I’ve never claimed myself to be a great writer. Hell, I don’t even classify myself as a good writer but I would be remised in continuing to fail my post here as a writer to this site by not contributing here like I’m supposed to, each and every week. Regardless of how I view myself as a writer, or how others view my abilities, my duty to this site is to write and lately I’ve failed.

So this week I’m knuckling up and pushing this one out. I have to, I can’t keep ditching the only duty I have left, and I certainly can’t keep recoiling back inside to do nothing. The goal here is to force myself to sit in front of his keyboard all weekend long and focus on writing on this word document rather than surfing the net looking for porn.

Once again I’ll be deviating from the format to try and focus in on the concept in hand, which is a refocusing of talent within the WWE roster. Working on the company’s design from the ground up, from where guys should be on the card to what their role and gimmick should be to help them achieve the goals the company sets out for them. A clear line of what should be done to achieve the goal of making the company seen as being fresh, vibrant, young and energetic. Above all else it’s meant to accomplish the connection to a key demographic that the WWE has lost and is still in the throes of losing.

For those of you who are aware of the September 29th edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and the article therein by Dave Meltzer then you’re already aware of what I’m speaking of here. The article itself covers the subject matter brought up by Paul Heyman‘s column on The Sun, amongst some other issues first addressed by the cycle of the Monday night ratings during the fall season. Meltzer uses quotes from Heyman and former WWE creative writer Court Bauer to illustrate the point that the WWE, as a wrestling promotion, is incapable of maintaining the key demographic that made up the bulk of their ratings and audience back during the Monday night wars of 1997-2000. Both Heyman and Bauer echo the sentiments of WWE‘s failure to remain culturally relevant and trendy in their ignorance of today’s pop culture.

	“The overall WWE brand isn’t tapped into the cultural fabric of today and tomorrow’s pop culture and trends which is what wrestling needs to be. It’s no longer hip or presented as hip. But at its core, the creative writing department’s process is broken, and has been a broken process for years. It’s dysfunctional. There’s poor communication, brand turf wars between the three shows writers, political, in a petty sense where politicians who win out don’t ultimately help, but hinder the process. Pushes, storylines and character development are routinely compromised after given the go-ahead and there’s way too much input from people who aren’t well versed in the nuances of presenting a 2008 product that resonates. “Writers are constantly undermined and have their credibility compromised by other writers or even Stephanie herself. It’s a disaster and a frustrating experience, especially if you’re on the talent end of the process. There’s little hope for success in the creative team dynamic regardless of if you are a prolific idea generator or otherwise. “The first thing I would do if I was given the carte blanche to the WWE creative writing is shut down the creative writing division. It’s an experiment that has failed. Sucks to say, but the proof is in the pudding. Eight plus years later there’s been nothing but stagnation and a consistent decline in TV ratings. Show me any other show on any other network that has had a series in a ratings decline year-after-year and continued to staff the same lead writer for that entire period. Only in wrestling. The numbers don’t lie.” Meltzer, D: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Sept. 29, 2008.

It’s one of those statements that fans echo when they claim that the WWE doesn’t cater to fans such as themselves without going that deep into the thought process. Basically, the fans are simply crying out for a change that best relates to them and their needs without vocalizing or realizing that what they’re requesting from the company is something trendier that appeals to them as a demographic.

In some cases, you have those fans that are crying for something unrealistic or completely counter-productive to what the business has already proven successful. Some cries are just unreasonable in the light of a company’s goal of trying to appease and appeal to this lost demographic {18-34 year old males] but it’s not to say that the company isn’t going to completely ignore these voices so much as they ignore the message they’re preaching.

For instance, for every cry about John Cena being a product that the adult male demographic can’t get behind and should be removed from the top of the card and pushed less than his current position would dictate, there’s going to be the underlying message that John Cena isn’t someone adult males can connect with and needs some sort of tweak to make him appealing to this demographic. It’s not a hard thing to comprehend when you consider that [Cena] at one point was appealing to this lost demographic. What happened between then [2004] to now to upset and turn away these fans that gave him the push he currently still holds to this day? Clearly the best answer is a disconnect with the audience as Cena was refocused and redirected to be a character that didn’t seem as appealing as he once did before, and that’s a telling tale of the overall environment of the WWE product today.

It’s like Konnan said of TNA (5150, WrestleZone, 11/14/07) “so how can you write a tv show for that young demographic who watches all these shows [South Park, 24, C.S.I.]? [How] can you know what the pulse of America is on if you don’t watch these shows?” The writing today, regardless of which promotion we’re speaking of, seems to be lost on what’s relevant in today’s pop culture and doesn’t know how to connect to its fans the way these popular series’ do.

But that isn’t the only issue with today’s wrestling product. As Heyman pointed out in his column (“An Audience of One“, 9/19/08), the look and feel of wrestling has gotten hold. That the young workers of today don’t stand out and look vibrant or fresh as they stuff themselves into old timer tights that could be worn regardless of their age as opposed to wearing garments that reflect the current day styles and would hold an age expectancy. When you compare workers like Ted DiBiase (Jr.) to someone like The Miz you can see, automatically, one has a youthful look and presence about themselves while the other feels like someone who falls right into the shuffle of every other wrestler to ever come out of a gym facility. While DiBiase looks like a professional wrestler his image doesn’t really stand out as being anything all that impressive and the same line of complaints can be laid against CM Punk’s current [in-ring] attire.

In some ways the apparel of the wrestler isn’t too important as [Bill] Goldberg and Steve Austin proved during their successful runs in the late 90’s. The characters of these two exemplify that one doesn’t have to have a distinct attire to appeal to a wider crowd. But despite having generic attire’s that didn’t provide any definition to their character, their looks did stand out above the crowd of loud and vibrant looking characters. And that would seem to be the fair argument to pull out of Heyman’s column, that wrestlers who you plan to make into your big stars should stand out above the pack. They should look to be bigger than life and memorable. You should be able to pick them out of a crowd without issue, whether they’re wearing basic black tights or decked out in flamboyant colors and streamers.

When you think about what Heyman is asking and what Heyman did with ECW, you can see that perhaps there is something to be said of this ideal. Yes, ECW featured a grungy, unkempt looking Raven; a dirty, drunk and oddly designed Sandman; a weird, straggly, scrawny Stevie Richards who looked ever so flamboyant in his short-shorts and home-made belly-shirt; and a star of an athlete decked out in a basic singlet that was multi-fashioned and personally designed for him in Rob Van Dam. This wasn’t exactly the best looking group or the most professional appearing but they connected with a crowd that the WWF and WCW were having trouble connecting with until they grabbed the influence of Heyman’s vision and implemented it throughout their own products. And it’s important to note that all of the big stars to come out of ECW had that distinct look to break them up from the rest of the pack. They rose above the rest of the pack, stood out as memorable and worth keeping an eye upon. That’s what needs to be taken into account here as we look to apply Heyman’s logic onto the WWE‘s product model, which has fallen into a recession that awkwardly resembles the floundering years of the early and mid 90’s.

While it does look like an attempt to resurrect the past failure of a child friendly product filled with child friendly gimmicks that are colorful and playful in their nature, it really isn’t all that bad. There is still edge to this product and enough adult oriented items within it to resemble some of the Attitude era. Is it the same era as the highly praised Monday Night War entrenched generation? No, but that product was designed out of necessity rather than because they felt it was the natural progression of the wrestling industry. It was the only option available to them to maintain their business practice. Their options were either change to fit the environment of a post-ECW world or die out trying to stay the course with their family friendly product that was just unappealing. It was here that creative became important; the need to keep up with their competitors on the media market forced their hand to ensure that the best possible feuds and storylines were created to appeal to a larger audience. The characters had to be designed and fleshed out by the hands of writers, but there was certainly enough creative freedom for wrestlers to place input on what they could do and how they would do it. A sort of partnership between writers and wrestler was forged out of necessity and would help carry the company through a dark and troubling time for them when they were faced with financial ruin. However, at some point this partnership would deteriorate and reform itself into a dictatorship with creative in full control over their actors and role players.

From a creative standpoint the WWE should have total control of a character – what their motivations are, the way they look and react to situations, all the way down to the way they talk. Creative needs to be in control of these aspects in order to do their job of getting acts over and trying to sell these acts to the crowds, but it’s not only dependent upon their work as it has to be a partnership between the writers and the actor. A well written storyline can’t lift up off the ground if it doesn’t work, in a partnership, with the actor, much like an actor can’t portray a tremendous character if it wasn’t well written.

With the WWE, however, it’s more creative’s work than anything else. There is almost no partnership between the wrestler and the writers within this company. The workers are expected to play the roles written for them, placing no input upon what they can add or take away from the character to make their performance easier on them or seem stronger in their presentation to a live crowd. It’s understandable from the WWE‘s perspective as they want to ensure they own the product and that everything fits into their idea of what that product should look like, after all they’re in the business of entertaining and want to make sure you get the most out of your product to continue padding your profit margins. Who wants to gamble on making a product work when you’ve had over 40 years of working the industry and have a set formula that is tried and proven to work?

What isn’t working for the WWE is their desire to connect to the lost crowd that made up the bulk of their crowds 10 years previous. As a business they are at their strongest and most profitable, but as a wrestling product they are seen as stagnate and growing complacent with mediocre national figures that are fluffed up by international numbers that build up their finances. As a wrestling company they are uninspired and limp, but as an entertainment company they are successful and bold in their decisions. A complete leveling need take place to ensure that business returns to the heights previously seen a decade before. So this week we embark in the undertaking of a relaunch of the WWE‘s entire roster, and this week we begin with ECW‘s roster.

ECW is in a precarious situation where its future is in doubt, and its identity has been completely stripped to feel like every other brand in the WWE rather than its own brand. Now this isn’t a statement that they should be like the old ECW because that idea just can’t work on the full time schedule that the WWE endures every year, but the essence of what the show was in its inception on SciFi is a welcomed endeavor.

The look, the feel, the environment, even the décor of the show had its own charm that said, “Not another WWE brand” and while it was initially despised because it was viewed upon as the bastardization of Heyman’s brainchild. Slowly, but surely, the brand became just that. Its charm stripped away, the aesthetic that separated it from RAW and SmackDown! was lost and the appeal that made ECW a superior wrestling show was slowly beginning to decline. Since then, the show has been more reliant upon RAW and SmackDown! talents rather than their own image in a manner that defeats the purpose of the brand extension.

So the idea to revamp this brand is to really tear down everything that it is currently and build it up as something that transcends the brands. It should be like it was back when it first launched under the WWE banner, a true wrestling show that tries to appeal mostly to die-hard wrestling fans. It should focus mostly on the young workers as it presents itself in a different style from the rest of the product. A more athletic and hard hitting wrestling program is the perfect contrast to the rest of the brands, especially if the in-ring style is viewed as being vastly different from the WWE‘s style.

The first thing that has to be altered is the show’s dependence upon the now standardized WWE stage. Of all the brands that didn’t need a new stage ECW was that one. The charm of it looking smaller by comparison to the other two brands was what added the personality to the show. Hosting an intimate feel that resembled the old ECW was the closest thing to the original we were ever going to get. It also was a nice personal touch of the olden days of wrestling that many of us grew up with, the wrestlers being more accessible to the fans as they walk down the ramp way, the small, intimate set that didn’t try to impose this larger than life feeling upon the product. The stage setting being so small was a welcomed alternative to the WWE‘s ever expanding imposition of lights and metal to set the mood for a wrestling show. Instead of boasting that it’s important and bigger than life ECW allowed the audience to judge for themselves based upon what it could do as a wrestling product. It was reminiscent of the days when the WWF‘s most extravagant setting was a small steel frame with lights attached and a logo banner centered over it.

The other appealing difference between it and the rest of the WWE was the mat canvas. The center emblem being the logo of the show was such a nice touch that we don’t see often on media wrestling television anymore. It was another touch that gave it an old school feel and presented it as being its own brand rather than just the extra hour of RAW or SmackDown! that it has become over time.

These are elements that made up a special feeling for ECW even when creative was pushing for Big Show to be champion of the project in the light of RVD’s image issue. While many fans look back on that time as being insulting and demeaning to the legacy that was ECW, some, myself included, look upon it as the time of innocence. The time when an idea to bring back that which was so popular was done in a manner that was light hearted in its approach of imitating the essence of that company, and was a fun wrestling show that proved to be a true alternative to the WWE‘s rigid and formulaic product. For all that ECW had once represented – a radical change of the [American] wrestling world that pushed the ideal that wrestling can be cool and different from the way it was presented by the bigger companies seen on television every week – it was reborn anew as a WWE trademark and its legacy retold through the eyes of the single strongest entrepreneur of the wrestling industry Vince McMahon.

Now in its current state, ECW is none of these things. Its commentary team is no longer fielded by ECW originals and has seen more changes to it in the past year than any other brand in the WWE. Its roster littered with fresh faces that made up the WWE developmental scene more so than anything else. Having so many young talents isn’t a bad thing as it allows this brand to have an identity as the proving ground for tomorrow’s next big stars. There’s no fear of talents getting lost in the shuffle of an already established brand filled with already established stars with a creative team that is more worried about maintaining ratings through these major stars rather than risk losing these figures by trying something new and radical. This is the new and radical show and it should be focused upon in that light.

For the most part the roster needs to be overhauled as you have some figures that just don’t fit the mold of what ECW represents. Members of the roster need to be moved around the card to best suit the brand, placed about where they truly belong rather than where creative thinks they should be.

In honesty the names of Chavo Guerrero and Fit Finlay spring immediately to mind as those who have no role to serve on the ECW brand, and with them go Bam Neely and Hornswoggle, respectively. Their presence would best fit the SmackDown! roster where they could fit in with the mid-card scene.

I also look to ignore those listed on the WWE‘s site of ECW superstars who are no longer around on television. As popular a character as The Boogeyman has proven to be, his presence in the company hasn’t been witnessed in months, nor was there ever an avid role for him to be on the brand when the alternative of RAW was a better option for his antics. The same said of Armando [Alejandro] Estrada, who’s role as an active wrestler isn’t nearly as welcomed as his role as a manager. As impressive a physique he holds his athleticism leaves much to be desired. In the ring Armando doesn’t look nearly as impressive as his look and his matches draw very little care and attention from the fans now that he’s no longer a man of power over the ECW roster. The appeal of a wrestling Estrada is not one that many are too big upon so why continue to push the matter further?

With this stated I turn to ECW‘s roster and what it should look like beginning with those few names I feel should be working the brand.

Super Crazy
An obvious choice to be made, but considering the styling of Evan Bourne, John Morrison, Matt Hardy and Elijah Burke he fits in with the fast paced, aerial driven action that ECW could be, and by all rights should be known for. There is no place for him in the mid-card so the role of curtain jerker is his to claim serving only to be the easy win for the larger athletes and be the competitive loser to the smaller more agile athletes. It also preserves the image of the original ECW by keeping someone who once worked under Heyman’s watchful eye and utilizing him to the best of his abilities. There is no future for Super Crazy so there’s no point trying to grant him promise of a current role bigger than what the company could afford. His fanfare has died down and his look has slipped to the point he looks like a shorter heavyweight. There is no need to give him titles or runs at bigger storylines or feuds, so best to simply lay him at the front of the card and hope fans accept him as just being an athlete willing to work strong, athletic bouts for the sake of just working those bouts.

Ryan Braddock
While the new look is nice, the man once known as Kevin Thorne should have been given a better run at his character. A stronger direction built for him as he moved on from the release of Ariel, a direction that led to the top of the ECW card should have been his. Instead, his character was broken down, his image stripped down to be generic and then to be pushed down and repackaged as this new rebellious figure that found its cross between Raven and the current day generic sound of a new age rock group that can’t afford the play on MTV when they’re not busy replaying all of the horrid reality television shows they option. There’s certainly something to be said of the performer, but the name is a bit questionable considering that the WWE seemed to be big on the Cinderella Man film starring Russell Crowe as the underdog boxer of James J. Braddock. Originally it was their intent to place the former Amish Road Warrior Roadkill in the role, and for a while it seemed as though his moniker of being the WWE‘s Braddock would work out to his favor. Considering the look, Braddock should probably have been given a name resembling that of a new age rock star. While the name can be linked to the demeanor of a tough-as-nails fighter his appeal has become even more limited then when he spent his time running around decked out in white calling himself Mordecai. In order to justify placing him up in the mid-card he’d need to really build up some steam and that means strong victories and heavy feuds to move him forward. So starting him up in the opening card slot you can do something with him, if he flops this time then the best you can do is utilize him as enhancement talent.

Gavin Spears
If there is a future for Gavin it certainly doesn’t look all that bright nor is it all that important to the WWE creative who seemingly has forgotten all about him since debuting in mid August. While I’d rather this slot go to Scotty Goldman it makes sense for him to remain on SmackDown!, so this spot remains for Spears though there really is nothing to note about this worker. Is he over? Does he command the crowd? Does he appeal to the fans based upon his looks or in-ring ability? Who can really tell all of this when you take into consideration that he’s shown up scarcely since his debut and if you miss him then you miss an opportunity to judge how far he can go. There’s only one thing to state about the kid and that he’s a born opening card act as long as creative insists upon ignoring his presence.

Ricky Ortiz
This big, bold looking young man has certainly gained some notoriety in recent weeks but his appeal is pretty limited. His look is a cross between Batista and Carlito, but in-ring his mobility looks to be limited to that of the Ultimate Warrior and this is a timeframe when fans are expecting fancier moves and pure athleticism in their wrestling matches not true old school antics whose allure has long since faded upon the inception of the strong wrestling news site fad that kicked up in the mid 90’s. Nothing about Ortiz says he belongs in ECW but the exposure is good and his involvement on the show is allowing him to become a true mid-card star for the coming years. Personally I’d much prefer to have Ricky on SmackDown! but I’m not going to fault his presence on ECW now as it can be a good building block for his transition over to the blue brand later on in the WWE calendar.

Mike Knox
Again, ideally there are guys I’d rather see on this brand instead of where they’ve been placed. Kofi is someone I feel never should have left but creative is big on him and thinks they can do big and great things with him despite losing him in the weekly shuffle of RAW‘s roster. For Mike Knox, his situation is a little direr than what it should be as he’s possibly the best big man they opt to use sparingly. By this I mean that his role should be consistent and thorough as the great big fall guy for the superstars who need a reassuring boost in their marketability. Serving as enhancement talent who borders harshly on the mid-card, Mike should be allotted big victories over small wrestlers who only have their name to loan upon a loss only to turn around and be fed to stars like Matt Hardy. He certainly can work well with just about any type of wrestler and he looks big and impressive enough that toppling him should mean something for smaller wrestlers while weak enough to warrant actual pushes over certain individuals to raise his stock value for those ultimate big losses. There is no big role for Knox to accomplish for he fills in the niche role of a lumbering jobber who is best used to hand out instant credibility to those who need a rebound win to maintain their own stock value. Mike fills in this role that was once meant for Snitsky, but there was no strength to Gene outside of his imposing looks that were over emphasized with make-up and a gross negligence for his hygienic appearance. The value of Mike is far too high to simply discard him when you consider that every company needs their catalog of jobbers.

Jack Swagger
I’m not too big a fan on Swagger but he certainly shows a lot of promise. If anyone certainly can earn the moniker of “Next Big Thing” Swagger certainly shows to be worthy of at least being thought in those regards. A generic character doesn’t help him at this point but it’s a base to build upon as you slide him into the mid-card to see if he sinks or swims as a star. There could be a tremendous future around Swagger as he’s one of those few guys that look like a complete package: looks, charisma, presence, athleticism, talent, and understanding. There’s almost nothing that Swagger doesn’t have to boost up his stock as creative looks to make the bid for his future as a main event starlet. There is certainly some promise for this diamond in the rough so the best place for him to start is in the mid-card where fans can see his strengths and grow to appreciate what he has to offer as a performer. The only thing Jack needs to demonstrate as being a strength of his is his ability to control the crowd with his mike skills, and no amount of scripting is going to help him here as he has to come off completely natural sounding and comfortable. If he can cut a live promo, unscripted and comfortably in front of that crowd then he can move forward without a hitch, move over to SmackDown! for a test run at the main event. If he can handle that crowd and keep interest in high profile pay-per-view bouts then we have a serious contender for the next decade. If he can’t handle the promo segments himself then pair him up with a strong managerial figure that can teach him the ropes while doing all of the speaking for him. This’ll delay your hopes of seeing a Swagger main event player for a while, but it isn’t a death kneel for the young stud.

Tommy Dreamer
Once he had to be a main event player by necessity. The Benoit tragedy forced the WWE‘s hand to move the second biggest face, behind CM Punk, up the card and into bigger roles. Dreamer now, however, has very little behind him that the fans can care about now. The days when being an ECW original meant something to the crowd has long since passed now as the legacy behind the initials have now been assimilated into the WWE conglomerate. His role now is high mid-card, but because of how small this roster is and how much air time is available for all of these men, you’re left with Dreamer filling in the same niche that Mike Knox fills in, only he’s higher up the totem pole as far as stock and marketability. For the most part Tommy fits more of a mid-carder that acts as an enhancement talent to the stars and future. So Tommy can maintain his heat by eating pins and loses all over the place without consequence and still be sold, from time to time, to be the folk hero of a past ideology as he defends the faded honor of ECW against a heel champion holding hostage the title with horrid tactics.

Evan Bourne
Possibly the hottest young act on ECW and he has had massive exposure for his daredevil style that has been, for some years, deemed too risky for a WWE wrestler. Right now, Paul London has to be upset with his horrible luck of coming up before the Californian surfer boy as Evan has been allowed to do everything that London was delegated as being against the company’s desires. Evan, thus far, has been explosive and with a partnership on RAW with Rey Mysterio, he’s certainly grown into a highly marketable superstar. As a matter of fact, his partnership with Rey may have exploded his popularity to tremendous heights that could see him playing a strong mid-card role on RAW and a teased push into the main event on SmackDown! upon draft periods of the calendar when the big blue brand loses some of their top draws over to the monster red brand. There isn’t much for the youngster as far as mike skills are concerned, but his charisma is strong as he has a certain charm to him that allows him to relate to the crowd. His look is distinct and bold but what hurts him is his size. Speed is the strength of his marketability while Jeff Hardy remains the true daredevil that the company continues to sponsor. Personally, if I could move Rey over to this brand I would for the sole purpose of revamping the tag team division of SmackDown! as the two really have great chemistry and bring a completely different style to the division. As a singles worker on ECW Evan can easily slide in and out of the main event scene, proving to be the strong face that nips at the heels of the heel champion but doesn’t get the payoff. The strength of Bourne’s performance is that of the cocky heel and unless you know for certain that his face persona can work over for a long period of time, I’d keep any singles gold off of the youngster until you slot him into a role he is natural at playing.

Mark Henry
I’ve actually discussed this one before and one idea that I’m stealing off of Truthslayer is the concept of Henry’s relationship with Tony Atlas being that of a necessity for Henry’s workout regimen. If the story between the two was that Atlas was the only man strong enough to [single-handedly] spot Henry in his workouts then it could solidify that relationship a little better than their current arrangement that I’m, honestly, completely lost on. As for Mark’s spot on ECW, his role as the main event player of this brand is perfect for him. While I won’t go on about how he is deserving of the championship for multiple runs I do feel that he should be placed high upon the card to serve more as a gatekeeper to the title while serving as the main heel threat to the championship. If he’s the tough journeyman of the main event scene who, much like Mike Knox earlier, is seen as the jobber to the stars ready to claim the strap then you add some heavy credibility behind their value as they take down the much larger adversary in the “World’s Strongest Man”. His role of being the top guy of a brand is pretty much done with and the hopes of getting up there again are slim in their existence. The fans aren’t too big behind the idea of him being a title contender often as his in-ring ability is limited, but as it stands the man certainly can serve a useful purpose high up the card anyhow.

Elijah Burke
If this company continues to opt on not utilizing the best speaking wrestler they have on their roster then I’ve got to cry foul. The man is a strong athlete, charismatic and an eloquent speaker. Not using this performer has gotten insulting, and when they were using him some months back they actually kept dropping the ball on him. This man should be the main event star of ECW but because he’s been so damaged and so neglected for so long that his only role for now is that in the mid-card where he’ll have to build up all of his credibility from scratch. His look could require a little bit of a touch up as the “EB” symbols could be more defined as being “EB” and not “BE”. He should also look a little more defined through his attire and perhaps the way to do this is slim down his trunks. A specific design that, much like with Kane during his 2004 run, shows off a bit more of his thighs, which shows to be the strength of his offense. A completely new look isn’t necessary, just enough to have him stand out more as well as play to the strengths of his athleticism as you highlight what his strengths are. In his building process to the main event Burke should be allowed to cut more promos and define his character while taking down big wins. It’ll be a long and strenuous climb back to where he should have been but at the very least you have a chance to do it right this second time around.

The Miz
I’ll start off by saying that I’m not in the least bit a fan of The Miz beyond his partnership with John Morrison, but the man has enough heat behind him to warrant a high spot on the card. His look is distinct; his ability to gain a reaction is rather strong considering the appeal of his character is pretty generic. What he lacks in the ring, however, he makes up for in his promos. As it stands, Miz requires a character tune up that strengthens his appeal and approach again. What made him into a solid star in the first place was his union with the ECW Extreme Expose dancers and the presence of these female valets escalated his character to a degree that we could actually care enough to hate the guy. While it would be easy to drop him into the mid-card based upon his singles work, the fact is he’s a strong enough act to warrant play in the main event scene and even play role of the champion of this brand at some point. I can’t see a change of brand for him anytime soon, unless the rosters change dramatically. So his role in the brand is perfect as is, moving into the main event scene when the face champion needs a strong heel challenger when he’s not left helping out a tag division that doesn’t seem to want their help.

John Morrison
Easily the strongest candidate on this roster to have a huge role on any of the other brands as he has a complete package. A tremendous look, a suave sense of charisma, naturally exuding arrogance, solid mike skills, and an eye catching athleticism that is almost unparalleled. To say the very least, some dub him the Bumpertaker as he simply sells so well that he he’ll take any bump and make it look extravagant and unrealistic. While it’s helpful to see him involved in a highly skilled tag team that relies mostly upon the characters and their evolving relationship, his prime role is that of a main eventer who’s stuck in limbo as the ECW title tends to trade off heavily between heels and the only ones to challenge them is mostly babyfaces for the obvious reason.

Matt Hardy
Again, personally, I’d prefer him on RAW but he’s too big a star to simply strip from the ECW brand without any consequences. While his fame, and look, was defined a decade ago on the backs of an era that saw a virtually weak tag team division until the advent of care between the four men of Edge, Christian, Jeff and Matt Hardy. His role as a main event player on ECW is clearly a translation of an upper-mid-carder who, like Morrison, Miz, Henry and Dreamer can slip in and out of the main event scene just to provide a much needed challenger for a champion who needs fresh faces to keep his title reign from becoming stagnate. Being there is the only fit for him and to lower his role is to lower his value and stock and there’s no reason to do that considering the strength of his marketability and fan base for the past decade. If there is one complaint to be levied against Matt is that his look has become dated and he certainly needs a revamp to keep himself relevant. Unlike his brother Jeff, the long hair and baggy pants doesn’t seem to work as well for him in this day and age. It’s time to update his appearance and reinvent Matt Hardy for this generation of fans. Perhaps taking a page out of Gregory Helms playbook wouldn’t be too bad a decision now as we strengthen his character to be more like the Angelic Diablo character he was forming in his internet showcases. The warrior of virtue would be a nice advancement for his character as he takes up a new approach.

I’ve never claimed myself to be a great writer. Hell, I don’t even classify myself as a good writer but I would be remised in continuing to fail my post here as a writer to this site by not contributing here like I’m supposed to, each and every week. Regardless of how I view myself as a writer, or how others view my abilities, my duty to this site is to write and lately I’ve failed.

So this week I’m knuckling up and pushing this one out. I have to, I can’t keep ditching the only duty I have left, and I certainly can’t keep recoiling back inside to do nothing. The goal here is to force myself to sit in front of his keyboard all weekend long and focus on writing on this word document rather than surfing the net looking for porn.

Once again I’ll be deviating from the format to try and focus in on the concept in hand, which is a refocusing of talent within the WWE roster. Working on the company’s design from the ground up, from where guys should be on the card to what their role and gimmick should be to help them achieve the goals the company sets out for them. A clear line of what should be done to achieve the goal of making the company seen as being fresh, vibrant, young and energetic. Above all else it’s meant to accomplish the connection to a key demographic that the WWE has lost and is still in the throes of losing.

For those of you who are aware of the September 29th edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and the article therein by Dave Meltzer then you’re already aware of what I’m speaking of here. The article itself covers the subject matter brought up by Paul Heyman‘s column on The Sun, amongst some other issues first addressed by the cycle of the Monday night ratings during the fall season. Meltzer uses quotes from Heyman and former WWE creative writer Court Bauer to illustrate the point that the WWE, as a wrestling promotion, is incapable of maintaining the key demographic that made up the bulk of their ratings and audience back during the Monday night wars of 1997-2000. Both Heyman and Bauer echo the sentiments of WWE‘s failure to remain culturally relevant and trendy in their ignorance of today’s pop culture.

	“The overall WWE brand isn’t tapped into the cultural fabric of today and tomorrow’s pop culture and trends which is what wrestling needs to be. It’s no longer hip or presented as hip. But at its core, the creative writing department’s process is broken, and has been a broken process for years. It’s dysfunctional. There’s poor communication, brand turf wars between the three shows writers, political, in a petty sense where politicians who win out don’t ultimately help, but hinder the process. Pushes, storylines and character development are routinely compromised after given the go-ahead and there’s way too much input from people who aren’t well versed in the nuances of presenting a 2008 product that resonates. “Writers are constantly undermined and have their credibility compromised by other writers or even Stephanie herself. It’s a disaster and a frustrating experience, especially if you’re on the talent end of the process. There’s little hope for success in the creative team dynamic regardless of if you are a prolific idea generator or otherwise. “The first thing I would do if I was given the carte blanche to the WWE creative writing is shut down the creative writing division. It’s an experiment that has failed. Sucks to say, but the proof is in the pudding. Eight plus years later there’s been nothing but stagnation and a consistent decline in TV ratings. Show me any other show on any other network that has had a series in a ratings decline year-after-year and continued to staff the same lead writer for that entire period. Only in wrestling. The numbers don’t lie.” Meltzer, D: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Sept. 29, 2008.

It’s one of those statements that fans echo when they claim that the WWE doesn’t cater to fans such as themselves without going that deep into the thought process. Basically, the fans are simply crying out for a change that best relates to them and their needs without vocalizing or realizing that what they’re requesting from the company is something trendier that appeals to them as a demographic.

In some cases, you have those fans that are crying for something unrealistic or completely counter-productive to what the business has already proven successful. Some cries are just unreasonable in the light of a company’s goal of trying to appease and appeal to this lost demographic {18-34 year old males] but it’s not to say that the company isn’t going to completely ignore these voices so much as they ignore the message they’re preaching.

For instance, for every cry about John Cena being a product that the adult male demographic can’t get behind and should be removed from the top of the card and pushed less than his current position would dictate, there’s going to be the underlying message that John Cena isn’t someone adult males can connect with and needs some sort of tweak to make him appealing to this demographic. It’s not a hard thing to comprehend when you consider that [Cena] at one point was appealing to this lost demographic. What happened between then [2004] to now to upset and turn away these fans that gave him the push he currently still holds to this day? Clearly the best answer is a disconnect with the audience as Cena was refocused and redirected to be a character that didn’t seem as appealing as he once did before, and that’s a telling tale of the overall environment of the WWE product today.

It’s like Konnan said of TNA (5150, WrestleZone, 11/14/07) “so how can you write a tv show for that young demographic who watches all these shows [South Park, 24, C.S.I.]? [How] can you know what the pulse of America is on if you don’t watch these shows?” The writing today, regardless of which promotion we’re speaking of, seems to be lost on what’s relevant in today’s pop culture and doesn’t know how to connect to its fans the way these popular series’ do.

But that isn’t the only issue with today’s wrestling product. As Heyman pointed out in his column (“An Audience of One“, 9/19/08), the look and feel of wrestling has gotten hold. That the young workers of today don’t stand out and look vibrant or fresh as they stuff themselves into old timer tights that could be worn regardless of their age as opposed to wearing garments that reflect the current day styles and would hold an age expectancy. When you compare workers like Ted DiBiase (Jr.) to someone like The Miz you can see, automatically, one has a youthful look and presence about themselves while the other feels like someone who falls right into the shuffle of every other wrestler to ever come out of a gym facility. While DiBiase looks like a professional wrestler his image doesn’t really stand out as being anything all that impressive and the same line of complaints can be laid against CM Punk’s current [in-ring] attire.

In some ways the apparel of the wrestler isn’t too important as [Bill] Goldberg and Steve Austin proved during their successful runs in the late 90’s. The characters of these two exemplify that one doesn’t have to have a distinct attire to appeal to a wider crowd. But despite having generic attire’s that didn’t provide any definition to their character, their looks did stand out above the crowd of loud and vibrant looking characters. And that would seem to be the fair argument to pull out of Heyman’s column, that wrestlers who you plan to make into your big stars should stand out above the pack. They should look to be bigger than life and memorable. You should be able to pick them out of a crowd without issue, whether they’re wearing basic black tights or decked out in flamboyant colors and streamers.

When you think about what Heyman is asking and what Heyman did with ECW, you can see that perhaps there is something to be said of this ideal. Yes, ECW featured a grungy, unkempt looking Raven; a dirty, drunk and oddly designed Sandman; a weird, straggly, scrawny Stevie Richards who looked ever so flamboyant in his short-shorts and home-made belly-shirt; and a star of an athlete decked out in a basic singlet that was multi-fashioned and personally designed for him in Rob Van Dam. This wasn’t exactly the best looking group or the most professional appearing but they connected with a crowd that the WWF and WCW were having trouble connecting with until they grabbed the influence of Heyman’s vision and implemented it throughout their own products. And it’s important to note that all of the big stars to come out of ECW had that distinct look to break them up from the rest of the pack. They rose above the rest of the pack, stood out as memorable and worth keeping an eye upon. That’s what needs to be taken into account here as we look to apply Heyman’s logic onto the WWE‘s product model, which has fallen into a recession that awkwardly resembles the floundering years of the early and mid 90’s.

While it does look like an attempt to resurrect the past failure of a child friendly product filled with child friendly gimmicks that are colorful and playful in their nature, it really isn’t all that bad. There is still edge to this product and enough adult oriented items within it to resemble some of the Attitude era. Is it the same era as the highly praised Monday Night War entrenched generation? No, but that product was designed out of necessity rather than because they felt it was the natural progression of the wrestling industry. It was the only option available to them to maintain their business practice. Their options were either change to fit the environment of a post-ECW world or die out trying to stay the course with their family friendly product that was just unappealing. It was here that creative became important; the need to keep up with their competitors on the media market forced their hand to ensure that the best possible feuds and storylines were created to appeal to a larger audience. The characters had to be designed and fleshed out by the hands of writers, but there was certainly enough creative freedom for wrestlers to place input on what they could do and how they would do it. A sort of partnership between writers and wrestler was forged out of necessity and would help carry the company through a dark and troubling time for them when they were faced with financial ruin. However, at some point this partnership would deteriorate and reform itself into a dictatorship with creative in full control over their actors and role players.

From a creative standpoint the WWE should have total control of a character – what their motivations are, the way they look and react to situations, all the way down to the way they talk. Creative needs to be in control of these aspects in order to do their job of getting acts over and trying to sell these acts to the crowds, but it’s not only dependent upon their work as it has to be a partnership between the writers and the actor. A well written storyline can’t lift up off the ground if it doesn’t work, in a partnership, with the actor, much like an actor can’t portray a tremendous character if it wasn’t well written.

With the WWE, however, it’s more creative’s work than anything else. There is almost no partnership between the wrestler and the writers within this company. The workers are expected to play the roles written for them, placing no input upon what they can add or take away from the character to make their performance easier on them or seem stronger in their presentation to a live crowd. It’s understandable from the WWE‘s perspective as they want to ensure they own the product and that everything fits into their idea of what that product should look like, after all they’re in the business of entertaining and want to make sure you get the most out of your product to continue padding your profit margins. Who wants to gamble on making a product work when you’ve had over 40 years of working the industry and have a set formula that is tried and proven to work?

What isn’t working for the WWE is their desire to connect to the lost crowd that made up the bulk of their crowds 10 years previous. As a business they are at their strongest and most profitable, but as a wrestling product they are seen as stagnate and growing complacent with mediocre national figures that are fluffed up by international numbers that build up their finances. As a wrestling company they are uninspired and limp, but as an entertainment company they are successful and bold in their decisions. A complete leveling need take place to ensure that business returns to the heights previously seen a decade before. So this week we embark in the undertaking of a relaunch of the WWE‘s entire roster, and this week we begin with ECW‘s roster.

ECW is in a precarious situation where its future is in doubt, and its identity has been completely stripped to feel like every other brand in the WWE rather than its own brand. Now this isn’t a statement that they should be like the old ECW because that idea just can’t work on the full time schedule that the WWE endures every year, but the essence of what the show was in its inception on SciFi is a welcomed endeavor.

The look, the feel, the environment, even the décor of the show had its own charm that said, “Not another WWE brand” and while it was initially despised because it was viewed upon as the bastardization of Heyman’s brainchild. Slowly, but surely, the brand became just that. Its charm stripped away, the aesthetic that separated it from RAW and SmackDown! was lost and the appeal that made ECW a superior wrestling show was slowly beginning to decline. Since then, the show has been more reliant upon RAW and SmackDown! talents rather than their own image in a manner that defeats the purpose of the brand extension.

So the idea to revamp this brand is to really tear down everything that it is currently and build it up as something that transcends the brands. It should be like it was back when it first launched under the WWE banner, a true wrestling show that tries to appeal mostly to die-hard wrestling fans. It should focus mostly on the young workers as it presents itself in a different style from the rest of the product. A more athletic and hard hitting wrestling program is the perfect contrast to the rest of the brands, especially if the in-ring style is viewed as being vastly different from the WWE‘s style.

The first thing that has to be altered is the show’s dependence upon the now standardized WWE stage. Of all the brands that didn’t need a new stage ECW was that one. The charm of it looking smaller by comparison to the other two brands was what added the personality to the show. Hosting an intimate feel that resembled the old ECW was the closest thing to the original we were ever going to get. It also was a nice personal touch of the olden days of wrestling that many of us grew up with, the wrestlers being more accessible to the fans as they walk down the ramp way, the small, intimate set that didn’t try to impose this larger than life feeling upon the product. The stage setting being so small was a welcomed alternative to the WWE‘s ever expanding imposition of lights and metal to set the mood for a wrestling show. Instead of boasting that it’s important and bigger than life ECW allowed the audience to judge for themselves based upon what it could do as a wrestling product. It was reminiscent of the days when the WWF‘s most extravagant setting was a small steel frame with lights attached and a logo banner centered over it.

The other appealing difference between it and the rest of the WWE was the mat canvas. The center emblem being the logo of the show was such a nice touch that we don’t see often on media wrestling television anymore. It was another touch that gave it an old school feel and presented it as being its own brand rather than just the extra hour of RAW or SmackDown! that it has become over time.

These are elements that made up a special feeling for ECW even when creative was pushing for Big Show to be champion of the project in the light of RVD’s image issue. While many fans look back on that time as being insulting and demeaning to the legacy that was ECW, some, myself included, look upon it as the time of innocence. The time when an idea to bring back that which was so popular was done in a manner that was light hearted in its approach of imitating the essence of that company, and was a fun wrestling show that proved to be a true alternative to the WWE‘s rigid and formulaic product. For all that ECW had once represented – a radical change of the [American] wrestling world that pushed the ideal that wrestling can be cool and different from the way it was presented by the bigger companies seen on television every week – it was reborn anew as a WWE trademark and its legacy retold through the eyes of the single strongest entrepreneur of the wrestling industry Vince McMahon.

Now in its current state, ECW is none of these things. Its commentary team is no longer fielded by ECW originals and has seen more changes to it in the past year than any other brand in the WWE. Its roster littered with fresh faces that made up the WWE developmental scene more so than anything else. Having so many young talents isn’t a bad thing as it allows this brand to have an identity as the proving ground for tomorrow’s next big stars. There’s no fear of talents getting lost in the shuffle of an already established brand filled with already established stars with a creative team that is more worried about maintaining ratings through these major stars rather than risk losing these figures by trying something new and radical. This is the new and radical show and it should be focused upon in that light.

For the most part the roster needs to be overhauled as you have some figures that just don’t fit the mold of what ECW represents. Members of the roster need to be moved around the card to best suit the brand, placed about where they truly belong rather than where creative thinks they should be.

In honesty the names of Chavo Guerrero and Fit Finlay spring immediately to mind as those who have no role to serve on the ECW brand, and with them go Bam Neely and Hornswoggle, respectively. Their presence would best fit the SmackDown! roster where they could fit in with the mid-card scene.

I also look to ignore those listed on the WWE‘s site of ECW superstars who are no longer around on television. As popular a character as The Boogeyman has proven to be, his presence in the company hasn’t been witnessed in months, nor was there ever an avid role for him to be on the brand when the alternative of RAW was a better option for his antics. The same said of Armando [Alejandro] Estrada, who’s role as an active wrestler isn’t nearly as welcomed as his role as a manager. As impressive a physique he holds his athleticism leaves much to be desired. In the ring Armando doesn’t look nearly as impressive as his look and his matches draw very little care and attention from the fans now that he’s no longer a man of power over the ECW roster. The appeal of a wrestling Estrada is not one that many are too big upon so why continue to push the matter further?

With this stated I turn to ECW‘s roster and what it should look like beginning with those few names I feel should be working the brand.

Super Crazy
An obvious choice to be made, but considering the styling of Evan Bourne, John Morrison, Matt Hardy and Elijah Burke he fits in with the fast paced, aerial driven action that ECW could be, and by all rights should be known for. There is no place for him in the mid-card so the role of curtain jerker is his to claim serving only to be the easy win for the larger athletes and be the competitive loser to the smaller more agile athletes. It also preserves the image of the original ECW by keeping someone who once worked under Heyman’s watchful eye and utilizing him to the best of his abilities. There is no future for Super Crazy so there’s no point trying to grant him promise of a current role bigger than what the company could afford. His fanfare has died down and his look has slipped to the point he looks like a shorter heavyweight. There is no need to give him titles or runs at bigger storylines or feuds, so best to simply lay him at the front of the card and hope fans accept him as just being an athlete willing to work strong, athletic bouts for the sake of just working those bouts.

Ryan Braddock
While the new look is nice, the man once known as Kevin Thorne should have been given a better run at his character. A stronger direction built for him as he moved on from the release of Ariel, a direction that led to the top of the ECW card should have been his. Instead, his character was broken down, his image stripped down to be generic and then to be pushed down and repackaged as this new rebellious figure that found its cross between Raven and the current day generic sound of a new age rock group that can’t afford the play on MTV when they’re not busy replaying all of the horrid reality television shows they option. There’s certainly something to be said of the performer, but the name is a bit questionable considering that the WWE seemed to be big on the Cinderella Man film starring Russell Crowe as the underdog boxer of James J. Braddock. Originally it was their intent to place the former Amish Road Warrior Roadkill in the role, and for a while it seemed as though his moniker of being the WWE‘s Braddock would work out to his favor. Considering the look, Braddock should probably have been given a name resembling that of a new age rock star. While the name can be linked to the demeanor of a tough-as-nails fighter his appeal has become even more limited then when he spent his time running around decked out in white calling himself Mordecai. In order to justify placing him up in the mid-card he’d need to really build up some steam and that means strong victories and heavy feuds to move him forward. So starting him up in the opening card slot you can do something with him, if he flops this time then the best you can do is utilize him as enhancement talent.

Gavin Spears
If there is a future for Gavin it certainly doesn’t look all that bright nor is it all that important to the WWE creative who seemingly has forgotten all about him since debuting in mid August. While I’d rather this slot go to Scotty Goldman it makes sense for him to remain on SmackDown!, so this spot remains for Spears though there really is nothing to note about this worker. Is he over? Does he command the crowd? Does he appeal to the fans based upon his looks or in-ring ability? Who can really tell all of this when you take into consideration that he’s shown up scarcely since his debut and if you miss him then you miss an opportunity to judge how far he can go. There’s only one thing to state about the kid and that he’s a born opening card act as long as creative insists upon ignoring his presence.

Ricky Ortiz
This big, bold looking young man has certainly gained some notoriety in recent weeks but his appeal is pretty limited. His look is a cross between Batista and Carlito, but in-ring his mobility looks to be limited to that of the Ultimate Warrior and this is a timeframe when fans are expecting fancier moves and pure athleticism in their wrestling matches not true old school antics whose allure has long since faded upon the inception of the strong wrestling news site fad that kicked up in the mid 90’s. Nothing about Ortiz says he belongs in ECW but the exposure is good and his involvement on the show is allowing him to become a true mid-card star for the coming years. Personally I’d much prefer to have Ricky on SmackDown! but I’m not going to fault his presence on ECW now as it can be a good building block for his transition over to the blue brand later on in the WWE calendar.

Mike Knox
Again, ideally there are guys I’d rather see on this brand instead of where they’ve been placed. Kofi is someone I feel never should have left but creative is big on him and thinks they can do big and great things with him despite losing him in the weekly shuffle of RAW‘s roster. For Mike Knox, his situation is a little direr than what it should be as he’s possibly the best big man they opt to use sparingly. By this I mean that his role should be consistent and thorough as the great big fall guy for the superstars who need a reassuring boost in their marketability. Serving as enhancement talent who borders harshly on the mid-card, Mike should be allotted big victories over small wrestlers who only have their name to loan upon a loss only to turn around and be fed to stars like Matt Hardy. He certainly can work well with just about any type of wrestler and he looks big and impressive enough that toppling him should mean something for smaller wrestlers while weak enough to warrant actual pushes over certain individuals to raise his stock value for those ultimate big losses. There is no big role for Knox to accomplish for he fills in the niche role of a lumbering jobber who is best used to hand out instant credibility to those who need a rebound win to maintain their own stock value. Mike fills in this role that was once meant for Snitsky, but there was no strength to Gene outside of his imposing looks that were over emphasized with make-up and a gross negligence for his hygienic appearance. The value of Mike is far too high to simply discard him when you consider that every company needs their catalog of jobbers.

Jack Swagger
I’m not too big a fan on Swagger but he certainly shows a lot of promise. If anyone certainly can earn the moniker of “Next Big Thing” Swagger certainly shows to be worthy of at least being thought in those regards. A generic character doesn’t help him at this point but it’s a base to build upon as you slide him into the mid-card to see if he sinks or swims as a star. There could be a tremendous future around Swagger as he’s one of those few guys that look like a complete package: looks, charisma, presence, athleticism, talent, and understanding. There’s almost nothing that Swagger doesn’t have to boost up his stock as creative looks to make the bid for his future as a main event starlet. There is certainly some promise for this diamond in the rough so the best place for him to start is in the mid-card where fans can see his strengths and grow to appreciate what he has to offer as a performer. The only thing Jack needs to demonstrate as being a strength of his is his ability to control the crowd with his mike skills, and no amount of scripting is going to help him here as he has to come off completely natural sounding and comfortable. If he can cut a live promo, unscripted and comfortably in front of that crowd then he can move forward without a hitch, move over to SmackDown! for a test run at the main event. If he can handle that crowd and keep interest in high profile pay-per-view bouts then we have a serious contender for the next decade. If he can’t handle the promo segments himself then pair him up with a strong managerial figure that can teach him the ropes while doing all of the speaking for him. This’ll delay your hopes of seeing a Swagger main event player for a while, but it isn’t a death kneel for the young stud.

Tommy Dreamer
Once he had to be a main event player by necessity. The Benoit tragedy forced the WWE‘s hand to move the second biggest face, behind CM Punk, up the card and into bigger roles. Dreamer now, however, has very little behind him that the fans can care about now. The days when being an ECW original meant something to the crowd has long since passed now as the legacy behind the initials have now been assimilated into the WWE conglomerate. His role now is high mid-card, but because of how small this roster is and how much air time is available for all of these men, you’re left with Dreamer filling in the same niche that Mike Knox fills in, only he’s higher up the totem pole as far as stock and marketability. For the most part Tommy fits more of a mid-carder that acts as an enhancement talent to the stars and future. So Tommy can maintain his heat by eating pins and loses all over the place without consequence and still be sold, from time to time, to be the folk hero of a past ideology as he defends the faded honor of ECW against a heel champion holding hostage the title with horrid tactics.

Evan Bourne
Possibly the hottest young act on ECW and he has had massive exposure for his daredevil style that has been, for some years, deemed too risky for a WWE wrestler. Right now, Paul London has to be upset with his horrible luck of coming up before the Californian surfer boy as Evan has been allowed to do everything that London was delegated as being against the company’s desires. Evan, thus far, has been explosive and with a partnership on RAW with Rey Mysterio, he’s certainly grown into a highly marketable superstar. As a matter of fact, his partnership with Rey may have exploded his popularity to tremendous heights that could see him playing a strong mid-card role on RAW and a teased push into the main event on SmackDown! upon draft periods of the calendar when the big blue brand loses some of their top draws over to the monster red brand. There isn’t much for the youngster as far as mike skills are concerned, but his charisma is strong as he has a certain charm to him that allows him to relate to the crowd. His look is distinct and bold but what hurts him is his size. Speed is the strength of his marketability while Jeff Hardy remains the true daredevil that the company continues to sponsor. Personally, if I could move Rey over to this brand I would for the sole purpose of revamping the tag team division of SmackDown! as the two really have great chemistry and bring a completely different style to the division. As a singles worker on ECW Evan can easily slide in and out of the main event scene, proving to be the strong face that nips at the heels of the heel champion but doesn’t get the payoff. The strength of Bourne’s performance is that of the cocky heel and unless you know for certain that his face persona can work over for a long period of time, I’d keep any singles gold off of the youngster until you slot him into a role he is natural at playing.

Mark Henry
I’ve actually discussed this one before and one idea that I’m stealing off of Truthslayer is the concept of Henry’s relationship with Tony Atlas being that of a necessity for Henry’s workout regimen. If the story between the two was that Atlas was the only man strong enough to [single-handedly] spot Henry in his workouts then it could solidify that relationship a little better than their current arrangement that I’m, honestly, completely lost on. As for Mark’s spot on ECW, his role as the main event player of this brand is perfect for him. While I won’t go on about how he is deserving of the championship for multiple runs I do feel that he should be placed high upon the card to serve more as a gatekeeper to the title while serving as the main heel threat to the championship. If he’s the tough journeyman of the main event scene who, much like Mike Knox earlier, is seen as the jobber to the stars ready to claim the strap then you add some heavy credibility behind their value as they take down the much larger adversary in the “World’s Strongest Man”. His role of being the top guy of a brand is pretty much done with and the hopes of getting up there again are slim in their existence. The fans aren’t too big behind the idea of him being a title contender often as his in-ring ability is limited, but as it stands the man certainly can serve a useful purpose high up the card anyhow.

Elijah Burke
If this company continues to opt on not utilizing the best speaking wrestler they have on their roster then I’ve got to cry foul. The man is a strong athlete, charismatic and an eloquent speaker. Not using this performer has gotten insulting, and when they were using him some months back they actually kept dropping the ball on him. This man should be the main event star of ECW but because he’s been so damaged and so neglected for so long that his only role for now is that in the mid-card where he’ll have to build up all of his credibility from scratch. His look could require a little bit of a touch up as the “EB” symbols could be more defined as being “EB” and not “BE”. He should also look a little more defined through his attire and perhaps the way to do this is slim down his trunks. A specific design that, much like with Kane during his 2004 run, shows off a bit more of his thighs, which shows to be the strength of his offense. A completely new look isn’t necessary, just enough to have him stand out more as well as play to the strengths of his athleticism as you highlight what his strengths are. In his building process to the main event Burke should be allowed to cut more promos and define his character while taking down big wins. It’ll be a long and strenuous climb back to where he should have been but at the very least you have a chance to do it right this second time around.

The Miz
I’ll start off by saying that I’m not in the least bit a fan of The Miz beyond his partnership with John Morrison, but the man has enough heat behind him to warrant a high spot on the card. His look is distinct; his ability to gain a reaction is rather strong considering the appeal of his character is pretty generic. What he lacks in the ring, however, he makes up for in his promos. As it stands, Miz requires a character tune up that strengthens his appeal and approach again. What made him into a solid star in the first place was his union with the ECW Extreme Expose dancers and the presence of these female valets escalated his character to a degree that we could actually care enough to hate the guy. While it would be easy to drop him into the mid-card based upon his singles work, the fact is he’s a strong enough act to warrant play in the main event scene and even play role of the champion of this brand at some point. I can’t see a change of brand for him anytime soon, unless the rosters change dramatically. So his role in the brand is perfect as is, moving into the main event scene when the face champion needs a strong heel challenger when he’s not left helping out a tag division that doesn’t seem to want their help.

John Morrison
Easily the strongest candidate on this roster to have a huge role on any of the other brands as he has a complete package. A tremendous look, a suave sense of charisma, naturally exuding arrogance, solid mike skills, and an eye catching athleticism that is almost unparalleled. To say the very least, some dub him the Bumpertaker as he simply sells so well that he he’ll take any bump and make it look extravagant and unrealistic. While it’s helpful to see him involved in a highly skilled tag team that relies mostly upon the characters and their evolving relationship, his prime role is that of a main eventer who’s stuck in limbo as the ECW title tends to trade off heavily between heels and the only ones to challenge them is mostly babyfaces for the obvious reason.

Matt Hardy
Again, personally, I’d prefer him on RAW but he’s too big a star to simply strip from the ECW brand without any consequences. While his fame, and look, was defined a decade ago on the backs of an era that saw a virtually weak tag team division until the advent of care between the four men of Edge, Christian, Jeff and Matt Hardy. His role as a main event player on ECW is clearly a translation of an upper-mid-carder who, like Morrison, Miz, Henry and Dreamer can slip in and out of the main event scene just to provide a much needed challenger for a champion who needs fresh faces to keep his title reign from becoming stagnate. Being there is the only fit for him and to lower his role is to lower his value and stock and there’s no reason to do that considering the strength of his marketability and fan base for the past decade. If there is one complaint to be levied against Matt is that his look has become dated and he certainly needs a revamp to keep himself relevant. Unlike his brother Jeff, the long hair and baggy pants doesn’t seem to work as well for him in this day and age. It’s time to update his appearance and reinvent Matt Hardy for this generation of fans. Perhaps taking a page out of Gregory Helms playbook wouldn’t be too bad a decision now as we strengthen his character to be more like the Angelic Diablo character he was forming in his internet showcases. The warrior of virtue would be a nice advancement for his character as he takes up a new approach.