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Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) is a Professional Wrestling Brand of World Wrestling Entertainment , based on the independent promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling that lasted from 1992 to 2001 . It debuted on June 13 , 2006 with a weekly television series. The ECW brand is one of WWE's three brands, the other two being RAW and SmackDown! . This version can be seen on Sci Fi Channel in the United States, X-Treme Sports and Global in Canada , Sky Sports 3 in the United Kingdom and Republic Of Ireland , SKY Sport 2 in Italy , Premiere in Germany , FX in Latin America , Ten Sports in India , Astro Supersport in Malaysia , Solar Sports and Jack TV in the Philippines , FOX8 in Australia , SKY 1 in New Zealand, E.tv in South Africa, SIC Radical in Portugal and AFN Xtra . HISTORY WWE acquired the Extreme Championship Wrestling name and Video Library in 2003 and later began reintroducing ECW through a series of DVD s and books. The most notable example is '' The Rise And Fall Of ECW '', a documentary (and later a book) of the promotion's history. The enormous popularity of this and other ECW merchandise prompted WWE to organize an ECW "reunion show" pay-per-view in 2005 dubbed ECW One Night Stand . The financial and critical success of the show motivated WWE to organize a second One Night Stand the following year. With rejuvenated interest in ECW, WWE began exploring the possibility of reviving the promotion full time. On May 26 , 2006 , WWE announced the relaunch of ECW as a stand-alone " Brand " — complementing the already established RAW and SmackDown! — with its own show on the Sci Fi Channel .1 Despite initial concerns that professional wrestling would not be accepted by Sci Fi Channel's demographic, network President Bonnie Hammer stated that she believed ECW would fit the channel's theme of "stretching the imagination".2 Sci Fi Channel is owned by NBC Universal , parent company of USA Network and exclusive cable broadcaster of WWE programming. The ECW brand initially attempted to differentiate itself from WWE's other brands. The hard cameras were placed in a different location and the ring mat had an "ECW" logo on it. The male performers were also referred to as "Extremists" as opposed to Superstars, and female performers were called "Vixens" instead of Divas . Eventually, all of these features were dropped. It was also initially headlined by original ECW performers such as Rob Van Dam , Sabu , Tommy Dreamer , Balls Mahoney , Al Snow and The Sandman , and new ECW "rebels" like Kurt Angle and The Big Show , with former ECW owner Paul Heyman entrusted with Booking the brand. However, following the second episode, Heyman's role was somewhat reduced. According to an interview in the UK newspaper The Sun , Heyman wrote the brand's weekly scripts and submitted them to writers for possible changes, and then Vince McMahon for final approval. Following the 2006 December To Dismember pay-per-view event Heyman was relieved from both his on and off air duties with World Wrestling Entertainment. The WWE website cited "slumping television ratings and a disgruntled talent roster" as the reasons for his dismissal.3 Behind the scenes, Dave Lagana, former head booker of SmackDown! replaced Heyman as head booker of the ECW brand. After Heyman left, there was no On Air authority figure until August 14 2007 , when Armando Estrada was announced as the General Manager. Changes were made to the brand that differentiated it from the original ECW promotion, making it more like the other brands, including changing the original promotion's rules - where weapons were legal in all matches and there were almost never Count Outs or Disqualifications . WWE classifies such matches as " Extreme Rules " bouts, and they are only fought on occasion. By default, all matches on ECW cards are now fought under standard rules unless specified otherwise. The only Pay-per-view event hosted exclusively by the ECW brand since its launch was December To Dismember in December 2006. On March 14 2007 , before another one could be scheduled, WWE announced that all future pay-per-views would feature all three brands.4 ''ECW ON SCI FI'' , 2006 - present]] ECW's weekly series was originally given a run of a thirteen episode "summer series" by the Sci Fi Channel . Because of good ratings, it was granted an extended run through the end of 2007.5 The premiere of ECW's weekly show on the Sci Fi Channel received a 2.79 Rating , making it the highest rated show on cable in its time slot.6 While the show started out a Ratings success for both Sci Fi Channel and WWE, it began drawing criticism from fans of the original ECW early on. This was most evident by the Negative Crowd Reaction "old school" fans gave the main event of Batista vs. The Big Show at the August 1 2006 show from Hammerstein Ballroom .78 To compliment the weekly television program, WWE.com introduced an online streaming video site called ''Hardcore Hangover'' that allows fans to stream on-demand video footage of the weekly show. RECURRING SEGMENTS In addition to wrestling matches and backstage vignettes, ''ECW'', like ''RAW'' and ''SmackDown!'', has had recurring weekly segments. The earliest segment, which began on the first episode - albeit unnamed - was ''Kelly's Exposé'', and featured exhibitionist Character Kelly Kelly performing a Striptease for the crowd.9 The segment was put on hiatus in December 2006 when Kelly was taken off of the show to Sell An Injury . When she returned in January, she was joined by fellow Divas Layla El and Brooke Adams , forming a three woman dance troupe called "Extreme Exposé". The new group took over the Kelly's Exposé spot, dancing in costume to a different song nearly every week.10 Another segment, only used on occasion, is ''Striker's Classroom''.11 A Chalkboard is brought in to the ring and the host, Matt Striker , acts as a pompous teacher (his former Real-life profession) to insult the audience and his fellow wrestler's intellectual capacity. It's sometimes utilized as a simple Promo device, and other times as an interview segment, and during the segment Striker will begin to explain something, only to back track to use a smaller word. When he was ECW Champion , John Morrison began taking part in a weekly "15 Minutes Of Fame" challenge. The rules of the challenge state that if the challenger — either a "hometown wrestler" or someone from the roster — can defeat him or last a full 15 minutes without being defeated they earn a future championship match.12 ON-AIR PERSONALITIES Champion General managers
1 Announced by Jonathan Coachman as an order from Mr. McMahon . Commentators Announcers
PRODUCTION ECW brand shows are held in large arenas as a part of the SmackDown! brand's Tuesday taping schedule. This is in sharp contrast to the original Extreme Championship Wrestling which ran most of its events in smaller venues.13 The show generally airs live on Tuesdays directly before — when touring the west coast — or after ''SmackDown!'' has taped1415, though it has been recorded and placed on a Tape Delay until later in the night depending on what circumstances dictate.16 ''ECW on Sci Fi'' has gone through a number of theme songs. "" by Harry Slash & The Slashtones ( July 31 ) and a piece of in-house produced music. REFERENCES SEE ALSO
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