The WWE Hall of Fame induction of Paul Heyman in Philadelphia has fans reminiscing the ECW days and that promotion’s best memory. Heyman made a statement to show he belonged in a relevant wrestling role by leading the smaller ECW to become a major alternative to WWE and WCW as the top dogs.

Many of Heyman’s WWE duties came from the goodwill he built both on-screen and behind the scenes from his ECW tenure. The mindset of the ECW vision was to bring a style of wrestling and storytelling different from what fans got on WWE and ECW. Everyone talks about the hardcore matches, but each of the following storylines were the best in ECW history.

10 Spike Dudley Becoming The “Good Guy” Dudley

Dudley Boyz Family Drama Helped Make Spike Bigger Star

• Tag Team Worked Better As Evil Heels With No Morals
• Spike Became More Popular Standing Against His Brother
• WWE Used Same Storyline When All Three Joined Company

Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley became the top ECW tag team as the Dudley Boyz. There were various other members joining them as wrestlers or managers, but these two were the most successful members.

Spike Dudley stood out as the other popular member known for being the ultimate underdog. Bubba Ray and D-Von became even more hated after breaking Beulah’s neck and doubling down on the heel work. Spike standing up to them as the fan favorite Dudley with various partners at his side presented a great story.

9 Francine Betraying The Pitbulls For Shane Douglas

ECW Found Their Most Successful Valet With Turn

• Shane Douglas Adding Francine Helped Him Get To Next Level
• Underrated Part Of The Personal Douglas Vs Pitbulls Feud
• ECW Fans Viewed Francine As Most Successful Manager

Francine deserves a lot more credit for being the top valet and overall manager in ECW. Shane Douglas was getting a major heel push when Francine betrayed her babyface clients, The Pitbulls, to become Douglas’ new love interest and manager.

ECW found immense success with Douglas as a top heel, especially with Francine putting him over the top. A personal blood feud between The Franchise and The Pitbulls continued after the turn for an underrated angle.

8 The Network's Attempted Hostile Takeover

Don Callis Became ECW’s Top Heel In Controversial Feud

• Heyman Created The Network Faction To Directly Insult TNN's Network
• Don Callis Had Arguably The Most Successful Stint Of His Wrestling Career
• Rhyno's Main Event Run Started Thanks To His Role In The Network

Paul Heyman was livid over how TNN treated ECW in the new television deal that was hoped to help the company grow. The relationship was extremely one-sided, so Heyman decided to use that as part of a storyline.

ECW introduced “The Network” as a heel group led by Don Callis playing Cyrus the Virus. Rhyno, Tajiri and Jerry Lynn were some of the talents representing The Network as heels. Everyone did their part to create a compelling feud until ECW was no longer on TNN.

7 Raven Turning Sandman's Wife & Son Against Him

Personal Rivalry Became Huge Selling Point For ECW

• Raven Became More Intense Heel Involving Sandman's Family
• ECW Fans Cared About Sandman On Deeper Level In This Angle
• Rare ECW Storyline That Felt Too Controversial For Some Fans

The main event program between Raven and The Sandman saw ECW taking personal animosity to new levels. Raven was the top heel and looked to find a new way to make Sandman’s life a living heel before their matches.

Sandman’s wife started dating Raven and their son started becoming a cult follower of Raven. The infamous segment of Raven crucifying Sandman on a makeshift cross is what everyone talks about today, but this was a successful long-term feud in a pivotal place on the card.

6 Mike Awesome & Masato Tanaka's World Title Chase

Japanese Wrestling Rivalry Added Excitement To The ECW Main Event Scene

• Heyman Wanted To Bring Legendary Rivalry To United States
• Both Guys Became Successful World Champions During Feud
• Stole The Show At One Night Stand 2005 Reunion Special

Paul Heyman signed both Masato Tanaka and Mike Awesome based off their outstanding work in FMW and other Japanese promotions. ECW witnessed their audience falling in love with both talents right away after having their violent matches.

A triple threat match saw Taz losing the ECW World Championship when eliminated first to give them both the stage. Awesome and Tanaka had many of the greatest ECW matches and added to the prestige of the world title.

5 Jerry Lawler's Shocking Invasion Representing WWE

Working Relationship With Vince McMahon Paid Off

• Vince McMahon Allowed Lawler To Work ECW Feud While Under Contract
• ECW Fans Were Truly Shocked When Lawler Showed Up To Start Invasion
• Tommy Dreamer Became More Popular Representing ECW Vs Lawler

ECW often insulted WWE for being the top promotion with diehard fans unhappy, but the two companies actually worked well together. Vince McMahon respected Paul Heyman and wanted both sides to have communication since he was still battling Eric Bischoff and WCW.

The working relationship usually featured lower card WWE names making appearances for ECW. Jerry Lawler had already trashed Heyman and ECW when they appeared on WWE TV to promote their first PPV. The follow-up featured Lawler invading ECW with Rob Van Dam, Sabu and select WWE names representing him against Tommy Dreamer and others.

4 Mikey Whipwreck's Underdog Title Chase

Most Unlikely ECW World Champion Worked Perfectly

• Won World Title As Underdog Expected To Lose Big Matches
• Held His Own Against Top Names Of Steve Austin & Sandman
• Was A Creative Risk Of Heyman That Paid Off Perfectly

Paul Heyman did a great job booking underdog characters since he knew how to make the audience root for an unexpected babyface hero. Mikey Whipwreck was the first wrestler to fit this role when Heyman had a motive to push him into the world title picture.

A feud with The Sandman and Steve Austin saw Whipwreck shocking the ECW fan base by winning the top prize. Fans loved rooting for the undersized hero to be fully invested when he had his big ECW Championship win to cement his status in the promotion.

3 Taz & Sabu's Long War Before Their Big Match

Heyman Considered This His Masterpiece Angle

• Keeping Them Apart After Breakup Set Up Long-Term Feud For Years
• Heyman Saved The Attraction Match For Whenever They Got First PPV
• Barely Legal 1997 Was A Huge Success With This Leading The Build

ECW took a huge risk by having a feud go years before finally paying off. Taz and Sabu were partners turned enemies, as Taz developed his new persona as the most dominant singles star booked strongly to become a star.

Paul Heyman was waiting until ECW received their first live PPV of Barely Legal in 1997. ECW fans treated the match like the fight of the century since they waited years for it. Taz winning the first match helped his push to the face of the company continue, while Sabu turned heel to continue the story.

2 Mick Foley Standing Against ECW's Bloodthirsty Audience

Showed Signs Of Incredible Promo Skills Before WWE Run

• Rebuilt His Career With Successful ECW Run After WCW Firing
• Perfected Identity As Best Hardcore Wrestler In The United States
• "Cane Dewey" Promo Showed His Character Skills Before WWE Success

Mick Foley joined ECW after his WCW tenure ended, with the hopes of building his name value and getting to WWE. The hardcore wrestling style of Foley made him a great fit, but he started to develop a disconnect with ECW audience.

Foley noticed the bloodthirsty fans wanted more out of him, including bringing a “Cane Dewey” sign insulting his young son. A heel turn allowed Mick to show more character work, rebelling against the fans as a tremendous villain facing the likes of Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman.

1 Tommy Dreamer & Raven's Lifelong Feud

Heyman Creating Strong Background Made Feud Amazing

• Heyman's Backstory Set Up Incredible Blood Feud Right Away
• Beulah Was Introduced To Become Major Character For Years
• Raven Won Every Match Until Final Chapter Leaving For WCW

Most ECW fans would name Tommy Dreamer and Raven as having the greatest feud in company history. Raven’s character had a backstory of being an outcast growing up when Dreamer was the popular kid leading to issues between the two.

Beulah was originally introduced as someone that had a crush on Dreamer but was turned down for being an outcast as well. The feud between the two featured more turns with Dreamer becoming a top babyface and Beulah eventually dating him. Paul Heyman even added the great touch of Raven winning every match until Dreamer finally defeated him in his final appearance before joining WCW.