My way to elevate ECW...

[Decarow]

Ok, we all know the glory days of ECW have come an gone. And now it's a third rate WWE brand. Hell, it's major title (and only title) is now mid-card, even though technically it is counted as "world title".

Anyways, ECW is not too far in the whole. It can still be saved. And this is how:

Brand-exclusive PPV. Give each brand one exclusive PPV a year. Give the talent a chance to showcase.

Raw- Backlash or Unforgiven
Smackdown- Great American Bash or No Mercy
ECW- December to Dismember or One Night Stand/Extreme Rules

Also, it probably wouldn't hurt to add a real mid-card title to ECW. How about the ECW TV championship? They need to make the ECW Champ look more credible. I give Swaggah alot of props but the title has lost it's edge since McMahon won it, and then when Mark Henry had it and changed the appearance, it just went straight to hell. So what are your opinions on the matter?

P.S. It also wouldn't hurt if that was their only non TV-PG show.

 

[Coco]

Not this shit again....

ECW regularly has the best matches on TV most weeks. It gives the few guys that are there a great chance to show their stuff at greater length than they would be provided the opprotunity to on Raw or SmackDown. It's perfect as is.

No extra weapons and what-not are necessary as this ECW is better than the old.

No extra titles are needed as the roster is only deep enough for one belt.

A brand-exclusive PPV isn't needed as the roster isn't deep enough for an almost three hour show.

The title is great. It helped elevate Punk, Lashley, Morrison, and Matt Hardy before they were sent on to bigger things on the main brands.

It gave Chavo some of his best non-Eddie and non-Rey matches, going against CM Punk. It was just a shame that his reign was cut short for that sloppy oaf Kane.

The belt gave Mark Henry a real chance to shine as a dominant main event heel, and he had a great feud with Matt Hardy. Henry also had a chance to continue to shine on the brand since then. He wouldn't have gotten such a great, well-earned opprotunity on Raw or SmackDown.

Don't forget Big Show's awesome reign, either.

We've had the debut and rise of Evan Bourne, fun times with Elijah Burke while he was around, the New Breed vs. Originals epic, the debut of Kofi Kingston, the rebirth of Sheltonn Benjamin as a singles wrestler, and the rise of Jack Swaggah. Don't forget Finlay and Christian also add regularly to the product now.

I don't want ECW to be on par with the other two brands. I like things the way they are... It feels like a territory with fresh new faces and old times winding it down but still able to add to the product.

I like ECW more than Raw and SmackDown most weeks. They know how to use their hour.

Oh, and Striker's commentary is amazing.

I hope I haven't missed anything.

 

[foundation611]

ECW really is the best hour of wrestling. It does a good job of highlighting those who are on the show and using them well. I agree with Coco the roster is nowhere deep enough for a 3 hour show or a second title. I like the show as is. Maybe they could add one or 2 people but that's it. I hope they keep going as they are and elevating new talent. I'd love to see DH Smith finally get a chance to shine. Love Evan and even Tyson Kidd and Christian as well. Hopefully we'll get that new Hart Foundation on ECW.

 

[Joup7]

ECW has some very nice talent right now. I enjoy watching them develop. And it has developed some great talent in the past like was said earlier in this thread.

However, it is not ready to carry a brand only PPV. Two reasons.

1. It has some nice depth right now after the draft and could make for 4ish solid matches. But it does not have the talent, literally the numbers, to have a 3 hour PPV. Also, it really hurts the brand-only theme to stack the main few matches with extreme rules matches featuring other brand talent only. Does anybody really wanna see Triple H v. Randy Orton in an extreme rules match on an ECW Only PPV? (on another PPV or live TV, yes, but not here).

2. Let me go by Vince McMahon's thinking for a minute. He distrusts the current ECW champ enough to have him appear on Wrestlemania in a match or promo. He had to be convinced to put Christian, the current #1 contender, into MITB. Evan Bourne and Kozlov were not on Wrestlemania. So given that, why would Vince McMahon make a PPV that would likely have at least 2 of those 4 in the main event to carry the show?

 

[Uncle Sam]

If you really want to elevated ECW, have the ECW champion defeat, Big Show, John Cena or Edge on free TV. There. It's really that simple. The entire brand gets a rub as a result.

 

[Coco]

Joup, I really think that second point is a rumor. I don't think it strengthens the case for an ECW-only PPV in the near future, but I don't think Vince mistrusts Swaggers. Swagger got a lengthy match with the top guy in the company just last week. There were more ECW wrestlers in MITB than SmackDown wrestlers. Couldn't Swagger simply have been left off Mania because there wasn't time to build a proper feud for him or time on the show to give him a proper match?

I don't think Vince thinks as negatively of Swagger as some sensational internet reports speculate.

Uncle Sam, great point. I've been of the opinion for a long time that Triple H should go to ECW if he really wants to help the company as he's running out of use elsewhere. Edge is almost in the same boat.

 

[TheBadGuy]

personally, i think the match w/ cena and swagger on raw a couple weeks ago did a great job raising the credibility of the ecw title. that was an awesome match and swagger came out looking great when it was over. and now swagger is gonna start feuding with christian which i think could be a long-lasting and entertaining feud. i think ecw is slowly but surely making progress!

 

[kaihorro]

i think ecw is doing fine as it is, i think they could do an extreme rules match once in a while to be honest but i think at the moment thats the only thing thats missing but at the same time they dont really have any hardcore style wrestlers left other than dreamer n hes rumoured to be gone soon due to his contract expiring

 

[ztwhite]

They've already tried brand exclusive PPV's in the past - didn't, doesn't & won't work.

ECW One Night Stand from the Hammerstein Ballroom was the least purchased PPV that year, even though it did provide us with some classic memories - IF CENA WINS, WE RIOT - remember that sign.

What ECW needs to do or what ECW should do is eliminate the 20+ minutes of promos and Raw rewinds and throw a couple of more matches in the mix.

Right now, their product really may be the best on tv. Swagger, Christian, Bourne & Morrison are fantastic to watch.

Personally, I used to hate the show when it was Big Show, Test, Dreamer, Sandman, RVD, etc... It has taken a 180 degree turn in the past 18 months.

Couldn't agree more that Striker may be the best color guy in the business (apologies to the King), but his comments last week about Josh Mathews "meunstrating nose" were priceless.

 

[Coco]

Single branded PPVs really could work in the future, TBH. Not for ECW, but it'd be a great thing if they're willing to use the Raw and SmackDown rosters properly. It should produce two compelling, stacked rosters getting a chance to shine as opposed to one. The problem was single branded PPVs were normally centered around three matches or less. Better writing and booking could fix that.

That said, it should never be an option for ECW in its current format.

 

[HHHDiedForOurSins]

ECW is a great show as it is (except when Mark Henry is on, and I fear Kozlov dominating it now he got drafted), there's no reason to change it, young guys get good experience before moving to RAW or SD and Swagger, Bourne, Christian, Tyson Kidd, Morrison (before he got drafted) etc have good matches every week, I don't think there's a problem with it.

 

[rvdfan3]

ever since the ecw originals have lef it has gone from 10 to 5 the 2006 revived ecw was good but then all the ecw originals got released and wwe went PG so no more extreme rules matches and they only need one ecw original as you could have guessed by my username and signiture ROB VAN DAM!!!!!!!!

 

[truk24]

Here is my way. First, and most importantly change the name from Extreme Championship Wrestling to Entertainment Championship Wrestling, that way you can keep ECW. Next, would be to change the look of the title. Swagger should take care of that, as this could be something that helps him get over a bit. Creating your own look to a title isn't a bad idea for a character to want to use. Fire the current GM, and make Teddy Long a referee. I wouldn't mind seeing Shane take over ECW, and that is likely to not happen, but it would be nice. It would be something to see him start small, and work his way up like a real GM. Just like his father, and his grandfather. You have to start somewhere small, and I think Shane as the GM of this new ECW would be nice.

 

[rvdfan3]

yeah and just like vince make him turn heel and win the ecw! didnt you here at the beginning vince messed up ecw when he won the ecw title he changed the fan chants from ecdub to ecdumb and as you can see in my signiture i am an fan of the original ecw not todays ecdumb

 

[rvdfan3]

scratch that vince was already heel

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Right now, ECW is simply used as development for future stars. It's not meant to be anymore than that. It's why Jack Swagger doesn't go over Cena on the Draft edition of Raw, it's why Morrison beat Bourne. ECW's a great wrestling show. Although it's on SciFi and I sometimes forget it's even on, when I do catch it, it's one of the better wrestling shows the WWE produces.

Why is that? Because these guys have to prove themselves. Even the likes of Knox, Bourne, Christian, and Swagger have to prove they're capable of having good matches and entertaining a crowd who may think they're seeing second rate talent. In reality, they're watching the future of the WWE.

The one thing that ECW could do to elevate the product is to showcase the talent more often. Since ECW's only on an hour a week, an occasional match with two ECW stars on Raw or SD wouldn't hurt the brand much at all. It gives it the exposure it needs and a possible feud with a mid-carder from Raw or SD would build a couple of them up to stardom.

But as far as drastic changes? Nothing really needs to be done. The ECW brand serves its purpose as a developmental level TV show on WWE programming.

 

[rvdfan3]

well yeah you do have an point there but ecw needs that extreme back in its name instead of extremley boring

 

[Chill]

ECW in its original conception is long dead as is common knowledge. ECW doesn't need elevating imo because Vince has it sussed...it is now used to elevate young stars who are possibly the future of WWE, that is good for the company. We need to let go of the old ECW and accept that the WWE simply uses the name for recognition and that is it really....ECW currently serves an important role in getting young wrestlers over, hence why we get some entertaing matches each week.

 

[The Hardcore KING!]

[B]Ok, we all know the glory days of ECW have come an gone. And now it's a third rate WWE brand. Hell, it's major title (and only title) is now mid-card, even though technically it is counted as "world title".

Anyways, ECW is not too far in the whole. It can still be saved. And this is how:

Brand-exclusive PPV. Give each brand one exclusive PPV a year. Give the talent a chance to showcase.

Raw- Backlash or Unforgiven
Smackdown- Great American Bash or No Mercy
ECW- December to Dismember or One Night Stand/Extreme Rules[/B]
Also, it probably wouldn't hurt to add a real mid-card title to ECW. How about the ECW TV championship? They need to make the ECW Champ look more credible. I give Swaggah alot of props but the title has lost it's edge since McMahon won it, and then when Mark Henry had it and changed the appearance, it just went straight to hell. So what are your opinions on the matter?

P.S. It also wouldn't hurt if that was their only non TV-PG show.[/QUOTE]


No the brand exclusie PPVs sucked ass. Having Cena,Edge,HHH all on 1 show at the same time is better. PPVs are 4 all 3 brands.

Now this is a good idea I like it. Should be the hardcore title it works better IMO.

 

[rvdfan3]

but also ecw does try to get more exposure thats why each draft they get one main-eventer 2007 chris benoit 2008 matt hardy 2009 vladimir koslov because then people will miss there favorite guys and have towatch ecw.

 

[rvdfan3]

then where will rvd go lol

 

[rvdfan3]

oh and each year ecws new main-eventer wins the ecw title (including benoit because he was scheduled to win the title before he died)

 

[baken1942]

ECW sucks, they need to change it. Change the name to something else and make it an all divas show, like SHIMMER or something

 

[Fuel The Fire]

ECW sucks, they need to change it. Change the name to something else and make it an all divas show, like SHIMMER or something

 

[happyjack]

make it the only non pg show. i guess let it still carry on the attitude era. maybe draft edge and bring back rvd. then create a tv championship but defend it every week. it doen't have to change hands every week. but at some point have someone defend it 24/7. bring out the new version of the hart foundation. the talent is there but some story lines would be good. edge and christian reunite to feud with the new hart foundation. put shane o'mac as owner. let wwe treat it as if it is its own show and own brand. like wwe doesn't own until the draft. start out with a brand only pay per view, ex. one night stand. it doesn't have to be 3hrs. it can also have a cheaper price than other pay per views. try to sign the dudleys and let them do some ecw stuff. like power bombs through burning tables.