10 Greatest ECW Champions
This Is Extreme: A look at ECW’s bloodiest, gutsiest champions of the world.
One of the most beloved and influential wrestling promotions in history, ECW boasted 33 world title reigns spread out over 19 hard grafting competitors. Notorious for its ultraviolence, low brow storylines and rowdy crowds, ECW’s popularity proved to have far more longevity than the promotion itself.
The ECW World Championship enjoyed reigns as long as a year all the way down to as short as 20 minutes, frequently decided under bloodthirsty match stipulations. Not as big and bright as the WCW World title nor as classy and old school as WWF’s wingtips belt at the time, the ECW title’s blood and barbed wire themed plates were a perfect fit for the promotion. An indie fed ten times the noise anyone expected, ECW’s attitude inspired a certain era so many nostalgically adore to this day.
To be clear, this list will only be considering title holders during the actual ECW’s existence. WWECW is omitted so apologies in advance to the dozen(s?) of fans who will no doubt be furious at the lack of Jack Swagger.
From first ever champ Jimmy Snuka all the way up to final claimant Rhino, let’s take a look at the ten best of the best.
10. Bam Bam Bigelow
The flame skulled New Jersey native was one of the most agile big men to ever grace the ring. A veteran of both WWF and WCW, Bam Bam was a big hit with the rabid ECW fan base during the mid '90s.
On the 24 October edition of ECW Hardcore TV, Bigelow ascended the mountain with a victory over reigning champ Shane Douglas. Previously a member of Douglas’ Triple Threat stable, Bigelow had wowed crowds with his feats of strength, from throwing Spike Dudley into the stands to cratering the ring with Taz.
Under the guidance of the legendary Rick Rude, Bigelow turned on his leader and begun a 46 day reign with the belt. The match in which he lost the title back to Shane Douglas was so brutal and high risk that neither man was cleared to compete for a full month in its wake. Taking place at November to Remember 1997, the match is a hardcore classic and an ultraviolent conclusion to Bigelow’s brief but memorable run with the championship. It is the short length of Bigelow’s reign that relegates him to number 10 despite the great moments and star power he consistently brought to the promotion.