The Top Five Wrestlers That Made The Original ECW

ECW was the original outlaw of professonal wrestling back in the 1990's. ECW came from Eastern Championship wrestling in 1993 and ever since ECW hit the scene, the wrestling world got a huge shake up.

ECW introduced the wrestling audience a physical, fast paced style of wrestling that was unheard of back in the 1990's and it is the style of wrestling that wrestling currently has today with all of their matches.

ECW was always pushing the envelope to give the fans the best show possible from any wrestling promotion around.

Yes, ECW did shut its doors back in 2000, but it gave the wrestling world so much so I decided to do a slide show on the five wrestlers that I thought made the original ECW a success and that without them, ECW wouldn't have flourished at all.

If you have any comments at all no matter what your views are, leave them below and maybe also give me your list of the five guys that shaped ECW.

TAZ

Tazz was a superstar in ECW and he also was one of the best pure mat based wrestlers that the industry has ever seen. Tazz worked in ECW from 1993 to 2000 and during that time he went through so many changes.

Tazz began in ECW as the Tazmaniac, he was animalistic and he also was linked to Sabu either as a tag team or as opponents. Tazz did okay under that gimmick and did get notoriety for his toughness and his hardcore style until he broke his neck.

It was an accident with a spike piledriver that did him in but it took Tazz out of action for much of 1995 but it drove him to return better than ever.

When Tazz returned, he came back with a whole new persona that was about mat based wrestling, big fight feel each match, and a pissed off at the world attitude.

The new Tazz went over very well with the fans and it really made him a star in ECW. Overall Tazz did so much for ECW and he was in some classic bouts with some big time names in ECW but without Tazz, I don't know if ECW would have been the same.

Terry Funk

Terry Funk is a bona fide legend in all of professional wrestling but Funk really got ECW off the ground in the beginning stages of the upstart company.

Terry was noted by Paul Heyman as; " A older guy who was willing to make anybody a star to keep the business thriving after he was gone from wrestling."

Funk pushed so many guys in ECW from Cactus Jack to Raven to Tommy Dreamer but it was Funk's pleasure to help these guys become stars in a thriving young company.

Terry's big payoff came at the first-ever ECW PPV called Barely Legal in 1997 when he defeated Raven to become the ECW champion.

All of the hard work resulted in a world title reign in ECW. ECW did some great things in its existence but none of those possibilities would have been there if Terry Funk hadn't helped the company at the beginning.

Rob Van Dam

RVD is currently TNA World Champion and is also one of the greatest high flyers in the history of pro wrestling, but RVD really was the most popular wrestler in a lot of fans eyes back in ECW's heyday.

RVD had a one year TV title reign in ECW and fans would chant "RVD" from the beginning of tv tapings until it was time for RVD to come out and perform.

Rob Van Dam could do anything in the ring on any given night against any opponent. Fans loved RVD but at the beginning, he was not well liked by the hardcore fans because he threatened to leave after being passed up for the first PPV until a last-minute injury allowed RVD to compete at Barely Legal.

His feud with Sabu really got him over with the fans but also with other promotions because he became a hot prospect in the wrestling industry. RVD stayed loyal with ECW and never left until they shut down in 2001.

When fans think of who the greatest wrestler was in ECW, usually its a split between Tazz and RVD. Why is RVD so popular well its because he is the whole damn show!

Tommy Dreamer

Tommy Dreamer was the heart and soul of ECW for many years back in the 1990's. Tommy started out as a bland performer but got over with the fans in his bitter feuds with the Sandman and Raven.

Dreamer is also known as one of the toughest guys in pro wrestling because of the hardcore injuries this dude has went through.

Dreamer wasn't the greatest pure wrestler but he would pull out all the stops to entertain the fans and to have the best damn match up that money could buy.

Tommy Dreamer is wrestling version of Rocky Ballboa because no matter how much the industry beat him down, he would always get back up and succeed no matter what the odds were.

Tommy personified ECW and he is also a guy who really gave hardcore it's true launch in pro wrestling. Without Tommy Dreamer, ECW may have never gotten off the ground as a wrestling promotion.

The Sandman

The Sandman won the ECW world title 5 times in his career but he was best known as really being the toughest son of a gun in the wrestling industry.

This badass was loved by the fans for his brutal matches and his willingness to put ECW over the top no matter what situation the company was in.

Sandman's feud with Raven was one of the most controversial in all of pro wrestling history due to his son Tyler being involved to Raven crucifying Sandman one evening.

No matter what people think of the Sandman, he should get a lot of credit for making ECW legit and for being a great hardcore wrestler.

Honorable Mentions

Dean Malenko, Eddie Gurrerro, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Chris Candido, Rey Mysterio, Raven, Sabu, B.W.O, The Dudley's, The F.B.I, Public Enemy, Justin Credible, Rhyno, Bam Bam Bigelow, Steve Austin, Cactus Jack, Too Cold Scorpio, Mike Awesome, Jerry Lynn, Lance Storm, Shane Douglus, Mickey Whipwreck, Al Snow, New Jack, Super Crazy, Tajiri, Psicosis, Kid Kash, Balls Mahoney, and Sid Vicious.