ECW

ECW
Premiere	June 13, 2006
Finale	February 16, 2010
Creator	Vince McMahon
Network/Provider	Syfy
Style	60-minute professional wrestling program
Company	World Wrestling Entertainment
Seasons	4
Episodes	193
Origin	USA
Official Site	WWE

Extreme Championship Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion which had presented a one-hour program Tuesday nights on Syfy in the United States. ECW was a no-holds-barred, hardcore-themed wrestling show which featured wrestlers competing in the hardcore style, while the ECW Divas entertained the crowd. See also WWE Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown!

ECW began in 1992 as a regional promotion called Eastern Championship Wrestling, founded by Tod Gordon and affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance. ECW withdrew from the NWA on August 27, 1994 and changed to its current name at the same time following a dispute with the NWA Board of Directors over booking and control of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After this, ECW, by then under the leadership of new owner Paul Heyman (aka Paul E. Dangerously), soared to new heights among wrestling fans seeking a harder-edged alternative to the "sports entertainment" style of wrestling being promoted by WWE (then known as the WWF).

On August 29, 1994, ECW's syndicated TV program, which first began on April 5, 1993 (when the company was still known as Eastern Championship Wrestling), was renamed simply as ECW, then was renamed again to ECW Hardcore TV following the debut of ECW on TNN. In 1999, ECW gained a national cable TV contract with The Nashville Network (now Spike TV) to present a one-hour show, ECW on TNN, on Friday nights at 8 p.m. EST beginning on August 27, 1999. That show was fraught with problems from the start, however, due to interference by TNN executives, who often censored the show and rarely promoted it in their schedule. The show was eventually cancelled by TNN (with the final episode airing on October 6, 2000) in favor of bringing the WWF's Raw is War to the network. The final edition of ECW Hardcore TV aired on December 31, 2000.

ECW's final pay-per-view show (and their final show as an independently-owned promotion), Guilty as Charged, took place on January 7, 2001. Financial trouble led to ECW declaring bankruptcy and ceasing operations in April 2001. ECW's assets, including its video archives, were bought by WWE in 2003. After two ECW-themed PPVs called One Night Stand in June of 2005 and 2006 that were well-received by traditional ECW fans, WWE relaunched ECW on Sci-Fi on June 13, 2006, but the show drew criticism from fans for presenting a watered-down product having little to do with the original ECW and for WWE chairman and owner Vince McMahon appearing on the show frequently and getting himself over at the expense of the wrestlers (as he has also done on Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown!), and has derogatorily been referred to by traditional ECW fans as "WWECW".

Final Roster

Wrestler	Character	Duration
Thomas Laughlin	Tommy Dreamer (ECW Champion)	2006-2010
Tony Chimel	Tony Chimel	2007-2010
Taryn Terrell	Tiffany	2008-2010
Anthony White	Tony Atlas	2008-2010
Steven Lewington	DJ Gabriel	2008-2009
Katarina Waters	Katie Lea Burchill	2008-2009
Matthew Kaye	Matt Striker	2008-2009
Paul Burchill	Paul Burchill	2008-2009
Brianna Garcia	Brie Bella	2009-2010
Jason Reso	Christian	2009-2010
Rycklon Stephens	Ezekiel Jackson	2009-2010
Dustin Runnels	Goldust	2009-2010
Gregory Helms	Gregory Helms	2009-2010
Josh Lomberger	Josh Mathews	2009-2010
Nicole Garcia	Nikki Bella	2009-2010
Shelton Benjamin	Shelton Benjamin	2009-2010
Oleg Prudius	Vladimir Kozlov	2009-2010
Darren Matthews	William Regal	2009-2010
Matthew Cardona	Zack Ryder	2009-2010

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

DVD Releases

There are no DVD releases for this show.