by Dave Meltzer
But can those few people through that same illusion convince enough people to buy a PPV show? No. That’s why the WWF exposure may have been the event’s saving grace. And maybe that’s the real story of the PPV. On 4/13, a major question is answered and we find out if the popularity of ECW—at this particular moment—is illusion created by a few making a lot of noise or a significant reality created by a few angles on Monday Night Raw. So we’ll find out how few, or how many, is a few—in a few weeks.
MARCH 24
Surprisingly, the PPV show on 4/13 at the Arena isn’t sold out, which is quite a contrast to the WCW Nitro the next night at the Spectrum that has already topped 9,000 tickets in advance sales and tickets have only been on sale for five days while the ECW tickets have been on sale for a few weeks. Some ECW regulars are complaining about the high ticket prices ($40 GA) for the show. In addition, many of the suburban cable systems in the Philadelphia area aren’t carrying the show because of the wrong affiliation which should have only made the early sellout that much easier.
APRIL 14
Extreme Championship Wrestling runs its first PPV show on 4/13. To some, it’s the sixth of seven shows (including the much-hyped Oscar de la Hoya vs. Pernall Whitaker fight the night before that everyone else was running away from competing with) in a run of six straight weekends with major combat PPV shows. To some, it’s the culmination of a dream. To some, it’s the answer to some long asked questions and something of a moment where fantasy meets up with reality and a real moment of truth.
Within the industry, it is probably the most discussed PPV show of the year. Certainly this particular show is more important to this company than any show, WrestleMania included, is to WWF or WCW. Even so, even the most optimistic ECW supporters recognize this show isn’t going to do business at anywhere near the level of WWF, WCW or even UFC.
Let’s deal with the first and probably most important question: Will the show pull enough of a number to be successful? You can argue both ways. The debut shows of AAA, Pancrase, UFC, EFC and UWFI all garnered at least a 0.24 buy rate, which at this point I would think most in the PPV industry would be happy for this show to pull. With the exception of AAA, none at the time of their debut show had any television coverage at all in the United States, and none except AAA really had anything resembling a core following when it ran its first show, which even its most ardent detractors have to realize ECW has at least that. By that rationale, one would think ECW should be able to do at least that figure.
At the same time, we are just a few weeks removed from a WrestleMania by the WWF that delivered a 0.77 buy rate. Basically for every three households that ordered WrestleMania in the markets ECW is available, one would have to order ECW for it to do break-even type numbers. When you consider that the ECW show is being provided in numerous markets where it has no following nor television whatsoever and in most of its strongest markets (Long Island, Boston area, much of the Philadelphia metro area) it isn’t available, nor are several dish providers carrying the show. By that rationale, one would think ECW doesn’t have a chance.
Will ECW go over the line with this show? Hell, no. The series of wake-up calls that nearly cost them this show have been largely addressed. ECW knows exactly what it can and can’t get away with, and for anyone to think at this point that Paul Heyman after all this work is going to blow it in this regard isn’t paying attention. Yes, there will be blood. Yes, there will be swearing. No, nobody is going to take a knife and slice open an underage kid’s forehead. No, they aren’t going to set the building on fire. Yes, somebody probably will do a dive off the roof, or the ceiling, or the highest balcony they can find, through 94 tables. Yes, you’ll see absolutely wicked chair shots and women with very little clothes on. Next question.
What about a second show? In many ways, this show is a test. A test to see just how much interest there is. But it’s a chance for ECW to prove itself in regard to the future. If this show delivers a 0.2 buy rate in the limited availability, while the show itself would not be profitable, it could be termed, well, not a failure although it would also firmly establish them as a “C” level PPV player. There’s little doubt a figure like that, barring a major catastrophe at the show, would lead to many of the carrier systems that decided to pass on this show due to the controversy to re-evaluate their thinking. And if the entire PPV universe will carry a subsequent show, ECW could conceivably break even or even make a few bucks on a 0.2.
At the same time, most, but not all promotions have a significant decrease on their second PPV show from their first. Anything less than a 0.2 on the first show is not a good sign for the future. Its oft-confused namesake, Extreme Fighting, just two weeks earlier, didn’t come close to a 0.2 for show number four after debuting with a mildly successful 0.3. Pancrase started near 0.3 and was down to 0.1 on its second show. Although there are regional pockets where ECW wrestling has far more popularity than Extreme Fighting, on a national basis one would have to question whether that is the case. Certainly Extreme Fighting due to the controversy has received tons more media play and exposure, but ECW has a cult television show in some markets.
The tension in and around ECW has never been greater. It came perilously close to all-out brawls among the wrestlers due to nerves being on edge both the past two weekends backstage at the shows. Several of those involved with the show privately admit they wish it was over so things could get back to, well, abnormal. Several wrestlers that have talked of leaving had been talked into staying at times with the promise of big money once the PPV came. Few believe there will be big money now coming from this PPV, but at the same time, it’s really questionable how many guys will be leaving because if you get right down to it, there isn’t a lot of interest in the major promotions for most of the ECW crew.
Rob Van Dam’s leaving for WCW is pretty much expected by everyone, including the ECW fans who were chanting “You sold out” at him on the house show 4/5 in Queens, NY. Van Dam has promised Heyman he would stay through a certain date (believed to be sometime in June), but Heyman believes Van Dam will likely be gone after that time. Sabu’s reputation and perceived value in this business has pretty much hit the skids over the past year due to his track record but there has certainly been a lot of discussion about him elsewhere and he’s floated leaving ECW to other companies, although the odds are he isn’t going anywhere right now.
Occasionally the major offices bring up Stevie Richards and Raven, but it’s not like either are high on anyone’s want list. The so-called New York clique—Taz, Tommy Dreamer, The Dudleys and Eliminators—likely aren’t going anywhere for a variety of reasons. Heyman realizes that and has worked hard to keep them all strong and make them the cornerstones of the promotion, which has led to resentment from others in the company. Sandman, while not a member of the New York clique, and arguably the most popular wrestler in the company right now, is also one who it is doubtful will be going anywhere.
The Gangstas, due to their controversial past and present, aren’t exactly being wooed by the major offices either. Heyman has kept The Gangstas around, a controversial move to say the least coming on the heels of the November incident in Revere, MA that nearly cost them this entire PPV, but has taken much of the promotional focus directly away from them, trying instead to subliminally get New Jack over by leaping off higher balconies each week to get the short-term memory of fans away from New Jack as the guy who almost cost them their PPV to New Jack as the gutsiest or perhaps craziest guy in a promotion of generally very gutsy and some crazy individuals.
Shane Douglas has made his share of enemies, but at 33 and one of a few truly polished performers in the company and this being the wrestling business, those who hate him today will embrace him tomorrow if they think they can do business with him.
This will also be a moment of truth for perhaps the most underrated performer in the company in some circles, although certainly not among this newsletter’s readership—Joey Styles. Styles will do most of the show solo (Tom
my Dreamer is expected to come out during the ECW title match), and be placed in a position to run the gamut of styles from stiff brawling, psychotic spots, sloppy execution, worked shootfighting, Japanese lucha and climaxing with melodrama all in one three hour period. No American announcer has ever pulled all this off yet in one show, let alone someone who has never done pro wrestling live and is working his first PPV event. On Sunday night, Styles’ performance, yay or nay, will be almost as talked about as most of the wrestlers.
With Chris Candido out of action for the next two months with a torn bicep (Candido opted not to have surgery which would have kept him out of action for closer to five months), the card still had one hole in it at press time. The original plan was for a night-of-the-show challenge leading to a Candido vs. Lance Storm match. It is most likely that spot will be taken by Storm vs. Rob Van Dam, which on paper sounds like a good match, although that wasn’t a definite as Van Dam was said to have been mad about not being booked originally on the show and not wanting to be a fill-in guy.
Dudleys vs. Eliminators will work in the building but is more questionable how a long match between those two teams will look to the rest of the world. The Michinoku Pro match with Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Gran Naniwa vs. Taka Michinoku & Mens Teoh & Dick Togo, despite Sasuke being all banged up and fighting off jet lag after a match against Jushin Liger the previous night at the Tokyo Dome and Teoh banged up as well, should be the best match on the show and probably no worse than the second best match on an American PPV show so far this year. Shane Douglas vs. Pit Bull #2 will also be heated at the arena, and probably involve some booking swerves. Sabu vs. Taz will have a very difficult time living up to its hype, but will also likely involve a lot of booking swerves. Which leads us to Terry Funk.
When Heyman came up with the plan to actually do this PPV show after months and years of stalling the subject out, he already came out with the climax of the show. Twenty years after Terry Funk lost the NWA world heavyweight title in Toronto to Harley Race, at the time the almost undisputed biggest wrestling championship in the business, Funk would go on a quest for his final world title and under the most dramatic of circumstances, pull it out for a tearful emotional explosion. Heyman even wanted the PPV in early February so as to be almost 20 years to the exact date (February 6, 1977) of Funk’s last run as the symbolic top man in the profession. Funk, who had largely decided he was done wrestling in the United States, was sold on the storyline of the 53-year-old hardcore legend (actually Funk turns 53 on 6/30) making a vow to his late father and battling against all odds and ending with one last stand, ending with the symbolic belt crowning him the king of the hardcores, to the extent he embarked on yet another comeback.
Much has changed since last October, although the television would lead one to believe the main focal point of the show’s climax has stayed the same.
Terry Funk has had numerous last stands before. In 1983, perhaps the single most emotional scene in the history of pro wrestling saw 13,000 fans weeping in unison as he had his final match in Tokyo. At the time Funk said that he didn’t want to be a pro wrestler at the age of 40 because during his career he’d witnessed too many top names hanging around too long, although part of the reason was that All Japan, his company, was losing a promotional war with New Japan due to how incredibly over Riki Choshu was and this was Funk’s way of doing his part, a big farewell tour climaxing in the most emotional moment of Japanese wrestling history, to combat the opposition. By late 1984 he was back in All Japan after an angle bringing him back involving Stan Hansen and the late Bruiser Brody.
In 1987, after a serious back injury had crippled him to the point that even his friends wanted him out of the ring for good and all his cleverness in the ring wasn’t enough to combat the effects of the injury, it looked like his career was going to end on a sad note. But in 1989 he came back with perhaps the most legendary run of his career against Ric Flair. When the run ended in November, Funk was again retired, this time by the company, after an I Quit match against Flair in Troy, NY which drew what was at the time the single largest viewing audience for a match in the history of cable television and was arguably the single greatest performance of his illustrious career.
But once again, he came back, and many credit him as being the foundation of the early building of ECW from just another third-rate indie to the cult phenomenon it later became, with himself as the undying legend, putting on incredible performances and putting over and in many ways making the ECW local stars into legitimate names like Public Enemy, Shane Douglas and Sabu. Not that everything was all altruistic. At one point, Funk, with basically no warning, no-showed an ECW Arena show when he was in the main event, basically walking out on the promotion. Another wrestler doing the same thing would be buried six feet deep, but with Funk it was handled delicately since Heyman had the knowledge there would come a day he’d need him again. Which happened time and time again.
Although Sabu vs. Taz has been built up for more than one year as the main event on the show, if everything goes according to the best plans, the lasting memory of ECW’s first PPV show will be the climax of Funk’s last (or latest) stand. The world title event is slated to go on last, once again enforcing the idea that the finish is the memory Heyman wants everyone left with. One year ago there would have been no questions and certainly no concerns about how this would all turn out. If there was anyone in the company who could be counted on in a PPV main event to deliver the goods and then some, to turn in a memorable performance that people would talk about for months that would rub off on the company itself, Funk was the person you’d give the ball to and you wouldn’t worry about it for a second. Certainly Heyman was thinking like that in October when he came up with his plan to lure Funk back.
Funk’s run started at the November to Remember. ECW sold out its small much-maligned and much-overly fantasized Bingo Hall farther in advance and created the most interest for any show in its history back on 11/16, with Funk climaxing his match doing a moonsault off the top rope to the floor. But in hindsight, as expertly done as this story started from November through January with the sentimental videos and tremendous television hype, people have begun picking flaws in it.
In the late 90s, when people want their heroes to be bad-asses like Steve Austin, Funk sold too much and gave too much to his foes in his comeback matches. The fans wanted the nasty old man who was tougher than shoe leather, and not the sympathetic and overly melodramatic babyface who was pounded into the ground and somehow at the end snuck by to win. This was coupled with the fact that Funk began going on the road more regularly with ECW to build up this match and how much he gives in every match, the aches appeared to have worsened.
Funk used to have this amazing knack for walking around all day looking like a beat-up old fighter, but when the bell rang, within seconds you forgot all that because he was smart enough and good enough to deliver the kind of performances that only the elite younger wrestlers in the game could touch. As he was wowing everyone in 1989 in the ring being one of the top three of four performers in the profession at the age of 45—doing a ****1/2 match on a PPV with Ric Flair three weeks after suffering a broken back in the ring, those in the WCW office, who thought they were doing the right thing out of humanity, wanted to retire him against his wishes so he wouldn’t damage himself any farther. Hardcore fans, who didn’t see him before and after his matches, couldn’t understand the company’s decision.
But between his storyline selling, and the pounding, he began looking during the matches like he looked before and after the match on this recent run. When he started this run, Funk’s crowd reaction blew away that for anyone else in the company and those close to the promotion pointed to Funk being there as the difference between just barely filling the building and a show that would turn away hundreds. In some cities in recent weeks, Funk barely got a crowd reaction. By telling people he’s over the hill so much, people are starting to believe it.
The storyline they were trying to t
ell of can the old man, the all-time legend, pull one last legendary performance out of a tired aching body, has also become something of reality. Since it’s Terry Funk, and the image that name conjectures, you’d think he probably can and probably will. But if you’ve watched his matches this year, you couldn’t say that with anything close to the certainty you could one year ago.
Funk may be a smarter and more dramatic performer than Nick Bockwinkel was at the same age when he did his legendary 60:00 draw with Curt Hennig on a New Years Eve, but physically he’s taken so much more punishment during his lifetime that he is physically a much older man. A rested up Terry Funk could pull it off, no doubt. But the Terry Funk that has been at the shows the past few weeks is the one coming to Philadelphia on Sunday.
To borrow an analogy of a previous generation, there was a famous football player named George Blanda, who years after being written off, came back in his mid-40s for one improbable miraculous season where he was the MVP of the entire NFL—similar to the Funk of 1989. Funk has to carry a triangle match with Stevie Richards and Sandman, and barring a change in plans, then do a lengthy singles match with Raven with the title at stake.
Like Blanda, he not only has to quarterback the team losing by nine to a touchdown with the clock ticking down in both the game and his own personal fourth quarter, but he has to follow it up with another drive to get them within field goal range with five ticks left on the clock and the ball placed down 50 yards from the uprights and kick the win home. But a few years later, all the mystique and legendary status in the world couldn’t hide the fact that his kicking leg was gone and the very idea of him going into the game as a quarterback to do the miracle comeback was a joke, and although he lasted longer than almost anyone in NFL history—more than 15 years after the first time common logic had him written off as past his prime. Even in myths, there is a finite end. And even given Blanda’s Hall of Fame credentials, Funk is a far better performer in his profession than Blanda was in his.
