The importance Terry Funk had on the company can best be seen by the respect he was shown in
Beyond the Mat.
Paul credited Terry for the company being on PPV in a pep speech prior
to Barely Legal and he wasn’t kidding. Terry Funk is the rare veteran
that understands the importance of helping to create new stars. With a
combination of hardcore matches, a tough guy reputation and the pedigree
of the NWA championship, Terry Funk is responsible for making stars out
of many ECW wrestlers.
Shane
was known as “The Franchise” for a reason. In a promotion filled with
rule breakers (if there were any rules) he was the bad guy. By
destroying the legacy of the NWA he created ECW. His three way match
against Sabu and Terry Funk made three way matches a popular match
style. In addition to his singles success, he also rubbed some of his
prestige off to others by forming The Triple Threat. At times members of
the group included Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, & Chris Candido.
The
Sandman was the icon of ECW. He was the man that every fan could
gravitate towards. His gimmick was liberally copied by Steve Austin and
that helped to change the wrestling industry. His feud with Tommy
Dreamer got Dreamer over with the tough Philly crowd and his feud with
Raven was perhaps the most emotional story in ECW. His ring entrance
could be the best in wrestling history and might have been the highlight
of the first One Night Stand.
Tommy
Dreamer’s career was similar to the story of ECW. He would face long
troubles and as soon as he appeared to conquer them an even bigger
problem would creep up. Originally a squeaky clean baby face that was
hated by the Philly crowd, he gained respect in his feud with The
Sandman. The most famous feud in ECW history was between him and Raven.
He is the only wrestler to have been with the company from it’s
inception till it ended in 2001.
Sabu
has carried on the tradition of his uncle, The Shiek. The brutality he
shows towards his opponents was nothing compared to what he would do to
his own body. Early in his ECW tenure, Chris Benoit broke Sabu’s neck in
a match but he returned to the ring a few weeks later. A
misunderstanding over dates led to Sabu missing much of 1995. One of his
most famous matches saw him beat Terry Funk for the ECW title in a
barbed wire match that required the two men to be cut apart.
Raven’s
feuds with Sandman and Tommy Dreamer made people forget about the
horrific Johnny Polo gimmick he was given in the WWF. He was only there
for two years before leaving for WCW. He returned for a short stint a
few years later but left due to the financial problems the company had.
Raven holds the distinction of being the only man to hold titles in and
have action figures made of himself from ECW, TNA, WWF, and WCW.
RVD
joined ECW in 1996 and was in the main event of their final televised
event. While he never held the World Title, he held the TV title for
almost two years and only lost it due to injury. Despite not holding the
title, his matches were the main event in the last few years of the
promotion. He was also the only ECW wrestler to get some mainstream
media attention. His matches against Jerry Lynn are still held in high
regards to this day.
Tazz
was originally a Tazmanian Devil type character. He refined his persona
into a shoot fighter with a really bad attitude. He feuded with Sabu
for over a year without ever touching him. Their encounter was the main
event of ECW’s first PPV event. That idea was copied with great success
by WCW in the Hulk Hogan vs Sting feud. As a WWF wrestler, he returned
ECW and won the ECW Title from WCW star Mike Awesome. Before losing the
belt in ECW, he was pinned by Triple H on WWF TV.
Mick’s
first ECW match was while he was under contract to WCW. After losing to
Sabu, he spit on the WCW tag team titles. Unbelievably, he is most
famous for his promos while in ECW. His anti-hardcore promos are perhaps
the best ever in the wrestling business. He used his fame to elevate
wrestlers like Tommy Dreamer and he accomplished the impossible by
helping to turn Mikey Whipwreck from a lovable loser into a main event
wrestler.
