10 Worst WWE Moments Of 2001

ECW's demise was another of 2001's big, earth-shattering news items. Paul Heyman was wheeling and dealing like some pro wrestling version of Del Boy from Only Fools & Horses by the end. In truth, he always was. Financial stability was never at the epicentre of an extreme mess that lived hand to mouth week after week from the mid-1990s onwards.

Realistically, it didn't take long for the bloom to come off the rose for WCW as a standalone rival to the WWF machine. Thus, ECW was drafted in as an onscreen partner for them, and the Alliance was born. Cool. Seeing Heyman lead his hardcore troops into battle and deliver visceral promos aplenty would be bags of fun, right? Yeah, it would've been, but that wasn't the plan.

Extending the interminable McMahon family in-fighting was.

So, live on the 9 July 2001 Raw, Heyman stepped aside and Stephanie McMahon was announced as the new boss of Extreme Championship Wrestling. People were less than thrilled, and no wonder. No amount of ECW hats could convince people that Stephanie suited the hardcore brand, especially when Paul E was right there front and centre on television anyway.

Steph had shown herself to be a heatseeking missile as a heel, yes, but the last thing fans needed was WWF vs. WCW/ECW becoming Vince vs. Shane and Stephanie. That's exactly what happened though, and it made for one of the year's worst moments. Suddenly, with the 'Billion Dollar Princess' at the helm, ECW felt less cutting edge and more detached from what made it so cherished to begin with.

It should've been rebranded ENW. Extreme Nepotism Wrestling.