SLAM! Wrestling Editorial: ECW will survive Awesome's departure
By JOHN POWELL -- SLAM! Wrestling
If you are in the news business long enough, you learn one truth. History
repeats itself.
On August 27th, 1994, Shane Douglas beat 2 Cold Scorpio in the finals of a
tournament to determine the undisputed NWA World Heavyweight Champion. In a
move that shocked the wrestling community, Douglas vacated the title
declaring himself ECW's first World Heavyweight Champion. Renaming itself
Extreme Championship Wrestling, ECW followed WCW's lead and opted out of
the NWA alliance to strike out on its own.
The rest is history.
Six years later, it may be pay back time for Paul Heyman and the boys. What
goes around, comes around. Universal karma, if you will. ECW embarrassed
the NWA and now it looks like their competitor for the Number Two spot is
about to shame them on national television. If Mike Awesome does appear on
Monday Night Nitro tonight, whether he symbolically dumps the ECW World
Heavyweight Title belt in the trash is insignificant. The damage is done.
The fact that WCW has snatched away ECW's World Champion right from under
their noses is a powerful statement in itself.
Their Number Two status in question of as late due to their dwindling
profits and fan disinterest in their product, WCW is sending a strong
message to ECW, pro wrestling journalists and the fans. WCW still has the
power. WCW still has the stroke. WCW is the Big Leagues while ECW can't
even hold onto their own talent. There is a reason why WCW has gone after
certain wrestlers like Raven, The Sandman, Sabu and Awesome. They are out
to cripple ECW, impede their rise to the top, destroy locker room morale
and get the perception out there that ECW can't compete on their level.
Some of these things are true. WCW is owned by the network it is broadcast on.
There are no worries of cancellation in spite of sagging ratings if the
head honchos throw their support behind the product regardless of its
financial success. Like the WWF, ECW doesn't own their own network which
complicates the daily business of running a wrestling promotion. ECW
doesn't have a bazillionare at the helm either. If WCW has a shortfall,
other companies in the portfolio can make up the difference keeping the
wrestling side of things afloat. Paul Heyman doesn't have that luxury.
Though it is very unlikely that WCW is ever go off the air, Heyman could be
facing that reality this fall if the WWF-TNN deal goes through and ECW
can't sign a contract with the USA Network.
Just as that nasty Canuck Cyrus threatens in their current storyline, the
Network(s) could pull the plug on ECW's national broadcast which would then
put them back to Square One, relying on local stations to air their
product as they did a few years ago. In some cases they would even have to pay for the air time.
Reports of ECW demise are a bit premature. If I had a dollar for every time
somebody predicted that ECW was about to tank, I very well could quit my
job, pack up my wife and son so we could retire in sunny Florida. ECW has
survived without a national TV show before and could do so again. ECW
became a success even without airing a single pay-per-view broadcast in its
leaner years. ECW has muddled through even after main-eventers such as The
Sandman, Raven, Taz, Cactus Jack and Public Enemy chose to pursue their
options elsewhere. Mike Awesome appearing on Nitro is a slap in the face
for ECW but it certainly isn't a debilitating kick in the crotch. Paul
Heyman has proved that even with the kitchen walls burning down around him,
he can still pull that frying pan out of the fire. How long he will want to
before throwing up his hands, walking out of the house and letting it burn
to the ground is anyone's guess.
