Eastern Championship Wrestling
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Formerly called
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|---|---|
| Private | |
| Industry | Professional wrestling |
| Founded | April 25, 1992 |
| Founder |
Tod Gordon (Eastern)(Chairman) Paul Heyman (Extreme) (CEO) |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
| Products | Television, Internet and WWE Network |
| Website | http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw |
| Acronym | ECW |
|---|---|
| Style |
Professional wrestling Hardcore wrestling |
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon. ECW closed when then owner Paul Heyman declared bankruptcy in April 2001. The promotion showcased various international styles of professional wrestling, ranging from lucha libre to puroresu and hardcore wrestling, and became known for having an intelligent, often rowdy and vocal fanbase that rejected the more cartoonish programming of ECW's competitors.
After purchasing the assets of ECW in 2003, World Wrestling Entertainment relaunched the Extreme Championship Wrestling franchise as a WWE brand with their existing Raw and SmackDown brands. It debuted on June 13, 2006 on Sci Fi in the United States and ran for close to four years until it aired its final episode on February 16, 2010 on the rebranded Syfy. It was replaced the following week with WWE NXT.
ECW had its origins in 1989 under the banner Tri-State Wrestling Alliance owned by Joel Goodhart. In 1992, Goodhart sold his share of the company to his partner, Tod Gordon, who in return renamed the promotion Eastern Championship Wrestling. When Eastern Championship Wrestling was founded, it was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). At the time, "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert was the lead booker of Eastern Championship Wrestling. Gilbert, after a falling out with Tod Gordon, was replaced in September 1993 by Paul Heyman. Heyman, known on television as Paul E. Dangerously, had just left World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and was looking for a new challenge.
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