I just dont get how come they cant book the whole show proper

Pay the money and get Thunderkiss licensed from Rob Zombie (he did not care the 1st time around)

Give Sandman his Metallica faked Enter Sandman, just so the fans can sing along.

And then let them wrestle like they let Flair and Big Show wrestle, I guarantee if they had 3 matches the same calibur as the Flair/Show match it would get over BIG time.

Remove all stupid RAW booking tendancies (bad promos that let the crowd "see" whats going on in the back, remove the stripping, and just base it on the wrestlers talent, you know what you actually pay them for)

Wrestlers like Tommy and Foley and Flair even though he is not ECW can give promos when not subdued by Vince and his horrible middle school writers.

Again like I keep ****ing about I dont expect old ECW but it is proven that when you allow yourself to break from RAW style booking its better. Its so frustrating to see what can be but because Vince is such an egotistical *** its blocked because he knows whats best.

agreed lol

Flair scares me everytime he wrestles these days. I don't know if it's because he's a master at selling or if he's actually about to drop dead. I guess the Sandman formula will change next week as I'd expect Knox to get his heat back even though I don't know why because he along with Test adds nothing. Oh goodie another repackaging of Shannon Moore. I wanna see CM Punk wrestle.

I agree, you would think with RVD out and Sabu obviously being limited by the most absurd limitations (Extreme Rules WTF!) that WWECW would allow CM Punk to at least get some wrestling time. The house show reports show him making a big impression but yet WWECW remains a WWE talent show ;)

I am still saying that if next week we dump the stripper thing, have Sandman wrestler and maybe allow CM Punk to challenge for the belt it would go a long way in repairing the damage of Vince creatively pissing on what ECW was.

They are losing their audience weekly because there are no stories to hold those who watch RAW and Smackdown and there is even less wrestling/extreme differences to hold the last remaining fans of ECW.

Whats sad is Vince probably wont change anything even though ECW can barely get a 2.0 with nothing else on and RAW the flagship struggled to pull a 3.9 with once again nothing else on.

Psych last week was the number one show on USA last week. It's a really good show I highly recommend it. I kinda hope the ratings drop for all the WWE shows so they rethink what they are doing now.

Smackdown Spoiler****


I can't believe that Lashley has already dropped the US title to Finlay of all people. He was really getting over so why cut off his legs now?

well at least they wrestle more on Smackdown but more poor booking imho.

TNA was actually worth watching tonight, I think I might have to record to DVD the part where Rhino trashes the new ECW and then throws the ECW World Title in the garbage and burns it....that was excellent. Reminded me of when Shane Douglas started ECW by throwing away the NWA Title and also when Flair left WCW with the World Title in hand and WCW had to buy it back.

I was just thinking how well a championship belt would burn. lol I know the straps would burn, not sure about the metal though. I thought Rhino kinda came off like Whine-o to me. His career pretty much floundered after ECW died in 2001. Really selected memory to think he was kicking butt and taking names post-ECW. I think TNA is grasping for straws for anything that might top their 1.0 ratings. Probably more people are talking about this today than anything else that was on the show last night.

Yeah I agree, but sadly TNA has been having better wrestling (or least having wrestling instead of soaps) but their pushes are all wrong. And is it me or does it seem like nobody in TNA wants to take a hit, I was watching the Dudleys and it seemed like even little nudges were oversold. A lot of the older TNA wrestlers dont put forth much effort, Sting looks winded real fast as does Jarrett and it slows younger performers like Christian and Ron Killings who dont want to make them look bad.

I do have to commend TNA for outing the crappy ECW and basically saying that WWE sucks because everyone in the industry knows and agrees but nobody will say.

I read an interview yesterday with Bruce Pritchard where he talks about how WWE has turned into garbage full of Vince yes-men and that nobody has the guts to say this crap STINKS.

Ha ha ha wow I guess my theory that nobody from ECW would get a shot at the belt was accurate

Tues main event is Undertaker vs Big Show ;)

Hell at this rate we could have Doink or Brooklyn Brawler vs Big Show in an Extreme Rules Match!

Thing is from reports all I heard was it was a belt in a red bag. Did they actually show the ECW title on TNA tv. I mean it couldve been any Figures Inc Belt in the bag. I just think even calling out ECW/Vince on a competitors show is just stupid, It did so much for WCW when they did it. I think Rhino is burying himself, I mean one day no matter what he says now he will probably want to return to WWE after TNA folds.

I mean sure he is saying what alot think, But McMahon holds grudges bigtime.

And what if Vince comes to his senses and lets Heymen get full control.

As far as Show defending the ECW title against only Raw/Smackdown Superstars I think it is building to RVDs return in two weeks at the Hammerstein Ballroom (SP?).

Brent

That may be the case Brent but I think it would be more interesting if Show defended against some other people besides every heavyweight that has ever stepped foot in a WWE ring.

The glass is half full or half empty approach to WWECW is just going to lead to heartbreak, I could sit here and defend everything Vince and Paul do till I go blue in the face and it would not make the product better.

I dont really think TNA would fold, its a lot more solid then ECW was and there are way too many people in it that hate WWE where they would take less money just to work elsewhere. Where are people like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Ron Killings going to get featured if not TNA?? I mean dont get me wrong I am anything but a hardcore TNA fan but they are just on better footing and if they can take advantage of the purely pathetic and anemic state of TV wrestling in the US at the moment they could make some serious headway.

I mean the production costs are cheap enough (they use the same place over and over its not like they travel much if at all for TV), they have decent views for their PPV and DVD sales can keep them affloat. I would not be surprised at all if they added another hour in the future because they are using the WCW model which ONLY failed because of poor management and HUGE contracts. WCW would have never folded if they werent bleeding from talents paychecks, it is a known fact the only reason Turner got rid of them is because it was losing money and those inside the organization despised it, it was a completely different reason then say ECW which had no money and checks were bouncing.

I mean RVD is great but if they are letting Show slaughter everybody till his return it doesnt make him greater because thats not the type of wrestler he is. RVD has always gotten over with his in-ring skills and when allowed his promos.

The minute he was given the World Title they tried to change his character, we saw some horrible promos mixed in with some great ones and his in-ring skills were dramatically limited against the likes of Cena (I have seen RVD matches against random Mexican wrestlers that were more intense) because he had to tiptoe around wrestling one of WWE's current insurance policies and could not do anything ground breaking.

As for Rhyno, he has never been a massive star and has gone through recent changes like losing his marriage so I highly doubt even if he had remained nice to Vince it would matter, the minute he ever returned to WWE anyway he would have been buried as there are 10 people all the time in WWE doing his squash/gore style gimmick.

They could not actually pull out the ECW belt but you knew it was a belt, as for the real factor I have no doubt in mind its real because when ECW folded it was not like Vince bought it the next day, the belts were made many times and I am sure the one Paul has is every bit as real as the one Rhyno owns. Remember Flair in WCW owned the World Belt and took it with him which is what started all this BS about champs loosing the belt before leaving an org, WCW had to pay him $75,000 to buy it back.

Plus I leave you with one thought...."Extreme Rules"....that in itself is going to destroy the new WWECW lol

Kerry Von Erich on Saturday night's main event? What was with that ?

I thought last night show was very good until the Smackdown main event. This could turn into the WCW of the mid-90s with the great undercard and the sucky main event. It wasn't surprising as your'e not going to reinvent the wheel with Show vs Taker. Sabu actually wrestling was unusual to see.

I was surprised to see them change up the format but then as could be expected BOTH the main event with Smackdown stars and a DQ, 2 weeks of DQ's using a promotion that had that many in 10 years, way to care about the history Vince you *** :(

I was actually thinking it might be turning into something decent but then the ugly head of Vince K McMahon creative team shines through

-Where is CM Punk, tired of him doing promos let him wrestle and allow him to show what made him so great and talented in Ring Of Honor!

-Drop the stupid *** stripper, she will never go far due to FCC so just stop it, allow the wrestlers to showcase the "Extreme" of wrestling

-Tag Teams anyone?? Hello is this thing on?

-3 sub par matches in 1hr?? I am a fan of long matches and not WWE typical 5min squash or hackfests but god make the matches interesting or just crown Test and Knox some kind of champion already, we get it they rule and are going to be Paul E's boys (I woke up in a time warp an its WCW circa 1989-93 ha ha). Paul E should come out to the ring with a big 90's cell phone...I am sure real fans would get the joke.

-For the love of god fire whoever's dumb *** thought up "Extreme Rules".....horrible concept. If they are going to use that then just call it WWE and allow the "Hardcore Title" to be re-used and fought over

I forget, what were the two DQs in ECW. I remember the one that Francine bit Funk's ear ala Mike Tyson, but don't remember the other one. I'm already resigned to the fact that ECW is just an initial. IMO Raw should be the show with the stupid skits(they're already there), Smackdown should be the wrestling show, and ECW should be a combo type show(since we are not going to get the original). The ECW show really needs to be 2hrs so there can be more depth and use of the talent that they have mixed in with the stuff they want to promote.

The other one was at ECW Big *** Extreme Bash 3/9/96, Chris Jericho won, via DQ, over Taz

I would not be surprised if they increase WWECW to 2hrs, TNA is about to add another hour and there is nothing on Sci-Fi stopping them.

I just saw the main event is Big Show vs Kane lol, hopefully it ends in a clean pin not another DQ and that Kane actually does some moves rather than being slow and dead like UT was.

So does anyone but former ECW stars get a title shot?

I wonder who Big Show will face next week? I mean who in the WWE has not been big for a while ha ha ha ha ha

I think they said in the promo it was No CO and No DQ. I think there's going to be a lot of shuffling soon with all the brands, since the health/drug testing they've been doing has been leaving Smackdown depleted of talent. Not to mention injuries and mystery suspensions haven't helped.

I recorded it. didnt watch it yet.. Just suck so hard anymore. Hard to sit through an entire episode. Which is sad. I m watching ECW 95 then watching now.. Sad Just sad.

I was telling mark. I completely forgot about the Ultimate Weeny Being in ECW. The Warrior is just plain scary nuts lol He believes he is the character. lol Visit his website sometime lol

Anywho, Jungle JIM AKA UMW got the crap kicked out of him by 911 .. Too funny .

Original Pittbulls. Not these bunch of knuckle heads you see now. ECW standards sure has dropped in value. It's depressing & predictable as any other WWE show.

It's like a bad car wreck. You know it's bad. Yet, you have to look anyways.

Yesterday's show wasn't that bad. Big Show is getting good at bleeding. Must be getting tips from Dusty. I'm amazed that they're booking the last 20 minutes for Big Show's matches. I'd rather see him slaughter someone in 5 min then watch one of his plodding giant matches.

Next week is gonna be really interesting coming from the Hammerstein Ballroom. Those fans will reject WWECW with a passion if it's on the roll it's on.

well CM Punk debuts next week and I have a feeling that WWE is going to step it up a notch since TNA is pitting Somoa Joe vs Rhino this Thursday no doubt to lead to Somoa Joes push to the NWA Belt.

I know WWE does not consider TNA much competition but with all the stars in RAW sucking, Smackdown getting suspended or fired (this week alone 4 Smackdown stars are either out with injury or suspended), ECW could really get over.

I have said all along that WWECW needed only a few changes, we saw last night the Test and Knox team up which WEW and I both said like 13 replies ago would be the only way to get them over especially using Kelly Kelly as their manager.

I just "hope" that they dont water down CM Punk, he is great in ROH but I have read they are limiting him in house shows (most likely to keep him from injury)..so it will be interesting to see what we get

I have already given up on WWECW but I tune in every week I think like everyone else to see if Vince finally gets it and makes the changes he needs to make, it is interesting though that when Vince and HHH are removed from the situtaion WWE programming is better all around. RAW was actually tolerable if not somewhat decent this past Monday when Vince was out

I like Samoa Joe. He stands out. He doesn't have a great build, but he looks like he could mess you up. I think WWE should make like the 80s and start stealing people who don't have contracts. I think Monty Brown's is up next month and I think Joe is getting paid per appearances and doesn't have a contract.

WWE is really health conscious now. I think Matt Hardy still had a touch of a staph infection and he is getting pulled off for a little while. I guess it's a good thing, but I like it when the wrestlers throw caution to the wind at times, especially the cruisers.

Yeah taking a break from the McMahons and HHH for a week was definitely a good thing. I'm surprised that I'm actually looking forward to HBK vs Umaga.

Who would have thought seven weeks and counting without a tag match? That's got to be some kind of record for a wrestling show.

HEYMAN COMMENTS ON NEW ECW

The Lilsboys of the UK Sun interviewed Paul Heyman in the latest edition of the newsletter. The following are key highlights:

-Regarding the creative process of ECW: "In this company the buck stops with Vince McMahon. You could have one person pitching to Vince or 100 people pitching to Vince... it all stops with him... I don't mind if I'm putting my ideas up against 50 other people, because I understand the audience better than anybody else so my pitches should be better than all of theirs. And if they're not then we'll go in that other direction. The way things work with ECW is that I have a staff, but I am the person responsible for presenting the ideas - whether they're mine or not - in a concise form to Vince McMahon. Then we discuss the show and take it from there."

-On the panning to the first ECW TV show: "We were all disappointed with how the first TV show went. But that was to be expected going in. We were taking a concept that revolutionized the entire industry in the 1990s and had achieved the status of urban myth. Now you're bringing ECW fast-forward into 2006, with only two shows since its collapse at the beginning of 2001 and the rebirth in June 2006. So that's five and a half years with only two shows and not enough time for anyone to adjust to the new concepts and direction of ECW. This is beyond the old expressions of "growing pains" or "a work in progress", this was a dramatically different concept. Of course coming out of the gate we were going to stumble on that first night, because even those with a clear vision of it had so much baggage attached it makes things very difficult. Any other television show would take a year just to put a pilot on the air. And we went from being an Internet concept to a big television show in under two months. So we lacked that time to adjust."

-On today's ECW compared to Raw and Smackdown: "I think the new vision of ECW is culturally the same as it used to be. We want to be ahead of the curve. We want to have the most compelling and realistic characters. By way of example, C.M. Punk is someone whose debut is so highly anticipated, based on the fact that the interviews we've aired are so real, articulate and intelligent. They're not over the top, 1980s, "I'm going to kick your ***, brother" kind of promos. Shannon Moore and even The Vampire also represent huge audiences out there that are into those concepts and lifestyles. Another thing is we don't deny the influence of Mixed Martial Arts, which is huge on a worldwide basis but is different to anything on Raw or Smackdown right now. The cruiserweights on Smackdown have been tempered - but in ECW we're going to go all out with them. So the difference in ECW to the 1990s is simply recognizing where that cultural shift is and playing to it."

-On expanding ECW's roster: "I don't think we have enough cruiserweights in ECW and I have been having discussions with cruiserweights around the world about bringing them in. They include some of the best wrestlers people have ever, or never, seen before. We are picking our spot to debut them at the right time and in the right place. I am a huge fan of Dragon Gate in Japan, but I am not limited to just their tapes. I am looking at guys from all over the place. I can't give you any names because I know Raw and Smackdown will steal them away - it's a corporate culture of sharks in that writers' room!"

-He also said they are planning an ECW-only PPV right now, RVD's 30 day suspension isn't much of a sidetrack, and he encouraged fans unhappy with the new ECW to let their voices be heard.

I read that interview earlier today and at least he admits there are problems. I really hope he can get the Dragon Gate and other cruisers in here, one thing that was incredible about ECW originally was they gave a chance to the Mexican and Japanese wrestlers that would not get over in WWF and WCW because they could not speak english well but their matches were incredible.

ROH just had an event using some Dragon Gate members and it is being hailed as one of the best matches of the year, so good the commentators stopped and just let the action speak for itself.

I mean the guy is trying he seems to be the head booker then has to report everything to Vince to either go with it or veto it. I mean sadly his hands are tied. He has a awesome great paying job, he could no more rebel and quit now that he has a family, many people on other sites have said he just needs to quit WWE altogether and start his own promotion again. BUT Heyman in charge of everything is awesome, well except the bank book that is.

I still have faith after reading these interviews by Paul.

Brent

I like the old saying " Action speaks louder than words."

So here's hoping for a better ECW ;)[8D]

Credit: Dave Scherer, PWInsider.com audio update

While it is not official it is almost 100% known behind the scenes that Sci-Fi will be picking up ECW for their full-time schedule. Internally Sci-Fi has agreed to pick up the show. WWE has moved foward with clearances in Canada and Australia and working deals elsewhere and of course the pay-per-view in December so if its not going to be on for good, it will at least be on Sci-Fi for a while. While many fans may disagree with cross promotion with Raw, Sci-Fi and USA love it because they feel it brings in the audience that watches Raw.

"While many fans may disagree with cross promotion with Raw, Sci-Fi and USA love it because they feel it brings in the audience that watches Raw."

That quote just makes me laugh, of course it brings in the audience that watches RAW there is NOTHING else to watch ;)

I mean no offense but to quote Waiting "its like being the smartest in a class full of down syndrome kids"....when you are the only thing on TV thats not an accomplishment, in fact if you dont get good ratings it just means your product is crap....ECW will almost always pull a 2.0 for the sheer fact nobody has anything better to do lol

OK now its getting ridiculous

Big Show vs. Batista for the ECW title live on Tuesday from NY

it is going to have to end in DQ or some kind of interference, I just cant see Batista giving Show a clean finish especially since he is just back from injury and being pushed on Smackdown

I definately have to agree this is horrible lol. The fans at the Hammerstein Ballroom are going to crap all over the match.

I think RVD will be the one to intervine in this match as I beileve his 30 days are up at this event :)

Here is a bit from pwtorch.com on this main event with Wade Kellers reaction:

-During The Score's broadcast of Smackdown tonight in Canada, they announced next week on ECW TV on Sci-Fi, Big Show will defend against Batista. The "guest stars" continue to roll through the new Tuesday show and the ratings continue to be strong as a result. WWE will try to top last week's 2.4 rating, which grew throughout the show (beginning with a 2.2 in Q1 and ending with a 2.5 in Q4, with a 3.0 overrun rating). Also noteworthy, it was the no. 1 ranked show among male teens and total teens among all shows on cable or broadcast TV. It was the no. 2 show overall, behind only FX's "Rescue Me" (although only by 26,000 homes out of 2.8 million homes). [Thanks to PWTorch.com reader Devin Cutting of www.ProWrestlingEvents.tk]

KELLER ANALYSIS: The overrun rating for the first ECW show drew a 3.2, and this week's was no. 2 in the series history with a 3.0. I'd be surprised if Big Show vs. Batista didn't top the 3.2 overrun rating. I'll predict 3.5 (which enters the range of Raw's average viewership). WWE is in the midst of negotiations for a renewal with Sci-Fi, so hot-shotting some big ratings appears to be a potential negotiating move. There is always a risk of overexposing PPV caliber matches on TV, but Big Show was hardly considered a singles wrestler PPV draw until he moved to the top of ECW, where he has had a streak of surprising good matches against a wide variety of opponents over the past month.

If I were booking I would have Big Show and Batista go toe to toe in a hard fought match and have Batista just about kill Show (we know Show can blade and get the crap beat out of him) and then have RVD come in and nail Batista to have Big Show win and then beat the living hell out of Big Show...thus showing that RVD wants revenge but he wants to beat show to get it

Of course knowing Vince I bet it will be something really poor like RVD running in with a chair or Sabu interferring leading to a DQ lol

We will all have to tune in and watch because since its A)Live and B)from NY the fans will be hot (hopefully) meaning no matter what happens the fans will get the event over and if its booked as poorly as most of WWECW has been they will send a resounding message of this blows.

Sci-Fi picks up ECW for Fall Schedule:

The Sci-Fi Channel has released it's TV schedule for September and ECW will air every Tuesday in September from 10 to 11 PM. The original 12-week deal expires on August 29th and since Sci-Fi is advertising ECW for the entire month of September, a new deal must have been made.

Here are the listings for every Tuesday in September:

http://www.scifi.com/schedulebot/ind...-2006&feed_req
http://www.scifi.com/schedulebot/ind...P-2006&feed_re q
http://www.scifi.com/schedulebot/ind...P-2006&feed_re q
http://www.scifi.com/schedulebot/ind...P-2006&feed_re q

ha ha that could be a curse instead of a blessing lol

8 or so weeks we have had so far have for the most part stunk to high heck, maybe when RVD returns, CM Punk debuts, and Show gets the belt taken off him it will improve, sadly just because of the wrestling alone its a bit more enjoyable then the flagship show RAW.

I just stopped watching the new ecw and wwe all together. Its just so horrible and stupid I cannot watch anything WWE made as of late

I feel your pain. lol I haven't really been into wrestling that much since Wrestlemania 20, but I continue to watch it out of habit. I've already sold like a big chunk of my wrestling collection.

I'm waiting for the chick to get nekkid hahha :P

the 1st half of the show as quite decent, had a "feeling" of old ECW with the crowd really into it, I felt that the Knox/Test thing is building up to a PPV and CM Punk showed some of his moves but I have a strong feeling they had him tone it down and save it for RVD or a PPV before doing this ROH type moves and workrate.

The Angle thing was just stupid...WTF is Brooklyn Brawler doing and how exactly does that do anything for Angle. I would actually be worried if the former World Champion and Gold Medalist had a hard time with old *** untalented Steve Lombardi :(

And the main event well we all knew it would suck, Batista wont risk injury so soon after coming back, the crowd chanting loudly BORING and Tazz had the nerve to say that it was anything but lol

And it was supposed to be "Extreme Rules" when did that change? What a piece of crap.....I wish the crowd would riot because they show flashes of greatness and then ruin it all the time

Sabu coming in to beat the crap out of the Big Show should have been the main event.

Getting better but still signs that WWF management and writing just does not get it, they have the pieces to make it work but then I guess out of fear results to the RAW/Smackdown style of booking which just deflates the crowd

That show needs to be recorded and handed out to all up and coming promotions as a introductory lesson on how to absolutely kill a crowd and make them get out of an event they WANT to see

6 weeks and still crappy... Time to crap or get off the pot already :P

The ECW crowd is sick of the same old predictable matches. The Vampire ???HUH? Enough already.

This NON EXTREME Tentative rules match . Who came up with the Brainfart? They are trying to shove WWE Down the EcW fans throat. It's not working.

Vince probably figure. They hate it now. Wait till next week. I ll make them hate it so much.
That they will actually look forward to seeing RAW .

There is nothing extreme about ECW anymore. Except the Extreme F'n C W Fans :P
I watch it for the crowd anymore. I think if Ecw was going to improve. It would have by now.

Vince is just toying with it now. He always resented ECW. Now he gets to takes all the cheap shots he wants live. The idiotic thing about it is... He owns it all. So why not just let ECW be ECW. Sit back and enjoy the prophits. Stop the interchaning of Federations crap already.

It keeps getting worse. Too bad WCCW was sold to vince. It could given vince a another run his money. It was the only Federation vince did not own the rights to. So much potential.

.........What was wrestling entertainment come to ... Porn & comedy ?

I m all for Entertaining your auidence. At least give the people what they want.

"Vince is just toying with it now. He always resented ECW. Now he gets to takes all the cheap shots he wants live. The idiotic thing about it is... He owns it all. So why not just let ECW be ECW. Sit back and enjoy the prophits. Stop the interchaning of Federations crap already"

Exactly, but god forbid he not make RAW the flagship show! What the hell is the problem YOU OWN IT ALL DUMBASS!!! I mean christ it would be like NBC trying to screw Sci-Fi or USA out of ratings when they are all owned by the same parents company....now that sounds stupid but having WWECW suck compared to RAW makes perfect sense.

But Vince does own it all so it will be this way for a LONG time

How do they get by with letting fans flip the finger, and big show.. and yelling "you suck d***" and all that? Because I know most stuff like that they will try and blur don't they? even live.. But I dunno, just curious.

Only so much you can catch with a delay lol

Ha ha there is nothing they can do with crowd noise on a live feed. I did notice they increased the sound on Tazz mic when the chants came across of "You Suck Dick"

They probably did not catch the signs or the middle finger either but since it was not taped its harder when they pan the crowd, Smackdown gets filtered a lot because its pre-taped.

They should save money and just run every ECW TV show from the Hammerstein Ballroom, it will sell out every week and people will watch the show JUST to see what the crowd will do, I know 3 people who tuned in tonight that have not watched it since Week 1 just because the crowd was so hot.

What ironic is the Main Event will be remembered more for the ECW fans telling Vince to change the channel then anything that happened in the ring lol

It was funny, because the big show flipped the crowd off once.. Thats funny haha

A decent article by Wade Keller on Extreme Rules matches!!!!



Keller's Take
KELLER: Extreme Rules Matches - Why this is one good decision Vince McMahon made

By Wade Keller, Torch editor
Aug 3, 2006, 04:51


There have been a number of people upset with WWE labelling some ECW matches "Extreme Rules" matches and others regular rules matches. After all, ECW was built entirely around the no rules match format.

That was one of the changes WWE made that I think made sense. Bill Watts, when he became WCW V.P. a dozen plus years ago, pulled the mats up from ringside and banned moves off the top rope. He thought the padding looked too slick (and he argued that ankles could be hurt landing on the unstable surface) and he wanted a grittier look than the WWF at the time. That change was met with mostly a shrug by most fans. His no top rope rule, though, was decried as an example that he was living in the past. Top rope moves had become a huge part of wrestling. "Flyin'" Brian Pillman flying off the second rope just didn't feel right.

His rationale was that if it were illegal, then when it was done, it would seem special. But for it to be done, it would have to be when the ref wasn't looking, and that meant mostly heels had to be the cheaters who went to the top rope. But it was babyfaces who were known as high flyers, and he was taking away a major trait of the emerging cruiserweights. Watts's decision was a mistake for that time period. There were other ways for heels to cheat that didn't involve setting WCW's in-ring style back ten years.

WWE's decision to institute "Extreme Rules" matches only some of the time, under special circumstances, is not the same as Watts banning top rope moves. By banning weapons and enforcing ref five counts (cue Bryan Danielson) and ringside ten counts in some matches, it does make it feel more special when the rules are set aside. It also is sending a message to the core ECW wrestlers that they have to be able to have a good match without the crutch of swinging cookie sheets and chairs (so expect every Tommy Dreamer match to be "Extreme Rules").

Cactus Jack (photo by Wade Keller, PWTorch)
Last night, when MP3 encoding a 45 minute interview I conducted with Mick Foley back in 1992 on my KFAN radio show (it will be posted online for VIP members next week), I was reminded that Mick Foley - at least back then - agrees with the rationale of making "Extreme Rules" matches the exception, not the rule.

"When there are no rules in wrestling," he told me, "there's no thrill in breaking them."

He said it well. Several years into ECW's original run, I grew numb to Dreamer's cookie sheet shots and Balls Mahoney chairshots. It didn't feel like anyone was breaking any rules or rebelling against authority because the hapless ECW refs would stand there and watch it happen. Now, when those moves are legal in a match, it feels like recess did when you were a kid - a chance to let loose from the strict rules of the classroom indoors.

Vince McMahon has screwed up a lot about ECW since relaunching it earlier this summer, but this is one thing he got right. I know not all ECW fans agree, but if Vince is hoping ECW lasts a long time, it will pay off years from now when ECW faithful haven't become as numb as I did - and many others did - to the anything goes approach. As long as "Extreme Rules" matches don't become scarce, and there's at least one a week on TV in some form, ECW can stand out. Meanwhile, it gives heels something to complain and whine about when a match they are booked in is proclaimed "Extreme Rules."

While I personally thing Extreme Rules is the dumbest concept in the last 10 years I can see his point.

HOWEVER, they need to do it better. What good is Extreme Rules as a stipulation if the NON-Extreme Rules matches always end up in a DQ??

That makes it no better then WCW's stupid *** only 1/2 enforced over the top rope DQ rule

I just find it ironic he argues to have the Extreme Rules to make it interesting and "special" but yet the Non-Extreme Rules matches end up in DQ because they do the things that are supposed to make the other matches special.

"It also is sending a message to the core ECW wrestlers that they have to be able to have a good match without the crutch of swinging cookie sheets and chairs"----I guess this is immune to Big Slow and all other top WWE talent (outside of Ric Flair) who cant seem to step in an ECW ring without having a run-in or some other saving grace keep them from getting pinned.

You should write a reaction to his article and mail it to him. Often he posts them and offers his rebuttal. here is the e-mail:

wadekeller@pwtorch.com

Just put in the subject "Reax to Extreme Rules Matches - Why this is one good decision Vince McMahon made".

I bet you can easily get some great stuff out of him and bring up alot of valid points he isnt seeing as to what is wrong with the new ECW :)

I did just that and elaborated a bit more ;)

Did you save a copy. Id love to read it heh.

Brent

Whether purposely or accidentally, WWE is making ECW work. Instead of doing a silly invasion angle on Raw or Smackdown, WWE did the reverse...Basically, WWE 'invaded' ECW, by trying to shove a watered down version of ECW down our throats, and putting WWE wrestlers like Big Show and Test into the mix, then turning Heyman. This rallied ECW fans, who are now more passionate than ever about defending 'their' ECW. So then you've got the fans behind the 'real' ECW - Sandman, Dreamer, RVD - versus the 'sellouts'. This initial feuds keeps the brand going, until newer acts like Punk and The Reject settle in, while the 'difference' of ECW is established when the original ECW stars eventually prevail over the WWE imports. Frankly, I sense the genius of Heyman at work - he knew that there was no way that old-school ECW fans would buy the WWE version, so they booked it so that the WWE influence would be exaggerated initially, in order to build up anticipation for the ECW resurgence. Whatever it is, ECW is now the only wrestling show I make it a point to watch every week. I record Raw and Smackdown, I edit them and I store them on DVD, but I dont watch them anymore. I dont care for King Booker as World Champ or Rey vs Chavo over disrespecting Eddie still nor do I care for DX vs. The Mcmahons, Or any of that other crap on Smackdown or Raw, frankly I think in the 50 minutes of ECW we do get I think it is FAR more entertaining than all of Raw or Smackdown. And we could see the re=introduction of RVD this coming week. His 30 days are up on Saturday I think :)

Brent

I think as far as Scifi and WWE goes WWECW is a success. The ratings are still stable and they have already planted the seeds for some new talent to get over. Everyone likes to assume that ECW would have been a ratings bonanza if it went back to the past, but without the crossover stuff who really knows? ECW gets to be the babyface and the corporate WWE gets to be the heels.

I think the King Booker as champ is probably just transition until Batista gets the belt back at Mania. I have to disagree with you about Raw. I really enjoyed the Foley/Flair confrontation this past Monday and the IC 3way was really good. I could have done without all the DX/McMahon stuff, but what do you expect.