Was ECW all it was cracked up to be?

[PowerButchi]

Shit announcer too. Never, ever liked him. And when he couldn't be produced pretty much line for line by Paul Heyman on PPVs his lack of ability shone through. Joey Styles wasn't the great announcer in ECW, Paul Heyman was.

[Egg Shen]

 

 

I think Sabu talked about the original in one of his shoots, and said he dropped a ton of acid before he went out. Or maybe Sandman did. One or the other. Or both, probably.

 

Yeah sandman did acid was calling Sabu a lizard most of the way though the match. "Here lizard lizard"

 

ECW was the be all and end all for wrestling at the time for me, id put up with the worst 10th gen VHS copy as long as i got my fill of pan shots and blood.

 

ECW's video montages were fanastic...i too rocked the 10th gen video tapes of Hardcore TV and id watch them montages over and over again.

[Egg Shen]

I almost vomited when Joey Styles made it sound as if Heyman was doing all the wrestlers a favour by not paying them on that Heyman DVD. Just lies from a geg-eyed little stooge. Always hated Joey Styles. Thought he was a jaded little shit with over the top yells as soon as I heard him.

i raised an eyebrow at that bit.

 

so whats your take on it? any truth to what Styles was saying? or did Heyman just turn his back on his boys and just do them out of a lot of money?

[EdgarTheSlouch]

 

 

I think Sabu talked about the original in one of his shoots, and said he dropped a ton of acid before he went out. Or maybe Sandman did. One or the other. Or both, probably.

Yeah sandman did acid was calling Sabu a lizard most of the way though the match. "Here lizard lizard"

 

ECW was the be all and end all for wrestling at the time for me, id put up with the worst 10th gen VHS copy as long as i got my fill of pan shots and blood.

 

ECW's video montages were fanastic...i too rocked the 10th gen video tapes of Hardcore TV and id watch them montages over and over again.

 

Totally agree. Just wish the 94 N2R montage was on Youtube

[Paigefan]

I liked some of the wrestlers that came out of it, Rhyno, Raven, the Dudleys, Sabu, Jerry Lynn, I loved RVD for a couple of years but even them I started liking more after ECW mostly so maybe it was just them that I liked.

[quote the raven]

I liked some of the wrestlers that came out of it, Rhyno, Raven, the Dudleys, Sabu, Jerry Lynn, I loved RVD for a couple of years but even them I started liking more after ECW mostly so maybe it was just them that I liked.

 

I think alot of what ecw was died a little in 1996 after the big two stole talent and ideas. I cant tell you how hyped i was for sabu vs tazz the first time. They still hold two of my fave angles in wrestling

 

Funk in the box... was just so so so good, 

 

And Raven steals sandman's family.

 

I was 18 ish and that shit was plan cool, my one regret was i never go to the arena for a show. 

[Michael_3165]

Had it not been for Heyman's innovative creative style I doubt it would have made the same long term impact on wrestling that it did.

 

From a purely work rate perspective, few matches from ECW have stood the test of time. A lot of the matches have not aged well, especially compared to other promotions of the time.

 

I would argue that ECW needs to shoulder a percentage of the blame for the death toll in wrestling since 1990. Upping the ante was one thing... Bringing about an expectation of increasing risk in wrestling is a completely different animal.

 

Artistically ECW doesn't hold up well. The production was the pits (many Indy promotions do it better) though the characters , based less on cartoon characters like WWF circa 1995 was refreshing.

 

Personally I can appreciate the impact of ECW but I for one didn't understand the allure of the promotion.

[Au]

There's been a lot of complaints about the production quality in this thread but surely that was part of the charm?

 

Back in the late 90's when I was a teenager, the shitty production quality added a bit of grittiness and really made it feel more like an alternative to the Big Two.

 

Edit: Actually, I'll expand on that. What made ECW so attractive was that it had that sort of DIY Punk aesthetic. The thing that makes kids passionate about seeing shitty bands in tiny sweaty venues who have never done more than a 50 print run of their EP and not passionate in the slightest about going to see U2. It was seeing guy who were drunk and/or stoned and/or out of shape in the ring. It was small time and relatable.

 

I don't think it would catch on as well now because people aren't seeking out the alternative, they aren't more easily swung by small time than they are by gloss. Maybe we'll see a swing in that direction again but I kinda doubt it.

[garynysmon]

I don't think it would catch on as well now because people aren't seeking out the alternative, they aren't more easily swung by small time than they are by gloss. Maybe we'll see a swing in that direction again but I kinda doubt it.

 

I've always thought ECW was more of a 'you had to be there' kind of fad. I imagine if I was a wrestling fan, of the right age living on the American east coast, I would have been sucked in as well.

 

But the WWE is glossier than its ever been (too glossy and polished in my view). Who knows, maybe now would be a good time for a real alternative (certainly not WWE lite though).

[King Pitcos]

There are dozens of alternatives. You can't swing a dick without hitting some shitty low-rent promotion doing iPPVs and selling DVDs.

[quote the raven]

Does ecw stand up to today's WWE?

 

Of course not its nearly 20 years old! with zero money ran by one man from his mums basement!

 

Just pulled a few cards from 95 

 

WCW @ Phoenix, AZ - Veterans Memorial Coliseum -

Alex Wright defeated Bobby Eaton
Johnny B. Badd defeated Jean Paul Levesque
WCW Tag Team Champions Marcus Alexander Bagwell & the Patriot defeated Paul Orndorff & Paul Roma
Dustin Rhodes defeated Lord Steven Regal
The Nasty Boys defeated Harlem Heat via disqualification
Sting defeated Avalanche via disqualification 

 

WWF @ Winnipeg, Manitoba - Arena -
Davey Boy Smith defeated Owen Hart
The Bushwhackers defeated the Heavenly Bodies
King Kong Bundy defeated Adam Bomb
The Undertaker defeated IRS
Hakushi defeated the 1-2-3 Kid
Doink the Clown defeated Barry Horowitz
WWF World Champion Diesel defeated Bob Backlund 

 

ECW @ Ft. Lauderdale, FL - )
Joe Malenko defeated Alex G via submission at 13:22
The Tazmaniac pinned the Evil Snake at 4:05
Axl Rotten pinned Ian Rotten in a barbed wire baseball bat match
Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko defeated Norman Smiley & Mikey Whipwreck at 7:17 when Benoit pinned Smiley
Raven pinned Tommy Dreamer
Death Row 3260 pinned D-Day
Cactus Jack pinned ECW World Champion the Sandman (w/ Woman) in a non-title barbed wire match at 12:14; the ring ropes were replaced with barbed wire for the bout;
ECW Tag Team Champions the Public Enemy defeated the Pitbulls at 22:00 when Grunge scored the pin 

 

Its not hard to see why a 18 year old me would have hated the big two and loved ecw 

[PowerButchi]

Death Row 3260 is one of my least favourite wrestlers. Anyone who was one of the worst things on Abrams cards has to be pretty fucking dire.

[wandshogun09]

I think the WCW card is the best of the three there. Then and now with hindsight, I think I'd feel the same. And I bet Bulldog vs Owen on the WWF card pissed all over anything on the ECW card from a great height.

[Sergio Mendacious]

The Evil Snake? I'm intrigued.

[FLips]

I had no idea Norman Smiley was in ECW at one point.