After WWE acquired ECW video library in 2003 it took them a few more years to properly take advantage of owning the brand. In 2005, they finally gave in to the E-C-W chants and put on a supposedly one night only event in June, called One Night Stand. The event brought together former ECW talent who put on one of the best Pay Per View events of the entire year. This event brought back a certain level of nostalgia for the ECW product, resulting in some wrestlers being kept on, popular DVD releases on the company and eventually a second Pay Per View the following year. In May of 2006, the WWE announced their intention to revive the popular company as its own brand to run alongside Raw and Smackdown. Unfortunately, the 2006 version of ECW was nothing like the original. What WWE failed to realise was that the success of One Night Stand was down to it being as close to an authentic ECW show as possible. The WWE version that appeared on the Sci Fi channel, was entirely different. For a start, the network insisted that WWECW include characters that would fit with their channels theme. Because of that, we were forced to endure characters such as the Zombie. But to be fair, the ECW experiment started out quite well. Kurt Angle was drafted to the show to give it some star power and the show was built around he, RVD and a number of other guys while Paul Heyman wrote the show with Vince McMahon overseeing the final edit to the scripts. Despite this, over time the cracks started to show. WWE were forced to suspend RVD and strip him of the world title when he was caught in possession of marijuana. As the show rolled on, they started to feature stars that would never have been at home in ECW, none more evident than a match between Batista and Big Show where the live fans chanted things like, change the channel, and You cant wrestle, to show their disapproval. Heyman continued losing control until he was let go after the dismal all ECW Pay Per View December to Dismember. Heyman took the blame for its failure, despite the fact that his ideas were mostly shot down. It wasnt all bad though, as ECW having its own TV show gave stars like CM Punk, The Miz and John Morrison a chance to break out of the pack that they may have struggled to find on the main roster. ECW became more like a last stage of training for wrestlers who were seen to be going places, while also featuring one or two veterans to help the show attract the casual fan. In its day, it featured some great matches, with hard working stars eager to impress. Overall though, the WWE version of ECW was not much more than a watered down version that wore the same initials. Given his track record, had Paul Heyman been given the same freedom as he was with the original One Night Stand event, the ECW revival could actually have been something very special. Unfortunately well never know what could have been, we just have to be thankful that a few Paul Heyman Guys like CM Punk made it through the show.
After WWE acquired ECW video library in 2003 it took them a few more years to properly take advantage of owning the brand. In 2005, they finally gave in to the E-C-W chants and put on a supposedly one night only event in June, called One Night Stand. The event brought together former ECW talent who put on one of the best Pay Per View events of the entire year. This event brought back a certain level of nostalgia for the ECW product, resulting in some wrestlers being kept on, popular DVD releases on the company and eventually a second Pay Per View the following year. In May of 2006, the WWE announced their intention to revive the popular company as its own brand to run alongside Raw and Smackdown. Unfortunately, the 2006 version of ECW was nothing like the original. What WWE failed to realise was that the success of One Night Stand was down to it being as close to an authentic ECW show as possible. The WWE version that appeared on the Sci Fi channel, was entirely different. For a start, the network insisted that WWECW include characters that would fit with their channels theme. Because of that, we were forced to endure characters such as the Zombie. But to be fair, the ECW experiment started out quite well. Kurt Angle was drafted to the show to give it some star power and the show was built around he, RVD and a number of other guys while Paul Heyman wrote the show with Vince McMahon overseeing the final edit to the scripts. Despite this, over time the cracks started to show. 
