As a young teenager in the mid 90s I used to loving reading Pro Wrestling Illustrated and its sister publications. I couldnt wait to get my hands on the next issue and would try to fill my head with as much wrestling knowledge as I could. It was a fun time. WWF and WCW were the top two promotions and were pretty much equals at the time. I liked reading about other promotions like Smokey Mountain Wrestling and the USWA. I even tried to learn about Japan, Mexico, and the smaller independents. The PWI 500 was a lot more fun back then. During this time there was one promotion that kept getting my attention. I would always read about it and it always sparked my curiosity. That promotion was ECW.
When I first started reading about ECW it was still know as Eastern Championship Wrestling. It would not be long before Shane Douglas would throw down the NWA title saying he didnt want to represent a dead promotion. He said the ECW title was the only title that mattered and Extreme Championship Wrestling was born.
For three years I read about all the chaos that ensued at the ECW Arena in South Philadelphia. Every night was a blood bath. People were jumping off balconies, crashing through tables, and pretty much mutilating each other every night. Chairs, Singapore canes, thumb tacks, barbed wire, and even fire were just some of the things that were frequently used in ECW. Just seeing a picture of Sabu with scars all over his body left an impression on my young mind and let my imagination run wild. In the midst of all the anarchy I read some great wrestling was also taking place thanks to guys like Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero among others. I didnt have access to any ECW programming so all I could do was imagine what those nights in the ECW Arena were like.
In 1997 ECW was finally going to hold its first pay per view. I couldnt wait. I was finally going to see all these guys I had read so much about. I had the feeling that literally anything could happen and I was finally going to be able to actually see what all the hype was about. The pay per view was a decent show but it left a lot to be desired. The reality of ECW just couldnt compete with my imagination. As the months went by I saw a few more ECW pay per views but none of them satisfied me the way the magazines did. I built ECW up in my own mind to something it couldnt actually live up to. Dont get me wrong, ECW had some good stuff, but it also had a lot of crap. Funny how the magazines never reported the crap.
As strange as it may sound I was a fan of ECW until I actually saw it. Sometimes imagination of the unknown is better than the actual reality. Its like if you got to spend a night with your favorite rock star and he took you bowling. Sure it could be fun, but its not the rock star life style you were expecting. Youve been bowling before and can do that anytime. Still a good time. Still fun. Just disappointing.
Those are my thoughts anyway. Im not trying to knock ECW. It was ok for what it was. I was just expecting more. If you were a fan in the early/mid 90s what were your impressions the first time you saw ECW? If youve never seen ECW what kind of opinion do you have of it based on what youve read?
When I first started reading about ECW it was still know as Eastern Championship Wrestling. It would not be long before Shane Douglas would throw down the NWA title saying he didnt want to represent a dead promotion. He said the ECW title was the only title that mattered and Extreme Championship Wrestling was born.
For three years I read about all the chaos that ensued at the ECW Arena in South Philadelphia. Every night was a blood bath. People were jumping off balconies, crashing through tables, and pretty much mutilating each other every night. Chairs, Singapore canes, thumb tacks, barbed wire, and even fire were just some of the things that were frequently used in ECW. Just seeing a picture of Sabu with scars all over his body left an impression on my young mind and let my imagination run wild. In the midst of all the anarchy I read some great wrestling was also taking place thanks to guys like Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero among others. I didnt have access to any ECW programming so all I could do was imagine what those nights in the ECW Arena were like.
In 1997 ECW was finally going to hold its first pay per view. I couldnt wait. I was finally going to see all these guys I had read so much about. I had the feeling that literally anything could happen and I was finally going to be able to actually see what all the hype was about. The pay per view was a decent show but it left a lot to be desired. The reality of ECW just couldnt compete with my imagination. As the months went by I saw a few more ECW pay per views but none of them satisfied me the way the magazines did. I built ECW up in my own mind to something it couldnt actually live up to. Dont get me wrong, ECW had some good stuff, but it also had a lot of crap. Funny how the magazines never reported the crap.
As strange as it may sound I was a fan of ECW until I actually saw it. Sometimes imagination of the unknown is better than the actual reality. Its like if you got to spend a night with your favorite rock star and he took you bowling. Sure it could be fun, but its not the rock star life style you were expecting. Youve been bowling before and can do that anytime. Still a good time. Still fun. Just disappointing.
Those are my thoughts anyway. Im not trying to knock ECW. It was ok for what it was. I was just expecting more. If you were a fan in the early/mid 90s what were your impressions the first time you saw ECW? If youve never seen ECW what kind of opinion do you have of it based on what youve read?