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Wrasslin Discussion: Week of June 5th.

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I wish he would have. Cena makes me hate wrestling. Actually that isnt very fair, I hate wrestling these days for a lot more than Cena. Seriously though, the look he had on his face in the close up with the teeny tiniest little trickle of blood on his face. It looked like he thought it was a stream of blood in epic ECW proportions. I've had bug bites bleed more than that.
 
My interest in ECW ONS drops 50% after finding out Kurt's Invitational opponent = Mr. Stand and Punch. Sheesh. It was about the only hope I had for there being a quality wrestling exhibition somewhat resembling what Malenko and Benoit could have delivered. At least the ECW fans will give Orton shit nearly on par with what Cena's in store for.
 
Unless RVD comes out with Alfonso and/or his ECW theme, I'm pretty sure he's going to get shit on too. Maybe he'll win them over during the match by avoiding his WWE Five Moves of Doom, but he's being pushed too hard as "ECW Guy" and it's just annoying.
 
Keyser Soze said:
Originally Posted by Wrestling News Site #954793547:
News has reached us that WWE had intended to finally introduce DX tonight in the finally 15 minutes of the show but minutes before going out to the ring McMahon got the news that DMczaf was not watching the show live and the angle was abruptly shifted to next week

....intrestng
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hhhdx5lt.gif


Also:

I'm HBK, Ninja Scooter is HHH, and Guzim is Chyna
 
sorry to lower the tone of this discussion but does anyone know who these new Highlander guys are. I know they are in gimmick hell but are there good wrestlers behind the crap?
 
After RAW went off the air, Triple H pulled down his trunks and mooned both the McMahon's and then went to the back followed by Vince and Shane selling all the way to the back.
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DX!!!!!1
 
Keyser Soze said:
sorry to lower the tone of this discussion but does anyone know who these new Highlander guys are. I know they are in gimmick hell but are there good wrestlers behind the crap?
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HEEERE WE ARE
BORN TO BE KINGS
WE'RE THE PRINCES OF THE UUUUNIVERSSSEEE
WHEER NEER WHEER NEER WHEER NEER WHEER NEER
 
So, these matches (beside the battle royal) weren't promoed tonight:



wwe.com said:
WWE vs. ECW Head to Head

Three matches for the WWE vs. ECW Head to Head special have been confirmed. The matches, which can be seen live this Wednesday on USA Network at 9/8 CT, are as follows:

WWE Champion John Cena vs. Sabu
In a battle of brawling specialists, RAW’s John Cena will get a taste of the extreme atmosphere when he takes on ECW legend Sabu in one-on-one action.

World Champion Rey Mysterio vs. Rob Van Dam
SmackDown’s Rey Mysterio will engage in high-risk combat with Mr. Money in the Bank Rob Van Dam as both men attempt to build momentum heading into One Night Stand.

20-Man Battle Royal – WWE vs. ECW
Mick Foley, Edge, Big Show, Mark Henry, Carlito and Shelton Benjamin are just some of the Superstars that will represent WWE in the 20-man Battle Royal. Team ECW will be represented by Kurt Angle, Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer, Balls Mahoney, Al Snow and more as WWE and ECW battle for the first time in this type of environment.

Momentum and bragging rights will be on the line as WWE and ECW go head to head just four days before One Night Stand. Don't miss WWE vs. ECW Head to Head Wednesday on USA Network at 9/8 CT.
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And here's a good question: where is this going to be filmed?
 
Texas Terry Funk The Hardcore Cripple. It took him 20 minutes to get down the steps and into the ring. :lol

Oh and Edge's spear makes The Worm look devastating. Seriously couldnt they find the poor guy a girlier finisher.

On a positive note Shelton is still the man I see.

HACKSAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAHA Kurt Angle WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Hey its Lita.....yep still looks like a dude. Nice boobs though.

The Highlanders sweet. I've seen a couple of their OVW promos with CM Punk.

A nice match between Haas and Nitro. Have Shelton and Haas had any matches since Haas came back?

**** DUSTY RHODES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is both the most annoying and most ugly person in the history of wrestling.
 
mightynine said:
Since they are bringing back ECW, they should've really considered NOT using the One Night Stand moniker for this PPV. Since it's the launching pad for the new ECW, anything along the lines of Rebirth, Return, First Blood Part 2, etc. would've probably been better. If nothing else, you would've avoided the increasing "compared to the last ONS this card is garbage" feelings among the fanbase.

Also - I don't think you do what seems like the same show a few days earlier, though I'm guessing the WWEvsECW show will feature the ever popular "make tag team matches out of your PPV matches" formula - i.e. any Raw or SD before a PPV.
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Well said, it should be something else. Especially considering it's the 2nd. Kind have more than ONE one night stand.
The ONLY reason ECW is "coming back" (I use that term loosely...it's not ECW... at all. ECW in name only.) is because the PPV sold out in 2 minutes. It should serve as a half fan-service and half relaunch. If not for the loyal old fans, that place wouldn't have sold out that quickly.

I can only guess that there's a nice number of ticket buyers who are a little pissed over what this show has become. That being yet another co-branded PPV, just in a small arena with a smattering of old, beat up ECW guys.

I'm really conflicted about it. I want it to be awesome, but at what expense? Will the missing of Raven, the Dudleyz and Rhino hurt it badly? These guys were a LARGE part of the company and why it came to be known. Raven and Dreamer's matches put that place on the map. The Dudleyz incited RIOTS at the shows. Rhino was a badass who tore through people.

I'm sure the matches at the PPV will be fine. There's enough quality workers there to make it good. But it doesn't feel as "special" as last year's show. If this new ECW isn't around for long, it's going to seem pointless.'

I just can't accept them taping ECW at the Smackdown tapings. Something about that just seems "wrong". The spirit is gone.....
 
I have a feeling ECW won't do that well, because its going to be run like an our long Raw or Smackdown. ECW in its day was a very distinct alternative to WCW and WWF(E) , they said things that the other feds would never say on their shows, they did spots that the competition never would, hell they put superstars over that wouldn't have normally gotten over in any other fed(look at Tazz). The new ecw should be the same way. It should distance itself from the WWE product as much as possible. Stick to small venus, greatly limit the use of talent that is already over in WWE.

Its sort of counterproductive if you ask me. The reason ECW was brought back was because of the success of the DVDs, last year's ONS, and the general buzz about the ECW that was--so why in the hell would you put out something distinctly different than what not only has kept so many loyal fans, but has attracted so many newer fans over the past few years? It just makes no sense.

I guess we'll see, though, in about a week.
 
xabre said:
Ok so RAW...is it worth the download or should I wait till tomorrow when they show it on local cable TV?
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It was a good show, but nothing mind-blowing happened. I would just wait.
 
Nameless said:
I have a feeling ECW won't do that well, because its going to be run like an our long Raw or Smackdown. ECW in its day was a very distinct alternative to WCW and WWF(E) , they said things that the other feds would never say on their shows, they did spots that the competition never would, hell they put superstars over that wouldn't have normally gotten over in any other fed(look at Tazz). The new ecw should be the same way. It should distance itself from the WWE product as much as possible. Stick to small venus, greatly limit the use of talent that is already over in WWE.

Its sort of counterproductive if you ask me. The reason ECW was brought back was because of the success of the DVDs, last year's ONS, and the general buzz about the ECW that was--so why in the hell would you put out something distinctly different than what not only has kept so many loyal fans, but has attracted so many newer fans over the past few years? It just makes no sense.

I guess we'll see, though, in about a week.
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Well house shows will be in those small venues... no idea why the tapings wont be but that may change. I really see no point of using those small venues for house shows as there isnt going to be a tremendous amount of money made that way. I think Vince went about the whole house show issue the wrong way as there is going to be more ecw shows per week than wwe shows, which in itself is wrong.

The feel of the show will be more gritty and will be shot in a different way to the current product. That much is confirmed. While the re-launched ECW will undoubtedly be different from the original ECW, McMahon is adamant that the brand will not stop pushing the envelope.
 
Outcast2004 said:
I can only guess that there's a nice number of ticket buyers who are a little pissed over what this show has become. That being yet another co-branded PPV, just in a small arena with a smattering of old, beat up ECW guys.
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I'm seriously intrigued as to how this crowd is going to react. The "old" ECW crowd, as I've mentioned in the past, would have HATED to be pandered to the way they've been over the last few weeks. And the way they've positioned Cena to *expect* to be booed out of the Hammerstein, I'd fall off my couch if they gave him a hero's welcome just to spite Vince.

But I expect this to be a WWE-ized "ECW" crowd, so they'll properly boo Cena and cheer for RVD, and chant "ECW" like trained monkeys. There was a guy in the crowd last night wearing an ECW t-shirt, with Cena's spinner belt on his shoulder-and he was cheering wildly for Eugene. That's a perfect metaphor for how I expect this PPV to go Sunday.
 
WWE ISN'T BUILDING A NEW ECW BRAND, JUST DELUDING ECW FANS AND THEMSELVES ALIKE
by Mike Johnson @ 12:11:00 PM on 6/6/2006

Several weeks ago, when PWInsider.com broke the news that WWE would be reviving Extreme Championship Wrestling, fans around the world went ballistic with their hopes that it could be as special as the company that once shocked and changed the wrestling world from a Bingo Hall in Philadelphia. With Sabu, The Sandman, Francine, and others signed to contracts, fans were hopeful that it could either be the ECW of old (not likely) or something alternative the flat feeling of Smackdown and Raw where cartoon characters and vignettes, not wrestling, are the flavor of the menu.

It started strong, with Joey Styles' (whatever happened to him?) excellent rant against sports-entertainment. From there, it sputtered downward, to the point the same fans who were running around all excited and anxious for June 11th to get here so they could see ECW One Night Stand are now shaking their heads and wishing they weren't going to the show.

WWE issued a press release several weeks back that they were going to take ECW global, shoot it differently, and provide a different form of entertainment, allowing their fans to have not two, but three unique brands to choose from. So, how come there is nothing unique about this new ECW yet? How come WWE has done nothing to build this brand.

Don't believe me? Let’s look at ECW One Night Stand first!

THE GRUDGE MATCH WITH NO BABYFACES

Mick Foley and Edge attack Tommy Dreamer, who pops up on TV with no explanation at all and no reason for fans to actually care about him, since the last time he was on TV, he was powerbombed through a flaming table a year ago. Foley and Edge then lay out Terry Funk, who at least the fans cared about since they beat him down in his home State. Paul Heyman got Edge to agree to a match at One Night Stand, and since then, Foley has been going back and forth with...Kurt Angle for the last two weeks?

That's a dream match in many ways, but isn't Foley wrestling Dreamer and Funk? You know, Tommy Dreamer, the guy who is the heart and soul of ECW? Well, why is he treated like he's Cousin Oliver on the Brady Bunch by WWE? Wouldn't it make sense to explain why Dreamer wants to defend ECW, much less get revenge for getting punked out on television, especially when he's the ONE PERFORMER in the match that will be part of the new ECW brand?

Now, I can see WWE apologists explaining it away as that ECW fans will know these characters. Well, if you are truly building a brand, wouldn't you want, say, all the fans to want to care about Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk? Wouldn't you want fans to know the history of Mick Foley with those two? No, it's more important to trot out the Hardcore title, a belt meant to mock ECW's Hardcore matches, and confuse the fans by creating an issue between Kurt Angle and Foley, who aren't wrestling on the PPV.

Meanwhile, WWE has a match with no babyfaces, just two guys who got beat up and have yet to explain why they want vengeance. Think about it: You have a tag match to sell for a PPV this weekend, yet none of the babyfaces, including Terry Funk, one of the greatest promo guys ever in wrestling, has had one segment, one interview to explain what they are going to do to Edge and Foley, much less why they want to do it!

THE ECW MATCH WITH NO ECW STARS

Kurt Angle is drafted to ECW, which is great on paper, because he's one of the best in-ring talents this generation will ever see. Angle shows a ton of aggression and it's pushed that he's going to have an open challenge for anyone in a 4, 6, or 8 sided ring. Fans are buzzing if WWE is going to bring in Daniel Puder, or maybe toss Sylvester Turkay in there. Could it be a TNA guy jumping? No, it's Randy Orton, who is awarded for his suspension with an immediate PPV payday.

The only problem is, well, actually, there's a ton of problems here. One, why is Kurt Angle in ECW when he was the one trying to ruin the show a year ago? WWE Creative doesn't want you to pay attention to that. Just ignore it because, uh...Oh yeah, it's that new vision of ECW. I'll get to that in a minute.

Of course, why is Randy Orton on a PPV for a company that he never had a thing to do with, wrestling another guy who has no reason to want to wrestle for ECW in the first place? You can make a case for both Edge and Angle being there, because from an ECW fans' point of view, they carry the type of work ethic and heart that ECW fans want to see. Worse still, Orton got more mic time last night than ANY talent that is supposed to be part of this "new brand."

So now, ECW fans, who paid (at minimum) $100-$250 for tickets on Sunday, get to watch a glorified Smackdown bout. Does anyone in WWE get that the reason fans want ECW back in the first place is because they don't enjoy what they are getting on Raw and Smackdown? If so, why are you booking that match on an ECW PPV?

THE ICON? OF WHAT?

WWE hires Sandman, the Extreme Icon of ECW, who's ring entrance was the highlight of last year's PPV. Yet, as of this writing, we are five days away from the PPV...without one mention of his name, one attempt to market who he will be wrestling, or even a promo to explain who in the world he is. No, he shows up, looking like one of a bunch of thugs and proceeds to cane the brim of John Cena's hat. No match, no explanation, just, “Hey, it’s the Sandman.” This explains to the audience they should care about him, why? You can insert every other former ECW star who was hired and ask the same question. Why should fans care about them? Beats me! At least Sabu got a music video.

HEAD FOR THE HILLS, IT’S VELOCITY!

Of course, then we get to last night’s beating of John Cena. While WWE may see it as Cena threw down first, so ECW laid him out, it came off like a bunch of nobodies just beat the hell out of the WWE champion, because that's what WWE has portrayed the ECW stars as...a bunch of nobodies. In fact, they are worse than just nobodies. They are nobodies who run at the first sight of Big Show, Trevor Murdoch, Matt Striker, and Lance Cade hitting the ring.

Think about it - Sabu and Terry Funk are running away from the guys who can't get a win on Velocity? Yes, that will certainly make the average fan want to turn into Sci Fi every Tuesday. If WWE ever actually tells the fans that ECW will be on Sci Fi, that is.

Perhaps WWE will remember to do that, when they finally get over this grand new vision they have for the new Extreme Championship Wrestling. Now, let’s discuss that farce.

THE FALSITY OF A NEW ECW VISION

There is a new vision of ECW - it's called Raw with Vampires.

WWE keeps throwing around all the cool buzz words that they want to get over with their corporate stockholders when it comes to launching their version of Extreme Championship Wrestling. sports-entertainment, new vision, etc. etc.

There's only one problem with this new vision of ECW. None of the fans who WWE wants to, you know, actually watch and support ECW, want a new vision. They just want their ECW, the way they liked it. What a concept, eh?

I don't mean the way ECW used to be, either. It's not that fans want a never-ending nostalgia run of ECW. They don't even want the same old talents, beyond a few hardcore legends. All the fans want is the old ECW work ethic packaged in a way they can watch, attend, and support. They want biting drama and emotion. They want one hour a week and when ECW is in town, three hours a night, where they can go and love wrestling the way they used to - by seeing guys go all out and enjoy themselves and play off the energy of the fans. To those fans, ECW was a home team. To the wrestlers of that company, it was home, which is why they all still romanticize about it, even those who were owed large sums of money when ECW died.

All true wrestling fans want is a chance to watch the new roster do their thing. WWE would rather throw out the "new vision" phraseology as a way to mask the truth, which is that this won't be ECW as anyone knew it before or as anyone who saw it previously truly wants it. Let's call a spade a spade and not beat around the bush - this new ECW is going to be a glorified extension of Raw and Smackdown, playing off the old ECW name. That's it. WWE has done nothing to show anyone otherwise, nor will they do so, because that’s the best they can come up with under their current creative regime. While Paul Heyman and Tommy Dreamer might be involved in the process, it’s obvious that they don’t hold the cards or the power, because neither of them would allow ECW to be treated this way.

HOW TO LAUNCH A NEW WRESTLING COMPANY: THE MCMAHON WAY

Now, before anyone throws up the words I'm just bitter that it's not the old ECW, the truth is that this shouldn't be the old ECW. I wrote a long, long column about that weeks ago. That ECW is dead. From a business perspective, it failed. From an artistic perspective, it was never anything but a complete success. All WWE has to do is follow that motif, package it the way WWE does with their other projects, and let it run. So why is WWE launching ECW from a half-assed perspective?

First, let's ignore the obvious - Vince McMahon going on his website and demeaning and downplaying ECW’s history and fan base, the same fans that resurrected the company by shocking the world with the sales of the Rise and Fall of ECW documentary.

No, let’s get right into the marketing of this new ECW itself.

What was the big storyline to bring back ECW? Oh wait, there wasn't one. "Hey Mick, you know ECW's coming back, right?" said Paul Heyman. Yep, that was it. That was the big dramatic moment. It rates really high on the scale of drama in WWE’s world, right under the time the Godfather and his Hos popped up to keep Viscera from getting engaged to Lillian Garcia.

How about that WWE vs. ECW special that will air this Wednesday. Well, it sure was good to see a bloody John Cena challenge Sabu to a singles match after Sabu put Cena through a table during the first segment on Raw, right? Oh wait, that didn't happen. Not even on WWE.com’s Unlimited! No, the big dramatic announcement there was a posting on WWE.com, as opposed to announcing it on the flagship series, Raw. That will sure help fans find out about that match, and certainly was far less important than the lone mention of a 20 Man Battle Royal where ECW stars can be faceless performers against a sea of faceless WWE stars. It’s only the WWE champion, after all.

Of course that special could go a long way towards launching ECW’s new TV series. Hey, how about that ECW TV series on Sci Fi, anyway, right? Yes, it sure was cool to see all those promos announcing it, eh? Yep, you got the picture. No promos. No mention. I just hope the next thing on the list isn’t, “No ratings.”

The line that WWE will pass out internally is that creatively (it always goes back to creative), they aren’t far enough along in their storylines to promote these things. I call Bullsh**. The problem is that, much like every other brand WWE will be running, ECW will be held under the scrutiny of Vince McMahon and his creative team and this will be his vision of what he thinks ECW should be. It will have the same haphazard builds and illogical plotline holes that Raw and Smackdown do, because it’s all coming from the same source.

ECW is going to be everything that the original ECW revolted against, unless things change now. It’s not too late for WWE to realize they’re going about this the wrong way. All it will take is one person, Vince McMahon, to admit that just because his way has made him a ton of money, doesn’t mean another way can’t make him that money as well. It's going to fall on McMahon as to whether he lets the golden goose lay him the eggs, or whether he has it rubbed out, gangland execution style. He's already going down the path to the latter.

Yes, It’s possible things will be different a month from now and everyone is celebrating the new ECW, raining praise upon it.

However, it’s also very possible that ECW could very well become the XFL of 2006 – with Vampires!
 
Long, but GOOD read.
Sums up my fears and utter disappointment with the NewECW perfectly.

From the "Only a matter of time" category.
ROAD WARRIOR ANIMAL RELEASED
by Mike Johnson @ 12:20:00 PM on 6/6/2006


Road Warrior Animal has been released from his WWE deal. He hasn't had much of a role since Heidenreich was released several months back, so this one isn't really much of a surprise.
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TNA has the best PR guys in the business

http://sports.ign.com/articles/711/711301p1.html

Total Nonstop Non-Action

In regards to the email from last week talking about how much the reader enjoyed the WWE interviews; how about a couple of interviews with the guys (or girls) from Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). With the game from Midway coming out sometime next year, I figured this could help some of the readers who aren't familiar with TNA, to understand who they are and what they're about.-Mike

I would love to talk to the likes of AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, but for some reason TNA hasn't been very accommodating to my interview requests. I can call up WWE and get Edge or John Cena or just about any superstar on the phone no problem, but anytime I've put in a request at TNA (and I'm talking multiple calls), they simply don't call me back. I guess IGN and our 25 million readers aren't good enough for them. What's even funnier is as I'm typing this, I just got an e-mail asking me if I want to interview Paul Heyman about the new ECW. That's what I call good PR.
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:lol
 
Gawd Damnit! What in the **** is wrong with the WWE creative team....Paul Heyman should quit now and go to TNA rather than being apart of this...

Mike Johnson reports that David Heath aka Gangrel was contacted last week by the WWE and will likely be re-signed soon for the ECW brand. ECWWrestlingNews.com has more on a vampire storyline for his return.
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I was just joking when I suggested Gangrel...WHAT THE ****!!!! He was mildy interesting in what, 97? For a couple of weeks and then it sucked...
 
Nameless said:
Gawd Damnit! What in the **** is wrong with the WWE creative team....Paul Heyman should quit now and go to TNA rather than being apart of this...



I was just joking when I suggested Gangrel...WHAT THE ****!!!! He was mildy interesting in what, 97? For a couple of weeks and then it sucked...
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Well, they had a cool entrance........ and that's about it.
 
ack go away Gangrel...i'm sorry but if they're hiring that back and people like that, don't shit on me liking Jeff Hardy...at least he had a cool entrance too Outcast :p.

Guys don't forget be here tomorow!
 
Randy Orton wasn't scheduled to return until next week. WWE officials brought him back because they thought they needed someone like him on the upcoming ECW PPV. This move upset quite a few people. According to several workers backstage, Orton came off as the exact same person that he was before and that there was no improvement in his personality while he was away. Some say he is even worse than he was before seeing how he now has it in his head that he's so important and thus WWE brought him back early from his "vacation."
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Why does everyone hate The Legend Killer but me?

Earlier today, we noted that when wrestlers get no reaction from the crowd, WWE officials refer to it as the "Charlie Haas pop." The term actually started one or two years ago (from WWE management no less), but its back in full force now as they've used the term a lot in recent weeks.
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:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol Poor Chuck.
 
RVD on if the new ECW roster should only consist of former ECW stars…

"No, that would not work. That's something that, last year, was talked about a lot. Right after One Night Stand because it was such a huge success, because it had so much momentum, people were like 'Oh yeah, I heard it's going to take place at Smackdown', and of course, I had some ideas of my own and if I wasn't out on injury, I would've been trying to talk Vince into doing something. I really thought that through, but it wouldn't work with just the old ECW guys…half of them are dead and half of them should be dead. [laughs] Last year it was about history. It was about bringing everybody back to that moment in time, and if you weren't there, then you don't belong. It was a love night. This new idea of brining it back for today would have to involve recruiting new guys and making it current while having enough of the original players to carry the spirit through. And with Paul and Dreamer behind it, it can't be bad."
 
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