Deconstructing a relaunch

Just watched WWE's version of Extreme Championship Wrestling on Sci Fi, and in a nutshell: it was sheer crap.

First of all, they should have booked the show like it was brand new -- character profiles/introductions ("Hi, I'm Justin Credible, former ECW World Champion... " / "Hi, I'm Balls Mahoney, this is why you should care about me..."), faster pacing, different camera angles...

I actually think the show started off well -- the RAW tie-in made sense for a variety of reasons, including the fact that adding current RAW viewers into the mix means higher ratings and thus a better chance the show will survive past the summer -- and even The Zombie was funny in a "symbolic" kind of way. So you've got your audience in the first few minutes of the broadcast, yet what exactly did Paul Heyman (and Vince McMahon and Executive Producer Kevin Dunn) do to hook them, reel them in, and keep them wanting to watch NEXT week and the week after that?

A recap of Jerry Lawler's ring entrance? A battle royale? A stripper who doesn't know how to unclasp a bra? Please.

As for the arena, look -- I think the Smackdown venues will make it difficult, since crowds will likely be split between "traditional" WWE fans and fans looking for an alternative, but it won't be impossible. Go back to what I said above: change some camera angles around, make sure not to pan around to get shots of the entire audience... maybe add some seating closer to the ring... and voila! You have a different look and feel. I understand that it is cost prohibitive for WWE to tape shows three nights in a row, and that this ECW relaunch was basically booked on the fly once Vince saw how quickly the One Night Stand Pay Per View sold out. But last week's "WWE vs. ECW Head to Head" special even seemed produced differently than last night's shitstorm. You have all of the production tricks in the world at your disposal, so why don't you use them?

The show will likely get ratings through the Tuesday following RAW's Vengeance PPV, but after that it's all up in the air, and they better shape up otherwise this isn't an alternative... it's just Heat on a different night... or worse: WCW Thunder - THE NEW BREED.


(I will say that I did enjoy the "...and look at this one: IT SPINS!" line from Rob Van Dam. I dig it when champs hold multiple titles - think Chris Jericho after he unified the WWF and WCW World Championships - and when they decide to put the WWE Title back on RAW, this will allow them to devise a way to keep ECW with a title to call their own... Hey, at least that's something positive.)