Ringside With Mr.White
Issue #1
By RDMrWhite4
July 9th, The Night a Line was Crossed

        As I’m was sitting on my couch in my 3 day old fruit of the loom’s, I see Jericho come out to the ring to aid Kane and show his loyalty to the WWF. I thought it was kind of funny how there were so many ex-ECW wrestlers in the ring and jokingly thought how it would be great if they all jumped Kane. Then I remembered Jericho was there to show WWF loyalty, so scratch that. I knew Mike Awesome and Lance Storm were both Team Canada so I was like, “Team Canada reunion, Whoopee.” After a bit of the ol’ sarcastic finger twirling I relaxed and started watching a great match. The whole match I was thinking about the upcoming article I was going to write. It was going to be about how Vince was keeping ECW separate from the WWF. I had noticed that there had been a whole lot of ECW vs. ECW matches lately. Rhyno vs. Tajiri, Tajiri vs. Jerry Lynn, Raven vs. Rhyno, etc. “What a great article,” I thought. Then, in between sips of Jolt Soda, I see none other than...TOMMY DREAMER AND ROB VAN DAM! 


More Than Just Team Canada!
A steady cheer of yes comes from deep inside me until...Why are they only beating the WWF guys. I then let out a huge sigh of disappointment. Vince had the audacity to buy RVD and Dreamer, then put them in WCW. What a waste. Oh look, WWF guys to clear the ring of the WCW losers, but they’re all EX-ECW GUYS! I knew right then and there that I was right, ECW was alive and kicking. As they wasted time faking like they were there to help the WWF, I smiled with a huge grin of satisfaction as everyone in the ring jumped Kane and Chris Jericho. And as Paul E. walked into the ring I started to cry. I don’t remember exactly what Paul said, only him saying he hated himself for selling out, and he would no longer do so. That is the first time in my life that I have ever cried due to happiness.

All ECW GUYS!
 WWF and WCW had no chance against ECW. I knew the two “big ones” just had to be walking into a slaughter. When the WWF through WCW out of the ring and ECW came through the crowd like a cold memory of the past, I knew something was wrong. We’ve all had gut feelings before, and I thought it was odd how WCW had ample time to jump ECW on their way to the ring, but did nothing to stop them. ECW cleaned house of course, and stood waiting for WCW. WCW entered, ready for a fight. As the men stepped forward they...hugged each other? Could ECW actually be sided with the federation they had verbally torn to shreds for years? As the tears of joys stopped and a deep depression came over me, Vince walked out from the back and asked what the hell was going on. Maybe I could get some happiness back, there was still time for Taz (z) to choke out Shane! No such act occurred as Shane ordered the ECW guys to destroy several key WWF wrestlers with their finishers. Shane then announced an alliance, a Dangerous Alliance if you will, of ECW and WCW. On top of that, Stephanie owns it now. After thinking about for a while, I decided a new ECW is better than no ECW. 

Through The Crowd!
With ECW back within the WWF I wonder; did Vince buy ECW and just keep it a secret? This would make perfect sense. Here is a dying federation, with talent that the public loves, just waiting to be bought up. If he purchased ECW he would’ve gotten prime talent, disposable talent, and everything in between. I can imagine Vince setting up the ECW invasion angle for months. It had worked in the past when ECW started getting major publicity, why not do it again since the ratings have dropped. A great way to draw back the lost ECW crowd to get up the WWF ratings.
        Though it would have been great if Vince bought ECW, this is probably not the case. I don’t think the publicity surrounding the bankruptcy and the 8 million dollars in unpaid debts was all a farse. I think it would have been impossible to keep the cover up story from being discovered by the media. In a world where nothing can escape the media, I just don’t think it would have been possible to keep the truth a secret. Vince would also have to worry about a rat on the inside spilling the beans. Vince buying ECW=Fat chance.

Vince Buying ECW?


FAT CHANCE!

Anyways, I am a little curious about what is going to happen with this story line. The best thing for ECW to do in this Invasion storyline is for them to betray WCW at the PPV. With WCW expecting the help of ECW, and the possibility that ECW will soon be turning heel, betraying WCW would turn them back into the beloved underdog that ECW has thrived as for so long. ECW could have more and more ex-ECW talent come and have a three-way feud that would go down in wrestling history for all time. If the WWF didn’t swallow ECW back up, ECW could end up having ECW matches on WWF television just like WCW is doing at the moment. This would be the greatest thing ever, even better than sliced bread! 


More ECW Guys!
However, what if Vince lets ECW die, or worse, sends the ECW talent to work in WCW. What a horrible way to use ECW talent. Most of the ECW talent is already in the WWF anyways, but if they put Tommy or RVD in WCW I believe they could not prosper. Tommy and RVD are WWF, not WCW and I hope Vince doesn’t do this to them. No one can be sure how this will be played out, but one thing is for certain... “July 9th is a day that will live in sports entertainment history.”-Jim Ross

Damn Right JR!
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