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Submitted by Wevv Mang on Monday, June 19, 2006 at 12:07 AM EST
Ridin’ With The Bossman – The Launch Of ECW, A Look Back Greetings! Welcome to another edition of Ridin’ With The Bossman! The column that the Sci Fi Network Execs like to quote at Vince. And Vince retaliates with the Zombie, little knowing that he is tapping into an aspect of ECW that, like so much else, has been forgotten. But we got plenty of column to talk about that. You see, this column is going to be a little different. As is often the case when I miss a week, I like to cover both weeks, and well, a whole hell of a lot has gone on in that time, so I doubt I'll get to it, and instead stick to two big topics. So, buckle up, we gots lots of ground to gets over. But first, a word from the newest member of the Wevv Mang Clan, THE ZOMBIE!!! Zombie: RRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrr! I laughed my ass off when they gave that guy the mic. Just frickin’ hilarious. Ah, good times, good times. I hope that guy shows up again. I got a crazy idea for him, but I’ll get to that later. Right now, let’s take a look at: WWE TV – The Series One Night Stand is on the books, and the push is on for Vengeance. A mere one week away. And the theme is, Degeneration X. But, there is the ECW premier broadcast on Sci-Fi to hype as well. Tuesdays are now a priority as well. So, WWE has their work cut out for them. Two big events, weeks of building, and one will be ongoing. One will shape the course of Raw for some time, or until the fans grow bored of it, which could be two weeks. The other will rely heavily upon Raw for ongoing promotion after the initial curiosity factor dies down, which could be this week. And then there’s Smackdown, which has lost a lot of talent, due to injuries, moving to a new brand, and the observation period for bad behavior. Let’s start out with ECW. ECW – Birth of a Nation Raw – 6/5/06 Recap courtesy of Carl Walsh Raw – 6/12/06 Recap courtesy of Carl Walsh WWE vs ECW Recap courtesy of Carl Walsh A special was planned this week to help define what the new ECW was going to be, and also to provide some hype. The build for the launch of ECW had it’s ups and down and seemed to leave fans unsure of what was going to happen. That was good and bad. The top guy for ECW, RVD really wasn’t given much to work with. His big promo for the match against Cena for the World Title had RVD and Cena talk while sitting. Good for the folks at home, not good for the folks there live, and it was their reactions that WWE was going to do. We got to see some of the old faces of ECW come in, and Sabu botch a move. He was way short. Not a good way to re-introduce Sabu. WWE cleaned house and that was the end of that. On the WWE vs ECW special, we got Smackdown and Raw guys teaming up against ECW. Basically, it was like the Raw vs Smackdown hype, in which a few names from each brand faced off. It was on a special night, and did manage to get a good rating. The show was basically to hype the One Night Stand PPV, and the ECW re-launch, and it did the job. This show let the announcers get some practice in, the wrestlers show what they can do, and helped set the tone for ECW in terms of wrestling. The crazy moves were held in check, and it took a more mat based approached. There were some big surprises, as Big Show turned on team WWE and joined ECW. The saga continued between Foley and Edge and Dreamer and Funk. Foley cut a promo like he did back in his ECW days. Lawler and Tazz got into it verbally and physically. On Smackdown, 6/09/06, we got more build, with the big question being whether Rey will join ECW. With more promises of facing Khali ahead of him, I would guess that the answer would be yes. But I was wrong, as Rey said no, and the ECW guys came out again and attacked him. Tazz also went nuts and quit the show. Maybe that was on the special, frankly I don't remember. Either way, another match was set up, this time it will be Sabu vs Rey Mysterio. It really wasn’t Sabu’s best week. The Leprechaun stole his heat on Smackdown. I love that little bastard. The ECW One Night Stand PPV Recap courtesy of Carl Walsh A very good show in my opinion. The style going forward was displayed and it was less of a crazy spot fest, but more grounded, and that makes perfect sense. There was hardcore in the Foley/Edge vs Funk/Dreamer match, but compared to what has been done before, this was rather tame. Now, that’s not to say it wasn’t brutal. Barbwire is “safer” than say, a fifteen-foot drop through a flaming table or a face plant onto thumbtacks. The use of the wire boards can be more readily controlled. There is still a great deal of risk involved, as could be seen from Foley’s hands and Funk getting tangled up in the wire. It was the emotion going into the match that made it seem more brutal. Foley did his job well. The fans made this show. Tons of great chants. It’s a good thing the Orton vs Angle match was on early, as it got most, not all, but I’d say most of them out of their system and really placed Angle as an ECW guy now. Very good idea remixing his music. Angle took a ground-based approach it worked great. Excellent match. But that style did hurt some matches, like Masato Tanaka vs Balls, and the FBI vs Crazy/Tajiri. Crazy/Tajiri vs FBI wasn’t a bad match, but it could have been a lot better. The Sabu vs Mysterio match was a cluster. Seriously, I under the desire to bring Sabu back, as he is a big name, but man, his time on screen has not been good and it’s not all Sabu’s fault, but the fact he is really banged up is playing a factor. In the match against Mysterio, that head plant at the end was a near disaster. The table Mysterio was standing on slipped off the edge of the ring. Yeah, after that move, calling the match off was a good idea. Luck that they weren’t seriously injured like that won't come again for a while. I was impressed by Balls. He did some real moves, something that my memories of him never really came up before. He got the crowd to chant along with him, so his part was a success. The main event was Cena vs RVD. And the crowd chose RVD, but weren’t nearly as brutal on Cena as they were on Orton. A good match, and a WWE ending, when Edge ran in, and Paul made the count, giving the belt to RVD. Which left a big question going into Raw the next night. What would happen? And the answer came in the opening segment of Raw. Not much. The belt is going to stay with RVD, and be renamed. Edge is named the number one contender for the belt. Fifteen minutes and it’s over. Until the end, when Cena and Edge have a match and Cena gets to beat up some ECW guys. Justin Credible, Stevie Richards and Balls Mahoney. ECW TV Recap Courtesy of Chad Matthews Well, this is it. What all the hooplah was about. The show is only an hour long. To me, the show seemed over produced. Same problem with TNA to a lesser extent. Trying to fit too much into the time frame. It was a mess, but you know what? It was a fun mess. A back to basics ECW. Right down to what could be one of the greatest running jokes. Yes, I’m talking about the Zombie. That cracked me up, Shuffling down to the ring, and then they actually gave the guy a mic! That was hilarious. I was rolling. Sandman came out and beat the crap out of him, like he did to Eugene on the PPV. Good stuff. Good use of Sandman. This one segment was truly old school ECW, and I’ll explain why in a bit. Hot chick good. The battle royal put over Show as a monster, which is good for Show. Sabu won, but I hope he gets some time off before his next match. Good to see Danny Doring and Roadkill together again. I liked their tag team in ECW. But that was six years ago. So there we go. Raw this past week was mainly to build up Vince’s ass and DX. Smackdown saw JBL take over for Tazz on the announcing side, and while rough, wasn’t that bad. But JBL needs to learn when to shut the hell up. A few more times in the booth will help. So, did the hype, what there was of it, actually do the job? Did WWE recreate a version of ECW? I would say the answer is yes, but it’s still a work in progress. WWE grounded most of the high flyers and seems to want to go in a technical route for their wrestling. Which is good. That way, they can leech some of the UFC crowd. It also will help the health of Kurt Angle and the rest of the roster. There are still a lot of crazy hardcore antics, and injuries from those will pile up over time, and the mat-based approach will help keep things under control. Now, about the Zombie. I have recently re-read Mick Foley’s “Have A Nice Day” because Foley’s promos kept reminding me of things I read in his book. Not in a bad way, just “I’ve heard this before…” kind of way. In his book, Mick talks about how he worked with Mikey Whipwreck. Who was a joke. He always lost, and was a coward. Almost the entire time Foley was in ECW, he was playing off of ECW’s hatred of WCW. And doing so in a humorous way. The Zombie made me recall one incident in particular. The Five Faces Of Fear. See, ECW has always had a humorous side. Maybe a dark one, but an ability to have fun with the world of wrestling. Whether it be having non-Italian guys in the FBI or making fun of gimmicks in the other two feds. It was because knew their fans were not morons, or at least morons who wouldn't fall for the same thing in ECW. So, Sci-Fi wanted to have a Sci-Fi gimmick. Out comes the Zombie. And the Zombie gets pounded. There was also a Vampire on one of the outdoor shots. I’ve also read about aliens, and so forth. It’s going to be a theme. If it keeps Sci-Fi happy, then by all means, go for it. It’s not going to hurt the product in the long run. Indeed, it could very well help it. It could provide a dose of comedy to offset the brutality. There can still be the drama, but I think the comedy will help attract the casual sci-fi fan more than a heart-rending story of misplaced love, and the other soap opera nonsense. See, I’m a sci-fi geek. I won't pretend to speak for all sci-fi geeks, but I love the Sci-Fi Channel. I’ve watched almost all their horrible made for TV movies. From Boa vs Python, to Epoch to Raptor Island. All of these films have a good deal of cheese in them. Their shows are better, but trust me. Sci-Fi geeks have a sense of humor. We get it. Sci-Fi execs may not get it, but if they did, they wouldn’t be scrambling for ratings would they? Now, think about this. See No Evil was what kind of movie? Do sci-fi / action movies advertise on Raw and Smackdown? Damn straight they do. But the topic of wrestling and science fiction fans is a topic for another day. Sorry, got a little side tracked there. ECW did get a 2.7 for it’s debut, which is good. The next question is, will it last? I think it will. ECW has the basics in place, and now it’s time for the road test. I will add that I think ECW has prodded the rest of the creative team to come up with better ideas. I will also say that I think ECW is good for Cena. He fit right into the heel role and did it well. The fans turned on him, but in a good way. He played along with them. But Smackdown was a different show, due to being taped after ECW. The crowd was dead. An Alternative needs to be found, and fast. But it’s all still part of the growing pains of the show, and there will be more. Especially if they bring back Don Callis in his Cryus role as the Voice Of The Network. That gimmick was fantastic. Degeneration X WWE wasted no time once ECW made the airwaves with their PPV, and the focus was put right on the formation of Degeneration X, the next Raw fad. And I do mean fad. I didn't start watching wrestling again until the era of HBK and H as Degeneration X had passed and Road Dogg, X-Pac, and Billy Gunn had joined the group. I was treated to some highlight clips and do own a videotape, an actual VHS of the hijinks of Degeneration X. It’s OK. Not great, but OK. I did like the New DX, but the old one, well, it didn't really set the world on fire did it? It’s been nearly ten years since it was just HBK and H as that group. I’m sure many people have watched the parodies, and the parts where they ride in the tank and “invade” WCW. But you may notice something missing from those skits, and that’s HBK. He was gone. Out with injury. And the group took off without him. I’m not saying that HBK is what will kill this go round. Far from it. I still remember HBK playing the Montreal crowd last year like a fiddle and giving not one, but TWO “HOLY SHIT” promo moments. That was a thing of beauty. I’m just saying that some fans may think they know what this reforming of DX is going to be like, and I’m not sure that even WWE knows what they’re going to do with this angle. HBK and H are going to play faces. Or at least are supposed to be faces. And it’s been a while since H was a face. And let us not forget that this angle is all about Vince. Vince and his magical ass of ratings grabbing. Let us not forget what happened to HBK and his infamous match with God. The fact that there is a rumor that H turned down a feud with Edge should also factor into how this angle is going to go. I’m glad H did it. It’s good news for Edge, and even better for H. See, I think that H is just going to run right over heels, and Raw needs a top heel and that person at the moment is Edge. Edge with Vince just doesn't make sense. Vince already has the Spirit Squad on his side. He’s got Shane as well. Edge would be overkill on the angle, and since the New Degeneration X is going to come out ahead in all physical encounters for the time being, Edge would lose a lot of momentum. Momentum that is needed for ECW. One other aspect to think about is that if Degeneration is going to go against Vince (everything points that way, but hey, it’s WWE. It could all be for Coach, ya never know), then how far will they go? How far CAN they go? It’s H, who is part of the family, and it’s HBK, who has been hesitant to get too racy. And then you have Vince is just way the fuck out there, and well, he knows no boundaries. And it’s Vince, who doesn't like his ideas to be made fun of. It’s Vince, the person the creative team lives to amuse. It’s Vince, the guy who owns the place, and isn't afraid to remind you of that fact. It’s Vince who doesn't like to look weak. And then you have H, who still has trouble working with others. He’s gotten better, a lot better, but still. All you have to do is think about last Monday, when it was four on one, and the tag team champions to boot, and H barely sold anything. This angle is H’s reward for not taking the belt from Cena. This angle is 40% about H, 55% about Vince, and 5% about HBK. Maybe less about HBK. Oh, and a half a point about Shane. Now, lest you think I’m bashing this angle, well, I kind of am. I’ll be honest with you. I’m not sure this is going to work. It could. It might not. It all depends on what WWE does with it. If it’s just another “Nothing But H!” push, only this time he’s got Vince and HBK with him, well, I got Smackdown and ECW now. This is going to be happening on Raw, Vince’s baby. This angle has a couple of points that are making me wary. It’s H as a face. The turn has had the trigger pulled on it. The creative team hasn't had to deal with this before. Now, it could be the exact same thing as H when he was a heel, only now he gets the heels fed to him instead of the face. That could mean that a bunch of people suddenly change direction in their characters, and get a squash program with H. That’s mainly all creative knows how to do. Again, this isn't the DX you think you know. There is no Road Dogg saying “Ladies and Gentlemen, Children of ALLLL Ages! The WWE proudly presents to you” yadda, yadda yadda”. There is no X-Pac. There is no Billy Gunn. There is no Chyna, and for that I am grateful, but a hot chick would be nice. There will be plenty of “Suck It!”. And you can finally dig that old DX shirt out of the closet and wear it again. Hell, you may even have some old signs kicking around that you could bring to the show. But the memories of what you had way back when may not jibe with what you are going to get. That’s all I’m really trying to say. This may not be what you think it is. So, let’s review. It’s a huge angle, featuring three of the top four guys on Raw. Only Cena is missing. Yes, you may want to add more, but I’m talking about from Vince and Company’s point of view. No time frame has been leaked of how long this angle is supposed to go, but until SummerSlam is a good bet, if not longer. Now that all the people are in play, you can wager that Vince’s attention will be off of Smackdown, and that show will get some changes because of it. See, reviving Degeneration X will take a lot of the attention of management. It could also spark the brand, and pave the way to bring back another nostalgia wave, as other old groups that worked long, long ago are brought back. On another note, there’s one last thing I’d like to throw out there to think about. The revival craze sweeping WWE is not a carbon copy of what was. It’s a remake. And once those skills of updating and adapting former angles are honed, they can be applied to creating something new. Something unique. Indeed, and that could be the best outcome from all of this. Creative actually being creative, and thinking long term, and making plans written on paper, not on the fly. And that’s it for today. A happy note to end on, and a shorter column than usual, that may make the Sunday deadline. Or maybe not. So, let’s see what happens. Next Week, back to basics and a Kane’s House. I got two ideas I want to do for that show, and Kane’s retirement to talk about. That guy deserves a run with a title and a real run, not a transitional run. But that’s next week. QUICK PLUGS! LOP Forums! LOP Columns Forum The PWA, best E-Fed on the net, period. DVD Fanatic, the Ultimate DVD Resource Feeling Creative? Check out The Project. Until next Time, Thanks For Readin' and Thanks For Ridin' Wevv Mang mrwevv@mac.com *NEW GALLERY* Over 14 Total HIGH QUALITY Maria 2008 PB Photos! MUST SEE!
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