When the new ECW started on the SyFy Network in 2006, there was a clear influence exerted over the product by the channel the hardcore nature of Extreme Championship Wrestling was present, at least initially, but side by side with it were cheesy horror-themed elements. On the first episode, for instance, The Sandman brutally beat a grunting, groaning, one-and-done competitor by the name of The Zombie. The most blatant sign of the network's string-pulling, though, came in the form of the vampiric Kevin Thorne and his escort, Ariel. Whether or not the two were creatures of the night or simply enthusiasts was never revealed, just as a planned stable with Gangrel never came to fruition. Instead of character insight, the two traipsed around the land of extreme, feuding with the likes of Balls Mahoney and Mike Knox. When Thorne formed the "New Breed" faction with Matt Striker, Marcus Cor Von, and leader Elijah Burke, Ariel came along, and when Thorne left the group, Ariel was still by his side. Unfortunately, she never got the chance to show what she could do on her own she was released in May of 2007, allegedly after a confrontation with Dave Batista.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
