8 Wrestling Champions That Left For The Other Side

5. Shane Douglas As NWA Champion To ECW

Shane Douglas won the once coveted NWA World Heavyweight Title on August 27, 1994. However, he didn't want to be NWA World Champion. He rattled off the names of some famous NWA champions like Thesz, Brisco, Funk, Flair, Rhodes and others. He told them to kiss his ass. He tossed down the NWA Title as if it was a piece of garbage. Here's the end of his speech: "I am not the man who accepts a torch to be handed down to me from an organization that died-- RIP-- seven years ago. The Franchise, Shane Douglas, is the man who ignites the new flame of the sport of professional wrestling! (He takes the ECW Title.) Tonight, before God and my father is witness, I declare myself, The Franchise, as the new ECW Heavyweight Champion of the world! We have set out to change the face of professional wrestling. So tonight, let the new era begin: the era of the sport of professional wrestling, the era of The Franchise, the era of the ECW." http://youtu.be/_kpEjrKqf3s It was something that apparently only a few people knew about: Douglas, Paul Heyman and Tod Gordon. That was it. Meanwhile, the NWA Title was vacated for about four months before they they crowned a new champion in Chris Candido. The original name of ECW was Eastern Championship Wrestling, but then it changed to Extreme Championship Wrestling led by Paul Heyman.