"It could only have been spawned in Philadelphia" - Paul Heyman and Ronda Rousey discuss ECW's origins
ECW legends Paul Heyman and D-Von Dudley sat down with former RAW and UFC champion Ronda Rousey to talk about the history of the extreme brand.
In the mid-1990s when fans were looking for a more aggressive wrestling product, Paul Heyman and ECW delivered it. To present such an extreme form of wrestling, the host city needed to reflect the same attitude that the wrestlers in the ring were showing night after night.
Speaking on the ESPN+ show, Rowdy's places, Paul Heyman stated why Philadelphia was the best spot for ECW at the time.
"ECW could only have been spawned in Philadelphia," said Heyman. "So when pro wrestling needed to change, where else could it happen, but from a dilapidated bingo hall. There was no heat in the winter time, there was no ventilation and if it rained, the roof would leak onto the fans, and into the ring. It could not have happened anywhere else." [0:24-1:43]
D-Von Dudley also mentioned how the ECW arena was a true proving ground for wrestlers to see if they had what it took to survive in the business.
"You know, a lot of times they say, if you don't make it at the say Madison Square Garden, you know you're not gonna make it anywhere, that's not true, if you don't make it here in the ECW arena, at that time, you ain't making it nowhere and this was the place to go," D-Von Dudley said. [1:44- 1:55]
"ECW could *only* have been spawned in Philadelphia." - @HeymanHustle
@RondaRousey explores the birthplace of Extreme Championship Wrestling in the latest episode of Rowdy's Places es.pn/39EOeFw https://t.co/weuwedIjgs
Despite its short lifespan, ECW provided fans with a gritty, entertaining alternative to what was being presented to them at the time.
Paul Heyman on if social media would have helped or hurt ECW
Paul Heyman spoke on the podcast Casio's Cut to discuss whether ECW would have benefited from using social media or not, had it existed at the time.
“We would’ve exploited it like every other opportunity and every other platform that we had,” Heyman said. “I can’t tell you that it would have hurt ECW because if it hurt ECW then I wouldn’t have been doing my job understanding the parameters and the opportunities that are presented by any platform or any concept or distribution that was happening at the time. Then again, would it have helped? One would only hope. People who sit there and say ‘well, this ruined this industry.’ It means you couldn’t keep up." [H/T Wresling Inc.]
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Knowing Paul Heyman's caliber, even if there was no social media, he would have used magazines such as this to promote ECW.
Paul Heyman has been known to adapt to any situation the wrestling business has thrown at him. Despite ECW being long gone, it would have been interesting to see how such a promotion would exist in today's world.
Please credit Rowdy's Places and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.