the victory on that night, he later revealed that he was very mad that he won the title. The reasons are as follows: he was disappointed that he was made champion because all of the major players were elsewhere. He just got the belt out of convenience. That, I can understand. The other reason is that he openly stated that he wanted to be the only ECW star to not have won the ECW title. That sounds like a pretty dumb thing to say, especially if you were over with a lot of people. But, he probably had his reasons, so, I won't fault him on that. It was his prerogative. But, I hope that explains why that night wasn't so great for him.
So, here we are. Tommy Dreamer is on top of the ECW mountain. And, as soon as that happened, he signs a 3 to 5 year contract solidifying his status in ECW. Hooray! Tommy Dreamer is going to be with us even longer now. No, that's not sarcasm, although if it were, I'd be much more scathing with it. It's glee, somewhat, as we get to hold on to this version of ECW just a little while longer. Yes, I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Tommy Dreamer is ECW. Without Dreamer, there is no ECW. Period. You can say there is, but you know, in all honesty, that without a modicum of the past, there is no present. It wouldn't be ECW, without question. That's something I wouldn't want to live through, really. Watching a show that has no semblance of continuity lampoon a name with many levels of continuity is fraud, really, or at least it is, in my opinion. So, now that Dreamer's the champion, what's he going to do next? I think I might have an idea.
The most glaring idea that comes to mind is this: Dreamer will defend his title, lose it, and never get a hold of it again for the next eon or so. When talking about to whom he'll lose it to, it's as obvious as it has to be. If the next champ isn't Christian or Swagger, it will definitely be Kozlov. As for why this will happen is also glaringly obvious. At the end of the Day, Dreamer is still a remnant of an organization that tried to stick it to the WWE. That makes him a target for Vince McMahon's destructive plans, be it from Vince or his subordinates. I mean, honestly, why keep the title on Dreamer if you have a crop of people you're putting more attention on, let alone people who have beaten Dreamer in the past? Is it any surprise that he won the belt at Extreme Rules in a hardcore match? To Vince, no it isn't. Vince has and will always see Dreamer as a hardcore wrestling reject who's only good when a weapon is in his hand. To that end, don't expect Dreamer to outdo anyone remotely decent in ECW. If he does, logically, it wouldn't make sense if you're Vince. How does this loser beat winners when he could barely hold his broken body together after years of punishment? Logically, the stars he finds value in should not be losing to stars that have no value. Yes, folks, I don't think that Vince finds Dreamer very valuable as a wrestler, but has some value to him to merit 3 or 5 more years with the company. Then again, talking logic with Vince McMahon and the WWE isn't exactly something very smart. Have you seen the recent storylines lately, let alone the finishes? If you can find the logic in some of these "wonders", let me know. I mean, they still haven't explained who set up the scaffolding on Raw to crash on top of Vince during the Million Dollar Mania Giveaway (although, if they tried, Orton would be the top suspect, right, or something..)
Also, who's to say that Dreamer's title victory wasn't anything short of a power move orchestrated by Dreamer to get what he wants? Lately, all I've been hearing about are contract negotiations not going the way the WWE wants it to, when dealing with popular wrestlers (ex. Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio). The weird thing is this: the locker room respects them for haggling. I guess that Dreamer has earned a ton of respect for doing this. This brings me back to my value statement I made earlier. What's Dreamer's value, you ask? Other than being the bridge between the past and the present of ECW, he still has a great mind for wrestling. Did you know that some feelers on the TNA side of things were looking to sign him up as a potential booker? As crazy as that sounds, it would have been the smartest move TNA has made since signing Kurt Angle....or putting the kibosh on Shark Boy Steve Austin......or letting Eric Young punch Jeremy Borash in the face (because we all know we have wanted to do that, right?) Tommy has a lot of friends in TNA in Team 3-d, Rhino, and even Shane Douglas and Raven, depending on how long they stay. His mind is ripe for the picking when it comes to booking, because he knows the business very well, if not better than most. If not TNA, then how about ROH? He could join the booking squad and put together some very interesting angles, not to say that they aren't interesting now. He could help in booking finishes as well. I'd be a fool to pass up on that. As for where else, I'd say Dragon Gate only because Gabe Sapolsky knows Tommy as well as Paul Heyman does and his input would be valued. So, in the long run, it looked like Tommy had the advantage here all along.
Tommy Dreamer is the new ECW champion. He won it on the second greatest night of his life at Extreme Rules. This should prove to be very helpful to Dreamer's shelf life. However, I can't help but wonder just how long that shelf life might be. I don't know about you, but haggling with the WWE, as wise as that might be, can also put you in a professional prison where you get nothing but garbage fed to you, through bad booking, lousy storylines, endless losses, and intense malaise towards your person. Don't believe me? Let's look at all the stars that chose to stay in the WWE other than to look for greener pastures elsewhere. Matt Hardy was poised to make a big deal of his career when being fired by the WWE for his problems with Edge. However, his love for the WWE was more than enough to secure a contract for him. Since then, he hasn't gone anywhere past the main event except for the ECW title. Not only that, but he didn't even get the full vindication over Edge, kayfabe-wise. However, that also holds for other organizations, too. Abyss could have went to the WWE as a big-time monster wrestler, but chose to stay in TNA and has been buried ever since, placed in storylines where he looks like a middling oaf. Let's also consider the amount of pay going into this renewal for Tommy. If it's enough to be covered by the WWE, they'll fire him in an instant, without question. It's happened to Dawn Marie, Colin Delaney, and a slew of others, and it could happen to Tommy. Lastly, who's to say that this title run will even have legs, as the WWE has a tendency of rewarding wrestlers for staying as well as returning, but bringing them down to the level they were when they were in the WWE just because they don't see any value in them. Don't be surprised if on tonight's Raw, the 3-hour "3 for all" edition, he drops the belt to Christian to add not just shock to the show, but to remind everyone just how valuable Tommy is as a champ. I wouldn't put it past the WWE if that happened. Regardless, Tommy's back for a few more years, and he achieved something he hasn't achieved in close to 10 years. Let him savor the moment, cherish it, and even love it like another child. It might very well be the last one he ever gets. One was Tommy....who won by himself..(seriously, he did. What? You getting sick of me saying that line?)
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