Changes

== History ==

== History ==

WWE acquired the Extreme Championship Wrestling name and [[WWE Video Library|video library]] in 2003 and later began reintroducing ECW through a series of [[DVD]]s and books. The most notable example is ''[[The Rise and Fall of ECW]]'', a documentary (and later a book) of the promotion's history. The enormous popularity of this and other ECW merchandise; along with a suggestion from [[Rob Van Dam]] prompted WWE to organize an ECW "reunion show" pay-per-view in 2005 dubbed [[WWE One Night Stand#2005|ECW One Night Stand]]. The financial and critical success of the show motivated WWE to organize a second [[WWE One Night Stand#2006|One Night Stand]] the following year. With rejuvenated interest in ECW, WWE began exploring the possibility of reviving the promotion full time.

WWE acquired the Extreme Championship Wrestling name and [[WWE Video Library|video library]] in 2003 and later began reintroducing ECW through a series of [[DVD]]s and books. The most notable example is ''[[The Rise and Fall of ECW]]'', a documentary (and later a book) of the promotion's history. The enormous popularity of this and other ECW merchandise; along with a suggestion from [[Rob Van Dam]] prompted WWE to organize an ECW "reunion show" pay-per-view in 2005 dubbed [[WWE One Night Stand#2005|ECW One Night Stand]]. The financial and critical success of the show motivated WWE to organize a second [[WWE One Night Stand#2006|One Night Stand]] the following year. With rejuvenated interest in ECW, WWE began exploring the possibility of reviving the promotion full-time.

On May 26, 2006, WWE announced the relaunch of ECW as a stand-alone brand that would complement WWE's ''[[WWE Raw|RAW]]'' and ''[[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]'' brands and emanate weekly on the [[Sci Fi Channel (United States)|Sci Fi Channel]].<ref name=SciFi>{{cite web|title=WWE brings ECW to Sci Fi Channel|publisher=WWE.com |url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/scifi|accessdate=2006-06-02}}</ref> Despite initial concerns that professional wrestling would not be accepted by Sci Fi Channel's demographic, network President [[Bonnie Hammer]] believed that ECW would fit the channel's theme of ''stretching the imagination.'' Sci Fi Channel is owned by [[NBC Universal]], parent company of [[USA Network]] and exclusive cable broadcaster of WWE programming.

On May 26, 2006, WWE announced the relaunch of ECW as a stand-alone brand that would complement WWE's ''[[WWE Raw|RAW]]'' and ''[[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]'' brands and emanate weekly on the [[Sci Fi Channel (United States)|Sci Fi Channel]].<ref name=SciFi>{{cite web|title=WWE brings ECW to Sci Fi Channel|publisher=WWE.com |url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/scifi|accessdate=2006-06-02}}</ref> Despite initial concerns that professional wrestling would not be accepted by Sci Fi Channel's demographic, network President [[Bonnie Hammer]] believed that ECW would fit the channel's theme of ''stretching the imagination.'' Sci Fi Channel is owned by [[NBC Universal]], parent company of [[USA Network]] and exclusive cable broadcaster of WWE programming.