Extreme Championship Wrestling

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HHG Corporation

logo
legal form Private
founding April 25, 1992
resolution April 4, 2001
Reason for dissolution Acquired by WWE
Seat Philadelphia , Pennsylvania
management Death Gordon
(Chairman 1992–1996)
Paul Heyman
(CEO 1996–2001)
Branch Wrestling

Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) is a former wrestling promotion that was primarily dedicated to the hardcore wrestling genre and officially existed until 2001, when World Wrestling Entertainment acquired all rights (name, logo, TV and video material) to the former league acquired.

ECW was primarily characterized by its concentration on cruiserweight and hardcore wrestling and addressed an adult target group with its storylines , which also had a decisive influence on the development of the dominant, family-friendly leagues WWF (now WWE ) and WCW .

history

prehistory

The former wrestling territories in the USA and Canada .

The history of the later wrestling promotion ECW began in 1989 when Joel Goodhart founded his own wrestling league as part of the National Wrestling Alliance , which stretched over three NWA territories ( Pennsylvania , Delaware and Maryland ). This promotion, like its successor organizations, was based in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania. Entrepreneur Tod Gordon funded this new promotion, which was named NWA Tri-State Wrestling Alliance (TWA).

The new league quickly made a name for itself with its unconventional booking, the storylines that were easy to understand for the fans and their very tough style for the wrestling conditions at the time. This league served as a career springboard for many later wrestling stars. In the TWA, among others, Eddie Gilbert, Mike Awesome, Cactus Jack , Terry Funk , The Sandman , Chris Benoit and Owen Hart were under contract. This promotion also had a fixed TV format that could be received in the three states.

In 1992, Goodhart, who had retired from wrestling, sold the promotion to his partner Tod Gordon.

NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling (1992-1994)

Gordon converted the newly acquired promotion to Eastern Championship Wrestling and this league also remained a member of the umbrella organization of the NWA. Eastern Championship Wrestling drove a substantial portion of NWA's revenues with its television programming and associated advertising contracts.

On August 27, 1994, NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling hosted a tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship title at their ECW Arena in Philadelphia . This formed one of the most important wrestling titles at the time. Dennis Coralluzzo, the acting president of the NWA , insisted on taking absolute control of the tournament, whereupon Paul Heyman, together with Shane Douglas , who was supposed to win it, worked out a memorable angle . Douglas was able to defeat Too Cold Scorpio in this tournament and only accepted the vacant NWA title only to contemptuously throw it away after a short speech. Douglas explained that he didn't care about the title of NWA champion and tradition of the NWA belt or the people who once owned it and that they could "kiss his butt". Douglas continues in his statement: “I do not have a PhD title that has been dead for seven years or more. I myself hereby declare the ECW title to be the title of world champion ” . In late August 1994, Tod Gordon announced the closure of NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling . He explained that the letters ECW would now stand for Extreme Championship Wrestling and that Shane Douglas was ECW World Heavyweight Champion , World Champion of Extreme Championship Wrestling . Thus, on September 1, 1994, the exit of the ECW from the umbrella organization of the NWA was completed and the promotion was now considered the third largest wrestling league in the United States.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1994-2001, 2006-2010)

Paul Heyman , the former owner of ECW.

Extreme Championship Wrestling then developed its own, at the time unique and idiosyncratic style. She became the US icon of hardcore wrestling , but also offered matches that were based on the Mexican tradition of Lucha Libre . In the Viking Hall , a former department store and later bingo hall in South Philadelphia (where all the regular shows were recorded before), a loyal fan base emerged that responded less to the traditional face - heel scheme, but more to the inner and outer Enjoyed the action offered outside the ring and also paid due respect to the wrestlers portrayed as "bad". With previously largely unknown people like Tommy Dreamer , The Sandman , Sabu and Taz , but also established wrestlers like Shane Douglas , Terry Funk and Cactus Jack , Booker Paul Heyman created a refreshing alternative to the two big American leagues and deliberately set himself apart from the mainstream . Due to the lack of nationwide TV presence, the ECW initially remained an underground phenomenon and was only known in the east of the USA.

The ECW promotion has been voted the most popular wrestling promotion five times during its existence by Independent Wrestling Fans (the independent [non-league] fans); four times in a row between 1995 and 1998 and the last time in 2000. In order to provide for its own offspring, the ECW founded its own wrestling school called "The House of Extreme - ECW Wrestling School" , the most important department of which was the dojo of Team Taz .

Since 1995 the ECW has also worked closely with the Japanese FMW . This collaboration was started on the advice of wrestlers Sabu and Mike Awesome. As of that year, ECW wrestlers officially competed in the promotion and the ECW was used as a career springboard for FMW wrestlers to the United States. Most famous FMW wrestler in the USA was Masato Tanaka . However, the two wrestling promotions had had loose (and not exactly amicable) contact since the early 1990s, when the ECW wrestler Sabu stayed away from a scheduled ECW tag team match and instead attended an FMW event in Japan competed. Sabu was sacked by Paul Heyman that same evening, his then partner Taz had to compete in a handicap match in which he was seriously injured.

Since 1996/97, ECW boss Paul Heyman was "allied" with the largest American wrestling promotion, the World Wrestling Federation : Both leagues had concluded various contracts, which on the one hand allowed the WWF at the time to bring their offspring from the ranks of the ECW and on the other hand, the ECW allowed advertising for itself and its major events in WWF programs. In 1997, ECW members appeared on various RAW programs and advertised Barely Legal 1997 , the first ECW PPV ever. The prerequisite for these contracts was that, to the chagrin of ECW and its fans, the WWF had held a King of the Ring event in Philadelphia two years earlier (1995) and several thousand ECW fans were present there. While the WWF wrestlers tried to get their event through, EC-Dub echoed towards them in the hall . When the ECW wrestlers in the hall, Sandman and Tommy Dreamer, who were sitting in the front row with their families and friends and also wore the ECW T-shirts and challenged the WWF wrestlers in real life, the chaos there was perfect.

WWE - Chairman Vince McMahon acquired ECW in 2,001th

A little later the RAW commentator Jerry Lawler broke a real feud with ECW boss Heyman during a live recording and insulted him and his promotion in the worst possible way. Heyman called Lawler during that broadcast and recorded the feud. Heyman emphasized in this phone call that the wrestlers of the ECW are superior to those of the WWF in every way and that they would compete against wrestlers of the WWF at any time. From this real feud between Heyman and Lawler, McMahon and Heyman worked out a long-term feud program between the two leagues. So now the wrestlers Sabu and Rob Van Dam appeared at RAW and actually did fights against WWF wrestlers. Sabu and Van Dam eventually also formed the WWF team within the ECW. But Lawler also appeared surprisingly in the ECW and attacked the latter after a match between Raven and Tommy Dreamer and deliberately injured him with a hard blow in his genitals.

In order to get out of the shadowy existence of the WCW and WWF, you had to get a nationwide TV contract. The ECW also received this from TNN in 1999 , but the time did not go satisfactorily: The broadcaster made only a small budget available for the production of the weekly shows, hardly switched on advertising and also censored the programs, which completely contradicted the concept of the ECW. Nevertheless, ECW on TNN always managed to achieve the station's highest ratings. In the eyes of Paul Heyman, ECW was just a cheap to produce guinea pig for TNN to see if regular wrestling broadcasts from the station would be profitable. Accordingly, it was not surprising that TNN terminated the contract without notice at the end of 2000 and instead took the WWF show RAW is War into its program.

The ECW's financial situation then collapsed. The debt of over $ 8 million made it impossible to continue to pay employees and wrestlers' salaries and to maintain league operations. More and more wrestlers, some of whom the ECW owed tens of thousands of dollars, were drawn to the WWF. When Paul Heyman also showed up at the WWF in April 2001 and took the place of the fired Jerry Lawler as commentator, the end of the ECW was officially sealed. Despite Heyman's assurances that he was constantly looking for a solution (although he was hardly present at the last shows and Tommy Dreamer took over most of the bookings), the league finally closed its doors in June of that year. Due to the wide fan base of the former ECW, World Wrestling Entertainment started a third show called ECW with its own roster in 2006 , which was part of the program until February 14, 2010.

Characteristic

While the rival leagues WCW and WWF relied on already known stars and feud segments that had been planned over several months and also wanted to sell good micwork , the ECW presented a complete alternative . In well-filled, but dimly lit and the beer from plastic cups soiled Newcomers from regional promotions and already tried and tested hardcore veterans delivered bitterly designed matches to the floors of multi-purpose halls. In addition to heavyweights like Bam Bam Bigelow , there were also representatives of wrestling like Taz, high flyers like Sabu, brawlers like Axl and Ian Rotten or icons and pioneers of hardcore wrestling like Terry Funk in the roster. In addition, with the Dudley Boyz, one of the later best-known and most successful day teams had its cradle in the ECW. And even demanding technicians like Jerry Lynn and Rob Van Dam experienced many years of their respective weddings in the PhD from Philadelphia. While the rivals had to deliver an elaborate exchange of blows, the focus at Extreme Championship Wrestling was on the humiliation and pure destruction of the respective opponent as part of the Kayfabe .

The use of weapons of any kind such as ladders, tables, chairs, kendo sticks, garbage cans, kitchen utensils, traffic signs or shopping carts was strictly encouraged in the matches, which according to their storyline always ran without rules, and enabled sometimes bloody hall battles that also took place in the rows of spectators or the backstage area relocated, also favored by blading , whereby the core of the fight itself never faded into the background. Examples of this would be the clash between the aforementioned rivals Van Dam and Lynn, in which technology and raw brutality were in balance. The fights ended most of the time due to pinfalls , abandonment, or real injury; The latter in particular occurred more frequently with the most varied of actors. Special mention should be made of New Jack , who suffered a serious brain injury and blindness in one eye at the PPV Living Dangerously in 2000 after his match partner Vic Grimes landed on his head after falling together from four and a half meters. On the other hand Sabu, who got stuck in the barbed wire in a barbed wire match against Terry Funk at Born to be Wired in 1997 and tore his biceps; after the "self-supply" with armored tape , however, Sabu continued the match. Within its Attitude Era , the then WWF also included concise elements of hardcore wrestling, which had long been standard at ECW, in its program. In general, both New Jack because of his brutality, sometimes even drifting into the real world, and Sabu for his addiction to ever more daring, self-injurious maneuvers, were promotional posters next to "veteran" Tommy Dreamer or "Mr Monday Night" Rob Van Dam.

Analogous to the competitors, there were a few women under contract, but they were mainly active as managers, partly due to real relationships with the respective men. Characters like Beulah McGillicutty , Missy Hyatt or Woman appeared in the style of flashy and lasciviously dressed showgirls or even prostitutes and thus made their contribution to the raw image of the ECW. Occasionally there were also brief brawls between the women, which were referred to as catfights . Tommy Dreamer's ring companion (McGillicutty) herself also stepped into the ring several times against Bill Alfonso (who accompanied Sabu, Rob Van Dam and Taz), who was very unpopular with the audience .

Selection of former employees

Ring name Bourgeois name Time at ECW annotation
Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit † 1994-1998
Bam Bam Bigelow Scott Charles Bigelow † 1994-1998
Joey Styles Joseph Carmine Bonsignore 1993-2001 Chief commentator
Sabu Terry Michael Brunk 1993-2000
Steve Corino Steven Eugene Corino 1998-2001
Johnny Grunge Michael Durham † 1993-1996
Sid Vicious Sidney Ray Eudy 1991, 1999 individual guest appearances
Lance Storm Lance Timothy Evers 1997-2000
Hayabusa Eiji Ezaki † 1998 individual guest appearances
Cactus Jack Michael Francis Foley, sr. 1994-1996
The Sandman James Fullington III 1992-1998, 1999-2001
Terry Funk Terrance Funk 1993-1994, 1995, 1996-1997
Rhyno Terrance Guido "Terry" Gerin 1999-2001
Paul Heyman Paul Heyman 1993-2001 Owner, manager
Eddie Guerrero Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes † 1995-1996
Rey Mysterio Óscar González Gutiérrez Rubio 1995-1997
Scott Hall Scott Oliver Hall 2000 individual guest appearances
Juventud Guerrera Eduardo Aníbal González 1995-1996
D-From Dudley Devon Hughes 1996-1999
Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine 1996-1998
Marty Jannetty Fredrick Martin "Marty" Jannetty 1995
Axl Rotten Brian Knighton † 1993-1999
Tommy Dreamer Thomas Laughlin 1992-2001
Beulah McGillicutty Trisa Laughlin 1995-1998 manager
Raven Scott Anthony Levy 1995-1997, 1999-2000
Bubba Ray Dudley Mark LoMonaco 1995-1999
Jerry Lynn Jeremy "Jerry" Lynn 1997-2001
Stevie Richards Michael Manna 1992, 1994-1997
Jim Neidhart James Henry Neidhart † 1992, 1993, 1995 individual guest appearances
Justin Credible Peter Joseph Polaco 1997-2001
Perry Saturn Perry Arthur Satullo 1995-1997
Taz Peter Senerchia 1993-1999, 2000
Bill Alfonso William Matthew "Bill" Sierra 1995-2001 Manager, referee
Tammy Lynn "Sunny" Sytch Tamara "Tammy" Lynn Sytch 1998-1999 manager
Rob Van Dam Robert Alexander Szatkowski 1996-2001
Tajiri Yoshihiro Tajiri 1998-2001
New Jack Jerome Young 1998-2001

title

title annotation
ECW World Heavyweight Championship As a world heavyweight title of the ECW, the championship was introduced on April 25, 1992 and discontinued on April 10, 2001 after the ECW was bought by the WWE . After the reintroduction of ECW, the WWE reactivated the title by February 16, 2010. The first title holder was Jimmy Snuka , who won the belt on April 25, 1992, the last Ezekiel Jackson , who held it on February 16, 2010 for three minutes.
ECW World Television Championship The ECW introduced the championship on August 12, 1992, after the ECW was bought by the WWE, it was discontinued on April 11, 2001. The first title holder was Johnny Hotbody , who won the belt on August 12, 1992, the last Rhino , who won it on September 9, 2000.
ECW World Tag Team Championship The ECW introduced the championship on June 23, 1992, after the ECW was bought by the WWE, it was discontinued on April 11, 2001. The first titleholders were The Super Destroyers (AJ Petrucci and Doug Stahl), who won the belts on June 23, 1992, the last Danny Doring and Roadkill, which they won on December 3, 2000.
ECW FTW Heavyweight Championship The ECW introduced the championship on May 14, 1998, but the title was never fully recognized. The introduction was carried out after fights for the world heavyweight title could not take place for a long time due to the injuries of Shane Douglas , Taz or Al Snow . Taz was the first title holder, then in December 1998 he lost the belt to Sabu . On March 21, 1999, the title was combined with the world heavyweight title after Taz 'victory against Sabu.
ECW Maryland Championship From October 16, 1993 to March 6, 1994, JT Smith was the sole titleholder; he won the championship at a Battle Royal in Maryland and defended the belt several times. The state championship was suspended after Smith won the Television Championship.
ECW Pennsylvania Championship From May 14 to December 28, 1993, Tommy Cairo and Tony Stetson were the only titleholders; Cairo had won the title at a Battle Royal in Pennsylvania . The state championship was discontinued at UltraClash in 1993 .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Shane Douglas in "Forever Hardcore," Franchise Promotions, 2005
  2. ↑ a b c d e Silver Vision: The Rise + Fall of ECW , 2004
  3. ^ Joey Styles in "Forever Hardcore," Franchise Promotions, 2005

Web links

Commons : Extreme Championship Wrestling  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
  • ECW Official Website