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The Heart of a Phighter: Saving ECW |
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This Editions's Subject: Saving ECW Hello, I am The Philadelphia Phighter. Today we take a look at the terrible situation we have in ECW, and how WWE should bother to save it. What is the situation? Well, funny you should ask. It's more of a list of problems. Here's that list.. The current ECW Champion is Mark Henry. Mark Henry, a jobber for just about the past..two or three years. I'll expand in the solutions. As of 7/7/2008, they have 24 people on the roster at WWE.com. 7 haven't wrestled in 3+ months. Their real number of superstars is 18. I know what you're thinking, 24 - 7 = not 18. I'll explain in a minute. ECW let its resident jobber in the ring with Mark Henry..in a squash match to try to shut us up and make him the star of ECW. I still see others as the stars.The longest rivalry they've had is Kelly Kelly vs. Layla. Solutions There are three reasons why Mark Henry may be champion. One is, he's been around. He's been around a long.. wait, then why can't you qualify a man like Val Venis for a push? Venis has been around longer, give or take for the time off between the two. I think Venis has been around longer. Maybe even Charlie Haas, who as I speak is going to job to Kofi Kingston. As I typed that, I let off a sigh. Someone please help me get over losing a guy who could have been the face of the show to a show that has too many faces as this only adds to ECW's problems. The second reason is the racist comments made by one of the writers. Shame to say, but I believe it. You could have had Big Show drafted to ECW and him win the Triple Threat. But instead, we pick Mark Henry. This is just an additional factor to add to reasons to push him. If this is the reason, I have to believe WWE is afraid of being labeled racist and losing four million viewers. If that is the case, I think I'll stop watching WWE and start focusing more on TWG. Third is that through all this time I'm 79% confident that he hasn't been caught on drugs, unlike other people you could push that are in WWE. You know what I mean. He hasn't come out unclean yet, nor do I think he will. To give Mark Henry a big name is simple. Give Mark 15 minutes against, dare I say the faces of ECW, The Miz and John Morrison in an ECW championship Handicap Ironman match. Say that if Miz and Morrison win, they get to fight over the ECW title. Have Miz and Morrison start out and get trainwrecked by Mark for a quick two falls in two minutes. Then let the Miz and Morrison work on Henry for ten and score three pinfalls. Then have a Hulk Hogan type of thing, where Mark comes to life and scores the winning pinfall with 10 seconds to go. Lame, but then he can brag about something that's actually something interesting. But if you want Miz and Morrison to win, simply have them recreate the famous barbershop moment on MVP's talkshow and feud over the title for a year. Let's face it: ECW had three faces of ECW, and now one is the World Heavyweight Champion. The other two are The Miz and John Morrison. Yes, you may qualify as Kofi as a face of the brand, but the real faces of ECW were around from just about the beginning to middle. They were all involved at maybe the 50th show, and this doesn't qualify Kofi, since he just joined about five shows after the 100th. These two guys are what the new ECW is about. Start it at SummerSlam after they lose the WWE Tag Team Championships to Jesse and Festus. At Survivor Series, have them turn the whole ECW against one another. Come up with a good storyline and it will last because The Miz and John Morrison are highly underrated wrestlers. The several people who haven't wrestled on ECW lately on the ECW superstars page are Boogeyman, Joey Styles, Lena Yada, Mike Adamle, Tazz, Tony Chimel, Theodore Long, and you may qualify Elijah Burke for this list. This may be because Boogeyman is released. Say, isn't Tony Chimel released? WWE needs to bring back something as simple as Mr.Kennedy vs. Tony Chimel for ECW. Remember, when he debuted, and he'd always get Chimel out of the ring, whether Chimel wanted to or not? Have Elijah Burke come back and have something against Justin Roberts. It'll be a complete rip-off, but I want to see Elijah Burke reestablished as a heel wrestler. The one that makes this roster not 17 superstars is, if I have to say his name, Atlas Ortiz. Do me a favor, and smack the guy who decided to call the unimpressive Ortiz up. All the WWE website says is that Ortiz puts on a notable showing. For a guy who gets in introduction from the guy who relates the most to the fan, Theodore Long, he hasn't been good. I don't know, I just hope he shows that he has staying power and is good, or that this is a storyline like Adamle or Santino Marella and he's bad for a reason. Seems like a bad person to try to fill the void for Kofi Kingston. After all, that's all he is. They brought in a rookie to fill in the void left by Kofi and Shelton's rivalries, took a look around, and gave him the former ECW GM whose name I can't type to wrestle. The esteem in Estrada's jobbing has ended, kind of like Mark Henry's 5 months ago. Eighteen wrestlers is not enough, even for a hour program. I say you need at least twenty wrestlers, or at least one extreme rules match per show. Eighteen is what the original ECW had, but this isn't the old ECW. This is the new ECW, and in WWE, most shows have twenty superstars. Show up and have twenty. Or you could have an Extreme Rules match, though it has to be New Breed vs. ECW Originals quality. Speaking of Extreme Rules matches, what happened to Extreme Rules matches that made the crowd yell ECW? When was the last time the crowd yelled ECW? The last time I saw at least a good Extreme Rules match was a supershow in Philadelphia, Tommy Dreamer vs. Balls Mahoney. They had no rivalry, but they went out and had a great match. I remember two of the table's legs broke, and the crowd booed. The crowd chanted for that table. Throw in two jobbers like Nunzio vs. Funaki, and a table or two, and you'll have a great Extreme Rules match. Trust me on that. Give us an Extreme Rules match triweekly, and you'll have more viewers on that third week than all month. Don't believe me? Too bad, because that's the way it is. We like violence. When outsiders characterize wrestling, they say it's grown men full of steroids swinging chairs at each other. We need to get back to that, minus the steroids. Kelly Kelly vs. Layla was ECW's biggest feud. Two girls who define the word diva in WWE's books. I looked up diva in a dictionary, and it said see prima donna. A prima donna is either a temperamental, conceited person or the leading women soloist in an opera company. So congrats, Jillian, you are actually a diva. The WWE's definition seems to be something along these lines. Diva in WWE's eyes = female person who looks great as is, but wouldn't mind getting enhancements on the body in exchange for cash. It's a real shame. Divas like The Fabulous Moolah were thrown out a long time ago. In come girls who either can't dance, sing, or wrestle, or some combination of the three, who just please guy's eyes. That's all WWE divas do. Please the eyes. I was watching Weakest Link when the WWF superstars were on last week, and they had one of the divas. The old English lady asked them what they did, and the diva responded with bare details of a diva's match. The old English lady then said, "Anything else?", and the diva answered something along the lines of "And parade around the ring with not too much on." Don't believe me? Look it up and you may find it. Back on subject, these two had a hate type of rivalry after Extreme Expose broke up and Brooke went missing. Extreme Expose and Kelly Kelly's Expose I have suffered through because of this please the eyes stint. Over time, with Extreme Expose, and the dance-offs afterwards, I think this is how ECW lost its ratings. This was also their cover-up for their small roster, and at first it was good, and then one week a bunch of people decided that they wanted either ECW or wrestling. I'm one of the bunch, to keep it simple. So from Kelly Kelly vs. Layla, we got dance-offs and tag team action as a paraphrased Michael Cole said on RAW tonight to describe the rivalry, 'fighting for a year over on ECW'. That's all we got. Just about a year of that. Dance-offs and tag team action. Not once did we see something like a PPV Bra and Panties match. Seriously, I think female fans must have gotten up on WWE about that, which is why we never see one, and we never hear Jerry Lawler say puppies. See The Miz vs. John Morrison for the solution to this problem. Conclusion To conclude, the following matches should take place in order to save ECW: ECW Championship 15 Minutes of Fame Ironman Match Mark Henry vs. John Morrison and the Miz, John Morrison vs. The Miz at Wrestlemania 25 for the ECW Championship, Elijah Burke vs. Justin Roberts, and a good old fashioned ECW Extreme Rules match.That is the Heart of The Phighter, and the article is over. I apologize for the chunks of soul thrown in.- The Philadelphia Phighter. Views: 1,056 
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COMMENTS |
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Comment # 1
Boogeyman isn't released, still recovering from his injury by Big Daddy V
Posted by Y2K on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 2
Wwe should really save ECW. AND I'M 1STTTTTTTTTTTTT
Posted by Wwe on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 3
... ECW is pretty much a developmental show, and has been for some time. Why are people so obsessed with trying to make it compete with the other two shows when that's not the purpose of the show. It is on Sci Fi for a reason, because it gives young talent some exposure without having them in front of a huge television audience. Take the Atlas Ortiz match last week. It's a prime example for both guys about not being terribly embarrassed in front of every body, but instead the 7 people who actually managed to watch ECW.
Posted by paladin181 on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 4
I can't disagree with anything so good job.
The comment about the weakest link, I believe the person you are talking about is Terri, and he odd comments about how Kane smells because he only had one suit.
Yea, I do think the current ECW is turning into worse crap than it already was.
Posted by Gravedigger on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 5
My bad, I accidently called Terri a man.
Posted by Gravedigger on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 6
SUCKED!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Edge on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 7
Yay, I get my first sucked comment.
I apologize for the hard to read text, I'm going to figure out a text that shows up better on this one by next week.
Posted by The Philadelphia Phighter on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 8
I do agree with you there, ECW has been sorta WWE's brand for losers ho no-one cares about anymore, and for people ho are starting out in WWE, once the fans like tem enough Vincve'll wait for the drft and send them to RAW or Smackdown depends on how much there liked. Also about the diva's, I totally agree with you all WWE hav done to the diva's is just make them seem like prostitutes or something. I have nothing more to say but when I have more to say I shall reply agai
Posted by Toki Wartooth on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 9
ECW!!! Bring back flaming tables!
Posted by Joseph Tobin on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 10
well, we need to understand that ECW die long time ago, what we see now is Heat with different letters, so dont try to save it, let it die again, every show is just an insult to old ECW
Posted by manuel taker on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 11
Finally someone says something about their roster, Ive been saying for the past two years they need more ppl. They also need to bring back the ECW TV title to make it more interesting, instead of Hardy bringing the US title to ECW. the US Title dates back way before the INC.Title and A LOT of legends held that belt(US). To have it on ECW at this point is a slap in the face for all the greats.
What they need to do...
Drop ECW or make it better OR bring back WCW with new belts and compete in ratings with TNA. Come on now everyone wants to see those old war games matches, Scaffold matches(Road Warriors and Midnight Express) or the best of them all and cant remember the name but the three cages on top of each other where you got to fight your way to the top. Anyway good work, sorry for the rant but something needs to be done with ECW b4 they disappear again and maybe for good
Posted by Brg on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 12
ECW needs help. End of. The roster had all the good people taken away in the draft e.g. CM Punk (World Champion), Kofi Kingston (Intercontinental), Shelton Benjamin (Possibly heading for a US Title chance) and so on. They need to bring back what the Orginal ECW had like Extream Rules etc. Get people who are known for hardcore/extream matches. Let me think... RVD!! RVD!!
Posted by The Hobosnail on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 13
Em...borng...bit over-written...and Miz and Morrison are great as a team no point in splitting them..so yeah.
Posted by The Bronx on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 14
i miss the bra and panties matches...
Posted by edge on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 15
truth conclusion: hardy will lose us title to benjamin, miz & morrison will end up losing tag titles and will end up being miz vs benjamin for us title. finlay will lose lame gimick and fight henry for ecw title, he'll win and during this time matt hardy will feud with morrison and both will be number one contenders for ecw championship which will come back to a not so one way title feud which vince has obviously been making a mockery of ecw. cant you see! this is why non of the real ecw originals will ever come back. its vince's way of saying look how bad im screwing with the one thing my opposistion stood for!
Posted by truth talks on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Comment # 16
I think you're right that ECW does need help, that they need better wrestlers, and that there needs to be more extreme rules matchs. But, ECW also needs a 2 hour show like RAW and Smackdown, about the same number of wrestlers on the roster as RAW and Smackdown, and more championships. I say bring back the ECW Television title(make it equivilent to the IC and US titles), the ECW Tag Team titles, and the Hardcore title(so there's a reason to have extreme rules more often). And bring back more ECW Originals, like RVD, Sabu, The Sandman, Balls Mahoney, etc.
Posted by hitmanricks on Sunday, July 13, 2008
Comment # 17
I think jobbers getting squashed by other wrestlers in extreme rules matches would be pretty good. They are meant to lose anyway so why not make it look extreme.
Henry looks like he could take a couple of trash can and chair shots. His opponents are all little guys so I don't see the problem with him participating in an extreme rules match even if it'll be half-assed.
Posted by Botac on Sunday, July 13, 2008
Comment # 18
Meh. Extreme Rules matches lead to injuries. There's no reason to risk talent for matches that don't increase buyrates all that much.
Posted by Paladin181 on Sunday, July 13, 2008
Comment # 19
go! Mark Henry, go! the two strongest men of the world! John Cena and Mark Henry far from each other, is it who we like? no! no! no!
Posted by greatest great gran gabriel on Monday, July 14, 2008
Comment # 20
Do u think anyone from WWE reads these articles?
Posted by The Warlock on Monday, July 14, 2008
Comment # 21
The old ECW was great.
I loved watching the old ecw if they really wanted to save it they need to bring in wrestlers that people care about.
someone you can cheer your heart out for or boo until you lose your voice.
There's one other thing they could do but, never will!
that would be get paul haymen back. (sorry if I spelled his name wrong) sure haymen was a major ace but, he put on some of the best wrestling events ever!!
Posted by Abdullah "Iceberg" Sullivan on Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Comment # 22
it dont matter wat u think! the ecw ppls wont listen to you and this was just plain borrrrriiiiiiingggggg.
Posted by who cares on Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Comment # 23
I agree. Whatever happened to Val Venus?
Posted by DJ The Kraus Is In The House on Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Comment # 24
Well, congratulations first of all on trying to find a solution for ECW, in WWE style. The most heard solution for ECW is "make every match extreme rules". That was the old ECW, this is a completely different ECW, and if you want to help it, you should work within the style of the new ECW. People who are usually in normal matches already have a great risk of injury with WWE's work schedule, so having to do one extreme rules match every week would just get a lot of injuries, and I don't know if it would increase buyrates that much, because many spots would not be allowed in WWE. Raw manages to draw in the biggest ratings of all pro wrestling, yet there very rarely is a hardcore match. I believe if they had some decent superstars (18 could be enough in my view for a one hour show, but that's just me) in ECW and some interesting storylines, that could be enough to save ECW. The problem with Extreme Rules matches are that they take a lot of your superstars if done right, and that shouldn't be on free TV, only on PPV's. Kinda like TLC, they used one on Smackdown to fill an open spot, and all superstars in it were mad about it, because they had to risk their health, and for just a TV show. It turned out they were right, because that was the night Chris Benoit's neck got injured, even though that was a long time coming. So I'd say, Extreme Rules on PPV's for the roster, OK, for a weekly show that hardly draws any ratings to begin with, no, there should be other ways to save it. The hardcore ECW fan will never be pleased with this product, so better try to placate the mainstream WWE fan.
I also agree if there are two men on the current roster that can save ECW it's Morrison and The Miz. Yeah, I though Miz was a real joke too when he started out, but he has really turned me into a fan lately, he always had the charisma, and now it seems he has wrestling ability too.
And yeah, the font is not the easiest to read, though not completely unreadable. But for the average internet user it would be too much trouble to plow through ;-)
Posted by El Valo on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Comment # 25
now I only caught one match of the old/orignal ecw and thing if they stopped pussy footing about and let fight like the did then ecw will have it's chance to claim fame again instead of being in the shadow of raw and smackdown I mean sure vince owns it but he does not want it getting as big as it was because should it happen wwe might lose some fans so he keeps ecw on a leash to help with some story lines and wont give ecw the chance to spread it's wings.
ecw already runs on a different night and ppv's are the same so why not let it stand alone and continue letting ecw join in on the usual ppv's? And let ecw remind it's fans how it became so popular!
Posted by tigdon on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Comment # 26
Good read. One of the best articles I've read on this site.
There's no saving ECW. If you looked on a WWE.com poll from a couple of weeks ago, you'd see that more people watch SmackDown and Raw than all 3 shows. El Valo is right, though, having an Extreme Rules match every week is too risky for the wrestler's health. I've only seen two good matches on this "New ECW". One was the week before WrestleMania 23, when the New Breed fought the Originals in an awesome, back and forth battle, and the other was not too long ago. A week before the Draft, when Shelton Benjamin took on Kofi Kingston. Tremendous athletes, tremendous match up. Then, a few days later, they end up on Raw. I hate to say it, but I think the WWE should stick to two brands.
As tigdon said, ECW's on a leash and doesn't have the chance to spread it's wings, like some kind of... dogbird. Unfortunately, in my eyes, it's gonna stay like that until WWECW is disbanded.
Posted by The Gza on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Comment # 27
Here's the solution
1)Stop taping with SmackDown! and make a 2 hour show.
2)Get a larger roster
3)Make at least 1 extreme rules match each week
4)Vince should let someone else run ECW
Unfortunately, that won't happen.
Posted by JCR on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Comment # 28
bring back Paul Heyman
Posted by RockyVlad on Thursday, July 17, 2008
Comment # 29
WWE needs to bring back something as simple as Mr.Kennedy vs. Tony Chimel for ECW
Sorry to disturb you man but Tony Chimel is THE ANNOUNCER not a WRESTLER.
Posted by another guy on Monday, July 21, 2008
Comment # 30
ECW is basically dead. The last great ECW was One Night Stand '06. CM Punk shouldnt have got drafted.
Posted by XQ on Monday, July 28, 2008
Comment # 31
They should bring back WCW and make it feud with ECW.
Posted by XQ on Monday, July 28, 2008
