NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling
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| Acronym | ECCW |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| Style | American Wrestling |
| Headquarters | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Founder(s) | Dave Republic |
| Owner(s) | ECCW Entertainment, Ltd. |
| Formerly | Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling |
| Merged with | Top Ranked Wrestling |
Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW) (formerly known as NWA / Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling) is a Western Canadian-based professional wrestling promotion, And is a former a member of the National Wrestling Alliance. It was the focus of the 2010 documentary This Wrestling Life, and was used as the scene for the independent movie Kayfabe.
Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW) began promoting its first shows in May 1996 under the ownership of veteran wrestler/promoter "Gorgeous" Michelle Starr, with assistance from Terry Joe Silverspoon. The promotion initially operated solely on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, running shows in towns such as Port Alberni, Nanaimo, and Campbell River. The first ECCW Heavyweight champion was The Bodyguard. The title changed hands to "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka and John Rambo, before settling for longer periods of time with Michelle Starr and Mike Roselli.
In September 1996, ECCW moved its home base to New Westminster, British Columbia in order to more directly compete with rival International Championship Wrestling (based in Cloverdale, British Columbia). The promotion held its main house shows at the Eagles Hall (the former Columbia Theatre, now the Burr Theatre). In late 1996, full control of ECCW was given to Silverspoon, who continued to operate out of New Westminster until Michelle Starr returned to Canada approximately six months later.
In late 1997, Dave Republic assumed controlling interest of the promotion and announced that it had become a member of the National Wrestling Alliance, operating under the NWA Pacific Northwest banner. This change resulted in a separation of the talent, with half the roster aligning itself with Republic and the NWA, and the other half with Starr, thumbing their collective noses at the more traditional wrestling mindset the NWA adopted at the time.
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