WWE ECW
Created by	Vince McMahon Paul Heyman
Starring	ECW roster
Opening theme	"Bodies" byDrowning Pool (2006–2007) "Don't Question My Heart" bySaliva featuring Brent Smith (2007–2010)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	193
Production
Camera setup	Multicamera setup
Running time	46 minutes
Production company	WWE
Original release
Network	Sci-Fi/Syfy
Release	June 13, 2006 (2006-06-13) – February 16, 2010 (2010-02-16)[1]

WWE ECW (officially known as simplyECW and colloquially known asECW on Sci-Fi orECW on Syfy andWWECW, a portmanteau of both "WWE" and "ECW") is an Americanprofessional wrestlingtelevision program that was produced byWWE, based on the independentExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion that lasted from 1992 to 2001. The show's name also referred to theECWbrand, in which WWE employees were assigned to work and perform, complementary to WWE's other brands,Raw andSmackDown.

ECW debuted on June 13, 2006, onSci Fi in the United States andGlobal Television Network in Canada on Saturday mornings and ran until its final episode on February 16, 2010, on the rebranded Syfy. It was replaced the following week withWWE NXT.^[1] Every episode is available for on-demand viewing via theWWE Network andPeacock.^[2]

Throughout the shows existence,ECW had been broadcast from over 120 arenas, over 80 cities and towns, and four countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, andItaly in 2007.

WWE acquired the rights toExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW)'s trademarks andvideo library in January 2003 and later began reintroducing ECW through content from the ECW library and a series of books, which included the release ofThe Rise and Fall of ECW documentary.^[3] The enormous popularity of ECW merchandise prompted WWE to organizeECW One Night Stand, an ECW reunion pay-per-view in 2005.^[3] The financial and critical success of the event motivated WWE to organize a secondECW One Night Stand the following year. With rejuvenated interest in the ECW product, WWE began exploring the possibility of reviving the promotion full-time. The news that WWE was planning to bring back ECW was leaked in the middle of April asVince McMahon decided to revive ECW as a full-timebrand.^[4] Reports beforehand stated that WWE was prepared to bring back ECW immediately afterWrestleMania 22.^[5]

On May 25, 2006, WWE announced the launch of ECW as a stand-alonebrand, congruous toRaw andSmackDown!, with its own show on Sci Fi (nowSyfy).^[6] Despite initial concerns that professional wrestling would not be accepted by Sci Fi's demographic, network PresidentBonnie Hammer stated that she believed ECW would fit the channel's theme of "stretching the imagination".^[7] Sci Fi (now known as Syfy) is owned byNBC Universal, parent company ofUSA Network and exclusive cable broadcaster ofRaw. ECW's weekly series was originally given a thirteen episode run as a "summer series" onSci Fi. The premiere received a 2.79rating, making it the highest rated show on cable in its time slot.^[8] Because of its good ratings it was granted an extended run through the end of 2007.^[9] On October 23, 2007, the network renewed the series through 2008.^[10] Prior to the show's launch, WWE opted to cancel itswebcastVelocity and replace it with the newECW program.^[11]

ECW was initially produced differently from WWE's other shows. For televised events, the main ring-facing cameras were placed on a different location in the arena while thewrestling ring itself featured an ECW logo on the mat and blank turnbuckle covers. The male performers were referred to "Extremists" instead of "Superstars" while female performers were called "Vixens" rather thanDivas. However, the show steadily began being produced following the same format of the other shows. As opposed to the original promotion, match rules, such ascount outs anddisqualifications, were now standard. Matches featuring the rule set of the original promotion were then classified as being contested under "Extreme Rules" and were only fought when specified.

Former ECW ownerPaul Heyman served as the on-air "ECW Representative" (a reference to how Heyman had been identified onMonday Night Raw back in 1997). According to an interview in the UK newspaperThe Sun, Heyman wrote the show's weekly scripts and submitted them to writers for possible changes, and thenVince McMahon for final approval. FollowingDecember to Dismember, Heyman was relieved from both his on and off-air duties with World Wrestling Entertainment.^[12]

While the show started out a ratings success, it began drawing criticism from fans of the original ECW early on. This was most evident by thenegative crowd reaction "old school" fans gave the main event ofBatista vs.Big Show at the August 1, 2006 show fromHammerstein Ballroom, which often held original ECW events while it was a company.^[13][14] After Heyman left in late 2006, there was no ECW authority figure until August 14, 2007, whenArmando Estrada was announced as the General Manager.

On May 6, 2008,ECW celebrated its 100th episode on Sci Fi.^[15] On June 3, 2008 Estrada was replaced byTheodore Long as General Manager of ECW.ECW moved to 9:00 p.m. Eastern/8:00 p.m. Central on September 30, 2008.^[16]ECW moved back to 10:00 p.m. Eastern/9:00 p.m. Central on May 5, 2009.^[17] On the April 7 edition ofECW it was announced that Theodore Long was returning to SmackDown to fulfill the role of General Manager. From this point the Interim General Manager was named asTiffany who took over as full-time General Manager on the June 30, 2009 episode.^[18]On July 7, 2009, the Sci Fi Channel renamed itself to "Syfy", prompting WWE to rename the showECW on Syfy to reflect the changes.^[19][20] In 2009 a "superstar initiative" was established for the purpose of introducing new talent to WWE programming, mainly those from WWE's developmental territoryFlorida Championship Wrestling to ECW's roster.^[20]

On February 2, 2010, WWE ChairmanVince McMahon announced thatECW would be going off the air and would be replaced with a new weekly program in its slot in which McMahon announced as "groundbreaking, original show." It was later announced that the show would air its final episode on February 16, 2010. On the February 9, 2010 episode ofECW, the new show's name was announced asWWE NXT.^[21]

At ECW's launch, WWE.com introducedHardcore Hangover, a video feature which allowed fans in the United States and Canada to stream or download video footage from the weekly show.^[22] On October 16, 2007, it was replaced by a new feature which made full episodes of the show available for streaming on WWE.com the day after they aired. After gathering a list of names from fans and conducting an online poll, the feature was namedECW X-Stream on October 31, 2007.^[23] Past episodes of ECW were previously viewable on the video streaming websiteHulu,^[24] which are available on theWWE Network worldwide andPeacock in the United States.

ECW shows were held in large arenas as a part of the taping schedules of WWE's other shows. This was in sharp contrast to the originalExtreme Championship Wrestling which ran most of its events in smaller venues.^[25] The show generally aired live on Tuesdays directly before — when touring the west coast — or afterSmackDown was taped,^[26][27] though it was also recorded and placed on abroadcast delay until later in the night depending on what circumstances dictated.^[28]ECW had originally separated itself from WWE, featuring ECW's old black ring ropes, the ECW logo in the middle of the ring and no WWE logo to be seen on the turnbuckles or on the ring apron. However, they slowly began to become more of a WWE show than prior, when they made the ring ropes silver instead of the black ones and when they went HD, put the WWE logo on the turnbuckles, and the WWE.COM advertising on the left and right side of the ring aprons and removed the ECW logo from the ring.

ECW's initial theme song was "Bodies" byDrowning Pool, which had been used by WWE for Extreme Championship Wrestling before the establishment of the brand. "Don't Question My Heart" bySaliva featuringBrent Smith was later used toopenECW for the rest of the program's run. The songs "Famous" byPuddle of Mudd was used for one week, and a censored version of "This Is The New Shit" byMarilyn Manson was used for a few weeks.^[29] On January 22, 2008,ECW began broadcasting inHD, along with a new HD set, which is shared among all three WWE brands.^[30]

In addition to being broadcast onSyfy,Mun2, andUniversal HD in the United States,ECW was broadcast on a number of channels in many different countries.

• List of ECW (WWE) alumni
• ECW Hardcore TV
• ECW on TNN

• ECW atIMDb

• 2006 American television series debuts
• 2010 American television series endings
• ECW (WWE brand)
• American English-language television shows
• Extreme Championship Wrestling
• Extreme Championship Wrestling reunions and revivals
• Extreme Championship Wrestling shows
• Syfy original programming
• Television series by WWE

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