A Look at the Upcoming ECW PPV
The ECW brand of WWE is going to have to come up with a supreme showing on Sunday night as the company presents ECW's first PPV - "December to Dismember." The event, which will be show live from Atlanta, has all the looks of being a total bomb, and could mark the beginning of the end for the short-lived ECW brand of WWE. As of Thursday, reports were that only about 1,700 tickets had been sold for the event, and that they are going to have to paper the house beyond belief to make this thing look like a WWE type PPV crowd.
The main event, one of just two matches that have been officially announced, is going to try and highlight the good for ECW - six men in an "extreme" elimination chamber match for the ECW title, held by Big Show. Give Show credit, as since getting the strap back in July, I have felt that he may be one of the bright spots of the ECW brand, and his title reign has seemed to have given him renewed focus and made him a better performer.
The night is sure to end with a new champion, as it is widely known that Show needs to take time off for injuries and a break. Out of the other five men in the match - RVD, Sabu, Test, C.M. Punk, and Bobby Lashley, the favorite going in has to be Lashley. I am not a huge supporter of Lashley, as his mic skills are awful, and his in-ring skills are marginal at best. Of course he does have the look and the size that Vince McMahon likes, and maybe they think with the belt he will shine.
I would love to see a total change up thrown at the fans Sunday and have the most up and coming wrestler win the belt - C.M. Punk. It's not the type of move that McMahon and WWE would make, but if you look at the crowd reaction that Punk gets week in and week out, it rivals the strongest for the brand, and some weeks is the strongest. The company has to have some big long-term plans for Punk, and giving him the belt here would be a solid way to jump start his career, and possibly energize the brand as a whole.
Of course in the end, I think you'll see either Lashley or RVD get the strap, and with Show out of the picture for awhile, the likely guy to step up and be the top heel seems to be Test. I have always felt that Test had the look, talent, and ability to be a solid heel, and this will be the shot for him to show that.
I am severely concerned with the rest of the card, as it looks to be a total bomb, and even as I write this they are scrambling to get some star power from RAW and SmackDown on the show. They have already thrown together a match with the Hardy's and the old MNM tag team of Nitro and Mercury. That will be a solid match, but as the second biggest match on the card? Give me a break.
They also have yet to release it, but you've got Tommy Dreamer and Daivari, which is just another way to see Khali have someone to destroy at the end of the match, and Sandman vs Hardcore Holly, which could be a solid match with the way both men are stiff workers and don't have a problem with punishment.
I can see some surprises coming as well for this event, as they only have one more TV tonight along with the WWE website and word of mouth over the next 48+ hours to get people to buy this event. There is a thought that as with this possibly being the last ECW only PPV, maybe the thought of doing what they are doing with house shows should translate to PPV's - which is combine the ECW brand with the SmackDown brand. Let's face it, no one really is that into either brand, so let's throw them together for PPV's and see the results. It can't be any worse that what we are going to see on Sunday.
