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| Who's NXT? |
Matt Barnes |
Why the death of ECW doesn't mean WWE's Tuesday nights are empty once more...
When Vince McMahon appeared on the 2 February episode of ECW and finally put the flagging, once-hardcore brand out of its misery, there was a decidedly mixed reaction in the internet trenches. Naturally, some hardcore ECW-ites were devastated, while others shouted from the rooftops in celebratory tones; FSM, meanwhile, stroked its chin and eagerly awaited further details of the next step.
Thankfully, in this case, the next step was NXT and it at last seems that WWE is putting the right foot forward with its Tuesday night slot on Sci-Fi. Many fans and writers had long criticised WWE for desecrating the legacy that the ECW originals, led by their Kool Aid-toting mentor Paul Heyman, had sacrificed so much to build. But while they undoubtedly had a point, the harsh reality was that WWECW would never, could never and should never have shared the same hardcore ethics and values that the Philly group once espoused.
In short, ECW was a concept of its time. In its own era, the group was the pantheon of everything that pro wrestling became in the late-Nineties; its groundbreaking, ultraviolent approach to the business became legendary purely by virtue of the effort and self-belief of its combatants. ECW both made and saved careers, and it saw value in wrestlers that other companies would never look twice at. It fought hard for its place as the third-biggest company in the US, and it richly deserved the rewards it so briefly garnered.
But by the time of its demise, the hardcore dream had turned into more of a nightmare. The bodies of many of ECW’s most famous performers were ravaged beyond all comprehension and the backstage culture of drugs, alcohol and people not getting paid had brought the reality home a little too hard. Bruised, battered and unable to fight for its position amongst the elite any longer, ECW juddered to a halt and went out of business with a whimper, before being quietly purchased by Vince McMahon’s WWE just prior to the ill-fated ‘Invasion’ angle.
When the invasion fell flat, many assumed that it was the absolute end for ECW. It may not have been a fitting departure for what had once been such an exciting and iconic name, but it surely was the end; no standalone revival of ECW could ever have been foreseen by even the most optimistic extremist. So, when WWE made the shocking and unexpected decision to revive ECW for one night only at the original One Night Stand pay-per-view, few knew what to expect…
The end result was the most unpredictable, vibrant and brilliant WWE PPV show… perhaps, even, of all time. Ultimately, it seemed, ECW couldn’t be ignored after all. The revival spawned a spate of independent ECW tributes – put together by ignored extreme icons such as Shane Douglas – and such was the wave of love for the ECW name that the ONS concept was revived again the following year with similar success. It was little surprise, then, when WWE announced that it was re-birthing ECW as a full-time, standalone brand akin to Raw and Smackdown following One Night Stand II the following year; the only apprehension came from what WWECW might become...
For the rest of this feature, check out issue 52 of FSM - available at WH Smith and all good retailers. (For US readers we are now carried at Borders and Barnes & Noble, so check for local availability or click here to subscribe.)
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