The wrestlers on the ECW roster did things differently to WWE and WCW. While most of them had strong characters, it didn't seem to matter if they acted like a face or a heel, the crowd would cheer for them because of how good they were inside the squared circle. Unless it was Steve Corino, who the fans hated with a passion.
Some ECW talents could abuse the crowd, mercilessly beat their opponent, or be the most arrogant personality in the building, and the fans would chant their name until their throats were hoarse. While they were considered fan favorites from the ECW faithful, in any other organization, they would be booed out of the building.
10 Shane Douglas
Shane Douglas would regularly switch between a heel and a face throughout his time with ECW. Fans took notice of Douglas when he began referring to himself as The Franchise and delivered promos full of expletives.
After some classic encounters with Sabu, Taz, and Terry Funk, they started to cheer Douglas for his work in the ring. Even when he threw away the NWA belt and spoke about his true feelings of the organization, the fans cheered and recognized The Franchise as the first ECW World Heavyweight Champion.
9 Raven
Throughout his career with the company, ECW fans loved to hate Raven. It wasn't until he returned from a stint in WCW that they welcomed him back with cheers. However, nothing about his character had changed.
He was still manipulative and never seemed to care about or acknowledge the fans. The only surprising change is that he would even have a tag team title run with his arch-nemesis Tommy Dreamer. But once they lost the gold, Raven would turn on his partner and reignite their rivalry.
8 Terry Funk
The ECW fans loved Terry Funk as they recognized him as a pioneer of hardcore wrestling and a legend of the business, which is why they refused to boo him no matter how vicious he was. Funk would turn on his own protege, Tommy Dreamer, and have fans chanting his name.
He would also be involved in one of the most violent and graphic matches in ECW history, which was the barbed wire bout with Sabu that saw his opponent's arm be taped up after it got cut open and exposed muscle.
7 Cactus Jack
Much like Terry Funk, ECW fans recognized Cactus Jack as a legend of hardcore wrestling who would put in his body on the line to hurt his opponents. The fans respected his commitment, but Foley would find a way to get the fans to hate him, and that was by performing non-hardcore wrestling and using slow, technical holds on his opponent.
Despite his heel antics, during his final performance for the company, the fans chanted "please don't go" even though he was facing fan-favorite Mikey Whipwreck.
6 Mikey Whipwreck
He was ECW's ultimate underdog who had Beck's song "Loser" as his entrance music. Whipwreck was famous for taking an enormous amount of punishment and sometimes out of luck, winning a match. However, plenty of other Whipwreck's wins came from outside interference or by disqualification.
For any other wrestler, they would be considered a heel for receiving outside help to win a match. But Whipwreck was so helpless, and he won so infrequently that the fans were happy to see his hand raised.
5 The Sandman
It was impossible to dislike The Sandman. He would come to the ring with a cigarette in his mouth, a beer in one hand, and a cane in the other. This kendo stick would be recognized as a signature weapon of The Sandman as he would brutalize opponents with it regularly, no matter if they were a face or a heel.
He would also spit beer in the face of his opponents, sometimes for no reason. But the fans couldn't get enough of it and embraced all of his shenanigans.
4 Tajiri
The battles between Tajiri and Super Crazy are considered some of the best matches in ECW history and helped make the Japanese superstar a household name. Tajiri would deliver brutal stiff kicks and was not afraid to use weapons if they were available. He would also use the green mist from time to time to blind his opponent.
Despite these types of tactics usually being attributed to a heel wrestler, the fans approved of Tajiri for his realistic style and his humorous antics inside the squared circle.
3 Taz
While there was no doubt that Taz was a heel when he teamed up with Bill Alfonso, he would gain the respect of the ECW fans when he began throwing opponents around the ring and finishing them with the Tazmission.
He acquired the name The Human Suplex Machine, and after storming through multiple opponents, he would award himself the FTW Heavyweight Championship that he created. Taz was a no-nonsense character, and no matter how much he disregarded the fans, they wanted more of him.
2 Sabu
The ECW fans didn't know how to react to Sabu initially as the man never spoke. But after seeing him fly through the air and crash through tables, they began to cheer loudly. The only times Sabu was ever booed in ECW was when he no-showed an event and when he feuded with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman.
But because he was involved in some of the most violent and bloodiest matches in ECW history, and he would brutally punish his opponents, the fans couldn't help but respect him.
1 RVD
Rob Van Dam would refer to himself as the whole f'n show and would regularly praise other promotions to get under the skin of the ECW fans. But despite his arrogance and cockiness, the fans would cheer for RVD because of his athleticism and creativity in the ring.
RVD would even feud with the likes of Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman, but because of his unique use of weapons like trash cans and chairs, the fans would be on the side of Van Dam.