You see, ECW and TNN finally came to blows earlier this week, thus exiting ECW off Cable television probably forever. If you didn't hear about it, the PTC (Parents Television Council) really put the screws to ECW. They issued a statement about the negotiations of ECW and USA Networks about a possible show. Since the top executive took a bunch of crap over the high powered WWF, he obviously didn't want the criticism over a much smaller federation who isn't guaranteed to be an instant success on the network. So really, we can blame that FUCKING PTC for probably killing anything good with the USA Networks, and probably scaring away other Cable networks too.
Without a Cable deal, ECW won't be able to stay alive financially. It's being said(Torch) that ECW is currently behind 4 weeks on pay to many of their wrestlers or workers. That's not good, especially when you just lost a main source of cash flow. With that said, you could expect many ECW wrestlers to possibly make the jump to other federations. Hell, even Rob Van Dam just might be jumping to a federation near you, as my opinion feels he'll have a hard time signing on with a federaton thanks to his "420" habits.
Even if a lot of wrestlers jump off the payroll, ECW will still be in trouble. ECW has beefed up their production costs over the past year, as compared to 1996 when the production was just affordable. Every show, especially the televised ones, costs ECW a good bit to put on.
So here's my opinion on how this federation could even survive:
A. They obviously must cut back on production costs so that they can at least make some good, hard cash off the live crowd. I guess no flashy entrance anymore?
B. This is a sad one, but they will probably have to let some payroll go, even if they aren't willing to jump elsewhere. ECW has paid their top, loyal stars a great chunk of money to stick with them, and without any cash resources really coming in, how could you pay a guy who makes $100,000 a year now, let alone several of those wrestlers?
C. Pray to God that the Pay Per View buyrates skyrocket! Especially since ECW decided to do one every month, they better hope that everyone's craving for ECW comes out every month, especially if they don't have ECW on TNN to watch.
D. Scramble for a Cable deal, somewhere. I'm sure those very shitty cable stations, like FX among others, could use a shot in the arm also known as wrestling. I'm sure on a cable station that worthless, the PTC won't care. The owner of USA is a high profile man, so he had to buckle from outside pressure.
ECW is in very critical shape right now. Even worse, WCW is also in critical shape right now. So for instance, if ECW were to shut down, where could the wrestlers go? Jump to WCW? Nope. WCW is cutting costs themselves and if there is no buyer, they just might be shut down. Even if there is a buyer of WCW, it's very likely that it won't survive. ECW wrestlers would have to turn to the WWF, where the roster is already very full. Things could even get worse if WCW actually shuts down or if the WWF were to buy WCW, then those ECW wrestlers would really have a hard time getting in.
This is easily the worst time for ECW. Just when they were on fire again, BOOM, they are shot down again, and possibly for good.
What's sad is if ECW does somehow survive, I'll be shut out from them again. It took me 2 long years to finally get ECW again, thanks to the TNN show, and now I'm screwed again. So with that said, there will be very limited coverage of ECW now in this column. Yes, you Justin Credible fans can sigh in relief. Well, I guess I better do one more Phat 5 of ECW for the road........
5. All of ECW- The 5th spot has always been a toss up for me, so since this is the last 'ECW Day' type column, we'll just put all of the wrestlers here. This whole locker room, even guys I hate like Justin Credible and Rhino, bust their ass every night for a great show. There are hardly any egos in this locker room, as opposed to other locker rooms in other federations. They were a thrill to watch again, and I hope that someone either gives me Hardcore TV in my area or that a Cable station picks them up.
4. Tajiri- Out of all of the ECW wrestlers, Tajiri will be the one I'll miss the most out of the Cable TV shutdown. I've been a long time fan of the Great Muta(if you didn't notice), and with Tajiri being a very violent version of Muta. From the kicks and the crazy submission holds, he really caught my attention and made me look foward to every match he wrestled. Can't see it no more though.
3. Rob Van Dam- One of the best company people around, as he's loyal and he could care less about being on top or winning the World title. After being there for 4 years, you'd figure a payoff like that would be for him. Nope. He'd rather make others go foward with their careers, and that's worth a lot. Now, the company who he's very loyal to is in trouble, and he might not have much of a choice but to leave what he's worked hard for.
2. Steve Corino- When I first started watching ECW again, I dogged this man hard! I didn't think he had any talent, but he really proved me wrong. He became a great heel in the business, and was totally 'oldschool' about it. He's been busting his ass for the past year, giving it his all in every match he wrestles. I'm not that big of a fan of turning him face though, but I guess you have to do something when fighting that evil Justin Credible.
1. Jerry Lynn- By far, the best overall wrestler in ECW. Who would have ever thought that a guy under a mask called "Mr. JL" in WCW would come to ECW and be that good. Well, if WCW let him be himself, then maybe he could have proved them wrong. Lynn can carry most wrestlers in ECW to a tough match, especially Rob Van Dam who he pushes to the limit. He's a very deserving World Champ if you ask me.
The other independents will win as well. Lots of wrestlers will be without jobs if ECW and WCW closes up, so some indies ready to step up can now do it with a decent name wrestler. Hell, it could very well create the #2 federation behind the WWF instantly. Who knows, this whole thing could end up with the WWF versus a new competitor, trying to dethrone the WWF like WCW did in 1996. If that were to happen, it would take a lot of time for growing into a rival powerhouse.
I don't actually see that happening. If the WWF basically owns WCW, you could really say it's over. Wrestling as we know it will be the WWF and a bunch of weak independents trying to get some. The WWF is an unstoppable force anyway, thanks to the Viacom deal, so what will it matter? WWF rules the market now, and there is nobody going to come close for a long time now. Vince McMahon is now all of our daddies.
New LoP Design is coming....... New Bad Tito is coming.......
@That's it for today. I shall be back tomorrow with something, so just chill till the next episode.
Backyard BBQ: No Athletic Commission Can shut this down!
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.