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Let me start off this article by setting personal bias straight. I am not an anti-ECW person by all means. I am a fan of wrestling in general with a basic personal opinion. And considering this is my first article with OWW, I kept thinking of what I wanted to write about to start things off with a bang. And the thing that is generating most bang with me is ECW.

The vibe I got from ECW from the old days was one that was this insane form of sports entertainment that seemed to really stand out amongst the mainstream WWF and WCW. This small promotion, run out of a bingo hall in Philly, brought a new level of intensity and violence to wrestling. And not only was the new level of intensity entertaining, it hooked into many fans like an addiction. The question that I think needs to be asked is, what made this product so special to this hardcore group of fans"

The action is probably the most obvious answer. Those who weren't satisfied with a lot of glitzy, sexually-charged storylines and angles of WCW and WWF could turn the channel over to good ol' TNN and watch Sabu give somebody and Arabian Facebuster with a steel chair or watch RVD do a somersault plancha off the top rope into the crowd, watch the Dudley Boys give some poor sap a 3D through a table, or Sandman just beat the mess out of somebody with a kendo stick. This kind of action fulfilled the audience's craving for moments that make you want to start "Holy Sh*t" chants. The small time environment intensified this atmosphere because it also gave less of a chance for one group of fans to disagree with the others. The fans seemed to be united in their love, or hatred, of a wrestler, tag team, or stable. This made it a great way to make the matches come off good on television with good fan interaction as well as aid in getting storylines over.

While I do not believe that ECW was the first promotion to truly "shock" the audience, I do believe that they definitely pushed the limits. Not only the intensity of the matches make you think to yourself "Damn, that's intense" but some of the storylines truly helped. Let's think back to the Sandman/Raven feud where families were first involved, or one of the most distinct parody stables in wrestling, the bWo. ECW helped to usher in many new ideas to professional wrestling.

Having established some of the things I remember from ECW, I keep asking myself the question that everyone has on their minds. Is it possible for Vince McMahon, the multi-billionaire who helped bring wrestling into the mainstream with the WWE, successfully resurrect an old brand like ECW and really capture its old atmosphere and intensity" The answer to that question, as it seems so far, is a resounding no.

The ECW we see now seems the exact same as the two brands RAW and SD! Just with older superstars from ECW. Even with the ECW superstars trying to help bring back some of the old style of ECW (*cough cough* Tommy Dreamer and Paul Heyman *cough cough*) Vince McMahon has still turned this new promotion into the typical WWE show. Let's compare some of the things that go on now in ECW and how they would fly back in the 90's. Would Sandman be as popular today as he is if all he did in his career was come out of the crowd wielding a kendo stick and just beat the hell out of stupid characters like Macho Libre and the Priest" No. He got popular because he had matches and storylines that helped him expand his character and the WWE needs to do that to really expose him to the fans that might not have watched ECW back in the day. Because the WWE is missing a huge opportunity to promote an awesome character in the Sandman if they don't start to involve him in something that actually has some meaning.

Kelly Kelly is also something that is new to ECW. She is incredibly hot and all, but come on now, this is ECW. If you are going to have a hot girl on there, which is definitely fine by me, have her be beating the hell out of another girl. This is WRESTLING after all. But hey, as has been demonstrated many times before, if Vince likes you, then you get to be on television 24/7.

Granted, ECW has not been around for very long, but the roster right now is looking weak because they need to expand to new stars to fill up their divisions. Tag teams right now include the F.B.I. and...oh yes, that's it. No Television Title yet either. Instead of worrying about having John Cena run in again and again, why not start to promote some feuds with some other wrestlers and have them be for some gold.

Finally, my last comment would have to be on the fact that it seems Vince McMahon has limited the hardcore matches to only specific matches and not applying to all matches like it was back in the 90's ECW. If you take the hardcore element out of ECW, then what makes it different from RAW or Smackdown" The hardcore element used to be a key driver in what made people tune in at night to watch it, so what is really going to make the average Joe Wrestling Fan turn to Sci-Fi on Tuesday nights" Taking out the hardcore element is basically cutting out the heart of ECW. Cut around the fat of ECW, including some of the things of listed, but if you want to see ECW thrive, don't take the hardcore element away because all it will do is lead to its demise.

I have faith in ECW right now. It has things that are good about it, rest assured. We will see CM Punk debut there and tear it up, we get to see awesome stars like Big Show and Kurt Angle in a new type of environment, and we get to see the usage of Sabu and RVD to their fullest (when they get back, of course.) So if you're a fan of "hardcore" wrestling, let us hope for the a little nostalgia of the old ECW and make that nostalgia a normal thing for this new breed of professional wrestling and not make Extreme Championship Wrestling turn into Everyday Common Wrestling.

by Ryan Gregg ..