|
ECW History
ECW began operating in 1992 as Eastern Championship Wrestling. On 08/27/1994,
the name was changed from Eastern to Extreme. It operates in Philadelphia, with
spot shows in the surrounding Pennsylvania area. The wrestling operations are
currently handled by Paul Heyman (manager Paul E Dangerously) who bought the
promotion from former owner Tod Gordon in 1996. It is currently available on the
Sports Channel America syndication package and on AIN satellite. ECW has, as of
1997, also branched out in the pay-per-view universe, putting on three shows in
1997 with four more planned for 1998. Current top stars are Shane Douglas, Rob
Van Dam, Sabu, and more. ECW does not rely on the traditional face/heel
structure. Instead, uses high-impact, fast paced action to get its wrestlers
over. Additionaly, ECW had a WWW site at: http://www.ecwwrestling.com.
ECW has the distinction of using
"real" music for it's wrestlers, and fairly obscure music at times at that. The
opening theme music used to consist of a combination of Nine Inch Nails'
"Closer" (the heartbeat that spells out E-X-T-R-E-M-E) which cuts to White
Zombie's "Thunderkiss '65" (the guitar part and the Pitbull's music). After
Barely Legal, they switched a specially written, non-commercial piece of music
as their new theme. It was also used for Rob Van Dam's WWF matches.
On April 11, 2001, ECW declared
bankruptcy making it officially dead. On that week, Paul Heyman made his WWF
debut as a color commentator replacing Jerry "The King" Lawler. Other ECW stars
began to appear on WWF television including Justin Credible, Rhino, Spike
Dudley, and Jerry Lynn.
HHG Corportation, the parent
company of Extreme Championship Wrestling, has officially filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy. The petition was filed in New York on April 4th by Paul Heyman. The
company was listed as having Assets totaling $1,385,500. Included in that number
was $860,000 in accounts receivable owed the company by In Demand Network (PPV),
Acclaim Entertainment Inc. (video games), and Original San Francisco Toy Company
(action figures).
The balance of the assets were the
video tape library ($500,000), a 1998 Ford Truck ($19,500) and the remaining
inventory of merchandise ($4,000).
The liabilities of the company
totaled $8,881,435.17. The bankruptcy filing included hundreds of claims,
including production companies, buildings ECW ran in, TV stations ECW was run
on, travel agencies, including one owned by Bob Ryder, phone companies,
attorney's fees, wrestlers, and other talent.
Wrestlers and talent were listed,
with amounts owed ranging from $0 for Sabu and Steve Corino to hundreds, and in
some cases, thousands of dollars. The highest amounts owed to talents are Rob
Van Dam ($150,000), Tommy Dreamer ($100,000), Joey Styles ($50,480), Shane
Douglas ($48,000) and Francine ($47,275). |
