Who Really Killed WWECW?

If you liked this video, consider supporting us on Patreon so we can make more 👉 / wrestletalk
Who Really Killed WCW? 👉 • Who Really Killed WCW?
More wrestling news on wrestletalk.com/
Written by: Dave Bradshaw & Luke Owen
Directed & Produced by: Pete Quinnell
Presented by: Luke Owen
Thumbnail by: Nandi Goodyer
Image Sourcing by: Brandon Syres
Who Really Killed WWECW?
#ECW #WWE #WWECW
Subscribe to WrestleTalk Podcasts 👉 bit.ly/3pEAEIu
Subscribe to partsFUNknown for lists, fantasy booking & more 👉 bit.ly/32JJsCv
Subscribe to NoRollsBarred 👉 / @norollsbarred
Subscribe to WrestleTalk 👉 bit.ly/3gKdNK3
SUBSCRIBE TO THEM ALL! 🔔Make sure to enable ALL push notifications!🔔
Watch the latest wrestling news: shorturl.at/pAIV3
Buy WrestleTalk Merch here! wrestleshop.com/
Follow WrestleTalk:
Twitter: / _wrestletalk
Facebook: / wrestletalk.official
Patreon: goo.gl/2yuJpo
WrestleTalk Podcast on iTunes: goo.gl/7advjX
WrestleTalk Podcast on Spotify: spoti.fi/3uKx6HD
About WrestleTalk:
Welcome to the official WrestleTalk KZbin channel! WrestleTalk covers the sport of professional wrestling - including WWE TV shows (both WWE Raw & WWE SmackDown LIVE), PPVs (such as Royal Rumble, WrestleMania & SummerSlam), AEW All Elite Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, ROH, New Japan, and more. Subscribe and enable ALL notifications for the latest wrestling WWE reviews and wrestling news.
KZbin Channel Comments Policy
We appreciate the comments and opinions our viewers provide. Do note that all comments are subject to KZbin auto-moderation and manual moderation review. We encourage opinions and discussion, but harassment, hate speech, bullying and other abusive posts will not be tolerated. Decisions on comment removal are made by the Community Manager. Please email us at [e-mail] with any questions or concerns.

[@wfreak1000]

Never forget that WWE's version of ECW subsequently lead to the most damning thing of all: RVD's TNA theme.

[@miho022883]

DO DE DO DEDO DE DO. ROB VAN DAM! DO DE DO DEDO DE DO. THE WHOLE F'N SHOW!

[@StarLeo_]

​@@miho022883 DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN VAN TERMINATOR

[@CaitiffFTW]

​@@StarLeo_VAN ASSASSINATOR!

[@CthomasMega]

Listen I unironically LOVE that theme 😅

[@jackwilliamtaylor5656]

These long form videos are fantastic, I love them so much. Especially because they tend to come out over the weekends, so I can sneak in a headphone and put them on behind my bar whenever service is dead. Wrestletalk are keeping me going through the graveyard shifts

[@chip.chippa6416]

Mate that was me in the early 00s but all we had was Sky Sports on the corner telly to pass the time. Good years.

[@dxk65]

Luke's obsession with the 90s in general is extremely fascinating.

[@brentsmith9134]

80s, 90s and early 00s will never be topped in terms of era defining pop culture

[@ericanderson969]

@@brentsmith9134Not when you have that attitude.

[@MrTray301410]

If you were there, you would understand why.

[@Alucard-A-La-Carte]

@@MrTray301410 You DO know the boomers say the EXACT same shit about the '60s and '70s, right?

[@VanGTO49]

You’re too young to know what you missed

[@BetweenTheLyons]

I remember when I found out Tommy Dreamer had been in ECW longer than Paul Heyman because Dreamer was keeping the company afloat with his own money at the very end while Paul had lied to them about finding a new TV deal and instead went to go film scenes for Rollerball and almost no one was aware Paul Heyman had left for WWE until they saw him on his debut on RAW's commentary team. Tommy Dreamer was so upset that he planned on shooting Paul in the back of the head during WrestleMania and then killing himself live on tv. What stopped him was a phone call from Jim Ross saying they were still interested in Dreamer and were planning on using him soon. So yeah, you could say Paul Heyman made some people upset, lol.

[@Alucard-A-La-Carte]

Cult leaders often do!

[@hydrogendiamond5830]

Imagine if that actually happened? ECW as a brand might have never been revived or mentioned in a good light ever again. The former owner was shot on live TV by a deranged former employee? How could you salvage that? Basically Benoit before Benoit in that it would just be null. Heck, Wrestlemania would likely be defunct as a PPV much like Over the Edge is.

[@smac919]

@@hydrogendiamond5830wrestling as a whole would have been black balled by the entertainment industry if that happened on a live ppv

[@Blodhelm]

Some of the worst words to hear in wrestling "Vince Mcmahon is taking a more hands on approach." Actually, those words aren't really great in any context.

[@One.Zero.One101]

I remember when Zack Ryder got himself over on KZbin. Then news came that WWE was going to produce a show for him on the network. I should have bet my house that it wasn't gonna succeed. WWE has this uncanny talent of missing the point of what made the show great.

[@surft]

The thing is the Attitude Era was directly because of Vince. A pity that what he did after were weak but they were fueled by hubris after he got a hit with Attitude.

[@TrillBill]

@@One.Zero.One101 Yeah, Vince had a sick knack of destroying ideas that weren't his.

[@WaqarHussain-te7ft]

Vince is like that one aunty who accidentally makes a great pie and then keeps making the same pie for every party even after people are sick of it.

[@TrillBill]

@@WaqarHussain-te7ft 😅

[@DJBERTIEBOOSTER]

"rob nobody remembers ECW" i put my house on that being from the mouth of kevan dunn

[@CthomasMega]

I say both Dunn AND Vince

[@paynexkiller]

'could your Phone in 2005 play an hour long show?!' Man, I remember downloading Backlash 2006 onto my PSP.

[@DS-us8sc]

That's not a phone

[@raihan6908]

​@@DS-us8sc lmao

[@Greenman13-31]

Math>Pipebomb Loved the original ECW

[@shavedjim]

Benoit was the final nail in the coffin. He was drafted over so they could mould the brand around him, and he would have won the title during that tragic weekend that haunts WWE to this day

[@MegaBroski12]

I agree. I think that if RVD never got busted for weed and if Kurt Angle was able to stick around WWECW would've been better and built around them. Vince tried one last ditch effort by bringing in Benoit for him to refresh the brand but after that fateful weekend that was the last straw

[@lucasbland7352]

I agree John Morrison became champion out of no where and beat cm punk 😢

[@dkmenace1990]

@@MegaBroski12 RVD drug bust was a wound they never recovered from. Once Lashley vs Vince was done, the show was basically competing with a peak TNA wrestling

[@Georgia_Outlaw_Vinyl]

Vince is the answer whenever a question is asked that starts with who killed ____ in wrestling.

[@Blodhelm]

Agreed.

[@juancl7658]

Except for the promotions that were never affiliated with WWE

[@TinkSalsa]

​@@juancl7658 technically WWEs size killed those ones too, so he did them all

[@thewriter8762]

@@TinkSalsanah cuz some of that is Triple H. Like the British wrestling revolution killed off by NXT UK. So the McMahon’s would be the best answer

[@Nick94956]

⁠@@thewriter8762Even that isn’t entirely true. If NXT UK hadn’t done it, the amount of major UK indy stars that had allegations coming out against them would have

[@riotd.r.8363]

After Lashley won the title, WWECW was just FCW wearing an ECW mask.

[@PowerPackers90]

about the original ECW. I always said this when people blame Bischoff/WCW for "killing ECW". What hurt ECW more? WCW bringing in Konnan's AAA guys and NJPW guys that occasionally had US dates in ECW in 95? Or Vince signing ECW's face of the company (Taz) and top Heels (Dudleys) the same month ECW launched their major cable show, and then took that TV deal the next year.

[@Alucard-A-La-Carte]

Yeah, funny how WCW was "poaching talent" while WWE was "recruiting talent," isn't it?

[@godsaw]

If I remember correctly. Rey Mysterio vs. Sabu ended in a "No Contest" after a DDT through a table on the outside and both were deemed to not be able to continue, not a DQ. They would have done that because the match was for The World Heavyweight Title.

[@NuMetalfan1996]

I could talk about WWECW and it’s issues for hours and hours and hours. It was 100% Vince’s doing. I think the Summer of 2006 was when Vince started to lose it as a promoter. Vince just wanted WWECW to be like Raw and SmackDown, and not it’s own thing, and that was the issue.

[@PYahWeh]

If the ECW revival show were streamed in 2006, the WWE would’ve been innovators and would have probably gone through another Attitude Era in the 2010’s. Hindsight is 20/20 but Shane was onto something and his pops REALLY dropped the ball there.

[@MrAjking808]

No we wouldn’t lol

[@ritchier3346]

I don’t think I’ve been this excited for a video in years. What could be better than Luke talking about something that sucked

[@davidmaysee9613]

Wait….. did the WWE like your comment? Thats what it said on my screen…… if they did they not only watch the show but read the comments? Am I tripping

[@jessedellross3245]

I will never forget seeing Big Show beat RVD for the ECW title and how the fans immediately threw garbage. WweCW could’ve been successful. But like with WCW, Vince just couldn’t let his ego go

[@thewriter8762]

Literally this. I think Shane has a few thoughts that were ahead of its time and the idea of making an online show would’ve been great.

[@justinedc1077]

Well despite the failure of WWECW, I did enjoy seeing the ECW world title reigns of Kane, Mark Henry, Matt Hardy, and John Morrison... These are guys who could not really get much main event shine in Raw or Smackdown, but were able to win the big one in WWECW.

[@carlos.gutierrez]

I have enjoyed these video essays. Thank you for the effort in putting these together

[@arezemusic]

Luke Owen at 8am LET’S GO

[@TheGt3456]

Luke Owen at 10pm in Aust LETS GO!

[@adandelgado8591]

Luke Owen at 7 AM in CDT at Dallas, Texas

[@samac4323]

Luke Owen at 1pm in England LETS GO

[@sashogenchev9700]

Vince McMahon

[@bradmullins9132]

This was an amazing little doc. GREAT JOB and many Thanks Luke!!

[@zacharywalton8720]

You guys have been knocking these videos out the park. I absolutely love them and I appreciate the research and time you all put into these. They have been very well done.

[@Tempo1337]

43 minutes to say "Vince McMahon" lol Great vid, Luke, I love these video features. More!!

You’re freaking amazing Luke. Thanks for this amazing work and all your Wrestletalk fellas. Now, off to watch ONS 05.

[@chedacheezy6376]

This is amazing. Love these documentary videos from WrestleTalk.

[@stephenultradever6017]

Love these Saturday afternoon documentaries. This is up their with the best of them

[@diamondeyesfilms]

I am shocked WWECW lasted more than a year or two. It went on a lot longer than I remember.

[@AerialPenn]

Me too couldn't believe Luke said 4 years+ 😂 jesus

[@ThaMrJoker88]

Shane Douglas gets a bad rap by most wrestling fan and especially big stars in the wrestling industry he was an absolute legend in ecw the guy was constantly nuclear in terms of heat back then guy was a beast of a champion

[@AerialPenn]

The Franchise!!

[@Thor-Orion]

I’m a big Franchise fan. Perfect Strangers is a jam.

[@haldosprime3896]

Luke will do anything he has to in order to keep talking about ECW and I respect the hustle.

[@aaron-downey]

Heyman hustle

[@DJBIGCG]

I remember the original ECW and WWECW 👍🏿

[@demarcoadkins]

Luke did a fantastic job with this as a whole! he knows his information as it relates to wrestling, keep up the good work.

[@TomGarrett73]

Another great deep dive. Nice job, Luke!

[@matthewbreen1951]

Hey did you know that JBL busted open the Blue Meanie for reals?

[@IamErik31]

“Concerning. Looking into it.”

[@bossbradley]

Another incredible video! These make my Saturday mornings!!!

[@gghun04]

I love these videos. Please keep up the great work!

[@BoogalooBartholomew]

I often wonder where ECW would be if Vince simply left it alone to Shane Tommy Dreamer and Heyman. There was a market for ECW that Vinnie Mac could have profited off of and it bewilders me that he didn't see that

[@TheBrodyman]

Watching these makes me want more Cut Scene videos. Luke, do you think we'll ever get more of those?

[@JamieB67]

These documentary style videos are fantastic

[@zacharycunningham1789]

What an outstanding doc! Please keep doing these!

[@Muzza858]

Love the video! Maybe the next deep dive can be Who Killed Black and Gold NXT?

[@ollieb1625]

I think the rise and fall and rise of TNA would be interesting.

[@athanaskozhuharov9700]

That one was more or less a case of circumstances. I'm sure we would've had it given AEW didn't overtake that same fanbase and the fact that NXT was getting too big to be a developmental. To a point was the Black and Gold NXT ever developmental, it was a showcase for the top indie talent before they went over to RAW or SmacDown.

[@ficvirth5412]

AEW?

[@stevenfletcher1170]

This was great. Love these videos 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@mmacfarlane1]

I recommend going and watching OSW's retrospective of December to dismember after this. A lovely pairing for a Saturday!

[@PaulaMccrite]

Love theses longer stories! Keep it up. How about top 10 10 SERIES OF PROMOS IN WRESTLING HISTORY! U r welcome.

[@leopoldkain6815]

Cant wait to see VICE do who killed ECW 😅 They are doing Who killed WCW right now. ❤ Great Job as always. 42:01

[@m1kend752]

Another great video, thanks Luke 👍

[@jackrook8715]

Nice long form. Good on you. Well played.

[@lilsunny7399]

Vince McMahon video over

[@strictlycontent8072]

True story

[@MrAjking808]

Cap

[@TheKidFrom13thStreet]

Very well done, this reminds me why I've never been a WWE guy at my core.

[@davidstigberg8888]

Who killed WWECW? Vince Mcmahon "IT'S ME AUSTIN. IT WAS ME ALLLLL ALONG!"

[@RMDV96]

I would like to mention, in the season mode of SVR 2006 they added in a ECW story line were RVD with group of some ECW in game did a invasion angle as well as the ECW arena was a playable in game.

[@eeejayoh4005]

Excellent work lads!

[@AJDaniels99]

Luke's accent and the way he pronounces certain words is hilarious to me for some reason. Like the way says Hammerstein or the way he said Daivari

[@MegaMr46]

Vince McMahon is the obvious killer of WWECW Changed the most famous Barb wired Font.

[@TheBlackamura]

The only "If Cena wins, we riot" sign that meant a damn.

[@Blodhelm]

I remember when Sci-Fi started showing wrestling. I was a fan of both at the time. The show was trash and I found myself annoyed they weren't just showing reruns of actual Sci-Fi shows. The channel was having problems they never really recovered from, the new boss didn't like Sci-Fi and cancelled several popular shows then added a lackluster wrestling show and a God damn soap opera. They cancelled several Stargate shows, their highest rated shows at the time, they cancelled the Battlestar Galactica prequel, then they gave us trash made for TV Asylum movies trying to trick people into watching them, soap opera garbage and this travesty.

[@rocklobster5074]

18:46 that match didn't end in DQ. It ended in a no contest. That still doesn't make any sense though since ECW was supposed to be anything goes with a definitive finish and no rules.

[@markg3105]

Another amazing video ❣️

[@danielmiles8305]

Tremendous long form content again…..Chef’s Kiss.

[@RedneckOgre9000]

I actually liked Kevin Vampiredude. And Ariel was nice to look at.

[@ryanlindemuth9770]

Awesome video overall tho! .. just had to clear up that one aspect that's been universally misreported all these years

[@lewismaclean8849]

Another amazing original video. Would love to see a similar version of this about Who Killed NXT.

[@dkmenace1990]

NXT is more alive than Black and Gold has ever been since Nick Khan fixed that giant sunk cost.

[@strictlycontent8072]

It's 2024 and Bravo was mentioned while talking about ECW. What a time to be alive.

[@joehobin]

Interesting video. I'm in my late 20's and and almost 30 so I grew up as a kid watching wrestling around the time Cena and Orton where the biggest stars in WWE. I also remember watching online NXT the original during the first season. This was around the time I started watching wrestling the year before watching clips of on youtube of mania highlights of Undertaker and HBK. So for me I never really got to experience ECW. So seeing this retrospective is quite fascinating

[@scotchmagoo]

Great job!

[@GoldenNakai17]

Awesome video Loved it all

[@Tha_Trigga]

Good stuff Luke!

[@TwistedFudge]

This video was made with so much love and respect for ECW! Thank you so much and Mayor Kane says hello 😁

[@brianlogan4243]

Paul Heyman, in my opinion defines the word carny promoter. Every talent he ever managed in his career elsewhere, were all given at least 1 match in ECW. Paul also was never financially dependant himself on wrestling, came from money and probabaly never understood what being broke was like, he lived at home. He never has never had a real job or bills to pay, he didnt have his own family until way later on. Like Cornette, he came from an afluent family. Unlike Corentte, Paul only really cared about ECW NOT its actual people. A long time ago an unnamed promoter/booker/office person told me, "Paul is a survivor at any and everyone's cost." ECW could never become mainstream or it would lose what made it special. ECW was an experience and a mindset that shifted the way wrestling was presented and became a parody of iteself after Vince brought it back. To be special it needed to be small and fringe.

[@JP-pe3si]

Sat-E-Day should do one of these... I like these dark room reflection's ya'll do SUPPORT WRESTLE TALK!! 🗣️

[@m87boom87]

Great vid 👍🏼👍🏼

[@themikx2939]

You think you guys would ever do a video on Lucha Underground?

[@MikeysLegend]

I enjoyed this story. Thank you Luke and WT

[@NateMcCoy1194]

Here we go

[@murty355]

Another great video

[@TwiztidMonsta]

I love the long documentary style videos you guys do. Great work wrestletalk!

[@maskedllama7775]

Great breakdown

[@andersoncontreras183]

It’s Me ECW it was me all along (Vince McMahon voice) 😂

[@terrymoore595]

Loving this keep it up

[@ericanderson969]

Vince McMahon: Never a genius

[@hersh23]

What Doc is Luke talking about at @41:47? Love this video and learned some things but theres a couple times where Luke mentions things said "In a WWE Documentary" but never gives the name. Id actually like to watch these specific docs since WWE actually does a damn good job on their documentaries.... eeeeexcept for the one they promoted during WM40 that they said would be released on KZbin the Wednesday after WM40 and here we are months later with nothing. 😂

[@NuMetalfan1996]

I’ve actually been re watching WWECW on the Network, as looking back it’s pretty cursed and bizarre to look back on that show now. The first 7 months of the show from June 2006 to January 2007, was the best the show had to offer, it was somewhat watchable, somewhat. Some good matches as well RVD vs Kurt Angle RVD vs Sabu in a ladder match RVD vs Hardcore Holly, where Bob Holly gets a nasty gash on his back from a table spot, that is probably the best match of Bob Holly’s entire career. Ric Flair vs Big Show in the most original ECW type match they ever did on the WWECW show, Barbed Wire, Thumbtacks and the lot, Ric Flair in 2006 was just doing dangerous matches. It’s crazy WCW legend Ric Flair is in the most original like ECW match to ever be broadcast on the WWECW show. So those 4 matches are by far the best matches the show had to offer, and if anyone hasn’t seen those matches I do recommend them. So the first 7 months of the show, it’s somewhat watchable. Then we get to the debacle of December To Dismember, that PPV was when the WWECW thing went completely off the rails. The problem was Heyman pitched 2 ideas to Vince, 1 idea was that CM Punk would win the Chamber match at Dismember To Dismember, Vince didn’t like that idea. So Heyman came up with another idea of Lashley turning heel, and for CM Punk to chase the heel champion Lashley heading into 2007, Vince didn’t like that idea either. What Vince wanted is what happened, a babyface green Lashley winning the Chamber match. As Vince wanted to heavily push Lashley as a babyface champion, but felt that he wasn’t ready for that push on SmackDown or Raw just yet, so Lashley’s push on WWECW was a test run. December to Dismember fucking bombed, and it became WWE’s lowest buy rate PPV in history. And because of that fired Paul Heyman a week later, even though it wasn’t Heyman’s fault. By January 2007, after the 2007 Royal Rumble, is when we start to fully see Vince’s vision for the WWECW show, which is just Raw and SmackDown but with a much smaller roster.

[@SJxPVR]

We need a Wrestletalk doc the beginning til now lol

[@Clipsb3]

12:43 made me go watch it again & i was like "this is pretty tame" for the first few minutes but towsrds the end i was like "yeaaaaaa this is fantastic"

[@shinerdrinker9249]

Great job! But quick question: Why did you do it in a closet? A ring light would have helped. I also want to thank you for using a proper microphone. It was crystal clear and perfectly presented. I give it a definitive thumbs up, and now I'll go ahead and try another of these long-form videos. Well done!

[@YeahThatsKyle]

ECW was treated like the middle child of wrestling

[@MarslArts]

Srsly I think the Zombie could have worked - well, not that version of course. But imagine a grunge like Character like Raven with that Aura, calling himself Dead Inside and playing with the metapher of being a Zombie, being an undead in the world full of colours, a more postpunk/goth character would have been great. Like always, good work, Luke!

[@martinmiramontes1067]

A Saturday morning WrestleTalk video 🎉

[@maxthescarecrow4038]

Ironic that the killing blow to WWECW was the booking that ECW killed - a big guy Vince saw as a star going against a giant monster heel.

[@darkstarr2540]

ECW on Syfi was also the beginning of the end of the channel itself. Now they play films like Fast and Furious. HTF is Fast and Furious Sci-fi!

[@omarkennedy7056]

As much as we all crap on him recently Shane was probably the biggest visionary in wwe. But Vince never took to any of his ideas and it costs the company billions on billions. Like the ufc purchase suggestion is always something i remember

[@marcusbrothers5221]

That RVD vs Cena was a subliminal doubleturn for me. At the end of the match I gained respect for Cena that i never had before and RVD in WWE seemed diminished from the Jerry Lynn days

[@jimmyrolls37]

As someone who stuck with the show from beginning to end, while it was sad early on, it wasn't complete doom and gloom at first. The first couple months, you could still see glimmers of hope as they tried to keep it somewhat in line with the og, but it was obvious it was a tug of war. Once RVD was gone, the show morphed more into the new superstar initiative Era, and at times had some promise. I mean a lot of ppl did stick around the ratings despite it all. Had it just not been "E C W" it may have had a better reputation. We did get some gems from it... Rvd and Sabu VS Test and Mike Knox. The Balls/Kelly story was ALMOST good(Mandy and Otis in 2007) but Vince pulled the plug. CM Punk vs John Morrison was a very good rivalry. Christian as champion was excellent. Even Matt Hardy had decent matches as champ. Mark Henry's first time showing he could carry a title. Evan Bourne. Heel Shelton. Don't pretend you didn't like Yoshi Tatsu, they chanted his name in nxt like forever in 2014. Never would have been a great show, but what chances it had and what little good it did show were always constantly buried beneath by Vince

[@nicholaschristie8699]

The more I hear about how Vince booked things backstage, along with his attitude and actions as well, the more I think he was just a very lucky guy who had very talented people around him and he was the one person who had no idea what he was doing. Period.

[@marcusbrothers5221]

Clint from Hershey Pennsylvania is Paul Heyman's online alter ego.

[@Andrecpt]

Bring back the smackdown review

[@Rollyboy141]

18:47 Rey vs Sabu was no contest actually. Both guys couldn’t continue

[@danthead]

You guys did a great job with this. FWIW, the lesson WWE learned in all of this appears to have been the value of absolutely destroying the value of all other wrestling brands as quickly & as thoroughly as possible.

[@jayscott4990]

You should do the NXT one. I think it would be interesting!

[@dkmenace1990]

NXT is still alive. Stand and Deliver 2024 is literally their most successful show ever.

[@joesamplessr.7817]

Vince McMahon Jr. Killed ECW. But the brand is still alive because Paul Hayman got into the WWE Hall of Fame so ECW is still alive in our memories!!! Have a great day.