Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com
On Friday, December 15, 2006 at 7:32 PM EST

After a very brief hiatus due to issues, I got a lot to say. And from what I can gather, my friends and colleagues at myspace are asking me to talk about the ECW/Paul Heyman/WWE situation. So, without further adieu, let's jump in with both feet.

I have said from the beginning I am not an expert of the original ECW. What I know of the original ECW is from my DVD library, i.e. Bloodsport, Rise & Fall, etc. However, I can say with pretty good certainty a couple of statements.

ECW One Night Stand 2005 was way closer to the original ECW than anticipated.

ECW One Night Stand 2006 was way closer to a WWE pay per view than the ECW faithful had anticipated.

I mean, think about it. ECW back in 2005 was the talk of the wrestling world. Vince brought back the show for one night, had the right guys compete with a few exceptions, and had an atmosphere that was beyond electric. When you have Sabu/Rhino, Sandman & Dreamer vs. the Dudleys, Awesome/Tanaka, and Jericho/Storm with the Impact Players involved, it's obvious of one thing, you have the makings of a tremendous lineup that is going to work with the right mix of creativity.

Fast forward one year. Exit Rhino. Exit Awesome, Storm, Jericho, Tanaka & the Dudleys. Enter Mysterio, Edge, Orton, Cena, Angle & Funk. Enter the Sci-Fi network. Exit whatever hopes the ECW rabid faitfhul had of ever recapturing the glory of ECW back in the days when it was the cult favorite of the wrestling world.

I mean, think about it. There was no chance from the word go. Yes, I said I was thrilled to see ECW come back, and I meant it. But, the facts are the facts. When you look at the brass tax, and take all the fluff out of the equation, Paul Heyman brought this vehicle to life in the wrestling business as an arm of the immortal giant of WWE, not ECW version 2.0 as the world had hoped it would be.

And, as we recently have found out, what Paul Heyman had hoped it would be.

Has there been some good product out of ECW? Sure. Big Show had a tremendous title reign with good contests with Sabu, RVD, Batista, Undertaker & Flair. There's been some tremendous work out of guys like Tommy Dreamer & CM Punk. Sandman has done his part. Sabu, although he hasn't been in to it too much from a mental standpoint, from what I have read, has done his part.

But when the extreme rules dwindled, and the WWE stars continued to infiltrate ECW programming, the seedlings of Heyman's demise became more and more pre-eminent. Heyman would've been happier and more at ease if he was left alone to nurse the infancy-laden ECW brand back to its level when it went under with the loyalists he had, the Little Guidos, the Tony Mamalukes, the Sabus, the Van Dams, etc. Instead, he had to play ball with the Kurt Angles, the Tests, the Mike Knoxs, the Kevin Thorns of the world, individuals who may have the talent and ability to make it in a wrestling promotion, but from what Heyman's vision had of ECW, they were not the right mix to handle the brew that the mad doctor was tyring to conjure.

What does this all mean? It's simple. Heyman's departure means one thing for ECW. It will continue to evolve in to WWE part 3. And the obvious question that should be on the mind of most of the talent within that brand, how long is Vince going to stand with three shows? The seeds of departure are already looming with ECW. Danny Doring is gone. Yes, I know he's a midcarder at best, but he has been a Heyman loyalist. Sabu wants nothing to do with the brand, from what we can gather from the reports floating around the web. Van Dam has said from minute one since Heyman has left that he wants out and has been talking a lot of TNA. Angle bolted to TNA himself since being exiled to ECW. Big Show, the giant expected to carry the brand for some time, did, but now due to the load placed on his shoulders, along with injuries and general burn out, has left the company for the forseeable future. And the one addition to ECW that I can remember of the top of my head, Bobby Lashley, is a tremendous athlete, but is he truly ready to hold a brand on his shoulders? My thoughts are, no.

Personally, I think the beginning of the end of the ECW brand is when Van Dam and Sabu got busted for drugs while RVD was champion. Since then, it hasn't been the same.

WWE has mentioned in reports that they are concerned for a mass exodus of talent since Heyman was removed. They should be. I would suspect more talent to try and get out of their contracts or simply not perform and hope Vince loses his mind and gets mad enough to fire them. Personally, I would tend to lean to the option of cutting losses. Get Mike Knox back to developmental where he can continue to gain the experience he needs. Get CM Punk either back to developmental to work, or bring him to Raw or Smackdown and let him shine like the star he is going to be. Put Lashley somewhere and give him a midcard title, and let him continue to season. The rest of them, as much as I like the originals on the ECW roster, let them go, and let them shine in the independents. Focus more on expanding the brands that have been the stalwarts of WWE from the word go, than this brand that can't seem to get out of its own way.

And the sad part is, it's not ECW's fault. It's the talent. The talent thought they could work around the giant shadow of WWE and bring back the heyday of ECW when ECW was the talk of the town. It's quite obvious from the events of the past few months, that ECW is the furthest thing from the wrestling fan's mind.

Paul Heyman's mad scientist persona, literally and figuratively, cost him his job with WWE. Because when it comes right down to it, Heyman may be an evil genius, but McMahon is more evil. And the monster won over the infant.

My opinion in a statement. ECW has failed. It's done. As much as I would like to see it succeed, it's done. WWE needs to trim the fat before it's too late.

More soon... thanks a lot for reading.

Click here for my myspace.

Click here to email me.