ECW (WWE brand)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
ECW
Logo for the brand and the ECW television program
Product typeProfessional wrestling
Hardcore wrestling
Sports entertainment
OwnerWorld Wrestling Entertainment
Produced byPaul Heyman
(2006)
Vince McMahon
(2006–2010)
CountryUnited States
IntroducedMay 25, 2006
DiscontinuedFebruary 16, 2010
Related brandsRaw
SmackDown
NXT
205 Live
NXT UK
TaglineA new breed unleashed[1]
The Tribe of Extreme has risen again!
Predecessor:
Extreme Championship Wrestling

ECW was a

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) that was established in May 2006 and discontinued in February 2010. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers that were assigned to ECW primarily appeared on the brand's weekly television program, ECW. The brand was established as a relaunch of the former Extreme Championship Wrestling
(ECW) promotion, the assets of which WWE acquired in 2003.

The brand operated during the second half of WWE's first brand extension period (2002–2011), and was one of WWE's three main brands, along with

NXT, which was rebranded as WWE's developmental territory, NXT
, in 2012.

History

Main article: WWE brand extension
ECW Representative
in the ring in 2006

In early-to-mid-2002, then World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) underwent a process they called the "

video library in 2003.[3]

The enormous popularity of

draft featured ECW founder Paul Heyman receiving two total draft picks from the existing Raw and SmackDown! rosters for the newly created ECW brand.[5][6] During the draft, Rob Van Dam was drafted from Raw and Kurt Angle
from SmackDown! as the marquee signings.

The ECW brand was initially produced differently from WWE's other brands. For televised events, the main ring-facing cameras were placed on a different location in the arena while the

count outs and disqualifications, were now standard. Matches featuring the rule set of the original promotion were then classified as being contested under "Extreme Rules
" and were only fought when specified.

Tiffany (the final ECW General Manager) on Raw in November 2008

Former ECW owner

ECW authority figure until August 14, 2007, when Armando Estrada was announced as the General Manager. On June 3, 2008, Estrada was replaced by Theodore Long. On the April 7, 2009 edition of ECW, it was announced that Long was returning to SmackDown to fulfill the role of General Manager. From this point, the Interim General Manager was named as Tiffany
, who took over as full-time General Manager on the June 30 episode.

On October 16, 2007, a "talent exchange" was started between the SmackDown! and ECW brands, allowing their respective talent to appear on either brand.

2009 WWE draft
, both of these talent exchanges were quietly dropped.

On February 2, 2010, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced that ECW would be going off the air and would air its final episode on February 16.[10] The final match on the show was an extreme rules match where Ezekiel Jackson defeated ECW Champion Christian.[11]

With the ECW brand permanently disbanded, the ECW roster were assigned to other brands.

NXT,[10] which was rebranded as WWE's developmental territory, NXT, in 2012.[13]

Championships

When ECW was revived in 2006 as a third brand, the

WWE draft, but the ECW Championship was deactivated along with the ECW brand on February 16, 2010.[15]

Championship Time on brand
ECW Championship June 13, 2006 – January 22, 2008; March 30, 2008 – June 23, 2008; June 29, 2008 – February 16, 2010
WWE Championship June 13, 2006 – July 3, 2006
WWE United States Championship June 23, 2008 – July 20, 2008
WWE Tag Team Championship
 November 13, 2007 – July 20, 2008
World Tag Team Championship December 13, 2008 – April 5, 2009

Pay-per-view events

Date Event Venue Location Main event
June 11, 2006 One Night Stand Hammerstein Ballroom New York, New York John Cena vs. Rob Van Dam for the WWE Championship
December 3, 2006 December to Dismember James Brown Arena Augusta, Georgia
ECW Championship

References

  1. World Wrestling Entertainment
    . Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  2. ^ a b Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE: History of WrestleMania. p. 55.
  3. ^ a b Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE: History of WrestleMania. p. 58.
  4. ^ "WWE brings ECW to Sci Fi Channel". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved June 2, 2006.
  5. ^ Williams III, Ed (May 29, 2006). "Heyman gets Draft picks". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
  6. ^ Williams III, Ed (May 29, 2006). "Will Triple H join the Mr.McMahon Kiss my Ass club". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
  7. ^ "Heyman out". Retrieved December 23, 2006.
  8. ^ "Partnership Forming?". World Wrestling Entertainment. October 16, 2007. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
  9. ^ "Setting the night on fire". World Wrestling Entertainment. October 16, 2007. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
  10. ^ a b Caldwell, James (February 4, 2010). "Caldwell's WWE Superstar TV Report 2/4: Complete coverage of Team Morrison vs. Team McIntyre six-man tag, awesome Bourne vs. Carlito match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  11. ^ "ECW Tue. Feb. 16, 2010". WWE. May 6, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  12. ^ Adkins, Greg (February 8, 2010). "Raw's pit stomp". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 9, 2010.
  13. ^ "WWE News: FCW name being phased out". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  14. ^ "Rob Van Dam's first ECW Championship reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
  15. ^ Medalis, Kara A. (February 16, 2010). "Results:Dominant farewell". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 20, 2010. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
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