We went into NXT being the third brand in WWE but before NXT there was another brand: ECW. The ECW brand and NXT are tied together in that the first season of NXT—as a competition show—replaced the slot held by WWECW. Also, both became the third brand in similar ways.
Remember When ECW Was the Third Brand in WWE?
I don’t think anyone can forget about ECW being the third brand after December to Dismember. The brand was established after the hype around One Night Stand 2005–similar to the hype with NXT resulting in a prime time slot on cable.
The thing is that NXT was driven by great matches with indy darlings that resulted in their hype. ECW was riding high off of sweet sweet nostalgia. Those One Night Stand shows didn’t pack the intensity and violence of original ECW but the shows were put together better than the ECW pay-per-views.
The Third Brand Dilemma: ECW
ONS moved from segment to segment smoothly and most matches were kept tight in a “Get in there, do your sh**, don’t meander” sense. If a company has been running PPVs since before ECW was a concept, I’d expect them to do well on a reunion show.
So, the ECW brand is announced and it will air on the Sci Fi Channel in the U.S. It’s an odd pick but it’s safe for two big reasons. First, it’s on an NBC Universal network and WWE goes back with the broadcaster. Their working relationship is strong.
Secondly, WWE didn’t really have to fret over ratings. Sci Fi always had this low average for what kind of ratings its shows would pull. It wouldn’t be hard for ECW to meet or exceed that ceiling. Plus, it’s fresh, original content that doesn’t really have seasons.
So What Happened?
Ugh. Where to begin. Let’s go with three reasons that contributed to WWECW’s demise. First, the original talent who helped make the letters “ECW” important weren’t the best talent for this level of show. ECW as a brand was more national/global than the original ECW. This roster just wasn’t it.
Mixing in WWE superstars, a few of the ECW Originals, and developmental hopefuls worked to a degree. It was a long way from being the ECW of old and became this new thing. I was interested because some of these superstars weren’t doing anything on RAW or SmackDown anyway.
Another thing that hurt the brand was that it didn’t stick to smaller venues. Of course, NXT would do this for the bulk of its existence as a brand and it always worked for developmental. While the Extreme brand wasn’t developmental, it could’ve gotten a weekly venue and kept the feel of ECW. Instead, it was taped before larger shows.
This contributed to it feeling like just another WWE brand—and a weak one at that. If the brand had a combination of those ECW veterans and smaller venues, that would’ve been worth experimenting with for as long as the brand ran.
The final thing that I believe took the Extreme brand out was that ECW always had an expiration date. OG E-C-Dub was a product of its time and was going to wear off in the early 2000s. As said before in discussing ECW, Ring of Honor was what ECW would’ve become in the 2000s.
WWECW wasn’t going to last long with the lettering. When the brand was established you had CZW and ROH around as well as Extreme reunion and tribute shows. After the reunion shows and offshoots began dying out a year or two after they started, the nostalgia faded and fans were moving on to new or current products.
Thus, WWECW was replaced by competition show era NXT. However, I feel like the brand could’ve been salvaged and rebranded.
CHECK IT OUT: To get The Overtimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE! Also, subscribe to Daily Soap Dish on YouTube for reality TV news and views and hit the bell icon for updates!
