The Nashville Network announced today that they have signed a three-year deal with Extreme Championship Wrestling to air their television show — or at least a toned-down version of it.
What does this mean for us Canadians? It means beginning mid-August, you will get your weekly fix of chairshots, blood, and broken tables. The plan is to begin airing “History of ECW” shows first, with the first weekly broadcast to be aired towards August 27. TNN is available in most areas of Canada via extended cable service.
The ECW press release explained the depth of the deal, virtually guaranteeing that the company will no longer be in dire financial straights.
“According to the terms of the three-year agreement, TNN will share in the revenue of all ECW activities, including its TNN telecasts, pay-per-view events, arena events, home video, magazines, CD compilations, e-commerce via www.ecwwrestling.com and merchandising, such as action figures and sports apparel,” the press release explained. “ECW holds an interest in ECW Magazine and WOW, a general wrestling magazine. ECW action figures, produced by Original San Francisco Toy Makers, will be delivered to such stores as Toys ‘R Us this month.”
It has also been reported that Viewers Choice Canada has agreed to pick up ECW and the first event available will be on September 19th. While this is not the case, it is a distinct possibility.
Bill Custers, Brand Director for Viewers Choice Canada told SLAM! Wrestling that Viewers Choice and ECW were “still talking” but that signing up ECW and their bi-monthly pay per views was “within the top three projects (we) are working on.”
— with files from Greg Oliver