Though it's been closed for a near quarter-century, Extreme Championship Wrestling has planted itself firmly within the collective wrestling conscience. Founded by Tod Gordon in 1992 as a Philadelphia-based NWA affiliate, the company rebranded itself with a take-no-prisoners attitude that spoke to wrestling fans in a time of stagnation.
Under the creative vision of Paul Heyman, ECW innovated wrestling programming from the mid-90s on and opened the doors for many now-beloved stars. Its influence is still felt to this day, especially with Heyman’s presence on-screen in the WWE main event picture. In no particular order, here are three of ECW’s biggest contributions to the wrestling business.
Grittier Presentation
If WWF and WCW were Marvel and DC, then ECW was like a small press graphic novel publisher. Not necessarily a competitor in scope, but an alternative to the larger companies who appealed to mainstream tastes.
Whereas the other companies had high-end production suites, ECW was edited in a suburban New York basement with a shoestring budget. Promos were usually done at this “studio” or during tapings, basically anywhere that talent can be filmed in front of a black sheet.
WWF and WCW shows ran out of large arenas appealing to families, but ECW found itself in smaller venues inhabited by devout smark followers. Audiences would pack venues to the point of violating fire code at times, giving the communal atmosphere of a concert.
The promotion didn’t shy away from its humble aesthetic, leaning into this with guerrilla style-promo material and Fan-Cam recordings of house shows.
Storylines were approached with darker, more adult themes that pushed the envelope for what worked in a wrestling program. The twisted epic that was the Sandman-Raven saga, weapons-laden brawls featuring the likes of The Gangstas and innuendo-laden dialogue would help differentiate ECW from other organizations.
That’s not to say this didn’t come with controversy, as the company was no stranger to public backlash. In incidents such as New Jack’s brutalization of Mass Transit and The Sandman’s crucifixion at the hands of Raven, pro wrestling caught the ire of moralist commentators.
By no means did ECW invent hardcore wrestling, but colored it in for the MTV generation. They'd use licensed music, which had been done before, but pulled in from a wider genre pool such as grunge and rap.
When ECW came to network TV, TNN asked the company to reel in its more profane content. Heyman had already played ball with ECW’s pay-per-view partners in the past, but his relationship with the network would sour as ECW approached its doom.
This type of presentation would be mimicked by WCW and later the WWF, abandoning cartoony storylines in favor of crash TV edginess. As the new millennium approached, several competitors tried to ride the wave of extreme wrestling including XPW and CZW but failed to capture that same lightning-in-the-bottle.
In Between Two Titans
Without having a Turner Broadcasting or Titan Towers keeping the coffers flush with cash, ECW lacked the resources of its rivals. In spite of this, ECW’s rabid fanbase made it a worthwhile platform to consider in between runs for the larger companies.
In exchange for lighter checks than their previous employer, ECW would give wrestlers a wider creative range. This loosening of boundaries helped talent, frustrated by the bureaucracy of larger firms, find a new edge as the wrestling zeitgeist shifted from the early-to-late 1990s.
Steve Austin, after being fired by WCW via FedEx, took his talents to Philadelphia in 1995. It was here where he’d shear his Hollywood Blond locks and adopt a cut-throat promo style with the chip on his shoulder to prove his main event capabilities. By the end of the year, he’d be signed to the WWF where he’d go on to becoming one of pop culture’s most enduring figures as the beer-chugging Bionic Redneck “Stone Cold.”
Mick Foley was a similar case, cast out by Atlanta and disillusioned after literally maiming himself in the ring for them. Thanks to his exploits in Japan, Foley became one of the biggest stars in the world for his bloodsoaked showdowns that took hardcore wrestling to new heights. He’d then condemn the extreme stylings of the promotion and its pious worshippers, including fans who called for his three-year-old son Dewey to be bludgeoned with a cane.
Many others such as the Steiner Brothers, Scott Hall, and Sid Vicious would find themselves in the Land of Extreme for a cup of coffee.
The WWF had an under-the-table relationship with ECW during the late-90’s, sliding Heyman cash while the company slowly crumbled. As it had with WCW earlier in the decade, the WWF would send talent to Philly and the ECW locker room even “invaded” a special RAW broadcast. This would later be the back door that allowed the acquisition of ECW’s assets by Vince McMahon.
By being a smaller company, wrestlers were able to experiment without the stresses of a nationalized television presentation. By lowering their profile in the public eye, a wrestler can reemerge on cable television refreshed and ideally, welcomed in open arms. In general, more wrestling promotions offer a new avenue for talent to make a name for themselves.
A New Mold of Superstar
ECW became where many international stars broke into the American scene, offering a unique wrestling style atypical of the mainstream pace. Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Psicosis, and others cut their teeth in other countries before being recruited for Heyman’s organization.
Heyman even tried to recruit All Japan pillars Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi for a Triple Crown Championship defense leading into Heatwave 1998, though he’d end up using talent from other puro organizations. Thanks to partnerships with FMW and Michinoku Pro, the western wrestling palette became more complex.
In an era where having “The Look” was important for whether a promoter would even bother, ECW didn’t shy away from utilizing talents who broke these molds. Taz, Jerry Lynn, and Rhino are all former world champions who don’t even clock in at six-foot.
Heyman took a failed WWF midcarder in the form of Aldo Montoya and repackaged him as Justin Credible, proving he was capable of highlighting a talent’s best aspects. Al Snow became a sleeper hit for the ECW faithful, a run that was cut short when Snow was summoned back north in mid-1998.
“Little” Spike Dudley and Mikey Whipwreck wouldn’t have even made it through the door in the “land of the giants” but Heyman would give them a chance. Thanks to their connection to the crowd, they’d defy any preconceived notion over who “gets” to go over.
Thanks to Heyman’s eye for talent, many of these wrestlers would find themselves in the WWF following its acquisition of ECW and WCW’s assets. As wrestling entered a new era, many ECW alumni would find work in the WWE and new startups such as ROH and NWA-TNA.