ECW One Night Stand 2005 Alternate Twist Ending Revealed?
Did WWE almost tell a very long-term story...?
ECW One Night Stand 2005 endures as a show that was as incredible as it was unthinkable. After years and years of WWE wilfully refusing to accept the wrestling world beyond itself, between drab "light heavyweight" action and the massacre that was marketed as an 'Invasion', WWE presented an undiluted, magic homage to Extreme Championship Wrestling.
It fizzled to boring, we-know-better sh*t eventually, of course, but for two glorious nights in the Hammerstein Ballroom, WWE acted completely out of character and presented a love letter to fans. The first event ended on a final note of pure fan service.
The ECW roster thwarted the WWE invaders (mostly) and then, in a phenomenal last scene, Eric Bischoff - despised by the northeast hardcores for gutting the promotion of its roster - was dropped by Steve Austin's Stone Cold Stunner.
The show, if former ECW ring announcer Stephen DeAngelis is to be believed, wasn't originally scheduled to end on such a perfect note. Speaking on the Insiders Edge podcast, DeAngelis revealed that a post-credits sequence of sorts saw Vince McMahon - on the format sheet at least - approach Paul Heyman in the back before saying something to the effect of "Maybe ECW isn't dead after all".
Allegedly designed to drum up interest in the eventual full reboot, it never did end up happening; if indeed it was scheduled, perhaps it was thought that Vince's endorsement might have ruined the show-long angle.