How the Reincarnated ECW Saved WWE

I fondly recall attending WWE's last show at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, an ECW Live show being aired on SyFy (Then Sci-Fi). We were beginning to see a change in the ECW brand at this time, and it was one that longtime ECW fans dreaded. Despite being teased with a product similar to the cutting edge over the top action that made the original Extreme Championship Wrestling famous, we were instead being treated to more of the same. Our main event for the evening was Big Show defending the ECW Championship against Batista under Extreme Rules. Rob Van Dam was out on suspension and ECW Originals Tommy Dreamer and Sandman took a loss to Mike Knox and the late Test. Chants of "Change the Channel!", "This Match Sucks", and "Same Old Sh*t" summed up what the ECW faithful thought of the brand's reincarnation.

Thinking back to that night though, I remember the debut of a young tattoo'ed athlete. This superstar to be was a man of great discipline, addicted to wrestling and obsessed with competition. This superstar was CM Punk, the former Ring of Honor stand out who made his WWE debut in ECW. This was 2006, only four short years ago. Since then, CM Punk has won the World Heavyweight Championship on three separate occassions, the ECW Championship, the World Tag-Team Championships, and the Intercontinental Championship becoming, in turn, the nineteenth Triple Crown Champion in WWE. On top of these achivements, Punk has also won the Money In The Bank two years in a row and earned to Slammy Awards relating to shock value.

My point is, while ECW may not have protected its "Originals" or provided non-stop no rule mayhem, it did serve as the launching pad for not only one of today's biggest heels in Punk, but also a slew of other successful superstars. On the June 30, 2009 episode of ECW Sheamus made his unannounced WWE debut and quickly began feuding with veteran Goldust. This type of feud couldn't have developed on one of the bigger brands and it was surprisingly well received. Sheamus won their No Disqualification bout ending the feud which had served to raise awareness for Sheamus' character. The Irishman would eventually go on to RAW and win a "break-through" battle royal which allowed him to challenge John Cena for the WWE Championship at TLC. . . and win!

CM Punk won the Money In The Bank twice but did not qualify for the 2010 competition. 2010's winner was Jack Swagger who would go on to cash in one week later on Smackdown against World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho. So far there hasn't been a Money In The Bank winner who hasn't won the title they had cashed in for and Swagger was no exception. Though before besting five others at Wrestlemania to earn a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship, Jack Swagger had found his start in the Land of Extreme. The "All American American" made his debut on September 9, 2008 and won the ECW Championship from Matt Hardy about four months later.

By the way, Swagger's opponents in the Money In The Bank ladder match were predominantly former "WWEECW" stars and originals. Kofi Kingston, current WWE Intercontinental Champion, debuted first in ECW on January 22, 2008. After a four month undefeated streak in ECW, Kofi would eventually capture the World Tag-Team Titles with CM Punk, the United States Championship, and two Intercontinental Championships. John Morrison recreated himself in ECW and replaced Chris Benoit in a match with CM Punk to earn his first major title in WWE. Christian and Matt Hardy also won their first major championships in ECW and Shelton Benjamin was prominently featured there. Let us not forget Evan Bourne who hasn't won a championship yet, though is doing big things on RAW!

All in all, when considering the youth movement of the WWE, the company's iteration of Extreme Championship Wrestling was actually extremely supportive of the cause. It wasn't the ECW of old, not at all. I would argue though that ECW's latest form did exactly what the original did with athletes like Jericho, Mysterio, Van Dam, and Benoit. WWECW created or established some of the most unique and exciting characters and athletes in sports entertainment today.