10 Greatest Things About ECW’s Final Year

5. The Ascension Of Rhino

ECW Paul E Dangerously Paul Heyman
WWE.com

Speaking of Rhino, the Manbeast had a hell of a run in ECW throughout 2000 and into 2001.

While successfully retaining the ECW TV Title against Rob Van Dam, Jerry Lynn, Yoshihiro Tajiri and the insane New Jack was impressive in how it positioned Rhino as an absolute force of nature, the Detroit native managed to go one better than that and capture the ECW World Championship before the promotion was forced to close its doors.

Of course, the caveat here is that Rhino's moment of glory came on the company's final ever PPV and he was only able to defend the ECW World Title at two house shows before ECW folded.

That PPV was Guilty as Charged 2001, with the dominant powerhouse decimating the Sandman in a one-minute squash moments after the Hardcore Icon had defeated Steve Corino and Justin Credible in a Tables, Ladders, Chairs and Canes bout to become the ECW World Champion for a fifth time. In doing so, Rhino simultaneously held the ECW TV Title and ECW World Title, and has the honour of being the final World Champion of Paul Heyman's Extreme Championship Wrestling.

From being somewhat of a comedy act upon first arriving in ECW in early 1999, Rhino became a terrifying, aggressive brute of a performer by the time of the promotion's final year.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.