ECW was the unsung hero of the ‘90s wrestling landscape that WWE and WCW dominated. Even though the other two companies were significantly larger, ECW did their best to make an impact by coming up with unique concepts and by pushing new talents. WCW often ripped off ECW when introducing new things or signing talents to do things that Paul Heyman already booked.
There was more hostility from Heyman towards Eric Bischoff than Vince McMahon since WWE actually worked with ECW on a few occasions. WCW just tried to bite off ECW’s better ideas and use their money to steal talent. Find out what caused the scenarios to unfold in such a controversial manner.
10 Raven's Flock
WCW hired Raven when he was the hottest star in ECW coming off a dominant stint as the ECW Champion. Raven introduced a new gimmick that saw Stevie Richards, the Blue Meanie, and a few others in his faction called Raven’s Nest.
The signing was great for the WCW mid-card picture as Raven was a successful heel. WCW completely ripped off the gimmick with similar promos and a new faction called The Flock. Perry Saturn signed with WCW and a few of the underutilized talents on the roster were paired with Raven to form a group of misfits.
9 Throwing Title In Trash
Madusa returning to WCW following her WWE run was a huge moment in the Monday Night Wars. Madusa brought the WWE Women’s Championship belt she never lost and threw in a trash can to truly get the war going.
The moment was inspired by a historic ECW segment of Shane Douglas throwing the NWA Heavyweight Championship down and showing no respect for it. ECW launched its own brand and vision afterward. A champion disrespecting a title in such a manner inspired the Madusa moment to get the wrestling world talking.
8 Public Enemy Gimmick
Public Enemy thrived as a tag team in ECW with the use of a hip hop gimmick and tables as their weapon of choice. WCW signed Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge to bring the same exact act from ECW with some small twists.
The duo didn’t have anywhere near the same level of success in WCW as they did in ECW despite copying the same formula. Public Enemy did have a few fun matches, but this instance proved that not all things should be replicated in a new promotion.
7 Hardcore Wrestling
ECW was the first American wrestling promotion to highlight hardcore wrestling with the use of weapons and stronger violence. WCW signed Sabu as one of the first attempts to bring that to their promotion.
Sabu used tables for the first time in WCW and had a dangerous element to him, but he wanted to leave the company after a month. WCW did have violence in their matches more often in 1997 to see ECW’s influence shown.
6 F.B.I. Gimmick
The Full-Blooded Italians provided a faction for ECW with wrestlers like Little Guido, Tony Mamaluke, Big Sal, Tracy Smothers, and a few others working together. Vince Russo taking over WCW saw him copying the idea with a new name.
WCW introduced the Mamalukes with Tony signing to play a role in the faction. Big Vito and Johnny the Bull were the primary members having tag matches and trying to break out. The Mamalukes flopped and provided one of many acts that showed how much Russo missed the mark.
5 Shane Douglas Going After Ric Flair
Shane Douglas made a name for himself in ECW after disappointing runs in WCW and WWE. The real backstage issues with Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, and others were referenced by Douglas in his shoot promos as a main event heel.
Vince Russo felt he could draw money by taking the idea from ECW and actually having a match for it in WCW. Douglas returned by attacking Flair to set up a singles program between the two. It completely failed with most casual fans having no interest in the prior ECW promos.
4 Cruiserweight Division
The WCW cruiserweight division was one of the biggest strengths that still provided strong entertainment watching back today. Eric Bischoff essentially just raided ECW when coming up with the concept for it.
Names like Rey Mysterio, Juventud Guerrera, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Jericho were all spotlighted by Paul Heyman first. They were important parts of ECW until Bischoff signed them all with the intent of them becoming the core for the cruiserweight division.
3 Bam Bam Bigelow As Monster Heel
The WWE run of Bam Bam Bigelow saw him showing great potential but never getting the push he deserved. Paul Heyman made Bigelow one of the most intimidating performers while still having great matches to win the ECW Championship.
WCW came calling when seeing how much of an impact Bam Bam made in ECW. Goldberg needed new rivals and Bigelow debuted as a monster heel trying to fight the undefeated superstar. The program saw Bam Bam putting over Goldberg and getting moved back down into a lower mid-card spot.
2 Shoot Promos
ECW had an audience that knew more about the inner workings of wrestling that added to the stories. Various wrestlers cut shoot promos that referenced things behind the scenes and directly called out WWE or WCW since the fans loved it.
WCW tried doing that in spurts with Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, and Kevin Nash often shooting from the hip in their promos. The Vince Russo era saw WCW becoming a fixture for shoot promos, but fans just never understood it the same since most only watched it for the television product without knowing what went down backstage.
1 Taz's Squash Match Streak
The dominance of Taz made him the hottest star for ECW. Paul Heyman took a huge risk on booking one of the shortest wrestlers in the company and making him an unbeatable face. Taz destroyed most of his opponents within a few minutes as the audience ate it up.
WCW used the same formula for Goldberg on a bigger stage with more momentum behind it. Goldberg easily scored victories over everyone he faced and developed a ridiculous undefeated streak. Taz even called out Goldberg for this in his ECW promos since it was obvious to diehard ECW viewers at the time.