"ECW" Talkback (6-20-06)

[The Penguin]

http://www.wwe.com/content/media/touts/feature/29062/2936226The hardcore road to Vengeance continues
June 20, 2006

Tonight on Sci Fi, the world will get to see an inter-promotional tag team dream match that could only happen in ECW. WWE and ECW World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam will team up with the Wrestling Machine Kurt Angle to take on the WWE’s Randy Orton and the Rated-R Superstar Edge.

The tag match, which was agreed to by Executive Assistant Jonathan Coachman on RAW, was a product of the cunning mind of ECW’s Paul Heyman. With RAW in shambles, Heyman seized the opportunity to take advantage of a young and inexperienced Coachman. “Jonathan, I realize you’re having a really rough evening. Surely you realize I’m not here alone. In your parking lot I have a bus load of my ECW rebels, ready to tear Monday Night RAW apart if I give the word. We could have a full scale invasion of RAW. I want to negotiate... Tomorrow night on Sci Fi, I’m envisioning an inter-promotional dream tag team match. Edge, with Lita, will team up with the Legend Killer Randy Orton, and on the other side, I see ECW’s Olympic Champion Kurt Angle, teaming up with ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Rob Van Dam.” Fearing the ramifications of upsetting Heyman, Coachman relented. The master manipulator known as Paul Heyman had done it again.

ECW.com caught up with an anxious RVD just moments after RAW to get his thoughts on tonight’s pending dream match. “Obviously since this is my first match on ECW TV, I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to give me a chance to feel edge out, and vice versa. Of course, I expect to come out on top with the ECW fans supporting RVD all the way.”

Later on RAW, ECW’s hardcore legend Sabu delivered a brutal, ruthless attack on WWE’s John Cena. The death-defying maniac rushed to the ring after Cena’s match against Balls Mahoney, and once again introduced the former WWE Champion to the world of hardcore. A chair shot and a Triple Jump Legdrop through the announce table later, Cena lay bloodied and unconscious on the arena floor. Tonight on Sci Fi, the ECW locker room will be on high alert. A week after delivering on his promise to crash ECW’s premiere, you have to wonder if an angry, revenge-seeking “Doctor of Thuganomics” will pursue a repeat performance.

Last week, ECW on Sci Fi was Tuesday’s No. 1 rated cable television program. What will happen tonight when Rob Van Dam shares a ring with his Vengeance challenger, Edge, five days before they do battle for RVD’s WWE Championship? What will happen when the Wrestling Machine gets his chance to soften up the cocky Legend Killer just days before their monumental pay-per-view rematch? Will John Cena show up on Sci Fi seeking revenge for Sabu’s brutal attack? The only thing that’s certain is that when the new breed is unleashed, the unpredictable can and will happen. See for yourself at 10/9 CT, live and only on Sci Fi.

[VCXZX]

so far, decent I guess match with Sabu and Tony Marmulke.

But the Kelly saga continues. :sad:

[Red]

Mamaluke/Sabu was better than all of last week's show combined. Thank you Heyman.

[James Bester]

Great opening match.

Great, we get to see more of Kelly tonight. "I was too excited to take my bra off." Wow, I've met some really slow people in my life, but this slut's just sad.

[VCXZX]

I liked what they did with Show. He's back to his 2002 form as a heel monster. Perhaps the best use of Show ever. Hope he keeps it up.

However, I wasn't impressed with RVD's promo. He still sounded forced.

[Jude Santos]

let's see, if the show is good, praise Heyman, if it's bad, blame Vince* I swear Vinnie can't get a break.

Also, what are you guys complaining about? Kelly's hot, I don't care if she cou;dn't take her bra off last week, it's not like she's gonna show her **** anyway...

Also, great opener :D

[Matt Hazuda]

It's gonna be hard to get the audience to turn on show against some ECW wrestler, especially in front of an SD! audience. Hopefully they figure out a way though. Show is a great heel.

Also, RVD desparately needs Fonsie or some other manager/mouthpiece. His promos stink.

Glad to see the crowd pop for Sabu, even if he botched the table spot horribly.



Ugh. Macho Libre. I wouldn't mind this on SD!, but it has no place on ECW. A real ECW crowd would boo him out of the arena. This crowd stinks.

[TheEvilClown]

A Combination of The Macho Man and Nacho Libre UGH. Although thats the only thing I have to complain about everything else has been pretty good. Atleast we haven't seen the Zombie yet.

[VCXZX]

http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif at the Vampire.

I didn't care for Macho Libre. I rather have seen the return of the Zombie. Although I do have to say the Sandman looks better than ever. Another good sign.

[Red]

Macho Libre is my new hero. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah.

[SirLemming]

More wrestling so far, which is good. They didn't open with talking, and the atmosphere feels a bit more ECW-ish. I don't know what's up with the Goth theme, though.

Kelly... no.

Macho Libre was stupid. It's more obvious now that they're trying to make fun of WWE's style, but these segments just aren't working. For this one in particular, they were trying to parody about 5 things at once, which is usually more confusing than funny.


let's see, if the show is good, praise Heyman, if it's bad, blame Vince* I swear Vinnie can't get a break.
Well, reportedly Vince had a lot of creative control last week and Heyman has a lot this week, so it actually makes plenty of sense.

[Wing Zero]

Couldn't the Kelly time be better spent for....something else? A promo, match, just something more ECW related ;\

[EinBebop]

Macho Libre is my new hero. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah.I think you mean to say: "Macho Libre is my new hero... my new hero.... OHHHH YEEAAAHHH"

Big improvement this week. Two good matches, which isn't bad for an hour. Character development with Tommy Dreamer, possibly a setup for a long-term Big Show-Dreamer fued. The chick being used to introduce a new wrestler.

I just gotta say, though.... I don't know what Tony Mamaluke was going for with his ring entrance facial expression, but if it was "intensely retarded", he nailed it. :)

[VCXZX]

I wonder who the guy who stopped Kelly was. Perhaps some OVW wrestler.

And the rumors are true with test in ECW. He should be a top heel.

Main event was very good, though it would've been better if Angle worked most of the match instead of RVD. No chinlocks thank God. Based on the finish, it looks like Edge will be the new WWE champ at Vengenance, unsurpisingly. http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif at RVD spinning the belt.

So despite no Zombie, and the Pussy Cat Dolls, and Macho Libre, I give this show a thumbs up. They improved greatly in Week II. Lots of great action and character development. And the Cena segment was top-notch as well.

[Condiment King]

Tonight on Sci Fi, the world will get to see an inter-promotional tag team dream match that could only happen in ECW.
Hahahaha.

Quote of the night from a rather annoying commentary crew: "NOBODY GETS HIGHER THAN ROB VAN DAM!" - Joey Styles

Better than last week. Some notable changes made sure of that. Firstly, the house show lighting to darken the Smackdown set as well as the magnitude of the arena really helped to give ECW that underground indy feel. They also, of course, had more matches and more potential feud starters which is always good. This could have actually been better than yesterday's RAW, which sucked.

Sabu match against Mamaluke from the FBI was a pretty good opener. Despite the fact that the match itself wasn't very good, Sabu is a spotfest that is decently over with the crowd. He got some reaction and even sparked an E-C-W chant, which is remarkable.

Big Show vs Tommy Dreamer "confrontation" was staged as hell, so it makes no sense to me. If there was a vignette to explain it, I guess it might have. I mean, why was Big Show out there in the first place if he wasn't going to wrestle a match? I'm confused. "The Innovator of Silence" Tommy Dreamer once again got no reaction and then got killed by the Big Show. I like that they are making Show into a monster again though. Its a gimmick he can pull off.

Oh I get it now. Unintentional Ultimate Warrior/Zombie. Now Randy Savage/Macho Libre. I wonder what is next week. Anyways, this was unfunny, Sandman still sucks in the ring and on the mic. Complete and utter waste of a segment. Way to push THE NEW BREED.

Cena initially got a big pop before some of the boos creeped in when he appeared. That's discouraging. Here's hoping again that the RAW/ECW thing is over at Vengeance.

Hahaha. Test.

Even bigger waste of a segment in the ECW exhibitionist Kelly taking forever before someone came out to make the "save" I guess. The guy looks suspiciously like some serial killer/rapist so its downright creepy. Well, at least it introduced somebody.

Angle/RVD vs Edge/Orton was actually a pretty good match despite Rob Van Dam's contributions. I swear, his moves are almost as unspectacular as Ron "The Truth" Killings. Almost everything is so stupid form of a SIDE KICK while Angle is over here actually wrestling and pulling out a bunch of different suplexes and counters. Nice RKO spot. The finish kinda sucked though with RVD having to use the belt to gain the advantage. Extreme rules or not, it doesn't make a face look that great.

[PTurkey]

Thank you, Paul, for making this show not suck. A pair of good matches and the seeds of a feud. This is what last week should have been.

TEST IS EXTREEEME. If the only work I'd seen of the man was that hype video, I'd actually be thinking that.


I wonder who the guy who stopped Kelly was. Perhaps some OVW wrestler.
It's supposedly Mike Knox of Deep South Wrestling. He totally looks like what you'd get if Charlie Haas & Matt Morgan had a baby.

[RedNinja84]

The Sabu match may have been the best match of the night. Better than last week but it needs to be moved back to smaller arenas to get that old ECW feeling back.

[VCXZX]

Mike Knox is the name of the wrestler who debuted tonight as Marc Mero 2K6.

EDIT: pturkey beat me to it.

Also, Heyman used that "nobody gets higher than Rob Van Dam" line in 2001 during the Alliance days.

[SirLemming]

So last week, the first ECW show, was a train wreck. This week, it was more like the train got where it needed to on time, but... If I spend more time thinking of an ending to this analogy my post probably won't be made until tomorrow, so basically, this show got The New Breed of ECW off to its proper start but also showed signs of some of the long-term problems they'll have to deal with.

Of course, what didn't help was the main event being a very definitively WWE match. Without the One Night Stand-esque different atmosphere to transform it into an ECW match, it was really just WWE with different lighting. It was good, unlike the matches on the first show, so obviously that's a plus. But now is the time to start figuring out exactly how this thing will work. Now that it's running smoothly, they gotta work out the kinks.

I think the commentary needs work too. It doesn't feel nearly as "honest" as it should. They're in this "everything is great, everything is EXTREME" mode that makes it little better than Tazz/Cole's "TV that's changing Friday Nights" stuff.


Couldn't the Kelly time be better spent for....something else? A promo, match, just something more ECW related ;\ If they really want to put up the facade that ECW's divas are "extreme" and "vixens", they need to stop using pop music. Pop music simply does not belong on ECW.

[Wing Zero]

Props to Heyman and co. That show was a lot more confidence inspiring than the debut. Good opening match with Sabu and Tony. The Kelly thing I thought was going to be another waste of time but it ended early. The Dreamer/Big Show "match" was odd. I guess those two will fued since Dreamer seemed to enjoy the thrashing. I do have to say though, angry pissed off Big Show is working pretty well for me. Macho Libre was at least funny compared to the travesty of the zombie, liked how he had the sunglasses hah. Test to ECW? I don't mind really, he wasn't very big in WWE anyways so if he can make a mark and help ECW that's fine with me.

The main event was pretty solid for a second show. All the wrestlers looked credible and tough during the match and the wrestling itself was interesting. Looks like Orton hurt his forearm or something since he didn't use it at all after he tried to take Angle's leg out. Angle's counter to Edge's axe hammer was a nice surprise, along with the Angle Slam to Lita. Also liked Edge's dropkick to RVD while he was trying to do rolling thunder. Good match overall and the ending even had a little nail biting feeling to it. RVD and his amusment at the spinning belt gave me a smile. His promos are nothing special either but damn it I can't help but grin.

The audience although still WWE based at least popped for ECW and its wrestlers. They also got into the matches which is pretty good, helped the overall watching experience become better.

This show was tons better than last weeks and thank goodness for that. It seemed a lot more ECW-like, they even dimmed the lights out. Now I think ECW might have a chance to survive afterall. Let's hope they can build up the current roster along with new people to help sustain it.

[JabarR]

Kelly should've used New Edition, Bell Biv DeVoe, Johnny Gill, Ralph Tresvant, or Bobby Brown.

[James Bester]

ECW still has plenty of improvements to make, but that was definitely better than last week.

The Sabu match was a great way to kick off the show. Sabu is really impressive, and I wish he was actually booked to beat Cena at Vengeance. Sadly, that's probably not the case.

The Big Show vs. Tommy Dreamer confrontation made no sense. Hopefully it can build up to a good feud, but I still don't understand why Big Show was even out there in the first place.

This mocking of sports entertainment has to end. While I like seeing them diss RAW, it takes up too much time and ends up becoming sports entertainment. And does Sandman do anything besides hitting people with his cain? If they're gonna waste time like that, they might as well show off some of Sandman's ability if he has any.

I didn't even watch the Kelly segment, but it sounds like something remotely interesting happened. I still think she could get work at a regular stripclub instead of wasting time on a wrestling show.

Since I didn't watch wrestling while Test was around, I have no idea what to expect.

Awesome main event. Every wrestler in the match did a great job and Lita finally got what was coming to her. It's the first time in a while that I've seen an actual good finish to the main event aside from TNA.

[MGFanJay]

This was a fantastic improvement over last week's show. We had two good-great matches in an hour with Mamaluke-Sabu and the main event, and TNA could learn a few lessons on character development, as both Sandman and Kelly of all people each have established characters after just two weeks. I loved MACHO LIBRE, and I'm glad they kept that goofy stuff to just one quick segment on the show. It's a shame that Kelly has better music than much of the roster.

[hobbyfan]

Sabu-Mamaluke was a good opener. Tony's improved quite a bit from the last time I saw him wrestle on TV, and that was in the waning days of the old ECW. Not quite as tentative as he used to be, which is a good sign.

Big Show & Sabu are heels. I get that. Both are now employing submission holds, although Show is using the cobra clutch to set up a backbreaker on the knee. Impressive. Sabu used the camel clutch. Both of these guys will be facing Kurt Angle ere long.:cool:

Ok, so it's Mike Knox who interrupted Kelly. I wondered about the initials RDNA on his tights. Anyone think we'll see Kelly & Lita in a catfight to see who causes a wardrobe malfunction first?;) :p

Shelly Martinez is back from OVW, recast as a fortune teller. Ok, how do you use the tarot cards to explain the highlights you queued up, honey?:sad:

"Macho Libre". :lol:! After last week, it's clear now that Sandman's role is to be the "hook" for the comedy relief, if you know what I mean and I think you do.

Cena-Sabu is now an extreme lumberjack match? Oh, I think we know who's winning this one, kids, and it ain't tha ex-champ!

Tag team main event was also good, and given a ton of time. I think we know who's winning the WWE title match on Sunday, given the result. Let's just see if Edge will be allowed to run with the ball more than 3 weeks this time.:yawn: :cool:

[Robin2099]

Thank you Vince for doing what should of been done last week and keeping WWE creative out of this show as much as possible. There's only a handfull of people that can write better wrestling shows than Paul Heyman and none of them have the names McMahon-Leveque and Runnels. The show featured two good matches as well as some good character development for the ECW guys. Even John Cena's spot came across good. The biggest thing I see right now is that they need to build up a bigger roster to have more matches and more feuds. Oh and CM Punk would be nice too.

[bigddan11]

Sabu's match at the beginning was great. The concluding match was also great. Inbetween wasnt much to watch, but Big Show beating down Tommy Dreamer was interesting, and the stripper routine almost put me to sleep, but I wonder why the one guy ran out and covered her up.

[Hyper Shadow X]

A nice match with Sabu at the opening.

[Punisher]

This was a huge improvement from last week, but it still has a long way to go to being great. A nice opening match, though that final drop on the table was botched HORRIBLY. It was just painful to watch, when Sabu is on the floor and Tony was still on the table. But I know I heard an ECW chant, which was very suprising, given the crowd.

The middle of it kinda got crappy, with Kelly "taking it all off" again and another Sandman squash. The whle Macho Libre segment would have been saved if The Zombie attacked Sandman on his way out. But alas, no such thing happened.

Main event was better than expected, and I'll just leave it at that. I think Orton hurt his wrist, but I'm not sure.

[SirLemming]

The Big Show/Dreamer confrontation would've been better as a backstage incident turning into a brawl.

[Nicktooney]

ECW is getting better.The matches are a little longer.

Sabu VS. Tony Mamaluke-Excellent that's how every match should be done,quality wise.

John Cena coming to ECW,okay,nice.He has better purpose,etc.Than showing up,knowing he's gonna get his ass kicked.I really don't think in the hood if you know you gonna get beat you'll show up,unless you have to.And I know I'm in the heart of the A.

RVD & Kurt Angle VS. Randy Orton & Edge-EXCELLENTE!!!The main event,awesome.I think this almost lived up to the original ECW matches....naw,but it tried.

This ECW may try and live up to the old E-C-W!

[Sigma]

This was a fantastic improvement over last week's show. We had two good-great matches in an hour with Mamaluke-Sabu and the main event, and TNA could learn a few lessons on character development, as both Sandman and Kelly of all people each have established characters after just two weeks. I loved MACHO LIBRE, and I'm glad they kept that goofy stuff to just one quick segment on the show. It's a shame that Kelly has better music than much of the roster.
Are you serious? For those who haven't seen the Sandman before the new ECW probably think he is just a drunk with a kendo stick and that really isn't much of a character and Kelly just takes her clothes off again not a very good character. TNA develops characters, just look at Joe, Abyss, Shelly, etc. there just isn't alot you can do in an hour a week. ECW may be an hour long show, but the talent appears on RAW as well.

[Condiment King]

Sandman and Kelly are horrible characters, and Samoa Joe and Abyss have very hollow gimmicks. Samoa Joe more or less is a "legitimate tough guy" whereas Abyss is a "monster heel". It doesn't take tremendous booking to achieve this. So yeah.

The greatness of Alex Shelley is all on him, as far as I'm concerned. The man is great on the mic, and now he's pinned to walking projectile Kevin Nash. I mean, he was second eliminated in that X Division ranking match at Slammiversary.

[SirLemming]

Sandman looks like an elderly buzzard.

[Tapout]

Definately an improvement from last week, not that that's saying much.

Good match to start the show, and Sabu just wouldn't be Sabu if he didn't blow something. Sabu talking is not cool. He's used the silent gimmick for like 15 years and WWE tosses it out the window after two weeks?

The Sandman beatdown of the gimmick of the week has to stop. I don't mind taking shots at WWE/Sports entertainment, and I don't mind the Sandman as "ECW's protector." But there's got to be a better way to go about it. I also can't tell if Sandman is in better shape than last year, or if he's sick.

Kelly wasting time again wouldn't have been as bad if they had shaved about five minutes off of it. At least there was a payoff this week.

Test? Ugh. Why is mini-Hoyt getting another chance?

Main event was good. Lita looks old.

[Andy Mancini]

Good match to start the show, and Sabu just wouldn't be Sabu if he didn't blow something. Sabu talking is not cool. He's used the silent gimmick for like 15 years and WWE tosses it out the window after two weeks?
If Sabu says anything, it's either because of a) someone is in his way or b) Sabu wants to talk. He talked (or rather said one word) because he wanted to talk. The end. He's done it before. Don't start blaming the WWE just yet.

[The Myst]

Why am I the only person that likes Sandman's gimmick? I've marked out all three times he's beaten up a crappy gimmick.

[Tapout]

If Sabu says anything, it's either because of a) someone is in his way or b) Sabu wants to talk. He talked (or rather said one word) because he wanted to talk. The end. He's done it before. Don't start blaming the WWE just yet.

I know he's talked before, he yells at cameramen/ring crew/fans all the time during matches, like you said, when they're in his way. But I can't ever remember him verbally responding to anybody.

[MGFanJay]

Are you serious? For those who haven't seen the Sandman before the new ECW probably think he is just a drunk with a kendo stick and that really isn't much of a character and Kelly just takes her clothes off again not a very good character. TNA develops characters, just look at Joe, Abyss, Shelly, etc. there just isn't alot you can do in an hour a week. ECW may be an hour long show, but the talent appears on RAW as well. Yes, I'm serious. And you can do a lot with one hour of TV a week. One hour a week was enough for Championship Wrestling from Florida to get guys over. You gave Kevin Sullivan a mic for five minutes and let him run wild.

The Sandman and Kelly have established characters. One likes to strip, and the other likes to cane the living crap out of idiocy. Fans know what to expect from them, and what their motivations are. I never said they were GREAT characters, just that they had managed to establish characters in a very short period of time in an era where that is uncommon. Both TNA and WWE have done the same every now and then. Finlay came in as a man who loves to fight. It's a simple character, and it works. With Raw, Maria got over quickly due to ditzy promos. Again, not a great character, but one that is defined. TNA got Joe over as a killer, and his character has already gone through a few positive changes. Shelley and EY are examples of guys who got themselves over with quick character bits. Shelley has made amazing use of the chances given to him, as has EY, but to a lesser extent. Abyss doesn't really have a defined character, and neither do Styles and Daniels most of the time. They don't need it.

TNA's single hour has been spent pretty well on Spike, but they have yet to find that balance of getting across the in-ring action (which is their major advantage over WWE right now, especially when the percieved A show has about 15 minutes of in-ring time spread across two hours) and getting over characters. Right now, the best character progression there has been from guys like Shelley who can convey a lot in very little time - that was key to the old-school guys getting over, and that is alive today in some cases.

[Fifi Fanatic]

A big improvement. Of course, they had no where to go but up. :p

Two good matches. I would prefer three or four myself for it to truly be ECW. Lose the Wannabe Wannaleia, Kelly and schedule another match in her spot. Yeah, she looks good; But I'm hoping for ECW to be a refuge for those of us who want to see wrestling. Let the "divas" do their eye-candy schtick on the other shows.

Nobody's mentioned Sabu throwing the chair up at Tony as he was coming off the top rope? Damn good spot. It's starting to bear some resemblence to ECW.... albeit a watered-down version.

The seeds of Show/Dreamer feud. Nicely done. Cobra clutch into a back breaker from the Show. Sweet.

"Oooooooh yeah! It's Macho Libre, dig it?" :lol: Much funnier than the Zombie. But for it to truly be in keeping with ECW tradition, it should be Stevie Richards and/or The Blue Meanie doing these bits. :D

Excellent main event. That, ladies and gentlemen, was a WRESTLING match. Even with botch master RVD present. :p

Some "ECW" chants got going. I'll see what I can do with my section of the crowd at Vengeance this Sunday. :D

Overall, things are getting better.

[SirLemming]

Nobody's mentioned Sabu throwing the chair up at Tony as he was coming off the top rope? Damn good spot.
It was okay, but seemed semi-botched. I guess you can just chalk it up to things not going well for Sabu in the battle, though. I was more concerned about the table smash, where Mamluke managed to somehow NOT go through the table while Sabu did. It's like he became noncorporeal or something. I see dead people!

[Mr.Kurtz]

Well my first ecw on sci-fi, and as others have said it was definately better than raw.


Yeah Sabu botches some moves but I'm just happy their pushing at least one old ecw guy. His match with Cena should be interesting as I can't think of two guys with two more different styles.

Dreamer is going to have to come up with a few new innovations of violence if he's going to take down Show

Did any one esle chuckle when rvd introduced himself as "your favorite wrestler and mine," Not a good promo, and when he had Orton crotched on the top rope the coolest move he could come up with is a side kick. Come on rvd, this is ecw let's see a hurrankarana to the floor

[Condiment King]

It was okay, but seemed semi-botched. I guess you can just chalk it up to things not going well for Sabu in the battle, though. I was more concerned about the table smash, where Mamluke managed to somehow NOT go through the table while Sabu did. It's like he became noncorporeal or something. I see dead people!
Yeah, I don't get the chair thing. Throwing a chair at somebody is not an impressive spot to me, especially when only a part of the chair hits him and not with as much velocity behind it as if he just whacked him with it. I've seen this done several times so far in ECW, and I just don't get it.

[Fifi Fanatic]

It was okay, but seemed semi-botched. I guess you can just chalk it up to things not going well for Sabu in the battle, though. I was more concerned about the table smash, where Mamluke managed to somehow NOT go through the table while Sabu did. It's like he became noncorporeal or something. I see dead people!

In retrospect, the chair did look a bit botched. It was still enough to get my approval, though. :anime: However, I have no idea how Tony failed to go through the table.... :confused:

[JabarR]

At least we got our share of ECW Divas on there.

[VCXZX]

At least we got our share of ECW Divas on there.

More like "vixens." That's the ECW term for them.

Sort of like how "rebels" is the new name for the ECW wrestlers. They're distugishing themsleves from the other 2 brands.

[SirLemming]

However, I have no idea how Tony failed to go through the table.... :confused:
Sci-fi.

[Matthew Williams]

Sort of like how "rebels" is the new name for the ECW wrestlers. They're distugishing themsleves from the other 2 brands.
True, but would it kill them to refer to the ECW wrestlers as, well, I dunno... wrestlers?

[Wing Zero]

Too bad they felt rebels seems more hardcore as I thought 'wrestlers' was just fine on the website. 'Rebels' makes them sound like angry stupid misfits.

[VCXZX]

From Pwinsider:


This week's edition of ECW on Sci Fi did a 2.3 cable rating, with a 4 share. That is down from last week's 2.7 but given the show it was coming off of and the competition from the NBA Finals, I would call it a solid number.

Good.

As for "rebels", I guess someone high up didn't want the term "wrestlers being used.

And here's some more food for thought from Dave Meltzer regarding "cross-promotions"


Regarding ECW last night, it's a work in progress. It is not going to be a deal where in a week or two, the primarily Smackdown/Raw TV viewers who attend the shows are familiar with the product and emotionally invested in the characters and storylines. Last night's show was better than the week before, but from a crowd participation standpoint, nowhere near where it needs to be. We all know it would be better for separate tapings. But for now, this is what it is. Six months from now is when you should look back and judge and see what has and hasn't worked. But there is a fact of life that a lot of people don't understand. Copying and being true to ECW, whatever that means, can't work. The guys are older and it's younger players that will make or break this. They need the Raw guys on the show partially to establish the show with stars people are familiar with. Also, NBC Universal wants a show where they shoot angles on Monday to build for Tuesday and mixing of its USA Network and Sci-Fi properties. Purely separate brands with no cross-promotion isn't in the plans.


Sad but true.

[SirLemming]

My brother's watching the show on tape right now, and we just noticed that Randy Orton appears to have injured his wrist or arm or something. There's a point where he slammed Kurt Angle to the mat -- I don't know exactly what move it was, but both of Orton's hands hit the mat on the fall, and it looks like his right hand had trouble. After the move, he stood up and was clearly trying not to move his arm much, and he had trouble even getting out of the ring because he didn't really know what to do with his arms. For the rest of the match he clearly nurses his right arm and/or wrist.


There's probably a news article about this somewhere that totally upstages me.

[VCXZX]

Actuall it was his shoulder/arm. here's the news from Dave Meltzer:


-WWE dodged the bullet on Randy Orton. He was hurting at the end of the tag match last night and was taken to the hospital. But he checked out okay and will be wrestling Kurt Angle on Sunday. Orton is headed to the U.K. to help promote Vengeance. Edge, who has been hurting since Tommy Dreamer dropped him on his head, but working through it, was scheduled for the promotional tour, but pulled so he could have some healing time before the PPV.

[New Noise]

Mamaluke/Sabu was better than all of last week's show combined. Thank you Heyman.

I'd have to agree with that. Definately. The rest of the show was pretty bad, though. The main event was entertaining.

[GMB]

OK, so, a history lesson might be in order for people who may be confused about why ECW devotes time to the Zombie and Macho Libre (Which I did find amusing, especially the "say everything twice! say . . .everything . . .twice!"

Back in the good old days, they'd every now and again put some poor schmuck out there simply to antagonise the fans, and in the best tradition of things like the Gong Show, a wrestler named 911 would come in and chokeslam them.

This worked well because it established ECW's bona fides (this being 1995-ish, back when WWF thought Mabel/Viscera was main event material) as not caring for this sports entertainment crap, and well, it was about the only move 911 could do.

This was so long ago, in fact, Sandman was a main-eventer. :)

ECW this week was a little better (of course, they had nowhere to go but up after last week's crapospectacular), and we're getting a little bit closer to finding it's own formula (The Dreamer/Big Show match is about as close as we've gotten to an "internal" angle, and in the best tradition of ECW Tommy got his ass kicked) and not giving me RAW hangovers. The main even felt rather blah and uninspiring, but I'm hoping that after Vengeance the "invasion" stuff will fall away and ECW will get its own identity (for better or worse) and be something more than what it is right now.

Now for God's sake, can we get another song for the intro other than "Bodies?"

[The Myst]

I was watching the ECW Rise And Fall DVD today and that made me appreciate the Show/Dreamer thing a lot more because it's really classic ECW booking. Dreamer gets his ass totally kicked then just smiles like a maniac. Like when Sandman won the Singapore Cane Match and caned the hell out of him afterwards. He just kept getting up and demanding to be hit again.

[Fifi Fanatic]

OK, so, a history lesson might be in order for people who may be confused about why ECW devotes time to the Zombie and Macho Libre (Which I did find amusing, especially the "say everything twice! say . . .everything . . .twice!"

Back in the good old days, they'd every now and again put some poor schmuck out there simply to antagonise the fans, and in the best tradition of things like the Gong Show, a wrestler named 911 would come in and chokeslam them.

This worked well because it established ECW's bona fides (this being 1995-ish, back when WWF thought Mabel/Viscera was main event material) as not caring for this sports entertainment crap, and well, it was about the only move 911 could do.

This was so long ago, in fact, Sandman was a main-eventer. :)

I'll second all that. But like I said earlier; we need Stevie Richards and The Blue Meanie to show up just once for old times sake. Remember around 1996 when those two would trot out with some new goofy gimmick every week? Like one week, Stevie would be "Baron Von Steve, Master of the Claw". :p

"I've got a busload of my ECW rebels outside".... that line from Paul has given me several hilarious mental images of what an ECW bus would look like. :lol:

[Jaguar]

This was slightly better.

Like being injured instead of being murdered better.

The best way I can describe it.

Oh, and REBELS lol. That makes me think about Star Wars for some reason.

[SirLemming]

My brother read this quote on a wrestling web site (I'm sure someone here can confirm it):


"WWE has changed the 7/31 RAW/Smackdown/ECW TV taping at The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ. ECW TV will now be taped on 8/1 from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. The Hammerstein Ballroom is where the ECW One Night Stand PPVs have been held. This will be the second ECW-only TV taping, the first being on July 4th at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. There is slight talk of taping two episodes of ECW TV at the ECW-only TV tapings"
I really hope this is true, and that it goes over well so they're encouraged to do it more often.

Unfortunately, there are also rumors that NBC Universal wants to keep ECW and WWE very cross-promotional. Let's hope the creative teams are willing to underdeliver on that promise.

[Jude Santos]

This was slightly better.

Like being injured instead of being murdered better.



more like being "erased" instead of "murdered" a la G Gundam edited version.

[GMB]

I'll second all that. But like I said earlier; we need Stevie Richards and The Blue Meanie to show up just once for old times sake. Remember around 1996 when those two would trot out with some new goofy gimmick every week? Like one week, Stevie would be "Baron Von Steve, Master of the Claw". :p

Quoted for infinite super-justice. Baron Von Stevie and Bluedust are one of my all-time favourite bits, mostly because Steve can't keep the bald cap on and right in the middle of it bellows out "HAVE NO FEAR, I WILL NOT HARM YOU BLUEDUST!"

Never NOT funny. :)


"I've got a busload of my ECW rebels outside".... that line from Paul has given me several hilarious mental images of what an ECW bus would look like. :lol:

Oh I hope it's the Partridge Family bus. So wrong, yet so right. :)

Actually, making ECW work is easy, if you remember why ECW was so fresh back in the middle 90's--having no PPV's and an hour to do get your attention, they made every show memorable some how. They were all so packed with angles and the like that hour just flew by, but you damn sure had incentive to tune in next week.

Hard to do that in this incarnation, but the spirit of trying to get as much over as possible with little time wasted . . .would do them some good.

Oh, and Tommy Dreamer must constantly get beat up in some long drawn-out feud he never wins that is characterised by him constantly stealing his opponents moves like some bizarro Mega Man(*). You nail that down, you're halfway there.

(*)--Either that, or Tommy must start using the Dream Weaver as his finisher again. ;) That's probably as inside a joke as I've ever made on the entirety of TZ's boards.

[VCXZX]

http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/extremists/

Now they're being called extremists. I hope they don't do more namechanges. Must show the lack of faith in ECW. :sad:

[Djm912]

I want to call Vince McMahon my cell phone and say "Why don't you just let them be called wrestlers already?".

[The Penguin]

I watched the show Tuesday night, but haven’t had time to get to the long thread here…

The tarrot cards opening was a little different, I liked it though. Heyman seems to be keen on some of the sci-fi elements of pop culture based on some interviews I’ve read recently.

It wasn’t a long match, but starting the main show with a match that featured two ECW stars was a smart move. No talking, no WWE guys, just ECW wrestlers and ECW rules. And Trinity!! I’d almost forgotten how hot she was. :D

I was glad Kelly acknowledged that she couldn’t get her bra off last week. WWE oversight or not, Paul E. is writing the show and he’s not going to insult you.

Tommy Dreamer has always seemed a little crazy, but attacking Big Show is nuts for even the craziest of crazies. At the end, the Innovator of Violence actually looked like he wanted more.

Now this Mordecai looked very much like a vampire. The rumor was that this would be a stable, so hopefully we will see Gangrel.

“Oh yeah!” Macho Libre was some fun before the Sandman came down and gave him a good caning. “Macho” seemed very much in line with ECW’s brand of sports entertainment (oh it’s there, they just don’t want to call it that) and Sandman in short matches is probably best. I admit I’ve never seen an ECW pay-per-view, but he just doesn’t look like he could go very long.

John Cena more or less challenged all of ECW to try and beat the hell out of him on Sunday. I don’t know if I like where this could end up.

I thought it was stupid to give the Kelly segment an introduction and a name. (Liked the segment though. :p ) Of course she has to have the jealous boyfried. I wonder who this guy will turn out to be.

Test is coming to ECW. This should be interesting. He is a notable WWE name, but he’s no Triple H either. No matter where Test was before, this here is a sign of ECW building their own roster rather than filling in a rotating section of WWE Superstars.

I don’t think anyone should be surprised that the main event was used to hype Vengeance. First of all, RAW damn near sacrificed this PPV to promote One Night Stand and then we have two ECW guys plus Kurt Angle wrestling on the card. They built a real match here, although I was shocked to see RVD beat Edge. In a match like this I always expect the winner to pin his partner’s PPV opponent.



Test? Ugh. Why is mini-Hoyt getting another chance?Oh you've gotta be kidding me. If they compare, Lance Hoyt is a mini-Test (even moreso when he was just "Dallas" before DDP showed up). It's insulting to flip it around. Test may have started as a slight rip-off of Diesel, but he outlasted that. At this point, Hoyt doesn't even look like he'll last.

[Tapout]

Oh you've gotta be kidding me. If they compare, Lance Hoyt is a mini-Test (even moreso when he was just "Dallas" before DDP showed up). It's insulting to flip it around. Test may have started as a slight rip-off of Diesel, but he outlasted that. At this point, Hoyt doesn't even look like he'll last.LOL. I was just going on sheer size. Any talent (or lack thereof) didn't come into play in my observation. At least I think Hoyt's bigger than Test. But one thing that Test does have going for him: no tramp stamp.