10 Things You Didn't Know About ECW One Night Stand

2. Vince McMahon Didn't Think It Would Be A Success

When Rob Van Dam pitched the idea of One Night Stand to Vince, you would be forgiven for assuming that the boss immediately thought it was a great idea and began working on setting the wheels in motions. But that was simply not the case. Vince, never a fan of the original ECW, didn't think a revival show would be a success. Indeed, RVD had to really try to convince Mr. McMahon that it would be a good idea.

Vince, as emperor of the WWE fishbowl, didn't see how the concept would work or who it would appeal to. In Vince's mind, there were no more remaining ECW fans. But what about the thousands of fans who chanted 'ECW!' during WWE events, whenever there was a spot of hardcore wrestling?

Well, believe it or not, Vince thought that he trained WWE fans to chant ECW at appropriate moments. Speaking to the Pro Wrestling Insider radio show in 2008, Van Dam remembered an exchange he had with Vinnie Mac:

'Rob, for all I know, those 2500 fans at the Manhattan Center were the last of the old ECW fans'...I said 'Vince, why do you think they still chant ECW?' (Does Vince McMahon voice) 'Because I've trained them to do that over the last five years'. Seriously, how do you argue with that? You don't, eventually you throw in the towel, which is what I did.

Vince would resurrect ECW as a third brand in the summer of 2006, but it was basically WWE-lite and had very little to do with the original ECW.