December to Dismember | |||
---|---|---|---|
Promotion | World Wrestling Entertainment | ||
Brand(s) | ECW | ||
Date | December 3, 2006 | ||
City | Augusta, Georgia | ||
Venue | James Brown Arena | ||
Attendance | 4,800 | ||
Buy rate | 90,000 [1] [2] | ||
Tagline(s) | You better watch out... | ||
Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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December to Dismember chronology | |||
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The 2006 December to Dismember was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held primarily for wrestlers from the promotion's ECW brand division and was WWE's only non-One Night Stand PPV to be ECW-exclusive. The event took place on December 3, 2006, at the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia. Despite it being an ECW-branded pay-per-view, some wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown! brands also worked the show. It was the second and final event in the December to Dismember chronology, after the original 1995 event that was held by the former Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion; WWE acquired the assets of ECW in 2003 and launched their own ECW brand in May 2006.
The main attraction on the event card was an Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship. It featured wrestlers fighting in a ring surrounded by a steel structure of chain and girders. The six participants were defending champion Big Show, Bobby Lashley, Rob Van Dam, Hardcore Holly, CM Punk, and Test. Lashley won the match and the ECW World Championship after pinning Big Show following a spear. With his win, Lashley became the first African-American to hold the ECW World Championship. The featured bout on the undercard was a tag team bout between The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) and MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro), in which The Hardys were victorious.
The event had an attendance of 4,800 and received about 90,000 pay-per-view buys, with 55,000 of them domestic buys—the lowest buyrate in WWE history until the introduction of the WWE Network in 2014. Critical reception was also very poor, with many regarding it as one of the worst PPVs ever produced by the company. Although it was scheduled to be held again in 2007, the show was canceled after WWE discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs following WrestleMania 23 in April 2007.
As a consequence Paul Heyman left the WWE until mid 2012. There have been conflicting narratives over the years as to whether Heyman was fired or quit.
In 2001, the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion was closed down due to financial issues and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) acquired the assets in 2003. [3] In May 2006, WWE launched a third brand dubbed ECW in which former talent from the defunct promotion, as well as newer talent, would compete. [4] In 1995, ECW held an event titled December to Dismember. [5] WWE revived this event as a pay-per-view (PPV) for their ECW brand, and it was scheduled to be held on December 3, 2006, at the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia. [6]
Outside of the weekly ECW on Sci Fi broadcast, the ECW brand's television program, the pay-per-view received little buildup on either Raw or SmackDown! , as WWE concentrated more on advertising the Survivor Series pay-per-view that aired one week prior to December to Dismember. [7] At this time, the main storyline on the Raw brand featured tag teams, D-Generation X and Rated-RKO, [8] and the SmackDown! brand's main storyline featured Batista and World Heavyweight Champion King Booker. [9] The buildup for December to Dismember began in the middle of October, six weeks before the event. [10]
The main event at December to Dismember featured an Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship. On the October 24, 2006 episode of ECW, Rob Van Dam defeated the ECW World Champion Big Show for the second consecutive time. Per the stipulation, if Van Dam were to defeat Big Show again, in a ladder match, he could then choose a time to face the Big Show for the ECW World Championship. [11] Van Dam chose to have his title shot at the December to Dismember pay-per-view. [12] Authority figure, Paul Heyman, authorized Van Dam's decision and added him to the Extreme Elimination Chamber contest for the ECW World Championship along with Big Show and four other ECW superstars. [13] The remaining four participants for the Extreme Elimination Chamber match were decided through standard singles matches. The first person to qualify for the match was Sabu, who defeated Kevin Thorn on the October 31, 2006 episode of ECW. [13] The following week, CM Punk and Test qualified by defeating Mike Knox and Tommy Dreamer, respectively. [14] The final place was to be given to Hardcore Holly in a contract signing segment on the November 14, 2006 episode of ECW. As Holly was making his way to the ring, Bobby Lashley, a wrestler from the SmackDown! brand, attacked Holly and signed the contract himself to gain the sixth and final place in the Extreme Elimination Chamber. [15] Although the six spots in the bout were filled, Heyman announced an Extreme Rules match, between Van Dam and Holly, on the November 21, 2006 episode of ECW. If Holly were to defeat Van Dam he would take his place in the Extreme Elimination Chamber; Van Dam however, won the match and cemented his place in the Extreme Elimination Chamber. [16] Van Dam continued gaining momentum going into the December to Dismember pay-per-view, as he, along with team members Sabu, Lashley, John Cena and Kane defeated the team of Big Show, Test, Umaga, Finlay and Montel Vontavious Porter in a 5-on-5, elimination tag team match, at the Survivor Series pay-per-view. [17] On the final episode of ECW before December to Dismember, Van Dam defeated Sabu. Later in the show, CM Punk faced Test, but both men were counted out in their bout. In the main event, Big Show was disqualified in his match against Lashley as Test and Heyman's Security Force (Doug and Danny Basham) assaulted Lashley. [18]
The other main rivalry heading into December to Dismember was between the Hardy Boyz and MNM (Joey Mercury, Johnny Nitro and Melina). Unlike the Extreme Elimination Chamber rivalry, this one did not include ECW superstars and only featured members of the Raw and SmackDown! brands, making the pay-per-view non-exclusive to ECW, spanning all three WWE brands. [18] [19] [20] The buildup to the match between them began when Nitro and Jeff Hardy started to feud over the Intercontinental Championship on Raw. [21] [22] The two competed in several different types of matches, including a ladder match. [8] The Hardy Boyz had just teamed up for the first time since 2002, when they defeated Tony Mamaluke and Little Guido Maritato on an episode of ECW. [16] At Survivor Series, The Hardy Boyz, along with D-Generation X and CM Punk defeated the team of Nitro, Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton), Mike Knox and Gregory Helms in a traditional Survivor Series team elimination match. [23] The next day at the December to Dismember press conference, The Hardy Boyz announced an open challenge for the pay-per-view. Later that night on Raw, Nitro accepted the challenge, announcing the return of Mercury and the "one night only" reformation of MNM. [19] On the following episode of ECW, MNM attacked The Hardy Boyz after they defeated Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay. [18] Meanwhile, Voodoo Kin Mafia, a tag team from the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion, issued a statement via the TNA website stating that they had accepted The Hardy Boyz' open challenge for December to Dismember. [24] However, Voodoo Kin Mafia did not appear at the event, and WWE never acknowledged their challenge. Only two matches were officially announced for the pay-per-view before it aired. [6] [25]
Role: | Name: |
---|---|
Commentator | Joey Styles |
Tazz | |
Interviewer | Rebecca DiPietro |
Ring announcer | Justin Roberts |
Referees | Scott Armstrong |
Mike Posey | |
Mickie Henson | |
John Cone |
Before the event went live on pay-per-view, Stevie Richards defeated René Duprée in a dark match, a non-televised match used to generate excitement in the crowd. [27]
The first match that aired was the tag team encounter between MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) and The Hardys (Jeff and Matt). After a back and forth match, which lasted over 20 minutes, MNM performed a flapjack DDT on Jeff. During a pinfall attempt, Matt Hardy made the save and performed a double neckbreaker on both members of MNM. Jeff then Swanton bombed Nitro and made the winning pin. [6] [28] [29]
Next was Matt Striker versus Balls Mahoney in a "Striker's Rules" match, a match with "no gouging of the eyes, no pulling of the hair, no maneuvers off the top rope and, most importantly, no foul language". [6] [30] Mahoney won the match after he performed a spinebuster and pinned Striker for the victory. [6] [29]
After the match between Mahoney and Striker, Sabu was depicted as being injured backstage and unable to compete in the Extreme Elimination Chamber match. [6] [31] [32] In reality, however, it was rumored that Sabu had animosity surrounding him backstage and was said to be uninterested at television tapings. Rumors evolved stating that WWE viewed Sabu as being "useless" in normal matches and that he could only perform in matches that included "stunts and tables and they don't respect him because of that". This was reportedly part of the reason he had been scripted to be easily defeated by Umaga on an episode of Raw a few weeks earlier. [8] [33] WWE chairman Vince McMahon wanted to put Hardcore Holly in Sabu's place, so Bobby Lashley would have more villains to overcome. Paul Heyman was legitimately unhappy with the decision, saying that Sabu's high-flying wrestling would be "the ideal showcase" inside the Extreme Elimination Chamber. [25] The fans inside the James Brown Arena chanted "bullshit" during the segment. [6]
In the second tag-team match of the night, Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay defeated F.B.I. members Little Guido Maritato and Tony Mamaluke. Burke pinned Mamaluke after performing a Forward Russian legsweep on him and gaining the pinfall. [34] After the match, Terkay performed a Muscle Buster on Maritato. [29] During this match, the fans inside the James Brown Arena chanted "TNA, TNA" (a reference to WWE's rival professional wrestling promotion, as well as two of their performers utilizing moves used by TNA wrestlers, Jeff Jarrett and Samoa Joe, respectively). [6]
A standard match between Daivari and Tommy Dreamer followed with The Great Khali accompanying Daivari to the ring but was ejected from ringside early on for interfering. After Daivari won the match using a roll-up, Khali came back out to the ring and gave Dreamer a chokebomb. EMTs came out to help Dreamer get up, but he ended up getting up on his own and headed backstage. [6] [29] [35]
The next match of the night was an intergender tag team match, with Kevin Thorn and Ariel against Mike Knox and Kelly Kelly. Before the match began, Kelly Kelly was shown wishing CM Punk, her on-screen crush, luck for the main event. The end of the match came when Knox abandoned Kelly Kelly in the ring and Ariel performed a legsweep, a variation of a takedown, on Kelly Kelly before covering her for the win. [29] Following the match, Ariel and Thorn attempted to attack Kelly Kelly, before The Sandman interrupted and hit Thorn repeatedly with a kendo stick. [6] [36]
The main event was the Extreme Elimination Chamber for the ECW World Championship. After a segment earlier in the event showed an injured Sabu was unable to compete in the match, it was decided that Hardcore Holly would take his spot in the match. Before the match began, Paul Heyman announced the rules of the match and explained that each superstar had a weapon with them in each of their pods. [29] Before entering the ring, Heyman had a conversation backstage with Big Show, that was unseen by television viewers, with him revealing that for the first time in his professional career he was not motivated to give the promo. [25] Rob Van Dam and Holly were the first superstars to begin the match and one of the other four competitors were then released from their pod every five minutes afterward. The first person to be released from his pod was CM Punk, who entered the match with a steel chair in hand. Test then followed, five minutes after him, with a crowbar. Punk was the first eliminated from the match, after Van Dam performed a Five Star Frog Splash from the top turnbuckle and covered him for the 3-count. Moments later, Test charged and delivered a big boot to Holly, eliminating him. Van Dam was the third person eliminated, after Test delivered a diving elbow drop from the top of a pod and pinned him. When it was Bobby Lashley's turn, his pod would not open and he could not exit it because Heyman's Security Force had bolted the door shut. Lashley then used the table that was with him to smash through the pod, allowing him to escape. He then delivered a spear to Test to eliminate him. Big Show, was the final man to exit his pod and had a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire in tow. Lashley was able to block Big Show's swing of the barbed wire bat with a folding chair and then threw him into the pod, causing him to bleed. Lashley managed to reverse a chokeslam into a DDT and then delivered a spear to win the match and become the new ECW World Champion. [37] [29]
Critics had a negative reaction to the pay-per-view, with the only match that received praise being the Hardy Boyz versus MNM tag team match. [38] [39] Slam! Sports rated the pay-per-view 4 out of 10 stars, stating, "the two matches that were promoted saved this thing from being a debacle". [6] In the 2007 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, the event was voted the "worst major wrestling show of the year", despite being a 2006 event, with 2006's award going to UFC 61. [40] December to Dismember is also considered to be one of the worst PPVs WWE ever produced. PWInsider's Mike Johnson called it one of the worst PPVs ever. [41]
Less than 24 hours after the pay-per-view, WWE announced on their official website that Vince McMahon had sent Paul Heyman home, citing "slumping television ratings and a disgruntled talent roster as causes for Mr. Heyman's dismissal". [42] Heyman was escorted from the Coliseum and sent home. He was also immediately pulled from ECW's creative team after the altercation. McMahon was attempting to put the blame on Heyman for the poorly received pay-per-view despite Heyman having been overruled on multiple booking decisions, and after a meeting with Vince and Stephanie McMahon, Heyman legitimately left WWE but remained under contract. Heyman was against the decision of Bobby Lashley being booked to win the ECW World Championship, and instead wanted to have CM Punk win it, a decision McMahon disliked. [25] [43] This situation was cited by Punk in his controversial worked-shoot promo in 2011, in which he referred to the idea as one in which "Heyman saw something in Punk that nobody else wanted to admit." [44] Upset at how the event turned out, Tommy Dreamer and Stevie Richards both asked after the event to be released from their contracts. Both requests were refused by McMahon and WWE's Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis. [7]
Not long after December to Dismember, Big Show was offered a long-term contract extension by WWE, reported to be around $1 million a year. He declined the offer, however, reasoning he was burned out and hurting physically. [6] [25] [45] On the first episode of ECW to air after December to Dismember, Big Show and Bobby Lashley would compete in a rematch for the ECW World Championship. Big Show lost, thus ending their storyline feud, [46] and he announced his retirement from wrestling, [47] although he made his return in 2008 at No Way Out. [48]
After the storyline feud with Big Show ended, Lashley entered a short program with Rob Van Dam, which led to Van Dam earning a title match on the January 2, 2007 episode of ECW. The match between the two ended in a No Contest after Test interfered during the bout. [49] Test's interference led to a storyline with Lashley, leading to a title match at the Royal Rumble, which Lashley won by countout. [50]
This was the only ECW branded pay-per-view WWE produced before the decision was made to discontinue brand-exclusive PPVs following WrestleMania 23 in April 2007, which resulted in WWE reducing the amount of yearly PPVs produced. [51] Before the change, an event for 2007 had been planned. [52]
No. | Results [6] [29] | Stipulations | Times [53] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1D | Stevie Richards defeated René Duprée [27] | Singles match | — | ||||
2 | The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) defeated MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) (with Melina) [28] | Tag team match | 22:33 | ||||
3 | Balls Mahoney defeated Matt Striker | Striker's Rules match | 7:12 | ||||
4 | Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay defeated The F.B.I. (Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke) (with Trinity) [34] | Tag team match | 6:41 | ||||
5 | Daivari (with The Great Khali) defeated Tommy Dreamer [35] | Singles match | 7:22 | ||||
6 | Kevin Thorn and Ariel defeated Mike Knox and Kelly Kelly [36] | Mixed tag team match | 7:43 | ||||
7 | Bobby Lashley defeated Big Show (c) (with Paul Heyman), Test, Rob Van Dam, Hardcore Holly, and CM Punk [37] | Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship | 24:42 | ||||
|
Eliminated | Wrestler | Entered | Eliminated by | Weapon | Method | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | CM Punk | 3 | Rob Van Dam | Steel chair | Pinfall | 12:35 |
2 | Hardcore Holly | 2 | Test | None | Pinfall | 12:45 |
3 | Rob Van Dam | 1 | Test | None | Pinfall | 14:15 |
4 | Test | 4 | Bobby Lashley | Crowbar | Pinfall | 19:42 |
5 | Big Show | 6 | Bobby Lashley | Barbed wire baseball bat | Pinfall | 24:42 |
Winner | Bobby Lashley | 5 | N/A | Table |
Robert Alexander Szatkowski is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam He is known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Terrance Michael "Terry" Brunk is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Sabu. He is known for his trademark style of hardcore wrestling, which he pioneered in his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 2000. He is a three-time World Heavyweight Champion having held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship twice and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once.
WrestleMania 23 was the 23rd annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brand divisions. The event took place on April 1, 2007, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. It was the second WrestleMania to take place in the Detroit metropolitan area. It was also the first WrestleMania to feature the ECW brand following its establishment as WWE's third brand in May 2006. It is the highest grossing PPV event in professional wrestling history.
The 2007 Royal Rumble was the 20th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brand divisions. The event took place on January 28, 2007, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, and was the second Royal Rumble held in San Antonio after the 1997 event. This marked the first time that the ECW brand participated at the Royal Rumble, which became WWE's third brand in mid-2006. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2007 event, the winner received their choice to challenge for either Raw's WWE Championship, SmackDown!'s World Heavyweight Championship, or the ECW World Championship at WrestleMania 23, marking the first time that three titles were an option.
The 2006 SummerSlam was the 19th annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brand divisions. The event took place on August 20, 2006, at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. This marked the first inter-brand pay-per-view to include the ECW brand.
The 2006 Survivor Series was the 20th annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brand divisions. The event took place on November 26, 2006, at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the first Survivor Series to include the ECW brand.
The ECW Originals was a professional wrestling stable that made appearances in various wrestling promotions, such as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
The New Breed was a professional wrestling stable that appeared on the ECW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2007. It was originally composed of Elijah Burke and Marcus Cor Von. Matt Striker, Kevin Thorn, and Ariel first joined the stable in February 2007, then CM Punk briefly joined the stable in April 2007.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate Eastern Championship Wrestling. The following year, businessman and wrestling manager Paul Heyman took over the creative end of the promotion from Eddie Gilbert. Under Heyman, the promotion was rechristened as Extreme Championship Wrestling.
December to Dismember was a professional wrestling event. It was first held by the former Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion in 1995 as a non-televised supercard. After World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) acquired the assets of the former promotion in 2003, December to Dismember was revived as a pay-per-view (PPV) event in 2006 and was promoted by WWE for its new ECW brand division. An event was planned for 2007, but was canceled as WWE discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs following WrestleMania 23 in April 2007, resulting in the reduction of yearly PPVs produced.
The 2006 ECW One Night Stand was the second annual One Night Stand professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held on June 11, 2006, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in the Manhattan borough of New York, New York. Like the previous year's event, although wrestlers from WWE's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions had appeared on the show, it was primarily held as a reunion show for wrestlers from the former Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion, the assets of which WWE acquired in 2003. Just prior to the event, WWE also established a third brand dubbed ECW for wrestlers of the former promotion and newer talent. The event was in turn WWE's first PPV to feature the ECW brand.
The 2005 ECW One Night Stand was the inaugural One Night Stand professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on June 12, 2005, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. Although wrestlers from WWE's Raw and SmackDown! brands appeared on the show, the event was primarily produced as a reunion show for wrestlers from the former Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion, which had folded in 2001. After the promotion's closure, WWE acquired ECW's assets in 2003.
The 2007 One Night Stand was the third annual One Night Stand professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brand divisions. The event took place on June 3, 2007, at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. While the previous two years' events were held primarily as reunion shows for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) alumni, the 2007 event was promoted as a WWE event with wrestlers from all three brands participating as following WrestleMania 23, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued.
The 2007 Backlash was the ninth Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brand divisions. The event took place on April 29, 2007, at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. It was WWE's first monthly PPV held to feature all three brands after the company discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs. The concept of the pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WrestleMania 23.
The 2007 Judgment Day was the ninth Judgment Day professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brand divisions. The event took place on May 20, 2007, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. This was the first Judgment Day event since 2003 to feature multiple brands.
The 2007 No Way Out was the ninth No Way Out professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's SmackDown! brand division. The event took place on February 18, 2007, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. It was the final brand-exclusive pay-per-view of the first brand extension, as following WrestleMania 23 the following month, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued and then in August 2011, the brand extension ended. Another brand-exclusive PPV would not be held until Backlash in 2016, as the brand split was reintroduced in July that year.
The 2006 Judgment Day was the eighth Judgment Day professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's SmackDown! brand division. The event took place on May 21, 2006, at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. It was the final Judgment Day to be brand-exclusive as following WrestleMania 23 the following year, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued. The event also featured the finals of the 2006 King of the Ring tournament.
The 2006 Vengeance was the sixth annual Vengeance professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw brand division. The event took place on June 25, 2006, at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was the final brand-exclusive Vengeance event until 2021.
WWE One Night Stand was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, produced every June by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The event was created in 2005 and its name refers to its original format, that being a one-night reunion show for Extreme Championship Wrestling alumni. The first two shows were promoted under the ECW acronym; this, however, was changed for the 2007 and 2008 events. As WWE launched their own version of ECW in 2006 as a third brand alongside Raw and SmackDown, these two shows were promoted under the WWE acronym. The final event under the One Night Stand name was in 2008 before being renamed Extreme Rules in 2009. The 2009 Extreme Rules was noted by WWE to be a direct continuation of the One Night Stand chronology; however, the 2010 event was later promoted as only the second event under a new Extreme Rules chronology, one that is no longer a direct continuation of the One Night Stand event. Extreme Rules, however, continued the theme of featuring various hardcore-based matches.
ECW was a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) that was established in May 2006 and discontinued in February 2010. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers that were assigned to ECW primarily appeared on the brand's weekly television program, ECW. The brand was established as a relaunch of the former Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion, the assets of which WWE acquired in 2003.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)I would stop short of calling it the worst pay-per-view of all time, but it's certainly among the worst. ECW as a brand is dead, and the WWE should definitely take notice that a sizable portion of their ECW fanbase is chanting 'TNA' during a WWE PPV.
Worst PPV of the year:
Two shows are on my list for this category, one from November and one from December. Can you guess? Cyber Sunday and the ill-fated December to Dismember.
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