Cheap Heat: Thank You

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If there’s one thing ECW fans hate, it’s “big wrestling.” We hate Bischoff, we hate Vince, we hate what they did to the company we loved. We want to see everyone involved decimated. That’s if we have to see them at all, which we’d prefer not to, but if we have to, we want to see them destroyed.

We also have a bad feeling they won’t be.

I have never in my life been so happy to be wrong.

In a day that started at 7:22 am Sunday morning and ended at 4 am on Monday, went through Albany, Shea Stadium, the 7 train, Times Square, Grand Central Station, The Metro-North Harlem Line, the Bronx, and a hallucinatory, exhausting drive back to Albany, I have not quite gotten over the experience of One Night Stand.

As I said last week, I’d never been to an ECW show, and for a long time I regretted that fact. I regretted not spending the extra cash to road trip out to some random small stadium to see a show. I wanted to use One Night Stand as the opportunity to make up for five years of regret.

It did.

A lot of people mailed me last week telling me I didn’t understand what it was like to be a true ECW fan because I never went to a show, or wasn’t from Philly, or never made the road trip. I’m sure, to them, that’s the truth, but until this year I’d never been to a Giants game either. I’m still a Giants fan. I religiously watched the ECW TV program. I religiously ordered Pay Per Views.

I don’t want to get in to a long, drawn out defense of my love for ECW. It would go too far off the topic for which I wanted to write about: to thank Paul Heyman, Tommy Dreamer, Vince McMahon, and RVD.

Vince McMahon. When you purchased the pile of ashes that was ECW for half a million dollars, I presumed the federation dead and buried. When it because Stephanie’s faction in the Invasion, I knew it was. The ashes were not only kicked around, but pissed on and laughed at. I figured you would not allow another federation to look good on your dime. When your superstars were to be involved in One Night Stand, I never thought you would let ECW guys get the best of them. I also never thought you would allow the gritty, non-flashy product that was ECW go out over Pay Per View. I never thought you would let the mood of ECW be re-created.

You proved me wrong ten times over with One Night Stand. The look, feel, smell, and taste felt like an ECW show. I was able to walk unimpeded around the arena, not being bothered by security for being out of my seat. I stood next to Kurt Angle and Bradshaw and flipped them off as they walked by. I stood under the canopy and under the production table and never once was asked to produce a ticket stub. It was the lax, we know you’re just here to watch, laid back attitude I expected at an ECW show. As I watched it back on Pay Per View, I could have been watching November to Remember or Heat Wave. The camera angles, off lighting, everything… it felt like an ECW show. You not only got my $150 for the live seat and the right to be in the building, you got my $34.95 for PPV and will get my $20 for the DVD. Whatever you paid Joey Styles to get his face and voice on DVD, it is well worth it. And think about putting him with Tazz on the Smackdown commentary. It would make me watch Smackdown again.

RVD. If it’s true what you said, if it really was you that introduced this idea to Vince, and got him to accept it, thank you a million times over. I hope, eventually, someone realizes you deserve to be at the top of the card.

Tommy Dreamer. Joey Styles said you are the heart of ECW. It’s true. I know parts of you were all through One Night Stand, and I know your heart and soul was poured into it. The chants of “Thank You Tommy” after the cameras went off were from the bottom of our hearts. We never really got to properly thank you for your ECW contributions. The days, years, and weeks you gave up your body for us never went unappreciated. Everything you did, we appreciated. Most of us hoped they would give you the opportunity to do great things in the WWE, but most of us knew they wouldn’t. You represent every one of us. When the lights went down on One Night Stand, we knew it was your blood in the ring, both literally and figuratively.

Whether they give you something else to do on television, or whether you go back behind the scenes, know we appreciated every bit of what you did, and we won’t forget it.

Paul Heyman. Thank you for not compromising and not backing down to whatever they wanted to do to your product. I’m sure there were a lot of ideas passed back and forth about who could do what, and I’m sure there were a lot of things you had to insist wouldn’t be done. We’ll probably never know what those things are, but whatever they were, thank you. Thank you for helping your fans get one more night of glory. We may never get another one, but you allowed us one chance to say good-bye, and give a proper thank you.

And an honorable mention to Joey Styles. You are the best play-by-play guy on North American television. It’s a tragedy you don’t have a job with the WWE. If they ever do more with ECW, please think about joining. If they offer you a job doing Smackdown, think about taking that, too. You’re too good not to be on television.

One Night Stand was the best thing I’ve ever been a part of. I am very happy I decided to drop the money. Had I been sitting home last Sunday watching the show, I never would have gotten over it. As much as I worried, whined, cried, bitched, and feared them messing it up, they picked up an egg and threw it on my face. I’m happily cleaning it off. I have never been happier to be an over-reacting internet nerd.

As for a review of the show, there are plenty of those. I can go on record as saying it was a perfect nostalgia show, executed flawlessly. Every high spot that a fan wanted to see was there. Every person, save Franchise and New Jack, was there. New Jack, I understand, being that he’s wanted in New York State, and I’m sure it isn’t for unpaid parking tickets. Shane Douglas… well… he learned how the Ring of Honor fans felt about him. The ECW fans would have not only welcomed him back with open arms, but listened to everything he had to say. Whether or not he feels bad about it now, I don’t know. If I had to guess, I’d bet he thinks ROH was a mistake. They weren’t his people, we were.

As for where they go from here, I don’t know. I think there’s money to be made in a couple ECW PPVs per year, but only with a weekly show, and I just don’t know if Vince is ready to turn that responsibility over to Paul. I don’t know if he’s ready for a show that could, theoretically, be better than anything they’ve put on in years.

Vince has surprised me this week though.

And I thank him for that.

Thanks for reading.