My Problem With ECW

Before you get all fired up, I strongly encourage you to read all the way through to the end and THEN make up your mind.

I feel like I didn't say everything I could in my last post, "The Time Is Now", and wanted to continue the discussion here.

To avoid repeating all that I've already said before, I'm just going to sum it all up like this: the WWE is trending downward and independent wrestling promotions are on the rise.

Here's the problem, independent wrestling promotions always seem to be more concerned about the product itself rather than solving the problem of how to get the product to as many people as possible.

So how does ECW factor into this?

ECW, as revolutionary as it was, meant absolutely nothing to me. It still doesn't. All I know about ECW, is what I've either read in magazines or books, or seen in DVDs. I didn't experience the phenomenon while it was taking place. Part of the reason for that is because I had basically stopped watching wrestling at that time, but also because I live on the wrong side of the country.

I'm basically on the West Coast, so even if I wanted to watch ECW in its heyday, I couldn't have because there was no place to find it out here.

When people who experienced the ECW revolution speak fondly of that time, they usually mention things like, the atmosphere in the arena, the amount of fan involvement in the shows, the wide array of characters and personalities, the quality of the action, the "underground" feel of the promotion, the music, etc.

All of those things are well and good but here's where we get to the title and my problem with ECW: the more people that know, the more people that care.

If I went to the busiest part of town and pulled someone off the street and asked them who John Cena is, chances are pretty good that they might have heard of him even if they don't watch wrestling.

What do you think the chances would be of that same person knowing who the Sandman is? Or Tommy Dreamer? Or Taz?

It was easy to fall in love with wrestling when I did because it was easy to find. I didn't have to trade tapes with anyone. I didn't have to wait for weekly show to be made available on the internet and then sit in front of my computer for two hours watching a one hour show after waiting through multiple bufferings and load times. I certainly didn't have to pay for any kind of membership to watch it.

No, whenever I wanted to watch wrestling, I just plopped my fat ass down on the couch and turned on the tv and there was Hulk Hogan. There was Ted DiBiase. There was the Ultimate Warrior. There was Jake "The Snake" Roberts. It couldn't get any easier.

I didn't watch WWF Superstars of Wrestling because I was a lifelong fan of wrestling. I watched it because it was cool and because it was there. And any time it wasn't there, I could beg my mom to take me to the local video rental store and there'd be dozens of tapes matches and shows that I hadn't seen that I could rent and watch at home.

My point is, I wasn't alone. A lot of people fell in love with wrestling the same way that I did. As a kid, watching the WWF on tv.

Was the WWF on tv because Vince McMahon was a millionaire and had gobs of money to spend on tv shows and video tapes? No. Wrestling wasn't a million dollar industry at that point. And Vince was still getting off the ground. He certainly had money but most of it was borrowed.

Was the WWF on tv because Vince McMahon is a creative genius and his storylines and characters were just so good that people were begging him to put them on the air? No. When Vince gave his product to Ted Turner to run in the South instead of Georgia Championship Wrestling, the fans revolted because they hated the WWF storylines and characters.

Was the WWF on tv because their base of operations was close to my home in Yuma, AZ and they just happened to get their foot in the door of the local market? No. WWF headquaters in Stamford, Connecticut is about as far away as it can get from my hometown and still be in the same country.

So why did I ever fall in love with wrestling? Because it was there. Why was it there? Because of this quote from Vince McMahon himself: "If you provide THE HIGHEST PRODUCTION LEVEL, the fans will find you AS LONG AS YOU ARE DISTRIBUTED WELL." (emphasis mine)

Read it again. Not "if you provide the coolest atmosphere in the arena." Not "if you give the fans the greatest possible amount of involvement." Not "if you provide a wide array of characters and personalities." Not "if you provide the highest quality action possible." Not "if you have an underground feel." Not "if you have the coolest music."

Not that all of those things aren't important. I think part of the reason the WWE has suffered so many loses in revenue across the board is because they don't incorporate more of those things.

But that's not the point. The point is, I found the WWF because it was there. We can all turn our noses up at the current product, and rightfully so, because it is horrible. And some hot new indy fed can pop up that copies the ECW mold and produces something that's cutting edge and they'll make some waves for a little while.

But then what? There are kids just like me who are looking for something cool that they can get into. And the WWE is still there. But kids today aren't as naive as I was when I fell in love with wrestling. They're so much wiser to the ways of the world because of how much information is available to them.

Even as uninformed as I was growing up, there were plenty of times when I was embarrassed by some of the things the WWF did. I shook my head just like everyone else did at the Bushwackers, Zeus, and Hulk Hogan's terrible acting.

But it was there. Vince took advantage of cable television and used it for what it was: an affordable way to get a his product in front of as many people as possible. His product looked professional, and he paid the cable companies to run his shows.

I'm not going to pretend to understand all of the logistics of the present tv market BUT...there are a LOT more channels available today than there were when Vince was sending taped shows to cable companies. It would seem like with a greater need for quality shows to fill time on all of these channels, even if wrestling isn't considered a draw, if a company was to present a high-quality show that looked good, featured content that was attractive to advertisers, and was offered to these channels not only cost-free, but at a profit, a wrestling promotion wouldn't have too much trouble finding a home.

The WWF wasn't the only game in town either. When I was growing up, the AWA was also easy to find. They had a home on ESPN. But like so many others, I tended to prefer the WWF over the AWA. Not because the wrestling was superior. The AWA usually featured matches between their best talent on their tv shows whereas WWF television was made up of mostly squash matches.

I preferred the WWF because frankly, it looked better. Everything that happened in the WWF looked important because it usually took place in arenas full of thousands of fans as opposed to the dumpy-looking Showboat Sports Pavillion that the AWA shows were usually filmed in. The camerawork was professional and smooth. The lighting was perfect and the product was crisp.

How did Vince make the WWF a household name? It wasn't because he was rolling in dough. It was because he took chances that so far, no one else has been willing to take. He was on the cutting edge of production and distribution. So many of us, the diehard fans, gripe and moan about the current state of wrestling, just wishing that some renegade promotion would step up and revitalize the business.

But it's going to take more than just cool characters and intriguing storylines. It's going to take a promotional visionary putting the product in front of as many eyes as possible because, like we said before, the more people that know, the more people that care.