The Network was a professional wrestling

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

that was formed in 1999 when ECW began to broadcast nationally on TNN.

History

The Network was a professional wrestling

that was formed in 1999 when ECW began to broadcast nationally on TNN. TNN did not give ECW much money to produce their

program Program, programme, programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program management, the process of managing several related projects * Time management * Program, a part of planning Arts and entertainment Audio * Programm ...

, yet expected ECW to have high-quality production values like ''

WCW Monday Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the Unite ...

'' and ''

Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show ...

''. Also, TNN poorly advertised and promoted ECW, producing barely any press releases or TV ads, even though ECW was TNN's highest rated weekly program at that point. The only real time that TNN actually advertised ECW was during the ECW program itself, as well during

NASCAR on TNN ''NASCAR on TNN'' was the name of a television program that broadcast NASCAR races on The Nashville Network (now Paramount Network). History TNN started showing races live in 1991, but it had aired taped coverage of a few Winston Cup races in t ...

coverage. Heyman decided to recruit

Don Callis Donald Callis (born October 13, 1963) is a Canadian professional wrestling manager, color commentator, and former professional wrestler and business executive. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he works as the on-screen manager of ...

, who played the part of Cyrus, to serve as a metaphor, so to speak, for the real problems between ECW and TNN at that point. Callis played a representative for TNN/The Network, who constantly criticized the violent nature of ECW programming, and commentator

Joel Gertner Joel Gertner (born September 20, 1975) is an American professional wrestling announcer, color commentator, and manager. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1995 to 2001. Professional wrestling career ...

in particular for his sexually-loaded commentary and ring introductions. Callis would threaten to replace ECW's programming with episodes of '' RollerJam''. Cyrus was joined in his quest against ECW by

Steve Corino Steven Eugene "Steve" Corino (born May 29, 1973) is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler currently signed with WWE as a trainer and producer for their developmental territory NXT. He is best known for his tenure with Extreme Championshi ...

, the self-proclaimed "King of Old School", who got

heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

railing against

hardcore wrestling Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling where disqualifications, count-outs, and all other different rules do not apply. Taking place in usual or unusual environments, hardcore wrestling matches allow the use of numerous items, inclu ...

. Corino brought with him the wrestlers he managed who then became "The Network"; Rhino,

Yoshihiro Tajiri is a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter primarily known under the ring name Tajiri (sometimes stylized as "TAJIRI"), he has also competed under his real name as well as under the names Aquarius and Kikkoman and briefly worked as the ...

, and Corino's own manager and old school wrestler

Jack Victory Kenneth Rinehurst (born July 3, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name, Jack Victory. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with the Universal Wrestling Federation and the World Class Wrestlin ...

. When Corino turned on Justin Credible, the group slowly imploded until only Cyrus, Rhino and Jerry Lynn remained allies, up until the point where Cyrus managed Rhino to the

ECW World Heavyweight Championship The ECW World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally used in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and later, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the original world title of the ECW ...

and Jerry Lynn against the returning Rob Van Dam at the final pay-per-view.

Members

*Members **

Cyrus Cyrus (Persian: کوروش) is a male given name. It is the given name of a number of Persian kings. Most notably it refers to Cyrus the Great ( BC). Cyrus is also the name of Cyrus I of Anshan ( BC), King of Persia and the grandfather of Cyrus ...

** Rhino **

Scotty Anton Scott Antol (born March 1, 1971) is an American former professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1993 to 1999 under the ring names Scotty Riggs and Riggs. Antol is also known for his app ...

** Lou E. Dangerously *Allies **

Justin Credible Peter Joseph "PJ" Polaco (born October 16, 1973) is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Justin Credible. He ...

Lance Storm Lance Timothy Evers (; born April 3, 1969), known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a Canadians, Canadian retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), ...

** Jason Knight ** Dawn Marie ** Francine

Championships

Extreme Championship Wrestling 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 Wrest ...

( 3 times) – Rhino (1), Steve Corino (1), and Justin Credible (1) :*

ECW World Television Championship The ECW World Television Championship was a professional wrestling television championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It was introduced in 1992 as part of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate and ECW precursor, Eastern Champi ...

( 3 times) – Rhino (2), and Yoshihiro Tajiri (1)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Network, The Extreme Championship Wrestling teams and stables

History

Members

Championships

See also

References