New Breed (ECW) - Concept

Concept

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) acquired Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and its video library in 2003, and later began reintroducing ECW by utilizing ECW library content for DVDs and releasing a series of books. The popularity of ECW merchandise prompted WWE to organize an ECW reunion pay-per-view, ECW One Night Stand, in 2005. WWE organized a second One Night Stand pay-per-view the following year. In May 2006 WWE announced the launch of ECW as a stand-alone brand, congruous to Raw and SmackDown!, with its own show on the Sci Fi channel. In preparation for the launch of the ECW brand, WWE hired several original ECW wrestlers, including Sabu, The Sandman, and Balls Mahoney. It was also announced that wrestlers who had previously worked for ECW before joining WWE following its closure, including Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer, would be moving to the new ECW brand.

The term "new breed" was originally used to describe the revived ECW brand as a whole, with advertisements and articles using the tagline "A new breed unleashed". In early 2007, the term began to be used as the name for a new stable (faction) on the new ECW brand, which consisted solely of wrestlers that had not been a part of the original ECW. This stable quickly began feuding with the ECW Originals – wrestlers who had been part of the original ECW.