In an interview with the UK Sun’s Simon Rothstein, Evan Bourne talked about his respect for the original ECW, talking about what a big fan he was of the likes of RVD and Tajiri. That said, he thinks the current incarnation is a better TV show than the one that aired on TNN in the promotion’s twilight. Even when he’s talking about how much better the current show is, he still finds ways to respectfully qualify it:
“You can’t make a direct comparison between the rosters, as we’re so different. …”But if you compare ECW now to the old ECW on TNN – we blow that show out of the water.”
The man who did play by play for both shows, Joey Styles, happens to agree with him. He said so on his WWE Universe blog, calling the TNN show “awful” and saying it showed the world that ECW had one foot in the grave in 2000. That said, he still thinks the syndicated show was great and he thinks the original ECW was a stronger product than the current one, backing it up by talking about all the guys who cut their teeth in ECW before becoming WWE main eventers. He thinks the original ECW had its conclusion at the first One Night Stand and thanks WWE for holding the show.
