According to sources in the company, SyFy has noticed the fading ratings for the series since its debut and with the current TV deal expiring shortly, WWE is making moves to "freshen" the show up and work with the network to improve the ratings. There was talk of a magazine style show that went nowhere and the most recent pitch I've heard is taking the entire hour and focusing it all on brand new talents exclusively.Honestly, I'm just fine with how ECW is now. In my mind, it already does focus on new talents. Except it's doing a good job of having the older guys show the newbies the ropes.
Let's be real honest - guys like William Regal and Goldust are past the prime of their careers. But they're both solid workers. And they've done a pretty decent job of helping elevate guys like Vladimir Kozlov, Ezekiel Jackson, and Sheamus.
I think rebranding ECW with a new name would be a great idea. Especially in the PG era of WWE, ECW is a shell of what it was when Paul Heyman ran the actual company. It serves a completely different audience than the original. I was hesitant when WWE brought ECW back as a third brand, but at least it had some decent ECW style matches - it kept Hardcore Rules (now Extreme Rules) around for awhile, and it had the Big Show, who had he not been wrestling for the WCW and the WWF, could have been a great addition to the original ECW roster.
Now, ECW is just like RAW and SmackDown, except an hour shorter, without the guest hosts, and allowing new guys to get over. Actually, SmackDown has been doing it for several months, and RAW just started, so that's not entirely fair.
I think rebranding it as a separate show is the best way they could do it. Forget ECW entirely. It hasn't existed since the 2005 reunion shows. Fans that have watched longer than a few years won't link current ECW title lineage to the original. Keep the original ECW buried and just release some DVD compilations.
And keep pushing the new guys. I don't watch ECW because I'm usually out, but I enjoy hearing about new talents getting the chance to work in front of a crowd.
The best WWE-ECW product to come out so far by a longshot has been CM Punk. He's a solid worker anywhere on the card. I think he spent the right amount of time working on that show before getting called up to the main roster, and I hope the trend continues with whatever the WWE does with its ECW brand.
