10 Wrestlers Who Hated Working For ECW

5. Mike Adamle (2006)

At the beginning of 2008, debuting at the Royal Rumble, Adamle began working for WWE as a backstage interviewer. Adamle had made a name for himself as a sports broadcaster, even hosting American Gladiators. When WWE showed an interest in hiring him, Adamle jumped at the opportunity but soon learnt transitioning into working in the mad world of wrestling, without being a fan of the product, is an arduous task. He fumbled over words and names when on camera, famously calling Jeff Hardy “Jeff Harvey” and getting an avalanche of boos from the crowd in return.

Things only got harder for Adamle when WWE (for some reason) made him a play-by-play commentator for ECW. Joey Styles he was not. Former ECW talent Paul Heyman and Lance Storm were critical of his work. In a worked-shoot one episode Vince McMahon on headset instructed Adamle to leave the broadcast booth suddenly mid-show. You have to believe Adamle wanted to do the same in real life given the critical abuse he accrued online over his performances. In 2017 Adamle was diagnosed with CTE-induced dementia, possibly explaining his continued gaffes on mic/commentary.

In 2014 Adamle was interviewed by WWE to look back on his run with ECW/WWE, stating “I learned from the get-go that WWE fans were a different breed.”