Extreme Championship Wrestling was originally known as Eastern Championship Wrestling and was a member of the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance).
Ted Gordon (the owner) had a falling out with his head booker and decided to replace him with a chap called Paul E Dangerously, who had just left WCW to pursue a new challenge. Dangerously – or Paul Heyman as we now know him – would go on to make a massive impact on the promotion, coming up with a plot to cast off the NWA and go their own way.
The NWA decided to throw a tournament to crown a new champ in Philadelphia – which would go on to become the home of ECW.
Heyman and Gordon came up with the idea that the eventual tournament winner Shane Douglas would toss aside the NWA title as an act of defiance stating “he didn’t want to be a champion in a dead promotion”. Instead, he raised the ECW Championship and declared it a World Heavyweight Championship.
Gordon then went against the NWA Board of Directors – who stated that they did not recognize Douglas as a World Champion – and released a statement saying that “NWA – Eastern Championship Wrestling is no more. We are Extreme Championship Wrestling and we recognize ‘The Franchise’ Shane Douglas as our World Champion, and encourage any wrestler in the world to come to ECW and challenge for that title.”
I put the history lesson in there because that’s pretty much ECW in a nutshell.
They did things their own way, not because they wanted to be controversial, but because they had an excellent idea and a strong passion for pursuing it. I’ll get back to the reason I started to write this.
Extreme matches these days consist of the occasional chair or ladder shot, and/or going through a table. If we’re lucky, we might see a kendo stick or if the COO is involved, a sledgehammer. An Elimination Chamber match is more extreme than an Extreme Rules match these days. In ECW, every match was an Extreme Rules match (using the word rules as loosely as possible).
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with what we’re being offered in today’s PG-soaked world of WWE. The whole point for them nowadays is to be a family show, which means they need to promote to the youth of today and there’s some things the kids just can’t see. If you’ve ever seen Terry Funk, Sabu or The Sandman in the ring, you’ll know what I mean and that’s why we could do with another extreme promotion.
Older fans of the “sports-entertainment” industry would surely enjoy seeing good old favourites like Barbed Wire, Singapore Cane and, of course, an ECW classic – The Stairway to Hell matches. It just adds another option (if you will) to the industry.
ECW wasn’t just about nutters who loved to bleed. They had some genuinely great wrestlers in their ranks.
The Dudley Boys started there and perfected the art of putting a man through a table tastefully. “Mr Monday Night” Rob Van Dam is another ECW alumni. These stars went on to multiple other promotions, where they became champions over and over again. Tommy Dreamer, Rhyno, Stevie Richards, Guerrera, Jerry Lynn…all technically sound wrestlers.
Then there were the crowds who were always hot as well. They were always up for it, gave great heat and loved their champions. They weren’t just in it for gratuitous violence. They saw great wrestlers giving them great wrestling matches.
ECW also gave us one of my favorite characters of all-time – Cactus Jack. I’m sure I’m not the only one who liked him! For me, he was Mick Foley’s most dangerous alter-ego. Although Jack was introduced in his early WCW days, it was in ECW where he shone, getting into feuds with Sabu, Terry Funk, The Sandman and many others.
It was in his days with ECW that he want to Japan and won the infamous King of the Death Match tournament – beating Terry Gordy in a Barbed Wire Baseball Bat and Thumb Tack match in the first round, Shoji Nakamaki in a Barbed Wire Board Bed of Nails match in the second round, before beating the legendary Terry Funk in the Barbed Wire Rope, Barbed Wire and C4 (yeah, I said C4!) Board Time-Bomb Death match.
I write this, not as a part of my “we need extreme back” musings, but just because I couldn’t talk about extreme wrestling and not go off on a tangent about Mick Foley, haha!
Of the modern generation plying their trade in WWE right now, I see Bray Wyatt as being a perfect fit for the old ECW. His persona, and willingness to laugh at the pain inflicted on him, lends itself perfectly to that style.
I would give anything to see him go up against Foley in his prime (if Mick Foley’s body ever actually had a prime?) or in the current market, maybe throw in a Monsters Ball match with Abyss. Of course, these are dream matches and as I look at the current crop of stars, Wyatt is the man who could shine in that environment.
Some wrestling fans out there must still enjoy extreme wrestling, because TNA have often recruited some of the old ECW stars to come in at times and throw out some extreme moves, including one of my favourite extreme matches from Turning Point in 2005 – when Abyss and Sabu fought in the Barbed Wire Massacre. Whether or not folks found it technically sound or not, I care not one jot. I bloody loved it.
I’m not sure whether I’ve given people a good reason to clamour for the days of extreme again in this post. Hell, I’m not even sure I’ve made a lot of sense. I reckon I’ve gone off the point I was trying to make a couple of times, but this is what I’m getting at – I loved extreme wrestling as a kid and a young adult, and I still love it now. I’m sure I can’t be the only one?
Cheers for reading my first bout of nonsensical chicanery. I hope I haven’t bored you. I also hope I haven’t peaked your interest enough to go out and beat your friends with sticks! Somewhere respectable, in the middle I hope…
Peace out,
Sparky Plug
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