- 30/06/2025
Bet Paul Heyman doesn't even remember booking some of these ECW wrestlers!
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00:00The original ECW was vibrant, it offered something completely different,
00:05and it felt oddly dangerous for young teenagers to sit up and watch Heyman's carny cast of characters.
00:12Paul Lee also booked a lot of wrestlers that you've probably never heard of, though.
00:16How the WWE Hall of Famer himself might not remember sending some of these people through the curtain,
00:20I'm Gareth, this is WhatCultureWrestling, and here are 10 forgotten ECW wrestlers you totally don't remember.
00:27Number 10, Red Dog. Going nowhere mid-carder with a tough look and a bald head?
00:33Then you were going into the baldies, baby.
00:35A menacing gang who roamed around ECW shows in the 90s and early 2000s and eventually became cannon fodder for New Jack.
00:43In 2000, Red Dog was a short-term member of the gang, but he'd only work extreme house shows.
00:49Dog was actually future WWE star Rodney Mack.
00:52He stared at the ceiling on a ton of live events between June and October 2000,
00:57then bagged a tryout for the WWF.
00:59Later, Vince McMahon offered Mack a contract and he turned into a key part of Teddy Long's thugging and bugging enterprises.
01:06But to be honest, some fans barely remember his work in WWE, never mind the original ECW.
01:10Red Dog tagged along with Angel, Tony DeVito, and others in DeBaldi's faction.
01:15And at first, he seemed like a great fit for the hardcore stable, but it would not last.
01:19Things then came full circle for Rodney after his first failed WWE run.
01:24They plonked him onto the Upstar ECW brand and tried again in 2006.
01:29Baldies for life.
01:30And while we're talking about the legendary bald wrestlers of this business,
01:34I want to know right now who do you think's the greatest bald wrestler of all time?
01:38Who isn't called Stone Cold Steve Austin?
01:40You let me know down below and show some love to the eggs.
01:42Number 9.
01:43Ulf Herman.
01:44The WWF handed Ulf Herman a tryout in 1992 versus someone he knew very well.
01:50That dark match against Louis Spicoli didn't really lead to anything for Ulf though.
01:54But no bloody wonder.
01:55I mean, his ring name was Herman the German.
01:58He didn't stand a chance, did he?
01:59Ulf went back to the European indie circuit after that,
02:01and likely wondered when he'd get his break in North America.
02:04Then Paul Heyman gave him a shot at fame in 1998.
02:08Herman, thankfully sans the German branding, debuted in ECW as a rugged powerhouse.
02:14But he was mainly used to put stars like Sabu and Rob Van Dam over.
02:18His sole pay-per-view match in the company came as part of a two-on-one handicap bout.
02:22Here, Ulf teamed with Mabel in a 30-second loss to Spike Dudley at November to remember 98.
02:28Yeah, this wasn't quite the big break, was it?
02:31At least Herman got to shine versus RVD on an episode of Hardcore TV in February 99 though,
02:36before waving farewell to the land of extreme.
02:38But WWE never gave the burly veteran another chance to redeem himself.
02:42Number 8.
02:43Christopher Daniels.
02:44Yes, that Christopher Daniels.
02:46He's included here for two reasons, folks.
02:48Now, number 1, the fact that Daniels worked for the original ECW really shows off his career longevity.
02:54And number 2, no one gracing God's Green Earth remembers anything that he did in the promotion.
02:59Still, Chris was coming off a few WWF tryouts, and Heyman surely spotted his talent early on.
03:05Daniels worked a grand total of 6 matches for ECW in 1999.
03:09Most of them fell on house shows, but he also tangled with Rhino on an episode of Hardcore TV and at the Hostile City Showdown special event.
03:17Now, those were bigger than average spots for somebody so fresh.
03:21But come to think of it, Pauline might have been scouting Rhino's potential first and foremost.
03:25The future TNA and AEW favorite packed up and went to WCW for a quick stopover post-ECW.
03:33He'd also then get a few more shots in the federation before TNA formed, and Daniels eventually tag-teamed that company's rise with success in Ring of Honor.
03:41In other words, this dude has been around forever.
03:43And he's still doing his thing today.
03:45What an inspiration.
03:46Number 7.
03:46Julio De Niro.
03:47This might sound like a shocking statement considering Chris Daniels' skill set, but forgotten ECW man Julio De Niro was just as good as him in Ring during the late 90s and early 2000s.
04:00In fact, the ex-WCW and WWF job guy seemed to have the world at his feet when ECW picked him up in 2000 and dubbed him Julio Fantastico.
04:10Hell of a name too.
04:11The name change happened when Julio started hanging around with EZ Money and Chris Hamrick.
04:15Their cash-obsessed faction, Hot Commodity, which was also an excellent name, was a sporadic highlight during the dwindling days of Heyman-led mayhem.
04:24There's just one problem with De Niro, though.
04:26Not many recall just how good he actually was.
04:28But TNA noticed his value, and Julio got to team with a young CM Punk on shows a few years later.
04:35Sadly, though, his time as EZ Money's bestie and his big bumping style for workers like Balls Mahoney, Roadkill, and Kid Cash in ECW has been forgotten.
04:46If you've got a bit of spare time, I'd go back and watch some of his work by the WWE Network while you can.
04:50Honestly, the guy's pretty good.
04:51Number 6.
04:52Uganda.
04:52This was so ECW meets indie WWF tribute show it hurts.
04:57All Japan's giant Kamala was an obvious take on Kamala.
05:01Taking the joke further, ECW signed the guy for a short stay in 1999 and decided to re-dub him Uganda.
05:08For reference, ex-WWF squash artist Kamala was called the Ugandan giant throughout his career.
05:14Kamala, Uganda, yep, people got it.
05:16Somehow, this walking parody squashed his way to multiple TV title bouts versus Rob Van Damme.
05:22And one of them actually happened on television.
05:24I know I'm as shocked as you are.
05:25Management clearly liked the dynamic RVD and Uganda had, because Heyman put the match on an episode of Hardcore TV in December 1999.
05:33But it's probs for the best that he kept this away from the mainline ECW on TNN show.
05:38Van Damme tried, sure, but he couldn't actually get much out of Uganda.
05:42The fact one half of the match was pretending to be someone else, thus making this more like one of those aforementioned tribute cards, did not help matters at all.
05:49Thanks for checking out this list today, you lovely hardcore loving soul.
05:52And if you're enjoying yourself, then hit that subscribe button down below and you're going to get more of these WhatCulture Wrestling videos in your life.
05:58And that just sounds like happiness in a tin.
06:01If you've got a tin, why have you got a tin?
06:03Ah, moving on.
06:03Number 5, Antifaz del Norte.
06:06Things could have been so, so different for Antifaz del Norte had the WWF Super Astro show taken off the way that everyone hoped it would between 1998 and 1999.
06:16It didn't, so Antifaz, as Manuel Gomez, only had one match on the Lucha show before seeking something else.
06:23And that's when ECW picked up the phone and brought him in.
06:26Wrestlers like Yoshihiro Tajiri, Super Crazy, Little Guido, and Psychosis delivered some seriously tasty matches during the final years of ECW's existence.
06:37And Del Norte was part of that crowd.
06:38But he didn't leave as much of an impression with extreme fans as pacesetters like Rey Mysterio, Huvertu Guerrera, or the others mentioned who came later on.
06:47His 12 matches for the group came and went without much fanfare in the end.
06:51Antifaz worked Tajiri, Crazy, Guido, and even Taz during his stay in ECW.
06:57And that last one was even a house show world title effort.
07:00Yeah, pretty cool that.
07:00Regardless, Del Norte is rarely brought up when people talk about the best of ECW between 1998 and 1999.
07:08And that's a damn shame, really.
07:09Number 4, Chilly Willy.
07:11Nobody's chatting about Chilly Willy either.
07:12Ugh, the cheek.
07:13Willy debuted in 2000 as Balls Mahoney's new pal.
07:17No, it was not an accident that ECW's smut machine, Joel Gertner, got to chuckle about Balls and Willy hanging out on commentary.
07:24And Willy did actually get a decent enough response from live crowds, to be honest.
07:28The beard-up, hardcore fanbase loved anything that Mahoney did, especially when he caves skulls in with retrospectively regrettable chair shots.
07:36Yikes.
07:37Chilly joined in on that merriment, but he was quickly forgotten about as soon as the original ECW folded in 2001.
07:43Seeing that this wrestling lark wasn't exactly panning out, Willy ultimately quit the business for a stint in the army,
07:49then eventually returned to train some fledgling workers by doing seminars around various wrestling schools.
07:55His only shot at WWF slash WWE came via twin dark matches before Jacked and Heat tapings in June 2001.
08:03But before that, Chilly had worked on ECW pay-per-view at both November to Remember 2000 and Guilty as Charred 2001.
08:10Do people remember Willy's matches, though?
08:13Not a chance.
08:14Number 3, Michael Shane.
08:15Now, it's a long shot, but you might be staring at the picture right here and thinking,
08:19hmm, Michael Shane, he looks familiar.
08:21Well, if so, then congrats, you've sniffed out his family ties.
08:24He's cousins with none other than Shawn Michaels, baby.
08:28That didn't pay dividends for Mikey, though.
08:30At least not when it came to making inroads with WWE.
08:33HBK trained his cousin and Shane graduated from the TWA Academy in 1999.
08:38He'd make his debut in 2000 by working for everyone from WCW to FMW and ECW.
08:44But, unfortunately for Michael, he wouldn't make it beyond house show loops in Paul Heyman's promotion.
08:50And that is why nobody watching this video right now, extreme superfan or not, could ever hope to remember him there.
08:57Heartbreaking, kid.
08:58I'm not even sorry.
08:58The WWF had given up on fleeting thought of signing Shane by 2002.
09:03But he then lucked out when TNA came along.
09:06His four-year tenure with Impact put Michael on the map.
09:09It also washed away any disappointments he'd had about never making it with the Fed or ECW.
09:13A happy ending.
09:15You'll love to see it.
09:16Number 2.
09:16The Musketeer
09:17Look, somebody must have sold Heyman on sitting down and smoking a few with RVD.
09:22Then downing endless beers with the Sandman before shows in 2000.
09:27Because that is the only reasonable explanation for why Paul decided that putting this guff on his programming was the right call.
09:33The Musketeer remains one of ECW's worst ever gimmicks.
09:37And everyone should be grateful that it was short-lived.
09:39El Musky worked his first bout versus Jean-Pierre Lafitte on a house show in July 2000.
09:45That pirate versus pirate encounter would have been silly and goofy enough that it immediately rubbished ECW's counterculture brags about being different to the cartoonish WWF and WCW.
09:56For some reason though, rather than packing Musky in a cannon and firing him out to sea, ECW kept the Musketeer around and turned him into a quasi-mascot for Simon Diamond.
10:06It was horrible, but yeah, it happened.
10:07Incredibly, the fake pirate wasn't Diamond's only pet project towards the end of ECW's shelf life.
10:13He had a whole faction of misfits.
10:15Which brings us to...
10:16Number 1.
10:16The Prodigy
10:17The Prodigy was another Simon special.
10:20Consider this a two-for-one actually.
10:21The Prodigette also hung around the undercard faction.
10:25Prodigy and Prodigette were played by ECW Project Tom Marquez and bodybuilder Angel Orsini respectively.
10:32Marquez had actually been hanging around the locker room since 1996, but he'd only worked four matches until a sudden explosion in 1999.
10:40Heyman apparently figured that Tom was ready, because he wrestled 46 bouts in 1999 and a further 30 in 2000.
10:46Prodigy then worked another trio in 2001 before ECW closed doors.
10:51Most of the Prodigy's matches occurred on live events though, and his main role was just accompanying Diamond to the ring for his own matches slash segments.
10:59Together, Prodigy and Prodigette were referred to as sideshow freaks.
11:03Lovely.
11:04I mean, fair enough.
11:05But that did not stop chief announcer Joey Styles from boldly proclaiming that the Prodigy would be one of ECW's biggest stars in the new millennium.
11:14He could carry the promotion through the new decade, apparently.
11:17Or not.
11:18Yeah, maybe not.
11:18What other members of Paul Heyman's ECW roster have been forgotten by most?
11:22You let me know in the comments below, and if you like this list right here, then check out 10 shocking things that you learn binge-watching every ECW pay-per-view too.
11:30It's right there.
11:31Click on it.
11:32You're gonna have a good time.
11:32You're gonna have a good time.
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