JUSTIN CREDIBLE
Hometown: Ozone, New York
Height: 6'
Weight: 225 lbs.
Year Turned Pro: 1992
Catch Phrase: "That's Not Just the Coolest, That's Not Just the Best, That My Friends is Justin Credible!"
Championships Held:
ECW World Tag Team championship (with Lance Storm)
Self-proclaimed Hardcore Icon
At the age of 25, Justin Credible has a mean streak in him unlike even the most grizzled veterans. Vile, cunning, decadent, and disturbing, Credible has stopped at nothing to destroy his competition and rise to the upper echelon of Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Credible's hit list reads like a who's who of Pro Wrestling International: He broke the Great Sasuke's leg and stole his sacred mask, he decimated Mikey Whipwreck's knees, he turned away Japanese Legend Gran Hamada, He stole the Sandman's Singapore Cane and "Hardcore Icon" status in the process, he ran Shane Douglas and Sid Vicious out of Extreme Championship Wrestling, and perhaps the most disgusting of all, he spit in the face of a ceremony honoring Tommy Dreamer's dead grandfather.
Managed by Jason, the self-proclaimed Sexiest Man on Earth, Credible is an intense wrestler, utilizing a spinning tombstone, christened "That's Incredible," to take out opponent after opponent.
Credible and his partner in crime Lance Storm claim they will be the "Impact Players" in Extreme Championship Wrestling, and whoever stands in their way, will find out exactly why. When Tommy Dreamer and Raven took the Impact Players up on that challenge, they found themselves stripped of the ECW World Tag Team championships at Guilty as Charged 2000.
As the New Year continues, this very well may be looked back as the Year of the Impact Players and Justin Credible.
TOMMY DREAMER
Hometown: Yonkers, New York
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 245 lbs.
Turned Pro: 1989
Catch Phrase: "E-C-F'N-W!"
Championships Held:
ECW World Tag Team championship (with Raven)
ECW World Tag Team championship (with Masato Tanaka)
"The Innovator of Violence" is the heart and soul of Extreme Championship Wrestling, set to defend it against all outsiders.
With the incredible ability to turn anything into an offensive weapon, Dreamer is at one with the ECW fan base, putting himself and his body on the line for his fans.
This life has not been easy for Dreamer, however, as he has been placed in incredible situations, but he has always somehow prevailed in the end, running the likes of Jerry "The King" Lawler out of ECW despite insurmountable odds.
The one-time protege of Terry Funk, Dreamer may look like a matinee idol, but he's more likely to pick up a chair than throw a hiptoss. In the dark world that encompasses Extreme Championship Wrestling, Tommy Dreamer is the heart. Even moreso, he is the light. That light, however, is now shrouded in the darkness of uncertainty.
Last year found Dreamer struggling with a pair of herniated discs in his back. Many predicted a retirement announcement.
Then, Tommy Dreamer's most hated foe, Raven, returned to Extreme Championship Wrestling. Trapped into a World Tag Team championship with his worst enemy, Dreamer found himself again within the shadows of the man he had struggled to defeat and escape the clutches of several years earlier.
Shockingly though, Raven became a close ally of Tommy Dreamer, although Raven proved himself to be unchanged, luring Francine away from Dreamer and reigniting the brutal, violent feud between the former childhood friends.
With a back injury he continues to work through and his most hated enemy out to destroy him, Tommy Dreamer remains Extreme Championship Wrestling's "Innovator of Violence."
SPIKE DUDLEY
Hometown: Dudleyville
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 155 lbs.
Year Turned Pro: 1994
Catch Phrase: You try getting a quote out of this guy!
Championships Held:
ECW World Tag Team championship (with Balls Mahoney)
Little Spike Dudley is the Giant Killer of Extreme Championship Wrestling, with heart and ability that greatly looms over his diminutive height.
Utilizing his finishing maneuver, the Acid Drop, a swinging bulldog off the ropes, to pin nearly every big man who has ever towered over him. The list of his victims include: Bam Bam Bigelow, Viscera, 911, Buh Buh Ray Dudley and Curtis Hughes.
Whether its diving off balconies of buildings onto hapless opponents, or pulling off upsets over competitors three times his size in a matter of minutes, Little Spike Dudley is as hardcore as they come.
RAVEN
Hometown: The Bowery
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 230 lbs
Year Turned Pro: 12
Catch Phrase: "Quote the Raven, Nevermore."
Championships Held:
ECW World Heavyweight championship
ECW World Tag Team championship (with Stevie Richards)
ECW World Tag Team championship (with Tommy Dreamer)
ECW World Tag Team championship (with Mike Awesome)
Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes of oppression, Raven, the brooding, disturbed manipulative soul has returned to Extreme Championship Wrestling.
A childhood friend of Tommy Dreamer, Raven's wars with Dreamer in ECW have taken on a legendary status with ECW's hardcore fans. Utilizing an impressive DDT as his finisher, the twisted Raven prefers to ignore his strong wrestling skills in favor of an all-out brawling style.
That dark, violent style is only shadowed by Raven's ability to draw others under his wing, to twist and use them for his own purposes, to make them pawns in his game of mental chess.
Shocking everyone when he came to his longtime enemy Dreamer's aid to win the World Tag Team championships with him, Raven soon answered all questions with the shocking revelation that he had returned to make Dreamer's life hell. As his partner, Raven took the glory from Dreamer's victories. Dreamer couldn't walk away from his first World championship without destroying the glory of his own career.
However, things took an ever stranger turn for Raven when he attempted to "do the right thing" by Dreamer, helping his partner when he needed help the most. Even when he did the right, moral thing, however, Raven found himself facing the wrong end of the consequences, whether it be physical pain or the loss of the ECW World Tag Team championships to the Impact Players.
In the end, it all turned out to be another ruse by Raven, stripping Dreamer of his manager, Francine and mocking Dreamer's love for the ECW fans. The war between Raven and Tommy Dreamer is now renewed, more ferocious and violent than ever.
SABU
Hometown: Bombay, India
Height: 6'
Weight: 220 lbs.
Turned Pro: 1985
Catch Phrase: "Homicidal! Suicidal! Genocidal!"
Championships Held:
ECW World Heavyweight championship
ECW World Television Championship
ECW World Tag Team Championship (with Taz)
ECW World Tag Team Championship (with Rob Van Dam)
Unrecognized FTW World Heavyweight championship
Often described as the Homicidal Whirlwind of Destruction, Sabu is a ferocious competitor who will gladly take to the air with a graceful moonsault as quickly as he is apt to send his hapless opponent painfully crashing through a table.
Envied for his skill in competing despite injuries, Sabu is the nephew of the legendary Sheik.
Sabu has been a mainstay in Extreme Championship Wrestling, attaining an International icon-like status through his legendary feuds with Terry Funk, Taz, and his former partner, Rob Van Dam.
An internationally renowned combatant, Sabu puts his body on the line like no other competitor, as evidenced by the scars Sabu has incurred in barbed wire matches.
In one such match against the legendary Terry Funk, Sabu suffered a deep gash to his bicep from the barbed wire. He taped the wound up, continued and won the match, and refused to miss a single match while recuperating the injury. His threshold for pain is beyond compare.
After losing a recent match to Van Dam, Sabu declared that he was "walking out" of Extreme Championship Wrestling. Walking out, however, meant that Sabu has no loyalty for anyone, not even his former manager Bill Alfonso. With an unleashed Sabu on the brink of pure evil, no one is safe here in Extreme Championship Wrestling.
THE SANDMAN
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 240 lbs.
Year Turned Pro: 1989
Catch Phrase: "Politically Incorrect and Damn Proud of it!"
Championships Held:
ECW World Heavyweight championship
ECW World Tag Team championship (with 2 Cold Scorpio)
Back in Extreme Championship Wrestling, it is like the Sandman never left. A three time former ECW World Heavyweight champion, the Sandman is the ultimate anti-hero in the world of professional wrestling, and that's just how loves it.
With a pre-match workout of firing up a cigarette, popping open a cold brew and smashing the can against his head to draw blood, the Sandman epitomizes the Extreme Attitude of ECW. An incredible popular mainstay in Extreme Championship Wrestling from it's birth, the Sandman truly is ECW's Hardcore Icon. He lets it all hang out in the ring, preferring to rely on his primal brawling instincts rather than wrestle. It means nothing for the Sandman to crack his opponent with his trusty Singapore Cane, or suplex a table on their head, or wrap his body in barbed wire to create a human barbed wire battering ram.
The Sandman's wars with Tommy Dreamer were a turning point in the "Innovator of Violence's" career, and the two maintain a strong friendship to this day deriving from that mutual respect. The Sandman's wars with Raven took mental and physical pain to an all new extreme, as Raven enlisted the Sandman's exwife and son as a way to defeat the Sandman. The Sandman's wars with Sabu created some of the most violent and brutal encounters ever seen in wrestling. In the end, the Sandman reigned supreme, all the while teaming with Dreamer to protect the borderlines that separate Extreme Championship Wrestling from other promotions.
When Justin Credible became the fastest rising star in ECW, he needed to defeat the Sandman in order to rise to the upper echelon. After a short feud with the Impact Player, the Sandman found himself bowing out due to a myriad of injuries. Credible adopted the Singapore Cane and the "Hardcore Icon" moniker as his own. It appeared the Sandman would never be seen again.
The definition of "Never again" was changed forever on a fateful evening in October 1999 when the Impact Players and Rhino had attacked Tommy Dreamer and Raven. The lights in the ECW Arena went out, and in the Eagle's Nest of the Arena, the Icon had returned home! Clearing the ring, the Sandman and his old friend Tommy Dreamer celebrated by chugging a few cold ones as the ECW faithful roared in approval.
Since his return, the Sandman has gone back to what he does best, dishing out hardcore punishment to the likes of The Impact Players and Raven.
Like he had never left, the Beer Chugging, Cigarette Smoking, Cane Swinging Son of a Bitch is back in Extreme Championship Wrestling, looking to reclaim his proper status as "Hardcore Icon!"
ROB VAN DAM
Hometown: Battle Creek, Michigan
Height: 6'
Weight: 237 lbs.
Year Turned Pro: 1991
Catch Phrase: "I'm the Whole F'n Show!"
Championships held:
ECW World Television championship
ECW World Tag Team championship (with Sabu)
The Man known as "Mister Pay-Per-View" is as brash and arrogant as they come, but he can back it all up. As quick as a cat, able to engage any opponent with a flurry of aerial maneuvers and martial arts, Van Dam maintains an undefeated streak on Pay-Per-View, a feat unmatched by anyone in the pro wrestling industry.
Utilizing his finisher, the Van Daminator, Van Dam has run his way through competition worldwide.
Always seen with the "Manager of champions" Bill Alfonso, Van Dam claims that he is the "Whole Fn' Show" and even his opponents are hard pressed to argue.
Van Dam maintains an odd relationship with his former partner Sabu, who has been both his championship partner and challenger. The feud between the two has brought great competitiveness and even greater respect between the two. Currently, their rivalry is at an all-time high, prompting several recent classic matches and more bad blood than ever.
The creator and holder of the "Van Dam Lift" weightlifting record, Rob Van Dam has found his success leading into roles in film and television, as well as national magazine articles about him and his habits in and out of the squared circle.
Having vacated his World Television championship in order to prevent ECW on TNN from being cancelled by a powerhungry Cyrus the Virus, Van Dam is working his back from a broken leg, more intent than ever to prove to the world he is "The Whole F'n Show."
TAIJIRI
Hometown: Japan
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 180 lbs.
Year Turned Pro: 1995
Catch Phrase:
Championships Held:
ECW World Television championship
Hailing from the land of the Rising Sun, the "Japanese Buzzsaw" Yoshihiro Tajiri comes armed with an arsenal of some of the hardest hitting kicks in the Pro Wrestling game.
Meshing a combination of shootstyle kicks, Lucha Libre aerial maneuvers, and an unique variety of mat wrestling and pinning combinations, Tajiri can defeat his opponents in any number of ways.
Tajiri is the creator of the Tarantula, a unique maneuver where he entraps his opponent's arms and legs between the ring ropes and Tajiri himself.
Utilizing a brainbuster and a Dragon Suplex as his favorite finishing maneuvers, Tajiri had won over the Extreme Championship Wrestling fan base, later shocking them when he alligned himself with Steve Corino.
That alliance lasted until Corino and Cyrus demanded Tajiri hand the World Television championship over to the Network. They found out exactly what every Japanese wrestling promoter that ever worked with Tajiri has learned: you don't push Yoshihiro Tajiri around. Tajiri valiantly fought against the Network, before falling to the massive Rhino.
More dangerous than ever, with the respect of the ECW fans behind him, Yoshihiro Tajiri continues to buzzsaw his way through Extreme Championship Wrestling.
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