Vince McMahon/ Original ECW Question

[Brad]

I was watching the Heatseekers Legends Of Wrestling round table the other day and they mention that Vince was sending checks to ECW at one point, basically funding them.

Now, that's not the first time I've heard it mentioned but I never really followed ECW. Can anyone shed some light on why he was funding them?

[Deleted]

I dont know but some say he was using it as a feeder fed because he seen massive potential in several of their stars.Vinnie was said to have his eye on Mike Awesome long before Bischoff pulled that stunt.....

he wanted Public Enemy in 95 but they chose WCW.....long history of Vince being interested in some of Heymans guys.

[drifter]

Yeah, I think Vince even said on the Rise and Fall dvd, that he felt it was a bit of compensation for taking the talent they did over the years. He saw ECW as a good place to look for new talent, because of how well Heyman would be able to build up talent, and make them know by the hardcore type fans.

[Nivro™]

Apr 25, 2012 18:56:24 GMT -5 JokerFC said:

I dont know but some say he was using it as a feeder fed because he seen massive potential in several of their stars.Vinnie was said to have his eye on Mike Awesome long before Bischoff pulled that stunt.....

he wanted Public Enemy in 95 but they chose WCW.....long history of Vince being interested in some of Heymans guys.

I really cant see Awesome or Public Enemy getting over in WWF/E during the Attitude Era or later. They fit perfectly in ECW but Awesome would have been just along the lines of someone like Test in WWF.

[Deleted]

Apr 25, 2012 19:43:01 GMT -5 Nivro™ said:

Apr 25, 2012 18:56:24 GMT -5 JokerFC said:

I dont know but some say he was using it as a feeder fed because he seen massive potential in several of their stars.Vinnie was said to have his eye on Mike Awesome long before Bischoff pulled that stunt.....

he wanted Public Enemy in 95 but they chose WCW.....long history of Vince being interested in some of Heymans guys.

I really cant see Awesome or Public Enemy getting over in WWF/E during the Attitude Era or later. They fit perfectly in ECW but Awesome would have been just along the lines of someone like Test in WWF.

I think PE would have been okay in 95 but def not in 99

Like most mentioned Vince used it like an unofficial training ground.

He sent AL Snow there and he got massively over, they traded talent he'd get guys like RVD on Raw for a few weeks and then send guys like Lafon Furnas, Taka, Brakus etc.

Not to mention they even promoted a few of their first PPVs as well has having Jerry Lawler wrestle Dreamer.

[Blackjack]

Yea it was a training ground for them during those years along with USWA

[Deleted]

In the Rise & Fall of ECW DVD Vince stated that he was taking a lot of talent from ECW during the late 90s so he put Paul Heyman on the payroll as compensation.

Vince then went on to state that Eric Bischoff would also raid the ECW talent but would give Paul Heyman nothing in return.

Vince basically kept Paul Heyman on the payroll so he could turn ECW into almost a developmental territory like SMW and USWA.

[Raine]

WWF took: Dudleys, Taz, Shane Douglas (1995), Foley, Austin, Pillman, Balls Mahoney (Xanta Claus), Ron Simmons

WCW took Raven, Benoit, Saturn, Guerrero, Malenko, Jericho, Mysterio, Public Enemy, Sandman, Bigelow, Psicosis, Juventud, Awesome, Shane Douglas (1999)

One hell of a talent pool there

[threehgame]

Apr 26, 2012 4:14:51 GMT -5 Raine said:

WWF took: Dudleys, Taz, Shane Douglas (1995), Foley, Austin, Pillman, Balls Mahoney (Xanta Claus), Ron Simmons

WCW took Raven, Benoit, Saturn, Guerrero, Malenko, Jericho, Mysterio, Public Enemy, Sandman, Bigelow, Psicosis, Juventud, Awesome, Shane Douglas (1999)

One hell of a talent pool there

Shane "I hope you kept your receipt" Douglas


And people ask me why I keep dragging out my old ECW tapes, I always remind them the talent that is on them and no one believes me.

[Deleted]

I think Awesome would have been used properly by Vince if he had went there instead of WCW.the reason he was jobbed out so badly during the Invasion storyline was the tremendous heat he had with Heyman and other guys there from ECW....and there was BAD heat there.

and even at that wasnt he the first Alliance guy to win a WWF Title(hardcore) and in MSG at that?I think Vince liked him but gave up on him due to the(genuinely)massive heat he had.

[Deleted]

It always pisses me off to see what ended up being the final run of Mike Awesome's career.

Sure, he left ECW the wrong way but that should have eventually been forgiven.

The guy was big and could move like a Cruiserweight.

Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka easily stole the show at the first One Night Stand PPV whether or not anybody from WWE would ever admit it.

Too bad Joey Styles made the stupid comment during the match about Mike Awesome taking his own life which he ended up actually doing a short time later.

P.S. His stupid 70s/fat chick gimmick in WCW freakin' sucked too.

[Brad]

Thanks guys. I need to watch the rise and fall of ECW again. Only saw it once and it was years ago. Will give +1 to all of you as soon as I can

[Raine]

Apr 26, 2012 11:54:53 GMT -5 Brad said:

Thanks guys. I need to watch the rise and fall of ECW again. Only saw it once and it was years ago. Will give +1 to all of you as soon as I can

Man, I honestly think its the best WWE DVD ever produced, covers everything from top to bottom. Even the Mass Transit incident is included, which you would have thought was taboo from WWE's point of view.

If they made the Rise/Fall of WCW DVD like this would have probably sold a lot more.

[Brankind]

Apr 25, 2012 18:53:53 GMT -5 Brad said:

I was watching the Heatseekers Legends Of Wrestling round table the other day and they mention that Vince was sending checks to ECW at one point, basically funding them.

Now, that's not the first time I've heard it mentioned but I never really followed ECW. Can anyone shed some light on why he was funding them?

Vince was kinda partnering with Paul to battle Bischoff

[Brad]

Apr 26, 2012 12:18:43 GMT -5 Raine said:

Apr 26, 2012 11:54:53 GMT -5 Brad said:

Thanks guys. I need to watch the rise and fall of ECW again. Only saw it once and it was years ago. Will give +1 to all of you as soon as I can

Man, I honestly think its the best WWE DVD ever produced, covers everything from top to bottom. Even the Mass Transit incident is included, which you would have thought was taboo from WWE's point of view.

If they made the Rise/Fall of WCW DVD like this would have probably sold a lot more.

I've heard a lot of people say this. I need to pick up the dvd and watch it again soon

[Deleted]

Amazing documentary. Feels real because it's completely uncensored.

It needed Kimona's strip tease as a DVD extra though...

[Deleted]

Apr 26, 2012 5:27:22 GMT -5 JokerFC said:

I think Awesome would have been used properly by Vince if he had went there instead of WCW.the reason he was jobbed out so badly during the Invasion storyline was the tremendous heat he had with Heyman and other guys there from ECW....and there was BAD heat there.

and even at that wasnt he the first Alliance guy to win a WWF Title(hardcore) and in MSG at that?I think Vince liked him but gave up on him due to the(genuinely)massive heat he had.

I would have loved to see Awesome in 97 hell him taking Sid's place at Wrestlemania would have been awesome

[punksnotdead]

Apr 26, 2012 4:50:49 GMT -5 threehgame said:

Apr 26, 2012 4:14:51 GMT -5 Raine said:

WWF took: Dudleys, Taz, Shane Douglas (1995), Foley, Austin, Pillman, Balls Mahoney (Xanta Claus), Ron Simmons

WCW took Raven, Benoit, Saturn, Guerrero, Malenko, Jericho, Mysterio, Public Enemy, Sandman, Bigelow, Psicosis, Juventud, Awesome, Shane Douglas (1999)

One hell of a talent pool there

Shane "I hope you kept your receipt" Douglas


And people ask me why I keep dragging out my old ECW tapes, I always remind them the talent that is on them and no one believes me.

I could seriously watch anything Raven ECW related once a day and never get sick of it. A really big majority of the ECW stuff, really withstands the test of time for me. Jerry Lynn vs RVD, Jesus.

And seriously, R&F of ECW is easily in the tops of WWE DVDs ever done. I don't think you would even have to know what ECW was ahead of time to get completely sucked into that dvd.

[LeighD]

I actually think PE would have fit in nicely during the attitude era. I mean feuds with the Dudleys & Hardys I think would mesh well. They were using tables in WCW during 1995-1996. I think they would have better in WCW had the company not had so many tag teams at one point.

[Deleted]

Apr 26, 2012 14:30:38 GMT -5 @jbone said:

Apr 26, 2012 5:27:22 GMT -5 JokerFC said:

I think Awesome would have been used properly by Vince if he had went there instead of WCW.the reason he was jobbed out so badly during the Invasion storyline was the tremendous heat he had with Heyman and other guys there from ECW....and there was BAD heat there.

and even at that wasnt he the first Alliance guy to win a WWF Title(hardcore) and in MSG at that?I think Vince liked him but gave up on him due to the(genuinely)massive heat he had.

I would have loved to see Awesome in 97 hell him taking Sid's place at Wrestlemania would have been awesome

Ill tell ya this......Awesome vs The Undertaker would have been greatness.during the Invasion(if Vince had presented any of them as a threat)Awesome vs UT could have tore the house down.