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WHY WWE MAY TURN OUT TO BE ECW ONE NIGHT STAND’S WORST ENEMY

By Mike Johnson on 2005-05-17 16:00:00

“ECW is where boys become men, and men become heroes.” Bubba Ray Dudley, August 1999

When word got out about World Wrestling Entertainment’s plans to hold an ECW-themed PPV for June, there was great excitement over the idea. Fans from not just across the United States but the world made plans to converge on New York City. I myself could be counted among them as I can’t remember a show I was more excited about since, well, the death of Extreme Championship Wrestling.

It would be a chance to reflect on the little company that could. It would be a chance to see some old favorites get a chance to step back into some spotlight. It would be a chance to see some old ECW performers work to the fullest of their ability. It would be a chance to stand and clap and chant and enjoy, to remember and appreciate, and finally give well deserved closure to a group of talented people who changed the landscape of professional wrestling from a dilapidated bingo hall.

After watching Raw last night, however, It’s obvious that WWE’s creative mindset has no clue whatsoever what they have in their possession. It is mind boggling that WWE produced and sold the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD. Considered to be one of the finest (and best selling) titles they have ever be released, it explains in great detail exactly what made Extreme Championship Wrestling so spectacular and loved by fans, so WWE then goes ahead and contradicts themselves.

How? By booking the lamest idea possible to promote the show. They fed into the myth that ECW was about violence.

“What you have back there is a locker room full of people who still give a damn.” Mick Foley, March 1996

Anyone who believes that Extreme Championship Wrestling was about violence is ignoring the obvious or just doesn’t care enough to see it. ECW was never about putting two guys in a ring with a trash can and a Singapore cane. It was about the emotion. It was about seeing how far these athletes would go to achieve their goals. It was about seeing how far one of these performers would go to get their revenge on the other. It was about seeing how deep they could go to get past their threshold of pain, to come back and attain that championship, that victory, that retribution. In its best moments, ECW was romantic and gritty, hardcore and tough, empowering and awesome, all at once.

What you had in the best days of ECW was a buffet of wrestling styles. It wasn’t out of place to sit and watch Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero put on a 30 minute mat wrestling classic on the same show that saw Axl and Ian Rotten pummel each other with barbed wire bats. You would see Sabu and Rob Van Dam battle it out with all out aerial stunts and warfare on the same show that would feature Stevie Richards and The Blue Meanie goofing around doing parodies of the Fabulous Ones. It was all those small parts, presented in front of an audience that loved their professional wrestling that made ECW special. It was their love for the athletes, and the athletes’ love of performing that made ECW special.

ECW was about the bravado, the attitude of the ECW revolution, something that WWE stole and made into their own “Attitude.” ECW was about the all out athletics of letting these unique performers putting on works of art inside the ring for the first time in the United States, when most of the time they were overlooked and delegated to Japanese companies, something WCW stole when Monday Nitro launched. It was about creating characters that became emotionally connected to the audience. Think Steve Austin’s beer drinking could capture the imagination of a crowd? Check out the Sandman’s most electrifying entrances and how the crowd just loved to love this out of control, drunken brawling badass.

ECW was about performing without parameters, without being held back. It was about everyone involved in the show going out there and trying to steal it and one up each other in friendly competition. It wasn’t about trying to slit each other’s throats for the best spot on the roster. It was about everyone working together to improve, thrive, and survive. It was about showing respect to the business and the fans. It was about evolving the entire industry, something it achieved even as it failed to live.

There’s a reason why fans still chant the ECW name at shows today. It’s out of respect for those athletes and to show them that they still thank them for what they did for the fans. It’s out of a love for a company that died still putting on the best shows it could, for a fanbase that wanted it to love forever. It’s a battle cry for those who remember how amazing professional wrestling can be. To those fans and even many of those wrestlers, ECW was about emotion and athletics and a love for the sport. It was about that bond between performer and fan, a bond that can’t be forced the way WWE attempted last night by creating a heel foil for ECW. It can only be nurtured and discovered. If WWE doesn’t realize that by now, when it comes to ECW One Night Stand being a success, all is lost.

“Word Association: ECW equals fun.” Chris Jericho, The Rise and Fall of ECW DVD

The angle (and apparent storyline) that began last night on Raw served to do nothing but turn off the most ardent of ECW fans, many of which have paid several hundred dollars to travel to the PPV. The inclusion of Eric Bischoff, the one person who has no business collecting a payday on anything with the name ECW on it, is not just an insult to performers who will have a chance to make a mark for themselves with this show, but especially to those who aren't involved, like ECW founder Tod Gordon. Where was excitement and a buzz for the return of the ECW product, even for just one night, has been replaced by an attitude of, “I can’t believe they just did this.”

I feel bad for the ECW fans who were hopeful of something amazing coming out of this show, but I feel even worse for the wrestlers who were looking forward to it. I feel bad for the Steven Richards and the Rhynos, who could possibly have been given a chance to show they deserve a chance to run with the ball. I feel bad for the JT Smiths and Axl Rottens, who would get a most deserved chance to step back into the spotlight when they were never given an opportunity to make it into the wrestling mainstream. I feel bad for performers like Tommy Dreamer and The Dudleys who haven’t been utilized to the fullest of their abilities by WWE, whether it be recently or their entire run with the company.

There was a legitimate excitement for this event because there were fans who legitimately loved their ECW as much as any true sports fan loves their New York Yankees or Dallas Cowboys. ECW was more than just another wrestling company, it was a proving ground, it was a springboard, it was a blank slate where some of the greatest artists ever known to create amazing matches in professional wrestling got to ply their trade. To treat this PPV as anything other a celebration for the performers and fans both, to treat it like just another show, is an absolutely disgusting turn of events. I don’t know that WWE truly wants to bring back the ECW name as a full-time brand, but if they do, they are only working towards turning off the audience, as opposed to helping the Phoenix rise from the ashes.

As far as this ECW fan, as much as it kills me to say this, I’d rather see the show canceled and ECW put back in the grave than to see it become nothing more than more Monday Night fodder for WWE to use as a backdrop for sports-entertainment. They already more than enough assets that they don’t use to the fullest of their ability. We all know their names, look up and down the rosters of Raw and Smackdown. I don’t need to ECW added to that checklist of mediocrity. ECW and those who loved it deserve better.

"This pay per view will live up to the standards all ECW hardcore fans have held for the company and it will beat expectations, because for this one night only…we won’t hold back, and we won’t be held back!" Rob Van Dam, April 2005.

For the sake of ECW, its fans, and its athletes, I hope to hell Rob Van Dam is right because after watching Raw, I have no faith WWE sees things same way.

Mike Johnson can be reached at Mike@PWInsider.com.

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