WWF and WCW really sucked, especially WWF for most if not all of 1995. That was not the case, however, for the small upstart independent promotion in Philadelphia, ECW. ECW had definitely its best year at that point and maybe its best ever. Of course that can be debated but this was the first full year of "Extreme Championship Wrestling" after it left the NWA banner in August 1994.
The talent in ECW was great and the storylines and action was even better. This is probably why during 1995 both the WWF and WCW got their hands on several of the top performers in ECW to improve their companies.
1995 was the start of the infamous "Monday Night Wars" where WCW created WCW Monday Nitro to compete head-to-head with WWF's Monday Night Raw as WCW wanted to beat the WWF and vice versa. Both promotions really sucked in 1995 and both needed newer and fresher talent and storylines.
Here's how bad things were in the WWF in 1995. At June's King of the Ring PPV held in ECW's backyard in Philadelphia, fans were loudly chanting "ECW" during the crappy Mable-Savio Vega King of the Ring final in what was one of the worst PPVs ever.
Shane Douglas began 1995 as the ECW World Heavyweight Champion after having it since March of 1994. He was best known for throwing down the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and cutting an anti-NWA promo after winning a tournament to win the vacant NWA Title on August 27, 1994.
ECW might have been awesome in 1995 and better than the WWF and WCW, however, it was still a small independent promotion that had nowhere near the capital to come close to matching with Vince McMahon and especially Ted Turner. With that being said, the top ECW talent would make a fraction of what they would be offered by the WWF and WCW.
Douglas knew he needed to leave ECW and go to either of the top promotions to make the big bucks. Douglas had been negotiating with the WWF to come over, he lost the ECW World Title to The Sandman in April 1995 as the two had a fantastic and brutal feud. Also being involved in this feud was Cactus Jack.
At the end of the feud and the end of Douglas' time in ECW before leaving for the WWF, Douglas had storyline problems with how ECW was being run and being hardcore and violent. He brought in referee Bill Alfonso to help restore order in ECW. One memorable moment was Douglas pulling off a Monday Night Raw t-shirt from a fan and put it on. ECW Commissioner Tod Gordon "fired" Douglas as Douglas left to go to the WWF.
Early in the year, Douglas formed the Triple Threat along with Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko. Douglas did not like Ric Flair and mocked the Four Horsemen. The Triple Threat held up three fingers again to mock the Four Horsemen.
At one point, The Triple Threat held all three ECW titles with Douglas holding the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, Benoit and Malenko were ECW World Tag Team Champions, and Malenko was also the ECW Television Champion.
Benoit and Malenko joined ECW in late 1994 as they were stars throughout Canada, Mexico, and Japan before making their mark in the U.S. Benoit was a star from Canada who trained in the Legendary Dungeon of Calgary under Stu Hart and the legendary Hart Family.
Malenko had reputations as a "Shoot" fighter (real life amateur wrestling style instead of the scripted pro wrestling style) early in his ECW career and was known as "The Man of 1,000 Holds" due to his many holds he used throughout his wrestling career. He was also known as "The Ice Man" due to his cold and calculating demeanor.
Benoit had an inauspicious start to his ECW career as he injured several wrestlers, both storyline and real life. One such incident was he accidentally broke the neck of Sabu when he threw Sabu up but Sabu did not come down properly and landed straight on his head.
Benoit would be given the nickname "The Crippler" and later "The Canadian Crippler" throughout his wrestling career. Both Benoit and Malenko got their calling card and left ECW to join WCW in late 1995.
ECW signed a couple of legendary Mexican wrestlers in Eddie Guerrero, Konnan, and Rey Mysterio Jr. A few other Mexican "Luchadors" joined them in ECW as well in Psicosis, Juventud Guerrera, and La Parka and they showcased their high-flying, Luchadore style from Mexico to the hardcore fans of ECW as the fans were more than receptive.
Guerrero left ECW in late 1995 and joined his buddies Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko over in WCW. Eventually, Konnan, Mysterio, Psicosis, Guerrera, and La Parka would head over to WCW in 1996 as WCW was "raiding" ECW of its talent. ECW was an independent promotion and really could not stand in the way of the big promotions of WCW and WWF spending big dollars on their top wrestlers.
It's like the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox or any major league team calling up the top talent from their AAA teams to come play for them for more money and playing in the big leagues. Who would ever say no to that? There are the career minor leaguers and there are those who just there before they get their chances in the majors just like the independent promotions before WCW and WWF come calling.
The problem was, the big companies, well more so WCW really had no idea how to use these amazing wrestlers. The WWF was much better at figuring out characters more so than WCW, who just gave a lot of money and they sat and collected big pay checks while being buried mid-card. ECW, especially Paul Heyman, was excellent at developing young talent.
Sabu was another star wrestler who left ECW for the greener pastures of WCW. Sabu is one of the biggest stars in ECW history and pretty much from the beginning of ECW. Sabu also fought in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) during his time in ECW.
In April 1995, Sabu no-showed at an ECW event to wrestle at a NJPW event and Paul Heyman came out and publicly and legitimately fired him at the event. In those days, no word was mentioned on TV or at an event of a wrestler leaving or being fired or whatever so ECW again broke new grounds.
Sabu joined WCW after a tour of NJPW. After a couple of months where he wasn't used well, Sabu left WCW and rejoined ECW. Sabu made his return at November's November to Remember. Sabu was involved with his former teammate The Tazmaniac, who changed to Taz who hated Sabu for leaving him high and dry. Taz would begin to call out Sabu to take him on in a match for over a year.
The best thing ever in ECW in my opinion made his debut in 1995 and that was none other than Raven. Raven was Scott Levy, best known as Scott Flamingo in WCW and Johnny Polo in WWF. The Raven character was the best ever in my opinion.
Raven was this dark, disturbed, and depressed sociopath Gen-Xer who took no responsibility for his actions who had long hair, wore grunge type clothes with ripped jean shorts, grunge rock t-shirts, a leather jacket, and a flannel shirt tied around his wait with piercings and tattoos. He would come out to Offspring's Come Out and Play as his entrance theme.
Levy portrayed that character very well was in character even if the Raven character was the antithesis of Levy himself. Levy was also noticeably more bigger and bulked up than in the past. Levy pitched this new character successfully to Paul Heyman, who brought him to ECW after he pitched the idea to Jim Cornette in Smoky Mountain Wrestling and was turned down.
Raven was brought into ECW by Stevie Richards, who claimed to be a huge Scott Levy fan. Richards began wrestling under the Scotty Flamingo and Johnny Polo characters in late 1994. He confronted "The Hardcore" Icon Tommy Dreamer and told him he was bringing the "real Johnny Polo" to ECW. This would start the most infamous feud in ECW and one of the most in pro wrestling history.
Levy debuted as Raven on the January 7, 1995 episode of ECW Hardcore TV. Raven had a bone to pick with Tommy Dreamer as the story went they were friends as kids. Dreamer was the good looking, popular, athletic jock who got all the girls while Raven was well Raven. The two eventually went different directions and Raven was out for revenge.
Dreamer tried to go after Raven but Raven often avoided him. In March, Dreamer took on Raven's "Nest" in a Gauntlet match and if Dreamer beat them all, he would finally get a match with Raven. It was a setup as Raven ended up handcuffing Dreamer to the ropes in a "crucifying" position.
Raven would soon introduce a new wrinkle into the feud: a girl by the name of Beulah McGuillicutty. She was a storyline overweight girl from Dreamer and Raven's childhood who had a crush on Dreamer, but Dreamer denied her.
Raven brought her into the fold as she too wanted revenge on Dreamer for turning her down. She was now this thin and attractive girl who was a Penthouse model. She was Raven's valet and on-screen girlfriend. Beulah would interfere in their matches on Raven's behalf and cost Dreamer many matches against Raven.
The feud intensified as Dreamer could never pin Raven either in a singles match or even tag team matches. Dreamer would either get pinned or if Dreamer won a tag team match involving Raven, he would pin Raven's partner or Dreamer's partner would pin Raven. Dreamer soon got the reputation as someone who could never beat Raven.
The feud was violent as Raven once broke all the fingers. Dreamer would handcuff Raven to a cage at Heat Wave and viciously nailed Raven in the head with a steel chair dubbed "The Chair Shot Hear Around the World."Beulah would often interfere in their matches, costing Dreamer while Dreamer would respond by attacking her and even piledriving her.
Raven had his lackeys, led by Stevie Richards, Brian Lee, and The Blue Meanie, to help him attack Dreamer and others and help Raven win his matches called "The Raven's Nest." The Blue Meanie was this fat guy who had blue hair and wore a half shirt and daisy duke shorts like Stevie as he was a parody of The Blue Meanie character from the Beatles' file The Yellow Submarine.
Richards even got a girlfriend as this beautiful hottie was sitting at ringside apparently in love with Stevie as her name was Francine. Francine was incredibly hot and was my favorite at the time ECW woman.
Francine was with Stevie to the point where Raven was jealous and told him to leave her or leave him. Stevie looked like he was finally going to stand up to him but instead he superkicked Francine and remained loyal to Raven. Francine joined forces with The Pitbulls.
In the middle of the year, The Raven's Nest gained three new members called the Dudley family. The Dudley family first consisted of Dudley Dudley, Snot Dudley, and the leader and enforcer of the group Big Dick Dudley. The backstory of the Dudley family was that their father "Big Daddy Dudley" was a traveling salesman and traveled across the country and had kids of all different sizes and even races.
The Dudleys were a group of "half-brothers" and were based on the Hanson Brothers from the 1977 hit movie Slap Shot. They all wore thick black rim glasses with tape on the middle just like the Hansons and also wore tie-dye shirts and overalls and looked like a bunch of misfits.
More and more Dudleys came to ECW as Dances with Dudley, Chubby Dudley, and Sign Guy Dudley (always holding a sign in and out of the ring) soon joined. Also joining the Dudleys was Buh Buh (pronounced Bubba) Ray Dudley.
Buh Buh Ray was an overweight hillbilly that would stutter until being hit in the back of the head by one of the Dudleys to make him talk right. Buh Buh also enjoyed dancing and it often aggravated the other Dudleys, especially Big Dick Dudley. Buh Buh was a hit with the fans.
The following year, the Dudleys gained two new members: D-Von Dudley (the lone black Dudley boy) and Spike Dudley, the runt of the family who often overcame his little stature to make it big. Eventually, the Dudleys soon shrank in size in ECW as only Buh Buh Ray, D-Von, Sign Guy, and Spike were the only Dudleys.
Buh Buh Ray and D-Von formed the successful Dudley Boyz tag team. Spike teamed with them until Buh Buh and D-Von attacked and turned on him and he would join forces with whoever to get revenge. Buh Buh Ray and D-Von left ECW to go to the WWF in 1999. Sign Guy Dudley was repackaged as Lou E. Dangerously and Spike remained in ECW until its closure in 2001.
Axl and Ian Rotten teamed as the Bad Breed and had an intense feud with The Public Enemy for the ECW World Tag Team Championship in 1994, which P.E. mainly came out on top. They next feuded with The Pitbulls and lost to them at November to Remember '94 with the losing tag team must split up so the Bad Breed split up.
Axl and Ian blamed one another for the loss and began an intense feud in 1995. They fought in barbed wire baseball bat and barbed wire chair matches. Their feud ended in a climax at Hardcore Heaven in July 1995 when Axl defeated Ian in a taped fist match that was covered in shards of broken glass on their fists in a truly violent match.
Axl and Ian reunited after the feud before Ian left a short while after. Axl remained in ECW until 1999. He would wrestle as a singles wrestler before teaming with Balls Mahoney as they were known as "The Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks" for their constant use of steel chairs. Axl would also team with Spike Dudley and New Jack.
Mick Foley known as Cactus Jack had his moments in WCW and of course would become the legend we know today in the WWF/E, but it was in between in ECW and even Japan where Foley's legacy really grew to what we know him as today.
Foley started the year in an intense and violent feud with both Shane Douglas, before Douglas left for the WWF, and The Sandman over Sandman's ECW World Heavyweight Championship. One time, Sandman hit Cactus with the Singapore cane 46 times.
In the middle of 1995, Foley as Cactus Jack went over to Japan where he engaged in an even more violent feud with Terry Funk. They fought each other in a barbed-wire match with explosives all around the ring. Both men were covered in barbed wire and burned by the explosives.
Cactus Jack came back to ECW in August 1995 following his violent tour of Japan. He teamed with Tommy Dreamer to help him in his feud with Raven. As it looked as if Dreamer would finally pin Raven, Cactus turned on Dreamer and gave him a DDT and helped Raven win, joining Raven's "Raven's Flock" as Raven's ally and an enemy to Dreamer.
Foley explained his heel turn as he denounced the hardcore style of ECW in favor of traditional technical wrestling. He resented the fans for being so bloodthirsty and said he was only trying to save Dreamer from making the same mistake of being known for his hardcore style like Foley did.
Since Foley was a hardcore legend, his hardcore style of wrestling usually made him standout from those traditional wrestlers in other promotions. However in ECW, he was just another guy with a hardcore style. So Foley decided to renounce Hardcore wrestling and became a Hardcore basher and traditionalist to differentiate himself from the rest of ECW. It was a genius move on the part of Foley and Paul Heyman.
Instead of brawling and wrestling hardcore style, Foley would often employ slow-moving, traditional wrestling tactics that pissed off the hardcore fans. He also cut promos that were anti-ECW and pro-WWF and WCW that were the antithesis of ECW and what ECW fans wanted as this further generated heat with the fans.
These promos would set Foley up well for his upcoming run in the WWF in 1996. He would even wear WWF and WCW t-shirts instead of ECW ones as it was well known he was on his way out of ECW and to the WWF. The fans would yell "You sold out!" at numerous ECW events until he left for New York and the WWF in early 1996.
Steve Austin was another wrestler like Mick Foley who left WCW as he was missed and would be on his way to stardom in the WWF. Before he became "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Austin first ventured into ECW on the way to the WWF.
Austin was fired from WCW in the summer of 1995. Austin was dealing with a knee injury and he tore his triceps during a tour of Japan and could not work. Austin was fired from WCW via FedEx from Eric Bischoff. Austin was not used well in his final days of WCW and was dealing with injuries. This would be a move that would ultimately backfire on WCW.
Austin was pissed off being fired and being misused in WCW as many would be. Austin's good friend and former WCW manager Paul Heyman, who was now owner of ECW after buying it from Tod Gordon, called Austin to come up to ECW. Even though Austin was still injured, Heyman would have Austin film promos and let Austin publicly air his grievances about WCW.
Austin came up with some of the best promos the industry ever seen in running down WCW and Eric Bischoff. One of the best promos had Austin be Bischoff and Monday Nitro called "Monday NyQuil" where he was joined by "Bongo", a drum meant to be Steve "Mongo" McMichael and said the show was "where the big boys play with each other."
Austin's time in ECW and his promos were the steppingstone to the eventual "Stone Cold" Steve Austin character in the WWF. Austin himself credited Paul Heyman for showing him how to cut memorable promos and for allowing him to be himself in his promos. This put Austin on notice with the WWF.
When his injuries healed, Austin finally wrestled as "Superstar" Steve Austin and feuded with Mikey Whipwreck and The Sandman over the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. He lost to Whipwreck at November to Remember and to Whipwreck and The Sandman in a Three-Way Dance at December to Dismember.
Soon after, Austin joined the WWF from recommendations to Vince McMahon by his good friends Kevin Nash and Jim Ross as Vince agreed to sign him. At first, Austin still struggled as he was the lame "Ringmaster" character before becoming "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and the rest as they say is history.
ECW was the Attitude Era long before the Attitude Era was a catch phrase or action. Long before the WWF and WCW decided to go away cartoony and hokey gimmicks and become more intense and real-life, ECW was that and that's why ECW grew as fast as it did and had the cult following like it had.
In 1995 it was the much better alternative to the WWF and WCW unless you liked the lame gimmicks and horrible storylines and same old shit then ECW wasn't your thing. Also if you didn't love violence and the wrestlers legitimately beating the fuck out of each other, which was a bit much at times if you ask me, then ECW wasn't for you.
Even if you detested ECW, you had to admire its rise and how eventually WWF and WCW evolved more into attitude that stemmed from ECW.
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