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I don't have much to say but last night and today I read a 45 page 3 part piece on the history of ECW. And I'm just going to post the closing comments of the writer and note that it was a very well done and very accurate look at why I'm a fan:
"Extreme Championship Wrestling has been called many things by many people. Even their ECW Arena fans have a degree of notoriety. Whether you choose to love or hate ECW is a matter of your own personal tastes. What cannot be denied is its place in history.
Without ECW ever coming in to existence, and you can credit that to Paul Heyman, Tod Gordon, or Eddie Gilbert; or all three, the entire wrestling landscape as we know it today would not exist. While it likely would have come from somewhere eventually, it’s also likely as it may never have happened at all.
A good majority of wrestlers would likely have never made it as far as they did. I doubt anyone else would’ve given Buh Buh & D Von a chance, I doubt Steve Austin turning into a sensational promo overnight would’ve been noticed from an untaped indy show in Podunk, USA, and I doubt Vince ever would’ve seen Mick Foley as a marketable commodity, its obvious no one else did until after Heyman used him to perfection. Rob Van Dam was never any more than cannon fodder anywhere else, and Shane Douglas was certainly almost a nobody (on a skateboard) before ECW made him a star. A lot of the people who maybe didn’t ultimately achieve the success of those stated certainly would have gotten such a stage to show their skills and make a living for themselves without ECW.
ECW changed the entire idea of what a wrestling show should be.While WCW & WWF showcased cartoonish gimmicks for children featuring roided up monsters, ECW took men of every shape, size, and specific talent and gave them gimmicks they’d often carry for the rest of their lives. No one else knew how to use the Public Enemy or the Sandman for example, yet Heyman made greats amount of money showcasing them. Nobody wanted great wrestlers like Chris Benoit, who’d already been given a WCW try out and was passed over, until Paul Heyman let him have his great matches in the states and gave him a gimmick he still uses today in mid 2003. And honestly, who else could’ve gotten Al Polig (“911”) as the most over and beloved man in their company? No one was using women in overtly violent or sexual roles until it was done in ECW whether you enjoy or hate that kind of thing, the blame, or credit, falls on ECW. While it had been done before, agitated & controversial angles certainly hadn’t been seen in over a decade but peaked under Heyman with the Tommy Dreamer/Sandman “blind” angle, the Raven/Tommy Dreamer feud, and Raven’s “Search for the Ultimate Slut” to name a few. Nobody was highflying hardcore in the USA until Sabu got to show off his work, and though people who got in late and watched a tape of him may not be all that impressed, when he was first doing this stuff, people’s jaws dropped. This stuff was 1994 or 1995, folks, the only other thing close to Sabu was Cactus Jack in WCW doing his Cactuslines, ring apron elbowdrops, and getting the hell beat out of him to a sick degree. If ECW didn’t come around and show the big two what fans really wanted, where the future of wrestling was really headed, then who knows, we might have Doink as WWE Heavyweight Champion and WCWs strong base of cruisers may never have come. They already ignored Japanese performers before, preferring luchadores, and already had passed up on Malenko (both, actually) and Benoit before, as well as others.
It can be argued that ECW’s fans were disgusting and devoid of any class or compassion, and I think that’s a totally valid opinion. It can be argued that ECW pandered to the misogynists, and on some levels, that’s true. It can also be said that ECW pandered to blood thirsty “vampire fans” and that would also be true on some levels. It can be argued that while backyard feds always existed, they really popped up thanks to ECW making people feel like you didn’t have to be 6’6” and 290lbs to be a wrester. I couldn’t really argue any of those past a certain point because every promotion has its faults and ECW probably had a lot more than most. A lot more.
Personally, the sexuality and involvement of the women, and children, never offended me. I’m not the type to be offended, I watch R rated movies, I watch gory non-fiction forensics shows. Ie; I’ve probably seen things worse and unlike some people I don’t put wrestling shows under a different standard than I put primetime TV. The thing that mostly got under my skin about ECW, besides the fact that they had wanted TV only to get it and put out bad television, was their fans. While the fans unmatched passion for their home promotion set an atmosphere for ECW that was as big a part of the show as anything else (honestly, when was that crowd EVER quiet?) the utter disrespect and disregard they show for the performers was sickening to me on more than one occasion. Chanting “You Fucked Up” at JT Smith is still among the most offensive things I’ve ever seen in wrestling. The Mass Transit Incident was fairly sickening as well, despite the fact that the kid almost did it to himself with the actions he took.
When I look back on ECW, I’m one of the ones that has more good memories than bad. People that judge off the TNN show, and there are a LOT of them, are quite frankly, uninformed and assuming. From 1994 to mid 1997 ECW was arguably the best promotion in North America. The storylines were compelling, the fans were given what they wanted, and wrestlers were given every possible chance. When I look back on ECW I hate some of it and love more of it. I can see totally where its detractors are coming from, and at often times I agree with them. However, I also give credence to the groundbreaking force that was Extreme Championship Wrestling, and that part is the beauty, the tragedy is that almost nobody saw it when it was actually at its peak.
In its prime there was not only nothing like it, and some would say, nothing better. It’s too bad there were so few who got to actually see it."
For anyone who wonders why I'm such an intense wrestling fan, that just about sums it up right there. Thank you Paul, you will never know how much you meant to us.
"Extreme Championship Wrestling has been called many things by many people. Even their ECW Arena fans have a degree of notoriety. Whether you choose to love or hate ECW is a matter of your own personal tastes. What cannot be denied is its place in history.
Without ECW ever coming in to existence, and you can credit that to Paul Heyman, Tod Gordon, or Eddie Gilbert; or all three, the entire wrestling landscape as we know it today would not exist. While it likely would have come from somewhere eventually, it’s also likely as it may never have happened at all.
A good majority of wrestlers would likely have never made it as far as they did. I doubt anyone else would’ve given Buh Buh & D Von a chance, I doubt Steve Austin turning into a sensational promo overnight would’ve been noticed from an untaped indy show in Podunk, USA, and I doubt Vince ever would’ve seen Mick Foley as a marketable commodity, its obvious no one else did until after Heyman used him to perfection. Rob Van Dam was never any more than cannon fodder anywhere else, and Shane Douglas was certainly almost a nobody (on a skateboard) before ECW made him a star. A lot of the people who maybe didn’t ultimately achieve the success of those stated certainly would have gotten such a stage to show their skills and make a living for themselves without ECW.
ECW changed the entire idea of what a wrestling show should be.While WCW & WWF showcased cartoonish gimmicks for children featuring roided up monsters, ECW took men of every shape, size, and specific talent and gave them gimmicks they’d often carry for the rest of their lives. No one else knew how to use the Public Enemy or the Sandman for example, yet Heyman made greats amount of money showcasing them. Nobody wanted great wrestlers like Chris Benoit, who’d already been given a WCW try out and was passed over, until Paul Heyman let him have his great matches in the states and gave him a gimmick he still uses today in mid 2003. And honestly, who else could’ve gotten Al Polig (“911”) as the most over and beloved man in their company? No one was using women in overtly violent or sexual roles until it was done in ECW whether you enjoy or hate that kind of thing, the blame, or credit, falls on ECW. While it had been done before, agitated & controversial angles certainly hadn’t been seen in over a decade but peaked under Heyman with the Tommy Dreamer/Sandman “blind” angle, the Raven/Tommy Dreamer feud, and Raven’s “Search for the Ultimate Slut” to name a few. Nobody was highflying hardcore in the USA until Sabu got to show off his work, and though people who got in late and watched a tape of him may not be all that impressed, when he was first doing this stuff, people’s jaws dropped. This stuff was 1994 or 1995, folks, the only other thing close to Sabu was Cactus Jack in WCW doing his Cactuslines, ring apron elbowdrops, and getting the hell beat out of him to a sick degree. If ECW didn’t come around and show the big two what fans really wanted, where the future of wrestling was really headed, then who knows, we might have Doink as WWE Heavyweight Champion and WCWs strong base of cruisers may never have come. They already ignored Japanese performers before, preferring luchadores, and already had passed up on Malenko (both, actually) and Benoit before, as well as others.
It can be argued that ECW’s fans were disgusting and devoid of any class or compassion, and I think that’s a totally valid opinion. It can be argued that ECW pandered to the misogynists, and on some levels, that’s true. It can also be said that ECW pandered to blood thirsty “vampire fans” and that would also be true on some levels. It can be argued that while backyard feds always existed, they really popped up thanks to ECW making people feel like you didn’t have to be 6’6” and 290lbs to be a wrester. I couldn’t really argue any of those past a certain point because every promotion has its faults and ECW probably had a lot more than most. A lot more.
Personally, the sexuality and involvement of the women, and children, never offended me. I’m not the type to be offended, I watch R rated movies, I watch gory non-fiction forensics shows. Ie; I’ve probably seen things worse and unlike some people I don’t put wrestling shows under a different standard than I put primetime TV. The thing that mostly got under my skin about ECW, besides the fact that they had wanted TV only to get it and put out bad television, was their fans. While the fans unmatched passion for their home promotion set an atmosphere for ECW that was as big a part of the show as anything else (honestly, when was that crowd EVER quiet?) the utter disrespect and disregard they show for the performers was sickening to me on more than one occasion. Chanting “You Fucked Up” at JT Smith is still among the most offensive things I’ve ever seen in wrestling. The Mass Transit Incident was fairly sickening as well, despite the fact that the kid almost did it to himself with the actions he took.
When I look back on ECW, I’m one of the ones that has more good memories than bad. People that judge off the TNN show, and there are a LOT of them, are quite frankly, uninformed and assuming. From 1994 to mid 1997 ECW was arguably the best promotion in North America. The storylines were compelling, the fans were given what they wanted, and wrestlers were given every possible chance. When I look back on ECW I hate some of it and love more of it. I can see totally where its detractors are coming from, and at often times I agree with them. However, I also give credence to the groundbreaking force that was Extreme Championship Wrestling, and that part is the beauty, the tragedy is that almost nobody saw it when it was actually at its peak.
In its prime there was not only nothing like it, and some would say, nothing better. It’s too bad there were so few who got to actually see it."
For anyone who wonders why I'm such an intense wrestling fan, that just about sums it up right there. Thank you Paul, you will never know how much you meant to us.