for you historians out there, what was ECW's downfall?

[Grifter]

Ran by a jew that's bad with money.

 

[Box Cutta]

if only netflix existed back then. imagine that netflix deal..

I wanna say "word", but I don't see any other wrestling on netflix...so what's good?

People keep speculating for Lucha Underground but they aren't on there.

Maybe netflix wouldn't fukk with them?

@TrueEpic08 damn your post kinda makes me feel like ECW dying was bigger than WCW....

 

[The_Sheff]

A lot of people are blaming "that awful TNN deal" but nobody is saying what was awful about it. Can anyone elaborate?

 

[Ill Lou Malnati]

Heyman was terrible a businessman. He tried to expand and become national when ECW was a niche regional promotion that had zero appeal as a national company.

 

[Sypress]

Heyman was terrible a businessman. He tried to expand and become national when ECW was a niche regional promotion that had zero appeal as a national company.

Plus going national would have meant changing the product so much.

It was super niche and the peak it had business wise was probably the only peak they would've seen

 

[SteelCitySoldier]

@TrueEpic08 damn your post kinda makes me feel like ECW dying was bigger than WCW....

They weren't bigger than WCW because they weren't bringing in the money WCW but their following was a lot bigger. Only reason ECW didn't bring in money like WCW was because they couldn't run the same venues because they couldn't afford to rent them. Give Heyman Ted Turner and that bankroll and he is still up and running with ECW today.

Also people forget that Nitro was still getting 2's in the ratings consistently when they were sold, any cable executive will tell you that they would kill for that.

A lot of people are blaming "that awful TNN deal" but nobody is saying what was awful about it. Can anyone elaborate?

Like I said before the deal wasn't awful it was that right after they got their deal WWE let it be known they were looking to a new home. If you broadcast pro wrestling who would you rather have...the big time company that's on fire right now or the company who's on fire but started on public access television?

Once WWE was up for grabs TNN stopped promoting them and if I remember correctly even changed their time slot to later in the evening citing the violence as the reason.

There are also urban legends that WWE let TNN know that if they had any shot at gaining them that they should "do something" about TNA and that's what caused the promotion to stop.

 

[Playaz Eyez]

Watching ECW was awesome but i felt like it was overshadowed by WWF and WCW. That The Rise and Fall of ECW DVD is good a film but it is produced by WWE. As you know, there is always 2 sides to a story, right?

so, what was real reason for ECW going out of business?

That DVD is probably one of the best most accurate ones they've ever produced it's nothing like that 1st Ultimate Warrior DVD that came out. Rise & Fall of ECW truly detailed everything.

 

[Vinny Lupton]

A lot of people are blaming "that awful TNN deal" but nobody is saying what was awful about it. Can anyone elaborate?

TNN wanted them to change everything that made them ECW. Tone down the violence, the language, the whole fark feel of the show. Paul even said (allegedly, Paul is a compulsive liar) that TNN even wanted them to change the theme song becuase it was too dark. Then, they only promoted the show during the show, so they basically did nothing to send them new fans for the show. They also I think wanted them to up their production value ($$) but either didnt give them any money or not enough money. It's one thing to have a TV deal and it's another to have a TV deal where the station is really behind you all the way and wants to push you

 

[FunkDoc1112]

Paul Heyman put it best: they had become too big to sustain themselves being ran like an indy promotion...but too small and niche to actually complete with WCW and WWF. Doing pay-per-views and bigger arenas and shyt left them with no money to actually pay talent, plus all of their stars got picked off by the Big Two once they got big enough

 

[FunkDoc1112]

You could find a PDF of "The Death of WCW" and be straight as far as finding out just how fukked WCW was before it died. I'm not trying to take money out of Meltzer's pockets by saying that but it's true.

Yeah in all honesty I think WCW without that Time Warner money would barely be ahead of where TNA is now. There's no way in hell they'd be able to afford all of those bloated contracts Bischoff was handing out like candy because he knew it wasn't coming out of his own pocket.

 

[Sypress]

We gotta stop with "raids". Raids implies stealing, something done by force. These dudes got better offers to work at another job with more job security and money coming on time. Yall never saw the list of wrestlers that were owed $$$ by ECW when they closed? I wouldnt let my job miss one check, let alone racking up a $50,000 debt to me.

Noted in the enormous list of creditors comprised of cable companies, travel agencies, media corporations (including TNN), advertising agencies, hospitals, insurance companies, financial institutions, courier companies, universities and plaintiffs with personal injury suits against ECW are these former ECW wrestlers, managers and announcers:

• Bill Alphonso: $5,000.
• C.W. Anderson: $500.
• Angel (Baldies): $500.
• Scotty Anton: Unknown amount.
• Steve Corino: None.
• Justin Credible: $7,990.
• Lou E. Dangerously: $7,000.
• Juilo Deniro: $300.
• Devito (Baldies): $500.
• Simon Diamond: $9,000.
• Danny Doring: $2,100.
• Shane Douglas: $48,000.
• Spike Dudley: Unknown amount.
• Francine: $47,275.
• Chris Hamrick: $300.
• Don Callis: $12,000.
• Little Guido: $25,000.
• Jazz: $1000.
• Jerry Lynn: Unknown amount.
• Balls Mahoney: $4,000.
• Tony Mamaluke: $600.
• Dawn Marie: $9,000.
• Thomas Marquez: $500.
• James Mitchell (Sinister Minister): Unknown.
• EZ Money: $300.
• New Jack: Unknown amount.
• Nova: $4,000.
• Roadkill: $21,250.
• Rhyno: $50,000.
• Sabu: None.
• The Sandman: Unknown amount.
• Johnny Swinger: Unknown amount.
• Joey Styles: $50,480.
• Super Crazy: $5,000.
• Tajiri: $5,000.
• Rob Van Dam: $150,000.
• Jack Victory: $3,000.
• Mikey Whipwreck: $12,000.
• Chilly Willy: $500.

Like I alluded to in my first reply up there, they were owed $860,000 in accounts receivable, partly PPV money that the PPV companies were trying to hold out on (edit - found this in the Observer:The assets include $800,000 in accounts receivable from In Demand, $50,000 from
Acclaim and $10,000 from Original San Francisco Toymakers. ) Accounts receivable is a bytch. If you dont have reserves or a credit line, you could be rich on paper and broke in reality

This

They weren't raided, they just found better gigs

 

[ZEB WALTON]

Heyman being the worst jew businessman in history

 

[ZEB WALTON]

Damn. Candidio got fukked the worst

 

[Saint1]

Pretty good doc after ECW ended. Basically Money was the issue. This video a little more raw as it's not endorsed by ECW or WWE

 

[SteelCitySoldier]

Pretty good doc after ECW ended. Basically Money was the issue. This video a little more raw as it's not endorsed by ECW or WWE

The best documentary on ECW IMO