In the latter days of the company, he was a top hand, and his placement at the forefront of The Network helped drive the final narratives of ECW. D-Von and Bubba Ray caused riots when they took the mic, and their in-ring work was always excellent. There are few talents as exciting as Tajiri was in his prime while in ECW. Starting off as a scrawny C-level player, perhaps nobody in ECW made quite the turnaround like Steve Corino. And, finally, some tag teams were considered as one entity if they rarely wrestled apart. He started his career in ECW as the tag team known as The Pitbulls, which had both men just called Pitbull #1 and Pitbull #2. In the final days of ECW, Corino helped carry the company across the finish line in the World Title picture, serving as one of its last champions before it went belly up. However, when Raven arrived in ECW, Paul Heyman allowed him to create his own character. That never happened — Austin was called into WWE where he became arguably the greatest superstar of all-time. Bigelow had some great matches and brawls with the likes of Rob Van Dam, Taz, and Shane Douglas, and he even held the World Championship on one occasion. For this list of its best performers, we’re imaging if ECW were the only promotion that ever existed — that means that the wrestlers listed here are only considered for their contributions to ECW. His feud with The Sandman took him to the top of the card, and his battles with Raven made him a legitimate sensation. When Eastern Championship Wrestling was founded, it wasn't a member of the (For instance, Rey Mysterio Jr. would have ranked higher had he stayed with ECW longer and had more great matches.) One of the smallest men to ever grace the land of extreme, Spike Dudley more than made up for his size with a willingness to utterly destroy his body in the name of great entertainment. Sabu also looked the part of a star, and nary needed a promo to put him over because he was such an impressive performer. Breaking into the business alongside Chris Jericho, Storm eventually went out on his own, becoming one of the top heels in ECW alongside Justin Credible. The Steiner Brothers). The ultimate underdog, Whipwreck was notable for his runs as a ECW World Champion and Tag Champion. Other than Raven, he was the best heel that ECW ever produced. RELATED: 10 ECW Wrestlers Who Competed In The Most PPV Main Events. Without question, RVD is the best athlete the company ever saw, and his feats of balance, coordination, and flexibility are still hard to surpass, even 15 years after ECW folded. Enigmatic. There’s being over, and then there’s New Jack. Kash had some fine matches against Rhino, and he was embraced by the tough ECW crowd by being a no-nonsense performer who risked life and limb to entertain. He was perfect for the company, someone who was not a good wrestler in any manner of the word, but he had a connection with the audience. However, he also ended up one short of the Triple Crown in ECW as well. This is a list of professional wrestlers and other people who appeared in the original … his matches with Lance Storm). Sandman also won the Tag Team Titles with 2 Cold Scorpio but never won the TV Title. Scorpio was not a small man, but he flew through the air with an ease that made smaller wrestlers look like sticks in the mud. Those three wrestlers were Sabu and Taz, two of the ECW originals from Eastern Championship Wrestling, and the other Mikey Whipwreck. Douglas was also not above holding the TV title as well, with two reigns for 350 days. For his entrance and matches, the crowd paraded around styrofoam heads, an homage to Snow’s gimmick of talking to a disembodied mannequin head. It made him one of the biggest stars in the world of professional wrestling. However, in ECW, there were only three titles, so it was easy — the world, TV, and tag team titles. However, as he was a double-champion with both singles belts, he never held the tag team titles in his career. Storm, like Jerry Lynn, wasn’t great with a mic in his hand, but when it came time to perform in the ring, there were few that could run with him. As an undersized guy, Kash was able to light the crowd on fire with his high-flying moves, specifically his flipping dives to the outside and a top-rope hurricanrana that was just majestic to watch. This does not count the WWE version of ECW. He won the finals in a tournament to win the ECW World Championship. Raven wasn’t flashy like Sabu, nor did he espouse braggadocios like Shane Douglas — rather, he spoke in poetic riddles, and he was able to make everything he did mean something. Bam Bam became a big star in the ’80s, but he experienced a resurgence in his career when he landed in ECW. Tanaka won the World Title off of Awesome in 1999, but lost it back to him just one week later. Besides coming off like a legitimate badass, Taz was excellent when it came time to wrestle, and his suplex variations are still being used today. Similar in stature and gimmick to the Road Warriors, Pitbulls No. His battles against The Dudley Boyz — with a variety of tag partners — were always entertaining affairs. RELATED: 10 ECW Wrestlers Who Competed In The Most PPV Main Events. If this list were based on the inherent athletic talent of an ECW superstar, RVD would have placed at the top, easily. Before he mastered the 619 in WWE, Rey Mysterio Jr. was already one of the best high-flyers — if not the best high-flyer — on the planet. In 1998, Credible became one of the best heels in the company, and in the following years he stepped up to the plate when a mass of talent left for WCW and WWE. When you talk about the best wrestlers in the game, you usually focus on the all-around performer — someone who can talk, perform in the ring, and draw people in with their character. As Paul Heyman’s bodyguard, 911 wasn’t as much of a wrestler as he was an attraction, but he was very over with the crowd and his finisher remains one of the most devastating uses of the maneuver. Van Damn had amazing matches with a variety of opponents like Sabu, Lance Storm, and Jerry Lynn, and no matter who he was facing, RVD put 100 percent of his talent into the contest. The list of his stellar matches is endless: the Stairway to Hell with Sandman; the barbed-wire match with Terry Funk; any number of matches involving Rob Van Dam, The Eliminators, and Taz. ECW always had three titles during its tenure. His battles with Masato Tanaka are some of the best matches in ECW history, and it’s unfortunate that he never reached the heights of his ECW run in other promotions. Visit Shawn Lealos' website to learn more about his novel writing and follow him on Twitter @sslealos. ECW had its origins in 1990 under the banner Tri-State Wrestling Alliance owned by Joel Goodhart. Championing everything that was cutting edge about professional wrestling in the ’90s, Sabu was truly ahead of his time. Mysterious. Perverse. He didn’t stay around that long before getting plucked by WCW, but he’s involved in some of the most breathtaking bouts in the company’s history. With that said, here’s a hardcore ranking of the best ECW wrestlers ever. Not only is he the greatest attraction that Paul Heyman ever featured in his programming, Sabu is one of the most fascinating characters to ever don wrestling boots, and he’s truly deserving of the number one spot. While 2 Cold Scorpion was one win away from becoming the first-ever ECW World Champion, he never won that title in his career. If you want to see the ECW crowd absolutely lose their sh*t, seek out the clip of Whipwreck winning the World Title — it’s an amazing reaction. RELATED: 5 Ways ECW Was The Best Company Of The '90s (& 5 Ways It Was WCW). Metal folding chairs bouncing off of peoples skulls, and tables being turned to dust. Between his stints in WCW and then WWE, Steve Austin — dubbed the “Superstar” — made a stop in ECW and cut one of the best promos that’s ever been recorded (see above). Despite not looking exactly like a superstar, Anderson was adept in the ring, and was a key figure during the organization’s final stage. As a tag team, The Pitbulls won the ECW Tag Team Championship one time. In the mid-’90s, when the ECW TV Title was passed around by some of the hottest wrestlers in the industry, Jericho got his hands on the championship before losing it to Shane Douglas in a four-way match. He was a TV champ, a tag team champ, and even challenged Taz for the World Title, but Tajiri will probably be best remembered for his ability to deliver a stellar encounter with just about anyone on the roster. Anderson liked zeroing in on his opponent’s body parts, and used a diverse move set to pick apart his foe. If you look at the history of ECW, you’ll see that many of its finest moments involved Douglas; from the battles with Taz, to the Triple Threat faction’s influence on all of the titles, Douglas was there. Ian was popular with the crowd — a brawler who employed various weapons in his matches. The holders of the tag titles on eight separate occasions, The Dudleys are easily one of the best things to ever come out of ECW, and their success in WWE and other promotions just proves that their ability wasn’t solely relegated to the ECW arena. Two of the best moments in ECW lore are attributed to Funk: when he won the World Title at the first ECW pay-per-view event, and when he and Sabu battled in the brutal no-rope barbed wire match. Doring and Roadkill started off as singles wrestlers in ECW, but when they formed a duo, they were one of the most interesting tandems of their time. Tajiri was also a great star in ECW, winning the ECW World Television Championship from Luchadore Super Crazy in 2000 before dropping it to Rhino. However, he was a very successful star in ECW, winning the Television Title four times. Guerrera was brought into ECW during the mid-’90s, when Konnan helped Paul Heyman deliver an influx of Mexican talent that included Rey Mysterio and Psicosis. However, Bam Bam and Douglas ended up feuding, and Bigelow won the World Title. In ECW, there were only three Triple Crown winners in history. Rotten started off his ECW run with a blood feud with Ian Rotten, but he eventually formed a tag team with Balls Mahoney as the Chair Swinging Freaks. Doctor Britt Baker DMD Reflects On A Year Of AEW Dynamite And COVID’s Effect On The Company’s Momentum, The 2020 WWE Draft Report Part 2: Monday Night Raw, Wednesday Night’s Alright: Never Break The Chain, Wednesday Night’s Alright: Family Stories, WWE And AEW Have Been Left Scrambling To Book Shows Amid COVID-19 Outbreaks, A Brutal Women’s Title Match Stole The Show On NXT UK This Week. The ECW fans were firmly behind Whipwreck due to his propensity to get wrecked (no pun intended) and still keep moving forward. That same year, he was also a tag team champion in a group called The Unholy Alliance with Mickey Whipwreck. In WCW, Dean Malenko was one title away from becoming a Triple Crown winner, holding the United States and Tag Team Titles. It’s incredibly difficult to rank a man who murdered his family high on a list of anything, but there’s no taking away from Benoit’s immense talent.