TNA: Going extreme could be a curse

Spoiler Alert – this post contains spoilers from Monday’s TNA iMPACT tapings.

I don’t know all of the details, but it appears that an angle took place at Monday’s TNA Impact tapings – for air this Thursday – with the show ending with an ECW-type stable forming. It’s been teased for weeks with the addition of Tommy Dreamer, Raven and others to the company. Monday’s taping ended with the ECW group saving Rob Van Dam in the ring and Mick Foley returning to television on the stage, overseeing things.

You know, I LOVED ECW … not the crap that WWE threw down our throats for the past few years, but the original, edgy ECW. I loved it. I watched Barely Legal ’97 just yesterday and loved every second of the show. ECW – Paul Heyman‘s ECW – was way ahead of its time.

But nowadays, I’m not sure ECW works.

If this whole angle is a lure to get Heyman into the company to work on its creative, then it’s a brilliant move. Paul Heyman has, in my opinion, the best booking mind in the HISTORY of professional wrestling. ECW’s success was in its booking. They had no resources, no financial backing, yet still made it.

But if Heyman doesn’t come on board, then what does this angle have to offer?

For me, I’d love it. For the ordinary 2010 wrestling fan, I’m not so sure.

For some fans, all they know about ECW is the third-tier, developmental program that WWE aired for a few  years. They don’t know about the ECW of 10 years ago – hard to believe it’s been 10 years.

If you were a fan of ECW back in the day, you had to have been in your teens or else you wouldn’t have been able to find or stay up late enough to watch the television. So, those fans have to be, at this point, at least in their mid to late 20’s, if not older.

That’s about the youngest the audience that appreciates ECW gets.

So anyone you’re trying to target that is under that age, won’t get the angle. They won’t be able to relate to it and probably won’t emotionally invest in it.

It’s a risky move.