The TNN/ECW relationship was famously strained. Paul Heyman has long since claimed the deal going south is what killed ECW. He rarely has mentioned that it kept the doors open an extra year and half, as the company would have folded in 1999 without it. As the story goes, TNN were leery of the violence and language used on ECW programming and it was a constant battle to get anything to air without heavy censorship from the network. This in turn led to Cyrus being an agent of the Network on television, and effectively being the main heel and main angle for the majority of the ECW on TNN program. Each week, a significant chunk of the show was devoted entirely to shytting on TNN, other programs airing on TNN, and viewers of TNN, while Cyrus (as a TNN stand in) would try to censor and change things on the show, frequently threatening to send ECW back to the stone ages by cancelling the show. Eventually, TNN would get the WWF to jump from USA network, and ECW was cancelled. On air, the credit was given to Cyrus. Paul E. claims that it was the censorship and WWF that got ECW kicked off of TNN, and therefore killed the company. I'm calling bullshyt on the whole thing.
For starters, Paul was already creatively wasted by the time 1999 had come around. His creativity and character development had really peaked by early 1996, and by the time 1999 starts, the 4 year angle of Taz's rise to the ECW Championship had finally concluded and he had nothing left. 1999-2000 booking and angles are just "these guys had a good match, let's just book them over and over". There are no big character transforming angles like Sandman vs Cairo, or Dreamer vs Sandman, or Taz's change from mute savage to trash talking New Yorker. While on paper it looked like the company was growing, still consistently breaking attendance records and breaking into new markets, it had grown TOO much, and financially the company was unable to sustain the growth. In comes the TNN deal, which would put them on national TV and allow them to break into more areas, while getting a hefty source of income to keep the company afloat.
It all sounds great, like a miracle lifeline the company needed in a time of desperation. Everyone should be thrilled. The company goes national, expands their audience, everyone wins. And that is what it seemed like when the deal was announced on Hardcore TV. The excitement from Joey Styles, Paul Heyman, and the crowd was palpable. Until the next week, when the random shots at TNN started up. This was before ECW actually even aired their first show on TNN. A week before the first airing, an angle was teased that Taz was going to fukk it up and get them kicked off TNN AND PPV. So, to be clear, ECW is already making an angle out of TNN sucking before they even air their first show.
And the first show ends up being a clip show, because Paul didn't like the set of tapings done for the show. Now, this didn't stop him from using almost everything from that taping on both the TNN and Hardcore TV shows, but you can probably see why TNN might have an issue with their first show being second ran content. And it stays that way for a while, as it only takes about a month before Hardcore TV and TNN shows are taped at the same time, and footage, matches, and entire segments being repeated across both shows. Again, you can probably see why TNN might have an issue with their "exclusive" footage being shown on a different show and content from the other show being used to fill time on their "exclusive" show.
It takes about 4 months into the run before the show is even used like a traditional wrestling show, as up until then it was still chopped up segments from 3-4 hour shows like they'd been doing for years. When they finally start booking it like a traditional weekly TV show with weekly angles and characters....it's all at the expense of TNN. Cyrus is introduced as a spokesperson for TNN, constantly degrading ECW and hyping up ROLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRJJJJJJJJJAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMM and Rock 'N Bowl. By the start of 2000, the relationship is so broken that Joey and Joel are openly and frequently shytting on TNN the entire show, and by the spring of 2000 they're literally begging to be thrown off the air. Paul's contention was that TNN didn't promote them (true, but ECW was the highest rated show anyway) and that TNN was unreasonably strict on censorship. I call heavy bullshyt on the second part.
ECW on TNN was exactly what you got out of Hardcore TV (often literally). There was heavier violence on the TNN show than Hardcore TV. There was just as much foul language on the TNN show as there was Hardcore TV (with the same amount of censorship). There was just as much male on female violence on the TNN show as there was Hardcore TV. Joel Gertner was arguably MORE filthy and lewd on the TNN show than Hardcore TV. I would say it's arguable that the TNN show was actually the more extreme and boundary pushing show of the two. Hardcore TV, which did not have any TNN input, felt more toned down than the TNN show. In fact, they would bring the TNN angle onto Hardcore TV after a while, just to fill out the show.
Early 2000, after losing almost their entire main event roster in the past year due to being unable to pay them or owing them money (Shane Douglas, Taz, Dudley Boyz left in 1999, Sabu in early 2000, Mike Awesome showing up on Nitro while still ECW Champion), ECW has a national TV deal, a video game, and they're drawing more people to their PPVs than WCW. Yet Paul E. has been MIA since sometime in 1999, essentially having Tommy Dreamer run the company, and almost all of the booking and creative is being done by the talent. ECW can no longer claim to be the underground indie that could. It's clear to me that he didn't want any of this. He was already burned out well before the TNN deal. His company kept growing but he didn't have the business sense to keep it afloat, and I don't think he wanted to. Despite knowing the extra money that was going to be coming in, he refused to give the Dudleys or Taz even a dollar more to stay. He did nothing to convince Sabu to stay. The TNN deal kept the lights on, but he left the company to the talent to run it because he was done with it. His involvement with the show was shytting on the network that was airing his program from before the first show to the very last show, and even AFTER the show was off the network.
TLDR: TNN made ECW too big and Paul didn't/couldn't handle it so he went out of his way to fukk his own company to get out of it.
For starters, Paul was already creatively wasted by the time 1999 had come around. His creativity and character development had really peaked by early 1996, and by the time 1999 starts, the 4 year angle of Taz's rise to the ECW Championship had finally concluded and he had nothing left. 1999-2000 booking and angles are just "these guys had a good match, let's just book them over and over". There are no big character transforming angles like Sandman vs Cairo, or Dreamer vs Sandman, or Taz's change from mute savage to trash talking New Yorker. While on paper it looked like the company was growing, still consistently breaking attendance records and breaking into new markets, it had grown TOO much, and financially the company was unable to sustain the growth. In comes the TNN deal, which would put them on national TV and allow them to break into more areas, while getting a hefty source of income to keep the company afloat.
It all sounds great, like a miracle lifeline the company needed in a time of desperation. Everyone should be thrilled. The company goes national, expands their audience, everyone wins. And that is what it seemed like when the deal was announced on Hardcore TV. The excitement from Joey Styles, Paul Heyman, and the crowd was palpable. Until the next week, when the random shots at TNN started up. This was before ECW actually even aired their first show on TNN. A week before the first airing, an angle was teased that Taz was going to fukk it up and get them kicked off TNN AND PPV. So, to be clear, ECW is already making an angle out of TNN sucking before they even air their first show.
And the first show ends up being a clip show, because Paul didn't like the set of tapings done for the show. Now, this didn't stop him from using almost everything from that taping on both the TNN and Hardcore TV shows, but you can probably see why TNN might have an issue with their first show being second ran content. And it stays that way for a while, as it only takes about a month before Hardcore TV and TNN shows are taped at the same time, and footage, matches, and entire segments being repeated across both shows. Again, you can probably see why TNN might have an issue with their "exclusive" footage being shown on a different show and content from the other show being used to fill time on their "exclusive" show.
It takes about 4 months into the run before the show is even used like a traditional wrestling show, as up until then it was still chopped up segments from 3-4 hour shows like they'd been doing for years. When they finally start booking it like a traditional weekly TV show with weekly angles and characters....it's all at the expense of TNN. Cyrus is introduced as a spokesperson for TNN, constantly degrading ECW and hyping up ROLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRJJJJJJJJJAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMM and Rock 'N Bowl. By the start of 2000, the relationship is so broken that Joey and Joel are openly and frequently shytting on TNN the entire show, and by the spring of 2000 they're literally begging to be thrown off the air. Paul's contention was that TNN didn't promote them (true, but ECW was the highest rated show anyway) and that TNN was unreasonably strict on censorship. I call heavy bullshyt on the second part.
ECW on TNN was exactly what you got out of Hardcore TV (often literally). There was heavier violence on the TNN show than Hardcore TV. There was just as much foul language on the TNN show as there was Hardcore TV (with the same amount of censorship). There was just as much male on female violence on the TNN show as there was Hardcore TV. Joel Gertner was arguably MORE filthy and lewd on the TNN show than Hardcore TV. I would say it's arguable that the TNN show was actually the more extreme and boundary pushing show of the two. Hardcore TV, which did not have any TNN input, felt more toned down than the TNN show. In fact, they would bring the TNN angle onto Hardcore TV after a while, just to fill out the show.
Early 2000, after losing almost their entire main event roster in the past year due to being unable to pay them or owing them money (Shane Douglas, Taz, Dudley Boyz left in 1999, Sabu in early 2000, Mike Awesome showing up on Nitro while still ECW Champion), ECW has a national TV deal, a video game, and they're drawing more people to their PPVs than WCW. Yet Paul E. has been MIA since sometime in 1999, essentially having Tommy Dreamer run the company, and almost all of the booking and creative is being done by the talent. ECW can no longer claim to be the underground indie that could. It's clear to me that he didn't want any of this. He was already burned out well before the TNN deal. His company kept growing but he didn't have the business sense to keep it afloat, and I don't think he wanted to. Despite knowing the extra money that was going to be coming in, he refused to give the Dudleys or Taz even a dollar more to stay. He did nothing to convince Sabu to stay. The TNN deal kept the lights on, but he left the company to the talent to run it because he was done with it. His involvement with the show was shytting on the network that was airing his program from before the first show to the very last show, and even AFTER the show was off the network.
TLDR: TNN made ECW too big and Paul didn't/couldn't handle it so he went out of his way to fukk his own company to get out of it.
