ECW destined to fail?

Some fans complain when writers, not wrestlers, control the talent on Raw or Smackdown!. But ECW demonstrates that the product isn't any better when the inmates are left to run the asylum.

After months of hype and a spectacular send-off pay-per-view, ECW returned to the small screen and debuted Tuesday night on the Sci-Fi network. The premiere episode of the new brand of extreme wrestling saw a championship rechristened, a 10-man weapons-legal battle royal ensue, and a couple of run-ins by some WWE superstars.

But to be honest, the show failed to impress. It was short, disjointed and disappointing. There were just three matches, two of which only lasted for a couple of minutes, and the promos that ran only further showcased the weaknesses of the new ECW.

I'll admit that I'm no ECW buff. But I have seen some of the death matches that helped ECW carve out its niche among wrestling fans. What ECW lacks in storylines and mic skills, it makes up for with raw wrestling talent coupled with chairshots and table bumbs that would make even the drunkest fan sober up.

But I didn't see any of that extreme attitude last night. What I did see was Sandman caning a mummy (click here to watch) and Kurt Angle pinning a jobber. (Isn't it funny that Justin Credible is still a jobber on his home show?)

Sure the weapons-legal battle royal had some high spots, but aside from the Big Show and Sabu, the match was just jobbers from ECW and WWE unimpressively swinging chairs at each other.

A large part of the appeal of ECW is the electricity generated by its rabid fans. Mostly comprised of angry young men, true ECW fans will follow their wrestlers to hell and back. It's their energy that has often times masked an average in-ring performance or a wrestler's weak mic skills.

But that advantage is gone now. Since the new ECW is taped right before Smackdown!, it's audience is no longer pure. The beer-swilling ECW faithful are now outnumbered by young women and small children. And I don't think they're likely to start up (or go with) a "You got bitch slapped!" or "Same old shit!" chant.

Tuesday night's promos encapsulated the current state of ECW. At the start of the show, Edge speared ECW champ Rob Van Dam, and ex-champ John Cena slapped Paul Heyman. The attacks spurred Heyman to continue the WWE-ECW feud into next month's Vengeance.

It's possible that the powers that be in WWE are prolonging the inter-brand battle to give fans an encore of One Night Stand. But what's more likely is that the WWE knows that ECW is strongest when it has something to rebel against.

Fans have rallied behind ECW because they, like the ECW wrestlers, are fed up with WWE's brand of "sports entertainment." But what happens if ECW's wrestlers beat WWE's superstars again at Vengeance?

The brand will have to stand on its own two feet. No longer can it hide its wrestlers' weaknesses by spouting anti-WWE sentiments. ECW will need wrestlers whom fans can connect with and storylines that give those wrestlers a purpose. In other words, ECW will eventually evolve into sports entertainment.

Have I angered any ECW fans? Hate mail, death threats and flaming table invitations are kindly welcome. Just post them on the message board.

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Sorry for the second hiatus, folks. My internship's keeping me busy. I'll try to post more frequently.