The Rise And Fall Of ECW

ECW may have only been the third largest promotion in American pro wrestling in the 1990s, but it set the wheels in motion for the future of the entire industry. Shaking off their NWA ties, the little promotion that could would disregard competition and forge their own path. But scandal, cashflow issues and the deep pockets of WWE and WCW would prove the old saying 'the light that burns twice as bright burns only half as long'... This is The Rise And Fall Of ECW.
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[@armin38822]

Is interesting how small arenas usually make the product look cheap compared to WWE but ECW's small arenas made it look more special. It made it look private,intimate and you could feel the exctiment,apprication and love in the air both from wrestlers and fans.

[@dolosavage6295]

Me and your wife were intimate yesterday

[@aegaeon117]

ECW were the most loyal fans ever.

[@clintdeangelis5082]

Wow....

[@BobSayG]

Best pro wrestling shows (njpw) i watched in Japan were all smaller venues 2000-4000 capacity. On the other hand, big arena shows feel less energetic if it’s not full house.

[@ZeeWolfgang]

Appreciation *

[@wgdavidson9669]

Paul Hayman also pioneered the corporate idea of "How long will people work if we continue not to pay them?"

[@Whogrl16]

which Dixie Carter and TNA also managed to do

[@BoboMcBooboy]

It was actually worse 😅 - beyond not paying - can we get them to dip into their savings as well?!?

[@shashanknegi7647]

That's a Jew, 🤣

[@andrewramsdale]

@@BoboMcBooboy the only one that I know of that used savings was dreamer but he also helped run a few things in ecw I know he paid a few people out of his pocket

[@dionruffin3996]

That’s a paddlin

[@Evs78101]

Dang. Cultaholic managed to condense The Rise and Fall of ECW from a 3 hour documentary into 20 minutes. Way to go

[@JuliusC1973]

And summed it up rather well, if I do say so. I hold TNN more responsible for The Fall of ECW more than anyone else, that's just my opinion.

[@jeyDsixx18]

Yea but I still enjoy going back once in a while to rewatch it.

[@BringSomeNoise]

@@JuliusC1973 The Between The Sheets podcast did a Patreon subscriber special series on the end of ECW that did a great job of getting into how much of the problems were TNN intentionally using ECW as a stepping stone to getting Raw and how much was Paul hurting the relationship by not doing things he had agreed to do (e.g. re-airing old PPV matches on the first ECW on TNN show instead of the first run content that he was contracted to provide)

[@MrZappaman420]

@@JuliusC1973 I agree 100% They NEVER promoted ECW as they should have!

[@tysoncarpenter8628]

Where is this 3 hour one at? That's the one I want to watch lol

[@blackcountrysmoggie]

The abrupt ending to this vid was an awesome reflection of the abrupt ending of ECW itself

[@nille_fca6689]

The similarities between ECW and ROH are huge. Especially acting as a feeder system for a „war“. Hopefully ROH‘s story isn‘t over yet.

[@MentalLiberation]

Agreed

[@RickC28]

Fun fact. Paul Heyman has said if they weren't have been bankrupt they would have gone into a Shoot-Style wrestling company like ROH would be. He was planning on bringing CM Punk during this time.

[@vixenofthedead]

aged like milk

[@FishHead84]

Gabe sapolsky, one of ring of honors founders and original bookers worked as an assistant to Paul in ecw so no surprise there.

[@supersasukemaniac]

ROH was originally founded as a spiritual continuation of the wrestling/Non-deathmatch side of ECW.

[@kenbadman4603]

I miss the ECW arena soooooo much! Even in the middle of winter it was hot, crowded and cramped, and stunk like piss, stale beer and pot smoke. But when you were there you were with family. There was nothing else like it or at least anything I've ever seen before!

[@MrZappaman420]

RVD was the reason for the pot smoke smell! LOL

[@andrewramsdale]

@@MrZappaman420 also fans probably

[@jb03hf]

Paul Hayman actually with the closure let it limp on for long enough to ensure that the bankruptcy court couldn't claw back some payments to the talent.

[@jvstice56]

If ECW had good financial power, chances are it'd be still alive today as the #2 promotion in North America. Paul Heyman may have some crazy ideas, but he knew how to make stars. Give him creative freedom with *some restrictions* and he can work magic. All one has to do is look at the "normal" matches as proof. Many classics helped make ECW strong. It's love for Hardcore made it legendary. After all, people don't chant WCW. ECW is, was, and forever will be a once in a lifetime company. Many aspire to become it, but that is one hell of a legacy to live up to and a massive shadow to escape from. Excellent work Ross and Cultaholic.

[@hobnobbob8006]

ECW was a garbage company that appeared to and employed jackoffs and idiots. Hence why it is dead

[@davidgarcia0604]

Literally was just watching the rise and fall of TNA

[@marbin1991]

Link ? ☺️

[@leftwingdragon6235]

@@marbin1991 Just search fall of TNA Cultaholic.

[@supersasukemaniac]

It is so weird seeing the evolution of Tommy Dreamer,seeing his first match against Tazmaniac where he was booed out of the building from the first bell. Then earning the crowds respect with his resolve and fighting spirit. By the end of the match, Dreamer lost, but the reactions he got from the crowd surprised everyone, even Joey Styles on commentary said "Maybe this kid will make it in ECW after all." He cemented his legacy when he lost to Sandman in match where the lower would receive 10 hits from a Singapore Cane, after each hit everyone was pleading for Tommy to give up, each time he got up, looked straight at Sandman and said,"Thank you sir, may I have another."

[@talonthehand]

Ross has a fantastic booming voice for this

[@Green_Ranger05]

1995 & 1996 are such underrated years in ECW

[@marbin1991]

💯

[@JRRamrodLIVE]

Naw real ones know y’all just finding out

[@chadconery8284]

100 percent

[@Thor-Orion]

1994-1997 were there best years by a long shot.

[@KingJadInfiniteHope]

@@Thor-Orion 1995 - pre tnn

[@ViraL_FootprinT.ex.e]

Man I remember hearing rumors of this ultra violent "real wrestling" promotion that only came on one of the public access channels after midnight on the weekends where I lived. That was normally the time when I'd be up all night playing _Mortal Kombat II_ or watching the _Spawn_ cartoon, but I made it a point to tune in this one night, and that's when I became hooked on ECW. The crowd. The matches. The gore. The absurdity of it all... It was like nothing I'd ever seen, and perfect for a middle school aged kid like me.

[@raydeutschland8013]

I can’t watch “WWE” because I watched it in its “hay day” when it was WWF! After many years of NOT watching wrestling ECW made me a fan again. It was like the “Wild, Wild West” of wrestling. It was allowed to go on and you couldn’t believe it!!! and knew it would eventually be shut down. Just like our alcohol fueled street parties, if you were a late 90’s teenager. It was something special that you recognized could only happen then AND for a short amount of time. If you were 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 then you were extremely lucky and you probably realized it. Screw the teenagers of the 60’s!!! Nothing will ever beat being a teenager in the late 90’s!!! It was the last era before everyone had a cellphone and the internet! It was a ridiculously special time!

[@chadconery8284]

I lived in Ohio in the 90s and the early 2000's and I would stay up past 4 am just to catch ECW sometimes it was on sometimes it was not . I was such a fan I found a t shirt from ECW at a flee market . It was 2 sizes to small. I bought it and lost weight just to wear it at a show I skipped school to go see. Thank you for the video !

[@Spetia]

The Sandman, as Brian Zane says, is a cane type pokemon, he is immune to the kendo sticks

[@WrestleKrysti]

Imagine if other documentaries covered this with official footage and interviews from ECW wrestlers? That.. phew.. thank God it didn't happen. You are the top guys now, pioneering ECW content in a world where there is none. Encore! Encore!

[@Zorzu-df5mm5wb6t]

2006-2007 was the las time ecw felt like ecw

[@Marc_Araujo]

I still remember when I was 12 and discovered ECW on a random PPV I stumbled upon on my cable hotbox. It was a weird and eye-opening experience and I was equally confused and enthralled...it was glorious. RIP E-C-f'n-W!!

[@joshamous5144]

Axl Rotton talked about the Mass Transit incident and it wasn't a family emergency it was Paul Heyman fucking up his plane ticket

[@carlosperalta1714]

Holy ish!

[@MasterSartorius]

Hard to think it's been gone for 20 years

[@alexa5675]

*FACTS*

[@Atroz7]

Being a kid from Philadelphia this hits in the pheels

[@PapaSmurf11182nd]

ECW One Night Stand 2005 still is one of my favorite ppvs in my time.

[@justincase3772]

Yesssss

[@thomasmb3552]

No idea how you managed to fit all this into a short video, great work everyone

[@sadetwizelve]

I was around for ecw,i can honestly tell you it was cooler than aew

[@GregBurch]

Yeah. Aew has lost a lot of steam quickly.

[@Connor-zl8gi]

@@GregBurch It's all because of one man, two words: Tony Khan

[@monitor-mindtheover-void6712]

I was literally searching this same topic today but didn't got a detailed video to watch, and here you are by some coincidence, uploaded the damn video 1 hour later. What can I say?

[@adityakhan5557]

Ecw documantries gives tears.. always 😭

[@benespinosa6725]

I Have a Ton of ECW DVD'S And My Favorite Angles were Shane Douglas Vs The Pitbulls Tazz Vs Sabu And Tommy Dreamer Vs Raven And My Favorite Match is the four Corners Elimination Match for the ECW World TV title at ECW Heatwave 1996 Barley Legal was an amazing PPV from Beginning to end.

[@TheThird1977]

Excellent video and great narration from Ross.

[@alexa5675]

THIS is amazing, coming soon... the 'Rise and Fall of ROH'

[@royshaheer]

OK this is too soon but I want to observe after the new rebranding before we see this...

[@alexa5675]

@@royshaheer for sure. I wasn't saying I want this tomorrow, twas just "watch this space".

[@HeartlandNewsfeed]

@@alexa5675 I dunno...I think Sinclair Broadcast Group did a lot of damage to the brand. Even more during the pandemic. They have no roster and it's up for sale. I would imagine Tony Khan might put up a bid, considering acquiring the Sinclair archives of ROH and the intellectual property could boost a streaming deal in addition to TV.

[@kshinokevin]

Yes...

[@kokotheclown2588]

Well that aged like Milk

[@RyanLBrown9396]

WWE and WCW were like Looney Tunes vs Disney cartoons. ECW was South Park

[@KenRising1996]

In a way that's accurate

[@joh7538]

I was lucky enough to attend 4 ECW shows. It was AWESOME!! we have introduced our kids to ECW and they love it. I miss it.

[@hobnobbob8006]

So ur kids find it awesome watching people staple each other in the head, smash each other with broken glass, carve each others skin with knifes and give each other second degree burns just for fun?

[@jackmackakaheavyguyhaiku545]

I love ECW. I do think that there are two companies that managed to capture some of their magic. Ring Of Honor- when they started on TV in my area, Hampton Roads, VA, they had that energy. AEW- they made a seismic shift to the the world of pro wrestling that is still being felt today and will be for years to come.

[@jackmackakaheavyguyhaiku545]

@Samuel Giam I was just talking about the vibe they capture, their respective energies are similar. Plus they all have garnered a similar loyalty from the fans.

[@reesebecker4838]

I’m also from the 757!

[@bls8959]

Aew could be something special if Khan wasn't bookng

[@sicknickmondo16]

@Samuel Giam But ROH History is a major part for the evolution of AEW . If it wasn’t for a few events and if different decisions were made with ROH , There wouldn’t of been a need for AEW .

[@majinnando6711]

I like your comment, reminds me of how TNA recaptured some of the WCW magic for me. Of course there were problems with the product but the X Division, ex WWE stars having a second platform to get back into relevance, and stars like Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, James Storm, and more made TNA that much more special for me, especially being a local show close to me. Props.

[@theghostreckon69420]

Vince McMahon knocks on door: Hellllllooooooo

[@marbin1991]

Haha 😂

[@highergingerbeing5134]

I was born the day ECW put on their first PPV dont you dare say im old

[@Grant-dg8wp]

I discovered eastern championship wrestling late night on local TV. I got hooked cause it had guys I remembered who had left wwf or WCW. I followed it through the extreme championship wrestling til the very end. Even made myself almost a regular at Swanson and Ritner.

[@Vesperitis]

Funded by WWE? Got its best talent constantly poached? Had a loyal fanbase that didn't translate into high ratings? Why does ECW remind me of NXT?

[@micshork]

Amazing work. I hope you do something like this but for WCW.

[@inuenndo_]

Oof two bangers on this sunday. You love it

[@Hallofshame-f7x]

Do the rise and fall of ring of honor

[@ErdrickLoto86]

Nothing today can even come close to ECW did. There's that little something that's missing from wrestling today that can't be compared to the magic ECW produced.

[@supersasukemaniac]

The thing that made Shane Douglas' infamous "The NWA is dead!" moment work? The tournament wasn't just for the NWA title, but the ECW title as well. There was a champion going in (I think Sandman in his surfer gimmick) but all his matches where for the title, and if he lost the title was vacated and determined at the end of the Tournament, I think he lost in Round 2.

[@brianwatchorn4968]

Absolutely fantastic work as always Ross. You're knocking these vids out the park son keep er lit ;)

[@Hawk21480]

I was ringside at Anarchy Rulz 2000. I know that ECW was in a down turn at that time, but damn that was so much fun.

[@MSI-]

17:44 "Real Jobs" Blasphemy!!! Bollocks to Ross, Bollocks to Cultaholic

[@marbin1991]

It was a blast 💥 ECW was a phenomenal wrestling show good times legendary 💯❤️

[@AdamNRG316]

Listened to this in shower and it few by. Great writing and presentation Ross.

[@brodydaube4136]

bit upset they dont have more documentaries on youtube about ecw, this show was a sight to see growing up

[@joeywrestling9536]

Another phenomenal video, Ross!! Completely inconsequential but I'm curious to know as to why Lawler left Raw in 2001? Unfortunately I wasn't actively watching during this time period. I think I remember hearing that Vince fired one of Lawler's (many) exes.

[@codino97]

if Im not mistaken it was due to them firing his wife Kat it was sort of a protest

[@joeywrestling9536]

@@codino97 Good call… I think that’s absolutely correct

[@elhombremysterious8296]

@@codino97 Temp wife. LOL

[@realdaniz]

Every Divas champion rank worst to best

[@Johnoplata]

Great job as always, Ross

[@KelticTim]

I’m from Boston, the local papers made the Mass Transit incident out to be a premeditated attempted murder. It was a pre med maiming if anything

[@yujirohanma5199]

It might not be ECW in it's Prime, but GCW is trying to produce that same energy

[@ded6142]

Not even close… ECW actually had some talent.

[@sherrix6881]

It was a product of its time. Crazier shit online now

[@luigivincenz3843]

E C DUB! E C DUB! I still remember that during (or after) the Attitude era would try to catch ECW on cable on another "outlier" network after 11 pm lol. I kinda remember there was a long pause before a Tazz and Mike Awesome match and Kimona came out for 10 minute strip tease. I was sold.

[@wilrivera2668]

... it sucks that it wasn't the product that brought them down; but, rather, management ...

[@TheMC1102]

You should do the Rise and Fall of Ring of Honor.

[@lilsunny7399]

except overlooking the recent events due to the pandemic (which are temporary) it never had a fall. Nor a major rise. It was always great wrestling but never close to the big leagues.

[@vagamer522]

@@lilsunny7399 the fall happened when the Elite left and made AEW and all this happened when ROH helped them make all in

[@lilsunny7399]

@@vagamer522 but were they really any bigger with the elite compared to say, the days of punk and danielson? Twinkle Toes and The Hardly Boys were more known for their work in Japan. Yes RoH helped with All in and as a result AEW happened. But RoH was never that big to begin with.

[@denniswilliams6519]

Paul Heyman is both the best and worst thing to happen to ECW. He gave the promotion its identity and his creative energy helped make many stars. But his lack of ability to actually run a business meant ECW was always a promotion on life support.

[@chriscastro5332]

I remember here in Jersey i use to sneak and wait every Sunday night at 1 am to watch ECW on MSG channel 20 on cable worth the beatings since it was a school night next day 😂😂

[@mattbradley1202]

even though ecw would never work in the pg era its a reminder of how great a wrestling mind paul heyman actually has

[@slimshady12345ish]

This video feels topical with what is happening with ROH which in a way was the successor to ECW an evolved version as Paul heyman once referred to as such. If ECW influenced 90s wrestling, ROH influenced today's wrestling.

[@crazyhorse9227]

ECW...ECW....ECW!!! OH MY GOD!

[@jerryjanik480]

These are as good as dark side of the Ring I love these videos thank you for making them

[@kidwaryodproduction]

2:22 - 2:27 Tommy Dreamer - Dean Malenko with Rick Martel hair. Sandman - Stone Cold Tazz - Jimmy Snuka 5:15 Why it's looks like Konnan getting high and ready to punched Heyman 😅

[@queeflandbrown]

Fun fact. Tito Santana was my Spanish teacher in middle school lol

[@StillOnFire]

I never watched ECW live at the time, but I got into wrestling around 11-13 in the late 90s - early 2000s. In the UK, I watched WWF on Sky One (I also have a memory of watching a Royal Rumble on channel 4 with a brother in the middle of the night around this time, but unlike some, my memorys fade and mingle), and a lot of WCW on (I think) channel 5, maybe 4? I was a huge Booker T and Lance Storm fan (and was upset how both were treated during the invasion angle). Anyway, ECW was always a mythical thing for me growing up, playground rumours about the crazy things that happened, Sabu, Rob Van Dam, and oddly New Jack were huge figures on the playgrounds. Sadly, while some great things, looking back on fresh eyes, ECW is rather meh. Perhaps due to the expectations and myth of it all?

[@arthurrammusa5810]

Same here. I only got wind of ECW through their Sony PlayStation 1 video game and was surprised to see WWF acts on it namely RVD, Tazz and The Dugley Boyz. It was only then did I do a search on the company and learned about hardcore wrestling. Good Times

[@tri-statePoP]

Those terry funk matches with sabu were just brutal …miss ecw

[@OkOk-dc6sq]

Hope GCW will be the successor of ECW in the future

[@oscarkoop2548]

What Vince never understood was competition is good for business.

[@1091hurricane]

ecw was popular and well received when it just ran out of money which is the real shame

[@MRJLS15]

I enjoy these in depth break downs

[@1987phillybilly]

MAN! How many hours I spent in South Philly watching this at the arena.....MAN!!

[@theanimal619]

3 top moments I saw first hand when they happened in ECW...The Crucifixion of Sandman...my God literally the fans were silent then a small scatter of applause happened...Dreamer finally beats Raven...the way he finally won over Raven was cheap when everyone knew Raven was leaving for WCW but was a great moment for Dreamer... Barely Legal 97... seeing that it is on PPV for the first time was so epic and seeing Terry Funk win the 3 way dance then the world title was monumental and something I'll never forget Funk's win made everyone in the arena cry because he was a God to us all E-C-Dub 4EVER ☝🏾🤘🏾🔥💪🏾👍🏾👏🏾🙏🏾🍻🖕🏾

[@Mr.Majestic77]

Wait. Didn't ECW rise again when the WWE relaunched it (lol)???

[@thespectraldogg1277]

Yes. It was called ECW One Night Stand but then went garbage shortly after.

[@WrinkledPlatypus]

I'll never forget staying up late watching ECW as a teenager. So much better than WWF or WCW at the time.

[@briwanderz]

I say this after every ECW (or WCW) overview like this but.. I still wonder what would have happened if ecw and WCW had actually joined forces into one show, then possibly also with roh, TNA probably would not have happened, but maybe it would have worked, if the egos didn't clash too much.

[@robertt9342]

Nothing, they were both going bankrupt.

[@johnsawh1867]

Went to a few ECW shows in Tallahassee Florida

[@jerransperarman9411]

good video

[@rosserjake]

ECW was edgy way before wwf ushered in the Attitude Era

[@sithsoldier98]

Man that dude with that straw hat was always there front and center 😂

[@Nbflowers1989]

Great stuff!!!

[@zanethind]

Gen X is 1965-1980 that's 41-56 years ago damn ECW did it all. Also it went from 1992-2007 so that's 14-29 years ago and it's final stand was 14 years ago

[@GracefulEloquence]

Even if Heyman had money to keep ECW afloat without stealing from his “talent,” it would have gotten shut down for being too stupid and too violent.

[@ch1ckp1uxd56]

Ecw was something else

[@jackmallory5071]

I swear it came back after that… I was born in 1997 and I remember watching ecw fued with raw and they were part of the 2008 wwe game….

[@reggiefurlow1]

I'm from CT and this used to come on a the really horrible station and I used to spend so much time adjusting my TV antenna to watch it.

[@ajgodwin9304]

Rise and Fall of Lucha Underground??

[@andamtshintsho4454]

This is a great video.

[@stevengrvp]

All Heyman had to do was have some type of business people with him

[@misternobodysixtynine]

I suppose your channel should do a video essay on Ring Of Honor sonetime in the near future eh

[@masterj4777]

I remember all of this and it was a sad day in wrestling 😒😒 I had both ECW video games on PlayStation and I watched it on TNN 🤼🤼🤼 The WWE version of ECW was pure garbage 🗑️

[@marbin1991]

Happy Halloween 🎃 👻✌️

[@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716]

When wrestlers lose half their bodies worth of blood every day is not sustainable, who knew

[@StankyPack]

If I wasn’t 10 yrs old I would’ve done anything to go to one night stand in 2005 . I remember seeing the “if cena wins we riot” and legit getting chills that was an intense show

[@stevenlopez6645]

That was 06 you dumba*s

[@jonahjudah6978]

I remember Jerry called ECW Extremely Crappie Wrestling 😂😂😂

[@cripbk2147]

Lol

[@codino97]

just imagine this situation paul heyman´s mind with ted turner´s money think about it

[@jb888888888]

From TNN's perspective there was no need to advertise the show or give them a bigger budget. Not advertising it and giving them a paltry budget it was already their biggest rating getter, so why toss any more money their way?

[@YallLuvXeno]

The ONLY problem I have with this vid is that he called taz UFC inspired which isn't true. The UFC wasn't around by that time but mixed martial arts technically was. Other than that great vid guys!

[@Skorpio420]

UFC started in 1993. It just wasn't the juggernaut it is now. In fact it was banned off pay-per-view for a while for being "too violent" (which it wasn't).

[@DJVm4GOD1]

To be fiar to the new ECW. I don't think it was that bad. The main issue that it had, was well. It had ECW's name. If it didn't, it would've been a success. It's why NXT after the weird seasonal game show phase, was a success when it became it's own show. If the revived ECW, wasn't ECW and had a diff name, it would've worked.

[@robertt9342]

My opinion is that NXT is such an obvious WWE product, it actually undermines the WWE.

[@alexa5675]

Why the f--- did this video suddenly end at 18:37? I suppose it's for the best.

[@kevinwebster7868]

Ah ECW. The promotion no one outside of a couple east side states had heard of until Vince got his hands on it.