When ECW signed a national television deal with TNN in 1999, many people inside the company felt that this was the start of something special. The promotion had been able to run occasional Pay-Per-View events since 1997, but national TV was considered the Holy Grail for any wrestling outfit, and now ECW had it. Unfortunately, securing such a spot on television would prove to be more of a hindrance to ECW than a benefit, and it's actually something Paul Heyman attributes as helping to kill the promotion rather than making it bigger. For some reason, TNN (now known as Spike, previous home of TNA programming) didn't really seem to want ECW once they had it. In 2000, TNN signed a deal with the WWF to host Monday Night Raw, meaning they cared even less about the ECW show. For whatever the reason, those and such as those in charge of the network didn't care for the ECW product, or at least that's how it seemed. TNN regularly failed to even advertise that ECW shows were on, which is obviously not the ideal way to promote viewership.
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.
