ECW Magazine

HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate Eastern Championship Wrestling. The following year, businessman and wrestling promoter Paul Heyman took over the creative end of the promotion from Eddie Gilbert and rechristened the promotion as Extreme Championship Wrestling.

The promotion was known for highlighting a "hardcore wrestling" style, with matches regularly featuring weapons (including the frequent use of tables and fire) and revolving around adult-themed storylines. Though the hardcore style was the main focus, ECW also showcased various international styles of professional wrestling not usually seen in the U.S., ranging from Mexican lucha libre to Japanese puroresu.

Heyman's creative direction created new stars, and established ECW as the third major national wresting promotion in the United States in the second half of the 1990s, competing with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). ECW folded in 2001 when it was unable to secure a new national television contract, and World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. purchased the assets of the company from bankruptcy in January 2003.

Following the success of the One Night Stand tribute show in 2005, WWE relaunched the ECW franchise as a third brand in 2006 alongside their existing Raw and SmackDown brands. It debuted on June 13, 2006, on Sci Fi in the United States and ran for close to four years until it aired its final episode on February 16, 2010, on the rebranded Syfy.

History

Tri-State Wrestling Alliance and NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling (1989–1994)

ECW had its origins in 1990 under the banner Tri-State Wrestling Alliance owned by Joel Goodhart. ECW would, in fact, continue to use the former Tri-State Heavyweight championship belt to represent its own Championship, although the ECW title was not considered a continuation of that title. In 1992, Goodhart sold his share of the company to his partner, Tod Gordon, who renamed the promotion Eastern Championship Wrestling. When Eastern Championship Wrestling was founded, it was not a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). At the time, "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, the lead booker of Eastern Championship Wrestling, had managed to secure television time on SportsChannel Philadelphia starting in April 1993.Loverro, Thom (2006). ''The Rise and Fall of ECW''. Pocket Books. . p. 61 Gilbert, after a falling out with Tod Gordon, was replaced in September 1993 by then-28 year old businessman Paul Heyman. Heyman, known on television as Paul E. Dangerously, had just been fired by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and was looking for a new challenge.

Secession from the NWA (1994)

In 1994, Jim Crockett's non-compete agreement with Ted Turner, who purchased World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from Crockett in November 1988, was up and he decided to start promoting with the NWA again. Crockett went to Tod Gordon and asked him to hold a tournament for the NWA's top prize, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, in ECW's home area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 27, 1994. NWA President Dennis Coralluzzo alleged that Crockett and Gordon were going to try to monopolize the title (akin to Crockett's actions in the 1980s) and stated Crockett did not have the NWA board's approval, which resulted in Coralluzzo personally overseeing the tournament. Gordon took offense at Coralluzzo for his power plays and began contemplating a plan to secede ECW from the NWA through a controversial and public manner that would attract attention to ECW and insult the NWA organization. Gordon planned to have Shane Douglas, who was scheduled to face 2 Cold Scorpio in the tournament finals on August 30, 1994, throw down the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt upon winning as an act of defiance.

Tod Gordon and Paul Heyman originally planned the idea of throwing down the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt. Heyman persuaded Douglas by noting that the negative would only be that NWA traditionalists would just see them as traitors to tradition. Adding to Douglas' decision was the animosity between Douglas and NWA President Dennis Coralluzzo, who at the time publicly criticized Douglas and told NWA affiliated bookers not to book Douglas for shows. Coralluzzo believed that Douglas was a "bad risk" and had the tendency to no-show events. Douglas ultimately decided to go through with Gordon and Heyman's plan, inspired by his father's motto of "doing right by the people that do right by you." After looking up and saying, "This is it tonight, Dad," Douglas threw down the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt, stating that he did not want to be champion of a "dead promotion" that "died seven years ago." He then raised the Eastern Championship Wrestling title belt and declared it to be a World Heavyweight Championship – calling it the only real world title left in professional wrestling. When recalling this event years later, Paul Heyman stated the following in a 1998 chat:

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Coralluzzo was interviewed after the event and declared that Douglas would be the world champion of the NWA "whether he likes it or not", calling Douglas' actions a "disgrace"