Behind The Angle #2: Three Random Letters

When the ECW relaunch was announced a mere two months ago there was much speculation regarding what the product would look like. The ECW hardcore and many traditionalists expected Extreme Championship Wrestling of the later half of the 90s, but from the word go it was obvious this wouldn't and even couldn't be the case.

The signings of a handful of ECW alumni such as everyone's favourite uncle Sandman, the dude whose gimmick it is to get stiffed with a steel chair Balls Mahoney and don't worry about him jobbing to Angle because it's only Justin Credible. Plus the out of retirement to do the job to Big Show Tommy Dreamer and the pulled from the depth of the Raw mid-card Rob Van Dam, have all given some legitamacy to the name 'ECW' but anybody expecting this to be ECW, well I told you from the start, you're wrong.

ECW died. ECW failed. For it's niche hardcore, fanatical audience it was the best thing going, it was the bee's knees, it was the holy grail. But for the millions of other of wrestling fans who were watching WWF and WCW the three letters synonomous with hardcore meant as much as Rey's world title reign.

Vince McMahon was made a hell of a lot of money from the ECW name. The Rise and Fall of ECW DVD, last year's One Night Stand and the various angles the ECW name has played a part of in the last decade has added to Vince's fortune. In doing so, he has been very clever, using the positives of the old ECW to boost his own empire. In relaunching the new ECW he has again been very clever. He has recognised that the old ECW died, therefore if the new version were to succeed things had to change. It had to appeal to a wider audience, it couldn't be as politically incorrect (because of the wider audience and the time of rebellion has passed) and it couldn't carry on where things left off five years ago.

So when we watch ECW, taped in front of a WWE Smackdown audience, we are not watching ECW from five years ago. We are watching an ECW whose goal is to sell pay-per-views in their thousands, an ECW whose job it is to stand along side Raw and Smackdown as a third brand of sports entertainment. That's why we're seeing Kurt Angle and Big Show as ECW's top stars, because they have that main stream appeal and name recognition. Throw Justin Credible in that position and you're heading towards a brick wall. That's why we've seen both John Cena and Edge on both ECW shows; they give WWE fans a reason to tune in on Tuesday nights as well as Monday nights. The Zomibe and Macho Libre may well disgust the fanatical fan but from people I've spoken to and the emails I've recieved, people love to see the Sandman beating the living shit out of them. It's booking to your strengths, and that's what they're doing.

If you're an ECW moaner then look at it like this; the new ECW could be called anything, it just happens to be called 'ECW' which ironically is the name of a promotion run by an evil genius from a bingo hall. This new ECW has nothing to do with the old ECW, the only thing it shares is it's name. At the end of the day, this is basically what the complaints are about. If this new brand wasn't called ECW, but three other random letters, I'm sure the mood would be very different and there would be nothing but praise for the new promotion. But throw three recognisable characters in there and the mood has been very much downbeat. Lighten up, you might even enjoy it.

ECW lover? ECW hater? Let me know what you think: paul@behindtheangle.com

PS. One thing I do know, Kelly sucks. Trust me. I know.