Vince McMahon's 10 Biggest Failures

10. WWE ECW

Originally intended as a third brand in the same vein as NXT, ECW on Sci-Fi turned out to be the final nail in the coffin for the revolutionary movement of the nineties. Labelling ECW as a “brand” is how the problems began: Paul Heyman’s cavalcade of demimondes was antiestablishment, clustered in a South Philly bingo hall in front of profane, bloodthirsty fans. The mature nature of the promotion could never fit inside WWE’s corporate structure, and that’s what fueled its grassroots success.

After the financial success of the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD, followed by the equally successful One Night Stand pay-per-view in 2005, McMahon decided to resurrect the company in 2006 as a minor league of sorts, blending established names with up and comers to create a new generation of “Extremists” (ugh, more branding). Even with Heyman in charge of the writing, the project was destined to fail because as with every WWE venture, McMahon has the final say. He and Heyman argued on a weekly basis about what stars to spotlight (Bobby Lashley instead of CM Punk) and what storylines to feature (another authority figure’s abuse of power rehash). Their final clash came at December to Dismember when Heyman left the company.

In February of 2010, ECW on Sci-Fi was cancelled. Critics such as Rob Van Dam have claimed that McMahon’s goal all along was to destroy the legacy of ECW, bastardizing it to the point that fans would no longer cheer those iconic letters after a dangerous move.

If that was indeed the case, you’d have to consider it a Pyrrhic victory for McMahon.