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Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was a groundbreaking and influential professional wrestling promotion. The company became known for its rabidly loyal fanbase as well as its tendency to push the envelope with several extreme storylines. ECW, for instance, featured the first ever lesbian storyline in professional wrestling between Kimona Wana-Laya and Beulah McGillicutty. The group would showcase many different styles of professional wrestling, popularizing bloody hardcore wrestling and the three way dance. It was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon, and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001.

NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling

ECW was founded in 1992, under the name Eastern Championship Wrestling, and upon its foundation, it was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance. After owner Tod Gordon had a bad falling out with head booker Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert, Gordon called upon Paul Heyman. Gordon called Heyman because Heyman was Eddie Gilberts closest confidant. Gordon wanted Heyman to help him book a big show called Ultra Clash 93 (on September 18, 1993) at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia. Some people have accused Heyman of stabbing Eddie Gilbert in the back and taking his job. The popular belief is that Eddies 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.

In 1994, Jim Crocketts 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 didnt have the NWA boards 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 didnt 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 Tasmaniac helped launch the new ECW at this time. The bulk of ECWs 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 Americas 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.

Extreme Championship Wrestling - History

After noticing ECWs 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 WWFs payroll as compensation for the talent (namely Taz, 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.

Tommy Dreamer Versus 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. Ravens lackey Stevie Richards brought Beulah to ECW so she could gain revenge on Dreamer by helping Raven. Beulah became Ravens 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.

The 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 Daddys fornication with the Holland Tunnel) and Lil Snot Dudley (the underdog).

The original Dudley Boys were members of Ravens 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 Dudleys 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 Dudleys 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.

The 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 Austins 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 Bischoffs 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.

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 worlds 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 Sabus neck. 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 wouldnt 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 and Chris Jericho werent 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 dont 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 woul 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 industrys usual 300 pound titans, but their lightning-fast, high-flying style quickly became a sensation in ECW.

Unfortunately, the success of these new styles didnt 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 ECWs home base of Philadelphia. During the match between Mabel and Savio Vega, the crowd suddenly started to angrily chant ECW. At the subsequent In Your House: Mind Games event in Philadelphia, ECW stars (the Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Paul Heyman and Taz) 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 ECWs status as a local, up and coming organization on the air.

On the February 24, 1997 edition of RAW from the Manhattan Center, ECW invaded. They advanced a storyline, plugged their first ever pay-per-view and worked three matches in front of the WWF audience, and Vince McMahon called the action with both Jerry Lawler and Paul Heyman.

Jerry Lawler himself was not a fan of ECW, and even went as far as dubbing ECW Extremely Crappy Wrestling. 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. During this time period, 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.

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 wrestlers 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 Ravens final ECW match before leaving for WCW. In this match, Tommy Dreamer finally beat his long time nemesis Raven. Dreamers 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.

The 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 Sandmans 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 Sandmans 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 was so disgusted by the incident 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 Angles 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 Paul Heyman if he could fill in for Axl Rotten, who was scheduled to tag with D-Von Dudley, in a match against the Gangstas, New Jack and Mustapha Saed. The problem was that Kulas had little to no previous training, yet insisted that Killer Kowalski had trained him. He also lied to Heyman about his age (claiming that he was 19) and falsified his documentation. His father also vouched for him.

Performers testify that Kulas was very arrogant backstage and demanding spots in the match. Kulas was informed before the match that he would have to blade. Kulas asked New Jack to blade him since he never had done it himself and New Jack agreed, without specifying how deep he wanted to be cut. New Jack accidentally cut Kulas forehead too deeply with an exacto knife and severed two arteries in Kulas forehead. The reason for this was because since Kulas had never bladed, it took more effort to draw blood. New Jack claims in the Forever Hardcore documentary that he did not use an exacto knife but used a surgical scalpal. The footage of the event showed Kulas screaming immediately after the blade job was done. New Jack and Mustapha continually beat Kulas into the ground, hitting him square in the forehead with a toaster and finally New Jack hit his trademark 187 top rope chair dive. New Jack covered Kulas and counted to three himself. Then went on a tirade on the microphone. At this point, the camera zoomed in on Kulas forehead showing blood gushing from the wound. Kulas eventually passed out during the match as the blood was literally spraying out of his head, with his father yelling thats enough! and hes only 17! when Kulas was cut and being beaten. Apparently, New Jack did this in retaliation to the rookies backstage attitude. Soon after, Kulas family sued ECW and New Jack over the incident, but the jury acquitted New Jack and ECW. Kulas passed away on May 12, 2002 at the age of 22 due to complications from gastric bypass surgery. Shortly there after, the pay per view was back on, after the efforts by Paul Heyman.

Soon after the Barely Legal PPV, Tod Gordon sold ECW to Paul Heyman. They would then broadcast bi-monthly on PPV. Gordon was kept on as a figurehead commissioner. Gordon was ultimately fired or resigned (at least according to the storyline) due to continuing rumors that he had been working as a locker room mole, who was helping WCW secure ECW talent.

Eventually, Paul Heyman was in the process of suing WCW for the breach of contract of Raven who had joined WCW in June 1997. Heyman though, didnt have the legal power and finances so he dropped the case for a while and it was never picked up again.

Barely Legal

On April 13, 1997, ECW had its first wrestling card (Barely Legal) broadcast on pay-per-view, highlighted by 53-year-old legend 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 Viewers 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. Heyman claims that this was part and partial due to the fact that UFC was being reprimanded over its 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

* 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 Sandmans help) and then pinning the Sandman
* Terry Funk defeated Raven by pinfall to win the ECW World Title

The 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 OWar), shaved his head and switched to a grunge style of dress. The newly branded Justin Credible (Now thats not just the coolest, thats not just the best, thats 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 Dreamers 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.

The FTW Heavyweight Championship

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.

The Mike Awesome Title Controversy

On September 19, 1999 at the Anarchy Rules 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. Rumour had it that Eric Bischoff wanted to drop the ECW belt in the trash can on television, as he did with the WWF Womens 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 set up one of the most unique matches in professional wrestling history. It marked the only time that a WCW contracted wrestler (Mike Awesome) would wrestle against a WWF contracted wrestler (Taz) in an ECW sanctioned event.

The historic 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.

XPW

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 ECWs 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 ECWs expense. So when XPW wrestlers showed up at the PPV, ECW was ready for them.

As the PPV was starting, XPW wrestlers made their way to the front row where they managed to get tickets for. During the PPV, they wore XPW shirts and shouted at the wrestlers. Things unfortunately got too serious when one of XPWs valets, Kristi Myst, pushed ECWs Francine (Several eyewitnesses claim that Myst grabbed one of Francines breasts). 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 roster in a street fight.

The whole confrontation didnt help XPW though since most of the fans didnt know what was going on and the entire fight was not caught by the cameras. Most fans also think that ECW did what they had to do and XPW was way out of line to begin with and shouldnt have been there.

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 and child. These claims are thought to be false though since the woman and child in question never came out to confirm the claim.

TNN

Before ECW got a national television deal, its main sources of exposure were on the SportsChannel America syndication package, on 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 themselves.

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 didnt 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 didnt want to change the look or compromise the integrity of the ECW brand anyway. Also, TNN poorly advertised and promoted ECW -- there were barely any press releases or television ads. The only times that TNN actually advertised ECW TV shows were during TNNs 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 didnt want the theme song because according to Paul Heyman, it sounded too demonic. TNN also didnt 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 TNNs highest rated show, TNN was at the time of Heymans shoot publicly negotiating with Vince McMahons WWF product. ECW on TNN was cancelled in October 2000 (with the final episode airing on October 6, 2000) in favor of RAW jumping over 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 ECWs demise. This is ironic since almost everyone who worked for him believed it was due to his lack of business savvy.

More Bad Luck

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 unfortunate 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 talented 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, attorneys 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 didnt 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 wasnt 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 Heymans ego wouldnt allow him to give up so much stake (and go meet with potential financial backers) in the company.

Towards the end of ECWs run, Tommy Dreamer had started doing a lot of the booking along with Raven and Lance Storm.

Tod Gordon takes on WWE

In December 2005, Eastern Championship Wrestling founder Tod Gordon challenged WWEs ownership of the Eastern Championship Wrestling section of the ECW video library, claiming that the state didnt 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 Gordons suit bears any merit. This has now been postponed until March 5, 2006.

ECW in WWF

The Alliance

Soon after ECW closed, Heyman was hired by the WWF as an on-air character and writer. During The Invasion, the former ECW wrestlers reformed ECW with the storyline being Stephanie McMahon as the owner. Along with the WCW (with Shane McMahon being the owner) they joined together to form 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 culminating in a Winner Take All Match at the 2001 Survivor Series. The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were the remaining survivors for their teams. The Alliance lost, after The Rock pinned Steve Austin, meaning their faction had to disband.

The Alliance storyline was heavily criticized by fans. During the storylines, the WWF made all of their own wrestlers look vastly superior to the ECW and WCW wrestlers, which diminished those wrestlers credibility.

The Rise and Fall of ECW

In the Summer of 2003, WWE purchased ECWs assets in bankruptcy court, acquiring the rights to ECWs 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 companys history. The other disc featured bonus matches from ECWs history and hidden promos from wrestlers.

The DVD sold incredibly well. Many retailers, including online sellers like Amazon.com and Best Buy could not keep enough in stock. The feature is currently ranked as WWEs second highest-selling DVD of all time, with the WrestleMania XX set topping the list.

An unauthorized DVD called Forever Hardcore was produced by former ECW crew member and current TNA announcer and backstage advisor Jeremy Borash in response to the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD. The DVD basically had stories of wrestlers who were not employed by WWE at the time telling their side of the ECW story. (Although due to copyright and trademark issues, the phrase ECW was never spoken and footage of matches were not included in the DVD and used pictures of matches in its place) Forever Hardcore is generally considered to be more of a companion DVD to the Rise and Fall DVD.

Reunion shows

ECW One Night Stand

After WWE acquired Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), many stars of ECW and WCW started wrestling for other professional wrestling promotions such as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). For the first time since the WWF Survivor Series pay-per-view event in 2001, WWE organized a show featuring ECW wrestlers: ECW One Night Stand. Rob Van Dam had previously suggested to Vince McMahon that he produce an ECW alumni show, but was turned down. However, after the success of the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD (the highest-selling WWE-produced home video title to date) the show went ahead.

After reports to the contrary, WWE television eventually promoted the event. This effort included an edition of WWE RAW where Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman, the primary figures of the three major wrestling promotions of the 1990s, appeared in the same ring for the first time.

It was announced on February 18th, 2006 that ECW would have another Pay-Per-View, ECW Another One Night Stand, by Paul Heyman at the house show on Long Island, New York in the Nassau Colisseum. Heyman was introduced by former ECW wrestler Tazz to announce the return of ECW on Pay-Per-View. The event will take place on June 11, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit have pitched the idea of having a match against each other, as a tribute to the late Eddie Guerrero, who was also an ECW competitor. Terry Funk, Sabu and Tajiri have all been contacted by John Laurinaitis, the Executive VP of Talent Relations for WWE to make an appearance at the event, but neither one of the three have officially accepted the offer yet. WWE is also reported to be more strict about signing all outside talent not under contract with WWE, as they do not want another Hardcore Homecoming event happening. But with former ECW wrestlers such as Rhino, the Dudley Boyz and Jerry Lynn under contract with TNA, it could be that some vital superstars in ECW will be unable to participate. Especially with a now fit again Rob Van Dam having issues over the attack from Rhino a potential match between the two looks unable to take place due to the TNA contract.

Hardcore Homecoming

Shane Douglas booked a competing ECW reunion show called Hardcore Homecoming that took place on June 10, 2005 at the ECW Arena. The event was not officially promoted as an ECW show, since WWE owns the rights to the ECW name. The main event of the night was a three way dance in a ring with barb wire ropes. The match was a rematch of what was called The Match that Started It All. In the first match, Sabu, Terry Funk and Shane Douglas wrestled in the first ever three way dance under a time limit of 60 minutes. The rematch featured Mick Foley as a special guest referee.

The night also featured the likes of: Raven, The Blue Meanie, Tod Gordon and many other former ECW performers. The event was later release as a two disc DVD with the first being the Event and the second included extra match and footage. Following Hardcore Homecoming, Douglas organized a tour which began on September 16, 2005 at the Agora Theater in Cleveland, Ohio, continued at the Golden Dome in Monaca, Pennsylvania on September 17, and concluded at the ECW Arena on November 5, 2005 in a show known as November Reign.

Books

* Turning the Tables, the first book about Extreme Championship Wrestling, is available now
* The Rise And Fall of ECW, an official ECW history is scheduled for May 23, 2006
* Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the Ecw by Scott Williams is available now.
* Tod Gordon is working on a behind-the-scenes book.

DVDs

* The Rise and Fall of ECW, an official ECW history, is available now
* ECW One Night Stand, A one time reunion of the ECW Superstars, is available now
* Hardcore Homecoming, an Extreme Reunion, is available now
* Blood Sport: ECWs Most Violent Matches, the most violent matches in ECW History, is available now

Final champions

This is a list of the champions as they were on April 10, 2001, when ECW shut down for good.
Championship Final champion(s)

ECW World Heavyweight Champion Rhino
ECW World Television Champion Rhino
ECW World Tag Team Champions Danny Doring & Roadkill

Famous crowd chants

General chants

* E-C-W! used in the promotion when something extreme or hardcore was going on, it is now used for memorable moves by wrestlers who originally had a connection to the league. (Usually sounds like or shortened to E-C-Dub!)
* Philly sucks! employed by New York City-based fans, claiming to be more wild than the Philly fans.
* Fuck New York! employed by Philadelphia-based fans, striking back at the Philly sucks! chant.
* This is brutal! chanted when the match was bloody and had lots of weapons
* Holy shit! chanted by the fans when a wrestler used shocking moves that could have put the wrestlers in harms way.
* Oh my God! a chanted variation on announcer Joey Styles famed catchphrase
* Sit the fuck down! an invective typically reserved for conspicuously disruptive crowd members
* Shut the fuck up! chanted by the fans when a heel wrestler(s) talked too much or negatively towards a face wrestler or towards ECW, during a shoot or promo interview or so. Sometimes used when fans were angry at other fans chants
* Sweep it up, asshole. Sweep it up! anytime someone swept up debris from the ring
* This match rules! used when fans are really enjoying a match.
* This is awesome! same as above
* Shes got Herpes! a chant geared toward heel female managers (Francine, Beulah, Kimona Wanalaya)
* EC FUCKING DUB! a chant created during Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk vs Sandman and Cactus Jack

Wrestler-specific chants

* Justin (read: just an) asshole! a welcoming chant specific to Justin Credible
* Wheres My Pizza? a welcoming chant specific to the F.B.I. and/or Little Guido
* Big Sal Ate It! a response chant directed at the F.B.I. enforcer Big Sal E. Graziano, a 600 lb. wrestler.
* You fuck sheep! a welcoming chant specific to Roadkill
* The whole fuckin show! Rob Van Dams chant when he won a match
* Taz is gonna kill you! chanted at the opponents of Taz
* Fuck em up Taz, Fuck em up! During the Tazs matches
* Whats your name? chanted at Buh Buh Ray Dudley, who would stutter as he tried to pronounce his own name.
* Fuck you Bischoff! insult directed to WCWs Eric Bischoff.
* You still suck! chanted at Stevie Richards when he first came to ECW doing one personality after another.
* Fuck em up Sandman, Fuck em up! During the Sandmans matches
* Sandmans gonna kill you! Chanted at opponents of The Sandman
* SHAH! Chanted when the Shah Hack Myers would chop or punch an opponent
* SHIT! Chanted when an opponent chopped or punched Shah Hack Myers
* BALLS! Chanted when Balls Mahoney would chop or punch opponents
* SUCK! Chanted when an opponent chopped or punched Balls Mahoney
* You Fucked Up! When a wrestler made a mistake in the ring

General performer chants

* Shes a crack whore! usually directed at any number of heel female valets.
* Show your tits! directed toward the promotions various female performers.
* You fat fuck! used for welcoming overweight wrestlers.
* You fucked up! used when a wrestler botches a spot/move. (Also used when a fan is escorted out of the building by security)
* You sold out! used to decry those ECW wrestlers who had chosen to leave the promotion, usually for the WWF or WCW.
* Please dont go! used when loved wrestlers on the ECW roster left the promotion.
* Welcome Back! used when wrestlers returned to ECW from WWF/E, WCW or somewhere else.
* You suck dick! usually directed towards heel wrestlers.
* He/Shes hardcore! used to praise a performer, often one engaging in wanton violence; originated as a sarcastic chant directed at Tommy Dreamer.
* Wooo chanted after a wrestler chopped another. As a homage to Ric Flair

Trademarks

There were three distinctive fans that were always in the front row at ECW shows. They were commonly known as 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 a Hawaiian shirt , and Faith No More Guy looked a lot like Big Jim Martin, the former guitarist for rock band Faith No More. Hat Guy and Faith No More Guy were also in the front row of Shane Douglass recent ECW nostalgia event, Hardcore Homecoming. Numerous other fans were regular staples of the shows in Philadelphia, as well as those in New York, New Jersey and Florida.

In ECW, there were virtually no rules at all. Weapons were abundant, and much blood was spilled. There were referees, but their role was normally limited to counting pinfalls and acknowledging submissions.

In addition to the several match types, ECW was also infamous for holding Bring Your Own Weapon Night at the ECW Arena in the early days of Extreme Championship Wrestling. Fans were encouraged to bring their own weapons to give to wrestlers to use on each other, as fighting in the crowd was also a staple of ECW matches. A dollar store located next to the ECW Arena was often the supplier of the bulk of weapons, as fans would purchase them as they waited in line. But more creative weapons included crutches, a two-man kayak, a Leonard Cohen vinyl record, a VCR (with remote), a Nintendo Entertainment System and a cast iron skillet; which actually helped put an end to Bring Your Own Weapon Night when in the heat of a match wrestler Catcus Jack (Mick Foley, Mankind) swung the skillet at full force into his opponent The Sandmans head, severely injuring him.

ECW was known for several types of matches:

* Barbwire Rope Match
* Flaming Tables Match
* Tables, Ladders, Chairs, and Canes
* Singapore Cane Match
* Stairway to Hell Match
* Three-Way Dance
* Hardcore Rules Match (sometimes referred to as the ECW Rules Match when performed outside ECW)
* Dog Collar Match (a common staple used by The Pitbulls)