14.06.2006, 18:35
ECW'S DEBUT ON SCI FI A TRAIN WRECK THAT CAN BE FIXED BUT PROBABLY WON'T BE
Folks, I am here to tell you that I am a sucker. A big sucker. An all day, big fat lollipop sucker. Why, you ask, am I admitting to you all today that I am a rube? Well, I went into last night's ECW debut on Sci Fi show actually believing Vince McMahon when he said that he understood that this show had to be different from other WWE programming to succeed and he would make sure that it was. Yep, I am a sucker. I should have known better.
Now, I want to make very clear at the outset that I don't expect the new version of ECW to be like its predecessor. I think comparisons between then and now are just not fair, for a number of reasons. I don't expect this product to be like the ECW of the mid nineties. It's just not a realistic expectation. This company is owned by McMahon. It's his money and he has control of the product. I appreciate and respect that, believe me, I do. I want to be clear in saying that I am not yearning for the old days here, I am just a long-time wrestling fan looking for an alternative product that is written for a more mature fan and not so obvious in all of its storylines, like Raw and Smackdown are. Again, I just want an alternative. By definition, that would be a product that is different from the other brands that WWE currently offers. Last night's debut was anything but that. Basically, it was a really, really bad episode of Raw.
There was no edginess. About the only thing they could point to as being "hardcore" was Kelly's striptease and while she is ridiculously hot, is it any different than anything we see on the "big two"? Nope, except for the fact that the other divas actually know how to unhook a bra.
There was no intelligent booking either. It's a good thing there were a lot of little kids at the show because it was written for them.
As you can tell, I hated the show, hated it with a passion. I hated it so much that I didn't even want to write about it today. I didn't hate it because "it defamed ECW". I hated it because no matter what measure you judge it on, it was a wretched hour of wrestling. What made it worse was that I was hoping for a fun alternative to Raw and it was anything but that.
But, I will try to be constructive here and point out some of the problems I saw last night:
*The presentation. The show looked exactly like Raw and Smackdown in the way it was shot, presented, formatted and announced. There was no "grainier" production. It was a very obviously a WWE show and that hurt it because when it looks like WWE, it will be compared to WWE and will finish a distant third behind their other programs.
*No character development whatsoever. The only guys that got a push on the show were established WWE wrestlers. Sabu? He lucked into the win in the battle royal. Edge and John Cena got pushed harder than anyone on the ECW roster. Of the guys in ECW that did get a push, the two that did were WWE talents. Now don't get me wrong. I realize that they don't have a lot to work with on the ECW roster since many of the guys were jobbers on WWE shows, but the point of creating a new brand it to build guys up. That sure didn't happen last night.
*Raw was clearly more important than anything else. I understand that this is a fledgling brand and that WWE wants to cross-promote Raw with ECW to get it an audience. But last night, the focus was so strong on what was going on with Vengeance and Monday's show that last night, when it wasn't mind numbingly bad, just came across as secondary filler from a bunch of wannabes. They are going to invade Raw? RVD and Paul Heyman were left for dead by the Raw guys. Big Show, a recent Raw start, threw out everyone in the Battle Royal, including Sabu who luckily didn't hit the floor. Kurt Angle destroyed another former ECW champion. Yeah, that makes the rest of the roster look real tough to me (and believe me, I understand that many of the guys on the roster have jobber written all over them which is why it's important NOT to portray them as such). I am sure the Raw roster is shaking in their boots. Hell, even Sabu's win meant that he wrestles John Cena, on a Raw PPV. Wouldn't Sabu rather get a shot at the ECW Title? I mean really?
*It was taped in the wrong buildings. They can't keep taping in Smackdown buildings. It makes for an apathetic crowd, one that isn't there to see ECW. The crowd was always a huge part of why ECW worked. Without it, the brand loses a lot of what makes it special.
*Most importantly, it just wasn't "extreme". It's obvious to me that Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn have no idea what an alternative product is. I understand that because they have their way of booking and presenting wrestling, and that's what we get four hours of every week on USA and UPN. The only way I can see this project even having a chance to succeed as alternative is if they step away from it and oversee it from afar. Put control in the hands of the people who understand the concept and give them a chance, with whatever restrictions they need to have placed on them, to run the product. If not, we will have more nights like last night. Vince's vision of ECW is what we saw last night. It's the same as his vision of Raw and Smackdown. If they want to provide a truly different product, they need to step away from it (which for the record I don't see happening). We don't need another Raw Vince. We need something different (and I mean different in a good way).
That, in a nutshell, encapsulates the embarrassment that was ECW on Sci Fi last night. I would love to sit here and tell you that I think WWE will take these very legitimate concerns and criticisms to heart and implement change to fix the mess that was that show last night but I won't. Why? Because they made me a sucker once. They ain't gonna do it again.
Dave Scherer, PWInsider.com
http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=18570&p=1
Folks, I am here to tell you that I am a sucker. A big sucker. An all day, big fat lollipop sucker. Why, you ask, am I admitting to you all today that I am a rube? Well, I went into last night's ECW debut on Sci Fi show actually believing Vince McMahon when he said that he understood that this show had to be different from other WWE programming to succeed and he would make sure that it was. Yep, I am a sucker. I should have known better.
Now, I want to make very clear at the outset that I don't expect the new version of ECW to be like its predecessor. I think comparisons between then and now are just not fair, for a number of reasons. I don't expect this product to be like the ECW of the mid nineties. It's just not a realistic expectation. This company is owned by McMahon. It's his money and he has control of the product. I appreciate and respect that, believe me, I do. I want to be clear in saying that I am not yearning for the old days here, I am just a long-time wrestling fan looking for an alternative product that is written for a more mature fan and not so obvious in all of its storylines, like Raw and Smackdown are. Again, I just want an alternative. By definition, that would be a product that is different from the other brands that WWE currently offers. Last night's debut was anything but that. Basically, it was a really, really bad episode of Raw.
There was no edginess. About the only thing they could point to as being "hardcore" was Kelly's striptease and while she is ridiculously hot, is it any different than anything we see on the "big two"? Nope, except for the fact that the other divas actually know how to unhook a bra.
There was no intelligent booking either. It's a good thing there were a lot of little kids at the show because it was written for them.
As you can tell, I hated the show, hated it with a passion. I hated it so much that I didn't even want to write about it today. I didn't hate it because "it defamed ECW". I hated it because no matter what measure you judge it on, it was a wretched hour of wrestling. What made it worse was that I was hoping for a fun alternative to Raw and it was anything but that.
But, I will try to be constructive here and point out some of the problems I saw last night:
*The presentation. The show looked exactly like Raw and Smackdown in the way it was shot, presented, formatted and announced. There was no "grainier" production. It was a very obviously a WWE show and that hurt it because when it looks like WWE, it will be compared to WWE and will finish a distant third behind their other programs.
*No character development whatsoever. The only guys that got a push on the show were established WWE wrestlers. Sabu? He lucked into the win in the battle royal. Edge and John Cena got pushed harder than anyone on the ECW roster. Of the guys in ECW that did get a push, the two that did were WWE talents. Now don't get me wrong. I realize that they don't have a lot to work with on the ECW roster since many of the guys were jobbers on WWE shows, but the point of creating a new brand it to build guys up. That sure didn't happen last night.
*Raw was clearly more important than anything else. I understand that this is a fledgling brand and that WWE wants to cross-promote Raw with ECW to get it an audience. But last night, the focus was so strong on what was going on with Vengeance and Monday's show that last night, when it wasn't mind numbingly bad, just came across as secondary filler from a bunch of wannabes. They are going to invade Raw? RVD and Paul Heyman were left for dead by the Raw guys. Big Show, a recent Raw start, threw out everyone in the Battle Royal, including Sabu who luckily didn't hit the floor. Kurt Angle destroyed another former ECW champion. Yeah, that makes the rest of the roster look real tough to me (and believe me, I understand that many of the guys on the roster have jobber written all over them which is why it's important NOT to portray them as such). I am sure the Raw roster is shaking in their boots. Hell, even Sabu's win meant that he wrestles John Cena, on a Raw PPV. Wouldn't Sabu rather get a shot at the ECW Title? I mean really?
*It was taped in the wrong buildings. They can't keep taping in Smackdown buildings. It makes for an apathetic crowd, one that isn't there to see ECW. The crowd was always a huge part of why ECW worked. Without it, the brand loses a lot of what makes it special.
*Most importantly, it just wasn't "extreme". It's obvious to me that Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn have no idea what an alternative product is. I understand that because they have their way of booking and presenting wrestling, and that's what we get four hours of every week on USA and UPN. The only way I can see this project even having a chance to succeed as alternative is if they step away from it and oversee it from afar. Put control in the hands of the people who understand the concept and give them a chance, with whatever restrictions they need to have placed on them, to run the product. If not, we will have more nights like last night. Vince's vision of ECW is what we saw last night. It's the same as his vision of Raw and Smackdown. If they want to provide a truly different product, they need to step away from it (which for the record I don't see happening). We don't need another Raw Vince. We need something different (and I mean different in a good way).
That, in a nutshell, encapsulates the embarrassment that was ECW on Sci Fi last night. I would love to sit here and tell you that I think WWE will take these very legitimate concerns and criticisms to heart and implement change to fix the mess that was that show last night but I won't. Why? Because they made me a sucker once. They ain't gonna do it again.
Dave Scherer, PWInsider.com
http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=18570&p=1