The Spirit of Extreme
Created | Updated Aug 16, 2005
For many a year now, I have been a wrestling fan. It started with the British stuff on ITV, saturday afternoons, then evolved into the WWF (now WWE). It was this company for a few years until one day, Nov 12 2000 to be exact I was shown a video which would change the way I saw wrestling for the rest of my life. ECW Heatwave 99. This was wrestling for my age group, wrestling for adults, wrestling that didn't rely on crappy gimmicks, or dodgy storylines. Yes it was scripted, but it was realistic. The video was two and a half hours long, but it didnt seem like it. I wanted more, to see more, to know more, I had tasted extreme, and there was no turning back.
So I searched the Internet. ECW, Extreme Championship Wrestling, formerly Eastern Championship Wrestling was a part of the NWA until 1993, when Shane Douglas, won the Eastern belt, threw it down, and proclaimed the era of Extreme had begun. It, at this stage, was owned by Todd Gordon, and ran house shows from the Viking Arena, Phildelphia. It was this stage, when it managed to get a tv deal on Sports Channel Philadelphia, which ran for many years. It used a mixture of older wrestlers, such as Jimmy Snuka, and newer ones, such as the Sandman, and Taz.
In 1997 it reached PPV, and challenged the big two, the first PPV was named Barely Legal and ran from Viking Hall, and ended with veteren Terry Funk winning the ECW heavyweight belt. This was followed by many other bi monthly PPV, Heatwave, Hardcore Heaven, Living Dangerously, Guilty as Charged, and November to Remember, to name but a few.
To top it all off, ECW managed to get a television deal on TNN, and Bravo in the UK. ECW was going up.
Tommy Dreamer (a major ECW wrestler) once said, "I remember when we wrestled in front of ten people, they went away and told their friends, who came to see the show. They told their friends, who told their frineds, and told their friends, and now we have sold this building out. Now how about we make ECW the number 1 promotion in the US"
Alas it was not to be, The PPVs were not making money, ECW was losing money, the WWF had stole all of ECWs ideas and polluted the fans minds with anti WCW/ECW junk, and the ECW wrestlers were not getting paid.
March 2001, ECW, hoping to put on Living Dangerously 2001, cancelled it, and filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. WWF and WCW were going to play a lottery for the ECW roster.
Days later, in a shock to the wrestling world, WWF had bought WCW, there was now only one major player in the wrestling world. But it was an exciting time to be a wrestling fan, as WWF vs WCW, the storyline fans had wanted, loomed. Slowly WCW wrestlers kept appearing, Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon's son had took control of WCW, and the "Invasion" started. However, Vince is a big head, and couldnt have WWF talent being defeated by WCW wrestlers. As a result the fans didn't take the invaders seriously.
Then in a swift move, ECW joined the Invasion, and a WCW/ECW alliance started, the WWFs biggest threat. This federation was Extreme, and would kick the WWF all over the states, and fans waited with baited breath on who would be announced as the owner, Paul Heyman (who took over and managed ECW for the majority of its run), Todd Gordon, Tommy Dreamer, Eric Bischoff (former WCW manager), no, Stephanie McMahon, it became a McMahon plaything. Invasion, sucked, and even though when it was over, I was relieved, I missed seeing the ECW roster on TV.
WWF, or WWE as it is now known, goes someway to pushing former WCW and ECW talent, but they never will totally put them over.
During the early days of my ECW fanship, I bought most of the Videos available in the UK. I still watch these, and enjoy them. They come in handy when the WWE comes in with another crappy storyline.
So, if you are a wrestling fan, pop into your nearest video shop and buy an ECW video. Any will do, they are all good. (Unlike the other federations named here).
For me, I still watch WWE, but I
So I searched the Internet. ECW, Extreme Championship Wrestling, formerly Eastern Championship Wrestling was a part of the NWA until 1993, when Shane Douglas, won the Eastern belt, threw it down, and proclaimed the era of Extreme had begun. It, at this stage, was owned by Todd Gordon, and ran house shows from the Viking Arena, Phildelphia. It was this stage, when it managed to get a tv deal on Sports Channel Philadelphia, which ran for many years. It used a mixture of older wrestlers, such as Jimmy Snuka, and newer ones, such as the Sandman, and Taz.
In 1997 it reached PPV, and challenged the big two, the first PPV was named Barely Legal and ran from Viking Hall, and ended with veteren Terry Funk winning the ECW heavyweight belt. This was followed by many other bi monthly PPV, Heatwave, Hardcore Heaven, Living Dangerously, Guilty as Charged, and November to Remember, to name but a few.
To top it all off, ECW managed to get a television deal on TNN, and Bravo in the UK. ECW was going up.
Tommy Dreamer (a major ECW wrestler) once said, "I remember when we wrestled in front of ten people, they went away and told their friends, who came to see the show. They told their friends, who told their frineds, and told their friends, and now we have sold this building out. Now how about we make ECW the number 1 promotion in the US"
Alas it was not to be, The PPVs were not making money, ECW was losing money, the WWF had stole all of ECWs ideas and polluted the fans minds with anti WCW/ECW junk, and the ECW wrestlers were not getting paid.
March 2001, ECW, hoping to put on Living Dangerously 2001, cancelled it, and filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. WWF and WCW were going to play a lottery for the ECW roster.
Days later, in a shock to the wrestling world, WWF had bought WCW, there was now only one major player in the wrestling world. But it was an exciting time to be a wrestling fan, as WWF vs WCW, the storyline fans had wanted, loomed. Slowly WCW wrestlers kept appearing, Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon's son had took control of WCW, and the "Invasion" started. However, Vince is a big head, and couldnt have WWF talent being defeated by WCW wrestlers. As a result the fans didn't take the invaders seriously.
Then in a swift move, ECW joined the Invasion, and a WCW/ECW alliance started, the WWFs biggest threat. This federation was Extreme, and would kick the WWF all over the states, and fans waited with baited breath on who would be announced as the owner, Paul Heyman (who took over and managed ECW for the majority of its run), Todd Gordon, Tommy Dreamer, Eric Bischoff (former WCW manager), no, Stephanie McMahon, it became a McMahon plaything. Invasion, sucked, and even though when it was over, I was relieved, I missed seeing the ECW roster on TV.
WWF, or WWE as it is now known, goes someway to pushing former WCW and ECW talent, but they never will totally put them over.
During the early days of my ECW fanship, I bought most of the Videos available in the UK. I still watch these, and enjoy them. They come in handy when the WWE comes in with another crappy storyline.
So, if you are a wrestling fan, pop into your nearest video shop and buy an ECW video. Any will do, they are all good. (Unlike the other federations named here).
For me, I still watch WWE, but I
