The WWE-owned version of ECW on Sci Fi's airing on Tuesday night, July 31 drew a 1.29 rating, the lowest rating the show has done since the re-launch by World Wrestling Entertainment.

This is a devastating sign to WWE that the entire fan base is turning the channel on WWE. As one person in the production division told me tonight, "the axe has to start swinging ...... We're in trouble ...... How can Bonnie Hammer justify these numbers to NBC-Universal ..... Vince is going to have to make moves just to show he's addressing the problem."

Wade Keller of pwtorch.com reported this rating is another alarmingly low rating, putting TNA Impact within reach of for the first time overtaking ECW in the prime time weeknight ratings race for the no. 3 ranked wrestling show during the week. ECW drew a 1.31 rating last week, a drop well under the normal rating before the Benoit family tragedy ..... The Raw rating is just amazing. Major reason for concern ..... There is something more going on with this drop-off in interest in the WWE product on Monday nights. It's hard to imagine next week reaching a new low, but WWE is now hoping for a return to 3.4, which just three weeks ago was considered a bad rating.

The timing could not be worse for WWE, with the quarterly investors conference taking place tomorrow.

In our story posted on the erosion of ECW's ratings two weeks ago (WWE's VERSION OF ECW SINKS EVEN LOWER IN THE RATINGS), we noted that 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."

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 ..... 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.


NEW LINKS FOR ECW HIGHLIGHTS

WCW tried to copy this promo, but it was a tremendous character piece in ECW when Raven was in the classroom talking about Tommy Dreamer. Paul Heyman stated at one of the Cyberslam conventions this promo was inspired by Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" video: ECW 1995-01-31 Raven promo in classroom.

Another tremendous Raven promo from the 1st month of his character in ECW. Paul Heyman talked about shooting this promo at 2 in the morning in the playground of a local elementary school: ECW 1995-01-21 Raven promo on swings.

Beulah's Box!!! Beulah McGillicutty promo about her (mail)box always being open for you, followed by Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box" with some awesome footage of Beulah. Another great example of the groundbreaking videos done by ECW in its heyday: ECW Heart Shaped Box.

Here's Dreamer vs Raven in the moment that made Dreamer "hardcore." Dreamer had been heckled by the ECW Arena crowd until this famous moment when he delivered a piledriver to Beulah McGillicutty. This was in the day that violence towards women was rare in wrestling, especially a babyface doing something to a female. This is also a strongpoint of ECW's, in that it was one of the rare non-finishes in Paul Heyman's booking scheme, yet it was so memorable. Here's the link: ECW 1995-04-15 Raven vs Tommy Dreamer.

Here's Beulah vs Luna Vachon, which turned into a great angle where Raven broke Tommy Dreamer's fingers. This is from June 17, 1995: ECW 1995-06-17 Beulah vs Luna, Raven breaks Dreamers fingers.

One of the greatest moments in ECW history was the "Beulah is pregnant" storyline. Here's the link to House Party 96's most memorable moment: ECW 1996-01-05 Beulah's pregnant with Tommy's kid.

Maybe the most famous heel interview in history, written about in his NY Times #!1 best seller "Have A Nice Day", was Mick Foley's "Cane Dewey" promo. More than anything, this promo turned "Cactus Jack" into one of the most hated heels in ECW. People got legitimately angry at Foley for this promo: ECW 1995-08 Cactus Jack 'Cane Dewey' promo on Dreamer.

The first time "Cactus Jack" ever appeared on a wrestling show under his real name "Mick Foley" was during the Anti-Hardcore promos he cut during the "Pulp Fiction" segments. A great fan put these promos together in a montage. Thanks to "BloddRiotZero", here's the infamous series of promos: ECW 1995 Cactus Jack 'Anti-Hardcore' promos montage.

Foley shoots on wrestling fans and their lack of compassion about Harley Race's broken body, Dynamite Kid's physical sacrifices, and Tommy Dreamer's quest to be "hardcore." This promo was years ahead of its time: ECW 1995 Cactus Jack 'Anti-Hardcore' promo on Dreamer.

The single greatest heel shoot promo probably ever recorded was Mick Foley's rant in 1995, when he shot all over ECW fans for pushing the wrestlers too far: YouTube - ECW 1995 Cactus Jack 'Anti-Hardcore' promo on Dreamer.

Mick Foley signs with WWE (then WWF). He uses a Mr. Potato Head to illustrate what happened when he lost an ear in the match with Vader. This is the unique chemistry of Foley and Mikey Whipwreck: ECW 1996-02-06 (2) Cactus tries to recruit Mikey.

A lot of people thought this was as emotional a music video as ECW ever produced: ECW Terry Funk "Desperado" Promo.

A great angle took place involving Brian Pillman and "The Franchise" Shane Douglas where Pillman hid behind a small child. This is just great stuff from the Lost Batalion Hall in Queens, New York from March 12, 1996: ECW 1996-03-12 (1) Pillman continues to provoke Douglas. The pullapart had so much heat, a near riot broke out with people trying to get to Pillman. Another example of the realism of ECW booking at the time, with the audience going crazy. This was in front of the "smartest" audience in wrestling, a majority of the audience had to be "sheet readers," and yet they got hooked on the solid storytelling and amazing performances by Pillman and an inspired Shane Douglas.

Pillman showed up at the ECW Arena with bodyguard Harry Boatswain of the Philadelphia Eagles the next week at the Big Ass Extreme Bash. This was another amazing angle, with several memorable moments, including an awesome Pillman heel promo, and a great followup angle with Shane Douglas: ECW 1996-03-19(1) Brian Pillman provokes Shane Douglas AGAIN.

Chris Candido and Tammy "Sunny" Sytch have a breakup in front of everyone in a great angle building towards Shane Douglas and Candido vs Lance Storm and a mystery partner (who ended up being Sunny, who turned on Storm, which lead to Al Snow's "Head" moment at Living Dangerously 98): YouTube - Cyberslam 98 pt 2 . This is Candido and Tammy at their best.

This lead to the night they made Al Snow a star at Living Dangerously 1998:Lance Storm & Sunny vs Shane Douglas & Chris Candido.

The 1998 "November Rain" video building to the The Triple Threat (Shane Douglas, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Chris Candido) vs The "New" Triple Threat (Sabu, Taz, and RVD). This was actually the feed from the German television international syndication show from ECW. Also included is Tammy Sytch's famous stripping of Dawn Marie during Dawn's ECW debut; The FBI; Lance Storm's excellent heel work with Dawn Marie as they got over as a great duo; Spike Dudley's giant killer routine starts with Big Sal E. Graziano; Balls Mahoney vs Masato Tanaka chairshot duel when Tanaka first did the "no sell" spot; The Dudley Boys as the most hated team in ECW history; and Justin Credible's vicious, bloody caning of Tommy Dreamer. The foreign commentary interrupts the mood, but the video, even 9 years later, is still great: YouTube - ECW November Rain.

Tazz, when he was Taz, talking about Chris Jericho: YouTube - Taz promo on Chris Jericho (3-19-96 ECW TV).

Paul Heyman addresses the locker room in the movie "Beyond The Mat" moments before the Barely Legal pay per view: YouTube - Paul Heyman "Welcome To The Dance" Promo.

Rob Van Dam in downtown Chicago defending the ECW World TV Title on TNN (now Spike TV) against CW Anderson. An impromptu match between Sabu and Van Dam breaks out. If you want to see RVD before WWE screwed up the character of RVD, this is an inspired RVD at the top of his game. Excellent commentary by Joey Styles (of course) and "The Quintessential Stud Muffin" Joel Gertner. Plus, some clasic New Jack promos on a moving NYC train, and he was as good as anyone else in 1999: YouTube - RVD.