Extreme Championship Wrestling

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.

History

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.

Related Topics:
WCW - Monday Night War - WCW Monday Nitro - Monday Night RAW - Storylines - Independent

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Vince McMahon claims that he put Paul Heyman on the WWF's 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.

Related Topics:
Steve Austin - The Dudleys - Eric Bischoff - Mikey Whipwreck - Raven - Chris Benoit - Dean Malenko - Eddie Guerrero - Perry Saturn - Steven Richards - Johnny Grunge - Rocco Rock - Chris Jericho

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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 Sandman's young son. Tyler came out to hug his father before Raven came out through the crowd to hit Sandman with a chair. Raven then proceeds 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.

Related Topics:
October 26 - 1996 - Crucifying - Feud - Piledrive - The Blue Meanie - Super Nova

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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, who told Angle that he was unaware of what Raven was going to do, would be hearing from Angle's attorney.

Related Topics:
Kurt Angle - 1996 Summer Olympic - TV

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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 of the nature of the imagery involved within it was deemed too controversial.

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WWF Cross-Promotion

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 chant "ECW" in anger at Vince McMahon as the match was SO terrible. 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 ECW's status as a local, up and coming organization on the air.

Related Topics:
Vince McMahon - King Of The Ring - Mabel - Savio Vega - In Your House - Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw

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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 on color.

Related Topics:
February 24 - 1997 - Jerry Lawler

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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.

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The Manhattan Center in New York City 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.

Related Topics:
Manhattan - New York City - Popped

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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."

Related Topics:
ECW Tag Team Champions - Perry Saturn - John Kronus - Finisher - Total Elimination - Ring attendant

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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.

Related Topics:
1997 - Rob Van Dam - August 17

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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 Viewer's Choice was very hesitant at putting ECW on pay-per-view because of they felt that ECW was too vulgar and brutal. Viewer's Choice relented after fans repeatedly called and mailed Viewer's Choice demanding that ECW would get a PPV. Viewer's Choice agreed to give ECW a pay-per-view under the condition that it air at 9:00 p.m. rather than the usual 8:00 p.m. time slot.

Related Topics:
April 13 - 1997 - Pay-per-view - Terry Funk - ECW World Heavyweight Championship

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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 Sandman's help) and then pinning the Sandman
• Terry Funk defeated Raven by pinfall to win the ECW World Title

Mass Transit

On Christmas Eve, 1996, ECW almost lost a 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 Eric 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 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.

Related Topics:
Christmas Eve - 1996 - House show - Revere, Massachusetts - November 23 - Axl Rotten - D-Von Dudley - New Jack - Mustapha Saed - Killer Kowalski - Documentation

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Before the match Kulas asked New Jack to blade him since he never had done it himself and New Jack agreed. New Jack cut Kulas' forehead too deeply with an exacto knife and severed two arteries in Kulas' forehead. Kulas eventually passed out as the blood was spraying out of his head. 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.

Related Topics:
Blade - May 12 - 2002

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Soon after the Barely Legal PPV, Todd 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.

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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, didn't have the legal power and finances so he dropped the case for a while and it was never picked up again.

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The Mike Awesome Title Controversy

On September 19, 1999 at the Anarchy Rules pay-per-view, in Villa Park, IL Mike Awesome defeated Taz and Masato Tanaka in a 3-Way Dance to win the ECW World Heavyweight Title.

Related Topics:
September 19 - 1999 - Pay-per-view - Mike Awesome - Masato Tanaka - 3-Way Dance - ECW World Heavyweight Title

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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.

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In March 2000, Awesome suddenly left ECW to join WCW even though he was still the reigning ECW World Heavyweight Champion. 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 on 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.

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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.

Related Topics:
Indianapolis, Indiana - April 13 - 2000 - DDT

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At the actual event, 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.

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

Related Topics:
Los Angeles - West Coast - Xtreme Pro Wrestling - Indy

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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 XPW's valets, Kristi Myst, pushed ECW's Francine (Several eyewitnesses claim that Myst grabbed one of Francine's 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.

Related Topics:
Kristi Myst - Francine

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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. Most fans also think that ECW did what they had to do and XPW was way out of line to begin with and shouldn't have been there.

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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.

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TNN

Before ECW got a national television deal, its main sources of exposure were on the Sports Channel America syndication package, on AIN satellite, the Internet and tape trading. ECW would reguarly hold a convention called Cyber Slam, where matches were broadcast over the Internet and fans could chat online with the wrestlers themselves.

Related Topics:
Syndication - Internet

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In August 1999, ECW began to broadcast nationally on TNN; however, this signalled the beginning of the end.

Related Topics:
August 1999 - TNN

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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. Also, TNN poorly advertised and promoted ECW -- there were barely any press releases or television ads. The only time that TNN actually advertised ECW was during the ECW program itself.

Related Topics:
WCW Monday Nitro - Monday Night RAW

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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 -- which was a a combination of Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" (the heartbeat that spells out E-X-T-R-E-M-E) and White Zombie's "Thunderkiss '65" -- 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.

Related Topics:
Nine Inch Nails - White Zombie - Music videos - Rob Van Dam - Jerry Lynn - 1999

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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.

Related Topics:
Shoot - Guinea pig

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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 critizised the violent nature of ECW programming.

Related Topics:
Don Callis - Metaphor - The Network

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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 in favor of RAW jumping over to the network.

Related Topics:
Vince McMahon - WWF - October 2000 - RAW

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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.

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Bankruptcy

ECW struggled for months after the cancellation, trying to secure a new national TV deal, but could not. Despite help from the WWF, Heyman could not get out of financial trouble and filed for bankruptcy on April 4, 2001.

Related Topics:
Bankruptcy - April 4 - 2001

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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).

Related Topics:
Acclaim - Video games - San Francisco - Action figures - 1998 - Ford Truck

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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 are Rob Van Dam ($150,000), Tommy Dreamer ($100,000), Joey Styles ($50,480), Shane Douglas ($48,000) and Francine ($47,275).

Related Topics:
Steve Corino - Joey Styles - Francine

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