Yesterday afternoon, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York entered an order approving the sale of substantially all ECW assets to WWE.
The hold-up in approval of the sale had been a late entry into the proceedings by Delta Music and Powersports, two companies that had a license agreement with ECW to distribute footage (some or all of it, at least all of the TV), specifically in the United Kingdom, and surrounding areas.
Upon closing of the ECW sale to WWE, Delta and Powersports will receive $165,000.00 from the Trustee.
WWE also must pay an additional $30,000 to Delta/Powersports. In return, Delta/Powersports will ship to WWE approximately 500 hours of ECW master tapes it has in its possession.
Delta also will be allowed to sell the inventory of ECW tapes/DVD's it already has for 90 days after it receives the money it is owed by wire transfer.
Tod Gordon is mentioned as being specifically barred from any claim to the footage. The Trustee still retains the claim against Joey Styles for allegedly diverting funds due to ECW from www.ecwwrestling.com to himself.
So pretty much, I guess Vince owns (or is about to own) the ECW library as well. I assume we'll be seeing more DVD's on former ECW stars, if this is the case (i.e. RVD). I don't see them putting together a strictly Tommy Dreamer DVD, but I wouldn't mind seeing something like a DVD featuring the "extreme" individuals of WWE. Though it wouldn't be the same without Raven footage in it.
Well, if Foley does wrestle another match, that means they can go into the ECW and WCW archives for materials to produce a new DVD centering on that match. And we can assume any ECW materials that have potential subliminal anti-WWF sentiments will never see the light of day again.
Originally posted by GrubbyLongJohnsI assume we'll be seeing more DVD's on former ECW stars
I'm not going to hold me breath for it. They've had WCW's stuff for a long time now and as far as I've known, they've just done the NWO and Rey DVD (unless you count footage from WCW on Hogan's) and that was WCW, a company that was as big, or bigger than they were. ECW never was.
I think this was one of those things McMahon wants to do "just because". Like owning his own football league. He may do something with it off and on over the next decade or so, but I figure he's like a kid who's just found eBay and is bidding on shit he just thinks would be cool to win.
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So it will now seem WWE will own the WWF/E, WCW, and ECW footage. And I read not too long ago they want to get their hands on the old AWA footage. I would be happy that WWE got the ECW footage if I knew that they would use it. Iam still waiting for them to use the WCW footage, why not a Ric Flair DVD. But I'm not in the business so they know why they are not using it right now.
Hey, at least someone with the *potential* to mass distribute it in the U.S. owns the copies. Of course they won't, they do little with the material they got.
The alternative would be what is the case with Mid South's collection. Bill Watts wife, got that entire tape library in a divorce settlement and it sits in her basement, such a shame.
Thankfully, there is still tape trading. But somebody needs to mass transfer them on DVD soon, before the last VCR bites the dust!
Originally posted by XPacArmySo it will now seem WWE will own the WWF/E, WCW, and ECW footage. And I read not too long ago they want to get their hands on the old AWA footage.
(edited by XPacArmy on 18.6.03 1343)
It's interesting that you mention the AWA, because I saw that the match list for the Shawn Michaels DVD coming out next week includes Midnight Rockers vs. Rose and Sommers.
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I believe they're trying to get their hands on some old Stampede footage as well. So, if they go ahead with the Bret Hart compilation tape, I'll definitley be the first one at the video store.
And may I say that I would kill for a good Brian Pillman DVD. I know it ain't happening, but I'd still love to look back at some of his old 'Loose Cannon' stuff (especiall the stuff in ECW). Good times.
On one of the ECW DVDs (I forget which one) they have the famous Pillman "smarrrrrt marrrrrk" promo where he pisses off the whole crowd and then threatens to piss in the ring. It's an easter egg, so you'll have to look for it.
Originally posted by NagThe alternative would be what is the case with Mid South's collection. Bill Watts wife, got that entire tape library in a divorce settlement and it sits in her basement, such a shame.
that's sad. if they ever aired, i would sit and watch the old UWF episodes every night. i remember watching the original broadcasts when i was like 10 years old... 15 years ago already? damn. savannah jack, boris zuckoff (sp?) cowboy bill... that show defined "extreme" long before newjack did his first bladejob.
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Originally posted by GrubbyLongJohnsI assume we'll be seeing more DVD's on former ECW stars
I'm not going to hold me breath for it. They've had WCW's stuff for a long time now and as far as I've known, they've just done the NWO and Rey DVD (unless you count footage from WCW on Hogan's) and that was WCW, a company that was as big, or bigger than they were. ECW never was.
You may very well be right. Vince might just want to own all the material so that he can totally control its use. There's also the possibility that Vince might be more inclined to do stuff with the ECW footage, just because he didn't (seem to) feel the kind of life-&-death animosity with ECW that he had with WCW. Just a thought.
An American Wrestling Channel, PLEASE! Vinnie Mac PLEASE!
Actually, I heard a rumor that the reason why Vince was buying up all the tape libraries was to avoid such a thing; eliminate all possible forms of competition.
Hail to the MacMahonopoly.
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If all this fails, we can sacrifice a chicken!(sorry, I'm thinking like the Voodoo guy in Major Leage!) A DVD with all the RVD vs. Jerry Lynn fued would be nice.
Originally posted by GrubbyLongJohnsI assume we'll be seeing more DVD's on former ECW stars
I'm not going to hold me breath for it. They've had WCW's stuff for a long time now and as far as I've known, they've just done the NWO and Rey DVD (unless you count footage from WCW on Hogan's)
And the Ric Flair-v-Ricky Steamboat 5-7-89 match on the HHH DVD.
As the days go by, we face the increasing inevitability that we are alone in a godless, uninhabited, hostile and meaningless universe. Still, you've got to laugh, haven't you?
You have to believe that it will just be used as filler footage for Jericho, Benoit, RVD, etc. future releases. Which is really unfortunate. I think they could make a small fortune by opening another company (do it separate from WWE Inc. so that Vince can pretend like he's saving face) and release a whole bunch of videos/DVD's to, say, the European market, where they're still advertising ECW stuff. If it goes over well, produce more and flood them into the North American market.
I can't imagine something like this -- even cut your advertising budget if you to have you -- would be a costly venture. Assume that only the most hardcore (pun not intended) fans would buy this stuff. Really, is that any more or less lucrative to fans who are going to buy, say, the Armageddon DVD for 15 bucks, months after the actual PPV airs?
I gotta believe that there's some sort of plan here. Don't forget that Vince has been trying to get the ECW footage since it folded, coincidentally right around the time he bought WCW. The way I see it, the reason a lot of WCW footage hasn't been used yet is because Vince wanted to have all three libraries. Jericho, Benoit, and Foley are all top tier guys with extensive history in all three feds. Comprehensive DVD's for them would almost certainly make some money.
And in response to someone saying there's a rumor Vince is doing this to eliminate a possible wrestling channel, I've heard the exact opposite. Maybe it was just a conjecture column but I do recall hearing about Vince's plans for such a channel.
Even if they decide against doing `best of' type multi-disc DVD's (though I for one love them and already have most of the WWE offerings), they could do sort of grab-bags with assorted matches from all three feds, even if they had no theme tying them together (a la Coliseum's Best of the WWF series).
I mean, if you could buy comps with three or four decent matches from each group, plus a bunch of other assorted nonsense, think how many volumes they could produce of those?