Opinion: What If ECW Had Survived?

The American pro wrestling industry is a monopoly. WWE reigns with an iron fist and has done so ever since the early 2000’s when WCW was sold, and ECW went bankrupt.

However, what if ECW hadn’t gone out of business and was still around today?

In the past, I’ve heard Paul Heyman speak in depth about the death of ECW and the reason it died had mostly to do with distribution. According to Heyman, ECW was a hot product in it’s final days. The problems were they were owed a lot of money by PPV distributors who thought it was cheaper to pay off the dollar for ECW rather than throw the money onto a ship that might sink in six months. At the same time, ECW could not get distribution to get television. USA Network decided that if they couldn’t have WWF, they had no interest in wrestling. Turner had no interest in wrestling after WCW. Fox offered ECW an afternoon strip that apparently didn’t make sense financially. ECW just couldn’t catch a break and just

According to Heyman, ECW was a hot product in it’s final days. The problems were they were owed a lot of money by PPV distributors who thought it was cheaper to pay off the dollar for ECW rather than throw the money onto a ship that might sink in six months. At the same time, ECW could not get distribution to get television. USA Network decided that if they couldn’t have WWF, they had no interest in wrestling. Turner had no interest in wrestling after WCW. Fox offered ECW an afternoon strip that apparently didn’t make sense financially. ECW just couldn’t catch a break and just

At the same time, ECW could not get distribution to get television. USA Network decided that if they couldn’t have WWF, they had no interest in wrestling. Turner had no interest in wrestling after WCW. Fox offered ECW an afternoon strip that apparently didn’t make sense financially. ECW just couldn’t catch a break and just

ECW just couldn’t catch a break and just didn’t have enough money to sustain itself. That is how ECW died.

However, what if ECW had been able to survive? How would pro-wrestling look today?

Well, the independent wrestling world would be very different. Ring of Honor most likely wouldn’t exist, and TNA may not exist. Everything is within question. But, if you look at the talent at the time, all those ECW performers would have stayed with the brand, and

But, if you look at the talent at the time, all those ECW performers would have stayed with the brand. Not only that, but young talents like Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, and CM Punk would have been ECW guys. Imagine Punk vs. Joe in the Hammerstein Ballroom in Philly. That would have been something else.

Here’s another example: in 2002, Stone Cold “took his ball and went home”. If ECW was still around, would Austin have been able to do what he wanted creatively with Paul Heyman in ECW? That’s an extremely interesting thought.

Pro wrestling is overlooked with “what if” questions, but this is an interesting idea. The industry would be so different.