ECW Originals vs. New Breed - Good or Bad?
I love this storyline as long as it is not botched like the WWF vs WCW Invasion angle.
Look at it this way. For the first time since its "rebirth" there is an actual week-to-week storyline not revolving around the ECW World Championship. I found it almost impossible to watch ECW every week simply to see another title match or a storyline that lasted three weeks and ultimately went nowhere (CM Punk-Mike Knox-Kelly Kelly). This is the kind of story that can stretch for months not weeks and can be effective. Plus there are so many more positives than negatives.
First off look at the Originals involved - Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, Balls Mahoney, Sandman, RVD - all were basically being buried and would have (and may still be) been fired in a few months. Now they are involved in top tier storyline on the brand. Now lets look at who they are feuding with - Elijah Burke, Marcus CorVon (the next Rock, i'm tellin ya), Matt Striker, Kevin Thorn, and...(lets say Mike Knox - I say Knox instead of Test or Holly simply because the other four guys never had any kind of run on WWE programming so it would make more sense for Knox than Test or Holly). Anyway, these four or five guys would have been stuck in a mid-card without a title which again would have ultimately led nowhere and there would be no reason to watch.
I could have done without Vince McMahon in this angle and what would make it awesome would be if somehow they brought Heyman back to lead the Originals, but that's pretty unlikely. What I would do is have CM Punk be an Original ECW fan or sympathizer whatever and have him join their side considering that the only wrestler on the original side that can work a full match still is probably RVD. This feud can stretch - dare I say - to Survivor Series - 8 months from now - but I would simply stretch it out to ONS III. Have a 12 man tag team elimination match as your main event and do it in the Hammerstein Ballroom - Home Field Advantage for the Originals. The place would be going nuts and the tag format would allow RVD and Punk to do most of the work while the other four get their occassional hardcore spots.
This feud doesn't split the audience because the audience is already split. If you look at the IWC and fans anyway, there are people who can't stand the new ECW because they were hoping for something similar to the old ECW. Then there are people who like the new extremists and enjoy the new ECW, perhaps with little or no knowledge of the old one. This is an easy storyline for the fans to get behind, as long as they start watching.
I love this storyline as long as it is not botched like the WWF vs WCW Invasion angle.
Look at it this way. For the first time since its "rebirth" there is an actual week-to-week storyline not revolving around the ECW World Championship. I found it almost impossible to watch ECW every week simply to see another title match or a storyline that lasted three weeks and ultimately went nowhere (CM Punk-Mike Knox-Kelly Kelly). This is the kind of story that can stretch for months not weeks and can be effective. Plus there are so many more positives than negatives.
First off look at the Originals involved - Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, Balls Mahoney, Sandman, RVD - all were basically being buried and would have (and may still be) been fired in a few months. Now they are involved in top tier storyline on the brand. Now lets look at who they are feuding with - Elijah Burke, Marcus CorVon (the next Rock, i'm tellin ya), Matt Striker, Kevin Thorn, and...(lets say Mike Knox - I say Knox instead of Test or Holly simply because the other four guys never had any kind of run on WWE programming so it would make more sense for Knox than Test or Holly). Anyway, these four or five guys would have been stuck in a mid-card without a title which again would have ultimately led nowhere and there would be no reason to watch.
I could have done without Vince McMahon in this angle and what would make it awesome would be if somehow they brought Heyman back to lead the Originals, but that's pretty unlikely. What I would do is have CM Punk be an Original ECW fan or sympathizer whatever and have him join their side considering that the only wrestler on the original side that can work a full match still is probably RVD. This feud can stretch - dare I say - to Survivor Series - 8 months from now - but I would simply stretch it out to ONS III. Have a 12 man tag team elimination match as your main event and do it in the Hammerstein Ballroom - Home Field Advantage for the Originals. The place would be going nuts and the tag format would allow RVD and Punk to do most of the work while the other four get their occassional hardcore spots.
This feud doesn't split the audience because the audience is already split. If you look at the IWC and fans anyway, there are people who can't stand the new ECW because they were hoping for something similar to the old ECW. Then there are people who like the new extremists and enjoy the new ECW, perhaps with little or no knowledge of the old one. This is an easy storyline for the fans to get behind, as long as they start watching.
