ECW on Sci-Fi
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here is soome ecw news off of pwtorch.com:
Paul Heyman had fought hard for Rob Van Dam to walk out of the ring at One Night Stand with John Cena's WWE Title belt. Vince McMahon's top priority in the entire WWE company is protecting and developing John Cena. All decisions get filtered through the "How will this affect John Cena?" filter. So when McMahon was finally talked into RVD getting a win, how it happened seemed secondary.
McMahon even went out of his way to be sure Rey Mysterio - who had been a losing streak on Smackdown for the past couple months - was protected against one of ECW's all-time top stars, Sabu. Rey and Sabu wrestled to a no contest, ending when Sabu did a crazy move off the ropes driving Rey head-first through a table at ringside. Doctors stopped the match. Originally, McMahon booked a double countout, but Sabu knew that would leave a bad taste in the mouths of ECW fans, and came up with the altered finish himself of having a doctor stoppage due to a huge move that took out both he and Rey. It would get across the extreme nature of the product he hoped. McMahon agreed to the finish.
While at last year's One Night Stand, Paul Heyman ran the show while Vince McMahon literally sat back and took it all in, this year Vince was clearly running the show. Heyman was in a secondary role.
Also, the usual WWE infrastructure was in place. The ECW wrestlers were being talked to like rookie wrestlers being introduced to the WWE world. The road agents in charge of their matches treated them like children who had never been on live TV before. The producers were micromanaging everything they did in any prerecorded segments. None of that was the case last year.
Because the ECW crew had been hired full time, they weren't going to rock the boat. They had too much to lose - their jobs or their pushes - to take a stand and argue for doing things their way. To an extent, that was also true of Heyman, who as a father of two children, doesn't have the same reckless abandon and anti-authority approach to doing business anymore. He is negotiating and compromising, realizing there is only so far he can push McMahon once he has his mind set to something. Heyman has been relegated to making the best of whatever latitude McMahon gives him.
Although Show beating up some smaller wrestlers on the ECW PPV reminded longtime ECW fans of 911, Show's character is not meant to be "the next 911." In fact, McMahon booked Show's segment, which originally was slated to feature Spike Dudley. Spike, though, wrestling as Brother Runt in TNA, turned down WWE's contract offer and actually tore up the real contract in the ring at a TNA house show over the weekend.
Show and Heyman get along very well, and Show is excited about the chance to be better utilized by Heyman than he had been on Raw and Smackdown in recent years. Show is scheduled to feud with Kurt Angle on ECW events this summer.
Big Show and Kurt Angle were not originally part of McMahon's vision for ECW, but he felt he needed to add them to the roster to show Sci Fi that he was truly serious about the new project and willing to invest major commodities in the brand. McMahon also felt they were necessary to better ensure ECW would draw good crowds this summer.
The first ECW TV show had been scheduled to go live for weeks after WWE and Sci-Fi signed a TV agreement deal. However, after the ECW PPV aired, the parent company of Sci-Fi, Universal, decided the first ECW TV show would have to be taped ahead of time in order to edit any possible lewd chants. This caused the order of the Smackdown and ECW TV taping to be changed... Paul Heyman does not have creative control over the ECW TV product. The initial plan is to have only a small amount of hardcore-style stunt wrestling on the shows. However, WWE did not have a solid plan in place going into the first ECW TV taping for how to present the product... Raw will air live from Philadelphia on July 3 from the Wachovia Center as part of a Raw/Smackdown super show. ECW TV is expected to air live on July 4 from Philadelphia at the former ECW Arena...
After ECW's TV taping on Tuesday, John Laurenaitis gave the ECW crew a pep talk. He told them that it seems everyone is walking on egg shells, and that it's not necessary to do so. He told them to do what they did to get over in the first place. Afterward, ECW wrestlers thought that was ironic considering their every move was being micromanaged. Sabu has had an especially frustrating time adjusting to WWE. He is used to improvising and reacting to the moment, whereas WWE has given him a list of things not to do, and wants to know ahead of time all of his big spots and when and why they happen... When Kurt Angle head-butted Justin Credible, doctors were called to ringside because his bump looked so legit. He was just selling, though, and he wasn't hurt at all. Angle, though, has been encouraged to wrestle a stiff style, and Justin was telling people he felt it in the locker room afterward... Sandman has cut back drastically on his drinking, if he drinks at all know (other than beers on camera). He has lost a lot of weight during his time away from the cameras...
Ron Simmons was backstage at the ECW PPV
Alfonso was backstage at the ECW PPV and at one point was slated to be part of the show, but they ended up not using him after all... Randy Orton has gotten along well with his colleagues since returning last week. He shook everyone's hand at catering and was all smiles all weekend. He was said to have loved the ECW atmosphere, as did Cena, Edge, Angle, and Show
The ECW wrestlers all followed the WWE dress code without exception all week... At the Head-to-Head special last week, ECW wrestlers were given an orientation speech by McMahon and Laurenaitis. They also got a thank you speech from McMahon and Laurenaitis afterward... Pat Patterson was an agent at the Head-to-Head special and was in charge of booking the details of the ECW/WWE battle royal... Regarding McMahon's commitment to ECW, one source says: "It is terrifying for Vince to imagine ECW failing. He failed at football, but that's excusable because he's known for his wrestling genius. Failing at a wrestling project is not an option. That's why ECW will be profitable, one way or another, eventually"...
John Cena has been booked as more of an edgy character lately, but there are no plans to turn him heel in the near future... WWE was conscious of making the ECW TV product feel different from the traditional Raw and Smackdown TV presentation. For the past week, there were open conversations about making the atmosphere completely different... Tazz constantly reminds people in power that his neck is in terrible condition and he is incapable of wrestling lengthy matches. The decision was made to use Lawler as quick fodder for Tazz to protect Tazz's interest as a badass character. WWE knew Lawler could get his heat back the following night on Raw commentary...
ECW wrestlers are being held to the same code of conduct as wrestlers on the Raw and Smackdown roster. They are subject to drug testing and must follow the dress code.
Paul Heyman had fought hard for Rob Van Dam to walk out of the ring at One Night Stand with John Cena's WWE Title belt. Vince McMahon's top priority in the entire WWE company is protecting and developing John Cena. All decisions get filtered through the "How will this affect John Cena?" filter. So when McMahon was finally talked into RVD getting a win, how it happened seemed secondary.
McMahon even went out of his way to be sure Rey Mysterio - who had been a losing streak on Smackdown for the past couple months - was protected against one of ECW's all-time top stars, Sabu. Rey and Sabu wrestled to a no contest, ending when Sabu did a crazy move off the ropes driving Rey head-first through a table at ringside. Doctors stopped the match. Originally, McMahon booked a double countout, but Sabu knew that would leave a bad taste in the mouths of ECW fans, and came up with the altered finish himself of having a doctor stoppage due to a huge move that took out both he and Rey. It would get across the extreme nature of the product he hoped. McMahon agreed to the finish.
While at last year's One Night Stand, Paul Heyman ran the show while Vince McMahon literally sat back and took it all in, this year Vince was clearly running the show. Heyman was in a secondary role.
Also, the usual WWE infrastructure was in place. The ECW wrestlers were being talked to like rookie wrestlers being introduced to the WWE world. The road agents in charge of their matches treated them like children who had never been on live TV before. The producers were micromanaging everything they did in any prerecorded segments. None of that was the case last year.
Because the ECW crew had been hired full time, they weren't going to rock the boat. They had too much to lose - their jobs or their pushes - to take a stand and argue for doing things their way. To an extent, that was also true of Heyman, who as a father of two children, doesn't have the same reckless abandon and anti-authority approach to doing business anymore. He is negotiating and compromising, realizing there is only so far he can push McMahon once he has his mind set to something. Heyman has been relegated to making the best of whatever latitude McMahon gives him.
Although Show beating up some smaller wrestlers on the ECW PPV reminded longtime ECW fans of 911, Show's character is not meant to be "the next 911." In fact, McMahon booked Show's segment, which originally was slated to feature Spike Dudley. Spike, though, wrestling as Brother Runt in TNA, turned down WWE's contract offer and actually tore up the real contract in the ring at a TNA house show over the weekend.
Show and Heyman get along very well, and Show is excited about the chance to be better utilized by Heyman than he had been on Raw and Smackdown in recent years. Show is scheduled to feud with Kurt Angle on ECW events this summer.
Big Show and Kurt Angle were not originally part of McMahon's vision for ECW, but he felt he needed to add them to the roster to show Sci Fi that he was truly serious about the new project and willing to invest major commodities in the brand. McMahon also felt they were necessary to better ensure ECW would draw good crowds this summer.
The first ECW TV show had been scheduled to go live for weeks after WWE and Sci-Fi signed a TV agreement deal. However, after the ECW PPV aired, the parent company of Sci-Fi, Universal, decided the first ECW TV show would have to be taped ahead of time in order to edit any possible lewd chants. This caused the order of the Smackdown and ECW TV taping to be changed... Paul Heyman does not have creative control over the ECW TV product. The initial plan is to have only a small amount of hardcore-style stunt wrestling on the shows. However, WWE did not have a solid plan in place going into the first ECW TV taping for how to present the product... Raw will air live from Philadelphia on July 3 from the Wachovia Center as part of a Raw/Smackdown super show. ECW TV is expected to air live on July 4 from Philadelphia at the former ECW Arena...
After ECW's TV taping on Tuesday, John Laurenaitis gave the ECW crew a pep talk. He told them that it seems everyone is walking on egg shells, and that it's not necessary to do so. He told them to do what they did to get over in the first place. Afterward, ECW wrestlers thought that was ironic considering their every move was being micromanaged. Sabu has had an especially frustrating time adjusting to WWE. He is used to improvising and reacting to the moment, whereas WWE has given him a list of things not to do, and wants to know ahead of time all of his big spots and when and why they happen... When Kurt Angle head-butted Justin Credible, doctors were called to ringside because his bump looked so legit. He was just selling, though, and he wasn't hurt at all. Angle, though, has been encouraged to wrestle a stiff style, and Justin was telling people he felt it in the locker room afterward... Sandman has cut back drastically on his drinking, if he drinks at all know (other than beers on camera). He has lost a lot of weight during his time away from the cameras...
Ron Simmons was backstage at the ECW PPV
Alfonso was backstage at the ECW PPV and at one point was slated to be part of the show, but they ended up not using him after all... Randy Orton has gotten along well with his colleagues since returning last week. He shook everyone's hand at catering and was all smiles all weekend. He was said to have loved the ECW atmosphere, as did Cena, Edge, Angle, and Show
The ECW wrestlers all followed the WWE dress code without exception all week... At the Head-to-Head special last week, ECW wrestlers were given an orientation speech by McMahon and Laurenaitis. They also got a thank you speech from McMahon and Laurenaitis afterward... Pat Patterson was an agent at the Head-to-Head special and was in charge of booking the details of the ECW/WWE battle royal... Regarding McMahon's commitment to ECW, one source says: "It is terrifying for Vince to imagine ECW failing. He failed at football, but that's excusable because he's known for his wrestling genius. Failing at a wrestling project is not an option. That's why ECW will be profitable, one way or another, eventually"...
John Cena has been booked as more of an edgy character lately, but there are no plans to turn him heel in the near future... WWE was conscious of making the ECW TV product feel different from the traditional Raw and Smackdown TV presentation. For the past week, there were open conversations about making the atmosphere completely different... Tazz constantly reminds people in power that his neck is in terrible condition and he is incapable of wrestling lengthy matches. The decision was made to use Lawler as quick fodder for Tazz to protect Tazz's interest as a badass character. WWE knew Lawler could get his heat back the following night on Raw commentary...
ECW wrestlers are being held to the same code of conduct as wrestlers on the Raw and Smackdown roster. They are subject to drug testing and must follow the dress code.
Man, I cant believe all the hate that Im hearing about tuesdays show... I mean its unanimous. I can find one positive review about it. If youre wondering why I havent chimed in my two cents about the show was because I missed it. Messed up the dates and had to take care of my grandmother a day earlier than expected. I dont mind, but its all CBS all hours of the day.... Thank God I got my psp.
Yeah, you should try to d/l it or something to just see how bad it was... It's unbelieveable... The crowd was so dead.. Sandman was in the crowd drinking beer and spitting it on little 8 and 9 year old kids...
ECW and Smackdown have two totally different crowds.. It doesn't take a genious to figure out they won't mix...
ECW and Smackdown have two totally different crowds.. It doesn't take a genious to figure out they won't mix...
So whatd you guys think about episode 2 this week. I managed to catch the first one and it was a stinker. I thought this weeks ep was a big step up, but honestly it was like watching raw... If they dont do this correctly we will be basically watching Diet Raw, or Raw Lite depending on how many calories your allowed
incidently, someone mentioned in another thread that orton was injured. He poped his shoulder, the doctors reset back into place. Word is hes fine to grapple against Angle on Sun, no problem
incidently, someone mentioned in another thread that orton was injured. He poped his shoulder, the doctors reset back into place. Word is hes fine to grapple against Angle on Sun, no problem
I watched the whole ECW show on tuesday and it wasn't that bad. They need to phase out the Raw and Smackdown guys from the shows eventually and let these ECW guys do their thing. The ECW guys don't really say much, vinny mac needs to give these guys some acting lessons or something to make them better on the mic cuz I don't care how good a wrestler a guy is, if he cant sell himself in a promo he ain't shit. RVD is better than ever though
The second episode was a lot better.. There was actual wrestling on it.. but it's not real ECW.. Hopefully the one's done not for Smackdown audiences are better... The crowd was better, though.. Probably since most of the Smackdown fans left since it was taped after Smackdown this week..
On the promo tip, they need to push Justin Credible, dude is good on the mic.
Hopefully, after Vengenace, its just ECW, but i'm doubting it..
The biggest thing that happened, is that Sabu said something....
He's never said anything ever in ECW... And he has only said something in front of crowds like twice, and I don't think he ever said anything actually on TV, before, well, in character.
On the promo tip, they need to push Justin Credible, dude is good on the mic.
Hopefully, after Vengenace, its just ECW, but i'm doubting it..
The biggest thing that happened, is that Sabu said something....
He's never said anything ever in ECW... And he has only said something in front of crowds like twice, and I don't think he ever said anything actually on TV, before, well, in character.
ECW's second episode was way better then the first. I noticed how they dimmed the lights to give it a different feel, I guess if they arent gonna hold shows in smaller arenas apart from Smackdown thats a big improvement. Cause ECW never had that big bright look to it.
I think once all the WWE wrestler involvement dies out , ECW has alot of potential...word is Vince gave Heyman alot more creative control over the show after last weeks negative reaction.
One thing i hope doesnt end up happening is Vince just pouring in WWE rejects that they didnt know what to do with...cause Heyman can only help so much creatively. Althought I think Test in ECW could work if they give him the right gimmick
I think once all the WWE wrestler involvement dies out , ECW has alot of potential...word is Vince gave Heyman alot more creative control over the show after last weeks negative reaction.
One thing i hope doesnt end up happening is Vince just pouring in WWE rejects that they didnt know what to do with...cause Heyman can only help so much creatively. Althought I think Test in ECW could work if they give him the right gimmick
Call me crazy......but I almost get the feeling they're fuckin up on purpose. I'm sayin, look how much advice and feedback and ideas and all this other shit is out there now.
They know that no matter what we'll keep on tuning in, train wreck or otherwise, so as long as it gets better over time, they'll have us all hooked.
They know that no matter what we'll keep on tuning in, train wreck or otherwise, so as long as it gets better over time, they'll have us all hooked.
I'm not sure.. I know Sci-Fi wants WWE guys on the network.. So, it could be like that until after Summerslam when it'll move to USA Network, probably.
And I think they are going to start doing tapings not at Smackdown eventually...
They have one at Hammerstein on August 1st, and one in Philly on July 4.. Rumor is that they may tape a couple episodes at each location..
Those shows will have way better crowd reaction.
Also, they have the ECW Arena show, not sure if cameras will be there or not, originally they weren't, but I think they may be taping the next show there now.
And I think they are going to start doing tapings not at Smackdown eventually...
They have one at Hammerstein on August 1st, and one in Philly on July 4.. Rumor is that they may tape a couple episodes at each location..
Those shows will have way better crowd reaction.
Also, they have the ECW Arena show, not sure if cameras will be there or not, originally they weren't, but I think they may be taping the next show there now.