Mallory Mahling
Just a Thought...The Lingering Death of ECW
By Mallory Mahling
Dec 6, 2006, 19:13

What was WWE thinking in the run-up to ECW’s “December to Dismember”? 

Personally, I think they were hoping to ride on the coattails of ECW’s previous pay-per-view, “One Night Only.”  Those ECW fans, Mister McMahon must have chuckled to himself, they’ll buy anything with the ECW name on it. 

Only one trouble with that theory—“One Night Only” had the real ECW stars on it.  It was a magical show. 

“December to Dismember” had only a handful of the original ECW stars.  Even worse, it barely had a card.  As we all know now, “December to Dismember” was NOT a magical show.

So what was WWE thinking?  Is it possible they could have  been thinking about setting ECW up for failure?

Call me cynical, but Mister McMahon is known for looking down his nose at anything he didn’t create.  Since ECW was the creation of another and it was beloved by its fans, it probably galled him whenever “E-C-Dub” chants would break out during his shows.  What better way to stop those doggone chants than to bring ECW back and kill it.  Slowly.

ECW on SciFi is certainly not the E-C-Dub I remembered so fondly.  I knew it would be different this time around, but I did expect it to have some of the flavor of the old ECW.  Newcomers to ECW must think the old ECW consisted only of Sabu and Rob Van Dam with occasional run-ins by Tommy Dreamer and Sandman.  With Sabu and RVD apparently out of favor, what’s left of Paul Heyman’s ECW?  Not much for the loyal fans, that’s for sure.   

Oddly enough, even though the show’s ratings continue to fluctuate, the SciFi Network is said to be quite pleased with the new ECW.  ECW’s presence on SciFi brings down the median age of the network’s viewers, which, in turn, benefits them as far as advertising dollars.  At least somebody is getting something out it.

It almost seems like WWE still doesn’t get it when it comes to ECW.  ECW was much more than hardcore and violence and Extreme Elimination Chambers.  It was also about good matches and it had a roster of stars made by ECW who dazzled viewers and made them want to come back for more. 

I never missed an ECW pay-per-view once I discovered the Little Fed That Could.  But WWE/ECW gave me no reason to want to order “December to Dismember,” and coming on the heels of “Survivor Series,” it would have amounted to throwing good money after bad.

Effectively, the real ECW ended with “One Night Only.”  It should have remained just that—one night only. 

I hope WWE will see fit to turn the third brand around before it’s too late—before the viewers who loved ECW can’t stand the sight of it anymore and groan--rather than chant--when those three letters are mentioned.

If not, they need to put it out of its misery.  And soon.

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Thanks for reading and see ya next week.