Deliver Us from Extreme: How to Solve the ECW Title Problem

If the rumor mill is to be believed, ECW is due to meet its end sometime in the near future due to sagging ratings and lack of interest. Of course, if our eyes are to be believed then you’d say that ECW met its end a long time ago, but that’s beside the point.

The issue at hand here is two-fold. First: what are WWE officials going to do with the ECW roster?

Are they going to rename the show, put it on a different network, and present it as strictly a place for developmental talent? Or is WWE just going to do away with the third show altogether, splitting up TV-ready ECW talent between Raw and Smackdown and sending the rest back to the developmental leagues?

The second issue, and perhaps the more pressing one: what is going to happen to the ECW title?

No matter what one’s feelings are about the resurrection (and perhaps subsequent burial) of the ECW name, the fact is that once ECW goes under then WWE has to deal with the issue of what to do with the brand’s championship.

This has been a hot topic of debate on numerous websites, including the Bleacher Report.  Where does the title go? Some people believe that it should get assigned to Raw or Smackdown. Others say it should get renamed and reassigned to whatever show replaces ECW.

I have a better idea.

That idea involves giving the title to the one man who can tie up the ECW storyline and bring the brand to a tidy end more completely than anyone in WWE right now.

CM Punk.

Allow me to explain: next week, the ECW Homecoming is set to come to a head in a battle royal. The winner of that battle royal will face Christian for the ECW title at the Royal Rumble.

The winner of that battle royal, then, should be CM Punk. Then, at the Royal Rumble, CM Punk should be booked to win the ECW title from Christian.

Now think about it: what organization, at its zenith, more represented hedonistic and violent excess–not to mention drug and alcohol abuse–than the original ECW? And what does CM Punk’s current persona rail against? That’s right. You know what I’m getting at here.

So then, whether it’s on TV or at No Way Out (err…sorry, Elimination Chamber), CM Punk will hit the ring with his posse in tow and the ECW title around his waist. Once there, he will cut a promo about excess and addiction, and how the ECW title represents everything that is wrong with the mentality he despises and the fans who buy into it.

And then he will destroy the title.

Whether he trashes it a la Madusa Miceli, sets it on fire, or whatever; CM Punk can make a statement that can further add heel heat to his character while also tying up the main loose end left by the repackaging or outright elimination of the ECW brand.

So then what? There are a few directions that WWE could take with CM Punk’s character. One, WWE could simply drop the ECW angle since the championship would be gone, and therefore allow CM Punk to continue on as a “savior.”

Another option could involve setting up a Wrestlemania feud with someone who could defend ECW’s honor. Whether it’s true or not, I’ve read on numerous websites that Rob Van Dam could be thinking of a WWE comeback. A Punk/RVD feud could be spectacular given their similar styles, and giving Punk the win in the rivalry would elevate him even more.

Regardless of the ultimate direction, giving CM Punk the chance to finish off ECW would allow WWE to reshuffle its brand behind the scenes, while also further developing an already outstanding on-screen character. It’s win-win.