Friday, July 30 – 12:47 P.M. (CT)

TNA has managed to round up most of the usual suspects for the latest ECW reunion show. However, we won't have any idea whether the most important element of this show will be in the building until show time on August 8.

No, I'm not talking about Paul Heyman, who would probably prefer a crack Albert Haynesworth's conditioning test over stepping foot inside the Impact Zone that night.

I'm also not talking about Sabu, Tod Gordon, Shane Douglas, or Terry Funk. I'm talking about the true star of the first ECW "One Night Stand" pay-per-view and arguably the biggest star of the ECW era.

I'm talking about the true ECW fans. The intense, fanatical fans who weren't afraid to yell "You f---ed up" when a wrestler botched a spot. The same fans who threw t-shirts back in the face of WWE star John Cena. The same fans who gleefully throw chairs inside the ring when given some encouragement.

The usual crowd at the Impact Zone will presumably deliver their best impersonation of the regulars who attended ECW events during the promotion's glory days. They'll happily chant "EC-Dub" and other familiar chants. Well, at least they better. We'll know it's not the real deal the first time we hear one of those corny "EV2.0" chants.

It could happen. Let's not forget that the Impact Zone attendees are considered cast members by TNA. I would have pitied the producer who tried to make that statement to a venue filled with true ECW fans. Hell, I'd love to see the look on Dixie Carter's face if she stepped foot in a true ECW ring only to be serenaded with the classic "She's a crack whore" chant.

In a perfect world, TNA would find Tye-Dye Guy, Sign Guy, or any of the better known ECW super fans and hire them for one night only. No, not to sit in the crowd, but rather to work the velvet rope I'd set up outside the Impact Zone.

If a fan wearing a Sting or Hulk Hogan t-shirt shows up at the rope, they should be mocked, ridiculed, and eventually denied entrance as if they were a nerd trying to gain entry into a trendy nightclub.

Any fan sporting the latest Jeff Jarrett, Abyss, or even a TNA produced Mick Foley shirt should be taunted and jeered until they simply walk away. Hand them passes that guarantee them admittance to the next two nights of TNA Impact tapings, but keep them the hell out of the makeshift ECW Arena.

If a fan shows up with a household appliance he wants the wrestlers to use as weapons, the rope should be pulled back for automatic admittance. Any fan with an offensive sign should also be welcomed with open arms. Any fan sporting an original ECW t-shirt is also welcome to what should be a private party.

Finally, we have to address the lack of heavy drinking inside the Impact Zone. In the case of questionable fans, the "ECW security" team should issue breath tests. A 0.11 might be considered over the legal limit, but that's "just warming up" for many of the ECW faithful. Send those pussies back to the bar and tell them to check back after four more shots.

I don't care if they have to turn away 2,000 TNA-loving fans and only find 250 ECW diehards that qualify for entry, this won't feel like a real ECW reunion show without the right fans making spectacles of themselves. I don't want to spend a night listening to a bunch of posers pretend to be diehards. Only the real ECW fans are allowed entry to this mess or we riot.

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