The Blue Nova
Don Corleone
Sigs/Avatars cannot exceed 1MB
Posts: 1,396
|
Post by The Blue Nova on Dec 30, 2015 12:33:51 GMT -5
I've been a fan since the late 80's when I was a little kid and honestly even at the time I was never a big ECW fan. It just wasn't my kind of thing. But I do think Paul Heyman knows how to promote and book a fine show and there is probably no one better at maximizing talents while minimizing the down side of his wrestlers. Still I'd personally take a promotion like Smokey Mountain over ECW any day of the week. Any man who can find a proper use for 911 clearly excels at this. I do not think ECW sucked as it just was not your cup of tea. Personally I liked ECW. but I also different other promotions to. I do not think anything in wrestling sucks as it is just ones preference.
|
|
|
Post by abjordans on Dec 30, 2015 12:51:56 GMT -5
It is a product of its time and a "you had to be there" kind of thing. You can't just dive into it on the Network like you can WCW and get the same appeal.
|
|
|
Post by chronocross on Dec 30, 2015 13:08:52 GMT -5
It was great back then staying up late to watch it on the PAX network, but I find it hard to watch their shows these days.
|
|
|
Post by cabbageboy on Dec 30, 2015 13:21:20 GMT -5
I just recently got started watching some Smoky Mountain Wrestling on the network. If you want the real redneck experience, by all means check out that show. I have to admit I cracked up to no end when they had the Thrillseekers intro video (not sure of the original song) where they were goofing off in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Having been to several of the places in the video, I had a blast watching it. "We're the Thrillseekers and we're coming to your town!" Think of the old Fabulous Ones videos, or RNR Express, it was in that vein.
ECW used to bury SMW a lot on the air but I think it's interesting that so many of these guys wound up in ECW after SMW closed (Jericho briefly, Storm, Smothers, Gangstas, etc.).
|
|
|
Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Dec 30, 2015 13:23:36 GMT -5
All I got to say that if it wasn't for ECW, we still be stuck in the new generation era, and the wwe probably would've gone out of business
|
|
|
Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Dec 30, 2015 14:19:22 GMT -5
All I got to say that if it wasn't for ECW, we still be stuck in the new generation era, and the wwe probably would've gone out of business The WWF would have to have changed course because of WCW's success and that owes more to Japan and the Mexican companies than it does to ECW. Maybe without ECW the WWF wouldn't have swung so hard toward carnival sideshow as it did and wouldn't have had to have spent the 2000s backpedalling to try and distance themselves from the image of trash TV they so rightfully acquired during that era.
|
|
Hanzo
Dennis Stamp
"You want Cena to go to ECW?!"
Posts: 4,666
|
Post by Hanzo on Dec 30, 2015 14:22:33 GMT -5
You have to give ECW credit: they made stars. Raven, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, RVD, Mike Awesome, The Eliminators, Taz, Shane Douglas, Sabu, The Dudleys, I could go on... Very few people knew who these guys were and if they were familiar with them, they were basically nobodies in American promotions. ECW took a bunch of nobodies and made them into stars and made, to some people, a beloved promotion with them. And for that, they have my props.
|
|
|
Post by ________ has left the building on Dec 30, 2015 15:04:25 GMT -5
All I got to say that if it wasn't for ECW, we still be stuck in the new generation era, and the wwe probably would've gone out of business The WWF would have to have changed course because of WCW's success and that owes more to Japan and the Mexican companies than it does to ECW. Maybe without ECW the WWF wouldn't have swung so hard toward carnival sideshow as it did and wouldn't have had to have spent the 2000s backpedalling to try and distance themselves from the image of trash TV they so rightfully acquired during that era. ECW helped get those luchadors that went on WCW a big spotlight that WCW saw and signed them. It helped underrated wrestlers like Malenko, Jericho, Benoit, and Guerrero earn their WCW jobs. ECW gave way to the style and attitude of wrestling that WWF used to help them defeat WCW. ECW supplied WWF and WCW the wrestlers who became marquee players during the Monday Night Wars. Without the influence of ECW, pro wrestling would not reached the heights it did during that time.
|
|
|
Post by Manute Bol on Dec 30, 2015 15:10:48 GMT -5
It is a product of its time and a "you had to be there" kind of thing. You can't just dive into it on the Network like you can WCW and get the same appeal. Nailed it.
|
|
|
ECW Sucked
Dec 30, 2015 15:11:53 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by evenbroddt on Dec 30, 2015 15:11:53 GMT -5
Seeing as how I was just a kid when ECW closed its doors, I only have the network and the internet to watch it. The characters were amazing but the psychology in matches just wasn't all there. Then again I don't care for hardcore wrestling unless it's REALLY done right, rather than just a collection of throw away spots.
But it did give us Raven, the greatest gimmick ever IMO
|
|
Johnny Flamingo
Hank Scorpio
Killing the business one post at a time
Posts: 6,524
|
Post by Johnny Flamingo on Dec 30, 2015 17:08:40 GMT -5
Honestly it was a "you had to be there" type of promotion.
Honestly I can still watch the shows and enjoy them, especially the Raven-Sandman/Dreamer stuff.
For those that followed it, ECW really made you feel like you were part of a movement. It made the fans feel like they were a part of ECW and not just a spectator in the stands. It had every style of wrestling and didn't give credence to any other. Had a good mix of technical, hardcore, high flying and lucha and the fans appreciated the different styles.
Some of the stuff hasn't aged well but I feel like it has aged just as well as other promotions.
I do think if ECW would have lasted it would have evolved into what ROH is now.
|
|
Crappler El 0 M
Dalek
Never Forgets an Octagon
I'm a good R-Truth.
Posts: 58,479
|
Post by Crappler El 0 M on Dec 30, 2015 17:13:47 GMT -5
It was a product of its time. It was not made for today. I loved it back in the day. I don't enjoy it as much now, and I rarely go back and watch ECW on the network.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2015 17:22:31 GMT -5
I actually agree with all this, because ECW often catered to the worst kinds of people as well as the best kinds of wrestling fans. However, I also have a very negative opinion of the Attitude Era, but I guess it's a "You should have been there to appreciate it" kind of deals because when you're looking at it in an outsider's lens, you may just focus on the negativity.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2015 19:27:11 GMT -5
Yeah, I wasn't an ECW guy at all.
I watched a few shows but it was never my thing. I got why it was loved by its fans, but it just seemed too...."yeah bro, blood, bewbs and beer!!!" to me at times. Though it did basically set the stage for the Attitude Era.
The thing about ECW was that only a small handful of their guys even seemed the least bit cool outside of ECW. Pretty much all their guys' gimmicks came off lame when they went to WCW or WWF. Raven crushed it in WCW and RVD was a good fit for WWF at the time, but every other dude seemed really hokey when they tried to bring their gimmick/wrestling style.
|
|
|
Post by Surfer Sandman on Dec 30, 2015 20:13:35 GMT -5
Nice troll bait title.
You're wrong though. ECW had some of the best wrestlers around (Malenko, Eddie, Rey, Jericho, Lance Storm, Jerry Lynn) to balance out the more hardcore elements of their brand.
Instead, we get another "ECW was hardcore garbage!" thread.
|
|
|
Post by eDemento2099 on Dec 30, 2015 22:27:17 GMT -5
The OP sounds like a whiny baby who has never seen any other promotion to compare ECW to (except maybe current day, PG-era WWE), because his criticism of the promotion are weak. If ECW didn't exist, pro wrestling as we know it would be dead. WWE would certainly be dead; the only reason why it survived the Monday Night Wars is because it (blatantly) copied ECW's product to out-edge WCW.
The point about the lack of floor mats is concerning. I actually rang up CZW a few years ago and spoke with Maven Bentley. I asked why the promotion doesn't use mats outside the ring as a simple yet effective precaution against minimizing injuries. He told me that the promotion's hands were tied in the matter, as the fire marshall declared such mats a 'fire hazard' in the old ECW Arena. For that very reason, Bently pointed out, other promotions like Chikara were forbidden from using mats when the performed in 'the arena,' no matter how much they wanted to use them.
|
|
|
Post by Toilet Paper Roll on Dec 30, 2015 23:05:39 GMT -5
For me personally it climaxed at BARELY LEGAL, it seemed everything they had done was built to that show and afterwards WWE was just as "extreme" as they were and the charm it had was gone. 95-97 and going to ECW house shows with my friends and tape trading still is my favorite wrestling period
|
|
|
Post by gatordone on Dec 31, 2015 1:19:20 GMT -5
Nice troll bait title. You're wrong though. ECW had some of the best wrestlers around (Malenko, Eddie, Rey, Jericho, Lance Storm, Jerry Lynn) to balance out the more hardcore elements of their brand. Instead, we get another "ECW was hardcore garbage!" thread. I wouldn't say it was hardcore garbage but it never had the charismatic star to carry the company. You could say RVD but he was just a more laid back type of personality, I think people might think it was hardcore garbage because of all the cursing and scantily clad valets lead some fans to believe that they used cheap heat and shock value to get their talent over. They surely had more talented wrestlers than chair swingers but the fact is their better talent was bought by the bigger two and buried so what was left were guys swinging canes and chairs just to get over and keep the loyal hardcore fans interested in the brand. Unfortunately their style could have been the draw back from getting a decent television deal.
|
|
|
Post by StormanReigns on Dec 31, 2015 1:54:23 GMT -5
A fun mix of people who under 30, and older fans in this thread with very different opinions.
Balls was a terrible wrestler, who was featured for 20 minutes in an 1 hour show on a few occasions. Please do not say the entire roster was tearing down the arena every night.
Or did you think New Jack almost murdering a guy was awesome too?
|
|
|
Post by CATCH_US IS the Conversation on Dec 31, 2015 2:14:32 GMT -5
Nice troll bait title. You're wrong though. ECW had some of the best wrestlers around (Malenko, Eddie, Rey, Jericho, Lance Storm, Jerry Lynn) to balance out the more hardcore elements of their brand. Instead, we get another "ECW was hardcore garbage!" thread. Aside from Jerry Lynn, I don't think anyone looks at those other names and thinks of them as "ECW Guys". When the average wrestling fan thinks of ECW, they don't think of Lance Storm, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero or Chris Benoit. They think of Tommy Dreamer, the Sandman, Rob Van Dam, Sabu, and the Dudley Boyz. The "hardcore garbage" criticisms comes from the fact that ECW's most notable names who are most synonymous with the ECW brand were workers with very limited pure wrestling ability. Even guys like Rhino, The Dudleys and Dreamer who had varying degrees of post-ECW notoriety are looked at as ECW Guys first, WWE/TNA or wherever guys second.
|
|