7 Behind The Scenes ECW Stories That’ll Shock You
1. ECW Nearly Became A Disney Product
Mickey Mouse vs. Jerry Lynn, people. Minnie having scraps with Francine and Dawn Marie. Maybe even Goofy joining Joey Styles in the broadcast booth to call tag matches pitting Danny Doring and Roadkill vs. Joey Matthews and Christian York. Anything could've been possible had Disney agreed to become a shareholder in the original ECW.
Paul Heyman revealed this story on the ‘Authentic, Untold Story Of ECW’ documentary WWE ran in 2016. According to the mad scientist, Disney seriously considered becoming 49% owners and running the pay-per-view model for ECW. In the process, they’d have scooped up lingering PPV debts and went from there, which would've been a dream outcome for Heyman.
Eventually, after weighing up whether or not it was the right call, Disney’s Vice Chairman called the company “a little too non-Disney for Disney” and the deal was scrapped. Paul was almost certainly crestfallen. Those Disney dollars acted as a golden meal ticket, and they'd have sated the aforementioned wolves skulking around the door feeding on whatever scraps Heyman could throw them before the inevitable collapse.
It's borderline hilarious to think about now, but Extreme Championship Wrestling nearly turned into a Disney product. Keep in mind that this was long before Disney+ too, so the media giant wasn't necessarily looking for unique programming. ECW definitely would've classed as that.
Hey, stick around to watch Guilty As Charged after this re-run of Snow White.
What other shocking ECW backstage stories do you know? For more wrestling, check out WWE Money In The Bank 2026: 9 Things That NEED To Happen and 10 Times Backstage Politics Ruined WCW!