Why 1997 Was The Greatest Year In Wrestling History

Having spent the past three years establishing itself as a part of syndicated TV and beyond, 1997 saw Extreme Championship Wrestling finally get the opportunity to take the next step up the ladder. That step, of course, being to take the company's extreme antics to pay-per-view.

WWF and WCW had long established themselves as the dominant promotions in the industry, but many had hopes that Paul Heyman's ECW could become a legitimate third player in this burgeoning wrestling war. While we know that ECW would never quite manage to hit the heights of those other two companies before ultimately stumbling to a formal close in April 2001, 1997 was a year full of optimism for those with a penchant for E-Cee-Dub.

With buzz building and building and building, ECW landed itself on PPV for the first time in April '97 with its Barely Legal event. Culminating with Terry Funk winning the ECW Championship from Raven, the PPV was largely viewed as a success, with names like Rob Van Dam, Lance Storm, Taz, Sabu, Shane Douglas, The Sandman, and the Dudley Boys some of the standout attractions on the card that night.

The Hardcore Heaven and November to Remember shows would follow for ECW by the time that 1997 came to a close, and the company's PPV buys continued to rise on a steady curve over the next several years. For those who'd stuck with ECW since its early days, '97 was where the momentum jumped to an entirely new level for the Philly promotion.