I was a fan of the original ECW but....
By megamatt
@megamatt (14292)
United States
July 18, 2010 7:14pm CST
Why are we seeing yet another "one last show" and in TNA as well? I mean, the first One Night Stand in 2005, was a good show and a great night. If ECW had just been let go with that show and never brought up again, it would have been good. Yet, that show did good and so they had to bring it back as a third WWE brand...which was ECW for all about two weeks, then it turned into just a watered down show that was a step up from development.
Then ECW gets resurrected once again, nearly ten years after the original died and five after One Night Stand. Tommy Dreamer, Raven, and that entire zany gang, they really revolutionized wrestling in a lot of ways and the original ECW was something unique at the time. Those days are long over. I think this ECW thing is pretty much TNA's last ditch effort to really put themselves up there. The Hogan-Bischoff era, while generating some buzz, failed in the end. Ratings are far worse in the gutter. The fact that TNA is rumored to be ditching Pay Per Views entirely should tell you about how well they are doing.
Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Sting, Ric Flair, Rob Van Dam, some of the biggest names in wrestling, house hold names, yet TNA is just barely keeping its head above the water. I like this company, I want it succeed. Victory Road 2010 was a pretty good Pay Per View, Beer Money against the Motor City Machine Guns was one of the best tag team matches on Pay Per View in a long time. In fact the only two that I've seen that might come close to trumping it is the AMW/Triple X cage match at Turning Point 2004 and the Steen and Generico against the Briscoe Brothers Ladder War at Man Up. Jay Lethal and Ric Flair was a fun little match as well. TNA can have these great matches and can have great cards, and they have the big name talent to succeed, but things like this ECW resurrection and Pay Per View, just make them come across as second rate.
I am sure this Pay Per View will have some decent action on it. Especially if the main event is Jerry Lynn against Rob Van Dam like it is rumored. They always had some fun matches in ECW. They were not technical masterpieces by any means, but they were exciting enough to hold your attention. However, this show is cashing in on a company that has been dead for ten years and had one good show for a reunion five years ago. Perhaps this show will get a lot of people buying it, but that's kind of a double edged sword. It will be a successful show but because it's not TNA that is attracting the eyes, it is the ECW name and the cow could have been milked completely dry at this point.
Not to mention the fact that as far as I know, the ECW trademark is in fact owned by one Vincent Kennedy McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment. There could be a nasty cease and desist letter coming from WWE Legal for TNA if they are not careful. Back in 1996, when Nash and Hall implied that they were sent over by the other guys, WWF Legal went ballistic and that was a huge lawsuit. TNA can't afford something like that at a crucial point, after that bomb that was the Monday Night Wars.
I think this ECW thing will make for some entertaining television but it won't do TNA any favors like term. This company and I really hope I'm wrong, might not last the year at this point. This year, all of the things they did, it just seemed like a company that is slowly slipping doing whatever it can to keep its head above water. On WWE 24/7 by the end of 2011, we'll see TNA Impact reruns. It's a shame, as back in 2002, I actually thought that this company was going to be the one to take the fight to WWE and give an alternative. For years it was. 2004-2005-2006 was a great period for TNA and the golden age of the company. Then the bottom fell out in late 2006 and it's been hit or miss. Knockouts were good for a time, the X-Division had some moments, but nowhere near that peak. This company can put on good shows, which makes when it has misfires frustrating. I really do want to have an alternative and a number two. And no UFC doesn't count, because that's an entirely different kettle of fish as in one's scripted and one's real. Still TNA, while not to WCW in their peak levels, I would like to have them been a slightly more put together version of ECW, with good backing.
Still, if I wanted to watch the original ECW, I have tapes and DVDs, where I can watch these guys, when they were in their prime. Nostalgia is good for a few weeks but it doesn't really hold long term.
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