For the past two years, ECW has not lived up to the original ECW created from the genius mind of Paul Heyman. Heyman was with the new Extreme Championship Wrestling when the WWE re-birthed it back in "06, but he was given rules, boundaries and had no control over anything. He was given as many ECW original superstars as possible, including Rob Van Dam and Sabu. Today, only four ECW originals sit on the “roster”, Tazz, Nunzio, Tommy Dreamer and Steven Richards.
Oddly enough the only limit the WWE gave ECW to push was about sex. Hiring 19-year old Kelly Kelly (real name Barbie Blank) to do an exhibitionist role where she would go out and dance and strip. No surprise when you really think about it since the one thing Vince McMahon has never limited any of his products to would be when the Diva"s and sex came into play (pardon the pun).
The old or shall I say original ECW, pushed the limits of extreme and produced brutal matches combined with matches that showcased some of the best technical wrestling in one show. The sordid history of ECW has been told over and over again in the DVD and book; The Rise and Fall of ECW. Though the company struggled to find air time on any network as well as pay-per-view, it also struggled financially One thing you can't take away from ECW the Original, is that many great stars today and of yesterday were produced out of that small company who used to wrestle in a bingo hall. Guys like Mick Foley, Steve Austin, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Raven, and more. The birth of the man who would become one of the most legendary wrestlers of the late 1990's came out of ECW. Before Steve Austin became “Stone Cold”, he worked in the now debunked WCW (World Championship Wrestling) alongside the late Brian Pillman as the Hollywood Blondes. WCW never used Austin to his full potential and eventually while out on injury, he was fired by Eric Bischoff over the phone. ECW took advantage and talked Austin into coming to their company and have free control over what he wanted to do. Austin did and the personality of Austin came out in spades. WWE jumped at the chance to acquire him and turned him into the ringmaster. As we all know that gimmick fizzled but unlike WCW who dumped him right away without giving him a chance to shine, the WWE sat down with Austin to determine what else they could do to push him into super stardom. Stone Cold was born. ECW found a gem and the WWE polished it. That's just one of the examples of ECW talent finding more prominent places in our wrestling history. If WCW saw the potential in Austin, things today would be different, and we probably would be watching Sting vs. Triple H. God help us if that had happened.
ECW was a great company producing something that either WWE or WCW produced. Something that was more accepted over in Japan or even Mexico. That low budget look wasn't just a look for the small company, it became a lifestyle. Fans were not just fans, they were also an important part of the show. They would bring anything they could think of to give their favourite wrestlers to use as weapons. Anything from irons, cookie sheets, frying pans, brooms, you name it as long as it was legal. Anything went back in the day. Today, not so much.
WWE acquired all ECW's footage and rights after buying out the company in I think 2001. I currently don't have access to check my information at the moment because I'm at work, so please forgive me. When WWE decided to resurrect ECW, I was skeptical because I knew that the new ECW was never going to be the same as the original. It was going to be too flashy, to scripted and too controlled. I also knew that it wouldn't have the cult following the way the original ECW had which as part of it's charm. Instead those original followers crapped all over the new product. Even the mastermind behind the cult monster couldn't gain enough control to make it the product that it once was. Everything he suggested got show down by a McMahon. Didn't matter what his suggestion would bring in the fans and make them happy or even better the entire company as a whole, he was always shot down. He was then fired by the WWE and lost his baby altogether.
Along with the new ECW, came yet another new championship belt. The ECW championship was re-introduced despite the fact that the WWE did not need another championship title to be floating around with the eight the already had. ECW was to be a completely separate brand, except that right away it's identity was mixed with the WWE's SmackDown brand. It shared the shows tours, Tuesday night tapings and even on occasion superstars (especially now). So much for being a separate brand. If they actually stayed separate, allowed Paul Heyman to run things as he pleased, the ECW Championship might have meant something instead of becoming the ninth championship in a company where the title “Champion” means jack-squat now days.
