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COMING HOME - WCW.com - August 2001


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Coming Home
by Seth Mates
WCW.com / April 2001


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Spike Dudley and Jerry Lynn get out of their rental car at the First Union Center in Philadelphia on Monday, just prior to RAW IS WAR, and start walking towards the arena. A large group of fans start screaming and cheering for them from a platform 30 feet above, and Spike and Jerry wave back to them.

"Hey Spike – can I have your autograph?" screams one fan. Moments later, that fan lowers a photo of Spike and a marker down via a 30-foot piece of string, in some kind of contraption which clearly took a significant amount of thought and time to put together. Spike grabs the photo, smiles, and says, "Only in Philadelphia!"

Welcome to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- home of cheesesteaks, the Phillies, and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).

"The fans in Philly are obnoxious, rude, unsavory and fickle, but they know their wrestling," said Raven, a Philadelphia native who grew up just miles from the famed ECW Arena. "If we give them a quality product, they respect us in kind, and I respect that."

For years, Philly served as the homebase for ECW, with the promotion running shows at the Arena - a converted bingo hall - every three weeks.

"You can't really explain the atmosphere of the ECW Arena," said Rhyno, the last man ever to hold the ECW Title. "It's a pit and a dive. It's a f***ing dump, but I love it. Being in a bigger building is great, but it's not the same kind of atmosphere. I wish every wrestler could experience it."

Shortly after the birth of ECW in 1993, fans started flooding the Arena for the promotion’s shows. ECW offered an extreme alternative to the WWF and WCW shows, which at the time were more child-friendly and toned down. The combination of great wrestling, hardcore mayhem and adult-oriented storylines attracted a rabid and devoted crowd – and if they didn’t like what was going on in the ring, they’d damn sure let you know.

"They were really, really harsh, almost to the point of being rude, in that you really had to earn your spot when you were in ECW," said Lance Storm. "But on the same front, once you did earn it, they were very giving and rewarding."

Indeed, after any big moment in an ECW show, the Arena would fill up with chants of "E-C-Dubya! E-C-Dubya!" as fans showed their respect for the in-ring performers. And it was that constant interaction between the performers and the fans – with the fans becoming part of the show – that set the stage for World Wrestling Federation Attitude, and the rebirth of the sports-entertainment genre.

"It was a smart business decision by the WWF," said ECW owner Paul Heyman. "We had a rabid, loyal, intelligent audience. What we didn't have was a platform from which to expose our product that was anywhere near the level of the soapbox that the WWF had to preach its gospel. There was, at one time in this industry's history, a great need for new and different concepts in programming. We obviously had tapped into something with the audience that could translate to a widespread national level. We didn't have the resources to reach out to that audience. The WWF did and wisely went in that direction. And it was a hit."

Despite the fact that ECW had limited resources, the connection between the in-ring product and the people of Philadelphia created an on-air product which was second to none. In fact, many of the biggest stars in the business today credit their success to their time spent in Philly.

"This is where we started," said D-Von Dudley, who won the ECW Tag Championship eight times with his brother Bubba Ray before joining the World Wrestling Federation. "Philadelphia fans supported us when no one else did. This is the heart and soul of ECW."

Rob Van Dam said that the Philadelphia fans were instrumental in the development of his character.

"The energy from the fans in Philadelphia is unmatchable," he said. "When I made my debut here in January 1996, I was a 26-year-old kid, a typical babyface, with the smiling and clapping and stuff. And I came in to Philadelphia in front of these blood-thirsty fans who are all about rock ‘n’ roll and partying – it was a whole new ballgame to try to get over with them. I learned how to form this Rob Van Dam character by listening to them and giving them whatever they wanted."

Rhyno also made his ECW debut in the arena.

"I had a hell of a match, and for not knowing who I am, the people gave me a great response," he said. "It was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had, as far as wrestling goes."

The manbeast also waxed nostalgic about another favorite ECW Arena moment – the return of the Sandman to the promotion in October 1999.

"The beginning of the show really dragged on," he said. "The matches weren’t great, and the crowd was sitting on their hands. I’m convinced that Paul – being the mad scientist of sports entertainment, as Mick Foley calls him – booked it that way on purpose. Halfway through the show, me and some other guys are in the ring cutting a promo when the lights went out. When the lights went off in ECW, you knew something big was going to happen. Suddenly, this spotlight shines onto the stage, and at the same exact second, Sandman’s music hits, and he came out to this platform holding a beer. The place went nuts – it was like everyone in the arena had an orgasm at the same time."

Tazz also shared his favorite moment at the ECW Arena, which he calls his No. 2 all-time career highlight, only behind making his Federation debut in Madison Square Garden.

"For a year straight, I was calling out Sabu, until one night in the arena, I’m in the ring choking out Heyman and the lights go out," Tazz said. "They come back on, and me and Sabu are staring at each other. By this point, the ring’s shaking. We go to hit each other, and just before we connect, the lights go out again, and when they come on again, we’re both on the outside of the ring. The place was shaking, and it was a great way to build interest heading into our first match at ECW’s first Pay-Per-View, Barely Legal."

ECW is no longer on its own, and no longer runs shows at the Arena. But the trip to Philadelphia this past Monday for RAW brought back great memories for the superstars who grew up in ECW, and in front of the people of Philly.

"They legitimately cared about the people that were in there, and they had an appreciation for how hard you worked," Storm said. "Once you earned a spot in their hearts, boy, they were there for you no matter what."



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