Wrestlers’ Court: ECW will never die

On November 6, 2024 ,WWE aired NXT 2300, an ECW-themed show emanating from the former ECW arena in Philadelphia. The show featured several surviving members of ECW’s roster, although Paul Heyman was nowhere to be found. The Dudleys, Rob Van Dam, Dawn Marie, Francine, Rhyno and FBI members Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke all made appearances. Many of them are at least still semi-active between TNA, AEW and the independent circuit. Van Dam and Rhyno looked like they could still compete. If D-Von Dudley were still able to wrestle I don’t think a final Dudley run would be out of the question on any WWE brand. As it is, Van Dam (who worked several AEW shows last year and is now under a WWE legends contract) and Rhyno could do worse than to put over this next generation of talent.

The show featured a mix of ECW legacy acts and current NXT stars. The matches didn’t always make sense but pro wrestling is about suspension of disbelief. Guido challenged current NXT North American Champion and micro-regional gimmick Tony D’Angelo, which popped the live crowd. Bubba Ray Dudley teamed with NXT champion Trick Williams in a losing effort against Ridge Holland and Ethan Page. D-Von Dudley came out after the match to help put Page through a table. The actual main event was something you’d never see in old-school ECW — a 10-woman tag team match featuring a team of NXT-established heels (Fallon Henley, Jacy Jayne, Jazmyn Nyx, Cora Jade, and Roxanne Perez) against a squad of new, internationally renowned babyfaces (Giulia, Jordynne Grace, Kelani Jordan, Stephanie Vaquer, and Zaria). (Take a moment and go see George Tahinos’ NXT @ ECW Arena photo gallery.)

The card, particularly the main event, was well-received. Some older fans griped about how sparingly ECW talent was used but 20 years after the original ECW folded, I think WWE struck an appropriate balance. As much as I loved the original ECW, the style has not helped its performers age gracefully, Better for them to help draw attention and develop new stars’ careers at this point.

NXT 2300 is likely the highest profile mention of ECW since 2015, when the Dudley Boyz brought Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno in for a program against the Wyatt Family. Nine years ago the ECW contingent needed gimmickry to cover the effects of age on their in-ring performances.

NXT 2300 is far from the first ECW tribute show or storyline. Several former ECW wrestlers launched an opposition event to the original One Night Stand pay per view in 2005. Hardcore Homecoming was held at the ECW arena, promoted by Shane Douglas, Cody Michaels and Jeremy Borash. Hardcore Homecoming featured talent that was not under contract to WWE like Mikey Whipwreck, the Blue Meanie, 2 Cold Scorpio, New Jack and John Kronus, Axl and Ian Rotten, Jerry Lynn and Justin Credible. The two highest profile matches saw Raven beat the Sandman and Sabu win a three-way match against Shane Douglas and Terry Funk. A brief tour and documentary video followed.

In 2012 Douglas tried to get a new hardcore promotion off the ground. Extreme Rising would have incorporated ECW’s style but passed the torch to a new generation of wrestlers. The promotion folded quickly. That same year Dreamer founded the competing House of Hardcore, which ran shows through 2020.

Tommy Dreamer joined TNA in 2010 and brought several ECW stars with him. They formed a stable called EV 2.0 which received its own TNA pay-per-view called Hardcore Justice in August of 2010. This group hung around for a year and a half. They pop up every now and again, although they are legally prohibited from using the ECW name. In 2022, Tommy Dreamer inducted Raven into the TNA Hall of Fame. Dreamer, Rhyno, Johnny Swinger and Bully/Bubba Ray Dudley were acknowledged for their roles in the stable. In 2023, Impact’s 1000th episode saw Dreamer and Rhyno defeat Bryan Myers and Moose in a dark match.

WWE’s failed attempt to revive ECW is well-documented. WWE supported the original ECW behind the scenes for years but could not keep Paul Heyman’s innovative promotion out of bankruptcy. WWE bought ECW’s assets including its intellectual property in 2003. They released a DVD entitled The Rise and Fall of ECW in 2004. The DVD and related merchandise sold well, surprising WWE — which never saw ECW’s cult success and rabid fanbase as anything more than a local fad.

Legend has it that Rob Van Dam, by then a popular WWE star, approached Vince McMahon about a tribute show featuring original ECW alumni. Many of these wrestlers were already under contract to WWE — though their ties to the brand were not consistently acknowledged. This idea turned into the critically and financially successful ECW reunion pay-per-view One Night Stand in 2005. It’s worth noting that the first One Night Stand featured plenty of WWE-contracted wrestlers, but they mostly reverted to their ECW roles and matches took place outside WWE storyline continuity. Highlights included a main event between the Dudley Boyz and Tommy Dreamer and the Sandman; a blistering opener between Lance Storm and Chris Jericho; a spectacular match between Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero; and a typically frightening fight between Masato Tanaka and Mike Awesome that reminded fans just how sanitized WWE programming had become. Less than five years after the original ECW’s end, WWE saw fit to air a tribute video showing ECW wrestlers who had died in the meantime. Today, that list would sadly be much, much longer.

A sequel ECW-themed pay per view took place in 2006, before WWE dropped ECW branding and ultimately replaced the provocative title with “Extreme Rules” for the PG Era. I watched the 2006 version but was less impressed. Despite a fantastic finish where the ECW faithful played heel against John Cena, and Rob Van Dam’s WWE Championship victory (followed by an all too short title reign), I felt that this card got away from the wrestlers and action that differentiated ECW from WWE’s safer, more homogenous product.

One Night Stand 2006 integrated RAW and SmackDown talent with ECW performers and played up their Connecticut connections. From a business perspective, I guess this made sense. WWE was already planning to bring back ECW as a third brand under the WWE umbrella. As mentioned, Cena and Van Dam headlined the card. Edge cemented his position as a WWE Universe heel and ECW babyface by spearing Cena out of his Reebok Pumps, handing the title to Van Dam. Sabu challenged Rey Mysterio for the World Championship, in a match that ended without a winner in a violation of all that ECW held holy. My favorite match saw a heel Edge, Mick Foley and Lita beat Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer and Beulah McGillicutty in a hardcore intergender match. For my money this match (which featured more man-on-woman violence than anyone should be comfortable with) best captured the spirit of the original promotion. Today it makes me wonder how well Paul Heyman and WWE anticipated and exploited incel culture.

ECW was initially positioned as a third main brand alongside RAW and SmackDown. It received a show on the Sci Fi (later Syfy) network in the US and on the Global Television Network up here in Canada. A Saturday morning timeslot felt at odds with the promotion’s hardcore reputation, but fans who expected the old ECW were quickly disabused of that notion. ECW was originally shot differently from RAW and Smackdown. The ring was clothed with an ECW logo and performers were called “Extremists” and “Vixens” instead of “Superstars” and “Divas”.

Unfortunately, this was so much window dressing.

Like 205 Live several years later, ECW shows were taped around RAW and SmackDown, which burned out audiences. Unable to accept a different approach to pro wrestling, Vince McMahon soon pivoted ECW to WWE’s production standards, characters and storylines. Overexposed and underperforming talent like the Big Show, Mark Henry, Bobby Lashley and Kane won the ECW World title. During Mark Henry’s reign the belt even acquired a WWE logo.

There were bright spots: Tommy Dreamer got a short but memorable ECW title run. Christian returned from TNA and won his first ‘world’ belt in WWE-possibly a stalking horse for his later World Championship wins. Matt Hardy got a fan service run, too. John Morrison, Jack Swagger and CM Punk’s careers were elevated by their runs — but really, the promotion’s narrative thrust was to push a new generation of would-be WWE stars at the expense of the ECW names we all loved. Kurt Angle was supposed to be drafted to ECW as a linchpin talent, despite mounting injuries and a dependence on painkillers. He quit and went to TNA. The first WWECW champion was to have been crowned in a match between CM Punk and Chris Benoit — another main roster transplant with serious injury issues… Benoit infamously no-showed that match and Morrison won the belt in his stead.

ECW thrived on its lawless presentation. Under McMahon, count-outs and disqualifications became part of the show. As the show ran its course, Paul Heyman — who initially wrote each episode subject to McMahon’s approval — was marginalized and his vision faded. He was fired before WWECW ended its run.

WWE struggled to manage the staged competition between its two flagship brands: SmackDown was already seen as the ‘B’ show. Adding a third brand comprised of a mix of ‘local’ or ‘independent’ veteran ECW wrestlers, untested developmental prospects and main roster performers who lacked direction didn’t help.

The ‘extra brand’ problem has long plagued WWE and other promotions:

• Wrestlers’ Court: AEW’s Continental Triple Crown ends ROH’s value
• Wrestler’s Court: Cautionary stories over ROH sale

Before WWE brought back ECW it tried to remake WCW in its own image. Following WWE’s victory in the Monday Night Wars and acquisition of WCW’s assets, McMahon turned over a main event RAW segment to his ‘revitalized’ WCW complete with new logo, an untested commentary team of Scott Hudson and Arn Anderson, and a not-ready-for-prime-time Booker T and Buff Bagwell. The segment bombed hard enough for WWE to scrap the concept of an independent WCW in favor of the Invasion storyline.

Which also sucked.

ECW begat NXT, which has been repeatedly rebranded and drifted in and out of focus during the Vince McMahon-Paul Levesque power struggle. 205 Live offered a glimpse of faster-paced international cruiserweight action, the likes of which mainstream wrestling fans hadn’t seen since ECW and WCW. It feels like the show ended ages ago, it was only replaced by NXT Level Up in 2022. Most 205 Live talent have moved on to other promotions; a few stuck around the main roster, but WWE’s big man bias pushed them into enhancement roles and ultimately out the door. Most recently, Shane McMahon’s faux Fight Club WWE Underground didn’t last long enough to register.

When the women’s division caught fire in the late 2010s, WWE capitalized with a female-only pay-per-view called Evolution. At the time, WWE considered creating an all-women brand or repurposing one of its flagship shows to feature solely female talent. Evolution received a strong critical response. It failed to draw sufficient viewers to warrant these plans or, to date, a sequel. WWE continues to feature its female talent in prominent roles: women’s matches main event WrestleMania. All-women specialty matches like the Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, War Games, Elimination Chamber and Money in the Bank Ladder Matches are part of each show. WWE even ran a women’s Hell in a Cell match (although one may argue that the WWE women’s roster is still small and collectively not over enough to be self-sustaining. WWE often relies on returning legends like Trish Stratus, Lita or Mickie James to shore up these efforts). After resistance from the conservative Saudi Arabian government WWE has included women’s matches on Crown Jewel and other shows and crowned a Queen of the Ring and now Crown Jewel champion.

On paper, the resurrected ECW lasted from May 2006 to February 2010, when it was replaced by the reality show precursor to today’s NXT. In that respect, NXT 2300 was a nice full-circle moment.

The absent Paul Heyman has said that when it is run well, NXT matches his vision of ECW under WWE’s ownership. Since WWECW went under Heyman has returned to the WWE on-air and behind the scenes. Heyman has accrued influence within WWE since his return. He was inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame in Philadelphia last year and outed himself as a “Paul Levesque Guy” — alluding to his positive relationship with WWE’s current Chief Creative Officer and the original guiding force behind NXT.

Perhaps under less mercurial corporate oversight than that provided by Vince McMahon, Heyman might have a chance to see his vision come to light.

Last April, the internet was ruffled by an apparent prank announcement that ECW would return as part of WWE’s programming slate on Netflix. The giveaway was the promise that the ‘new’ ECW would feature more UFC-style competition. WWE’s failed forays into worked shoots like Brawl for All and WWE Underground, plus the fact that WWE is now bedmates with ‘real’ combat sports league UFC suggest that presentation would be unwelcome. There does seem to be a persistent appetite for ECW and the kind of action it represented. Perhaps NXT 2300 shows a way forward while there are still enough ring-ready ECW veterans to lend a third go-round credibility.

Themed shows like NXT 2300 sometimes serve as backdoor pilots for future programs. Fan response to the original ECW One Night Stand led to the creation of WWECW. NXT 2300 took place a decade later, with fewer stars left who are able to perform, or permanently shaded from WWE by lawsuits, or dead. At 59 years old, Paul Heyman may decide he no longer wants to appear on camera or endure the travel that comes with being part of WWE’s main touring company. It would be a shame to lose his creativity, so maybe revisiting the brand he created with a view to building future talent is a win-win option for him and for pro wrestling.

To be clear, Heyman has said ECW is dead. But wrestling is known for its resurrections.

Maybe ECW’s third time would be a charm.

TOP PHOTO: The Sandman, Tod Gordon, Francine and Jerry Lynn at The Big Event fan fest on Saturday, November 9, 2024, at the Suffolk Credit Union Arena in Brentwood, NY. Photo by George Tahinos, https://georgetahinos.smugmug.com

RELATED LINKS

• Previous Wrestlers’ Court columns by Jonathan Schwartz