Post by Booker Thee on Dec 11, 2004 17:39:35 GMT -5
Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Apparently, WWE is planning on doing a one night ECW reunion PPV.
A couple of months ago Rob Van Dam pushed the idea to McMahon. Also around this time was when Van Dam publicly made minor knocks against the company, in as far as saying ECW used him better and that ECW was the best period of his career. It also makes sense of the recent Byte This show where Heyman, Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer and Rey Mysterio were less than complimentary to aspects of WWE booking and pushing that ECW made better use of their talents, make a lot more sense. Dreamer even knocked David Lagana, the head writer of Smackdown, noting that he was a big ECW fan, yet couldn’t find anything to keep him (Dreamer), one of ECW’s biggest stars, on the active roster. Since Dreamer's role is in John Laurinaitis' new talent relations departments, if s almost impossible to believe he'd speak out against the company, considering his role, if it wasn’t for pushing of an angle. In fact, if not for the leaving of Chhibber, one could be easily think it possible Heyman's demotion could be an angle to set up him rebelliously starting ECW. That is almost assuredly not true, being that WWE, with hours of television, is not about to shoot a major angle like this, particularly working their own front office to the point where Stephanie was very upset the word about Heyman being off became internet knowledge. Wrestlers normally are strongly discouraged from saying anything against the company mindset in public, let alone comparing the company unfavorably to a different modern company.
Van Dam reportedly told McMahon about all the talent under contract that had worked for ECW, with the idea of reviving it for one night. McMahon and others thought at first that it was Heyman's idea, but Heyman was using Van Dam as the messenger. In meetings, Heyman always denied it being his idea, even though others on the inside termed it "Heyman's crusade." Vince was positive about the idea as well as Jim Ross and the Dudleyz. Stephanie kept avoiding putting the idea on her to be discussed docket, so nothing had been done on it. When the DVD did so well, Heyman brought it up again, in front of Vince, forcing Stephanie to deal with it. Stephanie was said to be against it, and nobody knows if it will be done at this point or not. Another source said Stephanie had never publicly said anything against it, but when she privately asked the writing staff their opinions, she implied that she was against as should they be. When word of that got to the wrestlers, there were ex-ECW wrestlers who were led to believe she was the hold-up.
One of the big questions originally was whether the show would be handled like a normal WWE show with the agent involvement, the same type of production, as opposed to a different feel, and really be Heyman's own man creative show. But if it is done, at this point, Heyman will have very little if anything to do with the creative end, as it would be put together by the WWE creative team and the WWE agents, just using former ECW talent currently on the active roster and probably Tommy Dreamer, since he works for the company, and possibly one or two outsiders. The idea was just to do one show, but as is natural once the door is opened, several former ECW types, many of whom were frustrated with their lack of push, were hoping it could become an annual thing where they could play a major role on a big show.
Below is the list of all EX-ECW talent wrestling with WWE right now:
Rob Van Dam
Chris Jericho
Chris Benoit
Eddie Guerrero
Rey Mysterio
Bubba Ray Dudley
D-Von Dudley
Spike Dudley
Rhyno
Tajiri
Tazz
Lita
Simon Dean
Nunzio
Chilly Willy
Dawn Marie
Mick Foley
Stevie Richards
Al Snow
Apparently, WWE is planning on doing a one night ECW reunion PPV.
A couple of months ago Rob Van Dam pushed the idea to McMahon. Also around this time was when Van Dam publicly made minor knocks against the company, in as far as saying ECW used him better and that ECW was the best period of his career. It also makes sense of the recent Byte This show where Heyman, Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer and Rey Mysterio were less than complimentary to aspects of WWE booking and pushing that ECW made better use of their talents, make a lot more sense. Dreamer even knocked David Lagana, the head writer of Smackdown, noting that he was a big ECW fan, yet couldn’t find anything to keep him (Dreamer), one of ECW’s biggest stars, on the active roster. Since Dreamer's role is in John Laurinaitis' new talent relations departments, if s almost impossible to believe he'd speak out against the company, considering his role, if it wasn’t for pushing of an angle. In fact, if not for the leaving of Chhibber, one could be easily think it possible Heyman's demotion could be an angle to set up him rebelliously starting ECW. That is almost assuredly not true, being that WWE, with hours of television, is not about to shoot a major angle like this, particularly working their own front office to the point where Stephanie was very upset the word about Heyman being off became internet knowledge. Wrestlers normally are strongly discouraged from saying anything against the company mindset in public, let alone comparing the company unfavorably to a different modern company.
Van Dam reportedly told McMahon about all the talent under contract that had worked for ECW, with the idea of reviving it for one night. McMahon and others thought at first that it was Heyman's idea, but Heyman was using Van Dam as the messenger. In meetings, Heyman always denied it being his idea, even though others on the inside termed it "Heyman's crusade." Vince was positive about the idea as well as Jim Ross and the Dudleyz. Stephanie kept avoiding putting the idea on her to be discussed docket, so nothing had been done on it. When the DVD did so well, Heyman brought it up again, in front of Vince, forcing Stephanie to deal with it. Stephanie was said to be against it, and nobody knows if it will be done at this point or not. Another source said Stephanie had never publicly said anything against it, but when she privately asked the writing staff their opinions, she implied that she was against as should they be. When word of that got to the wrestlers, there were ex-ECW wrestlers who were led to believe she was the hold-up.
One of the big questions originally was whether the show would be handled like a normal WWE show with the agent involvement, the same type of production, as opposed to a different feel, and really be Heyman's own man creative show. But if it is done, at this point, Heyman will have very little if anything to do with the creative end, as it would be put together by the WWE creative team and the WWE agents, just using former ECW talent currently on the active roster and probably Tommy Dreamer, since he works for the company, and possibly one or two outsiders. The idea was just to do one show, but as is natural once the door is opened, several former ECW types, many of whom were frustrated with their lack of push, were hoping it could become an annual thing where they could play a major role on a big show.
Below is the list of all EX-ECW talent wrestling with WWE right now:
Rob Van Dam
Chris Jericho
Chris Benoit
Eddie Guerrero
Rey Mysterio
Bubba Ray Dudley
D-Von Dudley
Spike Dudley
Rhyno
Tajiri
Tazz
Lita
Simon Dean
Nunzio
Chilly Willy
Dawn Marie
Mick Foley
Stevie Richards
Al Snow
