Extreme Championship Wrestling (WWE)
This article is about World Wrestling Entertainment's ECW brand. For the independent promotion that operated from 1993â€"2001, see Extreme Championship Wrestling. Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) is a
professional wrestling brand for
World Wrestling Entertainment, based on the independent promotion that lasted from
1993 to
2001,
Extreme Championship Wrestling. It debuted on
June 13,
2006 with a weekly television series.
This series can be seen on the
Sci Fi Channel in the United States,
Sky Sports 3 in the
United Kingdom,
FX in
Latin America ,
Ten Sports in
India and
SKY 1 in New Zealand. The series will soon be shown on the
Xtreme Sports Channel and
Global in
Canada as of
August 11, 2006 and on
FOX8 in
Australia as of
September 2, 2006.
WWE, who acquired the Extreme Championship Wrestling name and
video library in 2003, began reintroducing ECW through a series of
DVDs and books, most notably
The Rise and Fall of ECW, a documentary (and later a book) of the promotion's history. The enormous popularity of this and other ECW merchandise prompted WWE to organize an ECW "reunion show" pay-per-view in 2005 dubbed
ECW One Night Stand. The financial and critical success of the show motivated WWE to organize a second
One Night Stand the following year. With rejuvenated interest in ECW, WWE began exploring the possibility of reviving the promotion full time.
On
May 26,
2006, WWE announced the relaunch of ECW as a stand-alone brand that would complement WWE's
RAW and
SmackDown! brands and emanate on the
Sci Fi Channel.
Although a puzzling decision, Sci Fi Channel's President Bonnie Hammer believed that ECW would fit the channel's theme of
stretching the imagination. Sci Fi Channel is owned by
NBC Universal, parent company of
USA Network, the exclusive cable broadcaster of WWE programming.
To boost the success of the new brand, ECW was cross-promoted on WWE programming in the weeks leading up to the 2006
One Night Stand. A
prime time WWE vs. ECW Head to Head special was aired to promote the event as well.
The ECW brand was initially headlined by such long-time ECW performers as
Rob Van Dam,
Sabu,
Tommy Dreamer, and
The Sandman with former ECW owner
Paul Heyman entrusted with
operating the brand. However, following the second episode, his role was somewhat reduced. According to an interview in the UK newspaper
The Sun, Heyman writes the weekly scripts with his staff and submits them to Vince McMahon for approval and possible changes. He also noted that ECW will be involved in the four joint production pay-per-views (
SummerSlam,
Survivor Series,
Royal Rumble and
WrestleMania), and there will be another ECW brand PPV in December 2006.
ECW's male performers are referred to as "Extremists", (previously having been called "Wrestlers", then "Rebels") as opposed to the WWE term, "Superstars".
In addition, ECW's female performers are referred to as "Vixens", as opposed to WWE's "Divas".
ECW's weekly series has been granted a run of thirteen episodes by
Sci Fi Channel. After those episodes have aired, the network will decide whether or not to continue the series. It is believed that Sci Fi have picked up the show beyond the thirteen week run, with episodes scheduled throughout September.
The premiere of ECW's weekly series on Sci Fi Channel received a 2.79
rating, which made it the highest rated show on cable in its timeslot.
Coupled with the Sci Fi show were a number of ECW-exclusive live events booked for the duration of the channel's contract, including a return to the
Hammerstein Ballroom on
August 1,
2006 for a television taping.
While the show has been a
ratings success for the Sci Fi Channel and WWE, it has drawn criticism from fans of the original ECW and the
Internet Wrestling Community for not staying true to the original's vision. This was evidenced by the extremely negative crowd reaction the "old school" fans gave the
Big Show vs.
Batista main event on the
August 1,
2006 show from the
Hammerstein Ballroom (a favorite arena of the original ECW).
WWE introduced an online streaming video site called
Hardcore Hangover,the concept being that fans vote for their favorite part of Tuesday's show and able to stream and view the video matches/interviews/promos out through the week.
*
ECW World Heavyweight Champion:
Big Show*
Paul Heyman (
June 7,
2006 - present)
*
Tazz (
June 7,
2006 - present)
*
Joey Styles (
June 7,
2006 - present)
*
Extreme Championship Wrestling*
World Wrestling Entertainment roster (ECW brand)*
2006 WWE television ratings*
WWE TV Schedules*
ECW at SciFi.com
