Were the Radicals a major part of ECW?

[Ragnal]

Recently I had written an article about Mike Awesome's time in WCW (Down in the sig, nudge nudge), and I had written an intro about how ECW wrestlers seemed to get the shaft end of the stick elsewhere, and listed RVD, Raven, and Dreamer as being examples of those Extremists breaking the glass ceiling.

Of course, someone was quick to point out that there were actually several ECW wrestlers to make it big, such as the Dudley Boys, the Radicalz, Myterio, and Jericho.

Now, okay, I can understand that, but my feelings are that only the Dudleys were ever really ECW blood, because everyone else was in ECW for like, two years or somewhere along those lines. To me, my feelings never were that Benoit or Guerrero were all that much associated with ECW like RVD or Raven were, and they managed to do well in WCW compared to how Raven's run or even Mike Awesome did.

So, I guess my question is, were the guys that moved onto WCW and later WWE really as much ECW wrestlers, or would you associate them less with ECW than the other two companies?

[Hiroshi Hase]

Not really, they were good hands but never really a major part of ECW,IMO.

Maybe Saturn as he was there for several years as part of the Eliminators tag team, but to me those guys seem more associated with WCW than ECW.

[Kananga]

Yes

[Deleted]

I think they were there too early and for too brief a period of time to be consider major players in ECW. Even Benoit and Malenko, who were members of the original triple threat, just weren't around long enough to make an impact in the same way that others, like Sabu, Taz, Shane Douglas, etc. were able to do.

[Agent P]

Saturn was.

[eDemento2099]

No, because the Radicalz were not united in ECW the way they were when they left WCW for the WWF together as a group.

In ECW, Saturn was a big deal as a tag-team wrestler, but he teamed with Kronus rather than with Benoit, Malenko, or Guerrero.

All four of the Radicalz put on great matches in ECW, but they didn't belong to the same faction / stable.

[Kananga]

The question wasn't if they were a group in ECW but if they could be considered true ECW guys.
And i sure as hell don't know why this has gotten 12 no votes & only 1 yes. Alot of people think ECW was just extreme wrestling but ECW was also home to really good technical wrestling matches & Eddie & Dean carried the technical side of ECW.

[wasimperviz]

Not a huge part in ECW but help a little.

[celticjobber]

Aside from Saturn, they weren't in ECW long enough to be considered a major part of it like guys such as Raven, Shane Douglas, Sabu, or Sandman.

[AriadosMan]

Ironically, Saturn was probably one of the better known ones in the ECW days. The Eliminators often fought for the tag titles.

[eDemento2099]

Sept 15, 2009 18:47:02 GMT -5 Kananga said:

Alot of people think ECW was just extreme wrestling but ECW was also home to really good technical wrestling matches

What I want to know is who believed that other than: (a) WWF fanboys; (B) people with no actual exposure to ECW; (c) people with only very limited exposure to ECW who overgeneralized the deathmatches to be representative of everything the promotion stands for (much like how many do nowadays re: CZW), or; (d) some combination of the above?

[neal]

If Malenko, Benoit and Eddie stuck around longer they probably would have been a major part of ECW. But we'll never know since WCW came a'callin'.

[eDemento2099]

Sept 15, 2009 18:47:02 GMT -5 Kananga said:

The question wasn't if they were a group in ECW but if they could be considered true ECW guys.

Fair enough, but I would therefore argue that they shouldn't be referred to as "the radicalz" since that term implies that they were united as a stable / group.

If you look at them on an individual basis (as opposed to looking at all four of them as a united entity), I think Saturn was probably the most 'major' part of ECW. I remember him holding championship belts (tag belts, specifically) more often than Benoit, Malenko or Guerrero, although in reality, it's quite possible that he may have won championships about as often as Benoit.

Of course, Benoit gained quite a lot of notoriety after he (accidentally) broke Sabu's neck in ECW.

[Cry Me a Wiggle]

In my mind, they're as much ECW guys as Raven was a WCW guy. Meaning that they didn't make their biggest splash there, but their runs are still noteworthy to the history of the company.

[theganzobomb]

Well I would not say they had a major Part In ECW,However I would say they helped bring technical wrestling into Ecw ,when at the time it was mainly a hardcore style so, I would say they had a major part in bringing a different style in Ecw ,which at the time was not seen in ECW.

[ritt works hard fo da chickens]

Saturn being the exception many people only saw those guys in ECW after the fact and had already seen them elsewhere. ECW didn't go national until Barely Legal in 97.


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECW_Barely_Legal

[romafan87]

Sept 15, 2009 20:03:58 GMT -5 theganzobomb said:

Well I would not say they had a major Part In ECW,However I would say they helped bring technical wrestling into Ecw ,when at the time it was mainly a hardcore style so, I would say they had a major part in bringing a different style in Ecw ,which at the time was not seen in ECW.

A lot of people get this wrong. A lot. Probably the biggest misconception about ECW.

Long before Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero, you had a host of technicians come through ECW. Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Pat Tanaka, Paul Diamond, Shane Douglas, Matt Borne, 2 Cold Scorpio, hell, Tatsumi Fujinami made an appearance in 1992. All appeared for short periods but generally occupied the one or two matches slotted to be technical.

Benoit and Malenko arrived in late 1994 and only lasted until spring 1995. The guys I listed weren't around much longer, however, most predated the arrival of Benoit, Malenko, and Guerrero.

If you page through the ring results of ECW starting in 1992, or even Tod Gordon's previous attempts at running promotions, he always had big bruisers and brawling matches with one or two technical matches. Always. This didn't start with Benoit, Malenko, and Guerrero, and it didn't end there. They would bring in a few more luchadors, then guys like Chris Candido, Jerry Lynn, Guido, EZ Money, Kid Kash, among others later on. But their impact on the card was almost always limited to two matches at most.

[eDemento2099]

Sept 15, 2009 23:53:53 GMT -5 @romafan87 said:

Sept 15, 2009 20:03:58 GMT -5 theganzobomb said:

Well I would not say they had a major Part In ECW,However I would say they helped bring technical wrestling into Ecw ,when at the time it was mainly a hardcore style so, I would say they had a major part in bringing a different style in Ecw ,which at the time was not seen in ECW.

A lot of people get this wrong. A lot. Probably the biggest misconception about ECW.

Long before Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero, you had a host of technicians come through ECW. Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Pat Tanaka, Paul Diamond, Shane Douglas, Matt Borne, 2 Cold Scorpio, hell, Tatsumi Fujinami made an appearance in 1992. All appeared for short periods but generally occupied the one or two matches slotted to be technical.

Benoit and Malenko arrived in late 1994 and only lasted until spring 1995. The guys I listed weren't around much longer, however, most predated the arrival of Benoit, Malenko, and Guerrero.

If you page through the ring results of ECW starting in 1992, or even Tod Gordon's previous attempts at running promotions, he always had big bruisers and brawling matches with one or two technical matches. Always. This didn't start with Benoit, Malenko, and Guerrero, and it didn't end there. They would bring in a few more luchadors, then guys like Chris Candido, Jerry Lynn, Guido, EZ Money, Kid Kash, among others later on. But their impact on the card was almost always limited to two matches at most.

Let's not forget Taz, who was a franchise ECW wrestler and personified technical wrestling (not to mention some decent brawling) throughout his entire tenure with the promotion.

[Mozenrath]

Saturn, yes, the others, eh, not really.

[machomuta]

No. They were nothing more then low midcarders in ECW.

The main focus of ECW was on guys like Taz, RVD, Dreamer, Sandman, Sabu and Douglas.