ECW returning....for good?!?!

Vince135792003

From Scherer on pwinsider.com:

WWE has made the decision to bring back Extreme Championship Wrestling as a full time entity and has begun talking with former ECW talent about returning to work for the new version of the legendary promotion. As of right now, WWE is targeting a September return for the promotion. No decision has been made as to exactly how the company will be brought back yet. It's possible that it will take over the present OVW territory, that it will be a promotion that gets matches on the Raw and/or Smackdown promotions or possibly in some other manner. Sources have told us that Paul Heyman and Tommy Dreamer will be booking ECW when it starts up.

WWE has already contacted a number of ECW wrestlers and contracts will be sent out to them this week. The talents are being offered three year deals which consist of a series of one year contracts, with rollover clauses. A number of wrestlers have been contacts so far. We can confirm that WWE has talked with The Sandman, Francine and Balls Mahoney and will be sending contracts out to them this week.

We will have more information on this story later today or tomorrow


So there you go. Make of that what you will.

gimmick

Interesting. Not sure I am entirely comfortable with this though. I really enjoyed ECW, I have a crap load of ECW DVDs. I think that by going down this route, it could tarnish what is a great legacy.

Not to mention, there are many who would not work with the WWE. Id imagine the Dudleys incl Spike would not do it, similarly Raven, Shane Douglas, Bam Bam. Jerry Lynn has little good to say about wwe, and Im sure I am forgetting quite a few also.

On the upside, we may see the return of Nova, and the death of the Simon Dean character.

JohnMc1

Sounds good. I hope its true.

gimmick

^ Out of interest, why? Can an ECW which is basically another wwe run enterprise recreate the vibe of ECW of old? Will a new ECW have the same limitations as WWE in so far as what wrestler can and cannot do?

One of the things which ECW clung to in his prime was taking pops off WCW and WWE, their wrestlers, their gimmicks, their storylines etc. Now, in a WWE run ECW, its unlikely this could happen, as Im sure Vince wont like people on his payroll take 'shoot' type swipes off him, something which Styles was well known for in ECW.

Now, I realise that Dreamer and Heyman will be the bookers for this, but again, is it not quite possible they will have to run their storylines etc past Vince/Steph/both before they have the get go? In which case we have the same rehashed garbage we see on Raw and SD lately.

Another, and possibly cynical way of looking at this, is its a good way to try and styme TNAs growth. TNA have plenty ECW alumni on their card, and if a new ECW were to emerge, its possible many would chomp at the bit to be involved again.

For this to work, IMO, the brand extension must come to an end, move the entire CW division to 'ECW', and they would need to put some of the bigger names to kick it off at first, someone like RVD and perhaps Foley in some on air type roll.

elvis2002

I wouldn't agree with what someone said above that many of the guys wouldn't work for wwe. Its a JOB. At the moment they are messing around probably wrestling in gym's around the place. They'd be happy to take the job.

gimmick

http://wrestlezone.com/article.php?articleid=147831922

In a follow-up to the story that we posted earlier about ECW returning full-time, the plan was said to be finalized in the last week or so.

WWE is not looking to add a third day to their television schedule. It is believed this will be a mix of both former ECW wrestlers and new WWE developmental wrestlers who have been working house shows under Paul Heyman.

Speaking of Heyman, he will be in charge of the ECW brand. The plan is to run house shows and some form of weekly television as well as well.

Dave Meltzer reports that it would likely be handled similar to the Superastros deal in the late 90s, with weekly matches taped before either the Raw or Smackdown tapings.

If what I have highlighted is true, they may as well not bother. ECW was always in small intimate arenas. If they want to try recreate it, they cannot do it by having the matches before TV tapings.

Fozzy

Just read this now. I don't think it's a good idea as I think of it right now, but I could see it working. Heyman and Dreamer were the ones who ran the original ECW, so they know the way it works. Vince did help out ECW when it was still around, and if it's treated in the same sort of way I'd imagine it could be pulled off. I mean, I really doubt OVW have to run storylines by Vince, so why should ECW?

If this does happen, it's got to be the best news ever for CM Punk fans! I said a while ago that he'd be the perfect fit for ECW

That point about the venues is a good one, it wouldn't feel the same at all, the fans at it would still be looking forward to the WWE show they paid for, not the ECW show that's supportin them

Stalfos

Kinda too ways about this one. On the one hand, i'm happy to see ECW return and that WWE listened to the fans. But then if it's only gonna be a recorded for Raw/Smackdown and then previewed or something.
I doubt Paul Heyman would bring back nothing but ECW in it's purest form and also at ECW, they used a few moves WWE banned ay ONS so i'd doubt they'd change it. The CW's going to ECW is great idea imo. Also a current few WWE wrestlers would do well to go to ECW. My only concern is if WWE are just gonna use ECW like OVW and take whatever stars they want like and kill ECW again.

jongore

Looks like Vince looking for a way to make a few bucks off of the ECW name and maybe get some stars for the future. (Not in itself a bad thing)
If Dreamer and Heyman are given theri heads they should do fine.
BTW the idea for RAW and SD could be to show pretaped matches from the ECW house shows.

Corholio

Stalfos wrote:

My only concern is if WWE are just gonna use ECW like OVW and take whatever stars they want like and kill ECW again.

Thats whats OVW is for, its a feeder federation for WWE. It cant be compared to other smaller federations that WWE took stars from in the past, because thats what OVW is there for. But back on the ECW point, i do think the arena bit is the sticking point alright. One thing i don't think has been mentioned in this is if WWE have it before Raw and Smackdown, don't the WWE run the risk of the fans getting worn down through out the night. Like a women's playboy match before the main event at Wrestlemania,the WWE have been well known to do this, its only there to allow the fans to build upto the main event without too much exertion on their part, but with an ECW show before a Raw or Smackdown the fans could well be burned out by the time the main of these 2 shows come around. The idea in principle is fantastic but let's see how they work with it.

Mr.Nice Guy

Why are people knocking this before they've even seen it?

Wasn't ECW ONS good last year?

As far as I'm concerned an ECW brand with Paul Heyman as booker is news that all wrestling fans should be happy about.

HOO f*cking RAY as far as I'm concerned.

Charlie

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

Why are people knocking this before they've even seen it?

Wasn't ECW ONS good last year?

As far as I'm concerned an ECW brand with Paul Heyman as booker is news that all wrestling fans should be happy about.

HOO f*cking RAY as far as I'm concerned.

I think this is king of a damned if you do/ damed if you don' situation. I have read comments made by people saying how sick of wwe they were and that ONS was the best PPV last year and if Vince had any sense he would bring it back.

Now as soon as he does, it is being shot down with people saying that all he wants to do is make a few bucks, well duh! he is a businessman. Its in his interest for it to be a success and therefore he will try and give the fans an ECW they want, like what was proided at ONS.

If Heyman and dreamer are at the helm then I think it can only be positive. Its a big credit to the ECW brand that itis the promotion that is being resurrected ad not WCW, a company that was about 100 times the size of ECW. I think Vince has alot of respect fro Heyman, definitley more so than he has for Bischoff, and in fairness he let heyman call the sjots at ONS. People moaed about the WWE presencea the event but for me it was vital, remember Heymans shoot promo, it illustarted that Heyman was calling the shots. Vince acknowledges that Heymn taped into a whole new wrestling audience and in a sense gave Vince the concept for the attitude era.

It does seem strange however that they would announce this before ONS. Could you iagine the reation on the night if Heyamn announce to the fans that ECW was back fulltime. The place would be going nuts.

Fozzy

They haven't officially announced it yet though, this is just the rumblings from the company. Scherer is usually correct with his stuff though

I'm wary of it as far as the possibility of WWE treating it like Heat or Velocity goes. If they treated it like that, it would ruin the legacy of ECW, and the real ECW fans are hardly going to like that

Brow

I'm on the fence with this one. I'd love to see it return just so a lot of the talent on Raw and Smackdown have a chance at a better role to play (ie Richards, Dean, Cruisers etc). WWE signing up all that talent recently may mean they have replacements for those that shift to that brand (ie Test, Pulumbo, Umaga).

I dont know how the tv deal will work though. and will the ECW crowd be eligible for the draft every year? I'm trying to be optimistic about the whole thing but I dont know.

Vince135792003

It can't be the same as it was. But I think any show that has Paul Heyman booking deserves a chance.

It looks like they are trying to put it on as an hour show on the USA network.
If not, its being reported on figure four radio and wrestling observer live it may become an internet show.

To be it sounds like it will be an advanced developmental show. In between OVW and WWE. I think that could work well in getting new stars over.

ff101

it will never be the same as it was, but considering the recent discusions on this forum about the direction of wwe it makes sense.

-the invasions begin in the build up to one night stand 2
-RVD uses his MITB to challenge the champ at said PPV(and wins)
- raw and SD wrestlers band together to fight the invaders
- ex ecw wrestlers who arent that important leave wwe for ecw
and so with depleted numbers, the rosters reunite. (something thats been long talked about)
- after its all over RVD and bigger ecw guys return to wwe, just like booker T did after invasion.
- AAAHH remember the alliance vs wwe. we all know who won that one.
- it makes great sense financially and creatively

but in the words of Tim Lovejoy "it'll never last"

castagnoli

I really dont know what to make of this. Im glad to hear ECW is coming back and the Heyman and Dreamer are booking it, but I really dont like the idea of former ECW stars coming back. OK some of them will be fine, like Sandman, Raven and the like but I would much rather see more of the up and coming guys given a chance.
They could take over OVW and that is what I would like to see happen but Jim Cornette might have something to say about that, he owns part of OVW and isn't perticularly fond of Heyman.
Doing shows before Raw and SD is the worst idea Ive ever heard, ECW belongs in small intimate venues, besides if ECW is filmed before screaming ten year olds that go to Raw and SD, it will have to be toned down big-time.
At the end of the day it is ECW run by Paul Heyman so we should all be happy, its just hard not to be very sceptical about it!

Brow

Another thing is if there is a seperate roster, what are the chances of them doing oversea tours? If RVD, and all join that roster does that mean we'll never see them here again?

triple h

first thing that came into my head when i saw this message was , vince wants to do a TNA type of wrestling.
to be honest i dont plan to watch it. i hope it is not tied to wwe, i hope it does its own thing. why am i not going to watch it? the answer= i will have no time to watch it and i will not make time to watch it.
i bet RVD will join it.

fatal

O my god!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this is a HUGE surprise...
however i will be surprised if ecw is anywhere as good as it was....I have a feeling that vince will after a while not want to pump much more money into it

seanironmaiden

I really don' t think Heyman and Dreamer would even consider this unless they were sure they'd have creative control. This is great news. I'd love to go over to one of the shows if it was as good as ONS. I think it'll be better

Mr.Nice Guy

This is from PWInsider:

There are plans to run a "WWE vs. ECW Head to Head" special on the USA Network the week of ECW One Night Stand PPV. The word we are getting is that the special will likely be taped on 6/7 in Dayton, Ohio, which at one point was scheduled to be a Smackdown event. There is no confirmed word on when the special would air.

The Dayton event is now listed as a "Raw Live" event by the WWE website. There is no listed Smackdown taping for that week as of this writing, so it appears WWE is still in the process of setting up their finalized plans for that week. Tickets to Dayton go on sale 5/6.

And in an update on that story, they wrote:

Our pal Devin Cutting sent word that on the USA Network's schedule for 6/7, the 9 PM-11PM timeslot is listed as "To Be Announced." We have heard that the "WWE vs. ECW Head to Head" special that was mentioned earlier today would be a two hour TV show, so it appears it will air either live or on a tape delay on 6/7.

Devin also sent word that for June, the 2 AM replay of AM Raw is now listed as "To Be Announced" on the USA Network website, which will strongly add to speculation that WWE's revival of Extreme Championship Wrestling may be slotted in that timeslot.

Should be interesting times ahead as earlier on ProWrestling.com they reported:

The PWTorch Newsletter reports that Vince McMahon made the decision to bring back ECW full time after how quickly the tickets for this year’s ECW PPV sold, considering the prices for them. Tommy Dreamer made a whole bunch of phone calls to ECW talent about putting a roster together.

It’s said that WWE does not have a real plan for ECW yet, and that as of right now they really don’t know what they will do with it as far as TV or storylines go.

It is also possible that WWE could debut the ECW angle next Monday as well after the Backlash PPV.

Stalfos

An ECW vs WWE show would be a great way to get fans to watch ECW when it comes back. If this is true, i am really looking forward to it. Also shows that WWE are taking this ECW return seriously.

Fozzy

Deadly, anything different like this is usually good news. Although I can see WWE really beatin ECW at the special, so people will buy the ppv to see them get their revenge

Vince135792003

From the observer site:

As of the end of meetings today, Vince McMahon decided that ECW would take the place of Velocity.

In other words, the show would be taped prior to Smackdown every Tuesday and until a new time slot is secured in the U.S., would remain an internet property show. Velocity, at least for the present, would cease to exist. Negotiations are going on to attempt to get it on U.S. television.

RebelRockChick

Just read this on Top-rope.com about WWE vs. ECW:

The venue for the WWE vs. ECW show lists for the show the Main Event as a 20 man battle royal featuring WWE Champion John Cena, Triple H, Big Show, Edge, Shelton Benjamin, Carlito, RVD, Tag Team Champions Spirit Squad and many more

And about ONS:

Two matches tentatively scheduled for ECW One Night Stand are Chris Benoit vs Dean Malenko and Tajiri vs Nunzio.

Fozzy

I know Tajiri seems to be pretty much confirmed, it'll be nice to see him again. I'm really hoping Malenko has a match, been so long since I've seen him. The Sun have an interview with Benoit coming up on their website, anyone who read the RVD interview would have seen they asked Benoit about this match, he kinda made it sound like it could be happening

RebelRockChick

The Pro Wrestling Torch is reporting that with the launch of the new ECW brand this year, Paul Heyman will be so heavily involved that he will be getting his own office at WWE Headquarters in Stamford, CT.

We will be following this situation with the new ECW brand very closely over the next few weeks with plans being finalized for ECW programming, contracts being sent out to former ECW talent and a whole lot more.

Lance Storm wrote a commentary on his official website at StormWrestling.com noting that he had talked with WWE officials about returning for the ECW brand but noted that he would not be returning full-time.

Storm said that he was serious when he said he retired and wanted to spend time with his family as well as his Storm Wrestling Academy school.

Storm also noted that he may appear from time to time but nothing on a full-time basis.

I would love to see Storm wrestling again, even if it wasn’t a full time thing!

I_Need_a_Life

i gotta say, i hope they dont rely TOO much on all the old talent, for this ECW to work, they will have to build new stars aswell (for instance, the only place CM punk would have a chance of succeding, would be on a show that paul E/tommy dreamer would be booking),

as much as im looking forward to ECW coming back, im a little apprehensive, you cant recapture the glory days when theyve been gone for years, if your looking for proof of that, look at wwe now!

Fozzy

I_Need_a_Life wrote:

for instance, the only place CM punk would have a chance of succeding, would be on a show that paul E/tommy dreamer would be booking

I think it was said in one of the original reports that it will feature new talent aswell. I think it has to really. Although it will only be one hour a week.. Still, Heyman made Punk tv champ in OVW, and apparently Heyman's a big fan. No non-ECW wrestler would suit ECW ore than Punk, and I really do expect him to be a big part of the new ECW

Brow

CW Anderson and Doring have signed on for it. Roadkill and Doring to be tag champs again?