6 Things You Need To Know About ECW's Wrestlenomics

1. Outcome

The lifetime of the original ECW greatly surpassed the reincarnated WWE version. From the landscape of talent (including so many future superstars ranging from Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho to homegrown talents including Dudleyz, RVD, Sabu, Taz and Shane Douglas) to the innovative and modern television production, the original ECW was a huge breath of fresh air in the mid-1990s. Their violent, dark and unique wrestling style and tone would be copied by both WWF and WCW. Heyman loved building his company, but he also recognized when the battle was lost. It was too expensive and too difficult to be a number three national player, even during the wrestling boom. PPV and Video Game revenue took too long to be realized. The only lucrative pro-wrestling Television Rights were for highly rated programs that could sell advertising. ECW was stuck where their live events were too big to be small and too small to be big. They were rebels, but inevitably the expenses and excesses of running the company caught up with Heyman. While WWE generated millions off the ECW name and library (arguable ECW became profitable the day after the first One Night Stand PPV), their revamped brand never ascended to the heights of the original. It did provide a platform for new talent and an avenue for aging stars to reinvent their WWE personalities. However, it had a shelf life and once it ran it out, Vince pulled the plug. Even though ECW transformed from a reincarnation of the original to a brand new roster, there wasn't enough interest in keeping a third weekly TV show with their own storylines, performers and announcers. The relationship with SyFy network lives on (though Smackdown) and ECW proved that nostalgia will always get a big pop, but it's very hard to reshape that into a sustainable modern product. SELECTED BEST MATCHES €œOriginal ECW 1997-2001€ 4/13/1997 Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada and Masato Yakushuji vs. Men's Teoh, Dick Togo and Taka Michinoku 4/13/1997 Terry Funk vs. Sandman vs. Stevie Richards 8/17/1997 Shane Douglas vs. Sabu vs. Terry Funk 8/2/1998 Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome 8/2/1998 Taz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow 1/10/1999 Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Super Crazy 3/21/1999 Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn 3/21/1999 Taz vs. Sabu 5/16/1999 Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn 8/2/1999 Rob Van Dam and Jerry Lynn vs. Lance Storm and Justin Credible 9/10/1999 Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn 9/19/1999 Justin Credible vs. Sabu 9/19/1999 Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka vs. Taz 9/19/1999 Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Super Crazy vs. Little Guido 11/7/1999 Jerry Lynn vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Super Crazy 11/7/1999 Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka 12/31/99 Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka 1/9/2000 Mike Awesome vs. Spike Dudley 5/14/2000 Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam 7/16/2000 Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Little Guido vs. Psychosis vs. Mikey Whipwreck 10/1/2000 Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible 10/1/2000 Kid Kash vs. EZ Money 12/23/2000 Tajiri and Mikey Whipwreck vs. Super Crazy and Kid Kash €œNew ECW€ (2006-2009) 6/12/05 Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome (ECW ONS) 6/12/05 Sandman/Tommy Dreamer vs. Bubba Ray Dudley/D-Von Dudley (ECW ONS) 6/27/06 Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam 9/26/06 Rob Van Dam vs. Hardcore Holly 10/3/06 Rob Van Dam vs. Test 12/17/06 Paul London/Brian Kendrick vs. Joey Mercury/Johnny Nitro vs. Jeff Hardy/Matt Hardy vs. Dave Taylor/William Regal (Ladder) 1/8/08 Jimmy Wang Yang/Shannon Moore vs. The Miz/John Morrison (15 Minutes of Fame) 7/22/08 Matt Hardy vs. Finlay vs. The Miz vs. John Morrison 2/24/09 Jack Swagger vs. Christian 3/10/09 Primo Colon vs. The Miz 4/14/09 John Morrison vs. Evan Bourne 6/2/09 Christian vs. Tyson Kidd 7/28/09 Christian vs. Zach Ryder 10/27/09 Christian vs. Yoshi Tatsu