ECW: Breeding Ground

by Jack Windham
November 19, 2008

ECW is finally being used the right way by WWE. It is now the breeding ground for the company.

ECW: Breeding Ground

When ECW was first brought back to life by WWE, it was intended to be a brand that captured the nostalgia of the original company led by Paul Heyman.

The decision to resurrect the ECW name was made after management noticed how popular the merchandise was.

So, Paul Heyman, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, Sabu, Rob Van Dam, and several other familiar faces were brought in for the brand.

After letting go of much the names that were synonymous with the original ECW, the company decided to go a different route with the brand.

The company decided that ECW would be used as the breeding ground for the company.

It was to have been the middle ground between the two main brands and the developmental territories.

It took a while for WWE to finally transition over to that plan, but it looks like they've now accomplished that.

Elevating Stars

During the WWE Draft Lottery, WWE sent over John Morrison from Raw and the Miz from Smackdown.

The company did so in hopes of them developing into future stars.

Despite winning the ECW Heavyweight Championship, John Morrison's momentum was slowly declining.

As for the Miz, well, he was simply just the Miz at the time.

Whether by accident or on purpose, WWE struck gold when they decided to pair the two up as a tag team.

The duo has been able to win over the fans and management. They're now being pushed heavily and should soon become stars on either Raw or Smackdown.

The company has also done the same thing for Matt Hardy.

He went from being the United States champion on Smackdown to being the ECW Heavyweight Champion. He's slowly gaining enough credibility to where fans should be able to accept him as a main event wrestler soon.

New Stars

The company isn't simply using ECW as a way to elevate midcard wrestlers into main event wrestlers.

They're also using it as the stage on which new performers get introduced to the WWE Universe.

Thus far, we've seen guys like CM Punk and Kofi Kingston make a name for themselves in ECW. They're both now on the Raw brand.

Evan Bourne seems to be following in their foot steps and could soon find himself on either Raw or Smackdown.

Over the last few months, Gavin Spears, Jack Swagger, Ricky Ortiz, and DJ Gabriel have also made their debuts in ECW.

Closing Thoughts

It took a while, but WWE finally did. ECW is exactly what it needs to be now.