WWE.com is featuring a lengthy article looking at the attempted relaunch of the ECW brand back in 2006. Quoted in the piece includes Paul Heyman, Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, Joey Styles, Stevie Richards and more.
Among some of the highlights.
Paul Heyman: “The moment Syfy was willing to pay a license fee for this program, I knew we had to adhere to certain philosophies that would negate the effectiveness of telling people that we are the alternative to WWE. WWE had the obligation to present to the public a certain level of production value, shot a certain way, with a style that was identifiable as WWE’s. We were dead before we were ever born.”
Tommy Dreamer: “The biggest case in point was the last time WWE’s ECW went to the Hammerstein Ballroom, one of the original ECW’s home venues. They said the show needed more star power, so they gave them Big Show vs. Batista. Audibly, you could not even hear the announcers at the time. The fans just tuned out because it wasn’t what they signed on for.”
Joey Styles: “ECW was meant to be a throwback to pro wrestling. A Philadelphia newspaper once described coming to an ECW show as “feeling that you were witnessing something illegal” and that it was an “underground, secret event.” I had no doubt that it was a bad idea.”