All language subtitles for WWE Untold s02e01 The 2nd Coming of ECW

The CCW audience here again booing both
competitors.

I think the entire relaunch of ECW is
doomed from the start.

That's good.

He's got himself disqualified because of
his non -extreme rules.

It was crap. And it was a horrible
workplace.

Dude, I don't want to be wrestling
anymore. I'm so over pro wrestling right

My mistake was taking on the project to
begin with. I remember talking to Tommy

Dreamer and telling him up front, I want
to let you know that within one year,

this is going to be an absolute
nightmare and it's going to collapse on

heads.

We're more than 25 years past when I
took over the creative for the original

ECW, and still to this day, I can't find
the words to convey

what that opportunity meant to me.

It was

the greatest

time of my life, and even today.

I attribute to ECW everything I have in
my life.

That company was amazing.

It was a bunch of men and women who were
literally changing the business, and we

didn't realize it at the time.

In ECW, from the time you got to the
building, you were having fun.

You were being with your boys. You were
being with your girls. You were all one

big family. The industry itself needed a
disruptor, and we came along looking to

disrupt the business.

And in doing so had the most passionate
fan base

because they were our army. They were
our cult. They were our

rallying cry.

ECW was not run in terms of a business.
It was

run like a religion.

See, physical pain can be blocked out,
but mental pain lasts a lifetime.

The Monday Night Wars were going on, and
if we had the money that a WCW had, or

if we had, you know, the television that
a WWE had, we would have taken over.

Well, the death of ECW was an inevitable
death because, as a product of its

time, its time had come due.

ECW didn't have to go out of business.
They didn't trust Paul, and they wanted

to keep the show on syndication until
they found the network.

There was a lot of money in it, and Paul
no -showed the meeting.

It was something that I really wanted to
beat him up for for a lot of years, but

I let it all go because you can't dwell
on the past.

Had we been able to secure a national TV
outlet, the product itself was going to

have to evolve into something else. We
couldn't secure a national TV outlet. We

were dead in the water. That was it. The
game was over.

After ECW went away, we got a lot of
credit for the changes that we helped in

the business.

I don't know any other ending that would
have made sense historically other than

the fact that we accomplished our tasks
and it was time for us to go. And that's

the only way that I can look at it
because any other way is just too

I worked in talent relations.

It was Rob Van Dam who went to Vince and
said, hey.

All these players were here, and it
became from the success of the DVD

the rise and fall of ECW, that, hey,
what if we did this?

ECW One Night Stand in 2005 was really
our last chance to experience each

And by that, I mean the audience and ECW
and ECW along with its audience.

to see one of my most genuine smiles is
when they hit Sandman's music because I

was just so happy. And to me, it was
what ECW should have been, could have

It was giving me closure.

I was at the first One Night Stand show.
So I was like sitting there. I wasn't

quite backstage, but I wasn't in a seat.
Does that make sense? I was just like

standing in the audience watching the
show.

I have goosebumps right now just talking
about it. It was one of the best shows

I've ever seen live. And I think that
was the last.

ECW show.

And had we

stopped right there, it would have been
an ending for ECW and closure for

both us in ECW and for the audience as
well that none of us could have ever

even craved.

I got two words for you. Shane McMahon.

Shane McMahon was.

the guy who I guess was kept on being in
Vince's ear and saying, we can do this,

we can do this.

At the end of 2005, it was Shane McMahon
that came to me.

And Shane had the concept of an online
-only presentation.

which was pretty forward -thinking now
that you think about it, because that's

what streaming is.

DCW was always a very interesting play.

They had a lot of talent.

It was different.

They were more niche. The thinking
behind it was it's a place where talent

be developed and come up, and also as
talent needs to be refreshed or veterans

need to help younger guys, et cetera, it
could be for other talent on the way

down. They still have marquee names they
can draw.

As this evolved, there had become
interest.

from networks to actually carry this
product, which of course took it out of

Shane's hands and placed it on Vince's
desk.

And once Vince understood that there was
a serious profit to be made, it was

completely taken out of Shane's hands.
And Vince wanted to maximize this new

third brand of WWEs as much as he could.

And in order to maximize that concept,
It had to stop being the authentic ECW

and had to become a third brand under
the umbrella of World Wrestling

Entertainment.

The reason we wanted to go digital was
because you are allowed far more freedom

from a digital standpoint than you are
from a network standpoint.

And it would have done two things. One,
it would have kept the ECW moniker and

brand a little more edgy.

You know, from a business standpoint,
you're also then getting into where

want to watch it on their own time.

It was all kind of rumors and all that
stuff. And then all of a sudden I was

brought into John's office and, hey,
we're going to go full boat with this.

I had about two months of really,
really.

cool hopes and expectations, and then
all of a sudden it's, we're going to

more of a WWE influence, and we had
different writers involved.

From that moment, there was just things
where that wasn't ECW.

And Tommy calls me, he's like, yo, WWE
wants you to sign this. I'm like, get

of here, dude.

None of us expected for it to be ECW in
WWE.

And, you know, here we come with another
one.

The type of extreme has risen again!

The second ECW One Night Stand was built
around Rob Van Dam pursuing the

WWE title from John Cena.

And that match was the only time on the
show that you had that authentic

ECW feel.

What the hell is that?

As soon as that show ended, I knew it
wasn't going to be the same.

We're starting on Sci -Fi Network that
night.

They had an alien all booted up. They
had this dude in an alien costume.

You know, nobody knows what's going on.
And then literally like 20 minutes

before I'm supposed to go to the ring,
they changed the alien dude to the

or whatever dude.

What is it?

Ladies and gentlemen, the following
contest is scheduled for one fall.

Introducing first, the zombie!

A zombie?

The zombie?

The network wanted something for the sci
-fi thing, so that's where they came up

with the ECW.

Zombie. Nobody knew what was going on
until it almost happened back there. It

was crazy.

Oh, my God.

Oh, welcome to the world of extreme.

ECW rules, Stiles.

Do it any way you want. Look at that.
The white Russian leg sweep.

That's my comment,

Zombie. Hey, the first official match on
ECW is over.

The Jam Man.

That's just an example, Stiles.

of the new breed of ECW. The company
wanted to establish that there were

in this ECW.

I think it was one of the first TV
tapings that I was on. We were in

Minneapolis. I think it was Just
Incredible versus Sabu.

And during the match, Sabu put Just
Incredible through a table, and I had to

call for his call of attention because
we wanted to establish there's rules

And fans didn't really like that new
thing. You know, on live events, I'd get

heckled all the time because...

I'm calling for hair breaks, you know,
different things.

And I was hearing all the time, this is
ECW. There's no rules.

Why are you counting?

You know, it became much more locked
down, much more cookie cutter, if you

because it fit more into the mold of our
distribution partner.

That's why it changed. And it might have
started not to work because you're

getting rid of these.

Sandman, he smartened me up to something
one time at one of the shows. He says,

I want to show you something. Come here,
kid.

So we went up to the promenade, the main
deck, where all the fans are before

they go down into the arena.

And all the merchandise that was put up
was all WWE merchandise.

There wasn't any ECW merch.

It was funny that, you know, Sandman
went on to explain to me that, you know,

this is a lot of why ECW will never be
the same.

The attempt to resuscitate the product
as it was could not

work in 2006.

But to present a different product would
only cause the fan base that had come

to... create a myth that was larger than
life to feel alienated.

So you're damned if you do and you're
damned if you don't. It's just damned.

I remember Rob Van Dam and Sabu getting
pulled over and there were

suspensions after that.

You people are the reason that I had to
suspend Rob Van Dam for 30

days. Rob had to drop the title right
away, and now it's on Big Show, and

started to turn right around then. For
this brand that had so much hope, it

seemed to kind of turn a sharp corner,
and it didn't take long to get there, to

be honest.

Things would have been better if RVD and
Shabu didn't get caught.

I think the storyline would have changed
a little bit.

I know the ECW fans weren't happy about
me taking the ECW championship from RVD.

As things happen, fans cycle out.

They're intense fans, and they fade
away, and they come back.

And I think just after a while, that ECW
loyal fan kind of faded out.

ECW is live and sold out from the
Hammerstein Ballroom in Midtown

York City.

I remember that night really, really
happy. We got the old school

loyal fans.

We really didn't have two original ECW
guys in their house.

That's the worst feeling in the world
when people start, you know, on your

because you've lost them somewhere in
your match.

Back then, I didn't know how to get them
back.

I didn't know how to get them in. I just
was like, oh, crap, here we go.

How much time do we have left?

Can we just go home now?

Like, you're embarrassed.

I didn't say, hey, put me in this match,
and hey, book me in the main event of

this. You know, I'm doing the best I
can. Like, why is it boring?

It's boring because they're not
interested. They're not emotionally

The two guys that they want to see in
that match is not Dave Bautista, and

not me.

December 3rd, 2006, ECW's next pay -per
-view, the December to dismember.

If December to dismember happens, it was
crap.

I actually had asked for my release from
WWE after that.

It was a lot of turmoil.

We were all really excited about
December to dismember because our jobs

the line. We all felt that way, and we
were fighting hard to make this thing

work, even though there were so many
obstacles we had to overcome.

I remember going into it, and everybody
was like, well, there's only really one

match that's being advertised, and
what's on the rest of the card? No one

if they were going to be on or not.

But still, we were very optimistic,
hoping that maybe if this does well,

it's going to kind of turn things around
for us.

I was at that December 20th member as
well as part of the company in

developmental.

OK, so I was at one night stand. It was
awesome. I was at this show and it

sucked. You know, I was sitting there
and I'm like, wow, this sucks.

Like this is not ECW. And I think the
fans knew it. I think, you know, all the

pay -per -view buy rates showed it.

I had actually resigned as the lead
writer for ECW twice within two and a

weeks before the December to dismember.

And Stephanie would not accept my
resignation.

So by the time we got to the December to
dismember, it was fait accompli.

I had to go.

When we got to the actual event, and
Vince and I were on completely

different pages.

I think the choice was very easy.

Paul Heyman had to leave.

Everything changes. We have new writers.

Thankfully, the American Dream Dusty
Rhodes comes in.

And he kind of said, hey, this is going
to be a fresh start for a lot of guys,

and a lot of guys are going to get their
opportunities now.

We had, like, the new superstar
initiative after that.

Without ECW, I don't think I would have,
you know, taken off. I started my new

character, the woo -woo -woo, the
broski, like on ECW when Hawkins and

split up. I got drafted ECW. I would
have never got that shot and that

opportunity and that time to talk and to
have long matches on Raw or SmackDown

at that time. So I owe it all to my time
in ECW.

Like, you look at ECW, yeah, it was
just, like, this one -hour show.

But for me, like, I was becoming a star
and I was building confidence and I was

having matches against guys like
Christian. You know, like, ECW title

and the main event of the show against
Christian. I would never be in the main

event of Monday Night Raw at that time.

As time progressed, I think right away
John Morrison and I were put in a tag

team. And so I'll never forget, like,
getting one of the producers saying,

this is your last chance. Like, it's
either...

Go now and become something or you're
going to get fired. It was never going

be the original ECW. And going into it,
you knew it wasn't going to be that. But

what it was going to be is our own
niche, our own thing.

We didn't have NXT back in the day. We
didn't really have that platform. Being

on the roster of ECW, I was definitely
grateful for it because we were actually

highlighted.

So the point of ECW was it was a great
place for Kofi to cut your teeth, to get

comfortable in that ring, to know where
the cameras were, and how to relate to

the audience.

It was crazy, too. Kofi actually spoke
with a Jamaican accent.

Unreal, you know, Kofi King.

Right there, the bitch, you know what
I'm saying?

Boom, boom, looks like trouble in
paradise.

I still got it, you know? Yeah, man,
yeah.

Fooled everybody.

I would like to proudly announce that in
three weeks' time, ECW will be going

off the air.

I would like to thank all of the
technicians, cameramen, directors,

everyone, certainly the superstars who
made ECW the success that it truly was.

I would say the legacy of WWE and ECW.

For me, I think WWE was passionate about
the opportunity to try to recreate that

ECW spirit.

Eventually, it lost its chance to bleed.

It definitely holds a special place in
my heart because that was my start.

That's what got me hired.

And to this day, in my office, I have an
ECW ref shirt hanging out because it

means that much. That was where I
started with this company.

I think it was a lot of people that had
a chip on their shoulder that said, you

know what, even though you put us here
on the third show, on the C show, if you

will, we're going to fight as hard as we
possibly can to give you the best

product that we can possibly give you. I
don't know if the new ECW deserves

the credit for launching the careers of
CM Punk and The Miz and

Sheamus, et cetera, et cetera,
because...

Those were talents that were going to be
launched within the system no matter

what. It just so happens that they were
launched within this abomination of

a product called the new ECW.

If a legacy has to be attached to the
new ECW, there is the one

bright light the project offers.

Besides the first one -night stand,

and Rob Van Dam versus John Cena in
2006.

But these talents were so extraordinary.
They were going to become stars no

matter where you launched them.

It just so happens that the breeding
ground was this diseased product that

needed to be put out of its own misery,
and certainly put out of my misery as

well. Well, we've recreated the brand.

that we were trying to do a long time
ago with ECW and the business model,

it's now a developmental system under
Paula Beck, Triple H's leadership, is

turned into NXT, and so we've now
created our own.

It's going to be talked about until the
end of time, and I feel that's because

people love ECW so much. There were some
good things about it. There were some

bad things about it.

But everything happens for a reason, and
I was happy to be a part of it. I'm

happy to be a historical note in the
sense of the only person to hold the

original ECW title and WWE's ECW title.
I was happy that I got to be on

WrestleMania with my friends.

And it's almost like people forget the
new ECW happened. It's just because they

want to remember it in the best of times
as opposed to the worst of times.

I always say, I was in ECW. People try
to correct me. No, you were. You were in

WWCW. Me?

Yeah. You know what? F**k it. I was in
ECW.

The big thinker mindset attached to ECW
doesn't work.

ECW was a revolution, indeed an
evolution of the industry.

But when the rebel becomes the
establishment, it's no longer the rebel.

It's the thing you rebel against.

We called this new promotion anything
but ECW. It would have succeeded.

Look at the talent roster in and of
itself. Look at the new stars that were

being introduced on this show. But
because it had both the cachet and the

stigma of being ECW, there was no way it
was ever going to work. ECW!

ECW! ECW!

We'll be right back.