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There are two types of wrestling fans, the one who like ECW and the ones who love ECW. Paul Heyman’s baby was that much over with the fans. Even after 12 years of being extinct, the aura of ECW is going stronger than ever and the success of WWE’s ECW exposed episodes in the Network is a proof for that.Paul Heyman and his promotion have given a lot of contributions to the professional wrestling business and that includes some great wrestlers as well.WWE wouldn’t have been alive now if it wasn’t for ECW as it was the edgy style of ECW that gave birth to the Attitude Era. Apart from this inspiration, there have been many big names in WWE that came directly from ECW, so here is a look at some of the best ones from the lot.
#10 Lita
Lita’s run in ECW might not be that popular as the other superstar on the list but her WWE run clearly was.
After having some match experience in the independent circuit, Lita was signed up by Paul Heyman in 1999. She was known as Miss Congeniality back then and after just five months in ECW, she caught the attention of WWE.
Her WWE run turned out to be a big success as almost all the divas that comes into wrestling today sees Lita as an inspiration. Lita alongside Trish Stratus set the bar pretty high for the divas division and everyone is still trying to replicate the success that these two had in WWE.
#9 Chris Benoit
WWE has produced a lot of documentaries and Network Originals about ECW over in recent years and one crucial part they always skip intentionally is Chris Benoit.
Vince McMahon that it is inappropriate to promote Benoit after what he did to his family but at the same time it’s a big unfair considering the contributions that Benoit made. Many superstars including Daniel Bryan have a wrestling style heavily inspired from Benoit and it all started in ECW for him.
Benoit came into ECW alongside the lights of Malenko and Eddie Guerrero and he was soon taken away by WCW. After that Benoit went on to have a great championship run in WWE and despite his dark phase, Benoit is still a great name in the wresting business.
#8 Rey Mysterio
Luchador wrestling was a big no-no in the American wrestling scene as the promoters didn’t know how it would sell. Heyman went out there and took the risk of bringing luchadors in and the risk paid off very well.
Rey Mysterio was just a teenager when he joined ECW and he had feuds with Psicosis and Juventud Guerrera which set the benchmark for every high flier. Some of the matches even earned the coveted five star rating from wrestling observers and as always, Eric Bischoff was there to snatch the ECW talent.
Rey’s WWE career might be going to an abrupt period right now, but when he as up and running, he was an ultimate underdog that always ensured a great match.
#7 Eddie Guerrero
In the early 90s, there were a certain lack of Mexican talent in American Wrestling stage and the fans weren’t actually aware about the things that their neighbors could do. None of the big promotions like WCW or WWE were brave enough to try this but Heyman though differently.
He bought in Eddie from Mexico and booked him against Dean Malenko in a series of matches. Both men tore down the roof whenever they got in between the ropes and soon the big guns were taking notice.
Eddie was also taken away to WCW after that successful stint and then he joined WWE to give the fans a plethora of memorable moments throughout his career.
#6 Chris Jericho
Growing up as a teenager, Jericho wanted either to become a rock star or a wrestler. He did end up achieving both dreams but to materialize the latter one he had to travel all around the world.
Though he left his mark in Japan and Mexico during the early years, it was ECW that gave him the platform to perform in USA. Heyman had this incredible talent of mining out unexposed wrestlers and Jericho fell right into that list.
He was soon hijacked by WCW and then WWE, but if it wasn’t for ECW, Jericho wouldn’t have gone on to become one of the most decorated names in wrestling history.
#5 Team 3D
There aren’t many other tag teams in the world that could match the achievements of Team 3D. The duo started off as a comedy act back in ECW and turned into the best heels that Paul Heyman had in his roster.
They were so good with the microphone that they used to cause riots outside the arena just by talking bad about the crowd. Once they made it to WWE, the whole world started noticing them.
The legendary TLC matches that they had with Edge and Christian and the Hardy Boys are still looked up as some of the best matches that the company has seen during the course of its rich history.
#4 Rob Van Dam
Rob Van Dam was that one name who morphed into ECW’s face when the other talents were stolen by either WCW or ECW. He was everything that the television network wanted and Heyman did a good work of building ECW around him while there was a clear shortage of talent at times.
When Van Dam finally joined WWE after ECW folded, he ended up being one of the most successful imports. The high flying Van Dam was a big hit with the fans and as time progressed he established himself as a mainstay in the midcard title scene.
Van Dam is also the only superstar to hold both the ECW championship and the WWE championship at the same time but his usage of banned substances has been a major factor that held him back from being bigger.
#3 Mick Foley
Mick Foley in case you didn’t know was a WCW reject. He wasn’t that popular with Ric Flair and Eric Bischoff during his WCW and when he got tired of the awful storylines, Foley decided to walk away and take independent bookings.
He found a home in ECW after this and that proved to be a career changer for him. Foley had this anti- hardcore gimmick in ECW and almost every promo that he pulled off during that period smelt money.
It was these promos from Foley that helped him get a job in WWE and after joining Vince McMahon’s promotion, he went on to establish himself as the hardcore legend.
#2 Steve Austin
Austin started off his career in WCW and it was a pretty forgettable spell to say the least. He was ill treated by the management and soon was fired by Eric Bischoff when he was injured.
This made Austin incredibly mad and within no time he ended up in ECW. Heyman gave Austin a platform to say whatever he wanted about WCW and all of a sudden Austin became a big hit.
It was clearly the start of a rebellious character from Austin, and these rants caught Vince McMahon’s attention which in turn secured a job for Austin in WWE. Austin’s character during the Attitude Era was heavily inspired by his ECW days and even the beer drinking idea is ripped off from ECW original Sandman.
#1 Paul Heyman
There might be different opinions about who the biggest star from ECW was, but all those arguments would’ve been even there if it wasn’t for Paul Heyman.
He was the one who took a dying promotion called Eastern Championship Wrestling and rechristened it into Extreme Championship Wrestling in a period when nothing was extreme. He made rejects like Steve Austin and Mick Foley into stars, he bought the Mexican and Japanese styles into United States.
He made real storylines while the business was stuck in a cartoonish period. He made hardcore style go national. Then he came into WWE and made SmackDown better than Raw. He became the one behind the one in twenty one and one.
I could write a whole essay about Paul Heyman made this, Paul Heyman did that, Paul Heyman did this and the truth is without him, the wrestling business wouldn’t have been the way it is today.
