Product type | Hardcore wrestling Sports entertainment |
---|---|
Owner | World Wrestling Entertainment |
Produced by | Paul Heyman (2006) Vince McMahon (2006–2010) |
Country | United States |
Introduced | May 25, 2006 |
Discontinued | February 16, 2010 |
Related brands | Raw SmackDown NXT 205 Live NXT UK |
Tagline | A new breed unleashed[1] The Tribe of Extreme has risen again! |
Predecessor: Extreme Championship Wrestling |
ECW was a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) that was established in May 2006 and discontinued in February 2010. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers that were assigned to ECW primarily appeared on the brand's weekly television program, ECW. The brand was established as a relaunch of the former Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion, the assets of which WWE acquired in 2003.
The brand operated during the second half of WWE's first brand extension period (2002–2011), and was one of WWE's three main brands, along with Raw and SmackDown. In addition to the brand's television program, ECW wrestlers competed on the branded and co-branded pay-per-view events. From 2007 to 2009, ECW wrestlers also occasionally appeared on the Raw and SmackDown television programs due to talent exchange agreements between the brands. The brand was dissolved in February 2010, and its show was replaced by the reality series NXT, which was rebranded as WWE's developmental territory, NXT, in 2012.