20 ECW Easter Eggs, References And In-Jokes You Never Noticed

15. Tommy Dreamer Was in Both ECW And WWE's First "Singapore Cane" Matches

One of the most defining characteristics of ECW came from moments in which the cultural zeitgeist of the moment merged with the need for inventive and fun wrestling moments. In May 1994, American citizen Michael Bay was imprisoned in Singapore and was forced to endure a brutal caning as punishment for his crime. ECW's The Sandman immediately began wielding a kendo stick (re-christened as a Singapore cane), and engaged in a feud with Dreamer the was settled when Dreamer lost a "Singapore Cane Match" to The Sandman and had to take ten brutal shots to the back with said cane. It was intriguingly in this moment that Dreamer became a star in the promotion, as in taking the Sandman's beating, he gained respect from ECW's fans. Intriguingly enough the first match ever specifically billed by the WWF as a "Singapore Cane Match" was on July 15, 2002 on an episode of Monday Night Raw between Stevie Richards and the then WWF Hardcore Champion, Tommy Dreamer. In a case of either poetic justice or a random draw of booking, Dreamer had both the first Singapore cane match ever, and the first Singapore cane match in WWE. While it was Dreamer who was busted open and lost in ECW, Dreamer won the WWF version with Richards being busted open in the process.