LESS TALK, MORE ACTION - THIRD BATCH OF READER FEEDBACK TO ECW
Tarot Reading
P.S. Somebody needs to tell Lita that bangs went out in the 80's.
Tonight as many of you may know Paul Heyman was given total creative control of the show and as I am concerned it didn't make one difference sure they messed around with the lights lowering them but then this was also done in the old days of wrestling to conceal the fact that the show had a poor or low attendance...In one hour the show could only summon up enough strength to give one good match and that being the main event which wouldn't have been possible without ECW borrowing two of Raw's stars in Randy Orton and Edge....There once again was too many vampires and ghouls on this show to make it an effective show...They wasted time showing Big Show and Tommy Dreamer and it wasn't even an official match they could have used this time more wisely...If I want to see porn as in the case of the ECW stripper I'll rent a tape at the local porn shop to put that on the show and then have someone yank her off stage at the last moment only served as filler and weakened the show further...The Macho Libre make fun of "Macho Man"Randy Savage skit was dull at best and in poor taste what heat could ECW have with Savage as far as I know he's never appeared or shown an interest in appearing in an ECW wrestling ring...EDGE was right when he proclaimed ECW sucks....This was week number two and under Heyman control the man who created the original ECW and he dropped the ball! That's two weeks in a row they put out a weak show and I've wasted my time it won't happen next week!. On a positive side at least I along with many other wrestling fans still have TNA on Thursday night to enjoy and with Senshi Facing Samoa Joe and Sonjay Dutt for the X Division title it should be an awesome show unlike tonight's ECW product!
Dan Retnyap ,CT
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I don't know if you guys will post this or not, but I need to vent to someone. I have watched wrestling for over 25 years, and was a diehard ECW fan through it's history. I have to say that the new show is almost unbearable to watch. first- I am glad that Justin credible, balls Mahoney, Sabu, and others have contracts. I am glad Stevie and al snow are on TV. these are my only comforts. as far as the "new breed unleashed" is concerned, it is awful. it's another hour of putting over WWE. Cena, edge, angle, big show (who are still WWE no matter what shirt they wear or how many times angle chants ECW!) there is no point in taping the shows at Smackdown events. the fans there came to see Smackdown stars and don't care about ECW or it's workers. changing the entrance, mat, ropes, and announcers table location are not the changes they said would be made. there is no "edgy" feel or difference from Raw. the show is worse than velocity, because it is so disappointing.
now to the actual action. seeing angle destroy credible was bad. seeing show destroy dreamer was worse. these are former ECW world champions for god sake!!! I don't even mind the comedy of the zombie and macho libre as much as I hate Kelly!!! why the hell do we need this buck tooth plastic surgery case who can't manage to disrobe. exhibitionist? who cares? I would have killed to see Guido vs. CW. Anderson in that timeslot!!! and test!?!? why test? why do we get these crappy guys to destroy our heroes? and that's what will happen. what is the point of having every man on the ECW roster rallying together backstage? there is no story whatsoever other than "we need to get those guys from raw". will we see an ongoing cross-promotion forever? it's like Vince and his yes man Kevin Dunn (who has no place in wrestling) have taken everything that ECW ever was away from Paul E. so he could play around with WCW thunder or Saturday night.
I know I sound totally negative, but this ECW rebirth truly breaks my heart. it should make us realize how good ECW on TNN actually was. and that is sad!!! watching this show is like someone digging up the corpse of my dead mother and raping it in front on me...every Tuesday...10, 9 central.
Ok, this weeks ECW on Scifi was not nearly as bad as last weeks debut. I thought the actual matches were solid, but of course this is McECW, so there had to be stupid things.
Why is Taz putting over the Raw rating?
Why is Taz putting over Orton and Edge, when Jerry Lawler calls every ECW "Rebel" crappy week after week?
Why was Cena allowed to go into ECW and walk back out untouched?
Why is Kelly still on my TV screen? Don't get me wrong, she's hot, but the stripping thing got old the first 10 seconds of last week.
Why is ECW still starting with the same crowd shots as Raw and Smackdown?
What was the point of Big Show beating down Dreamer?
Macho Libre?
The main event was a real good match, but it featured 2 WWE guys vs. a WWE guy pretending to be ECW, and an ECW guy who's been wrestling in WWE for 5 years now!
Robert
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Caught some of the end and have read everything else that happened and am ready with my two cents....
1. Its good that they went live.
2. The dark arena was a good idea for the matches because its the most logical way to give the building a smaller look. At least the powers that be were listening on that one.
3. They also heard the constructive criticism by using more hand-held floor level shots. I think they used too many camera cuts, but I think they are on the right track if they don't give up on it too soon.
4. MovieExchange made a good observation when he compared ECW to Wrestling Superstars and Challenge. But I think they may have come up with something from that era that they can use if they're smart (although we all know they aren't)-the pre-taped promos during wrestling action. For WWECW to work, they have to be a true alternative to RAW or Smackdown. The easiest way to do this (and to give at least the most vocal of those who bash the current WWE product) is to do more wrestling. They can have the best of both worlds if you cut the promos during the match.
That's all I got right now....at least til I watch my disc of the show anyways
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I know that everyone at PWInsider.com have been preaching that while watching "ECW" we are really watching wweecw. And I'm not a fool and know coming in that this is not the ECW that I knew and loved. That being said... I'm sad and outraged at the way "ECW" is being presented.
Apparently I am in the minority as the poll that pwinsider.com has going states that most of the people thought it was a good show. If that was a good show... then David Arquette was a good WCW champion. The show was boring, predictable, and lame. The only thing lamer then putting out Macho Libre for Sandman to squash was Sandman's pre-interview up in the upper right corner like were watching the old Wrestling Challenge or my first thought GLOW. Is David McLaine part of the new ECW? Seems like everyone who isn't from the original ECW is. I'm done with this charade. Thanks Vince... thanks for nothing.
Marc New York, NY
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I thought the show was much better than last week, though that is not saying much considering it sucked last week. In all fairness, this was a good, but far from great show.
One of the problems is the audience. I realize that they are having a joint ECW/ Smackdown crowd in order to save costs. That being said, the crowd was dead for most of the show. During the main event, both Kurt Angle and RVD at different times were clapping their hands trying to get the crowd to react. Both times, there was little if any reaction.
And the bastardization of the music does not help either. I fully agree with WWE not wanting to pay $10+ million to Metallica for the rights of using Enter Sandman. I am a huge Metallica fan, but in this case f**k them that is ridiculous money. Why they can't pay Motorhead I don't know say $2.5 million for their version (yeah it's not my money) I don't know. Same with Dreamer's Man in the Box, I think what they have playing for him now is supposed to be a version of it, but it is no Alice in Chains
Opening the show with Sabu vs. Mamaluke was smart. Sabu is one of the most exciting wrestlers they have in ECW and Mamaluke can wrestle pretty well (especially for a fellow Bensonhurst Italian). Mamaluke got in the right amount of offense and Sabu hit a couple of his trademark spots to perfection.
Macho Libre cracked me up. Until I read the site, I did not recognize that it was Tony DeVito in the get up, but it was good for what it was. But, after a few weeks, they will need to have Sandman do something else than sub one minute squashes over spoof jobbers.
The Big Show beatdown of Dreamer served it's purpose to try and build him up in the eyes of the ECW crowd. The smile at the end by Dreamer was a nice touch showing he wanted to bring out an ECW version of Big Show. The problem is Big Show has always been an underachiever in WWE (I thought he was great his first few years in WCW as the Giant), so I don't think he will get over like they want him to.
I don't know who the wrestler was that stopped Kelly, but that was a good way to get heel heat. Granted it has been done many times in the past like with RTC, but they obviously could not have Kelly completely nude on TV, so it was the best way to do it (unless you don't do it at all). I also like she poked fun at herself for not getting her bra off last week
The main event was so-so. Randy Orton should not be in an ECW ring. I used to like him a few years ago when he first turned heel when he had the shoulder injury and did the weekly updates of how well his shoulder was doing (it's at 84% now) and I loved his dad when I first started watching wrestling in the early-mid 80s, but man he is so damn boring now.............Yes the women like his looks.......yes he is a good athlete and has a very good physique and can throw a great drop kick.........but his promos are the same old same old and if he uses that headlock on the mat spot again I will probably fall asleep...........Side headlock by Orton...........ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...................Overall considering the other 3 wrestlers in the ring, I thought it would be better.
Hopefully next week will be as much an improvement over this week and this week was to last week, but I doubt it.............Still too much WWE wrestlers on the show, but time will tell
Thumb in the middle (compared to last week's show, thumbs slowly pointing up)
Best Match: RVD & Angle vs. Edge & Orton Worst Match: Whatever the hell that stripper thing was all about
Its not there yet. I can see signs that its getting there (& maybe that's just my optimism), just not quite yet.
The Positive Signs:
Sabu is starting to deliver. After that amazing move Sabu pulled last night (which btw, that 3 seconds balancing on the top rope was the most amazing part, & I don't get why WWE editing keeps skipping past it), Sabu puts on some much needed relief for the ECW fans. What WWE hasn't quite figured out yet is that Sabu isn't meant for squash matches. He's the that guy always looks best when he takes on the biggest, meanest dog you got.
Macho Libre, OOOOOOOO YYYEEEEAAAAAHHHH!!!! I might actually be the only one who got a kick out of that gimmick, but it was just genius (How much you want to bet that movie is going to be worse than 'Ready to Rumble'). At least SciFi is safe from the cane of the Sandman for one night.
ECW vs. RAW tag match. All four men worked very well for this match. The only real problem was that it seemed more like a main event for RAW then an ECW match.
Ultimate Angle I know a lot of people didn't like the squash match last week, and its true, it did make Justin Credible look like a jobber. BUT, I love this ECW/Ultimate-Fighter Kurt Angle. In fact, for now, I'm dubbing him Ultimate Angle! (Hey, it's still a lot better than Ultimate Spider-Man)
What Still Needs Work:
ECW's Loyal Cult-like Fans???? Okay, whose genius idea was it to put ECW on the same show as Smackdown!? At this point, I could actually understand putting it with RAW, but Smackdown!? The last time I checked, Smackdown! Is a kids' show! That's like trying to plug a US electronic into a Czech outlet'. It just doesn't work!! The point is, that arena didn't have ECW's loyal fans. They had a bunch of silent Smackdown! fans up past their bedtimes.
My advice: Let Smackdown! have Velocity back (or give it Heat, I really don't care), and put ECW as RAW's pre or post show. BUT!!! Don't tape it there (or if you do, put it on as a webshow). Instead, pretape ECW on SciFi at the ECW house shows. ECW has, and always will, work better in smaller arenas. That's where your real fans will show up. If money is an issue, than just cut back on it. Don't use pyro, use less cameramen, use a megaphone instead of a sound system. They'll figure it out. I'd much rather watch an edited house show taping with a rowdy energetic crowd than a live uncensored silent crowd.
ECW on SciFi. You know, Science Fiction Okay, this is a really annoying issue that just doesn't seem to be getting any better. ECW is on SciFi, and they want it to be SciFi. They want Aliens, Werewolves, Vampires, Zombies, the whole friggin' Monster Mash. The problem is this is ECW, not WWE (or at least that's what its supposed to be), and ECW does not equal Cheesy Gimmicks.
My advice: If there absolutely must be SciFi themes on the show (and that's what looks to be happening), at least let it be practical. I know that's actually next to impossible. In fact, the best idea so far is the whole Gangrel/Mordicai vampire stable, and that's not really saying much. So here is some ideas I'm just throwing out there:
- If you're going to use Vampires, make them like the real goth cults, and not like some Dracula ripoff.
-and if you're going to use Dracula, bring in Leslie Nelson form Dracula: Dead and Loving It! (I still love that guy)
-I know it was meant as a joke, but if you're going to use Zombies, for the love of God, make it a George A Romero Zombie, not a cheap 'Return of the Living Dead' Zombie. Like, make him bleed from the mouth or missing a limb or something. Hey, see if Zach Gowen is interested. :-P
-It might help to advertise the other SciFi shows inside the arena, at least just for now. Also, it wouldn't hurt if some of the wrestlers came out wearing T-Shirts for SciFi shows, like Stargate SG-1 or Twilight Zone. Something like that.
-Big Show is a Giant!!! Just find something about that to work with.
-I know I'm definitely alone on this one, but it would be kind of funny if we saw a Klingon on the show. (Hey, lets see you come up with something better)
-Have an ECW vs. SciFi thing (like ECW vs. TNN) where it's the true ECW wrestlers in a feud with a bunch of cheesy SciFi gimmick wrestlers. Have an Alien, a Zombie, a Werewolf, hell I'd even put in a Lord of the Rings character or two. Then when the time comes for them to wrestle each other, surprise the hell out of the fans by making the SciFi wrestlers turn out to be down-to-earth authentic hardcore wrestlers (find a bunch of new unknown Indy wrestlers).
-On that last note, bring back Cyrus and make him SciFi. It would be funny to see him turn into a Trekkie.
Unless Taz comes back, send Tazz back to Smackdown! Sorry dude, but you just suck!
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