ECW

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ECW
ECW on Sci-Fi
Announcers	Todd Grisham & Matt Striker

ECW is the newest WWE brand and has recently made it's debut to the SmackDown! series, officially making it's mark in SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008.

Before being under the WWE umbrella, ECW was it's own company called Eastern Championship Wrestling. Later, it was renamed what most fans recognize it as, Extreme Championship Wrestling. ECW, owned by Paul Heyman (Previously Todd Gordon) was a big hit with wrestling fans that wanted to get away from the "Sports Entertainment" that WWF and WCW were relying on. ECW brought to the table foul language, sex, blood, weapons, fire, explosions, catfights, man-on-woman violence, controversial characters, and good wrestling. Some of today's biggest stars got their start in ECW ranging from Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Tommy Dreamer, Tazz, Sabu, Terry Funk, Mick Foley, Raven and many others.

ECW lasted throughout the 90's and died in the turn of the century. Paul Heyman never told his former employees that they actually did go out of business. When Heyman appeared on Monday Night RAW, the alumni took the hint that ECW was under.

ECW would resurface in the Invasion angle, which happened just months into Heyman's new role as commentator. At first, ECW looked like it was going to be a third party in the war against WCW and WWF, but ECW ended up siding with WCW forming the alliance known as just that - The Alliance.

The Alliance and ECW would end up losing the battle over WWF and the name scurried away. The only mention of ECW would be when Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, and other ECW alumni wrestled and the fans would shout with appreciation, "ECW! ECW! ECW!"

WWE acknowledged that ECW was still hugely popular, even after it's been long dead. To make up for this and give back to the ECW fans, WWE created a PPV called ECW One Night Stand - at that time a PPV that was supposed to be a one-night-only reformation of ECW. While many worried the WWE would sugarcoat with Sports Entertainment antics, the PPV was hugely popular with both die hard ECW and WWE fans alike.

Due to the success of One Night Stand, ECW was eventually made into it's own brand - making it the third brand in WWE's brand split. Most of the ECW alumni like Tommy Dreamer, Tazz, and Rob Van Dam left their original brands for ECW. Some ECW alumni like The Sandman, Sabu, and Balls Mahoney debuted. There was also a large mix of new superstars showing up to be part of the brand like Marcus Cor Von, Elijah Burke and CM Punk.

Today, ECW is still airing on the Sci-Fi network with Todd Grisham and Matt Striker calling the action. Joey Styles has since retired from commentating, but called the action for the first two years ECW was on the air.

WWE Smackdown! vs. RAW 2006

Although the brand hadn't yet been revitalized, ECW still makes a strong presence in the game especially in Season Mode. The ECW Title can be unlocked by taking up Rob Van Dam's offer to join ECW and by winning the matches that occur afterwards. Also the ECW One Night Stand arena would be unlocked after winning the match at that venue, not to mention you could unlock a snazzy ECW T-shirt for the locker room by winning the Bar Brawl trophy.

WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008

ECW made it's debut in the SmackDown! series in this game. There are only 5 normal ECW Superstars in the game.

• CM Punk
• Elijah Burke
• Johnny Nitro
• Kelly Kelly
• Marcus Cor Von

There are also an additional three ECW legends in the game.

• Sabu
• Terry Funk
• Tommy Dreamer

WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2009

• The Boogeyman
• Chavo Guerrero
• Elijah Burke
• Evan Bourne
• Finlay
• John Morrison
• Kelly Kelly
• Mark Henry
• Matt Hardy
• The Miz
• Tommy Dreamer

Evan Bourne must be downloaded via DLC.

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Major portions of this page were written by: KCDubya