WWE TLC 2011: PPV Brings ECW Back to the Masses

The WWE TLC PPV will be one of the best shows of 2011 because of the hardcore feel to it. Just like the original ECW did and WWE’s ECW reboot tried to do.

With the WWE’s move to a more PG product, the company has taken a step back from all the blood and violence that once made the sport amazing.

As a fan of the original ECW and a Philadelphia native, I grew up watching some of the greatest underground wrestling in the history of the business. People think when they hear about ECW that it was all bloodsport, but it was so much more than that. ECW was a culture.

That’s what the TLC PPV brings back to the fans that loved the hardcore aspects of ECW or the hardcore aspects that have made their way into the WWE.

Legends like Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Rob Van Dam and many more learned the ropes in ECW and used the hardcore mentality to break into the business.

These men in ECW and now at WWE’s TLC will have to be willing to sell out completely for the show, or they risk looking too phony. While these matches are not for every star, these are the matches that put people down in history.

Just ask Mick Foley and Undertaker or more recently Big Show and Mark Henry. You can’t underestimate the power of the "Oh My God" moments in a WWE match.

The TLC PPV will offer fans at least one OMG moment for each match, hearkening back to a time when ECW was ruling the world. During ECW’s old PPVs, almost every single match was one for the film vaults.

Fans love to see people risking their bodies for the entertainment of the masses. Don’t believe me? Think of it as a modern-day coliseum and the TLC combatants are the gladiators.

The best part of this show, just like it was in ECW, is that the extreme rules stipulation can show the fans which stars can handle anything and which ones won’t make it very far in the business.

It takes a truly talented wrestler to pull off a spectacular, believable TLC match. Who will thrive?

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