Sabu’s Triple Jump Moonsault required great balance and athleticism. Obviously, the company realized he wasn’t very good and had him lose to the superior 2 Cold Scorpio quickly after, but the record books show his name and it always glaringly stands out negatively. Easily, the biggest star to ever come out of WWE ECW was the leader of the Straight Edge Society, CM Punk. How anyone can call the 16-time world champion the 'worst wrestler … 10 Wrestlers Who Hated Working For ECW. They can't wrestle ! Read the article here: http://whatculture.com/wwe/10-wrestlers-you-totally-forgot-worked-for-ecw. Hulk Hogan. Sorry to burst your bubble, old school ECW fans. The list is only going to look at wrestlers that were champs under the Extreme Championship Wrestling banner. Big Sal was a super heavyweight billed at over 500 pounds. Douglas delivered the move well and got it over in its context. Heck, call it the Reversed Figure Four like Ronnie Garvin did for a spell. The company’s hardcore violence and invocation of foul language and storylines driven by realism were influential in shaping the larger trajectory of the pro wrestling business at the time. Say what you want about his unpredictable and violent personality, but New Jack was an absolute star at his peak. After a very successful career on the indies, including the great Summer of Punk in Ring of Honor, where he had signed with WWE and then won the world title there, he was ready to make his mark. 15: The Fat Chick Thrilla/That '70s Guy. 14 Worst: ECW Hardcore Revolution. Watching wrestling in the last five years, it has become entirely ordinary to watch Brock Lesnar take opponents to Suplex City by nailing repeated release German suplexes. Lashley’s introduction to WWE fans was his ECW run with an ECW Championship win over Big Show in the Elimination Chamber at the infamous December to Dismember PPV. It was another case of a failing muscular stiff that WWE desperately wanted to become a star but couldn’t cut the mustard. Chavo's run was flat out WWE showing they had no interest in building the credibility of the title back up. For a man his size, it is completely believable that a splash would incapacitate opponents. Follow him on Twitter @miketchin. Well, for these following 10 wrestlers in history, ... Sabu is a two-time ECW world title champion and three-time tag team champion, and also held the television title once. There’s no argument that The Sandman represented the time with his unapologetic love of drinking, swearing and kicking ass. That didn’t stop ECW from giving them chances in singles work and Pitbull #2 ended up having a reign with the Television Championship. The Gangstas are rightfully recognized as one of the most successful tag teams in ECW history but that had more to do with the popularity of New Jack. (A list of the worst wrestlers who ever stepped into a ring)! From November to Remember to to Living Dangerously to Heatwave to Anarchy Rulz, ECW's PPVs were as diverse as they were crazy. Jack Swagger was one of the young prospects to be showcased as an ECW brand main eventer, with the hopes of being developed for a bigger run on Raw or SmackDown. Related: 5 ECW Wrestlers Who Were Better In WWE (& 5 Who Were Worse). ... Related: Every Year Of ECW, Ranked From Worst To Best. Nonetheless, in a company known for over-the-top violence, his finisher feels pretty underwhelming. However, for as important of a star as Shane Douglas was to ECW history, it’s a bit strange to look back on his signature finisher being a belly-to-belly suplex. 36) Mikey Whipwreck What better way to showcase any promotion than having four of the biggest and slowest wrestlers do battle. Paul Heyman had the ability to make lackluster wrestlers that failed in WWE or WCW more confident and highlight them in a bigger role. Plenty of wrestling superstars from WWE, WCW and AEW have made their way to the ring by entering through the crowd, By Eric Rhodes Published 12 hours ago. That’s the key to a title becoming relevant – treating it with respect. 15 Alex Wright. Check out this photo gallery featuring competitors who sported the absolute worst names in the history of the squared circle. CW Anderson was a respected name for ECW who built his initial reputation in large part off of the Anderson family name. While today’s fans most readily associate RVD with his Five Star Frog Splash, the Split Legged Moonsault was a primary finisher for him in the original ECW. Swagger lacked a presence that stood out as someone you need to watch and that was highlighted with a lackluster ECW Championship reign. 10 CM PUNK. The company was wise and effective in showcasing new stars with a smaller budget than their competition. Call it the Sharpshooter a la Bret and Owen Hart. https://www.thesportster.com/wrestling/ecw-worst-finishers-wrestlers The popular belief is McMahon went this route specifically to rub it in the faces of former ECW talent and fans that he owns everything in the wrestling industry. During the summer and early fall of 2000, Mike Awesome had some of the worst gimmicks in professional wrestling … It was fine at the time because he was a veteran and the humor provided some fun but looking back, Smothers is one of the worst title holders in ECW history. However, there are other big maneuvers and holds that don’t hold up as well looking back at them. My Top 50. ... Jackson was drafted to the SmackDown roster after ECW was deemed a failure and helped Wade Barrett to become the Intercontinental Champion. Steve Corino took on the Automatic Elbow as a signature move to mock rival Dusty Rhodes. McMahon got his revenge by defeating Lashley for the ECW title in a moment that sickens any longtime fans of the promotion. For as good as Phil LaFon was at delivering his own variant on the same suplex, it’s all the more absurd to think of him putting away series competition with that throw. Throughout 1997, ECW wrestlers appeared on USWA television programs, and vice versa. His finisher—the opposite end of a match from his entrance—was accordingly underwhelming. Around the time ECW was made the change to Extreme Championship Wrestling, Jason was the ECW Television Championship and gets this spot by default. Roman Reigns, Kurt Angle, CM Punk, The Miz, Finlay and of course, John Cena. The first selection features a champion from WWE’s version of ECW. The Pitbulls were the first star tag team attraction in the ECW change to “Extreme” and worked perfectly together but neither man showed the special skills suited to become a singles superstar. 26 of 40. Danny Doring and Roadkill would become one of the fixtures in the tag team division and win gold together. Once WWE realized the ECW brand wasn’t creating stars and any chance of using the former name value was long gone, they decided to ditch the concept. McMahon’s choice would go on to be a forgettable champion and have a bore of a title reign. Roadkill was an impressive high-flying big man with a humorous gimmick but Doring was rather bland and less pivotal to their success. Swagger worked with Matt Hardy and Christian in decent matches but you could tell how limited his ceiling was as a performer. WWE always viewed Chavo as a midcard act at best and he was rarely featured in a relevant role. https://www.thesportster.com/wrestling/top-15-worst-ecw-champions This dominating offense can look brutal and believable. In the meantime, former tag team partner Tazmaniac (who had shortened his name to "Taz") began to publicly challenge Sabu at every given opportunity, but got no … The Triple Jump Moonsault—from the mat, to a chair, and off the ropes—has only lost luster over time as Sabu continued using the move over a decade past ECW’s heyday. The idea was fine in theory but Jackson was an absolute scrub that predictably flopped with every opportunity given to him. The relatively low arc of the moonsault suggests lower impact. ECW was awesome, but it did have its fair share of awful finishing moves. One of the biggest names in the WWE today is John Cena. 5. Unique lists featuring pop culture, entertainment and crazy facts. Many of the stars to be prominently featured in 2000-2001 would have never sniffed any title picture in ECW during the golden years of 1997-1998 before WWE and WCW raided their top stars. The promotion only featured three titles with the ECW World Championship, ECW Television Championship and ECW Tag Team Championship. 9 Wrestlers Who Entered The Ring Through The Crowd. Perry Saturn and John Kronus could possibly go down as the best tag team in company history depending on how you feel about The Dudleys but Kronus was significantly less talented than Saturn. 1. Kanyon finally broke out from under his mask after Raven denied his attempts to join The Flock, Raven’s group of cronies. Fans bought into New Jack’s matches and overall attitude, so they accepted Mustafa by proxy but Mustafa wasn’t a title worthy performer. Just the same, particularly by the 1990s, a simple splash didn’t exactly wow fans as a finisher. Pitbull #2 was one of the least interesting names to hold a championship in the history books when you look at Paul Heyman’s tenure as a booker. The true that sign WWE's ECW experiment was failing was Chavo Guerrero becoming world champion. The magic of Dreamer came from being a product of ECW’s system that featured violence and weapons. However, this was a case in which Rhodes’s Bionic Elbow had gotten over based on the overwhelming charisma of the performer rather than the move itself being anything special. Hooking up 'Big Poppa'. CW’s skill and the degree to which he got over meant that the maneuver landed all right with fans, but looking back, it doesn’t hold up well against more innovative or dangerous looking moves popular in ECW at the time. In the early 1980s, Hogan helped turn WWE into the world’s most popular wrestling company, thanks to his endless charm, good looks and ability to fire up crowds with the microphone. That is a list for another day. Saturn leaving exposed Kronus as a below average wrestler and while ECW gave him another tag title reign with New Jack, he just wasn’t good enough to get over and is one of the promotion’s worst champions. During his ECW TV title reign, Van Dam was one of the best wrestlers on the planet. Christian, Kane and Matt Hardy were ECW World Champions due to their name value. While the move was fresh for its time and is objectively physically impressive, it hardly looks like a killer by today’s standards. While his ability to get the fans to love him was indeed a strong skill, Dreamer didn’t perform at the level of guys like Rob Van Dam, Jerry Lynn or Sabu. The dying days of ECW saw a downgrade in talent and it led to various lackluster wrestlers holding titles. He exploded onto the scene in 2002 and is now widely considered to be the most popular active wrestler today. It might sound like blasphemy to put The Hulkster on this list — especially after we ranked him so high on our list of all-time legends — but he’s easily one of WWE’s most overhyped stars ever. The final show featured Ezekiel Jackson defeating Christian to get the rub of being the last ECW Champion in history. The Warrior was part of Worst Feud and Match in 1989 with Andre the Giant and also easily won Worst Wrestler in 1998 for his infamously terrible WCW run. For all of Corino’s talent, the Automatic Elbow was underwhelming and ultimately did a disservice to him. Lynn can make the same claim. This move is the stuff of wrestling legend—an iconic finisher that has won world titles and used by some of the best in the business. You have to wonder if things would have turned out differently if ECW never existed. Bobby Lashley's potential was unlimited but he failed to ever scratch the surface of what he could achieve in pro wrestling. 6 Batista vs. Big Show Shane Douglas was the greatest example of the ECW rebranding. He could work any style well which is something that very few wrestlers nowadays can say. One of the most underrated wrestlers in the WCW was a little known Mexican wrestler, Juventud Guerrera. Big Daddy V, Kane, the Great Khali, and Mark Henry. He is an actor and producer, known for No Holds Barred (1989), Rocky III (1982) and Suburban Commando (1991). Rob Van Dam’s athleticism, martial arts skill, and creativity, blended with a sense of violence made him a stand out star for ECW. There’s something to be said for traditionalism and making use of holds and throws that have been around forever. Pro wrestling is his strongest passion with a lifetime fandom and countless live shows attended. Heyman used that to have Douglas cut “shoot promos” trashing Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels and others for their past drama and the ECW fans ate it up, which led to four world title reigns. ECW's history is romanticized for the impact it had on the industry. Douglas’ matches are a chore to look back at and every promo he cut was exactly the same. Explore this storyboard about WWE, Paul Heyman, Pro Wrestling by The Sportster on Flipboard. The amateur wrestling star could perform competently in the ring but he wasn’t anything special and his promo skills were atrocious. A simple DDT was no longer as believable as a finisher by that point, and particularly so when Raven was delivering a better version in the same company. His supposed familial connection to men like Arn and Ole invited him to tap into their legacy, and so it made a degree of sense for him to use a Spinebuster for a signature move. 6. Michael Chin is a writer based in Las Vegas, who specializes in covering pro wrestling and other forms of pop culture. Only in ECW could a guy essentially cosplaying as Kid Rock become one of the hotter talents to watch. KEEP IN MIND (DISCLAIMER) This ECW Championship list is to commemorate WWE ONLY ECW champions. Featuring insights from Joey Styles and Tommy Dreamer, see who ranks highest among those who took things to the extreme. https://www.therichest.com/wrestling/the-20-worst-wrestlers-in-ecw-history His innovations and talent facilitated a career that has continued two decades after the Land of Extreme closed its doors. The Eliminators became an instant hit in the ECW tag team division due to their hard hitting style and intense personas. The company changed from Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1994 and never looked back. The worst champion of all time is the final man to ever hold the ECW Championship. Cut to recent times where AJ Styles gambled on himself after TNA asked him to take a pay cut, so he left and revitalized himself in Japan to later sign with WWE, making him a much bigger star … Complete with Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” a kendo stick, and banging beer cans against his head, fans couldn’t help but rally behind him. Some wrestlers are named after hammers and axes, ... ECW thought they were clever by naming Peter Polaco, ... One of the worst cases of forced acronyms was the Godwinns. Paul Heyman’s vision and intelligence pushed the business into the next wave of entertainment and it led to WWE changing their business with the birth of The Attitude Era. Dreamer has admitted he never wanted to hold the ECW Championship because he thought it was better suited with other guys and he was popular enough without it. Unfortunately, Smothers wasn’t as effective at putting together memorable matches or a great body of work in ECW. Nonetheless, the idea of Lesnar using the suplexes themselves as a finisher doesn’t feel suitably climactic nowadays. Even mooing at his opponents, it was hard to take Mantaur seriously at all, which made him one of the worst wrestlers in the history of professional wrestling. Kash won the ECW Television Championship due to his rising popularity and had the second to last reign in company history before Rhyno defeated him. By Juliette Marie Published Nov 19, 2017. Decades after WCW was bought out by WWE, it's interesting to look back at some of the promotion's forgotten wrestlers, and where they are now.. News on all your favorite celebs, reality TV, and movies. Paul Heyman’s vision and intelligence pushed the business into the next wave of entertainment and it led to WWE changing their busi. Sabu returned to ECW on November 18, 1995 at November to Remember, and eventually engaged in matches and feuds with the likes of Rob Van Dam, with whom he later teamed up with and won the ECW World Tag Team Championship twice. However, he is prone to injuries and is currently out of action due to a shoulder injury. Most successful tag teams feature one wrestler that is clearly better than his partner and is meant to eventually move on to bigger things. While the promotion had its share of plunder fests, there was also some real artistry to the use of foreign objects, including creative—sometimes aerial—use of steel hairs, tables, ladders, and the like. If you’ve watched any Sandman match, you know what the problem with this was. The Sandman had his limitations past that point, as was exposed in his lackluster WWE and WCW runs. Chavo would lose the title to Kane at WrestleMania XXIV in eleven seconds, showing just how irrelevant his title run was. This match wasn’t just one of the worst in ECW’s history, but the history of the profession as well. ECW would make Sandman one of the cornerstones of the company and he was a five-time World Champion. The faction was perfect together in 1999 but Jason actually wrestled in the early 90s and had his reign with the TV title in 1994. Kash's career following the death of ECW was a combination of mediocrity in TNA and WWE showing how pivotal Heyman was to making him look better than he was. 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So you will not be seeing Shane Douglas, Sabu, Sandman, and so forth on this list. Smothers was mostly known for his silly dancing and played more of a comedic role. Related: 10 Wrestlers You Didn't Know Made Appearances In The Original ECW. Kid Kash was always pretty good but he appeared to be a superstar in ECW thanks to Paul Heyman’s booking. He was also the pick for Most Overrated three years in a row. While Scotty Anton—who had had greater fame as Scotty Riggs in WCW—worked in ECW, he unveiled his own version, known as the Clapper. New Jack’s penchant for believable (and at times even real) violence fit ECW well, and the 187 that saw him jump off the top rope and hit a prone opponent with a chair was understandably devastating. Tommy Dreamer personified hard work and passion but he wasn’t a very good wrestler. A super heavyweight billed at over 500 pounds Joey Styles and Tommy Dreamer, see who ranks among... 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