By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Former WWE wrestler Tommy Dreamer says the main reason he left WWE was he felt there was some behind-the-scenes maneuvering to intentionally water-down the ECW product to where it would have to be replaced.

Dreamer was five months into a five-year contract renewal when he decided to quit the company. He says WWE wanted to move him into a "veteran enhancement role" and he decided he didn't want to be utilized as such.

"There was a lot of behind the scenes where I felt they were self-destructing the ECW product. I know, for a fact, there were people that didn't want it to happen. They did a lot of things so it wouldn't be successful, which, to me, wasn't the greatest move in the world. That's kind of why I left," Dreamer told Phil Strum of the Poughkeepsie Journal.

"They didn't want me to leave. They wanted me to stay on board and help teach the other guys, but I didn't want to do that. I still feel I have something to offer."

Dreamer talked about the ECW replacement show - NXT - and said what a lot of people feel that WWE seems to be making it up as they go along without any real direction for the show. He said the show hasn't drawn ratings, just like ECW at the end. For clarification, the show started strong the first two weeks, then settled into the low-end range of ECW ratings last week.

"They've got their new show. They were talking about all these great ratings and that show hasn't produced new ratings at all," Dreamer said. "It's confusing. You have guys wrestling. In wrestling, we have to know who you are. Why do people like you? Why do people hate you? They'll have a good guy paired with a bad guy. People don't know these wrestlers from a hole in the wall. I think the production behind it, everyone's dream and all the footage, that's cool. But, it's not like a Tough Enough challenge. I think they're just doing it on the fly because I don't think THEY know what they're doing."

-- RELATED STORY: Dreamer talks TNA in-depth

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