Extreme Championship Wrestling, or ECW, was a wrestling show that was established back in 1992. Back then the promotion was called Eastern Championship Wrestling. At first, it was part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) but by the time they severed ties and became independent, Paul Heyman was there to guide the promotion and explore exciting things as ECW. The company's success can be acknowledged when they started working closely with WWE.
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ECW stars may not be as famous as The Rock or John Cena, but the wrestling fans loved them as much, if not more. Most of these performers had their own bad blood and some of them were still on even though there were no cameras rolling. This is 10 of the best rivalries in ECW history.
10 Super Crazy and Tajiri
This epic rivalry between Super Crazy and Tajiri started in 1999. Super Crazy is Francisco Islas and Tajiri is Yoshihiro Tajiri in real life. Their different brands of wrestling are what make their rivalry work, luchador meets Japanese wrestling, and since they are cruiserweight fighters the action is quick and fast-paced.
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Ever watched something on TV and ended up panting like them at the end? That's how Super Crazy and Tajiri's fights are. They competed against each other under the ECW banner for more than 60 fights, mostly alternating wins, and signature finishers. Their last fight was a pay-per-view event by Pro Wrestling Revolution just this September titled The Calm Before The Storm.
9 Raven and Tommy Dreamer
Edgar Allan Poe is almost always quoted by Scott Levy in his promos, he ends them with the word ‘Nevermore,’ thus his name Raven from Poe's poem The Raven. His first nemesis in ECW was Tommy Dreamer, the two went at it for almost 60 bouts in ECW history. Tommy Dreamer aka Thomas Laughlin is a wrestler who performed for TNA, WWE, and most notably ECW.
Raven was hailed as the man that Tommy Dreamer hasn't defeated early in their rivalry, but as it turns out they will pin each other down for years to come. Raven's amazing promo skills and Dreamer's natural charisma only fueled their feud and is to become one of the industry's greatest rivalries of all-time.
8 Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero
While Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko both had quite successful stints in WWE, their golden years happened in ECW. This feud continued to WWE but the hardcore style of wrestling presented by Extreme Championship Wrestling is what makes their ECW matches memorable.
One of their best fights happened on a Two out of Three Falls match in August of 1995, you can see a clip of the match at the WWE website. Their rivalry would come to a surprising halt as the wrestling world was devastated by the sudden loss of Guerrero in 2005. With the demise of Guerrero, The Shooter only had good things to say about his longtime rival and friend as reported by The Sun in this article.
7 The Dudley Boyz and The Gangstas
If there's a list of the greatest tag teams ever in wrestling entertainment history, we'd bet big that the Dudley Boyz will be on it. Formed by Bubba Ray and D-Von, the half brothers were Mark LoMonaco and Devon Hughes in real life. Team 3D would become champions in every organization they competed in and were later inducted to the TNA Hall of Fame in 2014.
One of their best rivalries happened in ECW against The Gangstas - New Jack and Mustafa Saed. It's a mixture of wrestlers, chairs, blood, and tables and just pure pandemonium. This video is just one example of the craziness that ensues whenever these two tag teams clash inside, and mostly outside the ring.
6 Cactus Jack and Terry Funk
No two wrestlers can best display the meaning of hardcore wrestling than Cactus Jack and Terry Funk. Mick Foley (Cactus Jack) also went by the very memorable alias, Mankind, and that filthy sock he carried around. Terry Funk's real name is Terrence Funk, no flashy nickname needed because the man doesn't need one. These two brilliant minds in wrestling worked together and changed the landscape of the sport forever.
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Their IWA King of the Death Matches in 1995 was one epic show of hardcore wrestling brilliance, this match made it up to #3 in our top 15 countdowns of bloodiest matches ever. They set the bar high for future death matches than any other wrestling organization might put forward, but theirs was really monumental.
5 Rob Van Dam and Jerry Lynn
It's a good thing that Rob Van Dam found a name that's catchy, short and appealing because his real name is Robert Alexander Szatkowski. Jerry Lynn, on the other hand, is legally just Jeremy Lynn. These two went at it for a solid two years, with Lynn mocking Van Dam's The Whole F'n Show nickname by calling himself The New F'n Show.
Van Dam would mostly win their bouts but it was the whole dynamic between the two that just works for the fans. Injuries cut their rivalry in 2000. RVD went down first with an ankle injury, then Lynn followed with the same injury a little later. Fortunately, the two saw each other again months later and Jerry Lynn got a rare win.
4 Tazz and Bam Bam Bigelow
One can say that these two rivals might have been brothers from another mother, or straight up brothers. These heavyweights combine for a monstrous 638 pounds, and a vast array of championship belts from ECW, WCW, WWF, and WWE. Bam Bam Bigelow and Tazz are huge fellas that can slug it out in the ring, and they did so against each other at least 11 times from 1997 to 1998.
While the Shane Douglas rivalry of Bam Bam was heated and involved some treacherous turns, wrestling fans will always remember his fight with Tazz back in the ECW Heat Wave event in 1998. Here's a video of the bout to refresh your memory.
3 Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka
On the matter of rivalries spanning years and years, there's not much that can match or surpass the historic rivalry between Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka. This rivalry didn't just cross from one wrestling organization to another, it also crossed countries and oceans for an epic 10-year feud.
These two men are just pure talent, pure ego, and pure competitive spirit, just some attributes to a rivalry that's bound to go for a long while. It started in Tokyo with Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling, then in the U.S. with ECW and WWE. They just can't get enough of each other and their fans feel the same way.
2 The Sandman and Raven
If the ECW is the hardcore provider of wrestling entertainment, its avatar would be the face of The Sandman. James Fullington led a decorated career in ECW, more or less seven years and five times the World Champion. The iconic ECW hardcore wrestler didn't make a lot of friends in the business, he probably had more rivals than buddies there. Among them were Sabu, Rob Van Dam, and Raven.
The rivalry between Raven was special, as they'd go at it at least 40 times from 1995 to 1997 alone. One of their most memorable matches was held in 1996 when Raven crucified The Sandman, complete with the wooden cross and the thorny crown. That's just one kind of match that can never be replicated today.
1 Sabu and Rob Van Dam
Rob Van Dam's been around in ECW and earned the respect of his fellow wrestlers. He also had his fair share of rivals and arch-enemies, one of them happens to be Sabu. Sabu's real name is Terry Michael Brunk and he wasted no time in his profession by starting at age 21.
He would join ECW in 1993 and by 1996 with Van Dam's inclusion in the ECW roster they'd have one of the greatest rivalries of these earlier years. It wasn't until 1997 that they found they were better partners than rivals as they won the Tag Team Championship twice the following year. WWE agrees with us in this article by putting Sabu as Van Dam's #1 greatest rival of all time.
