10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (May 12)

3. WWE Wanted ECW To Be What NXT Is Today

Cm Punk Ecw
WWE.com

WWE ruined the old magic of ECW by running a third-rate product watered down heavily for the 'PG' Era. After a promising start in 2006, WWE's version of ECW became a disgrace that fans of the original promotion rightly turned their noses up at.

According to Shane McMahon on the Steve Austin podcast, Extreme Championship Wrestling was initially supposed to be something that helped shape the future of WWE.

Recognising that wrestlers didn't have the same number of places to work as they did in bygone generations, the McMahon family believed creating their own system was the way forward. ECW was deemed perfect for this, because fresh talents could get experience working on prime time television without the pressures of Raw and SmackDown.

This is similar to how Triple H has approached things with NXT today, the main difference being that NXT has worked. WWE's version of ECW didn't, but Shane thinks that has more to do with WWE not being ready to embrace change.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.