ECW's Hogan, Sting?

[poppycock]

So when it comes to WWE to me it's obvious who the biggest star in the companies history was, that man being Hulk Hogan. People would argue with this with other examples such as Steve Austin and they would be correct as far as a certain Era goes but Hulk Hogan for me is the biggest name in Pro Wrestling and WWE ever. When it comes to WCW I think it is between two men... Flair and Sting and I personally would give it to Sting.

Anyway none of that matters because what I want to know is in your opinion whos was ECW's biggest star...ECW's very own Hulk Hogan if you like?

(base your opinion on what the superstar did during his time in ECW not what they went on to do after).

 

[VinnieSunshine]

Taz. If you brought his name up to almost ahy wreatling fan you knew who he was at the time. I never watched a lot of ECW (mostly cause I didn't know when it was on) but I knew who the man was.

 

[cm ben]

Cool thread!

I'm not the most informed, but I'd say Rob Van Dam. During ECW's biggest period (ironically pretty soon before it caved), he was the biggest guy with the biggest title. He was pretty much the star of ECW on TV. I'd make the argument that because the largest amount of people were watching ECW while he was on top, he's the "Hogan" of ECW in most people's minds.

And, even though you say not to, I'd like to bring up what he did after-- he went on to sort of "defend" ECW against John Cena at One Night Stand. In that sense, he was still kind of the symbolic leader of the organization.

(This is right about when I stopped watching wrestling for a while, so excuse me if I made any errors!)

 

[CapnKabuki]

It was definitely a three way dance (har har har) between Tommy Dreamer, Sandman and Shane Douglas for me. On one hand, you had Tommy Dreamer, the guy who through thick and thin, better or worse, stayed with ECW til the bitter end. He was often in the companies biggest feuds, despite having only been the World Champion for a grand total of 30 minutes.

On another, you had The Sandman, the beer guzzling everyman who, pardon my french, just didn't give a fuck about anything, and because of his connection with the audience, became a 5 time World Champion.

But in the end, I had to pick Shane Douglas. Yes, Dreamer and Sandman stuck through it all and were some of the most popular faces in the company's history, but regarding their significance towards bringing ECW to another level, you have to pick Douglas. Had it not been for him throwing down the NWA Title and saying that the ECW Championship was the only championship that mattered in his mind, he effectively changed the company and brought it to the "extreme" level that it became famous for.

So, based on what he did during his time there (effectively bringing about a new era for the company), Shane Douglas is my pick.

 

[badnewzxl]

Sabu; he epitomized the promotion

 

[SyndicateSaint]

Easy question...

Dreamer was the Sting of ECW. From beginning to end.

Sandman was the Hogan, shitty wrestler, WAYYYY over with the crowd.

Sabu was the Ric Flair, off and on competitor, but will forever represent the style of that particular fed.

To break down the other really big names of the ECW elite:

RVD was the HBK of ECW. He was the guy who put on the most consistent matches. Truly ECW's best performer.

Shane Douglas was the Kevin Nash, better on the mic than in the ring, yet a "must have" performer none the less.

Taz was the Bret Hart. Decent on the mic, but you respected the man more for his wrestling ability.

Raven would be the Scott Hall. While he DID get a ECW title run, he was grossly underrated as a wrestler. Much like Hall.

I'm sure if I went back and watched some old tapes, I'd be able to better break it down. I'm sure my comparisons would change as well. But off the top of my head this is what I think.

 

[schaeffershawn]

The Franchise hands down. He carried ECW on his back for years. Anyone he faces immediately seemed legit (Al Snow). His feuds are the stuff of legend. Anyone who was actually there in philly like myself knows and respects without Shane Douglas there simply would not have been a ECW, as it is remembered.

 

[Fallen Angel 21.3]

There are only 2 guys that come to mind when i think of ECW thats the Hardcore Icon Mick Foley and The Hardcore Legend Terry Funk.

Terry Funk did something Hogan didn't do till the like mid 90's and that was reinvent himself, think about Funk was a brawler/wrestler before ECW and change himself to adapt to ECW's style. I mean the dude was what like 50 years old and was doing moonsalts off of ladders. Won the title on the company's first pay-per-view and I still remember Heyman saying what Funk was saying I'm too old, I don't have it in me anymore" and won the world title after doing a 3-way dance with Sandman and Stevie Richards.

Mick Foley- Its Mick freaking Foley enough said. The promo's he would do in ECW were better than his promo's in WCW and WWE. When Foley came to ECW he took the ball and ran with it.

 

[donfryeismyhero]

Easy question...

Dreamer was the Sting of ECW. From beginning to end.

Sandman was the Hogan, shitty wrestler, WAYYYY over with the crowd.

Sabu was the Ric Flair, off and on competitor, but will forever represent the style of that particular fed.

To break down the other really big names of the ECW elite:

RVD was the HBK of ECW. He was the guy who put on the most consistent matches. Truly ECW's best performer.

Shane Douglas was the Kevin Nash, better on the mic than in the ring, yet a "must have" performer none the less.

Taz was the Bret Hart. Decent on the mic, but you respected the man more for his wrestling ability.

Raven would be the Scott Hall. While he DID get a ECW title run, he was grossly underrated as a wrestler. Much like Hall.

I'm sure if I went back and watched some old tapes, I'd be able to better break it down. I'm sure my comparisons would change as well. But off the top of my head this is what I think.

Your analysis is spot on. I would add that Terry Funk was to ECW back than what Flair is to TNA today

 

[dman1373]

The hogan of ecw was sabu and the sting was taz. In my opinion their meeting at barley legaln was just as iconic as sting vs hogan at starcade that year. They were always the best guys in ecw.

 

[Million Dollar Dream]

I'd say Rob Van Dam is by far the Sting/Hogan of ECW. Certainly like Sting with his loyalty towards ECW. He was the face of the original ECW invasion of WWF, He has been honored at WWE and TNA for his ability more then any other ECW loyalist other than the Dudley Boyz. Tommy Dreamer has always been just okay , Sandman bolted for WCW to become Hak and take the money, Raven has to much WCW in his profile to be truly considered a true ECW guy. Sabu and Taz could have solid arguements but they don't have near the personality/ Charisma RVD does. RVD was over with the crowd for ECW fans like HBK was when he won the title vs Bret Hart in the Iron Man Match.

 

[Cookie14]

I don't think ECW had their own version of Hogan/Flair simply because no-one (apart from Tommy Dreamer) stayed in ECW long enough to attain that status.
Tazz, RVD, Sabu, the Dudleys, Sandman, Foley and others came close, but they were all snapped up by WWE/WCW before they got to that level.

 

[Hardcore Heathen]

In the Begginning i Would say Shane Douglas but Near the End of ECW I would say Mike Awesome. Funnily Enough Mike Awesome was a Relative of Hogan. I dont know why i chose them above Others that were like Hogan or Sting. But it Just Feels Right.

 

[justtxyank]

People who weren't fans of ECW at the time but are teenagers now and love what ECW was can look back and say a bunch of names. For people that were living it, there is no doubt that "the man" in ECW was Shane Douglas.

 

[shitsngiggles]

It would be hard to pick just 1, but if I had to choose it would be Sabu.

RVD and Tazz are also right up there. Tommy Dreamer was great and still is but he has never had an it factor I don't think (in my eyes) He is a great wrestler but not an Icon.

 

[Kanenite]

Overall, I think the main featured star of the company was Shane Douglas. In addition to what has already been said about him here, I'd add that he was almost always mixed up in the main event scene throughout his entire time in ECW, in both the pre-PPV era and the first two years of the PPV era. Even in 1998 when he was hurting and not able to work as much, keeping the title on him didn't really seem wrong because he was a huge star in the company. And when he wasn't involved in the world title picture, he was still a part of one of the most memorable moments in ECW with Pitbull 1's broken neck and all the promos and segments that went a long with that issue. Shane was probably the most hated man in the company at the time, even as the World Champion Raven was busy stealing the Sandman's family away from him in a super-intense angle. Being paired up with the #1 hardcore woman, Francine, also greatly enhanced his star power, as well as leading the main Triple Threat heel faction for years. And as he was about to leave the company in early 1999, they did the storyline with Shane passing his boots on to the "next Franchise" of ECW, and this helped launch Justin Credible into the main event scene. And Credible was probably the main featured star of the company over the last two years.

So I think Shane Douglas was the most prominently featured star in the history of the company. But if you want to know who the Hogan of the company was in terms of crowd reaction and booking, it probably is a battle between RVD, Sandman, and Taz.

Taz rarely ever lost a match from late 1995 through August 1999. For four years he was an unstoppable force, and once he split with Alfonso after Barely Legal his crowd reactions were deafening. He would often no-sell big moves like suplexes and 911 chokeslams just like Hogan would. Taz could never be pinned unless you did something out of this world, like put him through the damn ring. Similarly, Hogan rarely ever lost a match clean.

Sandman obviously had the 10-minute long entrances that made him seem like the biggest star of the company. And he probably was the biggest star in ECW in 1995 and 1996. He always got the massive crowd reactions no matter what from that point on. And though he was a main event player in the pre-PPV era of ECW, he lost tons of matches after that. And he was not nearly the unstoppable force that Taz was in the ring. But you could still argue that nobody got better crowd reactions than Sandman.

RVD had the amazing crowd reactions and he also won the vast majority of his matches. And he made that TV belt feel more important than the world title at times. But I would guess that Taz was the bigger star in 1998 and most of 1999 and was pushed as a more unstoppable force. RVD woyld have a 20-minute mtach with a guy like Gudio and sell like hell for him, whereas Taz would just destroy Guido in seconds and no-sell some of his moves at some point. RVD was not nearly as invincible as Taz was, even though RVD almost always won his matches. But RVD's popularity was ridiuclous, and RVD likely would have gone on to be the biggest star in the history of the company if the company survived. But RVD didn't appear much in later 2000 as money issues popped up and he rarely main evented the big shows. I think he was on the brink of taking over as that central figure of the show after Mike Awesome departed, but a broken leg slowed him down some and then unfortunately ECW went south soon after. RVD also wasn't around for the earliest years of ECW, so that hurts him a little in the comparison between Taz and Sandman.

Between those three guys, I'd say Taz's presence as the unbeatable asskicking no-selling crowd favorite had the most in common with Hogan's push in the 80's.

You can't really go wrong no matter who you pick among the mainstay players, even if it is guys I haven't mentioned like Dreamer or Sabu. That was another one of the great things about ECW - there wasn't necessarily one guy that the company was dependent on as the main attraction the way that WWE has depended on Cena over the last 6 years. For the most part, ECW made many guys seem like legit top-end talent.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I love this thought provoking thread!! To answer this question, first we have to define what being the “Hulk Hogan” of a promotion means. Hulk Hogan is the Icon of Professional Wrestling. Not only was he the number one guy in the number one company, but he was the number one guy in the “World”. On WCW, I believe Ric Flair is that guy. If Hogan was the “Face” of the WWE, then Flair was the “Heel” of WCW. Flair did what Hogan did, but as the Villian. Sting, may just be the “Icon”, but it was Flair who carried WCW. I think Sting is to WCW what “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, King Kong Bundy, Andre The Giant, “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, Sgt. Slaughter, Sid Justice, and Yokozuna is to the WWF. They are the leading supporting characters to their respective number one Star.

Now, let’s take a look at the “candidates” for the Title “ECW’s Hulk Hogan”.

Shane Douglas – He is the first “Extreme” ECW Champion. To me, he is more like ECW’s Buddy Rogers and / or Bruno Sammartino. Both Rogers and Douglas led their promotions away from the NWA and became the first Champions of their Federations. Both Sammartino and Douglas held their respective World Title the most, Bruno with 4040 days and Douglas with 874 days. He is just not “Hogan”.

Sandman – To me, Sandman is more like ECW’s Triple H. Both have won the Title the most in their companies with Triple H being the 13 WWE / World Champion and Sandman being the 5 time ECW Champion. He is just not “Hogan”.

Taz – As much of an impact Taz had in ECW, I like to view him as ECW’s Stone Cold Steve Austin and or John Cena. He was pretty much the “Face” of the company and was portrayed as such during his run. Austin had his Smoking Skull Belt, Cena had his Spinning WWE and Spinning United States Belt, Taz had his FTW Belt. He is just not “Hogan”.

Rob Van Dam – See Sabu

Sabu – See Rob Van Dam

Seriously, Rob Van Dam and Sabu may have played a vital role in ECW, but neither are the Hulk Hogan of ECW. We’re talking about who is the end all be all of ECW. They are just not “Hogan”.

Paul E Dangerously – Vince McMahon. That should explain that.

Tommy Dreamer – I have absolutely nothing to say about Tommy Dreamer, except for the fact that he is ECW’s Hulk Hogan.

 

[Brother Love]

You can make a case for all of the above, but 2 key names were left off of that deserve to be on it, and that's the Dudley Boys. I know it's late, but any chance of adding them to the list?

Of the wrestlers listed, I would have to go with the sandman (sorry Sabu, you're a close second). The second his music the croud exploded, and every time I've seen ECW in Asbury Park, he was the most over wrestler. Yes RVD may have the most votes here but think about this, would RVD be as big as he is if not for the ECW/WWE crossover. RVD was big in ECW, but I don't think he would have been as big if not for his appearances in WWE at the time.

 

[Dr.Shades]

Tommy Dreamer, plain and simple. the guy is the man who stood by paul and ECW no matter what.

the thing about ecw was that anyone could've been on top. a close second would have to be the sandman.

 

[sikkbones]

Your analysis is spot on. I would add that Terry Funk was to ECW back than what Flair is to TNA today

A guy that badly needs to retire because he's embarrassing himself?

terry funk was more like Hogan In TNA, He gave ECW name recognition and respect....

 

[justtxyank]

Not the most popular worker on the roster, not the most talented worker on the roster, not the worker most often in the main events, not the worker most often in the title race, not the worker in the biggest feuds in the promotion, not the worker who made the most money in the promotion, not the worker who usually won most of his matches...that describes Tommy Dreamer. That seems like the "Hulk Hogan" of the company? Really?