Modern Day Wrestlers That Would Have Thrived In ECW

[BigBombB]

I'll name a few...

Adam Rose - Not with his current gimmick but as Leo Kruger...then again, his current gimmick could have worked in ECW too. His deep technical knowledge mixed with his willingness to do pretty much anything, whether absurd or terrifying, would have made him a good name in ECW. It is very likely he would have been a much hotter commodity coming into WWE if he had been able to step into the land of extreme to get exposure.

Curtis Axel - His NXT feud with Tyson Kidd showed that, under the right circumstances, the third generation Hennig could thrive. If he could have developed a tough guy persona prior to WWE, rather than being a jobber for years, then his rise to prominence may have been taken far more seriously. He is a solid hand that isn't very spectacular but ECW had a way of making guys like that look far greater than they had any business being.

Justin Gabriel - Here is a guy with an impressive style that can barely cut a promo but can be absolutely breathtaking when under the right circumstances...sound familiar? If Rob Van Dam could become a major star in ECW, Gabriel could have easily bulked up his resume there. WWE has always seen something in Gabriel but it seems inevitable that that something will never be discovered while he remains under the WWE umbrella.

Emma - She has such great technical skill that we are never likely to see in the WWE. In ECW she could have had her goofy gimmick while quickly "turning it on" during matches to dominate her opponents. Instead of being a joke, she would have been a quirky but dangerous female that would have commanded far more attention than her current, already stale, persona.

Austin Aries - Aries is a star within the confines of TNA but the lack of consistency in his booking has made it difficult to see him as an equal to any top guys in WWE. ECW would have been the perfect environment for him, no different from Gabriel, his brand of wrestling is more suited for an environment where he is free to let loose to the best of his ability. Aries can be an unbearable prick that you love to hate but these days he is merely a forgettable face among many.

Who do you think would have benefited from the original ECW still being around?

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

What did someone have to have in order to be a part of ECW other than the ability/willingness to take a shit ton of abuse to their bodies? Yes, there were some great technical wrestlers who got a shot in ECW, but that's just one aspect of ECW for a short period of time. I could just as easily point out the near lack of talent folks like Sandman, New Jack, Balls Mahoney, Axl Rotten and others had.

 

[BigBombB]

What did someone have to have in order to be a part of ECW other than the ability/willingness to take a shit ton of abuse to their bodies? Yes, there were some great technical wrestlers who got a shot in ECW, but that's just one aspect of ECW for a short period of time. I could just as easily point out the near lack of talent folks like Sandman, New Jack, Balls Mahoney, Axl Rotten and others had.

But if you heard Enter Sandman and saw him walking through the crowd, or heard the Gangstas music playing with an impending beat down coming, or had a reason to chant balls, you would still be marking out for these guys. ECW got guys over on their strengths, regardless of whether those strengths existed in the ring or not. And how was the technical wrestling aspect only relevant for a "short period of time"? They had guys like Jerry Lynn, Tajiri, Super Crazy, Little Guido, etc...on their roster for a majority of their existence, everyone just chose to focus on the more hardcore wrestlers.

The point here is, if a guy like Justin Gabriel had a chance to get over with what he is good at without bringing attention to the areas where he is weak, which is what ECW excelled at, then he could draw money. Unfortunately, coming up through WWE means all his worst areas get paraded around and he ends up as a full-time jobber instead.

 

[Soulblazed]

This is an interesting thread..

Brock Lesnar-Imagine if Lesnar was 23 years old in late 1994...Paul E Dangerously brags about finding "The Next Big Thing", obviously debuting Lesnar a month later who ends up having classic feuds with Taz, Bam Bam Bigelow, Mike Awesome, Chris Benoit, etc..Brock has the look and freakish abilities and in my opinion he'd have fit in very well with ECW.

The Shield-3 dudes in SWAT uniforms unpredictably coming out of the crowd to exact their brand of justice..They'd be permanent tweeners and Freebird the ECW Tag Titles while one of them would hold the TV Title and another holds the ECW World Title..I think that the Shield would've had success in ECW as long as they stayed tweeners and never broke up.

Wade Barrett-This is where Barrett's legit bare-knuckle fighting past would've gotten him over to a huge degree in ECW..For anyone who remembers the Taipei Deathmatch between the Rotten brothers Ian and Axel where they taped their fists with broken glass..I could see Barrett in Taipei Deathmatches, as well as stipulating this his matches be fought under "Pugilist Rules" where there'd be no rounds but it'd pretty much be a bloodyass fist fight where no wrestling moves were allowed and the only way to win is by knockout.

William Regal-See Barrett, except that Regal would make people quit/pass out to the Regal Stretch, along with knocking them out.

Bryan Danielson-Damn he would've had shitloads of success in ECW...He could've teamed/feuded with Benoit. Also, feuds with Taz, Jericho, RVD, Sabu, etc would've been something to see..I see "The American Dragon" winning the ECW World Title a couple times.

 

[Slash-LN]

Samoa Joe probably could have gotten over in ECW. He's basically another Taz in the sense that he can just go in and kick ass. He can pick his opponents apart. Plus in ECW he wouldn't have had to worry about his physique. The crowds back then didn't care about that kind of stuff.

Abyss is totally tailored for a company like ECW. One of the most hardcore if not the most hardcore guy in TNA and I'd argue more hardcore than anyone currently in the WWE as well. Glass, tacks, tables, Janice and on and on. He could have probably been a top guy in ECW and even if he wasn't he'd still be an attraction there.

 

[ABMorales787]

Obviously you guys aren't all that familiar with the kind of talent ECW had regularly.

Out of TNA's roster, none of them would ever be in ECW all that long. Why? They can wrestle. In ECW, if you had in-ring skill you were gone by a few years. Just look at the company's most outstanding names. Sandman. Sabu. Tommy Dreamer. Raven. These guys never came close to being the best of ring generals.

Funny enough the ones that did stick around like RVD and Taz, had to take second fiddle to the ever marvelous Shane Douglas. So yeah, the names above, funny stuff.

 

[Slash-LN]

Obviously you guys aren't all that familiar with the kind of talent ECW had regularly.

Out of TNA's roster, none of them would ever be in ECW all that long. Why? They can wrestle. In ECW, if you had in-ring skill you were gone by a few years. Just look at the company's most outstanding names. Sandman. Sabu. Tommy Dreamer. Raven. These guys never came close to being the best of ring generals.

Funny enough the ones that did stick around like RVD and Taz, had to take second fiddle to the ever marvelous Shane Douglas. So yeah, the names above, funny stuff.

Yep. Abyss is a total ring general and wouldn't fit into a hardcore company at all. I don't know how I could have overlooked his marvelous in ring skill. I guess I got caught up in his minor hardcore tendencies.

RVD held the Television title for 700 days and is still one of the most popular wrestlers to ever come out of ECW and wrestled in their main event at the last show. I'm sure he was okay being "second fiddle".

The question isn't how long these wrestlers would be in the company. The question is who would thrive in the company.

Joe could have potentially been huge in ECW. He could have had some awesome matches.

And if we play the game of that guy would only be in the company a few years I could see him with a long Television title reign like Eddie Gurrero and Dean Malenko both got which were more than a hundred days individually.

 

[Flair is Overrated]

Everyone will probably tell me I'm crazy, but I'll go with the Miz. He would be the most hated heal, and I feel like he could get straddle the line between Vickie Guerrero heat and X-Pac heat perfectly.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Abyss is the obvious answer here. He is a tough, mean SOB who has been in some of the most violent matches in mainstream wrestling over the last decade. He'd have been totally at home in ECW in bloody matches against the likes of Sabu, Funk and Sandman. I have no doubt that Abyss would have been a multi-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion. Plus, in TNA he has been most successful with Father James Mitchell as his manager, who was also in ECW as "The Sinister Minister". Teaming those 2 up in the original ECW would have been great.

Dean Ambrose is another one who immediately springs to mind. As "John Moxley", Ambrose built up his reputation in companies like CZW, participating in backyard style wars involving glass, light tubes, barbed wire and more. He's got great wrestling skills as well as being a brawler and would have thrived in these conditions in ECW. He'd also have been able to utilise his world-class mic skills without needing to tone anything down.

The Briscoes would have been a phenomenon in ECW. They could have been just as successful as the Dudley Boyz, with great chemistry as a team and easily capable of wrestling hardcore style matches with an foul-mouthed attitude that would have been a hit with the ECW fanbase. They'd have been multi-time ECW Tag Team Champions for sure.

 

[Wrestlingfan100]

Dean Ambrose/ Jon Moxley-no need to explain

Matt Sydal-technical highflier who can do it all, shades of RVD, X pac etc,
he'd be a part of a new breed, reminding ECW fans of RVD, Jericho etc

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think Killjoy's right. What people tend to forget about ECW is that it was filled with guys who were out of shape and could only wrestle in hardcore matches. Guys who could genuinely wrestle without having to resort to baseball bats wrapped in barbed wire, beds of thumbtacks, flaming tables, extremely dangerous high spots and making almost no money while doing it were something of a rarity in ECW. You don't exactly have to have a lot of skill to wrestle in hardcore matches, seeing one every once in a while can be a lotta fun but not when the format is that every match is or can be hardcore matches. If a guy had an opportunity to jump to WCW or WWF, he took it. Otherwise, he winds up like New Jack and Sandman, a couple of 51 year old men with a body full of scar tissue and not too much of anything else to show after 25 years in the business.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

I think Killjoy's right. What people tend to forget about ECW is that it was filled with guys who were out of shape and could only wrestle in hardcore matches. Guys who could genuinely wrestle without having to resort to baseball bats wrapped in barbed wire, beds of thumbtacks, flaming tables, extremely dangerous high spots and making almost no money while doing it were something of a rarity in ECW. You don't exactly have to have a lot of skill to wrestle in hardcore matches, seeing one every once in a while can be a lotta fun but not when the format is that every match is or can be hardcore matches. If a guy had an opportunity to jump to WCW or WWF, he took it. Otherwise, he winds up like New Jack and Sandman, a couple of 51 year old men with a body full of scar tissue and not too much of anything else to show after 25 years in the business.

Exactly...there have been some good people who passed through ECW over the years, but the guys who stuck around did so because they knew their ticket to the big leagues was putting themselves through flaming tables for a rabid crowd. That doesn't take a lot of talent...that just takes some big brass balls. So when I look at who would've thrived in ECW, my immediate thought is "Well, who generally sucks, but might be willing to bleed like a stuck pig after raking his head against some barbed wire to get a pop?"

 

[BigBombB]

I think we're forgetting in this debate that there was a REASON that many of the top talents that ended up making big money in WWF(E) transitioned through ECW. And what about guys that would never make it to a main roster spot today? Would Dean Malenko, a generic, personality-devoid, small, technical wrestler have become the star that he was if he didn't gain credibility in ECW first? Say what you will about the longterm veterans, most of those who had a "cup of tea" in ECW benefited greatly.

Austin debuted the personality that would eventually become Stone Cold, Mick Foley had a chance to show he was one of the smartest minds in the business, Chris Jericho was in ECW for a short time but was treated like a HUGE prospect (even getting a win over Foley), Rey Mysterio was able to transition into the American style before becoming the greatest cruiserweight of all time, and so on. ECW may not have been a great longterm home but it was an amazing place to pass through for the career of anyone with genuine talent. If you had potential then you were a big deal in ECW, regardless of where you came from, because ECW was able to exist because of their ability to make unknowns into somebodies. NXT is the closest we have today but, even there, the freedom to be yourself is still within the confines of a box of expectations, something ECW proudly lacked.

 

[Slash-LN]

I think Killjoy's right. What people tend to forget about ECW is that it was filled with guys who were out of shape and could only wrestle in hardcore matches. Guys who could genuinely wrestle without having to resort to baseball bats wrapped in barbed wire, beds of thumbtacks, flaming tables, extremely dangerous high spots and making almost no money while doing it were something of a rarity in ECW. You don't exactly have to have a lot of skill to wrestle in hardcore matches, seeing one every once in a while can be a lotta fun but not when the format is that every match is or can be hardcore matches. If a guy had an opportunity to jump to WCW or WWF, he took it. Otherwise, he winds up like New Jack and Sandman, a couple of 51 year old men with a body full of scar tissue and not too much of anything else to show after 25 years in the business.

And Abyss doesn't meet this criteria how? The guy has been in every single Monster's Ball match excluding the Knockouts one which he was at ringside for.

The guy is covered in scars. Isn't a very good wrestler in technical terms and even as his alter ego Joseph Park he bled to get himself in "Abyss" mode.

He's more known for his hardcore style and the tacks and/or glass in the bag that he dumps out. And his bat Janice than he is for his ring skill.

He's the epitome of ECW. Which makes sense that in Monster's Ball matches he met guys like Raven, Rhino, Sabu, Spike Dudley, The Dudleys, Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam.

But he's so much better than the ECW roster that he'd be too good for ECW.

He wouldn't fit in at all.

 

[ABMorales787]

Yep. Abyss is a total ring general and wouldn't fit into a hardcore company at all. I don't know how I could have overlooked his marvelous in ring skill. I guess I got caught up in his minor hardcore tendencies.

Abyss is one of the fastest Super Heavyweights since Vader. He's a very easy pick up for a major company. No way would someone with his level of presence would stay in ECW for long.

RVD held the Television title for 700 days and is still one of the most popular wrestlers to ever come out of ECW and wrestled in their main event at the last show. I'm sure he was okay being "second fiddle".

He lost that main event. He also never held the World title. You know. The top price in the company. If that doesn't show why the company is dead.... Well, who am I kidding there's loads of reasons.

The question isn't how long these wrestlers would be in the company. The question is who would thrive in the company.

Anyone really. I mean Sandman thrived there. It doesn't look hard.

Joe could have potentially been huge in ECW. He could have had some awesome matches.

Like I said above. Anyone could've been big in ECW. But they sure as hell wouldn't stay there if they were good.

And if we play the game of that guy would only be in the company a few years I could see him with a long Television title reign like Eddie Gurrero and Dean Malenko both got which were more than a hundred days individually

But their WCW tenures completely eclipse what they did in ECW. Hence why I've said what I've said.

 

[MrHashasheen]

While I can agree that pretty much anyone coming up in a surviving ECW is basically fair game for the WWE, I would note that they had a massive number of ECW/WCW talents on their roster that they just wasted away for years, without really raiding the independents. You name the first big name that came from the independents (which is where ECW would have recruited) and made their way to the WWE... it's CM Punk in 2005/06.

Five years it took them to pick anyone up. So I imagine whoever ECW grabbed would be around long enough to make a serious impact.

 

[Slash-LN]

Abyss is one of the fastest Super Heavyweights since Vader. He's a very easy pick up for a major company. No way would someone with his level of presence would stay in ECW for long.

Speed doesn't equal good wrestling ability. He might have ring presence but that doesn't mean he doesn't rely heavily on hardcore tactics to get over with the crowd.

He lost that main event. He also never held the World title. You know. The top price in the company. If that doesn't show why the company is dead.... Well, who am I kidding there's loads of reasons.

Actually he beat Jerry Lynn in the main event of the last pay per view ECW put on. And who cares if he never won the World title there? A lot of good wrestlers never won the world title in the history of their career at certain organizations.

Anyone really. I mean Sandman thrived there. It doesn't look hard.

Like I said above. Anyone could've been big in ECW. But they sure as hell wouldn't stay there if they were good.

Abyss isn't that good. ECW would have been a great organization for him. He isn't WWE/WCW good. He's probably one of the worst wrestlers in TNA and as I said above he relies largely on hardcore wrestling to appease fans.

But their WCW tenures completely eclipse what they did in ECW. Hence why I've said what I've said.

And Eddie, Rey, Benoit, Jericho, Steve Austin, Undertaker, Triple H all had careers that eclipsed what they did in WCW.

Hall and Nash's careers in WCW arguably eclipsed what they did in WWE.

So what's your point?

Joe could have gone to ECW long enough to get a fan base that would follow him to wherever he ended up going.

Abyss has all the qualities of your typical ECW wrestler.

 

[ABMorales787]

So what's your point?

Well lets see whats my point.

Joe could have gone to ECW long enough to get a fan base that would follow him to wherever he ended up going.

Maybe like say..... His stint in ROH? Longest reigning World Champ. Destruction machine. What's he best known for though? That's right. TNA.

Abyss has all the qualities of your typical ECW wrestler.

So did Vader. But he was in WCW and WWE.

 

[Slash-LN]

Well lets see whats my point.
Maybe like say..... His stint in ROH? Longest reigning World Champ. Destruction machine. What's he best known for though? That's right. TNA.
So did Vader. But he was in WCW and WWE.

I'm not saying they would be best known for being in ECW. I'm saying they could be successful there.

Abyss would have been a perfect fit for ECW. I don't feel like I need to explain why again.

Had Joe been in ECW at the time he has the ability that he would have been very over with the crowd. Can you imagine Taz vs Joe both at their prime having a feud in ECW? The fans would have eaten that up they same way they did for Malenko vs Eddie and Mike Awesome vs Tanaka.

Vader relied on hardcore tactics to try to stay relevant and get the crowd behind him? He had a baseball bat with nails in it and used tacks and broken glass to make fans interested in him? He has scars all over his arms? He played a character who needed to bleed in order to find his strength?

On top of that Vader was a better wrestler than Abyss is. That's probably why he was a main event wrestler in WWE and WCW. Along with All Japan and New Japan. Winning titles in all those companies except WWE.

 

[BigBombB]

Vader was the first of his breed when it comes down to it. A man his size that could fight with the toughest guys in the business while pulling off feats that were unthinkable for a big man at the time. Vader was essentially a Brock Lesnar type for his era, a massive human being that was a genetic freak that everyone instantly bought into.

Abyss is the typical big man, albeit one that knows how to work his gimmick well in the ring (whether the gimmick is good or not is another question...) He isn't agile, his moveset isn't impressive, but he gets the job done. In ECW he basically would have been a better 911, and remember how over 911 was in ECW for literally only being able to do one move, Abyss could have had a huge cult following before jumping up to the big times. ECW loved guys like Abyss, crazy characters that could be used anywhere on the card. They would have protected him, something TNA failed to do, and he may not have lost credibility nearly as quickly.

 

[A11oftheLights]

This is an interesting thread..

Brock Lesnar-Imagine if Lesnar was 23 years old in late 1994...Paul E Dangerously brags about finding "The Next Big Thing", obviously debuting Lesnar a month later who ends up having classic feuds with Taz, Bam Bam Bigelow, Mike Awesome, Chris Benoit, etc..Brock has the look and freakish abilities and in my opinion he'd have fit in very well with ECW.

The Shield-3 dudes in SWAT uniforms unpredictably coming out of the crowd to exact their brand of justice..They'd be permanent tweeners and Freebird the ECW Tag Titles while one of them would hold the TV Title and another holds the ECW World Title..I think that the Shield would've had success in ECW as long as they stayed tweeners and never broke up.

Wade Barrett-This is where Barrett's legit bare-knuckle fighting past would've gotten him over to a huge degree in ECW..For anyone who remembers the Taipei Deathmatch between the Rotten brothers Ian and Axel where they taped their fists with broken glass..I could see Barrett in Taipei Deathmatches, as well as stipulating this his matches be fought under "Pugilist Rules" where there'd be no rounds but it'd pretty much be a bloodyass fist fight where no wrestling moves were allowed and the only way to win is by knockout.

William Regal-See Barrett, except that Regal would make people quit/pass out to the Regal Stretch, along with knocking them out.

Bryan Danielson-Damn he would've had shitloads of success in ECW...He could've teamed/feuded with Benoit. Also, feuds with Taz, Jericho, RVD, Sabu, etc would've been something to see..I see "The American Dragon" winning the ECW World Title a couple times.

I dont see Brock Lesnar thriving in ECW, he's all about the money so as soon as WCW or WWE saw him they'd throw a more cash and he'd walk. Also , many people like to point out that Brock didnt really like taking a punch to the face in the UFC so I cant really see him enjoying the hardcore element for too long

 

[Soulblazed]

I dont see Brock Lesnar thriving in ECW, he's all about the money so as soon as WCW or WWE saw him they'd throw a more cash and he'd walk. Also , many people like to point out that Brock didnt really like taking a punch to the face in the UFC so I cant really see him enjoying the hardcore element for too long

If anything, they could've worked in the fact that he hates being punched in the face into a storyline. Brock would arrive in ECW, declare himself "the biggest shark in the smallest ocean of shit he's ever seen" and if any of the wrestlers went for Brock's face, he'd snap on them and they'd end up leaving on a stretcher after being F5'd onto thumbtacks or something equivalent of that.

That'd make for a good storyline until he left for WCW or the WWF, because I agree, in the long run he would've left, though in the short term in ECW Brock still could've made a helluva an impact if he was given the right type of storyline.

 

[Anti-IWC-Marks]

Austin Aries is a good pick. I could certainly see him matching up and even pushing the likes of a younger Jerry Lynn, Rob Van Dam, Lance Storm, Tajiri, etc...

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Obviously you guys aren't all that familiar with the kind of talent ECW had regularly.

Out of TNA's roster, none of them would ever be in ECW all that long. Why? They can wrestle. In ECW, if you had in-ring skill you were gone by a few years. Just look at the company's most outstanding names. Sandman. Sabu. Tommy Dreamer. Raven. These guys never came close to being the best of ring generals.

Funny enough the ones that did stick around like RVD and Taz, had to take second fiddle to the ever marvelous Shane Douglas. So yeah, the names above, funny stuff.

lol truth. ECW is pretty overrated. Basically the genius was Paul Heyman saying "the only way you guys are entertaining is if we turn this into a super violent white trash TV show". Wow, good job (and yes, I was around back then). ECW was revolutionary in that Vince took the idea and tailored it to fit cable TV.

I think Ambrose would have passed through, same with a lot of the ROH guys. Guys who would be lifers are guys like Necro Butcher, Low Ki, and Teddy Hart. Guys either too spotty but not enough ring psychology (Hart), guys with a bad attitude (Ki), or super hardcore guys.