Worst way that ECW has influenced indy wrestling

[Scott Parker]

No, not bringing hardcore, blood, guts and carnage to mainstream wrestling.

It made indy wrestlers all over think that street clothes are acceptable ring gear. Look back at some of the top ECW guys from it's glory days. Sandman, Raven, Tommy Dreamer, New Jack, Axl Rotten, the Dudleys.... this list could go on for a while

There were a lot of guys there whose ring attire consisted of articles of clothing anybody could pick up at the mall for just a few bucks. Not saying that this didn't fit the time or the place, but it irks me to no end when I see about half the roster on an indy show where the gear they wrestle in looks not much different than the clothes they drove to the venue wearing. If you're going to be a wrestle, spend a little bit of money to look the part.

(Just a small rant I needed to get out of my system)

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

I agree with yo there. It's fine for a guy or two here and there if it fits their gimmick. But like you said, I've gone to indie shows where just about everybody is wearing the same stuff as the people in the crowd.

I think it was Heenan who commented on this kind of thing, saying, "Why pay money to see a bunch of guys who look like the guy washing cars down the street?"

[sweatpants]

I'd say that and people chanting the name of the company instead of chanting for the wrestlers.

[Deleted]

Though it certainly wasn't the first company to do so, setting the precedent for not paying your wrestlers thousands upon thousands of dollars while allowing them/encouraging them to wrestler violent matches despite having the status as the #3 wrestling company in the U.S. No real good came from the last few years.

[Chainsaw]

I'll be honest, I like the street clothes look.

[Kris Kobain]

I think it made chants of you f'd acceptable and that gets annoying at times.

[sunwukong]

Encompassing the chant stuff, I'd argue it was the first time that a crowd collectively marked for themselves and became about getting themselves over. There's a difference between a hot crowd and a crowd that makes itself a part of the show. I'm not watching the show to see fat guys in tshirts two sizes too small try and be funny or edgy in the crowd.

[Dave at the Movies]

This is why I don't go to see indy wrestling shows that probably don't even have a license from the athletic commission to put on a show. There are a lot of these one step above backyard crap promotions around the U.S.

[repomanfan]

It made any backyard ass clown, without looks, charisma, psychology or athletic ability, think he can become a wrestler. ECW was in direct contrast to the wrestling of the 60s 70s and 80s. In a lot of ways it was anti-pro wrestling.

[Johnny Flamingo]

It made a LOT of people believe all you need is some weapons and silly chants to get over and start a revolution.

Many people over look that the thing that made ECW was compelling stories that were some of the best angles in wrestling history, excellent matches that involved some very good wrestling, tremendous promos that were some of the best EVER and the matches were more than glorified spot and blood matches common on the indy scene.

[Deleted]

ECW was the Nirvana to the WWF and WCW's arena rock. In the end all it really accomplished was influencing a bunch of guys that had no business being in the ring to "wrestle" Much the same as the deluge of bands that came after Nirvana that took from them the simplicity of song craft without having the ability to write a decent song.

[johnnyk9]

Yeah I can't stand it, I know decent tights are expensive, but I really can't even stand guys that wear under armour. Another thing I can't stand is poorly dressed referees and guys who play the so called "promoters" coming out in street cloths, if you want people to take your promotion seriously, you should go all out to make it look as serious as you can.

and since someone quoted Bobby Heenan, I like this quote I heard from Jimmy, "One thing I learned most from being in this business, if you dress like a person in the crowd, you wind up being a person in the crowd."

[Judas Heyman]

Jun 2, 2010 10:11:02 GMT -5 @akeem said:

ECW was the Nirvana to the WWF and WCW's arena rock. In the end all it really accomplished was influencing a bunch of guys that had no business being in the ring to "wrestle" Much the same as the deluge of bands that came after Nirvana that took from them the simplicity of song craft without having the ability to write a decent song.

No one could've said it better. ECW was Extremely Crappy Wrestling as Jerry Lawler said. I still dont understand why there are so much ECW worshipping marks who think it is the end all be all of pro wrestling.

[Johnny Flamingo]

Jun 2, 2010 10:47:57 GMT -5 Judas Heyman said:

Jun 2, 2010 10:11:02 GMT -5 @akeem said:

ECW was the Nirvana to the WWF and WCW's arena rock. In the end all it really accomplished was influencing a bunch of guys that had no business being in the ring to "wrestle" Much the same as the deluge of bands that came after Nirvana that took from them the simplicity of song craft without having the ability to write a decent song.

No one could've said it better. ECW was Extremely Crappy Wrestling as Jerry Lawler said. I still dont understand why there are so much ECW worshipping marks who think it is the end all be all of pro wrestling.

Yes because RVD-Jerry Lynn, Dreamer-Rave, 3 Way Dance, Foley - Sabu, Taz-Sabu, Storm, Jericho, Mysterio, Juventud, Psichosis, Super Crazy, Rhyno, Shane Douglas and CW Anderson never had good matches and were all crappy wrestling.

ECW had more than just violence. The reason people "worship" ECW is because it gave you a little bit of everything, hardcore matches, technical wrestling, lucha libre and a good tag team division.

There was also awesome stroylines and great promos and it was a promotion that seemed to give the fans EXACTLY what they wanted.

They were the first promotion that seemed to hold the fans as just important as the wrestlers.

Is it a bit over-rated these days, sure. But under no circumstances was it crappy.

[Ultimo Chocula]

Promos that sound like this:

"Ass! Ass! Ass! Ass! Ass! Ass! Ass! Ass! Ass! Ass!"

If you can't get over without swearing, you can't get over. Right, Kevin Steen?

[Mayonnaise]

Jun 1, 2010 22:40:03 GMT -5 sweatpants said:

I'd say that and people chanting the name of the company instead of chanting for the wrestlers.

That and every spotfest has 801 reversals followed by a pause for people to clap now.

[hollywood]

Jun 1, 2010 22:40:03 GMT -5 sweatpants said:

I'd say that and people chanting the name of the company instead of chanting for the wrestlers.

Jun 2, 2010 13:44:14 GMT -5 Mayonnaise said:

That and every spotfest has 801 reversals followed by a pause for people to clap now.

This. And this.

[Shameful_Lobsterhead]

I have to say it's a little bit of everything mentioned. I'm all up for watching a "hardcore" match as the next man but when it involves weedwackers and light-tubes then it truly deserves the title of garbage wrestling. I think with how violent (For that time period) ECW was, it gave promotions now, CZW inperticular, the thought "Well thats what made ECW so popular, maybe if we go over the top, we can be just as great as ECW"

If I want to watch violent hardcore matches, I will watch some FMW or W*ING.

[Deleted]

The "You f***ed up" chant did not exist in pro wrestling before ECW. They then encouraged it as part of J.T. Smith's gimmick, and it spread across wrestling as a way for fans to crap on any slight error they see in a wrestling match now. Very annoying, and very negative.

[repomanfan]

Ric Flair, Nick Bockwinkle, Bruno Sammartino, and Hulk Hogan didn't need to go through tables, because they were wrestlers. They had charisma, talent, the ability to put butts in arena seats, just by their mere presence, alone. Most of the ECW roster were nothing more then sideshow, jabroni, back yard ass clown carnival freaks.