10 Wrestlers You Forgot Were In ECW During Their Last Year
The last year of ECW saw the company without most of their top stars. Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer were the main two ECW legends remaining with the rest leaving for bigger contracts with WWE or WCW. The final year of ECW was 2000 to 2001 with the company closing its doors and selling the library to WWE.
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We will look at some of the performers that fans forget worked for ECW in the final year. The roster featured younger stars getting a chance for the first time, talents looking to rebuild their careers and older names coming back home. Each story showcased a performer that had something to prove even though things were starting to fall apart. These are ten wrestlers that you forgot were in ECW during their last year.
10 Joey Matthews
The start of Joey Matthews’ career featured a major opportunity for him in ECW. Paul Heyman paired together Matthews and Christian York as two young talents with potential. Their tag team matches always entertained, but they were missing something.
Matthews continued working on his game and landed a job with WWE. The stint as Joey Mercury saw him thrive in the MNM tag team. Other roles featured an appearance in the Straight Edge Society and part of Seth Rollins’ entourage in The Authority.
9 C.W. Anderson
One of the forgotten pushed wrestlers of ECW was heel C.W. Anderson. The rivalry between Anderson and Tommy Dreamer was arguably the last great feud in the company. Fans loved Dreamer which made it a great plan to put Anderson against him.
Despite being booed relentlessly at times, Anderson won the respect of the fans thanks to his great performances against Dreamer. The run gave him some name value, but ECW went out of business shortly after his rise. Anderson didn’t accomplish much more success elsewhere.
8 James Mitchell
James Mitchell is one of the most underrated managers in wrestling history. Current fans most remember him for his time in TNA as the manager of Abyss. Mitchell had a great run in ECW to make him a rare bright spot in the company’s final year.
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The name of The Sinister Minister saw him lead the tag team of Mikey Whipwreck and Tajiri. Mitchell helped them find amazing success together. It is a bit surprising WWE never reached out to Mitchell for a role in the company after ECW ended.
7 Chris Chetti
ECW tried to push a few new young stars to the audience that trained at their school. Taz’s cousin Chris Chetti was viewed as a standout prospect that the company believed in. Unfortunately for Chetti, the audience didn’t buy into him as such.
Chetti’s biggest success came as a lower card act in opening matches. There was talent in him, but fans got used to a higher level of performances from the pushed wrestlers. Chetti never found success in other promotions after ECW ended.
6 Scotty Riggs
WCW talent Scotty Riggs spent most of his time in teams from the American Males duo with Buff Bagwell to becoming part of Raven’s Flock. Riggs eventually left WCW and wanted to gain some credibility with a run in ECW.
The storyline saw him enter the company as Rob Van Dam’s friend. Riggs worked under this real name of Scotty Anton and eventually turned on RVD. The work of Riggs wasn’t bad by any means, but he could not stand out to become a bigger star in the industry.
5 Raven
Everyone remembers Raven’s ECW run for his time in the company’s rise in the mid-90s. However, he did return a few years later in the company’s later years. Raven left WCW in legendary fashion when Eric Bischoff said anyone unhappy could walk out of the door.
The WCW exit allowed Raven to return to ECW from 1999 into 2000. Raven teamed with his old rival Tommy Dreamer, but he left once WWE offered him a contract. Regardless, the legacy of Raven should be that he was an ECW legend.
4 Gorgeous George
The WCW run of Gorgeous George saw her work as one of the valets of Randy Savage. This run came to an end with the company struggling to make money. George moved to ECW to continue her wrestling career in late 2000.
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The few appearances saw her involved in backstage segments on television and a few cat fights with Francine or Dawn Marie. George would see her run in ECW also end quickly as the company went out of business in early 2001.
3 Mikey Whipwreck
Mikey Whipwreck emerged as an underdog hero for ECW in the mid-90s. Fans rallied behind the journey of Whipwreck from enhancement talent to ECW Champion. Mikey left ECW like most wrestlers in the 90s for a short time when receiving a WCW contract.
The stint there was a huge disappointment with him rarely ever appearing on television. Whipwreck rejoined ECW in late 1999 and remained there for the rest of the company’s existence. Fans loved the tag team of Whipwreck and Tajiri with the Sinister Minister leading them.
2 Don Callis
Don Callis is currently known for his multiple roles in Impact Wrestling as a commentator for the show and management behind the scenes. There was a long absence in the business for Callis after ECW went under.
The character of Cyrus the Virus saw Callis representing the “network” trying to censor face wrestlers as part of a real-life struggle Paul Heyman had with TNN. Cyrus was spectacular as one of the top heel personalities in the business for ECW in its final year.
1 Scott Hall
The biggest name to join ECW is one that most fans didn’t get to enjoy. Scott Hall made a few appearances for ECW at non-televised live events. The end of his WCW time allowed Hall to wrestle on shows that were not filmed for television.
Hall worked matches in November of 2000 against Justin Credible, Rhyno and Big Sal. ECW fans reacted with huge cheers for the shocking appearances of Hall. Unfortunately, we missed out on Hall having an ECW run as the company went out of business two months later.
