10 ECW Wrestlers You Don't Remember

In the grand scheme of things, Extreme Championship Wrestling burned very brightly for a relatively short period of time.

In that time, however, the promotion managed to make many memorable moments that have stood the test of time, thanks in large part to the aura of the stars it helped create.

The Sabus, Rob Van Dams, Ravens, Tazs and the like were bona fide stars in ECW (and beyond), but there were plenty of wrestlers who bled and sweat in that sweatbox of an arena in Philadelphia that didn’t quite leave the same legacy and may have been lost to time, despite their best efforts.

These are 10 ECW Wrestlers You Don’t Remember.

10. Uganda

A spinoff of Kamala – what gave it away? – Uganda was brought into ECW for 21 matches during the second half of 1999.

A mainstay of All Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he wrestled as Giant Kimala, Uganda hadn’t had a great deal of exposure to the US audience, outside of the occasional match here or there – including a loss to Erik Watts on an episode of WCW Worldwide in 1992.

ECW fans were first introduced to Uganda on the August 21, 1999 edition of Hardcore TV, which opened with highlights of him beating Spanish Angel and Kid Kash in separate matches. A week later, he was seen squashing Tom Marquez.

Evidently being pushed as a monster heel, Uganda was built up just so he could be knocked down by two of ECW’s top stars.

First, he unsuccessfully challenged Rob Van Dam for the World TV Title in a competitive match. Then the barefoot brawler did a 23 second job for ‘giant killer’ Spike Dudley, which was his cue to return to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Real name Ben Peacock, he would continue to wrestle in Japan before retiring from the business in 2005.

9. Ikuto Hidaka

ECW always seemed to have close ties with Japanese organisations and were able to bring in stars like Atsushi Onita, Masato Tanaka, Hayabusa, The Great Sasuke and others at their peak.

In the winter of 1999, the small Battlarts promotion sent a promising rookie on a learning excursion to the land of extreme, presumably in the hope it would give him the sort of seasoning and exposure it had provided fellow Japanese export Yoshihiro Tajiri.

Ikuto Hidaka wrestled 11 matches in total between November 26 and December 18, three of which were televised. Two of those were against the dependable Super Crazy, a complimentary opponent for the high-flying Hidaka.

Bursting onto the scene and dropping jaws like Rey Mysterio had four years earlier, the ECW fans immediately embraced him.

It was hard not to marvel at the speed and crispness of Hidaka, who was just a couple of years into his professional career at that point. He only got a few opportunities to show the American audience what he was all about, but he made the most of it and left the Philadelphia faithful wanting more.

8. Ulf Herman

Ulf Herman worked in his home country and around Europe during the 1990s, gaining experience in different territories and even earning a WWE tryout match (as Herman the German, naturally) in 1992.

WWE passed on him, but Ulf made his way to ECW in 1998 and aligned himself with Lance Wright and his short-lived ‘The Wright Connection’ stable of ‘unofficial’ WWE stars like 2 Cold Scorpio and, erm, Brakus.

On television, Herman was primarily used to put over other, bigger stars (such as Sabu) and he did a couple of very quick jobs to Spike Dudley, which was basically a rite of passage for anyone over six-four and 250 lbs who found themselves in ECW at that time.

Herman’s one other highlight was a short TV Title match loss to Rob Van Dam on an episode of Hardcore TV.

All told, the one-time member of the Full-Blooded Italians wrestled 31 ECW matches (only a few of which were televised), before his jaunt to the USA ended and he returned to the European scene.

7. Prodigy & The Prodigette

Well, if you don’t remember Prodigy, the odds of you remembering Prodigette are pretty slim, aren’t they? Prodigy was a repackaged Tom Marquez, an indie guy from Puerto Rico who worked a handful of matches for ECW over the course of a few years, before securing a regular gig in 1999.

He was essentially a solid hand used to put others over, before being given a bit more to do as a member of the stable, the Sideshow Freaks.

That group was managed by The Prodigette, AKA Angel Orsini, a female performer who had been active on the worldwide indie scene. The Prodigette only worked a handful of matches – including a victory over Jazz and a mixed-tag loss to Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger – but stuck around until the bitter end.

Unfortunately, she missed the very, very last ECW house show after being injured in a car accident.

Post-ECW, Orsini (using her real name) had a decent career on the indies, while Marquez worked here and there before sacking it off in 2005.

6. Antifaz Del Norte

Though former WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff will no doubt happily tell you that he introduced lucha libre to the American mainstream, it was actually Paul Heyman who gave the likes of Rey Mysterio, Juventud Guerrera, Psicosis and Konnan their first real shot in the United States.

ECW would continue to draft in the occasional masked Mexican talent afterwards, though that was easier said and done with WCW and WWE having first dibs on the best ones.

One high-flier who got a look in was Antifaz del Norte, AKA the Mask of the North.

Of note, he had televised matches against Tajiri and a debuting Super Crazy, as well as a couple of outings against Little Guido, one of which took place at the 1999 Guilty as Charged pay-per-view.

Most of the matches he had were decent enough and he clearly had talent, but there wasn’t much to distinguish him (even if he was more than happy to throw caution to the wind with some truly reckless dives).

Curiously, his ECW swansong was a non-televised ECW World Title match loss to Taz, following which he went back to working south of the border.

5. Tommy Cairo

Because ECW became so popular as the ultraviolent, anti-establishment cult promotion of the mid-to-late 1990s, people tend to forget its pre-Extreme life as NWA affiliate Eastern Championship Wrestling.

Eastern Championship Wrestling had a whole other roster and a bunch of stars that fans of the table-breaking revamp may not have heard of.

Such as Tommy Cairo, a former professional bodybuilder who became one of only two men (along with Tony Stetson) to hold the ECW Pennsylvania Championship during its fleeting five-month lifespan in 1993.

The most memorable thing Cairo did during his ECW tenure was feud with The Sandman.

Their personal rivalry saw them start as partners, before drawing in Woman and Sandman’s wife Lori (AKA Peaches) and leading to various matches revolving around the so-called ‘Singapore’ canes.

‘Ironman’ Tommy Cairo wasn’t a dynamic promo and didn’t really do anything flashy in the ring, but his contributions to the early days of ECW shouldn’t be overlooked and he was one of the hottest wrestlers in the Northeast independent scene of the day.

4. Skull Von Krush

Skull Von Krush! The owner of this menacing moniker was none other than a pre-dress-wearing Vito LoGrasso.

A student of Johnny Rodz, Vito had wrestled in Memphis, Puerto Rico, Japan and done some jobs for WWE before getting his shot in ECW towards the tail end of ’98.

Used primarily on live events, Skull Von Krush had a couple of decent matches with World Television Champion Rob Van Dam on Hardcore TV, but he failed to really stand out from the rest of the pack.

He was a solid enough hand and worked hard, but didn’t have much of a character. Which is presumably why the ECW brain trust decided to let him go by his real name and added him to Da Baldies stable.

After feuding with New Jack, Vito left ECW for WCW after taking the pin in a ‘Loser Leaves ECW’ tag match. All in all, he was in the Land of Extreme for about a year.

3. Sal Bellomo

Another cult favourite from the pre-Extreme days of Eastern Championship Wrestling, ‘Wildman’ Sal Bellomo was a longtime journeyman grappler who was probably best known for being a technically-sound WWE jobber during the mid-1980s.

When he rocked up in ECW in the early 1990s, he was considerably heavier and sported a massive beard. He also wore new gear that made him look like a homeless Roman centurion and completely changed up his wrestling style, swapping headlocks and hiptosses for frenzied brawling.

Before New Jack, Balls Mahoney and the like made it their calling card years later, Bellomo was the first ECW star to truly take the action into the audience and use everything in his vicinity that wasn’t nailed down.

He never won a title in ECW, but he did receive a few cracks at them, including in a tournament final for the vacant ECW Heavyweight Title (which was won by Jimmy Snuka).

Sal wrestled for ECW between 1992 and ’94, left and then came back for a couple of matches as a member of the FBI in ’96. What he lacked in finesse he made up for by being entertaining and unpredictable.

2. Rod Price

Texas mainstay ‘Rugged’ Rod Price wrestled over 50 matches for ECW in 1998 and ’99. Price was mainly used as an enhancement talent to put other, bigger stars over and only appeared a few times on television.

Like many a follicly-challenged member of the hardcore crew, Price was, inevitably, made a member of Da Baldies. Not for long, mind, because a month after his last tag match with PN Neuz, Rod Price said goodbye to ECW.

We probably didn’t get to see the best of Rod Price in ECW, as injuries (in particular a serious one to his neck) had taken their toll – and would soon take him out of the ring for good.

In his prime, he was supposedly pretty damn good and people say he could have been a bigger deal with better timing and the right push.

When it came time to round out his career in Paul Heyman’s promotion, he was more or less filling up a place on the card.

1. Mack Daddy Kane

No, this isn’t Glenn Jacobs’ alter-ego becoming a pimp. No, Mack Daddy Kane was another WWE star who briefly cut his teeth in Paul Heyman’s promotion.

A solid six years before showing up on Raw as Three Minute Warning member Rosey, Matthew Anoa’i was working in the small halls of the North-eastern United Sates alongside his uncle Samu, AKA Sammy Silk.

Together they were the Samoan Gangsta Party, arriving in ECW in the Summer of 1996 to challenge for the ECW World Tag Team Titles.

Sammy was clearly the captain of the ship, having already been in the business for 14 years working for major organisations like WWE, WCW and New Japan, while Mack Daddy Kane – also known as Big Matty Smalls – was looking to make a name for himself.

It didn’t quite happen in ECW, as the duo’s stay lasted just four months and 10 matches, though one of them – against The Gangstas at Heat Wave – gained a measure of infamy after the Island boys were bludgeoned with weapons in a brutally one-side, short squash that ended via referee’s decision.