History YMMV / ECW

* FanonDiscontinuity: As far as most fans are concerned, WWECW never existed. For those who ''are'' willing to acknowledge its existence, they usually state the show ended when Wrestling/CMPunk got drafted RAW, as acknowledgement of the fact that he was perhaps the only reason it was still even remotely relevant to ''any'' fan.

* TheScrappy: The Trope Namer for XPacHeat had a stablemate named Justin Credible who is a tragic case. He was a focal point in the later years of ECW, but he's hardly-mentioned when people recall the promotion. His title run was more about Wrestling/TommyDreamer ''not'' having the title. (Quite similar to Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}' title reign.) He always came across as the Wrestling/XPac of the company, someone who was known for being associated with someone better. How was he World Champion in a year which had people like Raven return (2000)? Answer: ECW were that desperate. RVD was the logical pick for ECW World Champion, but Paul Heyman was saving him for network TV. By the time they got a TV deal, RVD was hurt, and then by the time he was healed, they had lost TV. Heyman was struggling to create new stars and decided to give Credible the ball knowing that he wouldn't command as much money as someone like Sandman or RVD, and he was the one guy neither WWF or WCW would try to steal away. It was business decision, and not a great one. His workrate was artificially-inflated by pitting him against good workers like [[Wrestling/JerryLynn Jerry "Carry Artist" Lynn.]] Credible's first main event (''Hardcore Heaven'' 2000 vs. Storm) had a dead crowd [[EightDeadlyWords because nobody really cared]]: Lance was probably not a good pick for a babyface; and since he was leaving, he was obviously not winning the belt, so there was no tension and thus no heat.

** Unfortunately, by 2000 ECW could no longer feasibly do any long-term planning and kept tripping over their own shoelaces because all of their big names kept going away. In 2000, Wrestling/MikeAwesome infamously jumped to {{Wrestling/WCW}} to become the legendarily-bad [[ChubbyChaser "Fat Chick Thriller"]] while he was still under ECW contract and the ECW champ. This caused a disastrous domino effect:
###Taz was loaned to ECW by the WWF to get the belt off of Awesome. (As a side note, this was historic: WCW talent vs. WWF talent for ECW gold.) Taz worked briefly on WWF TV as ECW champ, only to be [[{{Jobber}} jobbed out]] to [[SpotlightStealingSquad the king of burials]] Wrestling/TripleH, which made ECW look stupid.
###Dreamer was also made to look silly: Dreamer, against his wishes, won the belt off Taz at Cyberslam--making Taz a meaningless transitional champion. Mere minutes later, Credible threw down the Tag belts (because Wrestling/LanceStorm was unable to prevent it) and beat Dreamer for the belt--making ''Dreamer'' (who did not even want the belt) a meaningless transitional champion.
###Credible was a middling wrestler but a steady hand. He was now carrying ECW, and the world title lineage had become dire; as had the tag belts, which would remain vacant until ''August''. The TV title was also up in the air: [[Wrestling/RobVanDam RVD]] had it for almost two years, then got hurt and had to vacate it. So, in about a three-month period, two-thirds of the ECW belts had been vacated and any future plans were foiled. (Supposedly the ECW World and TV belts were supposed to be contested against each other in a unification bout at the end of 2000, but it was put on hold by the injury.) There was still much to like in the undercard, but the top of the pyramid had fallen apart as early as May.
** After 18 years of existence, ECW drew their last breath in the final episode of WWE's ''ECW on Syfy'' which aired in February 2010. Wrestling/TheMiz, Wrestling/YoshiTatsu, and Ezekiel Jackson were among the last names ever mentioned on the show. Not even poor Wrestling/{{Christian}}, who'd carried that show on his back for a year. As his reward, he lost the belt in the closing episode.
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny:
** Seeing these guys age makes you glad the hardcore style didn't last. The brain and bodily damage, along with the self-medication, equaled a grim future for a lot of the hardcore guys. In one of those periodic documentaries put out by WWE, Dreamer is said to have told Heyman, "I will '''die''' for this company." The adrenaline / head injuries probably were not helping, and Tommy's always been a bit crazy; but it's no secret that Paul Heyman was the Jim Jones of pro wrestling for a little while.
** A large part of the reason most modern wrestling fans view ECW as nothing more than a blood and guts promotion is because ''everything'' ECW did that was revolutionary in wrestling at the time is so commonplace in today's wrestling atmosphere that it's the only thing that stands out. Revisionist historians at WWE have carefully omitted any link between their current stars and ECW, leading new fans to assume that WWE built those talents from the ground up.

** Wrestling/{{Sabu}} vs. Wrestling/TerryFunk in a Barbed Wire Match; it's a match so violently disturbing that some viewers will admit to only watching it once in its entirety. It was also a gimmick match that Paul Heyman said he refused to book again in ECW, because he didn't think anyone could top that one - and he didn't want anyone else to ''try''.
** Fortunately for the fans, Shane Douglas booked a Barbed Wire Three-Way-Dance between Sabu, Funk, and himself for ''Hardcore Homecoming'' - and it was just as disturbingly brilliant as the original.
** How can anyone forget the Taipei Death Match? [[GarbageWrestler Ian and Axl Rotten]] decide to battle it out by taping up their fists and forearms, covering them with hot glue, and then roll their glued-up arms in broken glass. [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence And then they went to town on each other.]] Dear lord, what a bloodbath.
* ToughActToFollow: Fittingly, by the time the 90's ended, Paul could not stop his talent pool from bleeding out. A main event scene of Taz, Awesome, Tanaka, RVD, Rhino, and Sabu would have been harder to ignore.

* MisBlamed: Going from being a key player [[DemotedToExtra to a supporting role]] when he jumped to WWF didn't do Justin any favors, and he was wrongly-blamed for the death of ECW. That [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin Stone Cold]] podcast was a tough listen: Austin kept trying to wrap it up, but JC spent an extra 10-15 minutes explaining how unhappy he is with his place in life and his legacy. See "The Scrappy" below.

* MainstreamObscurity: Shane Douglas always looks on the verge of tears. Sandman used to be one of the luckier ECW stars when they folded: he was paid very handsomely by Paul E. and he owned a successful construction company. But that all went to shit during the reccession and he's now constantly broke and behind on bills. Both Wrestling/NewJack and Justin Credible had great retirement sendoffs; cut to a couple years later and they're hustling for East Coast Pro Wrestling, which is the worst company ever. It's like WWECW without the name recognition/stars and then 10 times worse. Credible self-medicates with alcohol, and it appears even [[Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage DDP]] is done with him.
** The promotion in general could be considered this -- squeezed in between the WWF and WCW during their heyday, it had to subsist mostly on pay-for-time late night/early morning/weekend slots on regional sports networks or low-rated independent TV stations, meaning that aside from word of mouth, it was next-to-impossible for the promotion to gain a lot of new viewers. The one-time crossover episode of ''WWF Raw'' in 1997, held in Philadelphia, ECW's home city, which featured several ECW stars and matches on WWF television (one of many pre-Attitude Era moves by WWF to counter WCW's surging fortunes) did very little for WWF, as the common fan had never seen nor heard of these wrestlers, but it did wonders for ECW, as they wanted to find out, and on searching the embryonic internet traced these new names to a tiny regional territory airing shows on late-night pay-for-air television, [[ColbertBump which caused interest to surge]].

* FranchiseOriginalSin: ECW led to an influx of {{garbage wrestler}}s who could not wrestle well but could swing stuff around, take hits, or were willing to jump off high places, to the USA scene. These did not originate in ECW, but this is where they caught on. While wrestlers credited with being the originators of what became the hardcore wrestling style such as Abdullah the Butcher, The Sheik, and Dick the Bruiser could still work traditional matches well... Sandman not so much. Also popularized valets mainly there to do "cat fights". The ECW women typically had more to their roles during their early to mid years but as ECW wound down, rolling around and Bronco Busters were about all women did. Prior garbage feds like Wrestling/{{FMW}} tended to produce some of the most fearsome women divisions on the planet. Following in ECW's wake, XPW, IWA Mid-South and Wrestling/{{CZW}} would magnify these flaws to new heights (though in fairness, the latter two would learn from their mistakes and ''outlast'' ECW).
-->'''[[http://www.ddtdigest.com/updates/1999033m.htm DDT:]]''' ''(circa 1999)'' They've become a caricature of what made them unique - they're just [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer absurd spots with tables and ladders]], with no real match flow or anything else.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: In all likelihood, ECW would have folded regardless of the circumstances due to their talent being cherry-picked for the remainder of their existence. It was essentially being kept afloat by perceived "midcard" guys, but they could still put on an impressive show. WCW circa late-2000 is {{camp}} bad, but they were in the same boat as ECW: most of the main eventers were gone (although WCW was infamous for poor main events, anyway), but the undercard could carry them...if not botched by [[DenserAndWackier stupid storylines]]. ECW had stronger booking in that area.

** A large part of the reason most modern wrestling fans view ECW as nothing more than a blood and guts promotion is because ''everything'' ECW did that was revolutionary in wrestling at the time is so commonplace in today's wrestling atmosphere that it's the only thing that stands out. Revisionist historians at WWE have [[OrwellianEditor carefully omitted any link]] between their current stars and ECW, leading new fans to assume that WWE built those talents from the ground up.

* TheScrappy: The Trope Namer for XPacHeat had a stablemate named Justin Credible who is a tragic case. He was a focal point in the later years of ECW, but he's hardly-mentioned when people recall the promotion. His title run was more about Wrestling/TommyDreamer ''not'' having the title. (Quite similar to Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}' title reign.) He always came across as the Wrestling/XPac of the company, someone who was known for being associated with someone better. How was he World Champion in a year which had people like Raven return (2000)? Answer: ECW were that desperate. RVD was the logical pick for ECW World Champion, but Paul Heyman was saving him for network TV. By the time they got a TV deal, RVD was hurt, and then by the time he was healed, they had lost TV. Heyman was struggling to create new stars and decided to give Credible the ball knowing that he wouldn't command as much money as someone like Sandman or RVD, and he was the one guy neither WWF or WCW would try to steal away. It was business decision, and not a great one. His workrate was artificially-inflated by pitting him against good workers like [[Wrestling/JerryLynn Jerry "Carry Artist" Lynn.]] Credible's first main event (''Halloween Havoc'' 2000 vs. Storm) had a dead crowd [[EightDeadlyWords because nobody really cared]]: Lance was probably not a good pick for a babyface; and since he was leaving, he was obviously not winning the belt, so there was no tension and thus no heat.

** Unfortunately, by ECW could no longer feasibly do any long-term planning and kept tripping over their own shoelaces because all of their big names kept going away. In 2000, Wrestling/MikeAwesome infamously jumped to {{Wrestling/WCW}} to become the legendarily-bad [[ChubbyChaser "Fat Chick Thriller"]] while he was still under ECW contract and the ECW champ. This caused a disastrous domino effect:

###Credible was a middling wrestler but a steady hand. He was now carrying ECW, and the world title lineage had become dire; as had the tag belts, which would remain vacant until August. The TV title was also up in the air: [[Wrestling/RobVanDam RVD]] had it for almost two years, then got hurt and had to vacate it. So, in about a three-month period, two-thirds of the ECW belts had been vacated and any future plans were foiled. (Supposedly the ECW World and TV belts were supposed to be contested against each other in a unification bout at the end of 2000, but it was put on hold by the injury.) There was still much to like in the undercard, but the top of the pyramid had fallen apart as early as May.

* MisBlamed: Going from being a key player [[DemotedToExtra to a supporting role]] when he jumped to WWF didn't do Justin any favors, and he was wrongly-blamed for the death of ECW. That [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin Stone Cold]] podcast was a tough listen: Austin kept trying to wrap it up, but JC spent an extra 10-15 minutes explaining how unhappy he is with his place in life and his legacy. See "Replacement Scrappy" below.

** Fittingly enough, once the 90's ended, ECW could not feasibly do any long-term planning and kept tripping over their own shoelaces because all of their big names kept going away. In 2000, Wrestling/MikeAwesome infamously jumped to {{Wrestling/WCW}} to become the legendarily-bad [[ChubbyChaser "Fat Chick Thriller"]] while he was still under ECW contract and the ECW champ. This caused a disastrous domino effect:

* TheScrappy: The Trope Namer for XPacHeat had a stablemate named Justin Credible who is a tragic case. He was a focal point in the later years of ECW, but he's hardly-mentioned when people recall the promotion. His title run was more about Wrestling/TommyDreamer ''not'' having the title. (Quite similar to Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}' title reign.) He always came across as the Wrestling/XPac of the company, someone who was known for being associated with someone better. How was he World Champion in a year which had people like Raven return (2000)? Answer: ECW were that desperate. RVD was the logical pick for ECW World Champion, but Paul Heyman was saving him for network TV. By the time they got a TV deal, RVD was hurt, and then by the time he was healed, they had lost TV. Heyman was struggling to create new stars and decided to give Credible the ball knowing that he wouldn't command as much money as someone like Sandman or RVD, and he was the one guy neither WWF or WCW would try to steal away. It was business decision, and not a great one. His workrate was artificially-inflated by pitting him against good workers like [[Wrestling/JerryLynn Jerry "Carry Artist" Lynn.]] Credible's first main event (''Halloween Havoc'' 2000 vs. Storm) had a dead crowd [[EightDeadlyWords because nobody really cared]]: Lance was probably not a good pick for a babyface; and since he was leaving, he was obviously not winning the belt, so there was no tension and thus no heat.

* ToughActToFollow: Unfortunately, by 2000 Paul couldn't stop his talent pool from bleeding out. A main event scene of Taz, Awesome, Tanaka, RVD, Rhino, and Sabu would have been hard to ignore.

* ReplacementScrappy:
** Unfortunately, by 2000 Paul couldn't stop his talent pool from bleeding out. A main event scene of Taz, Awesome, Tanaka, RVD, Rhino, and Sabu would have been hard to ignore.
** The Trope Namer for XPacHeat had a stablemate named Justin Credible who is a tragic case. He was a focal point in the later years of ECW, but he's hardly-mentioned when people recall the promotion. His title run was more about Wrestling/TommyDreamer ''not'' having the title. (Quite similar to Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}' title reign.) He always came across as the Wrestling/XPac of the company, someone who was known for being associated with someone better. How was he World Champion in a year which had people like Raven return (2000)? ECW were that desperate. RVD was the logical pick for ECW World Champion, but Paul Heyman was saving him for network TV. By the time they got a TV deal, RVD was hurt, and then by the time he was healed, they lost TV. Heyman was struggling to create new stars and decided to give Credible the ball knowing that he wouldn't command as much money as someone like Sandman or RVD, and he was the one guy neither WWF or WCW would try to steal away. It was business decision, and not a great one. His workrate was artificially-inflated by pitting him against good workers like [[Wrestling/JerryLynn Jerry "Carry Artist" Lynn.]] Credible's first main event (''Halloween Havoc'' 2000 vs. Storm) had a dead crowd [[EightDeadlyWords because nobody really cared]]: Lance was probably not a good pick for a babyface; and since he was leaving, he was obviously not winning the belt, so there was no tension and thus no heat.

* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: Between the company's will to succeed and the "make-noise-at-all-costs" mentality of Paul and Tod, there's very little ECW wouldn't do for some press. In one of those periodic documentaries put out by WWE, Dreamer is said to have told Heyman, "I will '''die''' for this company." The adrenaline / head injuries probably were not helping, and Tommy's always been a bit crazy; but it's no secret that Paul Heyman was the Jim Jones of pro wrestling for a little while.

* TheScrappy: Miss Patricia, a valet in Wrestling/{{Raven}}'s Nest, is an interesting example of this, since, apparently the rest of the roster weren't sad when she left.

** Seeing these guys age makes you glad the hardcore style didn't last. The brain and bodily damage, along with the self-medication, equaled a grim future for a lot of the hardcore guys.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: During a period when both WCW and WWF were using in-house bands and music for entrance and PPV themes, Paul Heyman just raided his CD collection. Few of the tracks were officially licensed, which led to them being replaced with [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong cover versions]] or generic music when the shows were released on video. The results (including Sandman making his entrance to a bouncy Euro-pop number) can be ''jarring'' to say the least.

** A lot of angles, but notoriously the crucifixion of [[Wrestling/JimFullington The Sandman]] by Raven.

* MainstreamObscurity: Shane Douglas always looks on the verge of tears. Sandman used to be one of the luckier ECW stars when they folded: he was paid very handsomely by Paul E. and he owned a successful construction company. But that all went to shit during the reccession and he's now constantly broke and behind on bills. Both New Jack and Justin Credible had great retirement sendoffs; cut to a couple years later and they're hustling for East Coast Pro Wrestling, which is the worst company ever. It's like WWECW without the name recognition/stars and then 10 times worse. Justin Credible self-medicates with alcohol, and it appears even [[Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage DDP]] is done with him.

** '''"AND HERE COMES [[Wrestling/NewJack NEW JACK!]]"'''

* NewerThanTheyThink: ECW was the first American pro wrestling company to feature wrestlers tapping out to submissions as in UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts, introduced by Taz. Before this, wrestlers only verbally signaled to the referee. Although, tapping out itself is still pretty old. Mixed martial arts as a sport was started in Japan, and it lifted tapping out directly from shoot style promotions like the Wrestling/UniversalWrestlingFederation. Further back than that, in the martial-arts movie parody ''A Fistful of Yen'' in ''Film/TheKentuckyFriedMovie'', all the way back in 1977, a character applies a ''juji-gatame'', known in pro wrestling as a crucifix armbar or a cross-armbreaker, to another character, who taps out to it.

** The Trope Namer for XPacHeat had a stablemate named Justin Credible who is a tragic case. He was a focal point in the later years of ECW, but he's hardly-mentioned when people recall the promotion. His title run was more about Wrestling/TommyDreamer ''not'' having the title. (Quite similar to Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}' title reign.) He always came across as the Wrestling/XPac of the company, someone who was known for being associated with someone better. How was he World Champion in a year which had people like {{Wrestling/Raven}} return (2000)? ECW were that desperate. RVD was the logical pick for ECW World Champion, but Paul Heyman was saving him for network TV. By the time they got a TV deal, RVD was hurt, and then by the time he was healed, they lost TV. Heyman was struggling to create new stars and decided to give Credible the ball knowing that he wouldn't command as much money as someone like Sandman or RVD, and he was the one guy neither WWF or WCW would try to steal away. It was business decision, and not a great one. His workrate was artificially-inflated by pitting him against good workers like [[Wrestling/JerryLynn Jerry "Carry Artist" Lynn.]] Credible's first main event (''Halloween Havoc'' 2000 vs. Storm) had a dead crowd [[EightDeadlyWords because nobody really cared]]: Lance was probably not a good pick for a babyface; and since he was leaving, he was obviously not winning the belt, so there was no tension and thus no heat.

###[[{{Wrestling/Tazz}} Taz]] was loaned to ECW by the WWF to get the belt off of Awesome. (As a side note, this was historic: WCW talent vs. WWF talent for ECW gold.) Taz worked briefly on WWF TV as ECW champ, only to be [[{{Jobber}} jobbed out]] to [[SpotlightStealingSquad the king of burials]] Wrestling/TripleH, which made ECW look stupid.

** A lot of angles, but notoriously the crucifixion of The Sandman by Raven.

** Unfortunately, by 2000 Paul couldn't stop his talent pool from bleeding out. A main event scene of Taz, Awesome, Tanaka, RVD, Rhino, and Sabu would have been mighty.
** The Trope Namer for XPacHeat had a stablemate named Justin Credible who is a tragic case. He was a focal point in the later years of ECW, but he's hardly-mentioned when people recall the promotion. His title run was more about Wrestling/TommyDreamer ''not'' having the title. (Quite similar to Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}' title reign.) He always came across as the Wrestling/XPac of the company, someone who was known for being associated with someone better. How was he World Champion in a year which had people like {{Wrestling/Raven}} return (2000)? ECW were that desperate. RVD was the logical pick for ECW World Champion, but Paul Heyman was saving him for Network TV. By the time they got a TV deal, RVD was hurt, and then by the time he was healed, they lost TV. Heyman was struggling to create new stars and decided to give Credible the ball knowing that he wouldn't command as much money as someone like [[Wrestling/JimFullington Sandman]] or RVD, and he was the one guy neither WWF or WCW would try to steal away. It was business decision, and not a great one. His workrate was artificially-inflated by pitting him against good workers like [[Wrestling/JerryLynn Jerry "Carry Artist" Lynn.]] Credible's first main event (''Halloween Havoc'' 2000 vs. Storm) had a dead crowd [[EightDeadlyWords because nobody really cared]]: Lance was probably not a good pick for a babyface; and since he was leaving, he was obviously not winning the belt, so there was no tension and thus no heat.

** Appropriately enough, once the 90's ended, ECW could not feasibly do any long-term planning and kept tripping over their own shoelaces because all of their big names kept going away. In 2000, Wrestling/MikeAwesome infamously jumped to {{Wrestling/WCW}} to become the legendarily-bad [[ChubbyChaser "Fat Chick Thriller"]] while he was still under ECW contract and the ECW champ. This caused a disastrous domino effect: [[{{Wrestling/Tazz}} Taz]] was loaned to ECW by the WWF to get the belt off of Awesome. (As a side note, this was historic: WCW talent vs. WWF talent for ECW gold.) Taz worked briefly on WWF TV as ECW champ, only to be [[{{Jobber}} jobbed out]] to [[SpotlightStealingSquad the king of burials]] Wrestling/TripleH, which made ECW look stupid. Dreamer was also made to look silly: Dreamer, against his wishes, won the belt off Taz at Cyberslam--making Taz a meaningless transitional champion. Mere minutes later, Credible threw down the Tag belts (because Wrestling/LanceStorm was unable to prevent it) and beat Dreamer for the belt--making ''Dreamer'' (who did not even want the belt) a meaningless transitional champion. Credible was a middling wrestler but a steady hand (see below). He was now carrying ECW, and the world title lineage had become dire; as had the tag belts, which would remain vacant until August. The TV title was also up in the air: [[Wrestling/RobVanDam RVD]] had it for almost two years, then got hurt and had to vacate it. So, in about a three-month period, two-thirds of the ECW belts had been vacated and any future plans were foiled. (Supposedly the ECW World and TV belts were supposed to be contested against each other in a unification bout at the end of 2000, but it was put on hold by the injury.) There was still much to like in the undercard, but the top of the pyramid had fallen apart as early as May.

** Unfortunately, by 2000 Paul couldn't stop his talent pool from bleeding out. A main event scene of Taz, Awesome, Tanaka, RVD, Rhino, Sabu would have been formidible.

** Appropriately enough, once the 90's ended, ECW could not feasibly do any long-term planning and kept tripping over their own shoelaces because all of their big names kept going away. In 2000, Wrestling/MikeAwesome infamously jumped to {{Wrestling/WCW}} to become the legendarily-bad [[ChubbyChaser "Fat Chick Thriller"]] while he was still under ECW contract and the ECW champ. This caused a disastrous domino effect: [[{{Wrestling/Tazz}} Taz]] was loaned to ECW by the WWF to get the belt off of Awesome. (As a side note, this was historic: WCW talent vs. WWF talent for ECW gold.) Taz worked briefly on WWF TV as ECW champ, only to be [[{{Jobber}} jobbed out]] to [[SpotlightStealingSquad the king of burials]] Wrestling/Triple H, which made ECW look stupid. Dreamer was also made to look silly: Dreamer, against his wishes, won the belt off Taz at Cyberslam--making Taz a meaningless transitional champion. Mere minutes later, Credible threw down the Tag belts (because Wrestling/LanceStorm was unable to prevent it) and beat Dreamer for the belt--making ''Dreamer'' (who did not even want the belt) a meaningless transitional champion. Credible was a middling wrestler but a steady hand (see below). He was now carrying ECW, and the world title lineage had become dire; as had the tag belts, which would remain vacant until August. The TV title was also up in the air: [[Wrestling/RobVanDam RVD]] had it for almost two years, then got hurt and had to vacate it. So, in about a three-month period, two-thirds of the ECW belts had been vacated and any future plans were foiled. (Supposedly the ECW World and TV belts were supposed to be contested against each other in a unification bout at the end of 2000, but it was put on hold by the injury.) There was still much to like in the undercard, but the top of the pyramid had fallen apart as early as May.

* MisBlamed: Going from being a key player [[DemotedToExtra to a supporting role]] when he jumped to WWF didn't do Justin any favors, and he was wrongly-blamed for the death of ECW. See "Replacement Scrappy" below.
* NeverLiveItDown: ECW would make fun of Jerry Lawler for raping an underaged girl, even though the case was thrown out when police determined it could not have happened and she admitted to lying. There is a reason he hated ECW.

** The Trope Namer for XPacHeat had a stablemate named Justin Credible who is a tragic case. He was a focal point in the later years of ECW, but he's hardly-mentioned when people recall the promotion. His title run was more about Wrestling/TommyDreamer ''not'' having the title. (Quite similar to Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}' title reign.) He always came across as the Wrestling/XPac of the company, someone who was known for being associated with someone better. How was he World Champion in a year which had people like {{Wrestling/Raven}} return (2000)? ECW were that desperate. RVD was the logical pick for ECW World Champion, but Paul Heyman was saving him for Network TV. By the time they got a TV deal, RVD was hurt, and then by the time he was healed, they lost TV. Heyman was struggling to create new stars and decided to give Credible the ball knowing that he wouldn't command as much money as someone like [[Wrestling/JimFullington Sandman]] or RVD, and he was the one guy neither WWF or WCW would try to steal away. It was business decision, and not a great one. His workrate was artificially-inflated by pitting him against good workers like [[Wrestling/JerryLynn Jerry "Carry Artist" Lynn.]] Credible's first main event (''Halloween Havoc'' 2000 vs. Storm) had a dead crowd [[EightDeadlyWords because nobody really cared]]: Lance was probably not a good pick for a babyface; and since he was leaving, he was obviously not winning the belt, so there was no tension and thus no heat. That [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin Stone Cold]] podcast was a tough listen: Austin kept trying to wrap it up, but JC spent an extra 10-15 minutes explaining how unhappy he is with his place in life and his legacy.

* ReplacementScrappy: The Trope Namer for XPacHeat had a stablemate named Justin Credible who is a tragic case. He was a focal point in the later years of ECW, but he's hardly-mentioned when people recall the promotion. His title run was more about Wrestling/TommyDreamer ''not'' having the title. (Quite similar to Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}' title reign.) He always came across as the Wrestling/XPac of the company, someone who was known for being associated with someone better. How was he World Champion in a year which had people like {{Wrestling/Raven}} return (2000)? ECW were that desperate. RVD was the logical pick for ECW World Champion, but Paul Heyman was saving him for Network TV. By the time they got a TV deal, RVD was hurt, and then by the time he was healed, they lost TV. Heyman was struggling to create new stars and decided to give Credible the ball knowing that he wouldn't command as much money as someone like [[Wrestling/JimFullington Sandman]] or RVD, and he was the one guy neither WWF or WCW would try to steal away. It was business decision, and not a great one. His workrate was artificially-inflated by pitting him against good workers like [[Wrestling/JerryLynn Jerry "Carry Artist" Lynn.]] Credible's first main event (''Halloween Havoc'' 2000 vs. Storm) had a dead crowd because nobody really cared: Lance was probably not a good pick for a babyface; and since he was leaving, he was obviously not winning the belt, so there was no tension and thus no heat. Going from being a key player to a supporting role when he jumped to WWF didn't do Justin any favors, and he was [[MisBlamed wrongly blamed]] for the death of ECW. That [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin Stone Cold]] podcast was a tough listen: Austin kept trying to wrap it up, but JC spent an extra 10-15 minutes explaining how unhappy he is with his place in life and his legacy.

* ReplacementScrappy: The Trope Namer for XPacHeat had a stablemate named Justin Credible who is a tragic case. He was a focal point in the later years of ECW, but he's hardly-mentioned when people recall the promotion. His title run was more about Wrestling/TommyDreamer ''not'' having the title. (Quite similar to Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}' title reign.) He always came across as the Wrestling/XPac of the company, someone who was known for being associated with someone better. How was he World Champion in a year which had people like {{Wrestling/Raven}} return (2000)? ECW were that desperate. Wrestling/PaulHeyman was trying to create new stars and decided to give Credible the ball knowing that he wouldn't command as much money as someone like [[Wrestling/JimFullington Sandman]] or RVD, and he was the one guy neither WWF or WCW would try to steal away. It was business decision, and not a great one. His workrate was artificially-inflated by pitting him against good workers like [[Wrestling/JerryLynn Jerry "Carry Artist" Lynn.]] Credible's first main event (''Halloween Havoc'' 2000 vs. Storm) had a dead crowd because nobody really cared: Lance was probably not a good pick for a babyface; and since he was leaving, he was obviously not winning the belt, so there was no tension and thus no heat. Going from being a key player to a supporting role when he jumped to WWF didn't do Justin any favors, and he was [[MisBlamed wrongly blamed]] for the death of ECW. That [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin Stone Cold]] podcast was a tough listen: Austin kept trying to wrap it up, but JC spent an extra 10-15 minutes explaining how unhappy he is with his place in life and his legacy.

* JumpingTheShark: Appropriately enough, once the 90's ended, ECW could not feasibly do any long-term planning and kept tripping over their own shoelaces because all of their big names kept going away. In 2000, Wrestling/MikeAwesome infamously jumped to {{Wrestling/WCW}} to become the legendarily-bad [[ChubbyChaser "Fat Chick Thriller"]] while he was still under ECW contract and the ECW champ. This caused a disastrous domino effect: [[{{Wrestling/Tazz}} Taz]] was loaned to ECW by the WWF to get the belt off of Awesome. (As a side note, this was historic: WCW talent vs. WWF talent for ECW gold.) Taz worked briefly on WWF TV as ECW champ, only to be [[{{Jobber}} jobbed out]] to [[SpotlightStealingSquad the king of burials]] Wrestling/Triple H, which made ECW look stupid. Dreamer was also made to look silly: Dreamer, against his wishes, won the belt off Taz at Cyberslam--making Taz a meaningless transitional champion. Mere minutes later, Credible threw down the Tag belts (because Wrestling/LanceStorm was unable to prevent it) and beat Dreamer for the belt--making ''Dreamer'' (who did not even want the belt) a meaningless transitional champion. Credible was a middling wrestler but a steady hand (see below). He was now carrying ECW, and the world title lineage had become dire; as had the tag belts, which would remain vacant until August. The TV title was also up in the air: [[Wrestling/RobVanDam RVD]] had it for almost two years, then got hurt and had to vacate it. So, in about a three-month period, two-thirds of the ECW belts had been vacated and any future plans were foiled. (Supposedly the ECW World and TV belts were supposed to be contested against each other in a unification bout at the end of 2000, but it was put on hold by the injury.) There was still much to like in the undercard, but the top of the pyramid had fallen apart as early as May.

* ReplacementScrappy: The Trope Namer for XPacHeat had a stablemate named Justin Credible who is a tragic case. He was a focal point in the later years of ECW, but he's hardly-mentioned when people recall the promotion. His title run was more about Wrestling/TommyDreamer ''not'' having the title. (Quite similar to Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}' title reign.) He always came across as the Wrestling/XPac of the company, someone who was known for being associated with someone better. How was he World Champion in a year which had people like {{Wrestling/Raven}} return (2000)? ECW were that desperate. Wrestling/PaulHeyman was trying to create new stars and decided to give Credible the ball knowing that he wouldn't command as much money as someone like [[Wrestling/JimFullington Sandman]] or RVD, and he was the one guy neither WWF or WCW would try to steal away. It was business decision, and not a great one. His workrate was artificially-inflated by pitting him against good workers like Wrestling/JerryLynn. Credible's first main event (''Halloween Havoc'' 2000 vs. Storm) had a dead crowd because nobody really cared: Lance was probably not a good pick for a babyface; and since he was leaving, he was obviously not winning the belt, so there was no tension and thus no heat. Going from being a key player to a supporting role when he jumped to WWF didn't do Justin any favors, and he was [[MisBlamed wrongly blamed]] for the death of ECW. That [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin Stone Cold]] podcast was a tough listen: Austin kept trying to wrap it up, but JC spent an extra 10-15 minutes explaining how unhappy he is with his place in life and his legacy.

* TheScrappy: Justin Credible, one of the last ECW World Heavyweight Champions, was eventually looked upon as this. After a feud with Jerry "Carry Artist" Lynn made him look like a legitimately great wrestler, this merely-passable pro was pushed as the #1 heel in the company, and the fans let him know that he didn't really deserve it. Easily one of the least-liked World Champions ever. Invoked by Paul Heyman, who wanted a long-term ECW Champion: so he put the belt on the one wrestler that neither of the "Big 2" were ever going to even ''try'' to sign.
** Miss Patricia, a valet in Wrestling/{{Raven}}'s Nest, is an interesting example of this, since, apparently the rest of the roster weren't sad when she left.
* SeasonalRot: After 18 years of existence, ECW finally died its final death with the last episode of WWE's ''ECW on Syfy'' being aired in February 2010... with Wrestling/TheMiz, Wrestling/YoshiTatsu, and Ezekiel Jackson being among the last names ever mentioned on the show. Not even poor Wrestling/{{Christian}}, who'd carried that show on his back for a year, yet this was his reward. Losing the belt in the last episode.

** "THANK YOU SIR, MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?!": Wrestling/TommyDreamer's response to getting caned by Sandman after losing a match against him. Paul had stuck him in a feud with Sandman and Woman, the two most hardcore people he had at that time. And Dreamer went toe-to-toe with both of them. The crowd fell in love with Dreamer after that.

* ReplacementScrappy: The Trope Namer for XPacHeat had a stablemate named Justin Credible who is a tragic case. He was a focal point in the later years of ECW, but he's hardly-mentioned when people recall the promotion. His title run was more about Wrestling/TommyDreamer ''not'' having the title. (Quite similar to Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}' title reign.) He always came across as the Wrestling/XPac of the company, someone who was known for being associated with someone better. How was he World Champion in a year which had people like {{Wrestling/Raven}} return (2000)? ECW were that desperate. Wrestling/PaulHeyman was trying to create new stars and decided to give Credible the ball knowing that he wouldn't command as much money as someone like [[Wrestling/JimFullington Sandman]] or [[Wrestling/RobVanDam RVD]], and he was the one guy neither WWF or {{Wrestling/WCW}} would try to steal away. It was business decision, and not a great one. His workrate was artificially-inflated by pitting him against good workers like Wrestling/JerryLynn. Going from being a key player to a supporting role when he jumped to WWF didn't do him any favors, and he was [[MisBlamed wrongly blamed]] for the death of ECW. That [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin Stone Cold]] podcast was a tough listen: Austin was trying to wrap it up, but JC spent an extra 10-15 minutes explaining how unhappy he is with his place in life and his legacy.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: A large part of the reason most modern wrestling fans view ECW as nothing more than a blood and guts promotion is because ''everything'' ECW did that was revolutionary in wrestling at the time is so commonplace in today's wrestling atmosphere that it's the only thing that stands out. Revisionist historians at WWE have [[OrwellianEditor carefully omitted any link]] between their current stars and ECW, leading new fans to assume that WWE built those talents from the ground up.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: ECW led to an influx of {{garbage wrestler}}s who could not wrestle well but could swing stuff around, take hits or were willing to jump off high places to the USA scene. Also popularized valets mainly there to do "cat fights". These did not originate in ECW, but this is where they caught on. Abdullah the Butcher, The Sheik, Dick the Bruiser, those guys could still work traditional matches well... Sandman not so much. Also, the ECW women typically had more to their roles during their early to mid years but as ECW wound down, rolling around and Bronco Busters were about all women did. Prior garbage feds like Wrestling/{{FMW}} tended to produce some of the most fearsome women divisions on the planet. Following in ECW's wake, XPW, IWA Mid-South and Wrestling/{{CZW}} would magnify these flaws to new heights(though in fairness, the latter two would learn from their mistakes and ''outlast'' ECW).

** "From the Harley Races, to the Barry Windhams, to the... Ric Flairs!" [[{{Website/Botchamania}} "Nevermind that shit, here comes Mongo!"]]

* FranchiseOriginalSin: ECW led to an influx of {{garbage wrestler}}s who could not wrestle well but could swing stuff around, take hits, or were willing to jump off high places, to the USA scene. These did not originate in ECW, but this is where they caught on. While wrestlers credited with being the originators of what became the hardcore wrestling style such as Abdullah the Butcher, The Sheik, and Dick the Bruiser could still work traditional matches well... Sandman not so much. Also popularized valets mainly there to do "cat fights". The ECW women typically had more to their roles during their early to mid years but as ECW wound down, rolling around and Bronco Busters were about all women did. Prior garbage feds like Wrestling/{{FMW}} tended to produce some of the most fearsome women divisions on the planet. Following in ECW's wake, XPW, IWA Mid-South and Wrestling/{{CZW}} would magnify these flaws to new heights (though in fairness, the latter two would learn from their mistakes and ''outlast'' ECW).

** "From the Harley Races, to the Barry Windhams, to the... Ric Flairs!" [[Website/{{Botchamania}} "Nevermind that shit, here comes Mongo!"]]

* FranchiseOriginalSin: ECW led to an influx of {{garbage wrestler}}s who could not wrestle well but could swing stuff around, take hits or were willing to jump off high places to the USA scene. Also popularized valets mainly there to do "cat fights". These did not originate in ECW, but this is where they caught on. Abdullah the Butcher, The Sheik, Dick the Bruiser, those guys could still work traditional matches well... Sandman not so much. Also, the ECW women typically had more to their roles during their early to mid years but as ECW wound down, rolling around and Bronco Busters were about all women did. Prior garbage feds like Wrestling/{{FMW}} tended to produce some of the most fearsome women divisions on the planet. Following in ECW's wake, XPW, IWA Mid-South and Wrestling/{{CZW}} would magnify these flaws to new heights(though in fairness, the latter two would learn from their mistakes and ''outlast'' ECW).

** "From the Harley Races, to the Barry Windhams, to the... Ric Flairs!" [[{{Website/Botchamania}} "Nevermind that shit, here comes Mongo!"]]

* HarsherInHindsight: [=WWECW=]'s infamous one-shot Zombie wrestler becomes a bit harder to laugh at when you learn that the man who played the role, Tim Calkins Jr. or Tim Arson to the wrestling world, passed away prematurely in 2015.