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Joe Babinsack Looks At ECW Death And Jack Brisco

Posted: Feb 4th 2010 By: CMBurnham

Another clearing out the notebook type of column:

ECW is dead.

All I have to say is, it?s about time. Vince had it in for the little promotion that disrupted his events, forced him to change his style, and could not be killed ? until he bought the thing, ran any brand value into the dust, and finally put it out of its misery.

When?s the last time anyone chanted ?EC-dub, EC-dub, EC-dub??

Yeah, and if you don?t think that?s the point, then realize that what Taz complained about in McMahon?s speech -- and omitting the efforts of Paul Heyman and the original crew for building up the ?brand? to a point where it could be used as a foundation.

ECW, like WCW, like a dozen other promotions as well, was never a McMahon creation, and he?s scoured the earth of its presence.

Oh well, at least now the old school hard core types don?t have to talk about Original ECW vs WWECW?

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That being said, I find myself strangely optimistic and the slightest bit intrigued by what Vince may do with his SyFy timeslot on Tuesday Night. Three weeks from now, it is said that WWE NXT may appear.

If this is the case, then what will it be?

Chances are it will be the same old, same old. But there?s that slight hope that Vince will pull another Shotgun Saturday Night, which perhaps wishfully thinking could feature a guy like Kaval, who was Low Ki, who was pretty much launched by appearing on that long gone but interesting rendition of the WWF at the time, in a knock-off of what ECW was doing in appealing to a younger, hipper demographic.

Perhaps Vince is watching what Evolve is doing, with the mind of Gabe Sapolsky churning out a uniquely different taste in professional wrestling.

Then again, I doubt that.

But maybe, just maybe, Vince will be letting SyFy influence his approach, and could let Bryan Danielson and others ply their craft, and could let something new be unleashed upon the industry.

One can only hope.

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By the way, is it just me, or does anyone else believe that Vince is going to erase Bret Hart from the collective memory of the fans, just like he has accomplished with ECW???

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My apologies to Sean Oliver.

I made a reference to the interviewer/announcer of Kayfabe Commentaries, and for once (OK, in regards to Kayfabe Commentaries!) I did not double check the name.

It?s Sean Oliver.

It?s Sean Oliver.

It?s Sean Oliver.

Well, at least I didn?t call him Lizzy Borden.

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Inter Species Wrestling is a short topic.

Ok, the guys at ISW in Montreal sent me a package some time back, and I had the pleasure of watching two of the DVDs. The third one, Hot Summer Rubdown, was inserted into the cheap DVD player last Saturday.

It was not a pleasant site.

Now, I should have known by a lot of things, and not the least of which are the letters ISW (as in, perhaps, Incredibly Strange Wrestling) but no, I watched it, I was amused, then aghast and then indignant.

How a promotion that spawned Kevin Steen and El Generico got so over-the-top, I don?t know.

Would I recommend ISW? Well, to those who love the weird and the comedic. Not to any traditional wrestling fans, but then again, are there many traditional wrestling fans following any aspect of the sport these days?

Well, some.

You may say that taking offense, to, for one thing, a man rubbing oil over himself while other guys ?wrestle? and one guy in the ring acts drunk and exposes half of his posterior for most of the match isn?t exactly something novel for the WWE or TNA.

My point is that I don?t regularly follow either of those mainstream promotions EXACTLY for that reason.

The wrestling cow (costume, not barnyard animal) and the wrestling bear (costume, not barnyard animal) are cute gimmicks. Watching guys more concerned with replacing the fallen bear head of the costume is drop-dead funny, but man, I respect wrestling, and I don?t like laughing at it.

[Insert Vince Russo cheap shot joke here]

Watching assorted Zombie gimmicks had its moments, but wow, this DVD was way too much into a slow-motion pace and a lack of display of pure wrestling talent (Kevin Steen cracking DVD?s over Player Uno?s head was unique, but hardly a spectacular use of his talents; El Generico just has it, but in a six-man with Zombies?!?)

I will absolutely give credit to ISW for a few things:

1) They have an awesome atmosphere, and a hip crowd.

2) They definitely have more creative instincts than the mainstream promotions.

3) They aren?t exactly shy about getting out in public.

Ok, there is something perversely entertaining about the Badd brothers.

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I?ve said it before, and I don?t mind saying it again, if you are losing faith in the industry, check out one of the Women?s promotions. I popped in Shimmer 24, and I have WSU to review, and I even pulled out the Glitz, Glamour and Divas DVD by Big Vision, and there?s just a better effort all around with the ladies, a better and way more solid approach to booking, and an enjoyable sense of pure wrestling talent on display.

That, plus after watching ISW and the oil, I needed to restore a sense of dignity to my fandom.

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It?s sad that Jack Brisco and Georgiann Makropoulos have been lost to the wrestling community. It?s ironic that both were incredibly nice people in an industry with a well deserved reputation for meanness.

It?s hard to imagine another Jack Brisco appearing on the wrestling scene, a hard working babyface who seemed to be able to connect to the fans with ease, and was able to display natural wrestling talent.

It?s equally hard to imagine that any fan today would be hard at work, supporting the industry in such a positive manner, as Georgie had done, for fifty some years.

It?s not just the crudeness and the crassness of the product today, or even the cynicism that is driving fans away from the sport, but the reality that neither Jack Brisco nor Georgiann Makropoulos seemed to be even welcome in today?s mainstream promotions.

Can?t we as fans just sit back and enjoy someone?s natural talents on display in the ring?

Can?t we as fans just be allowed to react with our hearts to what?s on display, and expect promoters to respond and react to what we want, which is the best for the industry in the end?

That?s what?s sad about losing important figures in the industry, because they are not just irreplaceable, they are impossible to replace in today?s environment.

Tags: ECW, WCW, WWE, Jack Brisco