10 Greatest Things About ECW’s Final Year
3. From Impact Player To Main Event Player
In all honesty, the Impact Players were often positioned as a main event act during their time together in ECW, but don't let that get in the way of some fun wordplay. Regardless, the split of that tandem propelled Justin Credible to a bona fide singles main event attraction.
Credible's in-ring work was never at the level of former partner Lance Storm, but where Justin made up for that deficit was in his brash, cocksure attitude. And while that attitude certainly shined through while the Impact Players were together, the volume was turned up to 11 once Credible discarded his partner and their ECW Tag Team Titles in favour of achieving singles success.
Of course, that split immediately triggered a rivalry between Storm and Credible, with the Canadian challenging the one-time Aldo Montoya at Hardcore Heaven 2000 for the ECW World Title that JC had taken from Tommy Dreamer. In addition to retaining the gold against Storm on that night, Credible successfully defended that prize 17 times across a 161-day reign that saw him pick up wins over heavy hitters like Raven, Jerry Lynn, the Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, and Steve Corino.
The matches weren't exactly five-star classics, but the character work done by the real-life PJ Polaco as Justin Credible during ECW's final year was fantastic as the arrogant, underhand, brutally violent heel at the top of the promotion.