That was awesome! (clap clap clapclapclap): Bam Bam Bigelow throws, Spike Dudley surfs
by Sergio Hernandez on Nov 8, 2011 7:00 PM EST
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Wrestling had just become so awful in the early to mid-1990s that I didn't even bother to keep up with the product. In the dark period of professional wrestling that was that time, I have the internet to thank for renewing my fandom when it had grown stagnant in the years prior.
Well, the internet and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).
When wrestling didn't seem cool, when it seemed outdated and out of touch, Paul Heyman and his motley gang of rapscallions and ruffians were the exact opposite. They were gritty, real, and most of all damn interesting.
Not saddled with the corporate pitfalls that accompanied WWF and WCW, the Philly promotion was able to use "Enter Sandman" by Metallica every time The Sandman made his way to the ring. Raven wore comic book t-shirts, Rob Van Dam used Pantera for his entrance music, and Sabu was the homicidal, suicidal, genocidal maniac.
Hell, Tommy Dreamer seemed to be the most normal one and he loved getting caned!
One of my favorite moments from ECW -- which just about captures everything that was fantastic about the promotion -- was when Spike Dudley -- little brother of The Dudley Boys and runt of the big-boned family -- took on Bam Bam Bigelow.
Take a look.
ECW was about as pitch perfect as a promotion can get for a couple of years in 1995 and 1996. Everything just clicked and even the couple of years after were pretty good.
It wasn't until its dying days that its limitations finally became more apparent. I was lucky enough to see the original ECW as it came through its first, last, and only tour in Texas on July 28, 2000. I still have the ticket stub in all of its faded and nearly illegible glory.
I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for ECW. It made me a wrestling fan again.
If you have any ideas for something that made you say "that was awesome!!!" pass it along. Make sure to include your SBNation handle and you'll get a shout you out if your idea is used! Contact me at sergio.hernandez.tx@gmail.com.
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That about sums it up right
I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for ECW. It made me a wrestling fan again.
Love the house show some of those guys did at my college with some local talent. Great clip from a great era.
The artful muppet formerly known as KrmtDfrog.
Please read my sardonic wit and over-blown sense of self over at headkicklegend.com
ECW made me feel like I was part of an important movement. Sure, it was just a movement to make pro wrestling not suck, but that’s still a movement. I got to see them in Buffalo several times starting spring of 1997, I think. Their first show here was the one where Stevie Richards injured his neck. The shows were great until the end of ’98 when they were getting raided really bad by WWE and WCW. The Dudleys came out for their match and spent like ten minutes goading a skinhead into jumping the railing. I thought there was going to be a riot. Anyway, for a brief moment ECW was the most important thing in pro wrestling, and it was a hell of a lot of fun to see it in real time.
You have to wonder what Spike was thinking
Think about the number of ways that spot could go horribly, horribly wrong.
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
That was pretty awesome
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!" Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 458 posts (08/24/11)
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by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Nov 8, 2011 9:56 PM EST reply actions
ECW was so amazing. I hold that promotion in higher regard than any other.
My most striking memory of a live ECW show was the Living Dangerously 2000 PPV in Connecticut where New Jack and Grimes had that horrible fall from the scaffolding to the floor. I can remember the chaotic feeling of the fans around me and hearing someone shout out “Oh my god he’s dead!” as we all looked on stunned and unsure about what the hell just happened to New Jack. It was a surreal experience. Then we could also see the backdoor open up and caught sight of a waiting ambulance shortly thereafter. The buzz from the New Jack fall completely dominated that show.
God Damnit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-vawK2y2n8&feature=related
I couldn’t help myself.
That is insane!
we never had ECW broadcast in our country, and i had never followed it. But that Grimes guy, what was he thinking. Could you suggest some other ECW matches worth watching
Paul Heyman will never cease to amaze me when it comes to big men.
Bam Bam Bigelow is the kind of wrestler who clicks every box a promoter could want, especially one as size-obsessed as Vince McMahon, yet Paul Heyman is the only booker in the history of the business to actually book Bam Bam properly.
Though it shouldn’t surprise, Paul Heyman is also the only booker in the business to book Big Show properly despite the fact that Show clicks every box a promoter could want too. Hell, Heyman actually got Big Show over with the ECW hardcore fans.
Mike Awesome VS Spike Dudley
There was a match between Mike Awesome and Spike Dudley that I just loved. It was AWESOME! Mike Awesome threw Spike through so many tables in that match. Table after table were broken and Mike Awesome could fly for a big man. He smashed poor little Spike. Wish I still had my ECW tapes when they were on “the network”. It truly “…was tremendous, Joey Styles.”
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