ECW was the creme de la creme for hardcore wrestling. The promotion was first known as Eastern Championship Wrestling before it was rebranded to Extreme Championship Wrestling after Paul Heyman took over the company. ECW created wrestling legends and established itself within the likes of WWE and WCW.
ECW is known for its violence and extreme-style of matches. The promotion was not afraid to think outside the box and the crazy mishmash resulted in countless highlights of unforgettable matches. But some matches may have ended differently from what fans recall. Here are some ECW matches that ended in nonsensical ways.
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10 Unofficial Champion
ECW One Night Stand was WWE's attempt to revive the brand. The PPV started in 2005 and was praised by fans and wrestlers so WWE decided to make it an annual event. One Night Stand 2006 was headlined by Rob Van Dam vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship.
It was clear that the crowd was anti-Cena; they chanted several insults at him. Near the end of the match, Cena had the advantage but Edge interfered and speared Cena through a table. RVD landed a Five-Star Frog Splash but the referee was knocked down. Paul Heyman ran into the ring and counted the pinfall. Rob Van Dam became the new WWE Champion.
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9 A Botched Finish?
Cactus Jack and The Sandman had a couple of Barbed Wire matches in 1995. The Sandman defeated Jack in the first match at the Barbed Wire, Hoodies & Chokeslams event, winning the World Heavyweight Championship. The two fought in the same format a few weeks later and Jack won in a weird fashion.
Nearing the end of the match, the Sandman oddly wrapped himself in barbed wire. Seemingly in control, the Sandman fired up a cigarette and talked to the crowd. Once Jack stood up, the Sandman attempted an Atomic Drop but Jack countered with a DDT. Jack immediately went for a pinfall and the Sandman tried to kick out late into the count. After Jack's victory, the Sandman rolled out of the ring and exited the arena rather than selling the finishing move.
8 Out Of Time
2 Cold Scorpio defended the World Television Championship against Sabu at CyberSlam 1996. The match had a 30-minute time limit and the two wrestlers battled for the entire duration. It is usually hard to maintain crowd excitement for half an hour but both men were firing on all cylinders.
Scorpio, who was oddly pliable despite his build, controlled the majority of the match. However, Scorpio missed an attack from the top rope and Sabu capitalized. In the final moments, Sabu landed two Leg Drops with a steel chair on Scorpio's head. Sabu went for a pinfall but Scorpio kicks out. Sabu goes for another pin but time runs out. Scorpio retained his title.
7 Stretchered Away
In The Doctor Is In event, Sabu fought Rob Van Dam in a Stretcher match. The legendary high flyers were in peak performance, executing a variety of flying maneuvers. A typical stretcher match can only be won once a wrestler puts his/her opponent on the stretcher and the stretcher is wheeled passed a line. This match worked differently.
Sabu and RVD fought for over 20 minutes. The match appeared to be over after RVD caught Sabu with a Van Daminator, causing Sabu to go over the ropes and land on the stretcher. Officials began to roll off Sabu but RVD attempted a front flip from the top rope. Sabu moved out of the way and RVD landed on the stretcher before dropping to the floor. Officials placed RVD on the stretcher and wheeled him off, resulting in Sabu winning the match.
6 Through The Ring
Taz fought Bam Bam Bigelow for the World Television Championship at Living Dangerously 1998. Taz was in position for the Tazmission nearing the end of the match. He jumped on the back of Bigelow and locked-in the submission. In the hopes of escaping the submission, Bigelow jumped into the air and fell backward. The ring had other ideas.
The slam resulted in Taz and Bigelow going through the ring. After a brief moment, Bigelow emerged from the hole and dragged out an unconscious Taz. Bigelow pinned Taz and become the new World Television Champion. The hole was blocked off with caution tape for the remainder of the event.
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5 A Fall From Grace
The Tommy Dreamer-Brian Lee feud began when Lee choke-slammed Dreamer off a balcony and into three stacked tables at the Fight The Power event. Lee would Chokeslam Dreamer a couple more times, which culminated in a Scaffold match at High Incident 1996.
The two wrestlers battled in the crowd before climbing up the scaffolding high above the ring. There were random sets of tables stacked on top of one another inside the ring. Dreamer landed several punches on Lee until Lee fell off the scaffold and crash-landed onto the stacked tables. Dreamer earned the victory and got his revenge.
4 The Broken Bottle
Sabu and Cactus Jack fought several times in ECW. One of their memorable matches occurred in an early 1994 event. The event did not happen at the famous ECW Arena, rather at a local gymnasium in Hamburg, Pennsylvania.
Sabu and Jack fought throughout the gymnasium and used a variety of weapons. In one incident, Sabu went for a Moonsault off the ropes but missed Jack and landed on the guardrail. Sabu broke his ribs and wrestled injured for the remainder of the match. Jack somehow obtained a glass bottle towards the end of the match. Sabu quickly got a hold of it and began to strike Jack with the bottle. It took seven shots to Jack's head for the bottle to break. Sabu pinned Jack after the final strike and earned the victory.
3 Forever Tangled
Terry Funk defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Sabu in a Barbed Wire match at the Born To Be Wired event. The two maniacs effectively utilized the barbed wire on one another. Sabu received the worst punishment as his iconic attire and bicep were ripped by the barbed wire. Sabu was given athletic tape to wrap the wound and continue with the match.
Sabu gained control of the match after Rob Van Dam interfered. RVD then wrapped Funk in barbed wire. Sabu would also wrap himself with barbed wire and land an Arabian Facebuster on Funk through a table. Sabu and Funk became tangled and officials needed to assist the wrestlers back into the ring. Sabu immediately pinned the immobile Funk for the victory.
RELATED: 10 Facts Fans Need To Know About Terry Funk
2 The Fans Attack
At Heat Wave 1996, Shane Douglas broke Pitbull #1's neck from a botched DDT. Pitbull #1 was forced to wear a halo brace to recover from the injury. The Douglas-Pitbull feud is one of ECW's greatest feuds, with Douglas garnering lots of heat from fans. A few months later, Pitbull #2 fought Douglas to exact revenge.
Pitbull #1 was ringside to support his partner. Pitbull #2 was in full control of the match until Douglas threw powder into the eyes of Pitbull #2. The blinded Pitbull #2 mistook the referee for Douglas and belly-to-belly suplexed him. Pitbull #1 threw in the towel after Douglas began to beat down Pitbull #2. Douglas then grabbed the metal braces of Pitbull #1 and yanked him to the canvas. Douglas was immediately attacked by a number of fans who jumped the guardrails. Douglas had to be escorted out of the arena.
1 Raining Chairs
Cactus Jack and Terry Funk headlined Hardcore Heaven 1994. The match was ruled a no-contest due to Public Enemy's interference. Jack and Funk teamed up and managed to fight off Public Enemy. Jack and Funk then signaled for chairs from the crowd. They did not anticipate what happened next.
The fan obliged Jack and Funk's commands and began throwing chairs into the ring. But they did not stop. The scene of chairs hurling in the air caused Jack and Funk to exit the ring. Public Enemy became trapped in a mountain of steel chairs. Thankfully, no one was hurt from the incident.
NEXT: 10 Most Insane ECW Matches That We Totally Forgot About
