It has been widely reported that tonight’s edition of ECW will be the last, making way for a new program called WWE NXT, aimed at showcasing developmental talent on the big stage. The new show will debut in ECW’s spot on March 2nd, giving ECW three more tapings before its retirement. WrestlingNewsWorld.com says:
WWE’s ECW brand will be done away with on tonight’s show. The new show will be called WWE NXT (with NXT standing for Next Generation). The concept for the show is to showcase wrestlers from developmental to television onto the major brands – Raw and Smackdown. Expect to see a lot more developmental workers get called up to participate on the show.
It sounds like an interesting concept and could no doubt open doors for FCW girls like AJ Lee, but where does this leave ECW-based Divas Rosa Mendes, Tiffany, and Savannah? I guess only time will tell.
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38 Comments
why couldn’t they call it WWE Futureshock or something
whatever if it gets my beautiful AJ lee on TV faster, I’m all for it
Rosa will go where ever Ryder will go
Tiffany to Smackdown? Smackdown needs another face atm
Savannah will more than likely showcase her talent on that NXT show
about time they did something with ECW. WWE version was horrible thank god it won’t be missed.
if it’s gonna be a one hour show i can’t see the divas being prominently featured… maybe as valets or something but i don’t think we’re gonna see too much diva action on NXT.
i agree with johnny, im surprised they kept “ECW” around for so long. It really killed the legacy of the original ECW and the originals including the girls like Beulah, Francine, Dawn and even Lita.
Savannah announced the ECW title match at the Rumble so she’s prob gonna be the FT ring announcer for NXT; Rosa will stay with Ryder on the show and Tiffany will prob remain in the GM role.
im interested to see if this new show will be a “brand” like ECW was or it will be just a show like superstars is…
and I wonder if people will be able to be drafted to and from “NXT”
I’m just happy they finally put WWECW to rest….it was just an insult to the original ECW which was so awsome
RIP ECW…gone but never forgotten, your memory will live on on youtube and WWEClassics
Wow, finally. It was time to go. WWE ECW wasn’t ECW. I’m interested to see what comes of this.
Wait, so Christian is going to be on a show I ACTUALLY watch?! Woohoo!!
Nothing’s really going to change much except the name. The roster shuffle happens after Wrestlemania anyway. Christian will finally get bumped up to Raw or SD. The show won’t do well if it’s just unknowns, so they have to keep some veterans there to help.
From a divas standpoint, they never put experienced women on the show to push young talent. So the NXT girls may have to fend for themselves. Or latch on as valets.
I’m just happy that ECW is gone for good. It was horrible, boring and it ruined the legacy of the original ECW. Thank God I’m happy that ECW is over with.
To be honest, Vince should’ve kept it alone since One Night Stand 2005.
And now they got a new show called “WWE Next Generation!, which it
will be about newcoming talents. That’s interesting. The only questing I’m
wondering is… will it remain the “third brand”? Or will it be just a regular show,
like WWE Superstars?
WWE IS A HOT MESS and not in a good way didnt they just bring ECW back like 3 years ago?? SMGDH
I DONT LIKE THIS AT ALL!!! not trying to be a negative person or nothing like that but i can just smell the RELEASE papers getting ready for EVAN,GOLDUST,CHAVO,JILLIAN,GAIL,KATIE, u know all those type of wrestlers/jobbers.
@Paparazzi8o8
Evan, Chavo, Jillian, Gail and Katie are not on ECW, so they won’t be affected by that ;)
This better mean that Christian gets the push he deserves… but onto all things diva, I hope this means development girls, like AJ, Courtney, or maybe even Serena (seeing as she’s stuck being Punk’s bald lacky) will get pushes.
KatieLeaMinion – i was sayn since their the top jobbers for the superstars/divas RAW or SMACKDOWN might release them in order to make room for the new talent and plus its gonna get a little crowded since YOSHI and them is going to SD and RAW.
p.s. since there’s not gonna be anymore ECW they should bring back the HARDCORE or CRUISERWEIGHT belt back. i can see MARYSE as hardcore champ lol.
The concept for this new show doesn’t sound much different than what ECW is supposed to be. Personally, I’d like to see WWE just have Raw, Smackdown, and Superstars, with Superstars expanding to 2 hours but keeping its current format.
I reckon all 3 of them will stay on the show. From what I gather they all still work FCW. Rosa is Ryder’s valet so it’ll work, the brand needs a GM so Tiffany stays and they need a backstage interviewer so there’s Savannah’s role, plus she has only been on the roster for a few months.
I doubt there’ll be much women’s wrestling in NXT just like ECW. AJ Lee should go to SmackDown as their female roster is picking up with the talent they have and Serena recently debuting.
It’s sad to see people call ECW “horrible” and “boring”, truth is that this show regularly showed better wrestling than Raw, Smackdown and Impact. But just because the wrestlers arent big names they automaticly associate it with boring. Guess modern wrestling is all about celebrity worshipping, if Cena and DX arent involved it must suck.
I’m glad they change the name of the show, i grew up watching ECW in the mid-90′s and this show has nothing to do with the old show. But in the end i dont think much will change except for the name, the changes will just be cosmetic. I do hope that the Raw/Smackdown recaps are removed (but i doubt it), they take up like 20 minutes of the show. If you want to focus on the ‘next generation’ you should try to focus the show 100% on that talent, and not on whats happening on the other 2 shows.
And i’m hoping for Bryan Danielson and Low Ki (Kaval) to appear on WWE NXT, although i doubt we will be that lucky.
I don’t know what to say about this. Even though this ECW was a joke compared to the original (lets face it, that land isn’t extreme for a while), this also means that an historic brand is going to end.
Im also worried that some people might be released. I think this decision is going to be made really quick. What about the ECW title? Will it remain? Will it have is name changed? If they end the title, are they just going to take it away from Christian?
They should do a storyline for this. Vince getting pissed off at ECW, and end it. The wrestlers who are going to be released, used as an “example” and the others traded to other brands, with WWE NXT just showing the FCW talent, and the less known main rosters, with an appearence of a main name casually to keep the ratings.
Im not concerned about Rosa, Savannah and Tiffany. Technically they still appear on the FCW roster, so they probably will be able to wrestle more and things like that.
BTW, I read that SyFi kinda tried to convince WWE to had elements of science fiction and things like that to the show. Do you guys think will have a Only gimmicks brand?
i hope savanna goes to SD
i wonder what will happen to tiffany, i cant really remember what she is like in the ring,
but i doubt its anything jaw dropping
some sites are saying that ECW will end in 3 weeks, not this week
theregoeskitty: Tiffany fits in the same categorie as a Courtney Taylor or Rosa Mendez. They know the “basics”, but thats pretty much it.
Yeah, i read it to. They probably are waiting until the next ppv.
@Paparazzi8o8
i see what you mean, but why the divas? There are only 3 divas on ECW. There is not really a need to make room for them. And Savannah as ring announcer will most likely stay on the new show. Tiffany and Rosa are also likely to stay there, depends on where Ryder goes or if he is part of that new show.
But why should they make room for the divas? There would be only 1 for Raw, and 1 for SD, IF they will be put on another show.
I mean it might get crowded for superstars (though it is also likely that most of the current ECW stars will stay on the show, they fit in).
But crowded for divas? No, not really, since there are just 3 on ECW.
Wait is the new show pronounced N-X-T or is it pronounced like the word ‘Next’???
Sorry if it’s a stupid question
It pronounces as Next, however they decided to use an abbreviate, which annoys me.
I still say WWE ECW wasn’t ECW BUT I do think that unfortunately it was ridiculously overshadowed and was the place to see a lot of good talent (it was where Sheamus first got to shine on U.S. national tv – even then, when he jumped to RAW people acted like he materialized out of thin air). Since most of my favs (and matches most interesting to me) are mid-card guys and up-and-comers, I could see myself switching to this primarily and only watch RAW for my one and only and to check out the Divas. I like some of the “older” guys but I’m not overwhelmed by them either, cause most of them cut more promos than just get in the freakin’ ring and tell a story through wrestling. Boring!
Seems like it would be pronounced “next”.
KatieLeaMinion – actually come to think of it they DONT need to make room for the divas. IDK why i keep thinking there’s more of them somewhere.
Perhaps the guest host shiz will stop and Tiffany will be Raw GM? Even though Tiffany’s voice annoys me, anything is better than the guest host rubbish.
Savannah should be a face on SD (the heel/face ratio is completely unbalanced), and Rosa will just go wherever Zack does. I’m thinking Zack will go to Raw.
Actually I would prefer Rosa to align with Beth again. It would do better for her career, because she would be involved in more matches and significant roles besides the eye-candy valet of a loser.
@Paparazzi8o8
so you would say now that the whole thing would not affect any divas from Raw or SD? :)
not sure for the superstars though :/
I am pretty bummed that ECW is going off the air. For me I thought it was the second best show behind Smackdown and had some of the best wrestling. I really didn’t like the original ECW so i wasn’t up in arms like some people because they took the hardcore element out of the WWE ECW. I like Hardcore wrestling in small doses so I just couldn’t get into the original that much. ECW will be greatly missed by me.
sugarrush28 – The Hardcore wrestling was only a small element of the show (New Jack, Ian & Axl Rotten, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman), but most of the show was quality wrestling. Wrestlers like Mysterio, Jericho, Benoit, Eddy Guerrero, Taz, Shane Douglas, Chris Candido, Sabu, RVD, Saturn, Rick Rude, Kronus and a few dozen others werent into hardcore. Sure, occasionally they brought out a table, or you had outside interference with a chairshot, but those were just the icing on the cake. The show itself was about wrestling.
During the monday night war, about 99% of the stuff you saw on WCW and WWF was copied from things innovated by ECW. Unfortunately the casual wrestling fan only remembers ECW for the hardcore element. Check out 1 of their ppvs called “Anarchy Rulz 99″, that ppv illustrates what ECW was all about (naturally you can find that ppv on youtube).
KatieLeaMinion – Yup i dont think it will affect the divas :)
but the superstars :(
@Paparazzi808
i’m very sure that stars like Archer, Beretta, Croft, Tatsu Ryder and so on will be on this new show, because they totally fit into this concept. And they can’t draft all. Also the show must have some known faces or it will be a fail. Christian, Regal and Benjamin will most likely be drafted in the next months.
But for Goldust and Helms i have no idea what will happen. Or Kozlov. Could be on the show to bring newer ones over i guess.
Mikas you are right. I’ve seen the original ECW maybe 4 or 5 times and everytime I saw it Francine was going through a table or someone was getting beatdown with something. From the few times I saw it I just assumed it was like basically hardcore all the time kind of like CZW.
This is great!I can’t wait to see my future favorite Diva,AJ Lee,on television!