Who is on your ECW top 5 list?

[CM Steel]

Extreme Championship Wrestling was something that pro wrestling needed at that time in wrestling. Something different to be brought to the table (no pun intended). But you not just as a original ECW fan but as a wrestling fan. Who is on your ECW top 5 list? On mine it's...

5. The Dudley Boyz: Two guys who were on point with each other and had a solid connection with the ECW crowd when they weren't fighting the fans.

4. The Sandman: Just a tough guy looking for a fight! Just the way I like a tough wrestler.

3. Tommy Dreamer: ECW was "the Tommy Dreamer story" From start to finish, Tommy Dreamer is/was ECW!

2. Rob Van Dam: This guy was made to be in ECW. Rob Van Dam career got started in the old WCW, but you know that it really started in ECW for RVD.

1. TAZ: I'm a huge mark for Taz! The things he did in/for ECW were off the chain! The matches he had, the promo's he did. Taz really backed up the shit that he was talking. My personal favorite.

Now in your own opinion. Who is on your ECW top 5 list?

 

[jpickens]

Sabu the man is ECW personified
The Pitbulls
The Eliminators
Public Enemy
New Jack

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Tazz - the human suplex machine was awesome in the ring

Raven - compelling character and notorious storylines

Rob Van Dam & Jerry Lynn - two of the best wrestlers ECW had, and their series with each other, including 2 match of the year candidates in successive ppvs, was my favourite in wrestling history until HBK v Undertaker topped it at WM25/26

Yoshihiro Tajiri - unique offence that wasn't driven by stunts or props (except his green mist) and another who seemed to never have a bad match; his triple threats with Little Guido and Super Crazy are underrated gems, and his tag team with Mikey Whipwreck was a lot better than expected.

I was lucky enough to get involved in tape trading in the late '90s so saw a lot of ECW; still my favourite ever promotion (even if some of the stuff they did was way over the top)

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

RVD, Cactus Jack, The Sandman, Terry Funk and The Dudleys!

I think RVD did a lot for ECW; and was the biggest star they ever had in ECW. Cactus Jack was an absolute legend and his cowardly heel character was innovative in its time.

The other people contributed more long term to ECW's success too!

 

[BigBombB]

05. Rhino: Makes it on my list because he is the perfect example of a guy ECW was able to make into a star that no other promotion could have. Rhino came in a generic, not particularly athletic ball of muscle and was turned into one of the toughest gimmicks in the wrestling world. As the final ECW champion, he was a huge overachiever.

04. Rob Van Dam: One of the biggest draws ECW produced and one of the hardest in-ring workers, without RVD the 'extreme' brand would have been far less diverse. RVD was brilliant when it came to coming up with fun spots and ways to mix more hardcore elements into a wrestling style that didn't really need it. Possibly the most unique talent to come into the wrestling business who jumped over nearly every barrier set in his way.

03. Taz: The Taz/Sabu confrontation is one of very few events that will be passed from generation to generation of wrestling fans that didn't happen in WWE/WCW. While I wasn't a huge fan of Sabu (though without him I'm not sure if ECW would have been nearly as noteworthy), I was a big fan of Taz. A little ball of muscle destroying everything in his path with some of the best suplexes I've ever seen. His in-ring style alone was great but the whole package that went with it put him over the top.

02. Tajiri: Midcard guys tend to not get much love and Tajiri was the glue that held the non-main event portions of the show together. As many great acts as ECW had, Tajiri was the guy everyone wanted to see, his kicks and general viciousness broke him from the mold that Japanese wrestlers tend to find themselves trapped in. Few wrestlers of his size look credible against bigger wrestlers but there would be little doubt in anyones mind that Tajiri could have chopped down any monster.

01. Raven: He was my favorite wrestler growing up and he became possibly the most mythical figure in ECW history. Even after he left for WCW, the memory of his actions lingered in the hearts of fans and wrestlers alike within the promotion. ECW brought together a lot of elements that happened to work perfectly once put together and Raven was the brilliant mind that used those elements to engineer some of the best television ECW ever produced.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

If I was to pick the top 5 wrestlers that with the combination of defining and personifying ECW, who went on to have the most success in the industry, and who was the most important and influential on ECW, it would look something like this....

5. Raven

The greatest heel that ECW ever had. No one in ECW was more psychologically brilliant as a character, and probably no one was involved in more of ECW's best storylines than Raven.

4. Shane Douglas "The Franchise"

Shane Douglas was called "The Franchise" for a reason. He was always in the main event picture in ECW, and he was the one that got ECW officially going with his win of the NWA title. Along with Raven he was the best heel in the company, and he became somewhat of a sensation in the 90's thanks to his groundbreaking shoot promos. He personified the attitude and rebelling against the mainstream of pro wrestling that ECW was known for.

3. Tommy Dreamer

Tommy Dreamer was the true "Franchise" of ECW however. What Sting was for WCW, and what Undertaker was for WWE, Tommy Dreamer was for ECW. He was the consummate babyface character of ECW. The underdog that the fans were always behind but never quite reached the top, but was beloved anyway. He was the glue that held the promotion together, both on screen and behind the scenes

2. Sabu

ECW was known for it's hardcore/daredevil style of wrestling, and no one gave ECW that reputation across the wrestling industry more than Sabu. As a kid growing up in the early and mid 90's, Sabu was the first ECW-grown wrestler I had heard about as he became a sensation in the industry thanks to his daredevil, stunt-man like style of wrestling. He did things that no one in America had ever seen before, and he, perhaps more than anyone else blew people's minds who were watching ECW for the first time. His style helped to build the word of mouth momentum that ECW built in the mid 90's. Many people started watching because they heard about Sabu and what he was doing in the ring. Very underrated for his influence and impact on not just ECW, but the entire wrestling industry in the 90's.

1. Rob Van Dam

I would say that the four previous wrestlers were more important to ECW's history than Rob Van Dam was, as by the time he started hitting it big, ECW was already established. But when it comes to ECW home-grown wrestlers, no one was a bigger success in the industry than Rob Van Dam. Rob Van Dam may be the most popular wrestler ECW ever had, and of all the "ECW Originals" no one other than him went on to win the WWE title. He was also arguably the most talented in-ring performer that ECW had among the ECW originals. He made ECW bigger and helped to continue ECW's prominence in their later years.


Honorable Mentions: Tazz, The Sandman, the Dudley Boyz, Rhyno, Bam Bam Bigelow, The Pitbulls, Mikey Whipwreck, Cactus Jack

 

[Kamala316]

1. Tommy Dreamer - His loyalty to the brand deserves to be recognized.

2. Taz - Gave ECW the physical "big fight" feel.

3. Dudley Boyz - Amazing chemistry as heels.

4. Shane Douglas. - Ushered in the era of the "new" ECW.

5. Sandman - He gets the call over guys like Raven and Sabu due to him not screwing over the company when he left for a brief period of time to go to WCW.

 

[rmp0012002]

ECW had so many layers of wrestling and people think it was all garbage wrestling but far from it. Five is hard as so many great wrestlers passed through but I would still go mainly with originals but nobody could start a riot like Bubba and DVon.
1. Sabu
2. Tommy Dreamer
3. Public Enemy
4. Terry Funk
5. RVD

 

[ShinobiMusashi]

1. Taz

His work in ECW has aged like a fine wine in my opinion. For me number one has to be either Sabu or Taz, Taz had the better overall body of work in ECW while Sabu was probably more of a defining figure for the ECW brand. Taz as a character and as a performer was every bit of a decade ahead of his time.

2. Sabu

Sabu and Taz are ECW to me. Both represented completely opposite ends of the spectrum. Their rivalry was the center piece for ECW through it's prime. Sabu and Taz were what set ECW apart from WWF and WCW, there was NOTHING like Sabu or Taz in either WWF or WCW.

3. RVD

The king during the later years after everybody else left. Van Dam was a freak of nature in 99-2000 he was carrying ECW on his back during the time when they really needed somebody to step up. Sabu, Taz, and RVD are the defining trio of ECW to me, those three wrestlers gave it the edge that drew me in back in the day and made me a fan.

4. Terry Funk

Terry has to be on the list, he put over the entire first generation of ECW stars that established the promotion, Sabu, Shane Douglas, Public Enemy, those were the main draws that kept ECW afloat there and Funk made all of them by putting them over clean. The sacrifice he put his body through to put the company over at Barely Legal is one of the special things that makes the ECW story so compelling to me. Funk was there in the very beginning as well, the way they built Eastern Championship Wrestling off of his presence starting with the very first episode of TV, then his feud with Eddie Gilbert was one of the bedrock feuds in ECW history, those guys laid the foundation for ECW.

5. Tommy Dreamer

Dreamer was never really one of my personal favorite guys back in the day but I always respected him because he lived and died by ECW and he never left, he was there from beginning to end. As much as Shane Douglas deserves props and respect as The Franchise, Douglas left ECW for WWF then WCW later on. Dreamer never left. Tommy Dreamer was the true Franchise of ECW. Considering the work he put in behind the scenes and what he put his body through, he has to be on the list.

Other guys that come close on my list, Eddie Gilbert, Shane Douglas, Public Enemy, New Jack, Sandman, Raven, Dudley Boys.

 

[maloney414]

Shane Douglas
RVD
Sabu
Taz
Dudley Boys

Shane Douglas was a monster heel for ECW. His character was their best world champion. In fact, during the time he had Francine with him, he was one of the best heels in the business.

RVD is a no-brainer for the same reasons others have mentioned.

Sabu and Taz had one of the best feuds in ECW. That moment when the lights went out and Sabu was in the ring was one of the best ECW moments in history. They both were great performers and are synonymous with ECW and have to be on the list.

The 5th spot is tough. An argument can be made for a lot of guys. I'm going to cheat and take two. The Dudley Boys. Simply put, one of the best tag teams in the history of prowrestling regardless of what company you look at.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

ECW had so many layers of wrestling and people think it was all garbage wrestling but far from it.

Exactly right. The popular picture painted of ECW was that it was hardcore, weapon-based - actually the weapons were (mostly) used to augment the largely fantastic wrestling. Sometimes they went fully hardcore - like Brian Lee and Tommy Dreamer plunging through stacks of tables, or the disgusting Mass Transit incident. But most of the time chairs and tables were used to good effect. Sabu with his Arabian Facebuster or RVD and his Van Daminator and Van Terminator were often finishing moves, and they used weapons as a form of storytelling rather than for the sake of it - which is where a lot of promotions make mistakes. Also, certainly in the latter days, there was a sea-change do that most matches were straight matches where weapons weren't needed.

Paul E. was a genius at disguising faults too, which is why several of his weaker workers (the Dudleys, the Public Enemy, Sandman, even the innovative Sabu) placed more focus on the hardcore style. That helps those guys get remembered in positive light - had they NOT used weapons, chances are they would not have got over (the Sandman's original gimmick of a surfer was hated) - yet allowing them the tools to get a following arguably helped wrestling to it's 1998-2000 peak.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

5. Mikey Whipwreck - he is the guy that pulled me in. His underdog story was terrific. I loved that he was billed from Buffalo, NY.

4. Whoever produced their constantly repeated in show commercials - the music, 1983 graphics, Heyman's voice, and scene with all the chairs getting thrown in the ring being shown over and over again.

3. The women - reeked of attainability.

2. The fans - the sight of wrestlers grabbing objects from fans was bizarre and exciting. I don't know where the idea came from but it blew my mind when I saw it. It made the Monica Seles incident seem not so outrageous. Fans also get credit for the chants and enthusiasm.

1. Van Dam - when everything else ECW started to feel dull and they couldn't wow me anymore this guy kept things interesting. I was surprised by how long he stayed a tag guy as he was consistently an entertaining performer in the ring. I kept watching to see when he would break out.

Honorable mention to the guy the guy Mike Awesome would drop on his head. Can't remember his name right now. Otherwise, ECW lacked guys for me that stood out or lasted very long. ECW was more about the overall show and presentation that about the stars. If I ever were to buy a shirt it would be the black EC F'N W shirt as opposed to one singular individual.

 

[Rvdrvd]

5 Raven- I love Raven
4 Sabu- like someone else said ECW personified
3 Mike Awesome- Before WCW ruined him he had some of the most amazing matches I'd ever seen.
2 Shane Douglas- THE Franchise
1 Rvd - THE WHOLE FUCKING SHOW

 

[Rvdrvd]

The guy Mike Awesome would drop on his head was Masato Tanaka. Unbeleivably bad ass.

 

[Aquaman6686]

I'm including both versions of ECW, because both ARE recognized as ECW whether fans of the original want to admit it or not. Honorable mentions to John Morrison, Tazz, and Jack Swagger, who didn't quite make it onto my list.

5 - Rhyno: As the last original ECW Champion, Rhyno made a big impact in WWE for a couple of months before fading into obscurity. He eventually became a respectable midcarder in WWE and won the World Tag Team Championship, and then became one of the bigger stars in the early years of TNA, winning the NWA World Championship. But since then, Rhyno hasn't done a hell of a lot. He stuck around in TNA but never really did anything else. With him showing up on NXT recently, maybe he's hoping to end his career in WWE.

4 - Tommy Dreamer: Dreamer is unique as he was the only guy to be ECW Champion in both the original and rebooted ECW. He has a great mind for the business and was an underrated in-ring performer, I wouldn't mind seeing him as a trainer or general manager figure for NXT.

3 - Christian: In my book, the greatest ECW Champion of all time. Christian was the reason fans tuned in to ECW in 2009 and 2010. It gave Christian a practice run for being a main event player and a guy to headline a program, which should have led to Christian becoming a permanent main eventer, but WWE wound up dropping the ball and sabotaging his run in 2011. But, Christian still put on some amazing performances and made the ECW Championship more important than it had been since 2006. It's a shame he wasn't allowed to hold it until the end of ECW, I'll never understand why they had him drop the title to Ezekiel Jackson on the final episode of ECW.

2 - Matt Hardy: I don't think any event in wrestling had me mark out as huge as when Matt Hardy won the ECW Championship. Ever since the Hardy Boyz debuted, I was always a bigger fan of Matt. He was the superior wrestler and carried the team in my eyes, and it was incredible to see him capture a World Championship before Jeff did (not to mention I won $50 on a bet for that). Matt made ECW awesome again after the dark days of Bobby Lashley.

1 - Rob Van Dam: RVD was the guy who stayed too long. If RVD has left ECW in 2000 and gone to WWE, he might have wound up being a much bigger star than he became. The stench of ECW followed RVD around for years and it took him a long time to shake it. When he was finally poised to become a legitimate main event star in 2006, he went and got himself busted for pot...probably thinking he was back in the original ECW where that behavior was allowed. It ended his run as a main event guy before it really got started. But, RVD was still the best in-ring performer from the original ECW (excluding guys who jumped ship to one of the big companies as soon as they could, like Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero), and was the sole reason ECW survived as long as it did.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

5.) Jerry Lynn - Out of all the ECW superstars, he was the closest to rivaling RVD in terms of athleticism & he really had some amazing matches while in ECW that helped put him on the map.
4.) The Dudley Boyz - A truly legendary tag team & one of the few acts from ECW to still remain somewhat known/relevant to today's viewers.
3.) Terry Funk - While I knew of the Funks from Amarillo, I never knew just how hardcore Terry was until he made it to ECW. While I'm usually not one for ultra violence, his historic matches like the "bobbed" wire ring rope match he had with Sabu are some of the most brutaly entertaining matches of all time.
2.) Sabu - Like stated above, I'm not huge on ultra violence or just having tons of violence for the sake of having tons of violence, but Sabu took the brutal, viscous style of ECW & made it into a thing of true beauty. Not only was he involved in many of my favorite ECW matches but in a way, he took hardcore wrestling & made it into "extreme" wrestling.
P.S. - Can we all just agree here & now that his nickname is one of the best of all times too??? "The Homicidal, Genocidal, Death-Defying" Sabu! It sounds like a psycho circus act from hell... which in a way he kind of was at times.
1.) Rob Van Dam - Simply the most entertaining & overall most well rounded superstar to come out of ECW.

 

[FromGlasgow]

1, Sabu, He's probably the main reason I first got into ECW to follow his matches, His style seemed so innovative at the time.
2, Rob Van Dam, Another style of wrestling that seemed so new and different at the time and probably consistantly had the best matches overall in ECW with his series against guys like Jerry Lynn and Sabu for example.
2, Tazz, Watching him it felt like he was a legitimate bad ass tough guy and his matches with Bigelow are one of my favourites of all time.
3, Raven, Seen loads of interviews with this guy since and has changed my opinion of him now seems like a bit of a p**** in real life but at the time his character seemed fascinating to watch, Had a no idea what his character was going to do next kind of feeling everytime he was on ECW.
5, Terry Funk, He seemed like he could fit in anywhere even as an older wrestler was always really enjoyable to watch, I don't think many legends or former NWA world champions would be out having all these wild matches doing crazy moves.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Making this top 5 reminded me just how many great talents ECW had, when talents like Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Masato Tanaka haven't made my top 5, let alone ECW icons like Tommy Dreamer and Sabu!

5. Jerry Lynn
One of the most underrated wrestlers in history, Lynn was always awesome to watch. His series of matches with RVD are still some of my faovurites to this day, and I'm glad he did eventually get a run with the ECW title. He definitely deserved it. One of several on this list who was criminally underused in WWE- he could have been a great IC champion against the likes of Jericho, Angle and Benoit.

4. Taz
Taz is probably the greatest ECW champion of all time, and they way they booked him made him look like a genuine bad ass, even with how short he was. I was so happy to see him debut in WWE, and its a shame his career was cut short with neck injuries. I loved the entire Taz persona in ECW, of of Paul E's finest creations

3. Mike Awesome
I was devastasted to hear of Awesome's passing, because I have said many times before, he had the potential to be something special in wrestling. A huge man who could move like that is so rare. WCW ruined him with stupid gimmicks and WWE could have done so much with him, he could have been World Champion. Some of those powerbombs were brutal and a guy that size hitting a top rope splash is spectacular.

2.Rob Van Dam
Everything about RVd screams ECW! Why Paul didnt make him Champion puzzles me to this day, but Van Dam was THE guy even without the title. In his prime every match was special and you saw something innovative and exciting. WWE took too long to put the title on RVD, he was RED hot when he fist came to the company. His match with Jeff Hardy at Invasion is a classic.

1.Raven
One of my faovurite wrestlers of all time, I loved everything about the Raven character, Scott Levy played it perfectly. From the grunge ring attire, to the phenomenal promos, to the storylines with Sandman and Dreamer, Raven was just plain cool. His WWE debut is still one of my favourite WWE moments, I marked out big time. Again, Raven is yet another ECW talent wasted in WWE- he should have been the stalker of 'Taker's wife, not DDP.

 

[Noshowers]

There are guys who immediately come to mind when I think ECW, which is why they find a place on my list.

1. Raven - My favorite performer and character in the company, Raven was everything an angry young adolescent loved back in the early 90s (good ole grunge flannels). Had a feud with nearly every iconic ECW member at one point or another and did it all

2. Tommy Dreamer - Foiled by Raven for a lot of his early run, Tommy Dreamer was the ultimate company man. He definitely showed there was more money in the chase, not only for titles but also for victories over a guy like Raven. Heart and soul of the Company and ultimate crowd favorite there.

3. Rob Van Dam - Very unique style and character made for some very memorably matches whether in singles or tag team. Hard for me to sing his praises more then others, one of the best ever especially in his prime in ECW.

4. Sabu - Again, another man who seems to have been born for ECW. His style was so reckless and sacrificed his own body in nearly every conflict. Wasn't afraid of wrestling under any circumstance or stipulation, and his body bears the scars of his choices and injuries ranging from broken bones to Barb Wire scars.

5. Tazz - I wanted to put Taz higher on this list, but was hard for me to kick any of the previous 4 out for him. The human suplex machine again was arguably the best wrestler the promotion had to offer (especially a longer tenured wrestler unlike other greats like Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, etc who were only there for a short time before going to WCW). The "FTW" championship belt angle is still one of my all time favorites. Had the crowd hype and again shows how much fun the chase can be for a title shot if done right.

Honorable Mentions

-Bam Bam Bigelow - While he was only there for 2 years or so, Bam Bam really brought it during his matches. Still remember his match with Spike Dudley where he Literally Launched Spike into the crowd where the fans caught and proceeded to surf him around the crowd. Also crashed through the ring with Taz in a heat-stopping moment. Wrestling used to be so good and unpredictable, heh Bam Bam was so athletic at his huge size, a great contrast to some of the smaller wrestlers in the promotion at the time.

-Dudley Boys - Hard to leave these guys off thew list, but their legend is huge and should one day be in the WWE Hall of Fame. One of the best tag teams ever.

-Cactus Jack - Mick Foley in any promotion will bring you memorable matches, but pit him against the likes of Sabu and matches become legendary. Also authored one of the better promos i've heard when he railed AGAINST hardcore matches

-Sandman - While definitely not the most gifted, he definitely represented this hard working crowd by drinking beers and getting into fights. Perhaps taught Stone Cold a thing or 2 about the former, and became a 5 time champ. I wasn't the biggest fan myself, but it is hard to deny his influence and accomplishments

 

[MINISTRYrising]

1. RVD
By far the best wrestler to ever come out of ECW. Rob was just on another level compared to everybody else on the roster and I cant remember him every having a bad match while with the company. Its just a shame he never got to hold the original ECW championship.

2. Shane Douglas
Hes the guy that really did start it all and carried the company during ECW's early years.

3. The Dudleys
Bubba and Devon are One of the most successful Tag teams in the history of wrestling and really did make the ECW Tag Team division credible.

4. The Sandman
While the Sandmans Wrestling abilities were always questionable, nobody personified ECW more then what he did.

5. Sabu
His unique Style of Wrestling could not have been more suited to ECW if you tried and made him one of the most popular wrestlers in the companys history.

Honorable mentions - tommy dreamer, mike awsome , tazz , New Jack , Raven

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

5) Joel Gertner: He always cracked me up with his neck brace and commentary.

4) Francine and Tammy Lynn Synn/Bytch: No explanation necessary. ECW always had these girls wearing next to nothing. And of course the Dreamer piledriver on Francine.

3) Taz: He was something different but was still such a bad ass for being a short, stocky guy. His suplexes were always on point and his Tazmission was awesome. Styles' call when he choked out that dude with the barb wire at the ppv event is probably my favorite ECW call of all time.

2) Shane Douglas: He was my favorite when I first started watching ECW. He gave it some credibility and normalcy as he looked and wrestled like he could hang in either WCW or WWF. And the Pittsburgh Plunge was one of the coolest finishers ever.

1) Rob Van Dam: He was by far my favorite part of ECW. His ability in the ring for that time was truly remarkable. While most had to get by with the hardcore aspect, he was able to get over by doing things we had never seen before.