Alternate Ending For ECW One Night Stand 2005 Revealed

ECW One Night Stand 2005 was a triumphant event, the first celebration of the game-changing Philadelphia hardcore promotion since it closed its doors in 2001.

Produced and funded by WWE, ONS ended with an ECW vs. WWE brawl, ending when former WCW President Eric Bischoff was beaten up and subsequently thrown out of the building by The Dudley Boys. However, according to former ECW ring announcer Stephen DeAngelis on the Insider’s Edge Podcast, the show was originally meant to end with Vince McMahon:

“The original script for ECW One Night Stand actually ended, in the script, they didn’t do it that way, they changed it. Was Paul [Heyman] and Vince backstage, and Vince saying, ‘gee Paul, maybe ECW’s not dead after all.’ As you know, they didn’t end it that way,” DeAngelis said. “But that was my first hint that maybe there would be something else, moving on. It took a year later for them to do it. But there was like a hint of maybe promise of something. Or maybe they were just going to bring some ECW guys in and they wanted to acknowledge it on some level. But that was in the script.”

WWE would host a second ECW One Night Stand event in 2006, before bringing ECW back full-time as a third brand alongside RAW and SmackDown.

H/T: Wrestling Inc.