Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was a professional wrestling company that ran from April 25, 1992 to April 4, 2001. The company was known for its hardcore style of wrestling as well as lucha libre to puroresu.
_Heyman_Addressing_Crowd.jpg) Paul E. Dangerously addressing the ECW crowd on December 23, 1999 | |
| Industry | Professional wrestling, Hardcore wrestling, Lucha libre, Puroresu, Shoot |
|---|---|
| Fate | Bankrupt; assets purchased by the WWE |
| Founded | April 25, 1992 |
| Founder | Tod Gordon (Eastern) Paul Heyman (Extreme) |
| Defunct | April 4, 2001 |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Owner | Tod Gordon (1992–1996) Paul Heyman (1996–2001) Vince McMahon (2003-present) |
The company was originally known as Eastern Championship Wrestling and was owned by Tod Gordon.[1] It was then renamed Extreme Championship Wrestling and Paul Heyman was brought in as the new owner after Tod Gordon sold ECW to him in 1995. World Wrestling Federation purchased Extreme Championship Wrestling after Heyman filed for bankruptcy on April 4, 2001.[2]
WWE hosted a pay-per-view called ECW One Night Stand on June 12, 2005 which featured ECW alumni. They hosted another ECW One Night Stand on June 11, 2006 which helped introduce the relaunch of the ECW franchise as a WWE brand like Raw and SmackDown.[3] Paul Heyman was also brought back to be the newly appointed figurehead for the ECW brand and recommissioned the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to be the brand's world title. He awarded it to Rob Van Dam after Van Dam won the WWE Championship at the 2006 One Night Stand. The brand operated until February 16, 2010.[4]
Last champions
Extreme Championship Wrestling Media
Eastern Championship Wrestling logo.
Shane Douglas threw down the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in favor of the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in 1994
The former ECW Arena as it appeared in 2010
Paul Heyman appears with ECW security guard Ronnie Lang in 1998
The Sandman held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship a record five times
References
- ↑ Williams, Scott (2006). Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of ECW. Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-1-59670-021-5.
- ↑ Loverro, Thom (2006). The Rise and Fall of ECW. Pocket Books. p. 233. ISBN 978-1-4165-1058-1.
- ↑ "WWE Brings ECW to Sci Fi Channel". WWE. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
- ↑ "McMahon announces the end of ECW". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved 2013-11-15.[dead link]
