ECW 2

[JimSteel]

Did ECW Save Wrestling?

I say yes and I'll tell you why.

I was at the very first ECW Show at a sports bar back then the only thing to watch was WCW+WWF/E. The product was good at the time but the big two were running out of ideas

Then ECW came around and started getting a huge fan base. Long before ECW got a TV Deal they were a threat to the big two. Not a serious threat but one that made the big two consider what they are doing and how to improve. They tried to win the ECW Fans with better shows which probably wouldn't happened without ECW

Also I think WCW wouldn't have lasted as long without ECW

ECW gave us stars like Rob Van Damm,Sabu,Tazz and The Dudley Boys,Gangsters,Public Enemy and Others and brought to the limelight in the U.S. Chris Benoit,Eddie Guerrero,Dean Malenko, Mic Foley,Rey Mysterio

They used stars like Raven,Justin Credible+Shane Douglas better then the WWE or WCW ever did

Even alot of legends wrestled in ECW including

LOW STARS
Road Warrior Hawk,Rick Rude,
King Kong Bundy,Jimmy Snuka,Don Muraco ,Sherri Martel,Sabu,The Sheik,Bobby Eaton,Chris Candido+ Sunny,Konan,Steve Corino ,Ivan Koloff,Danny Doing

And Others like Onita,Steve Austin,Stan Hansen,Steve Williams,Terry Gordy, Hayabusa,Kevin Sullivan,Abdullah the Butcher,Arn Anderson,Terry+Dory Funk,Brian Pillman,The Harris Brothers,Brian Lee,Hotstuff Eddie Gilbert,The Dark Patriot(Doug Gilbert)

Just to name a few

[Vanilla Gorilla]

No, I was a huge fan of some aspects of the fed but the "saving wrestling" no

[GalactiKing]

Maybe....it definitely changed wrestling, but it also probably led to the demise of WCW while permanently changing(in some ways for the better) the WWE. So it may have saved wrestling, but it defniitely changed wrestling.

[Chris Ingersoll]

troy said:

Maybe....it definitely changed wrestling, but it also probably led to the demise of WCW while permanently changing(in some ways for the better) the WWE. So it may have saved wrestling, but it defniitely changed wrestling.

Pretty much my thoughts, word for word.

[gatekeeper]

I say no. Wrestling would've survived regardless but I agree that it did help change the sport. (yeah, sport, i said it!)

It fast, aggressive style was unique at the time and WCW and WWE weren't putting on matches like it. They saw the value of it, and its popularity, and so they incorporated it into their products.

Also, ECW and Heyman were very innovative and controversial. They put on the 1st ever Triple Threat title match. They had the 1st lesbian angle, Singapore caning, and other things too.

This all helped change the direction of pro wrestling. No doubt.

[gwffantrav]

troy said:

Maybe....it definitely changed wrestling, but it also probably led to the demise of WCW while permanently changing(in some ways for the better) the WWE. So it may have saved wrestling, but it defniitely changed wrestling.

But it also changed things for the worse as well

[GalactiKing]

Oh I think it did. Why I said some ways for the better. It also changed women in the sport (returning them more to their roots as valets instead of active participants), shortened match times, and probably some other things I'm not remembering.

[bmurderh8s]

ECW did the 3-way dance the way it was meant to be done. ELIMINATION STYLE!