ECW Officially Folds
ECW has officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The move comes as no surprise to followers of the company.
With wrestlers always six weeks behind in pay, it was clear that ECW could not survive any longer. The company filed bankruptcy papers through its parent company, HHG Corporation, which should be sent to court soon. It is believed that ECW is about $6 million in debt.
ECW stopped running shows in mid-January and cancelled last month's Pay-Per-View. This decision was made after it was determined that wrestlers could not be paid. At that time, many wrestlers began sending feelers to both the WWF and WCW, with many signing contracts with either company. When it was announced that ECW Champion Rhino had signed with the WWF, most fans knew that ECW was over.
ECW began as a regional promotion under the NWA. The Eastern Championship Wrestling league was where many up-and-comers stopped before making it to either national NWA or the WWF.
On August 26, 1994, ECW representative Shane Douglas won a national tournament to capture the NWA World Heavyweight championship. At the presentation of the belt, Douglas through down the belt, saying it was worth nothing, and proclaimed himself the new "Extreme" Championship Wrestling champion. The next day, Eastern Championship Wrestling was renamed Extreme Championship Wrestlng.
ECW gathered a cult following for its gruesome, blood and guts, no holds barred approach to pro wrestling. Selling out small arenas all over the country, ECW soon captured the imagination of wrestling fans around the world. With extremely athletic, yet underappreciated talent leftover from the WWF and WCW, ECW managed to build a strong roster of hard-working, no-nonsense wrestlers.
Many current WWF and WCW stars began their rise to fame in ECW. Tazz, Raven, Lance Storm, Mike Awesome, the Dudley Boyz, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Shane Douglas, Jerry Lynn, Justin Credible, Mick Foley (as Cactus Jack), Rey Mysterio Jr., Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, and even Steve Austin began their current rise to glory in ECW.
ECW made a run at becoming another national promotion by securing a national TV spot on TNN Friday nights. However, when Viacom entered into its deal with the WWF, ECW was left out in the dark. With the loss of a national TV spot, ECW seemed to go into a tailspin from which it never recovered.