ECW – The Catalyst Pro Wrestling needed

Paul Heyman (right) with Brock Lesnar of the WWE

When you talk about pro wrestling, you have to talk about the different periods in wrestling history. Whether it be the Golden Era, the Rock n’ Wrestling Connection era, or the most famous of them all, the Attitude Era, each of them bears its own significance.

Till the 90′s, wrestling was seen as a mixture of taboo and bending the reality into something now known as ‘Entertainment’. Wrestling till then was something many people frowned upon, and yet, for the fans it was something near and dear. It was again divided for the adult fans who respected the legacy of the ‘sport’, and for the kids, who were witnessing the emergence of a revolution in the wrestling business. The adults were more into the traditional aspect, with Organizations such as AWA, NWA, AAA, Smokey Mountain and other territorial promotions focusing on the more subdued wrestling, while the biggest promotion, the World Wrestling Federation, was growing through leaps and bounds, and was revolutionizing the business through its ‘Sports Entertainment’ ideology. This was the period of two people, Vince and Hulk Hogan, and this duo had taken the pro wrestling business by storm, and had taken it to heights never heard or even imagined before.

Now, during the 90′s, the World Wrestling Federation became global. They emerged as the biggest Wrestling organization in the World. While this was happening, the entertainment mogul, Ted Turner, wanted to start a promotion which emphasized the ‘wrestling’ aspect, as the WWF was now more of a ‘Sports entertainment’ organization. It has been told that once Ted Turner had called Vince Mcmahon and told him he was starting a Wrestling organization, to which Vince replied that he was heading a ‘Sports Entertainment’ company. And once more, the traditional wrestling fans had an alternative to choose from. And Ted Turner’s company, which was called World Championship Wrestling, or simply WCW, started to gain momentum.

During the early part of the mid 90s, the two juggernauts of pro wrestling, the WWF and WCW, locked horns in a fierce battle for TV ratings. WWF had started their flagship show, which was called RAW, and WCW had similarly started their flagship show, which was called Nitro. And both of these were on the same day every week, and so, the fans could choose either one of the two programs, and this escalated the tension between the two companies. Now, it was at this time that a small organization in South Philly was gaining a small fan base. This company was called ‘Eastern Championship Wrestling’, but was later changed to ‘Extreme Championship Wrestling’, or simply ECW. This small company, headed by a guy named Paul Heyman, promised to offer the fans something the other two organizations couldn’t. Often conducted in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, ECW emphasized more on the younger crop of wrestlers, with the likes of Shane Douglas and RVD leading the talent. What was so different in this organization? Outrageous story lines and brutality in matches. Something that was unheard of in the United States.

Japan used to have promotions which concentrated on blood and gore. The tale of two American wrestlers beating the hell out of each other was soon making rounds in Japan, and these two guys went by the name of Mick Foley and Terry Funk, and their matches were a blood bath. Their rivalry is now fondly remembered to have inspired and given birth to violent form of wrestling in the United States, and it started in ECW. And ECW wasn’t just about different story lines and bloodshed; it also centered around names American fans had never even heard of.

At a time when the fans were getting bored of the same old guys, the Hogans, Flairs and Andersons in the wrestling business, ECW offered an alternative – something completely different from WCW and WWF. Their story lines were something neither of the two companies at that time could even dream of, and Paul Heyman started bringing talent from Japan. He brought in guys like Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero, who were making a name for themselves in Japan, and so, not only did ECW give fans a breath of fresh air with what they offered with the product, but they had guys who could go out every night and give the fans the best wrestling match they ever witnessed. And this raised the stake of ECW in the United States. Still, there was one problem with ECW. They were not even close to having the finances WCW and WWF did. Ted Gordon couldn’t afford to put ECW on prime time, like Ted Turner could on Turner Network, and like Vince could with the USA Network, and they had to settle for a local cable sports station. And this had hampered ECW’s chances of reaching out to a larger audience. But ECW did what no other promotion till then could – they changed the way pro wrestling worked.

ECW was full of outrageous characters. Starting with the Gangstas, to the Sandman, to the Raven and Sabu, ECW could captivate the fans like no other organization till then could. Their story lines were controversial and completely insane. The feud between the Sandman and Raven, or the Raven’s storyline with Tommy Dreamer, or the continuation of the battles between Mick Foley and Terry Funk – Paul Heyman took the imagination of the fans and moulded it into reality. Soon, the fans were hungry for more. They were loyal to the company; ECW had a cult following, something that was non-existent till then. And it was this mentality that Vince had taken from ECW, and it was this mentality that gave Vince the idea of starting something called the ‘Attitude Era’ in the WWF.

There are only a handful of people who recognize the importance of ECW in the history of professional wrestling. It can even be said that without ECW, there would have been no Attitude Era. Paul Heyman was responsible for the careers of guys like Jericho, Malenko, Benoit and Eddie taking off, with them leaving ECW for WCW, and then for WWF from WCW. ECW wasn’t responsible just for changing the mentality of wrestling fans about how they visualized pro wrestling, but it was pivotal in changing the landscape of the entire industry. Heyman was also responsible for creating the character of Steve Austin! With story lines such as Raven’s sacrifice, ECW transcended into something larger than a traditional wrestling promotion; it became an ‘entertainment’ organization. If it wasn’t for ECW, the business would have never witnessed the rise of WWF.