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THE FINAL....FROM THE DESK OF....
Tony Lewis
Strictly ECW
April 2001
This grand and glorious revolution is over. And it’s very sad.
I’m not going to dwell on what StrictlyECW has tried to help ECW accomplish. I’d rather just leave the fans with just a few thoughts.
1) Obviously, a lot of the fans have been saying that Paul Heyman has “sold out†by going to the WWF. Understand that professional wrestling is this man’s life. There is nobody that worked harder than he did to get this company back up and running. He fell short. Does that mean that he should just retreat to the shadows? Of course not. Does this mean that he should not be a viable, and active member of the wrestling community? Of course not. That would be a tremendous waste.
2) There was a posting some weeks back on what used to be the SECW message board saying that Paul Heyman did not owe any explanation to anyone regarding ECW’s future on WWF TV. I absolutely agree. That was not the time and place. If he was, and is now, a WWF employee…it probably would not be prudent to say “Oh hey, we were supposed to have a PPV event this coming Sunday, but we can’t have it because…yada, yada, yada.†Any announcements of that type, should only be made on ECW’s official website. Now, we are not dumb. If there was no announcement of a building, matches, or any details six days before the show…then what else do you need the man to say? If there were anything to say (which, granted, there was) it was said where it was supposed to be said…on the ECW website, and not on WWF TV. Granted, if ECW knew that there was not going to be a PPV, then they should have said something earlier.
3) If fans want to be bitter, then that is their right. However, I choose not to be bitter about how it ended. If it had to end, I’d rather it have ended differently of course. But why get mad? It doesn’t change the situation one bit. I have personally sacrificed a helluvalot to try and help ECW, and I don’t regret one minute or one penny spent. I feel privileged to have been a part of it, and I’ll carry that throughout the rest of my life. And should ECW come back, I’ll be right there (although it will not be the same). Until then, it’s time to let the bitterness go, and reflect on what ECW was. What was ECW? Whatever you wanted it to be. Great wrestling. An escape from whatever was bothering you at the time. A chance to be with good friends. Whatever ECW meant to you, reflect on that, and not how it all ended.
And so, with that, I’d like to thank each and every person that had ever visited this website, called the hotline (when it was running), wrote a letter or e-mail to a TV station, service provider or advertiser, listened to Hardcore Radio, dealt with Adcast, posted a message to the message board, sent us feedback-positive or negative, shook our hands at shows and told us how much you appreciated the work we’ve done. All of us together…man, we shook up the world. We shook up the F’N world.
On behalf of everyone involved with Strictly ECW, I thank you very much for everything.
Tony Lewis
Director Of Operations
Strictly ECW
Post note: SECW will be folded in the new Hardcore Radio website, which is scheduled to re-launch this Sunday. Look out for it.
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