The 411 Wrestling Top 5 6.03.09: Week 25 – Original ECW Moments

Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling’s Top 5 List. What we are going to is take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, plus up to three honorable mentions. At the end, based on where all these matches rank on people’s list, we will create the 411 Wrestling Top 5 list. The scoring is very similar to the Wrestler of the Week as it looks like this:

#1 Choice – 5 points
#2 Choice – 4 points
#3 choice – 3 points
#4 Choice – 2 points
#5 Choice – 1 point
Honorable Mentions will break ties, but get no points.

Also, in the case of a tie, the most votes win, regardless of where it is listed in the individual Top 5. I will also use this rule in the event that one item is mentioned more often, but is one point behind. For example, one second place vote and two Honorable Mentions will defeat simply one first place vote.

So, on to this week’s topic…

THE TOP 5 ORIGINAL ECW MOMENTS

The original ECW… the craziest set of wrestlers ever to step foot inside the squared circle led by the mad genius known as Paul Heyman. They went bankrupt in 2001 and to this day, the legend of ECW is still alive from the most diehard of fans. The WWE has brought back the brand n Tuesday Nights, but it has proven to be nothing more than a bastardized version of the original, even when RVD and Sabu were around. So with the WWE Extreme Rules PPV upcoming this weekend, we thought that we would look back at the original ECW and give you our favorite moments.

So what did our group of writers select? Let’s find out…

Julian Bond

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Brian Lee’s high table fall/Dudleys and Flaming Tables (tie) – Okay…this is definitely a tough-as-nails Top 5. Even if one did a “Top 50” for this topic, they’ll still forget to mention something! RVD diving into the crowd…the Raven/Sandman storyline…New Jack showing up randomly…there are SO many good moments to speak of here. But I shall stick to my own personal favorites of course. These two here (I couldn’t just pick one) with Brian Lee’s like seemingly 40 ft fall into multiple tables in his Scaffold Match against Tommy Dreamer and the first time I saw the Dudleys put someone through a flaming table on TV were both real sickening moments that made the shocking ECW so addicting to watch.

Taz and Bam Bam Bigelow going through ring (1998) – When I first started watching ECW, I honestly thought that Taz was just a stereotypical “bad-ass” who talked a good talk, but wasn’t the toughest in the ring. Once I saw the moment where the much shorter Taz and the huge Bigelow collided, fell through the freakin’ ring, and both men barely crawled out, it made me a true believer in how much a crazed brawler Taz really was. Taz then slowly became one of the main reasons why I tuned in every week.

Raven Returns/Dudleys’ Last Night (1999) – This specific ECW episode was to me one of the best and craziest ones I’ve ever seen. Dudleys threatened to take the ECW tag belts they just won that night with them to Vince in WWE, Tommy Dreamer came out to try and get them back by himself to defend ECW’s honor, and then Dreamer’s long time rival Raven returned in dramatic fashion to assist him in winning the belts. Great moment.

5. Paul Heyman threatening TNN on “last episode” of ECW (2000) – Heyman has always been to known to cut the craziest, most insane promos either in storylines or in real life. But this one here featured on the “last episode” of ECW on the cable channel TNN (formerly The Nashville Network now known as Spike TV) was truly one of his most intense moments. Back then, it was no secret at all that Heyman was butting heads with the network heads at TNN about what kind of content ECW can and cannot show (i.e. editing of violence, language) and the lack of ads shown for the show. But when the writing was on the wall when TNN was bringing WWE Raw on board, Heyman went off like a mad man on national television. Some may said that it was just a stupid rant cause Heyman didn’t get his way, but I saw it as a big ol’ FU to the network and was truly surprised when watching because of the fact that TNN actually allowed it to hit the air.

4.Spike Dudley going “crowd-surfing” (1997) – Simple moment, deep meaning. When Spike Dudley was thrown by Bam Bam Bigelow into the attending crowd and the people not only caught him, but proceeded to be “body-surfed” all around the area and evenually back towards the ring, it was one of the most insane things I’ve EVER seen in wrestling. To me it was just a crazy-looking ECW moment, it really defined the people who watched and followed the company. For those random fans (and not “planted” ones like they do with crowd stunts nowadays) to not only catch a wrestler but then interact fully to get them back into the match was really a true testament to who people felt about the brand. People were so into what they saw that they didn’t even blink when someone was suddenly thrown into their laps.

3.Mick Foley’s “Cane Dewey” promo (1995) – What I and many others consider the greatest promo of all time, Foley’s rant on ECW about his dislike for hardcore fans was a beauty to behold. At the time, I’ve never seen any deep promos besides the basic “I’m gonna take you out brotha!!” I’ve always been accustomed to. So seeing a complex promo like the one that Foley did really separate ECW from everyone else and provided one hellua of memorable moment.

2.“RVD vs. Jerry Lynn” matches (1999) – These matches between the two excellent high-flyers was my personal sole reason for becoming absolutely obsessed with watching ECW every single week. So many various things have been said about these matches for years by fans, but I believe that the type of athleticism shown here defined the type of sick and insane work ethic rarely shown in a mainstream promotion other than the local independents and ROH. Instead of nic-picking just one moment from these matches, I honestly have to list the entire series as just one huge moment for ECW fans.

1.Barely Legal 97′ PPV – Likewise with above, I can’t just pick one exact moment here from this PPV and instead have to list the entire thing as one big gigantic moment for the company. If I was to introduce ECW to a casual fan for the first time, then I would lend them a DVD of this PPV. You have excellent technical wrestling in RVD vs. Lance Storm. Great tag team action with the Dudleys and the Eliminators. Crazy international grappling with people like Taka Michinoku and The Great Sasuke. And the best of classic ECW rivalries with Taz vs. Sabu and the 3-Way Dance involving Stevie Richards, Sandman, and the legendary Terry Funk. The whole event, which concluded with a picture-perfect snapshot of Funk winning the ECW Title against champion Raven after the 3-Way, was to me the biggest moment in ECW history because it laid out every good that followed after it.

Shawn S. Lealos

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Bam Bam Bigalo launches Spike Dudley into the audience and in return, they body surf him across the crowd – It’s just a classic moment.

Any Dudley Boys in ring promo with their manager, “The Quintessential Studmuffin” Joel “Just like the Rubix Cube, the more you play with it, the harder it gets” Gertner – I didn’t care if they ever wrestled. Just let them talk.

Bam Bam Bigalo and Taz crashes through the ring in a TV title match! – It was one of the biggest “what the F?” moments from original ECW.

5. The Crucifixion of Sandman – This moment was never used by ECW or publically seen until it was released on “The Rise and Fall of ECW” DVD, but that inclusion makes it stick out in my memory. I wanted to include the moments with Sandman and his son Tyler but this moment, seen years after ECW died, is the one that kept coming back to mind.

This incident had huge implications into what was about to happen in professional wrestling. Kurt Angle was there that night being wooed by Paul Heyman to make some appearances in ECW. When Raven crucified Sandman, with the barbed wire wrapped around his forehead, it offended the Olympic champion so much he immediately left and threatened to sue if they showed him on the show at all. I still wonder how he felt about the Undertaker doing the crucifixion angle on RAW years later. Of course, this incident was in the amazing feud between Sandman and Raven when Sandman’s ex-wife and very young son Tyler joined Raven. The moments with Tyler and Sandman on TV were very disturbing thanks to the young age of Tyler and his willingness to mimic Raven’s mannerisms.

This is one of the most disturbing moments I can remember of from the old ECW. Raven returned to the ring and said that because the crowd respects his privacy as Scott Levy, he will in return apologize to anyone he may have offended. Just wow…

4. Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven, Wrestlepalooza 1997 – This match is memorable to me for two reasons. The first is that Raven tormented Dreamer for three years and the two went to hell and back. The only problem was Dreamer could never beat Raven. He beat him up and got revenge in other ways but he could never pin Raven’s shoulders to the mat. Thanks to Raven signing a contract with WCW, Paul Heyman finally allowed Dreamer to get the 1-2-3. It was an emotional moment for Tommy and the fans loved it because they all knew Raven had sold out. The second important thing took place after the match, before Dreamer could celebrate his victory in the war against his nemesis. The lights went out and when they came back on Jerry Lawler, Jim Cornett, Rob Van Dam and Sabu beat up Dreamer and started the big war between the WWF and ECW. ECW had invaded the WWF earlier but this was the WWF showing up in ECW, unheard of at that time and it helped solidify the new identity for my favorite wrestler from that war – “Mr. Monday Night” Rob Van Dam.

3. Steve Austin shoots on WCW – I was a huge Steve Austin fan in WCW. Whether it was his US Title run or his Hollywood Blondes team with Brian Pillman, I felt Austin had a ton of potential. Thank God Eric Bichoff fired him – over the phone, while Austin was injured. It pissed off Austin and gave Heyman a unique opportunity to put one over on his hated rivals. Austin showed up dressed like Hulk Hogan and was given a live microphone and was allowed to say whatever he wanted. Stone Cold was born here.

2. Shane Douglas throws down the NWA Championship belt – Shane was battling Scorpio in the finals of the NWA World Championship tournament. Paul Heyman said that the NWA was exactly what he wanted to get away from. The old school, old mentality style of the federation was the last thing he wanted to be connected to, so he devised this plan. Following his win, Douglas took the mic and named checked former NWA Champions before saying they could kiss his ass. He refused to accept the torch passed down from a promotion that died seven years prior. He threw down the NWA belt and declared himself the new ECW World Champion. Only Shane and Heyman knew this was going to happen. Following the event, Dennis Carraluzzo of the NWA board called it a disgrace and stated Douglas had no right throwing the championship belt down. Todd Gordon immediately folded Eastern Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling was born. It was the most important moment in ECW history and defined the organization.

1. Mick Foley’s “Cane Dewey” promo – “I’m going to take you back to a very deciding point in my life, a time when I believed in something! A time when I thought that my face and my name made a difference. Do you remember the night Tommy Dreamer? Because it’s embedded in my skull! It’s embedded in my heart, and it’s embedded in every nightmare that I will ever have again. As Terry Funk took a bottle and began slicing and dicing Cactus Jack, the pain was so much Tommy that I’ll be honest with you. I wanted to say “I quit Terry Funk! I give! I wave the flag and I’m a coward, please don’t cut me anymore!”…When I saw my saving grace. You see Tommy I looked into that audience, my adoring crowd, and I saw two simple words that changed my life:

Cane. Dewey.

Somebody had taken the time, and the effort, and the thought, to make a sign that said ‘Cane Dewey’. And I saw other people around, as every moment in my life stopped and focused in on that sign, and the pain that shot through my body became a distant memory. Replaced by the pain that will be embedded in my skull to my dying day! ‘Cane Dewey’…’Cane Dewey’…Dewey Foley is a three year old boy, you sick sons of bitches!! You ripped out my heart! You took everything thing I believed in, and you flushed it down the damn toilet!! You flushed my heart! You flushed my soul! And now it sickens me to sit back, and see other people making the same mistake!

You see Tommy Dreamer I’ve got to listen to my little boy every day of my life say “Daddy, I miss Atlanta”. I say “It’s too bad son, because your dad traded in the Victorian house for a sweatbox in Long Island! Your dad traded in a hundred thousand dollar contract, guaranteed money, insurance, respect, and a name on the dotted line of the greatest man in the world, to work for a scumbag who operates out a little piss ant pawnshop in Philadelphia!” You don’t expect me to be bitter? Tommy when you open up your heart, when you open up your soul, and it gets [bleeped] on…it tends to make Jack a very mean boy. And so what I’m saying to you, before I take these aggressions out on you, to look at your future and realize that the hardcore life…is a lie! That these letters behind me are a blatant lie! That those fans who sit there and say “He’s hardcore, he’s hardcore, he’s hardcore” wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire, you selfish son of a bitch!”

Scott Rutherford

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Mick Foley anti-hardcore matches – The promo’s were masterful, the matches were artwork.

The Guy With The Yellow Facial Jockstrap in the WWF Becomes Your World Champion – Extreme in the strictest sense? No, but an extreme over-reaction to his ever worsening roster situation caused this brain fart from Heyman. Dreamer should have been given a chance to carry the ball or RVD for that matter not JUSTIN F’n CREDIBLE?!?.

Sandman Canes Dreamer….and Dreamer Likes It – One of the few time real emotion has crept into an angle in any promotion in the last 20 years. Helped make Dreamer credible to the finicky Philly fans.

5.Spike Dudley Goes Crowd Surfing – ECW at its core was ALWAYS about the fans whether it was serving them exactly what they wanted or managing to swerve them in a completely unlikely way and the crowd always showed their respect (mostly). They took care of Spike in this awesome visual when it could have gone completely wrong and created a defining image for the promotion.

4.Public Enemy get Buried Under A Couple Hundred Metal Chairs – Probably THE defining image of ECW was the crowd engaging in their own special brand of participation and throwing almost every available chair into the ring and onto the prone bodies of Rocko Rock and Johnny Grunge. Even though ECW was never aired in Australia, that image still made it onto our TV screens making me more than a little curious about this unheard of promotion. I’m sure I wasn’t the only person shown the ECW-light by this event.

3.Tommy Dreamer v. Raven – One of the greatest feuds of all time and it worked because one party knew how to stow his ego and didn’t care that he lost to the same guy for over two years. The most glorious aspect to that is the fact Dreamer got more over losing his matches than he would have winning. 50/50 booking today is killing intrigue in matches and the fact that Heyman and this two guys could keep a bunch of Attention Deficit Disorder fans interested is quite the achievement and should be duly noted by those in power today.

2.Shane Douglas Creates ECW by Rejecting the NWA Championship – Huge. Epic. Controversial. Want to put your upstart promotion on the map and give it so much notoriety that that it fast became the “in” thing amongst the “Real” wrestling fans? While those people are nothing but over educated marks, Douglas’s actions had them eating out of Heymans and Gertners hand. As it became the achilles heel of the promotion, the need to top each massive smark leaden swerve and became more “inside” turned the promotion into a parody. But for this one bright shiny moment, wrestling got turned on its head and Vince rode it all the way into history copying everything he could.

1.Brian Pillman Heels Up and Swerves The Smarks – In a word Larry Csonka is fond of using…tremendous. Thanks to the ECW DVD released a few years ago by The E, this moment got more exposure because up till then it was THE hidden gem of ECW’s reign of terror. Although time has dulled it’s impact, when Pillman started heckling the smark crowd in the bingo hall, the reaction was priceless and was akin to them watching their old man nail their prom date. The silence and shock on their faces was hands down one of the funniest things ever. The guy at ringside with the sign stating “Don’t swerve us Brian” just makes it all the more magical. This, and not the ultra-violence that they are known for, is what we should remember ECW for. Edgy, funny, surprising and highly entertaining.

Larry Csonka

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Wait…did a WWF Wrestler just beat a WCW wrestler…for the ECW TITLE? – Mike Awesome bails for WCW as the ECW champion, and Tazz, now in the WWF, comes to the rescue and brings the title back home.

The Mass Transit Incident – The incident that almost killed ECW…

Beulah McGillicutty and Kimona Wanalaya Make Out – When you’re a kid, hot lesbians are awesome. What the fuck am I talking about, hot lesbians are still awesome!

5. The Crucifixion of The Sandman – One of the most controversial moments in ECW history, and the reason Kurt Angle wanted nothing to do with ECW.

4. Mick Foley’s Cane Dewey and Anti-Hardcore Promos – I have long defended Mick Foley as one of wrestling’s great promo guys, and these promos in ECW were where people took notice that Foley was an awesome mic guy.

3. Brian Pillman puts the “FN” in EC”FN“W! – 2.11.96, Cyber Slam, This was the awesome debut of Pillman to ECW. Styles of course plays up the “what are you doing here” card, while the crowd sings, “Bishoff takes it up the ass, DOO DA…DOO DA.” Tremendous. Pillman explains that Bishoff fired him, but being that he is in Philly, his constitutional rights can’t be censored here. He lays it on that Bishoff was nothing but a coffee gopher for Verne Gagne. Styles tries to go to commercial, but Brian FN Pillman puts a stop to this. He then goes onto bash the “smart marks” in the crowd. It’s great because they go from loving him to hating him in a matter of seconds. “A mark is a guy that believes OJ didn’t do it…a mark is every one of you sorry sons of bitches.” He threatens to piss in the ring and Heyman and Gordon rush out and say that this was not part of the deal. Unfortunately for them Pillman doesn’t give a fuck about “the booker men.” We hear Gordon say, “he’s shooting, he’s shooting!” Security and Shane Douglas come to the ring as Heyman starts yelling “Fuck you” repeatedly to Pillman. The Village People like security try to escort him out as the crowd chants, “Let him piss.” “A fan” tries to hit Pillman, and is pulled into the ring and Douglas makes the save. This is what ECW was all about at the time, the unexpected appearances, as well as the “shoot/worked-shoot” before it became an overused angle in WCW and beyond. Plain and simple, this was completely awesome. I still dig the entire segment to this day. Styles puts him over as the Loose Cannon of pro wrestling, saying he stepped over the line even for ECW. This was ECW.

2. The Chair Shot Heard Around The World – This is one of the feuds that defined ECW. Dreamer and Raven feuded for what seemed like a decade in ECW, but it was awesome. Raven would always either pin Dreamer, or manage not to be pinned in these tag matches they would have. Dreamer would get so close, and then smoke and mirrors, road blocks would come into place, new allies would turn on Dreamer, it went on and on and on, and the crowds HATED RAVEN, but they LOVED DREAMER. A feud that some felt would never end that that Dreamer would never win. And then it happened. Heatwave ’95: Tommy Dreamer pinned Raven. And after tons of physical and mental abuse, Dreamer handcuffed Raven to the cage, and landed ONE thunderous chair shot. His revenge was complete, Raven would leave, and Dreamer could move on. This was ECW.

1. Shane Douglas Throws Down the NWA Title – August 27th 1994 came; the location was the Viking Hall (known as the ECW Arena) in Philadelphia, Pa. 911, 2 Cold Scorpio, Doink the Clown, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Shane Douglas, The Tazmaniac and Osamu Nishimura were slotted in an 8-man, one night tournament to crown the new Champion. Douglas entered the vacant NWA World Title Tournament that night and defeated the Tazmaniac and Dean Malenko to reach the finals, and then 2 Cold Scorpio to lay claim to the NWA World Title. He grabbed the mic and delivered a spirited and emotional speech, talking about the tradition of the NWA. He praised such wrestlers as the Funks, “The Real Nature Boy, got rest his soul” Buddy Rogers, The Briscoes, Harley Race, Barry Windham, “the fat man himself” Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, and…and…what he did next was unthinkable. Douglas said, “All of them can kiss my ass!” He refused to accept a torch handed down by an organization that had died seven years before. He declared himself “The Franchise,” threw down the “NWA” Title, picked back up his ECW Championship and proclaimed himself the new “E C W” WORLD Heavyweight Champion. The crowd was shocked, but loved what was happening and cheered “E C W and FLAIR IS DEAD!” What he did began a new era in the sport of professional wrestling. He had vacated the NWA World Title, throwing it like a piece of trash as he and the rest of the ECW left the NWA to form their own destiny.

Jeremy Thomas

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Spike Dudley Crowd-Surfs – This was one of those things you would have never seen in the Big Two and was an example of how, despite the hardcore, vicious stuff that went on, sometimes ECW was so good simply because of how fun it was.

The Blinding of the Sandman – This whole angle was crazy, with the Sandman supposedly being blinded by a bad combination of a cane shot and the Sandman’s victory smoke; when he came back and revealed it all to be a work, the fans just HATED him.

Tommy Dreamer vs. Brian Lee – Scaffold Match – This was one of the more memorable “Holy Shit” moments in ECW, with Lee falling off the scaffold through something like four stacks of tables. The man could have killed himself, but it made for great television.

5.The Sandman is Crucified – Imagine if this segment had never happened, what could have been in ECW. Kurt Angle was backstage talking with Paul Heyman about coming in, but when he saw this he swore off ECW for life and even, as Shawn said, threatened to sue if they showed his face at all. Personally, I always thought that Angle freaked out a bit much and whatever the reaction it made for a compelling moment in the Raven/Sandman feud, but the bottom line is that it was the one time ECW felt it had crossed the line too far and it’s very memorable just for that.

4.Tommy Dreamer’s Caning – Oh, I loved this. Tommy Dreamer lost a match against the Sandman where the loser would have to be caned, and Sandman really took it to Dreamer. Within a couple of shots, Dreamer’s back was bloodied, and soon after the cane started splintering. Fans were screaming at Tommy to stay down but the tough bastard wouldn’t do so, and at one point he got on the mic and said “Thank you sir, may I have another!” No matter how many times Sandman unloaded on the guy he wouldn’t stay down, and the beating got to the point where it was uncomfortable. It was Tommy Dreamer’s star-making moment and he made the most of it, creating an incredible ECW moment in the process.

3.Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn (5/16/99) – This match is here both to represent the incredible matches RVD and Lynn had as well as to highlight one of the most painful looking bumps I’d ever seen. This was at Hardcore Heaven and featured a very hot crowd and some impressive countering of each other in the opening moments. The match is incredible, but what I remember most is RVD crotching Lynn on the ropes and then dropkicking him to the outside. Lynn’s foot caught on the ropes and he hit the thin ringside mat head-first, knocking himself cold for a few moments. RVD grandstood for the crowd a bit to give Lynn a chance to wake up, and after that they continued to wrestle for quite a long time and still put on a great match. There’s one moment in the match where they’re still at the ringside area and if you look you can see a definite wet spot where Lynn’s head landed. That bloody spot made me gasp the first time I saw it, and to this day I’m surprised that Lynn was (relatively) okay after the fact.

2.Shane Douglas Tosses Away the NWA Heavyweight Title – How can you have a top five ECW moments list without the controversial moment where Shane Douglas created ECW by metaphorically pissing all over the National Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Title? This was not only the formation of ECW, but in a way it was nearly the final nail in the NWA’s coffin and they’d spend years trying to recover. Shane gets a lot of shit for his conspiracy theories and “woe is me” personality, but he helped usher in a new day in the industry here and deserves a lot of credit for that.

1.Mick Foley – “Cane Dewey” Promo – Epic. This was simply a phenomenal and powerful promo by one of the all-time best talkers in the business. I don’t even really know what I can say here that the other guys haven’t, except to say that I was utterly enthralled throughout this promo. Mick has an ability to connect with a crowd and really sell the emotion of what he’s saying, and this is exactly what he did here–take a moment that legitimately sickened and disturbed him and turn it back on the fans. This is, without question, one of the greatest promos of all-time and I still get chills watching it.

Michael Bauer

Cactus Jack and Terry Funk takes a Chair Shower – Oh come on, how freaking awesome was seeing the entire crowd throwing chair after chair into the ring?

Beulah McGillicutty and Kimona Wanalaya Make Out – Larry said everything that needed to be said

Mikey Whipwreck wins the Tag Team Titles – The quotes say it all:
MicK Foley: “Mikey, the Public Enemy is real, real, mad. Do you know what that means?”
Mikey Whipwreck: “Yeah… it means I’m gonna die!”
Mick Foley: “He likes it! He likes it!”

5. WWE’s Tazz defeats WCW’s Mike Awesome for the ECW Title – This moment was the last of the great “What the fuck” moments of ECW. Awesome was ready to defect to WCW and Tazz, who had gone to the WWE, came back to restore order and win the ECW Title. It did lead to a fun WWF Chmapion vs. ECW Champion match before Tazz lost the title a week later, but it was just an insane scene.

4. The Sandman gets Crucified – Yes, this was the event that kept Kurt Angle from joining ECW. And that might end up being for the best in the long run. But this was one of the most controversal moments in television wrestling history as Raven setup Sandman on the Crucifix and was the definition of ECW. Not just pushing the line, but leaping right over it.

3. Mick Foley’s “Cane Dewey” Promo – Purely epic. It is one of the greatest promos of all time and is probably the most heartwrenching one as well. This is the promo that gave Mick Foley the right to be talked about in the same breath as the greatest talkers of all time.

2. Tommy Dreamer’s Caning – “Thank you sir, may I have another!” Those words have been uttered many times, but none had more of an effect on a crowd than those who watched Tommy Dreamer getting whacked in the back time and time again by The Sandman and his Singapore Cane. When you look back as to why Tommy is the heart and soul of ECW, this moment stands right in the forefront.

1. Shane Douglas Tosses Away the NWA Heavyweight Title – Now, how can the moment that made ECW what it was in the first place not be on the list? Shane Douglas pretty much throwing the title in the trash simply by denouncing it and naming himself the ECW World Champion started the madness and without this moment there would be no E… C… W!