Mr. McMahon: ECW World Champion

[Lair of the Shadow MaDaBa]

I was thinking about this today. For some reason.

...I didn't mind it.

I know that a lot of people hated it. I know that a lot of people thought that it was an afront to ECW and wrestling in general, but let's just stop and think about it for a minute, now that we've had some time for it to absorb.

They wanted to push Bobby Lashley to the moon. They wanted to turn him into a big superstar, not unlike Brock Lesnar, and they wanted to do it very soon, again, not unlike Lesnar. They wanted to do this mostly because they didn't think he'd bail on them after such a short time in the company, even though he did...not unlike Lesnar.

So, instead of keeping him on SmackDown! where he was pretty much stuck in the midcard and was several years away from the main event (regardless of how much Finlay was teaching him, and regardless of the admittedly damn good matches they were putting on), they decided to jump him to ECW to give him a shot at the top of their C-brand. Now, the issue is, he needs a good feud. Feud with Heyman? No, he got blamed for the December to Dismember debacle and left the company, quite literally in tears. Big Show? No, Lashley beat him for the belt and Show wants to take time off to mend all his wounds from years of performing.

Who else is there? What feud can we put Lashley into RIGHT NOW and have him go over? Well, how about the biggest heel in the company, Mr. McMahon? Of course, McMahon can't do it himself, so let's kill two birds with one stone and throw Umaga in there--not only will the handicap of Lashley eventually result in a big push for him (theoretically), but it'll give Umaga great heat for being a McMahon hired gun, not to mention it'll put him over as even more of a killer, AND it'll just give him something to do.

And! Since everyone (primarily, ECW's fanbase [or, rather, the people who want to be ECW's fanbase]) hates it when Cena overcomes the odds, what if this guy, Lashley, DOESN'T overcome the odds, and the company's most hated guy, Vince McMahon, beats him with the title on the line? It's not meant to reward McMahon--it's a means to an end of getting Bobby Lashley even higher up the food chain. McMahon (the character, although I guess in real life...eh, never mind) doesn't care about the lineage of the ECW World title, he doesn't care about keeping ECW tradition going...Bobby Lashley came to ECW to win the ECW World Championship, he got it, McMahon hates Lashley, McMahon takes Lashley's title, and now he's going around holding it up, mocking Lashley and riling him up, acting like the cowardly heel and showing pride in the fact that he pinned Lashley, despite the fact that he beat Bobby in a 3-on-1 Handicap Match and McMahon only pinned Lashley after Umaga beat the everf***ing love out of him.

This leads, of course, to Lashley winning the title back, going over McMahon (obviously) and (theoretically) becoming a bigger star for BAH GAWD OVERCOMING THE ODDS CENA LASHLEY HAS OVERCOME THE ODDS and gotten his strap back.

Of course, it didn't work, they hotshot him to RAW, he had one title match, then left.

I'm not saying it WORKED--it didn't. I'm just saying I didn't mind it. In hindsight, I understood why they did it and I understand the logic.

[Soultastic]

Wasn't watching at that time. I loled when I found out though

[Deleted]

It was fine. Vince was entertaining in the role, it gave Lashley something to do, and it was kept short.

[Dave at the Movies]

It was stupid and made no sense. It was just another way for Vince to piss on the old ECW. I was at a Q and A that Tracy Smothers(ECW original and FBI member) was doing and he pretty much said about Vince winning the ECW title that it was stupid but at this point it didn't even matter because they had already screwed up ECW as much as they possibly could weeks before.

[Sumbody Gon' Get Dey Kneelift]

I thought it worked, and loved do-rag Vince and all the mental meltdown it led to.

I'm still bitter the HUGE limosplosion storyline never went through.

[Lair of the Shadow MaDaBa]

I think the meltdown thing was a nice touch up until they decided on an ending--it just looked like Vince went insane for no reason whatsoever. In my opinion, they should have made it so that he went insane because, while he was just trying to keep the ECW title from Lashley, he sort of fell in love with the ECW title and wanted it back for his own sake.

[BrodietheSlayer]

Oct 2, 2009 21:11:56 GMT -5 Dave at the Movies said:

It was stupid and made no sense. It was just another way for Vince to piss on the old ECW. I was at a Q and A that Tracy Smothers(ECW original and FBI member) was doing and he pretty much said about Vince winning the ECW title that it was stupid but at this point it didn't even matter because they had already screwed up ECW as much as they possibly could weeks before.

I agree.....Horrible.

[Triple Kelly]

Just another quick blowjob Vince decided to give himself and to piss on the name ECW once and for all, in case no one got the message at D2D. Hated it.

[bob]

Sandman said it best in a promo on the first ECW show after he won the belt

sometihng like "Vince McMahon just urinatinated ECW"

[Tombi]

I liked it. I think some people needed a reality check that ECW was changing, and what better way to do it than to give the WWE's owner the belt? I think overall there were some double standards though. You can't say overall that a bad wrestler owning the title would diminish its "legacy" with guys like Sandman having successful reigns, and you can't Vince say didn't have "star power", wasn't "over" or anything like that. It's just either the negative connotation or novelty of Vince holding it, depending on who you're asking.

With that said, I have him ridiculously entertaining and the whole "protection" thing seemed to get him great heat and get him through passable matches. Honestly I would have preferred they didn't bother with Bobby's stinker of a reign and just had Vince hold it until Morrison or Punk was ready.

Oct 2, 2009 21:32:19 GMT -5 bob said:

Sandman said it best in a promo on the first ECW show after he won the belt

sometihng like "Vince McMahon just urinatinated ECW"

Kayfabe comments. To be honest if they hit home so well it just makes it all the more successful in getting heat.

[BrodietheSlayer]

Oct 2, 2009 21:33:58 GMT -5 Tombi said:

I liked it. I think some people needed a reality check that ECW was changing, and what better way to do it than to give the WWE's owner the belt? I think overall there were some double standards though. You can't say overall that a bad wrestler owning the title would diminish its "legacy" with guys like Sandman having successful reigns, and you can't Vince say didn't have "star power", wasn't "over" or anything like that. It's just either the negative connotation or novelty of Vince holding it, depending on who you're asking.

With that said, I have him ridiculously entertaining and the whole "protection" thing seemed to get him great heat and get him through passable matches. Honestly I would have preferred they didn't bother with Bobby's stinker of a reign and just had Vince hold it until Morrison or Punk was ready.

Oct 2, 2009 21:32:19 GMT -5 bob said:

Sandman said it best in a promo on the first ECW show after he won the belt

sometihng like "Vince McMahon just urinatinated ECW"

Kayfabe comments. To be honest if they hit home so well it just makes it all the more successful in getting heat.

Oh, I doubt it was ALL Kayfabe......I'm sure guys like Sandman, Sabu, RVD, ect HATED the fact that Vinnie Mac was basically lifting his leg and peeing all over something they bled and suffered so much to make important.

Heck, I guarantee it's why most of them found a way to leave/get fired over the course of the six months that followed.

[Johnny Danger (Godz)]

Would've been AMAZING if it lead to a feud with either Dreamer or Sandman.

Since it didn't, it blew.

[Jimmy]

I had taken a hiatus from watching WWE by that point (I don't think I watched more than a few hours of WWE programming in 2007) but like SoulEraser, I loled when I found out.

[Tapout]

Guys, Vince was working heel.

If you have the owner of the WWE, which raided ECW of its talent and ripped off ECW's gimmicks to make millions, then eventually bought out ECW and kicked Paul E. to the curb, what's the heeliest thing he could do?

Put the strap on himself, which he could do since he owned the place, and use his power to unfairly retain it and screw the babyface titlechaser.

The execution was a little shaky but it was a great idea. There isn't an angle WWE could've done with ECW at that time, with that talent pool, that could've drawn MORE heat.

[BrodietheSlayer]

Oct 2, 2009 22:26:04 GMT -5 Tapout said:

Guys, Vince was working heel.

If you have the owner of the WWE, which raided ECW of its talent and ripped off ECW's gimmicks to make millions, then eventually bought out ECW and kicked Paul E. to the curb, what's the heeliest thing he could do?

Put the strap on himself, which he could do since he owned the place, and use his power to unfairly retain it and screw the babyface titlechaser.

The execution was a little shaky but it was a great idea. There isn't an angle WWE could've done with ECW at that time, with that talent pool, that could've drawn MORE heat.

If they would have let one of the ECW Originals (or all of them) just beat the CRAP out of Vince at the end of the storyline, then I could almost buy that.........but no, it was officially Vince peeing on the grave of ECW, just because he COULD.

Besides, how is a talent pool with awesome characters like Sandman, Dreamer, RVD, Sabu, ect......considered WEAK? So they weren't all jacked up on steroids like Vinnie Mac likes em'......the fans wanted to see these guys in the main event mix (and I use the GOOD ratings the ECW got in the beginning vs. what the ratings have been since the burial as proof of this), but other than RVD, they were pretty much jobbed/shuffled out of there Post Haste (other than Dreamer, who until recently was pretty much the Jobber/Token ECW Original guy), because they didn't fit the "WWE Standard."


(And I'm sure someone is going to make a comment about how the Original ECW guys couldn't wrestle/work an entertaining match, and all I have to say to that is THIS.....Great Kahli, Hornswaggle, most of the divas.....and that's just off the top of my head.)

[hypnoticgenes]

I didnt like it. It seemed to me that Vince was just stroking his ego with that title reign.

[Tapout]

Oct 2, 2009 22:30:02 GMT -5 BrodietheSlayer said:

Oct 2, 2009 22:26:04 GMT -5 Tapout said:

Guys, Vince was working heel.

If you have the owner of the WWE, which raided ECW of its talent and ripped off ECW's gimmicks to make millions, then eventually bought out ECW and kicked Paul E. to the curb, what's the heeliest thing he could do?

Put the strap on himself, which he could do since he owned the place, and use his power to unfairly retain it and screw the babyface titlechaser.

The execution was a little shaky but it was a great idea. There isn't an angle WWE could've done with ECW at that time, with that talent pool, that could've drawn MORE heat.

If they would have let one of the ECW Originals (or all of them) just beat the CRAP out of Vince at the end of the storyline

Or, he could eventually lie down for the relatively new Lashley to give Lashley a HUGE rub and make him a popular babyface who could draw money for the company.

To clarify, he had no interest in paying any respect to ECW, certainly, but he didn't necessarily do what he did for the sole purpose of pissing on it. He did what he did to make money. (And if ECW got pissed on in the process, that would be a bonus.)

[Triple Kelly]

Oct 2, 2009 22:30:02 GMT -5 BrodietheSlayer said:

(And I'm sure someone is going to make a comment about how the Original ECW guys couldn't wrestle/work an entertaining match, and all I have to say to that is THIS.....Great Kahli, Hornswaggle, most of the divas.....and that's just off the top of my head.)

Yeah, you kool aid-drinking ECW mutant. How dare you think you could have an opinion equal to that of a member of the WWE Universe. ;D

[BrodietheSlayer]

Oct 2, 2009 22:43:24 GMT -5 Tapout said:

Oct 2, 2009 22:30:02 GMT -5 BrodietheSlayer said:

If they would have let one of the ECW Originals (or all of them) just beat the CRAP out of Vince at the end of the storyline

Or, he could eventually lie down for the relatively new Lashley to give Lashley a HUGE rub and make him a popular babyface who could draw money for the company.

To clarify, he had no interest in paying any respect to ECW, certainly, but he didn't necessarily do what he did for the sole purpose of pissing on it. He did what he did to make money. (And if ECW got pissed on in the process, that would be a bonus.)

This is all probably true, but for me, the burial of ECW in 2006/2007 is about on par with the CrapVasion, and how it completely buried WCW/ECW for the sake of stroking Vince McMahon/WWE's ego......I can't get behind that.

In fact, I'd have to say that the CrapVasion/Burial of ECW are two of the main reasons why I can't 100% support the McMahons/WWE. That's why even though I don't watch UFC.....I'm GLAD they beat RAW in the ratings last week. It's good that there's still someone that can make the Mighty McMahons shake in their shoes a bit.

[BrodietheSlayer]

Oct 2, 2009 22:50:28 GMT -5 Triple Kelly said:

Oct 2, 2009 22:30:02 GMT -5 BrodietheSlayer said:

(And I'm sure someone is going to make a comment about how the Original ECW guys couldn't wrestle/work an entertaining match, and all I have to say to that is THIS.....Great Kahli, Hornswaggle, most of the divas.....and that's just off the top of my head.)

Yeah, you kool aid-drinking ECW mutant. How dare you think you could have an opinion equal to that of a member of the WWE Universe. ;D

Lol ;D......what I love about the whole "Kool Aid Drinking" insult, as it relates to liking the Original ECW, is that it's often made by people who chug WWE's Kool Aid pretty steadily. An example of this being the "Legends of Wrestling Rountable: Heatseakers" episode, where Michael Hayes and others were accusing Mick Foley for being a "Kool Aid Drinker" when he defended ECW/Paul Heyman......when most of the people at that table were pretty hardcore WWE/McMahon kiss ups.