I really don't understand the ECW backlash.

[Chainsaw]

It seems to me lately that almost any time the old ECW is brought up now, there's a flock of people who come in and run it down. The fans, the product, Heyman's problems with money. As a fan of the old ECW, I don't get it, naturally. I loved the old ECW, still think it's some of the most interesting wrestling ever, so it's hard for me to be objective on the subject.

So, what is it? It it an easy target to get at smarks?

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

Very little about it was traditional in any sense, and I think that it irked some fans then and probably a few of those same fans now.

That's the only reason I can come up with, because I liked what it brought to the table, and it was very influential- a little more for the better than the worse.

[Mozenrath]

I love a lot of what old ECW was, but I am extremely annoyed when fans of it refuse to aknowledge that there were quite a few problems.

[Arthur Digby Stamp]

I've been getting that impression lately too. Which is sad, considering how important ECW was in shaping professional wrestling, and how little credit it gets (and will continue to get in a WWE controlled wrestling world).

[Mozenrath]

dennisstamp316 said:

I've been getting that impression lately too. Which is sad, considering how important ECW was in shaping professional wrestling, and how little credit it gets (and will continue to get in a WWE controlled wrestling world).

Not to be rude, but ECW gets assloads of credit from fans. Sometimes too much.

[thestinger]

I loved the real ECW, but there were some bad matches, bad characters and bad storylines which is something hardcore ECW fans just refuse to acknowledge.

Paul Heyman had incredible booking talent, so he was able to hide the flaws of his roster. Any slob could get RVD, Sabu, Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka over, but Heyman somehow managed to get Sandman, Balls Mahoney and New Jack over.

I went to one of the last ever ECW on TNN tapings. I couldn't believe that Balls Mahoney ran into the ring for no reason, swung a chair at someone and then sang his theme song along with the crowd for ten minutes to a standing ovation. Why were they cheering? Because he found an entrance theme with his name it?

Like I wrote on another thread, New Jack came down to the ring with a freaking garbage can filled with crap. He clumsily hit people with brooms and then spent the next 35 minutes climbing up a balcony (all while his opponent had to stay lying on a table) and then jump off doing more damage to himself than his rival.

Little Spike Dudley would hop in the ring and do the acid drop, and get an ovation bigger than Hogan at Wrestlemania III.

Some of the best matches I've ever seen in my life were RVD vs. Jerry Lynn and Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka. Lance Storm never failed to put on a great match. But there was always a fair share of crap in ECW.

[Arthur Digby Stamp]

kiddobradley said:

dennisstamp316 said:

I've been getting that impression lately too. Which is sad, considering how important ECW was in shaping professional wrestling, and how little credit it gets (and will continue to get in a WWE controlled wrestling world).

Not to be rude, but ECW gets assloads of credit from fans. Sometimes too much.

It should be getting double-assloads, otherwise known as the Kirstie Alley special.

[plushtar]

My only complaints are the obvious issues with Paul E. and his (lack of) arithmetic skills and the fact that I only saw the era that most ECW diehards hate, the TNN era. I liked what I saw, but I get upset when I realize that if Paul Heyman had hired an accountant, ECW could have survived.

[Hiroshi Hase]

I liked the old ECW myself, the new one not so much.

[Mozenrath]

plushtar said:

My only complaints are the obvious issues with Paul E. and his (lack of) arithmetic skills and the fact that I only saw the era that most ECW diehards hate, the TNN era. I liked what I saw, but I get upset when I realize that if Paul Heyman had hired an accountant, ECW could have survived.

Also, if the dude knew how to avoid lawsuits.

[radicalbuttercup]

I think a lot of it has to do with potential. They HAD the potential to do some amazing stuff with Nu-ECW..attract a different audience who didn't follow RAW and Smackdown..but for whatever reason they decided to completely squander it.

It's ok for what it's become but it could have been a whole lot more.

[plushtar]

radicalbuttercup said:

I think a lot of it has to do with potential. They HAD the potential to do some amazing stuff with Nu-ECW..attract a different audience who didn't follow RAW and Smackdown..but for whatever reason they decided to completely squander it.

It's ok for what it's become but it could have been a whole lot more.

The new ECW is not that bad. It's shortcomings stem from the lack of time & exposure and the fact that there is a roster that consists of two handfuls. The pros of this project is that I finally get to see CM Punk, who seems pretty good; Mabel is booked as a monster without being over-the-top; Big Show got a final run; Paul Heyman was good during his reign as the evil corporate stooge; and the Zombie. It may not be as creative as the original, but it has a chance of living on due to being in a good financial spot.

[radicalbuttercup]

plushtar said:

radicalbuttercup said:

I think a lot of it has to do with potential. They HAD the potential to do some amazing stuff with Nu-ECW..attract a different audience who didn't follow RAW and Smackdown..but for whatever reason they decided to completely squander it.

It's ok for what it's become but it could have been a whole lot more.

The new ECW is not that bad. It's shortcomings stem from the lack of time & exposure and the fact that there is a roster that consists of two handfuls. The pros of this project is that I finally get to see CM Punk, who seems pretty good; Mabel is booked as a monster without being over-the-top; Big Show got a final run; Paul Heyman was good during his reign as the evil corporate stooge; and the Zombie. It may not be as creative as the original, but it has a chance of living on due to being in a good financial spot.

I did say it was ok for what it's become. Stevie had a push for like..three episodes. You get to see Punk. Elijah Burke. That weird pose Mike Knox does. A lot of entertaining matches (All the Punk/Stevie matches, New Breed vs Originals: The Hardcore one, Punk/Morrision matches, some fatal four ways and triple threats)

..But now I'm afraid with the Smackdown roster coming in there's gonna be more Kane/Khali/Mark Henry/BDV/Godzilla/Freddie Mercury nightmares every week.

[Mozenrath]

plushtar said:

radicalbuttercup said:

I think a lot of it has to do with potential. They HAD the potential to do some amazing stuff with Nu-ECW..attract a different audience who didn't follow RAW and Smackdown..but for whatever reason they decided to completely squander it.

It's ok for what it's become but it could have been a whole lot more.

The new ECW is not that bad. It's shortcomings stem from the lack of time & exposure and the fact that there is a roster that consists of two handfuls. The pros of this project is that I finally get to see CM Punk, who seems pretty good; Mabel is booked as a monster without being over-the-top; Big Show got a final run; Paul Heyman was good during his reign as the evil corporate stooge; and the Zombie. It may not be as creative as the original, but it has a chance of living on due to being in a good financial spot.

Really, I think pros outweight the cons. It just needs time.

I'm sure Eastern Championship Wrestling wasn't always very good.

Then we have Morrison, who is pretty much the "next RVD" of offense you really don't see anyone else do, because pretty much nobody can.

[BrodietheSlayer]

I think this is just a case of the WWE Programming working like it was supposed to work.

ECW was always considered Garbage Wrestling and nothing more by a lot of the people in WWE, and after years of programming it into people's heads.....it's become "Wrestling FACT."

No wonder many people in wrestling still regard us as nothing more than Marks......we're all suckers for the Slight of Hand.

ECW, while not perfect, was the Punk Rock of wrestling....and I mean the ORIGINAL, REAL Punk Rock.....not what it became. It was messy, it was raw, but it was REAL.....and I'm not talking REAL in the aspect of "wrestling is Not FAKKKEEEE," but in the aspect of in an age of preprogrammed/prepackaged emotion by Major federations.....the emotion felt by the fans who viewed it was FAR more genuine. The emotion felt by the wrestlers who were there was far more genuine, or else they wouldn't have stuck around.

A previous poster was cracking on Balls Mahoney and the original ECW fans for singing along to his theme song, but how many other federations would allow that type of interaction with the crowd? GENUINE interaction? Not too many.

ECW was Real in the way that not many other wrestling federations are or have been.....and it should always be treasured for that.

["Handsome" Whitey Fats]

ECW mostly bored me. Spotfests get on my nuts after a while

[BrodietheSlayer]

But ECW was not just Spotfests. Once again, this is programming. When you see nothing but highlight reels and little clips from other feds, then it's easy to say "This is all this federation had to offer," but little clips do not sum up a WHOLE HISTORY of a federation.

[radicalbuttercup]

Old ECW had Raven in his prime.

Old ECW wins.

[Mozenrath]

radicalbuttercup said:

Old ECW had Raven in his prime.

Old ECW wins.

This calls for the Raven gif.

[radicalbuttercup]

kiddobradley said:

radicalbuttercup said:

Old ECW had Raven in his prime.

Old ECW wins.

This calls for the Raven gif.

Go Raven! Go Raven!