ECW connected with its fans in a way which virtually no other professional wrestling company, or even a professional sports league, has ever seen. This is evidenced just by this past weekend's "ECW" chants in Chicago during the CM Punk & Paul Heyman in-ring segment. Here is just a short list of nationally-known professional wrestling companies which have folded in the past 40 years:
- AWA (on ESPN in the 1980's)
- Chikara
- Global Wrestling Federation (on ESPN in the early 1990's)
- Lucha Underground
- WCW (internationally recognized)
- WCCW (World Class Championship Wrestling which was on ESPN in the 1980's)
- Smokey Mountain Wrestling (regional, but many ECW alumni performed there)
- Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW)
- Wrestling Society X (on MTV)
- Many others
Despite ECW's last show being nearly 25 years ago, you only hear "ECW" chants at shows instead of any other folded company's name/acronym. Why is this the case?
This post goes into just one emotion why ECW became so entrenched in the minds & hearts of fans during the company's tenure. While there are many root (core) emotions which combined together as to why ECW is so beloved all these years later, let's focus today on just one: adult content.
Eastern Championship Wrestling started on February 25, 1992 and became "Extreme" in early September 1994 - just days after Shane Douglas threw down the NWA title after the tournament held in the ECW Arena. Even before "Extreme" started, ECW had adult topics during its "Eastern" era both before & during Paul Heyman's involvement. This content was seen throughout the 9 years ECW ran shows; and it helped differentiate the company versus its contemporaries.
Adult topics isn't necessarily enough to make a company have such die-hard fans for over a 30 year window, nearly 3/4 of which has seen the company no longer operating. Here are some reasons why the way ECW did "adult" topics, especially compared to then-WWF, WCW, and other companies running at the time. One company was the Dallas Texas-based Global Wrestling Federation (GWF) which still was on ESPN during the time ECW started (GWF folded in 1994: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Wrestling_Federation).
Compared to the other wrestling companies at the time, what "adult" topics took place in ECW which were different and increased fan loyalty:
1 -- Music
In addition to the often-quoted "Nirvana" reference tied to ECW, the company's use of current and intense music was intertwined with just about everything in the company. Wrestlers' entrance music, such as for New Jack (and The Gangstas), had a level of violence & adult lyrics not seen in the other companies.
2 -- Beer
Sandman's entrance with the beer spraying, and beer pouring, obviously lent itself toward a 21-and-up audience. However, having promos like The Public Enemy getting drunk while "training" Mikey Whipwreck for his match also added to the connection to adult audiences versus the more family-oriented products seen elsewhere.
Sandman's "White Russian Leg Sweep" move was a take on the "Side Russian Leg Sweep" well-known wrestling move, just with the alcohol-based name change.
3 -- Adult Videos
ECW had several women work with the company who had backgrounds in adult videos prior to coming into the company. Two obvious examples were Jenna Jameson and, later, Jasmin St. Claire. Other women in the company had adult content backgrounds as well, possibly in the "Eastern" era of the company as well. One alleged (unknown, so pure speculation) claim is that the woman known as "Tigra" was an exotic dancer before she became a valet in Eastern Championship Wrestling (mention of this here: https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=108643).
4 -- Adult Storylines
The Sandman-Tommy Cairo angle, which led to the fans' chanting "pay your bills", was 100% adult-oriented. Here is more about that angle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Cairo#Feuding_with_The_Sandman
The entire Sandman-Raven storyline, including Sandman's ex-wife meeting Raven while in rehab, was adult-focused especially the storyline feud over their son Tyler.
One incident was when Tommy Dreamer, Beulah, and Kimona had the first 3-way kiss on wrestling TV, and it resulted in ECW being removed from the air in many local syndication markets: https://prowrestlingstories.com/pro-wrestling-stories/women-of-ecw/
5 -- Adult Language
Adult language was used throughout ECW. This was experienced in the ring, during in-ring promos (such as New Jack and others), backstage promos, fights outside the arenas, and more.
And, of course, the various fan chants toward wrestlers & managers (men & women alike) never would pass the censors. Here is just a small sampling of the adult language used by ECW's fans:
6 -- Adult Humor
Whether it was Tracy Smothers & Little Guido (the Full Blooded Italians) using crude Italian hand gestures, or if it was the ever-changing weekly Joel Gertner introductions, ECW's use of adult humor was present all the way until the final pay per view (Living Dangerously 2001). Joey Styles had countless adult-oriented one-liners whether he was in the ring, doing a promo segment, or his voice work for the matches themselves.
Even moves by wrestlers had adult names such as the "Buggy Bang" and the "Panty Drop" (moves by Roadkill & Danny Doring). Interviews by ECW talent often had a ton of adult humor including regular adult-themed lines from Joel Gertner, Danny Doring, Francine, and others.
Beulah's backstage segment was called "Beulah's Box". Rick Rude's commentary with Joey Styles often required censorship bleeping (!).
7 -- Tie-ins To Adult-Themed News Topics
While the kendo stick had been used in pro wrestling prior to ECW, the "Singapore Cane" name for a kendo stick started in ECW due to Michael Fay being caned in early 1994 as part of his punishment for crimes in Singapore (more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_of_Michael_Fay). No other wrestling company came close to touching this kind of violent world news story at the time.
Later on in the "Extreme" era, Raven asked Stevie Richards (his "flunkie" at the time) to find disgusting, trashy women so that they could "feel Raven's pain". One of these women was Divine Brown, the real-life woman who was caught with movie star Hugh Grant cheating on actress Elizabeth Hurley (more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estella_Marie_Thompson#Arrest_with_Hugh_Grant). Her appearance in ECW is mentioned here: https://crazymax.org/newsite/reviews/the-oh-my-god-review-ecw-tv-6496-fight-the-power/
Even Nicole Bass, who began her pro wrestling career as a valet in ECW, came from controversial background during her appearances on the Howard Stern radio show which, by their nature, were adult-themed interviews.
8 -- Adult-themed Multimedia
ECW also had a significant amount of its physical and online multimedia tied to adult topics. The magazine and website often had risque photos of the women such as Francine, Dawn Marie, Elektra, and others. The tie-in with the "Premium Wear" line of clothing was 100% adult-oriented:
Francine commented on Premium Wear here: 
Here is a commercial which aired to promote the women on the ECWwrestling.com website:
The two ECW video games (Hardcore Revolution and Anarchy Rulz) also had M-rated content due to the being the first video games with barbed wire matches, adult language in the wrestler introductions, weapons matches, and more.
Of unique interest, the discrepancy of ratings between the ECW action figures (for kids) yet the video game was rated "M for mature" led to New Jack's action figure being shown in the United States Senate during a hearing on September 13, 2000. The video and timestamp can be found here: https://ecwwrestling.com/trivia/day-that-new-jacks-action-figure-was-displayed-in-a-us-congressional-session
If you were a fan of ECW, please reply in the comments on other times the adult-oriented content helped you become more of a fan. Thank you and I look forward to your replies!