What is & History of ECW + more.
Brief history and look at ECW
A re-cap for people who do not know ECW that well.
Or for those who like to remember.
Thanx to Wikipedia
Acronym: ECW
Established: 1992
Style: Hardcore wrestling
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Founder(s): Tod Gordon
Owner(s):Tod Gordon (1992-96)
Paul Heyman (1996-2001)
Vince McMahon (2001-present)
Parent: Eastern Championship Wrestling, Inc. (1992-94)
Extreme Championship Wrestling, Inc. (1994-95)
HHG Corporation (1995-2001)
World Wrestling Entertainment (2001-present)
Formerly: NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling
Championships
ECW World Heavyweight Championship (1992-2001)
ECW Tag Team Championship (1992-2001)
ECW World Television Championship (1992-2001)
ECW FTW Heavyweight Championship (1998-1999)
ECW Maryland Championship (1993)
ECW Pennsylvania Championship (1993)
What is Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW)
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) is a groundbreaking and influential professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon, and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001. The company became known for its loyal fanbase as well as its tendency to push the envelope with storylines. The group has showcased many different styles of professional wrestling, ranging from lucha libre to hardcore wrestling. World Wrestling Entertainment bought the rights to ECW after its 2001 closure, and it has been rumored that the company is planning on reviving the promotion later this year. Since 2005, WWE has promoted an annual ECW-brand event called ECW One Night Stand.
HISTORY:
NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling
ECW was founded in 1992, under the name Eastern Championship Wrestling as a member of the National Wrestling Alliance. After owner Tod Gordon had a falling out with head booker "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, Gordon chose Gilbert's friend and WCW alumnus Paul Heyman to replace him. Heyman's first show with the promotion was Ultra Clash '93 on September 18, 1993 at Viking Hall in Philadelphia. Some people have accused Heyman of stabbing Eddie Gilbert in the back and taking his job. The popular belief is that Eddie's drug use and unstable behavior was the real reason for his departure from ECW.
Paul Heyman felt that mainstream professional wrestling had become like rock & roll hair bands. When ECW was branching out, professional wrestlers had far more cartoonish gimmicks. The product was marketed more towards children than the 18-35 male demographic that ECW was aiming towards. There were also far more taboos such as blood-letting and women getting regularly beaten up by the male wrestlers. Heyman saw ECW as the professional wrestling equivalent to Nirvana.
Extreme Championship Wrestling
In 1994, Jim Crockett's non-compete agreement with Ted Turner, who purchased WCW from Crockett in 1988, was up and he decided to start promoting with the NWA again. So Crockett went to Tod Gordon and asked him to hold a tournament for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at the ECW Arena on August 27, 1994. NWA President Dennis Coralluzzo thought that Crockett and Gordon were going to try to monopolize the title (much like Crockett did in the 1980s) and told them they didn't have the NWA board's approval so he took control over the tournament. Gordon was upset at Coralluzzo for his power plays so Gordon and Shane Douglas, who was booked to win the title against 2 Cold Scorpio, planned to have Douglas throw the title down after he won it and break ECW from the NWA. In a now classic post-match speech, Shane Douglas said that he didn't want to be a part of an organization that "died" seven years earlier (presumably when Jim Crockett Promotions itself broke away from the NWA to become WCW).
After ECW withdrew from the NWA and officially changed its name from Eastern Championship Wrestling to Extreme Championship Wrestling, it became an underground sensation. The group would showcase many different styles of professional wrestling, popularizing bloody hardcore wrestling matches and the 3-Way Dance. ECW was always intended to be counter-culture and a grittier alternative to multi-million dollar organizations such as WWF and WCW. Wrestlers such as Shane Douglas, Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman, Cactus Jack, Terry Funk, Sabu, Public Enemy and the Tazmaniac helped launch the new ECW at this time. The bulk of ECW's shows remained at the aforementioned ECW Arena, a rundown bingo hall secluded under a section of Interstate 95. Seating comprised of simple folding chairs and four sets of portable bleachers, and the whole sort of unconventional set up reflected the gritty style of the wrestling itself. Shows were actually broadcast on a local cable sports station (SportsChannel America's local affiliate) on Tuesday evenings and an independent broadcast station (WGTW 48) in Philadelphia on either Friday or Saturday night at 1 or 2 a.m. Due to the obscurity of the stations and ECW itself, many times expletives and violence were not edited out of these showings, helping to get ECW noticed.
After noticing ECW's growing popularity, the "Big Two" (WCW and the WWF) started adopting their ideas and hiring away their talent. Paul Heyman believes that ECW was the first victim of the "Monday Night War" between WCW Monday Nitro and Monday Night RAW. While the WWF had somewhat of a working relationship with ECW (going as far as allowing cross-promotional storylines), WCW refused to even mention ECW by name, calling it "barbed wire city" and "a major independent promotion" that wrestled in bingo halls.
Vince McMahon claims that he put Paul Heyman on the WWF's payroll as compensation for the talent (namely Tazz, Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and The Dudleys) leaving ECW for the WWF. On the other hand, Heyman believes that Eric Bischoff never compensated him for ECW bred talent such as Mikey Whipwreck, Raven, Sandman, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, Steven Richards, Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock) and Chris Jericho leaving to go to WCW.
ECW was also said to have ushered in the WWF's "Attitude Era" because of it's use of violence and backstage brawls.
Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven
The legendary feud between Tommy Dreamer and Raven started in April 1995 and lasted until June 7, 1997, when Dreamer won a loser leaves ECW match at the ECW Arena. Dreamer had not won a singles match against Raven the entire feud. Dreamer stole Beulah McGillicutty from Raven during this feud.
Beulah was introduced soon after the outset of Raven/Tommy Dreamer. Her backstory was that, while Raven and Dreamer (allegedly former childhood friends) had been attending a summer camp in their teens, they had met Beulah, then fat. Beulah had fallen in love with Tommy Dreamer, but he rejected her, so she slept with Raven. Raven's lackey Stevie Richards brought Beulah to ECW so she could gain revenge on Dreamer by helping Raven. Beulah became Raven's valet, and suffered several piledrivers at the hands of Dreamer during the course of the feud.
After Raven left WCW in 1999, he rejoined ECW to team up with his old enemy, Tommy Dreamer. A reluctant tag team, Raven and Dreamer reigned as ECW World Tag Team Champions for several months. When they lost those belts, they feuded once again before Raven left for the WWF in the winter of 2000.
Dudley Family reign
The original Dudley Boys debuted in ECW on July 1, 1995. They were Dudley Dudley (the only "pure" Dudley in that both of his parents had the same last name, Dudley), Big Dick Dudley (the menacing enforcer, who Dudley Dudley claimed was the result of Big Daddy's fornication with the Holland Tunnel) and Lil' Snot Dudley (the underdog).
The original Dudley Boys were members of Raven's Nest throughout the summer of 1995. After Snot was injured by The Pitbulls at Hardcore Heaven 1995, he was replaced by Dances with Dudley, supposedly the result of Big Daddy Dudley's visit to a Cheyenne Indian reservation in Oklahoma, though he could, somewhat suspiciously, only speak Spanish or sing "One little, two little, three little Indians". Dances With Dudley was followed by the stuttering, dancing, overweight hillbilly Buh Buh Ray Dudley. The entourage was later expanded when the obese, slobbish Chubby Dudley and the mute, placard wielding Sign Guy Dudley (the result of Big Daddy Dudley's incarceration in an asylum) began accompanying the Dudleys to ringside. Bushwhacker Luke and Bushwhacker Butch even became honorary Dudleys for one night (hailing from the 'Little New Zealand neighborhood of Dudleyville'). Adult film star Jenna Jameson also had a one night appearance as Lady Dudley at an ECW pay per view.
On April 13, 1996 Dances With Dudley suffered a leg injury, and was attacked by the debuting African American D-Von Dudley as he was stretchered out. D-Von began warring with all the other Dudleys, citing that the comedy act they had been putting on all this time was not the way true Dudleys should be conducting themselves. He eliminated Dances With Dudley, Dudley Dudley and Chubby Dudley before eventually joined forces with Buh Buh (who he helped overcome his stutter) and Big Dick. The Dudleys became a powerful, unified heel force in 1997, but were soon challenged by the debuting stoner Little Spike Dudley ("LSD"), the last hold out face Dudley.
In 1998, Beulah McGillicutty grew tired of the wrestling business and was written out of storylines by having The Dudley Boyz "break her neck" by giving her their 3-D finisher.
Big Dick left ECW in 1999, and Buh Buh and D-Von followed soon after. Sign Guy then changed into Lou E. Dangerously, leaving Spike as the only remaining Dudley in ECW before the promotion folded in April 2001.
Steve Austin period
In 1995, Steve Austin was fired by World Championship Wrestling Vice President Eric Bischoff. Austin, who was healing from a tricep injury at the time, was disgruntled because he felt that Bischoff should have fired him to his face rather than via the telephone. Eventually, Austin was contacted by Paul Heyman, who had managed him in WCW. Heyman told Austin that since he had a TV show and Austin had a grievance, it would be a great opportunity to go on ECW television to air it.
While at ECW, Steve Austin used the platform to not only develop his future "Stone Cold" persona, but to also vent his frustrations toward WCW. Thus, what came was a series of humorous and biting vignettes which featured Austin lampooning such WCW luminaries as Hulk Hogan (Steve-a-Mania instead of Hulk-a-Mania) and most notably, Eric Bischoff (where Austin wore a bad, jet-black wig while targeting Bischoff). Perhaps Austin's most memorable promos involved a spoof of Monday Nitro entitled Monday Nyquil. On Monday Nyquil, Austin as Eric Bischoff announced that there would be a "Bottle of Geritol on a Pole" match, in which aging WCW performers who were past their prime (presumably Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, etc.) would use their canes and walkers to do battle. At "Bischoff's side was Bongo as opposed to Steve Mongo McMichael.
While with ECW, "Superstar" Steve Austin feuded with The Sandman and Mikey Whipwreck. Whipwreck, who was the ECW World Champion at the time, scored a huge upset win over Austin at the November To Remember, on November 18, 1995. Years later, Paul Heyman stated that he originally wanted to book Austin to win the World Championship, but Austin disagreed, feeling it would be better for business if Austin was the "hunter" instead of the "hunted."
The Night Kimona Danced Atop the ECW Arena
One of the more controversial ECW moments happened at ECW Hardcore Heaven '96, held at the ECW Arena. When the ring collapsed just before the scheduled main event between Rob Van Dam and Sabu, promoter Paul Heyman was forced to find a way to entertain the fans while the ring crew could repair it. His solution was to send ECW valet Kimona out onto the balcony atop the arena to do a striptease involving a towel, a $20 bill and very little else. In true pro wrestling fashion however, the striptease was more tease than strip - Kimona did not actually strip naked, rather she removed her underwear and brandished them, while concealed by her towel. It is rumored that this incident was what caused Kimona to leave ECW.
Technical Wrestlers
In the early nineties, ECW started fleshing out their roster with many Japanese-style technical workers. Too small and not charismatic enough to attract the attention of WCW or WWF, some of the world's greatest in-ring performers were going unused in North America. Chris Benoit, particularly, made a major impact as "The Crippler", a moniker he developed after breaking Sabu's neck, and using his hard-hitting technical style to cripple his opponents. He allied himself with shoot fighter Dean Malenko to feud with a red-hot young worker named Eddie Guerrero. Other notable additions included Chris Jericho and Perry Saturn.
It was long thought that the hardcore ECW audience wouldn't adapt to the smaller, technical wrestlers. That fanbase was used to seeing larger stars destroy each other with weapons and bleed each and every night, so when Paul Heyman introduced the light-heavyweights and middleweights, it was refreshing to the ECW audience who appreciated the pure wrestling aspect of the product, with an ECW twist. Granted, pure wrestling greats such as Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Chris Jericho weren't expected to be "hardcore", the fans enjoyed their work because they gave it their all each and every night. This love of pure wrestling would culminate with an incredible series of matches between "Shooter" Dean Malenko and the now-deceased Eddie Guerrero, ending with an emotional final match in the ECW Arena to which the fans emotionally chanted "please don't go" at the departing wrestlers.
Still looking for new stars to push that envelope, ECW management looked south. It had long been considered a simple fact of the business that American fans would never accept or enjoy the Mexican Lucha Libre style. But once again thumbing his nose at tradition, Heyman recruited such Luchadors as Rey Mysterio, Jr., Psicosis, Konnan and Juventud Guerrera. These diminutive workers looked almost like children next to the industry's usual 300 pound titans, but their lightning-fast, high-flying style quickly became a sensation in ECW.
Unfortunately, the success of these new styles didn't escape the attention of World Championship Wrestling. Every single one of the performers mentioned above was signed away by WCW, each one a crushing blow to ECW fans. ECW took the risks in introducing these workers to North America, and WCW reaped the rewards.
WWF Cross-Promotion
Storyline wise Vince McMahon first became aware of ECW while at the 1995 King of the Ring event in ECW's home base of Philadelphia. During the match between Mabel and Savio Vega, the crowd suddenly started to angrily chant "ECW." At the September 22, 1996 In Your House: Mind Games event in Philadelphia, ECW stars (The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Paul Heyman, and Tazz) were on hand in the front row with Sandman even interfering in one match (when he spat beer on Savio Vega during his strap match with Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw). McMahon acknowledged ECW's status as a local, up and coming organization on the air.
On February 17, 1997, during a broadcast of Monday Night RAW, while the camera focused on the commentators, Jerry Lawler noticed a (planted) fan behind him holding an "ECW Rules" sign. Irked, Lawler grabbed the sign from the fan and destroyed it, but the fan quickly held up a replacement sign. Annoyed still, Lawler did a worked shoot where he criticized The Blue Meanie and The Sandman. He went on to claim that ECW stood for "Extremely Crappy Wrestling." Later in the broadcast, Paul Heyman called into the show (he was identified on-screen as "ECW Representative") and claimed that he would show up, along with several ECW wrestlers the next week on Monday Night RAW from the Manhattan Center.
The following week, ECW "invaded." They advanced a storyline, plugged their first ever pay-per-view and worked three matches in front of the WWF audience while Vince McMahon called the action with both Jerry Lawler and Paul Heyman.
Lawler was upset at McMahon for giving "valuable airtime" to one of their competitors. It has long been believed that McMahon at this point was willing to do anything to get one over on WCW. (Although, to his (dis)credit, Todd Pettengill mistakenly referred to the ECW wrestlers as "WCW stars" on the WWF's weekend recap show, WWF Blast-Off.) During this time period, Monday Night RAW was being destroyed in the ratings of the Monday Night Wrestling Wars and it was thought that bringing in ECW for a couple of shots would attract that fanbase to WWF.
The Manhattan Center in New York was peppered with a large number of ECW fans, who gave the WWF wrestlers "BO-RING" chants when they felt it was warranted. Likewise, when the ECW performers arrived, they popped and introduced the WWF Monday night audience to some trademark ECW group chants. It was said that this episode was the beginning of what would eventually be called "The Attitude Era" of the WWF.
Perhaps the most memorable moment from the ECW/RAW cross-over episode involved Sabu executing a plancha onto "Team Taz" from atop the giant "R" in the word RAW that decorated the wrestler's entrance. Another memorable moment involved then ECW Tag Team Champions The Eliminators—Perry Saturn and John Kronus—delivering their finisher Total Elimination (two simultaneous spin kicks - one taking out the legs, the other hitting the chest) to a hapless ring attendant. Paul Heyman then entered the ring and told Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler that their "challenge has been accepted."
At the 1997 Wrestlepalooza event, Jerry Lawler made a surprise appearance at the ECW Arena. Wrestlepalooza '97 featured Raven's final ECW match before leaving for WCW. In this match, Tommy Dreamer finally beat his long time nemesis Raven. Dreamer's celebration was short-lived though as Jerry Lawler, along with Sabu and Rob Van Dam showed up to attack Dreamer. This set up a match between Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lawler at the 1997 Hardcore Heaven PPV on August 17, which was won by Dreamer.
Crucifixion
One of the most infamous moments in ECW history came on October 26, 1996 at an event called High Incident. The incident involved Raven crucifying The Sandman. The Sandman was locked in a feud with Raven over control of Tyler Fullington, The Sandman's young son. Tyler came out to hug his father before Raven came out through the crowd to hit Sandman with a cane. Raven proceeded to piledrive Sandman through two tables. With the help of The Sandman's estranged wife Lori, Stevie Richards, The Blue Meanie, and Super Nova, Raven tied Sandman to a wooden cross and gave him a barbed wire crown/halo around his head.
Kurt Angle was at the ECW Arena the night that Sandman was "crucified." Angle, who was fresh off of his 1996 Summer Olympic gold medal win was brought to ECW by Taz. Angle claims that he didn't know what ECW was. He thought ECW was a new wrestling promotion that was trying to be as realistic and trying to adopt an amateur-style performance. However, this was not to be as Angle realized that ECW was trying to be as sadistic and as brutal as it could be. Angle claims that he was so disgusted that he told Paul Heyman that if his name or image was seen on the same TV program as the crucifixion Heyman would be hearing from Angle's attorney. Heyman claimed that he had no idea that the crucifixion was going to happen at the time. Angle said on The Rise and Fall of ECW DVD that he believed him, but criticized Paul Heyman for not having at least some sort of reasonable control over his employees.
After the intermission, Raven had to come back out and apologize to anyone who was offended by his usage of religious iconography. Ultimately, the crucifixion incident was never televised because the nature of the imagery involved was deemed too controversial (even by ECW standards).
You can see the footage on the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD.
Mass Transit
On Christmas Eve, 1996, ECW lost the chance at getting a PPV due to the negative publicity surrounding the Mass Transit Incident. Mass Transit was the wrestling name of a 17-year-old named Erich Kulas. ECW held a house show in Revere, Massachusetts on November 23, 1996. Kulas asked manager Paul Heyman if he could fill in for a wrestler. Kulas, who had little to no previous training, allegedly lied to Heyman about his age (claiming he was 19) and falsified his documentation. During the match, wrestler New Jack bladed Kulas with an exacto knife (which New Jack now claims it was a surgical scalpel) and severed two arteries in Kulas' forehead, and paramedics rushed him to the hospital. The resulting controversy delayed ECW's arrival on Pay-Per-View, damaging its ability to compete with other wrestling organizations such as WCW.
Barely Legal
On April 13, 1997, ECW had its first wrestling card (Barely Legal) broadcast on pay-per-view, highlighted by Terry Funk winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at the ECW Arena. Getting the PPV on in the first place was a struggle. iN DEMAND, which at the time was called Viewer's Choice, was very hesitant at putting ECW on pay-per-view because of they felt that ECW was too vulgar and brutal and did not air the show. Paul Heyman claimed that this was part and partial due to the fact that UFC was being reprimanded over it's violent content at the time, but it was still getting PPVs. Request TV agreed to give ECW a pay-per-view under the condition that it air at 9:00 p.m. rather than the usual 7:00 p.m. time slot. A power transformer blew out shortly after the show went off the air due to all the power being used by the building. It is believed had the show gone on 10 seconds too late they would have lost the feed and nobody would have seen Terry Funk win the ECW World Title.
Funk collapsed shortly after the show from exhaustion, from having to wrestle through 2 matches and bleeding throughout almost all of both.
Results from the show are as follows:
The Eliminators defeated The Dudleys (Buh Buh Ray & D-Von) by pinfall to win the ECW World Tag Titles
Rob Van Dam defeated Lance Storm by pinfall
The Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada & Masato Yakushiji defeated Taka Michinoku, Dick Togo & Terry Boy by pinfall
"The Franchise" Shane Douglas defeated Pitbull #2 by pinfall to retain the ECW World TV Title
Taz defeated Sabu by submission with the Tazmission
Terry Funk won a triangle match by pinning Stevie Richards (w/ the Sandman's help) and then pinning the Sandman
Terry Funk defeated Raven by pinfall to win the ECW World Title
Justin Credible Period
In 1997, Peter Polaco left the World Wrestling Federation in favor of ECW, where Paul Heyman promised to make him a star. Polaco, who was previously performing under the names Aldo Montoya (The Portuguese Man O'War), shaved his head and switched to a grunge style of dress. The newly branded Justin Credible ("Now that's not just the coolest, that's not just the best, that's JUST INCREDIBLE!"), adopted a cocky, sneering, egomaniacal attitude. Jason Knight became his manager, along with Chastity and Nicole Bass. For his theme music, Polaco used the Prong song Snap Your Fingers, later covered by Grinspoon.
He quickly ascended the ranks, eventually forming a tag team, the Impact Players, with his trainer, Lance Storm. The teaming was successful, as the Players won the ECW Tag Team Championships on January 9, 2000 and March 12, 2000. The team split when Storm left ECW to go to WCW, at which point Polaco formed the New Impact Players with Steve Corino.
Polaco ascended to the main event in 2000, winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on April 22, 2000 at Cyberslam. Polaco managed to defeat Tommy Dreamer for the title just 18 minutes after Dreamer won it by defeating Taz (it was the first and only ECW World Heavyweight Championship in Dreamer's career). Polaco held the title for over five months, and defeated Tommy Dreamer once again in a Stairway To Hell match at Heatwave. He finally lost the title to Jerry Lynn on October 1, 2000.
In 2001, with ECW facing imminent bankruptcy and Paul Heyman becoming unable to pay the roster, Polaco returned to the WWF.
Negotiations With Extreme Associates
In March 1998, Buh Buh Ray Dudley brokered a deal between ECW and adult film company Extreme Associates. Lamonica was friends with Extreme Associates CEO Rob Black and set up meetings between Black and Paul Heyman, in which the two discussed the possibility of engaging in interpromotional dealings between each other's companies. There were plans for ECW to run shows on the West Coast, and also for their video tapes to be distributed in Brazil. However, for the most part, the deal did not work out and ECW broke its ties with Extreme Associates in early 1999. One result from the dealings that did transpire was the ECW debut of former-adult film star Jasmin St. Claire. Also, several ECW superstars such as Lamonica made (non-sex) appearances in adult films produced by Extreme Associates. Rob Black ended up forming his own independent organization, Xtreme Pro Wrestling, which developed a rivalry with ECW.
FTW
Taz announced the creation of the FTW (Fuck The World) Heavyweight Championship on May 14, 1998. Frustrated by his inability to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship from Shane Douglas, who was at the time absent and refusing to face him, Taz created and defended his own World Title, billing himself as the "real" World Champion.
Taz lost the title only once, intentionally pulling an unconscious Sabu over himself on December 19, 1998 (he was confident that he would defeat Shane Douglas in an upcoming title bout, and thus no longer needed the FTW Heavyweight Championship). Taz regained the title at Living Dangerously on March 21, 1999, where he unified the FTW Heavyweight Championship with the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (which he then held) by defeating Sabu in a title versus title match. Taz then began using only the ECW Heavyweight Championship title belt.
Mike Awesome Title Controversy
On September 19, 1999 at the Anarchy Rulz pay-per-view, in Villa Park, Illinois, Mike Awesome defeated Taz and Masato Tanaka in a 3-Way Dance to win the ECW World Heavyweight Title. Mike Awesome would hold on to the title until December 13, 1999 when he lost to Masato Tanaka. Ten days later though, Awesome would regain the title from Tanaka.
In March 2000, Awesome suddenly left ECW to join WCW even though he was still the reigning ECW World Heavyweight Champion. Rumor had it that Eric Bischoff wanted to drop the ECW belt in the trash can on television, as he did with the WWF Women's title with Alundra Blayze. This led to threats of legal action from ECW, so Awesome agreed to return to ECW to drop the title to 'anyone'. This would mark the only time that a WCW contracted wrestler (Mike Awesome) would wrestle against a WWF contracted wrestler (Taz) in an ECW sanctioned event.
The match between Mike Awesome and Taz took place in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 13, 2000. In a three minute long match, Tommy Dreamer hit the ring to give Awesome a DDT (in retaliation for an angle in which Awesome tried to collect a bounty on Dreamer) and Taz following it up by applying the Tazmission for the win. Taz then took the microphone and explained that he came back because when he left he did business "the right way" and that he just showed Awesome the right way by making him tap out. Awesome entered and departed the arena through the crowd, to avoid the tense ECW locker room.
Mike Awesome never came to the back. He stayed at his hotel with WCW security chief Doug Dillenger and several police officers until the match was to begin. He showed up at the building 15 minutes before the match, went in, lost, and went back out through the crowd and left. All contact between Awesome and ECW for the purposes of this match was done over cell phones.
TNN
Before ECW got a national television deal, its main sources of exposure were on the SportsChannel America syndication package, the MSG Network in New York City, AIN satellite, the Internet and tape trading. ECW would regularly hold a convention called Cyber Slam, where matches were broadcast over the Internet and fans could chat online with the wrestlers.
In August 1999, ECW began to broadcast nationally on TNN (for what was initially a three year contract); however, this signaled the beginning of the end. TNN didn't give ECW much money to produce their program, yet expected ECW to have high-quality production values like WCW Monday Nitro and Monday Night RAW. This was a problem within itself because Paul Heyman didn't want to change the look or compromise the integrity of the ECW brand anyway. The only times that TNN advertised ECW TV shows were during TNN's NASCAR broadcasts and during the ECW program itself.
TNN also censored a great deal of the program even though the violence and raunchiness were what made ECW so unique in the first place. TNN didn't want the theme song because according to Paul Heyman, it sounded "too demonic." TNN also didn't want any references to "hate" (they preferred "intense dislike") and wanted no music videos on the ECW program. During the first edition of ECW on TNN, Paul Heyman was so unsatisfied with the shoot that he did for TNN that he instead showed a replay of a match between Rob Van Dam and Jerry Lynn from the 1999 Hardcore Heaven pay-per-view.
Paul Heyman was so frustrated with the way TNN treated ECW that he went as far as cutting a shoot promo and addressed his utter hatred for TNN (or "The Network" as Heyman called it on television). Heyman believed that TNN used ECW as simply a guinea pig to see if professional wrestling could work on the network. That and the fact they wanted to see if another show, RollerJam, would work as well, as it was right after ECW shows.
Heyman decided to recruit Don Callis, who played the part of Cyrus, to serve as an onscreen metaphor for the real problems between ECW and TNN at that point. Callis played a representative for TNN/The Network, who constantly criticized the violent nature of ECW programming.
Even though ECW became TNN's highest rated show, TNN was at the time of Heyman's "shoot" publicly negotiating with Vince McMahon's WWF product. ECW on TNN was cancelled in October 2000 (with the final episode airing on October 6, 2000) in favor of RAW moving to the network.
To this day, Paul Heyman strongly believes that the lack of a national television deal (especially after the TNN trial) was the main cause of ECW's demise.
XPW Invasion
In 2000, ECW decided to promote a PPV in Los Angeles. It was the first time that ECW tried to stage a West Coast event. Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) soon started to make statements that ECW was on their "turf" and that they would disrupt ECW's upcoming PPV. ECW was taking big financial risks by promoting the show in California and felt that XPW was just a small indy fed (even though ECW essentially started out the same way) who was trying to get themselves over at ECW's expense.
As the PPV was starting, XPW wrestlers made their way to the front row where they got tickets for. During the PPV, they wore XPW shirts and shouted at the wrestlers. Contrary to reports at the time which stated that XPW valet Kristi Myst grabbed or touched Francine, Francine herself has since gone on record as saying that she was never grabbed or in any other way touched by any of the XPW crew, and other eye witnesses support this.
Chaos immediately ensued as a bunch of ECW wrestlers ran down to ringside and started fighting with the XPW wrestlers. The fight continued all the way into the parking lot where the ECW guys defeated the XPW ring crew in a street fight. The whole confrontation didn't help XPW though since most of the fans didn't know what was going on and the entire fight was not caught by the cameras.
A week after the fight took place XPW owner Rob Black started making statements about how the ECW performers double-teamed his XPW performers and even went as far as beating up a woman. The charges were filed in court but were dismissed as a result of ECW declaring bankruptcy in 2001.
Rob Van Dam's injury
Rob Van Dam, who joined ECW in 1996, became nationally (and internationally) known in ECW, culminating in a record 23-month reign as ECW World Television Champion, before suffering a broken leg just weeks before he was scheduled to perform in a "TV champion vs. World champion" pay-per-view broadcast’s main event. Many ECW fans have cited this event as the beginning of the end for the trendsetting, yet financially shaky, promotion. This match would have been the most (potentially) lucrative PPV main event in company history; Paul Heyman was depending on this mega-match to bring an influx of badly-needed cash. Business problems aside, "RVD" was arguably the most popular wrestler to ever grace an ECW ring, and has become one of the most popular and praised wrestlers in the world today.
Bankruptcy
ECW struggled for months after the cancellation, trying to secure a new national TV deal, but could not. On December 30, 2000, ECW Hardcore TV aired for the last time. Despite help from the WWF, Heyman could not get out of financial trouble and filed for bankruptcy on April 4, 2001.
The company was listed as having assets totaling $1,385,500. Included in that number was $860,000 in accounts receivable owed the company by iN DEMAND Network (PPV), Acclaim (video games), and Original San Francisco Toy Company (action figures). The balance of the assets were the video tape library ($500,000), a 1998 Ford Truck ($19,500) and the remaining inventory of merchandise ($4,000).
The liabilities of the company totaled $8,881,435.17. The bankruptcy filing included hundreds of claims, including production companies, buildings ECW ran in, TV stations ECW was televised on, travel agencies, phone companies, attorney's fees, wrestlers, and other talent. Wrestlers and talent were listed, with amounts owed ranging from $0 for Sabu and Steve Corino to hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of dollars. The highest amounts owed to talents were Rob Van Dam ($150,000), Tommy Dreamer ($100,000), Joey Styles ($50,480), Shane Douglas ($48,000), and Francine ($47,275).
Rumor has it that Paul Heyman didn't pay the wrestlers for well over a month as the company was dying. He supposedly never told the wrestlers the company was on its last legs. ECW performers saw Heyman on WWE RAW and put two and two together. Moreover, Heyman allegedly wasn't even at the ECW shows. He allegedly was able to buy himself time by telling everyone to be patient because he was out in California working on securing a new TV deal for ECW. It is now argued by some that Heyman was actually spending the money on hiring an agent, filming the movie Rollerball, and spending money buying drinks and suites for Hollywood, California types with the wrestlers' pay. Many say that is because Paul Heyman's ego wouldn't allow him to give up so much stake (and go meet with potential financial backers) in the company.
Towards the end of ECW's run, Tommy Dreamer had started doing much of the booking duties along with Raven and Lance Storm.
Alliance storyline
Soon after ECW closed, Heyman was hired by the WWF as an on-air character and writer. During The Invasion, some former ECW wrestlers "reformed" with the storyline being that Stephanie McMahon was the company's new owner. Along with WCW (owned by Shane McMahon), they joined together and formed The Alliance. Heyman and Stephanie McMahon brought together the Dudley Boys, Tazz, Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer among others.
Throughout the Summer and Fall of 2001, the Alliance and WWF fought back and forth in battles that culminated with a Winner Take All match at the 2001 Survivor Series. The Rock and Steve Austin were the remaining survivors for their respective teams. The Alliance lost after Rock pinned Austin, forcing their faction to disband.
Documentaries
In the Summer of 2003, WWE purchased ECW's assets in bankruptcy court, acquiring the rights to ECW's video library. They used this video library to put together a two-disc DVD entitled The Rise and Fall of ECW. The set was released in November 2004. The main feature of the DVD was a three-hour documentary on the company's history, with the other disc featuring matches from the promotion. The DVD sold well, and is currently ranked as WWE's second highest-selling DVD of all time, behind WrestleMania XX.
An unauthorized DVD called Forever Hardcore was produced by former ECW crew member Jeremy Borash in response to Rise and Fall of ECW. The DVD had stories of wrestlers who were not employed by WWE telling their side of the ECW's history. The strong sales of both Rise and Fall of ECW and Forever Hardcore prompted both World Wrestling Entertainment and Hardcore Homecoming to run ECW reunion shows in 2005.
Reunion shows
07/08/2001 - A Reunion of Stars (Buffalo, NY)
06/10/2005 - Hardcore Homecoming: An Extreme Reunion (Philadelphia, PA)
06/12/2005 - ECW One Night Stand (New York, NY)
09/16/2005 - Hardcore Homecoming: Extreme Reunion Tour (Columbus, OH)
09/17/2005 - Hardcore Homecoming: Extreme Reunion Tour (Monaca, PA)
11/05/2005 - Hardcore Homecoming: November Reign (Philadelphia, PA)
06/11/2006 - ECW One Night Stand II (New York, NY)
Tod Gordon takes on WWE
In December 2005, Eastern Championship Wrestling founder Tod Gordon challenged WWE's ownership of the "Eastern Championship Wrestling" section of the ECW video library, claiming that the state didn't have the right to sell that section of the video library to Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment. He also claims that Eastern Championship Wrestling, Inc. was separate from Extreme Championship Wrestling. A hearing was set for January 26, 2006 to determine if Gordon's suit bears any merit. This was eventually postponed until March 5, 2006.
It was reported on May 8, 2006 that the bankruptcy court has thrown out the case. However, it is reported that Gordon plans to appeal the case.
Revival
On April 23, 2006, rumors surfaced that ECW would be revived in September of that year as a full-time promotion. It was announced that The Sandman, Balls Mahoney, and Francine Fournier had been sent 3-year contracts by World Wrestling Entertainment and that Paul Heyman and Tommy Dreamer would book future events. The revived ECW is expected to run house shows and weekly television programming. So far, additional fuel has been added to this rumor as Sabu announced on his website that he had signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.
It has also been speculated that this revived ECW may replace OVW (Ohio Valley Wrestling) and/or DSW (Deep South Wrestling) both of which are WWE developmental territories. However, this is still only speculation and more information will likely be known as One Night Stand 2006 comes closer.
On April 26, 2006, WWE confirmed a show entitled WWE vs. ECW Head-to-Head which will help promote ECW's One Night Stand pay-per-view. It will air June 7, 2006 on the USA Network from 9 p.m.-11 p.m. ET from the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. According to WWE's mobile service, both RAW and SmackDown! talent will participate as well. This has also been confirmed by the WWE website.
It has been rumored that WWE has decided to cancel Velocity on WWE.com, part of the SmackDown! brand. It has been further rumored that ECW will be taped prior to SmackDown! on Tuesdays, with the intention to air it on WWE.com and/or ECW.com at some point after One Night Stand, until they are able to secure a television deal for the ECW brand.
On May 1, 2006, it was announced that WWE had booked the ECW Arena in Philadelphia for an ECW house show to be held on June 24, 2006, the first time that ECW will have held a show at their spiritual home since December 2000. That same night, the voice of ECW, Joey Styles quit his job as a commentator on RAW in a worked shoot. Joey Styles wrote what he was going to say himself and presented it to the WWE creative team and a lot of employees within WWE, wrestlers and staff alike, were shocked that Styles was allowed to say what he did.
Lance Storm has made first comment on the ECW revival, he has stated that his wrestling academy came first and his role would be a limited one, as he is not going to give up his family or school full time.
C.W. Anderson confirmed that he was signed with WWE as part of the revived ECW in April through the Zero 1 website. [1]
Former ECW Champion The Sandman, has also announced, through a post by his agent on the forum of his official website, that he has signed a contract with WWE, with the implication it is as part of the rumored ECW brand.
On May 4, 2006, WWE.com confirmed, as reported on the Mobile Alert system, the following wrestlers had been signed: Sabu, Jazz, Axl Rotten, Balls Mahoney, C.W. Anderson. The Sandman, Francine, Danny Doring, and Tony Mamaluke were announced as returning the following day (May 5).[2]
On May 5, 2006, Francine confirmed her sigining with WWE on her Myspace account. [3]
Other names rumored to be used includes Kid Kash , Super Crazy ,Justin Credible , Lance Storm (expected to work part-time), Steven Richards , Johnny Swinger and Simon Dean
Tradition
There were several distinctive fans that were always in the front row at ECW shows. Among them were Sign Guy, Hat Guy and Faith No More Guy. They gained their respective nicknames because Sign Guy always had different creative signs with him, Hat Guy always wore a straw hat and Hawaiian shirt, and Faith No More Guy looked a lot like "Big" Jim Martin, former guitarist for rock band Faith No More. Regular patrons of ECW Arena events were given Club ECW status by the promotion and were able to reserve seats ahead of the general public. Many members of Club ECW were present at Shane Douglas's 2005 Hardcore Homecoming shows in Philadelphia and at ECW One Night Stand.
Crowds at ECW events were generally known for their distinctive chants that either supported or demeaned what was transpiring in the ring. ECW Chants such as "You fucked up" and "Holy shit" are still used by fans of other promotions.
In ECW, there were virtually no rules. Weapons were abundant, with much blood spilled. There were referees, but their role was normally limited to counting pinfalls and acknowledging submissions.
ECW was known for making popular several types of matches:
Barbed Wire Match
Flaming Tables Match
Singapore Cane Match
Stairway to Hell Match
Three-Way Dance
ECW was also infamous for regularly holding "Bring Your Own Weapon Night" at ECW Arena in the early days of the promotion. Fans were encouraged to bring their own weapons to give to wrestlers, as fighting in the crowd was a staple of ECW matches. A dollar store located next to ECW Arena often supplied the bulk of the weapons, with fans purchasing them while they waited in line for each show. Memorable weapons included crutches, a two-man kayak, a Leonard Cohen vinyl record, a VCR (with remote), and a Nintendo Entertainment System. A cast iron skillet actually helped put an end to "Bring Your Own Weapon Night" when wrestler Cactus Jack, believing it to be lighter than it was, swung the skillet at full force into The Sandman's head, severely injuring him.
