WWE Untold: WWECW

[Deleted]

They could have gone at least another 20 minutes on the first year. They also skip 2007 entirely (I mean, for good reason, but you could have at least mentioned that Vince won the ECW Championship more than footage at the very end and what Bobby Lashley felt like when he held the championship now that he is back in the company) and jump into 2008 when ECW became a developmental brand... and barely devote any time to that.

[James Fabiano]

WWECW should have been NXT from the beginning. Maybe say after the two ONS's, Paul (in kayfabe) was asked to start a new revolution with the hardcore stars of yesterday, the veterans and technical wizards of WWE, meeting the stars of tomorrow. Then bring up the name NXT for the first time. You still get the vague ECW connection, but without this new brand being buried under expectations. Kind of like the Heyman-booked OVW on a bigger scale.

But...it was a "damned if you do..." situation. As after those PPVs, there was a clamoring for a return of the ECW name. Never mind that WWE couldn't/wouldn't deliver anything like the original. Moreso with PG on its way in the next year.

Skipping 2007 would be nice to skip the brain fart of Vince as champion...but I know they probably did it to avoid a time during which a certain person was traded there (after being demoted from the Four Horsemen, right Nancy Grace?) and a couple other persona-non-gratas (one cause he's in Impact, the other because he's CM Punk) followed in the championship scene after the fallout? Possibly because the blowing-up limo angle happened at that time too, which seems like an Old Shame to the company? Ironically, ECW '07 was where Vince declared we'd never talk about Benoit again on WWE television. If they didn't stick to that taboo, since ECW weeklies were the last we'd see of Benoit before his downfall, and that the announcement was made on their show, it would have made an interesting topic for discussion on this edition of Untold. You could have had people commenting whether or not they saw a change in Benoit when he was down there and maybe discuss if he expressed disappointment or otherwise being on the "C-brand." How they felt the PG edict would affect how people saw the ECW brand, and what they could do to adjust?

I could see why 2006 gets the most attention though...as that's where what most people remember WWECW for resided (the high of the ONS PPVs, then the dashed expectations, the silliness they tried to push esp. in the first couple weeks, actual ECW fans' rebellions...).

Having not seen the feature yet...do they mention:
- Kurt Angle quitting?
- the D2D PPV debacle?
- RVD being busted?

And I am still interested that the Zombie is mentioned so casually, mostly as we know what had happened to him and I wondered if anyone in WWE knew that? (as far as I know, Tim only worked WWE there, and maybe a dark match, so I can see how they weren't following up on him necessarily. He did used to say he'd hear from the company all the time, but at the time he did exaggerate a little bit here and there...)

[Deleted]

RVD being busted is mentioned, as was the disaster of December to Dismember, but Kurt Angle leaving WWE because of being sent to ECW wasn't. The Zombie being mentioned was more or less because the Sandman was talking about how he was being introduced as part of a series of angles where he would beat up a bunch of geeks, and originally, it would have been the alien that appeared a week later on RAW.

[chronocross]

They mention Big Show winning the title as well as his match with Batista at the Hammerstein with the chants included, Show was frustrated as he was busting his ass and following orders but those ECW fans were not having it. I mean if the main event that night was Sandman vs. Big Show or Balls vs. Show, it would have gone down better, I mean the title wasn't going to change hands but at least they would have someone to root for.

[Jedi-El of Tomorrow]

Mar 5, 2019 19:28:35 GMT -5 chronocross said:

They mention Big Show winning the title as well as his match with Batista at the Hammerstein with the chants included, Show was frustrated as he was busting his ass and following orders but those ECW fans were not having it. I mean if the main event that night was Sandman vs. Big Show or Balls vs. Show, it would have gone down better, I mean the title wasn't going to change hands but at least they would have someone to root for.

Yep. Look at earlier in the night, you had the Dreamer and Sandman vs Test and Mike Knox Extreme Rules Match, and the crowd loved it. That was the same show that Punk debuted on, the crowd liked everything but the main event.

Heyman was 100% right at the end, had it been called anything but ECW, it would have succeeded. I still enjoyed it, you usually got at least one good match every week, and it became a place for new guys to debut, and veterans to go to and get some momentum back. Christian, Mark Henry, Big Show, and Matt Hardy all get a chance to reinvent themselves, and even Kozlov pulled himself out of the dumpster that was his failed push on Smackdown.

[mattperiolat]

God, I can’t get over how ill Big Show looked in some of those shots. I mean, seriously, what was he even doing in the ring then? The shadows under his eyes, the amount of weight he was carrying. I mean, the expression death warmed over springs to mind.

Speaking for myself, I actually caught a bit of WWECW toward the end, just as Kofi debuted, Punk and Chavo were feuding. It was basically WWE Lite, you could enjoy a product without the Raw and SmackDown baggage. Having never experienced ECW Original, I had no clue what as I was missing. Amazing to look back at both now with perspective.

[wildojinx]

I wonder what other things this show could potentially cover. Obviously they wont cover Benoit, but I could see them doing episodes on Austin's walkout, the steroid trial (it was covered on the history of wwe dvd, so they do acknowledge it happened), the plane ride from hell, the WBF, etc.

[fw91]

I don't know if I agree with Heyman's assessment of the later days of WWEECW. (When popular opinion was that was a good little wrestling show with a bad name)
He claims that the likes of Kingston, Sheamus, Punk etc. Would have gotten over on their own and succeeded without the ECW start. Idk about that.

[Deleted]

Mar 7, 2019 19:31:25 GMT -5 fw91 said:

I don't know if I agree with Heyman's assessment of the later days of WWEECW. (When popular opinion was that was a good little wrestling show with a bad name)
He claims that the likes of Kingston, Sheamus, Punk etc. Would have gotten over on their own and succeeded without the ECW start. Idk about that.

This was a time period where everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, who debuted on SmackDown was practically dead on arrival, and most of them were released within a year of their main roster appearance. Gavin Spears, Ryan Braddock, Scotty Goldman (Colt Cabana), Lance Archer, Ricky Ortiz, the Dudebusters… I can go on and on. Those who debuted on RAW managed to fare a little better, but not by much.

ECW was where you had a chance to swim for a little while to see if you had what it took to go with everyone else, so this is where I have to disagree with Paul Heyman. Well, that, and the counterarguments to whenever people say he stunk at paying talent.

[67 more]

Mar 7, 2019 23:11:36 GMT -5 @jdogindy said:

Mar 7, 2019 19:31:25 GMT -5 fw91 said:

I don't know if I agree with Heyman's assessment of the later days of WWEECW. (When popular opinion was that was a good little wrestling show with a bad name)
He claims that the likes of Kingston, Sheamus, Punk etc. Would have gotten over on their own and succeeded without the ECW start. Idk about that.

This was a time period where everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, who debuted on SmackDown was practically dead on arrival, and most of them were released within a year of their main roster appearance. Gavin Spears, Ryan Braddock, Scotty Goldman (Colt Cabana), Lance Archer, Ricky Ortiz, the Dudebusters… I can go on and on. Those who debuted on RAW managed to fare a little better, but not by much.

ECW was where you had a chance to swim for a little while to see if you had what it took to go with everyone else, so this is where I have to disagree with Paul Heyman. Well, that, and the counterarguments to whenever people say he stunk at paying talent.

Spears, Ortiz, Archer and the Dudebusters all debuted on ECW though...

[johnnyk9]

it is what it is