A former member of WWE's senior management team said to me recently, "ECW was the stuff of urban legend. It had a rabid fan base, created more memorable moments in the 1990s on their budget than WCW did with hundreds of millions of dollars, discovered more talent and created more memorable characters than anyone in history except WWE, and when it came back after 4 1/2 years, we charged 400 dollars per seat ringside for The Hammerstein Ballroom and sold it out. Not to mention a pretty impressive pay per view buyrate."

The same former member of senior management then stated, "Amazing how WWE puts their machine behind it and can't duplicate what was done with passion, creativity, a great fan base, and dedicated workers."

This week's debacle of a rating was a 1.34, the 2nd lowest regularly scheduled episode since the re-launch of the brand on Sci Fi Channel. Two weeks ago, the show dropped to 1.24, but semi-rebounded last week to a 1.37, which even though is higher than most shows on Sci Fi, is a truly disastrous number for WWE cable ratings.

The brand, which achieved worldwide cult status under the guru-like leadership of Paul Heyman, has been reduced to a WWE Tuesday night time killer, compared by one WWE creative team member, who for obvious reasons asked to remain anonymous, to "the waning days of WCW Thunder."

The current creative writer said, "at least last year, when it was struggling to find an identity between Vince, Stephanie, and Kevin Dunn's vision and the polar opposite vision of Paul Heyman, the show had some momentum as Big Show had heat, and characters were being established. Now, everyone knows this is just like Heat or Velocity."

For those who never saw the original product, ECW was a groundbreaking promotion that forced the stale WWE (then WWF) and Eric Bischoff-lead WCW to take notice and change the way wrestling in North America is presented.

One of the things ECW did on television was get a lot of characters over in an interview segment called "Pulp Fiction." Here is a link to one "Pulp Fiction" from 1996 featuring a naked Brian Pillman, Tazz with Bill Alfonso, The Sandman with Missy Hyatt, The Pit Bulls, an amazing "mirror routine" with Bubba Ray Dudley and The Blue Meanie, JT Smith thinking he was Italian, The Eliminators, and more: ECW 1996-03-05 Pulp Fiction promos.

Another great look at an ECW "Pulp Fiction" interview segment can be found here: ECW Pulp Fiction Promos: Hardcore TV 9/10/1996. This one features Tazz and Bill Alfonso in the height of Tazz's run as the baddest heel in ECW; Shane Douglas with Francine, who is in a hot bikini; The Dudley Boys turn hardcore; Gary "Pit Bull" Wolf with a closeup of his surgical halo to keep his broken neck in place; Little Guido (WWE's Nunzio) trying to beat up the Rocky Statue in Philadelphia in a routine with JT Smith (they were the original FBI); Prime Time Brian Lee; Doctor Death Steve Williams; Stevie Richards doing a routine with Hollywood hooker Divine Brown (of "Hugh Grant" fame); The Gangstas in the hood; and Raven, joined by Sandman's ex-wife Lori Fullington with Raven at his best; and The Eliminators famous promo with Saturn repeating, over and over again, "Doc and Gordy, Doc and Gordy, Doc and Gordy."

During ECW's bitter battle with TNN (now Spike TV), Heyman cut a famous --or rather, infamous-- "shoot promo" where Paul E told the real story of Vince McMahon's WWE coming to the network: ECW glory day-6 Censored Footage.

Some great RVD highlights, put together by a fan, here: Rob Van Dam at old ECW Part 1, and even more here: Rob Van Dam at old ECW Part 2 .

In 1999, The Sandman returned to the ECW Arena, and it was every bit as crazy as the famous entrance from the Hammerstein in 2005. Here's a great clip from the world's most famous bingo hall in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Sandman Returns.

Some say one of the greatest moments in ECW history was The Sandman's entrance at The Hammerstein Ballroom at the 1st ECW One Night Stand in 2005: Sandman crowd sings along to "Enter Sandman".

Every November, ECW put on its biggest event of the year, The November To Remember. Paul E and the famed television team then known as "Ron and Charlie" would edit "November Rain" by Guns 'n' Roses with highlights of all the events leading up to the event. This is the 1996 version of "November Rain": ECW November Rain Promo.

Steve Austin's first real chance to showcase his talking ability came in ECW. He had left WCW, and did a take-off of Monday Nitro called "Monday NyQuil": Steve Austin in Extreme!.

Austin also showed the world he could be more "Stone Cold" than "Stunning" with this captivating interview: Steve Austin ECW Shoot promo.

Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka was a highlight of Heat Wave 1998: YouTube - Hardcore.


If you watch just these samplings of the original ECW, you have to wonder how a billion dollar corporation, with all the resources it has behind them, has screwed up the 1st-ever resurrection of a promotion so badly.