Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling

Elite Canadian Championship
Wrestling

Acronym	ECCW
Founded	1996
Style	American Wrestling
Headquarters	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Founder(s)	Dave Republic
Owner(s)	ECCW Entertainment, Ltd.
Parent	National Wrestling Alliance
Formerly	Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling
Merged with	Top Ranked Wrestling

Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW) (formerly known as NWA / Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling) is a Western Canadian-based professional wrestling promotion, operating as a member of the National Wrestling Alliance. It was the focus of the 2010 documentary This Wrestling Life, and was used as the scene for the independent movie Kayfabe.

History

Beginning

Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW) began promoting its first shows in January 1996 under the ownership of veteran wrestler/promoter "Gorgeous" Michelle Starr, with assistance from Terry Joe Silverspoon. The promotion initially operated solely on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, running shows in towns such as Port Alberni, Nanaimo, and Campbell River. The first ECCW Heavyweight champion was The Bodyguard. The title changed hands to "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka and John Rambo, before settling for longer periods of time with Michelle Starr and Mike Roselli.

In September 1996, ECCW moved its home base to New Westminster, British Columbia in order to more directly compete with rival International Championship Wrestling (based in Cloverdale, British Columbia). The promotion held its main house shows at the Eagles Hall (the former Columbia Theatre, now the Burr Theatre). In late 1996, full control of ECCW was given to Silverspoon, who continued to operate out of New Westminster until Michelle Starr returned to Canada approximately six months later.

Joining the NWA

In late 1997, Dave Republic assumed controlling interest of the promotion and announced that it had become a member of the National Wrestling Alliance, operating under the NWA Pacific Northwest banner. This change resulted in a separation of the talent, with half the roster aligning itself with Republic and the NWA, and the other half with Starr, thumbing their collective noses at the more traditional wrestling mindset the NWA adopted at the time.

It was during this time that the company adopted a rigorous touring schedule, often running up to 15 shows a month across British Columbia. Playing in towns of all sizes in the province, many of these touring shows were fundraisers for various schools or charities. A collection of one of these tours, The Northern Hell Tour, was made available as a multiple volume set of VHS video cassettes. The company also began running an annual summertime event at the North Surrey Rec Centre in Surrey, British Columbia, the first of which saw then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dan Severn defeat "Ironman" Mike Roselli in the main event. During this period of the company's history, they heavily relied on rabid fans and a blend of hardcore-style veterans such as Billy Two Eagles and "Maniac" Matt Borne, young up-and-comers such as Tony Kozina, El Antorcha, Strife, and Chance Beckett, and wrestling purists such as "Rocket" Randy Tyler and Doby Gillis. Other talent used during this period included Louie Spicolli, Tommy Rogers, and Dan Severn as touring NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Owing to the promotion's very name, which was a means to ride on the success Extreme Championship Wrestling was having across the Northeastern United States, it was not rare to see chairs, tables, and barbed wire at ECCW events.

In 2000, with their main building having been sold to the Raymond Burr Society, ECCW relocated its main monthly shows to Surrey, BC's Bridgeview Hall. To this day, it splits its main shows between Surrey and the Russian Community Centre in Vancouver, BC. During this period, ECCW brought in such outside stars as Christopher Daniels, Nova, Steve Corino, Sabu, and Tommy Dreamer. They also expanded into Washington State, occasionally running simultaneous shows in the U.S. and Canada with separate crews of wrestlers. It was around this time that ECCW entered into a working relationship with the IWA Japan organization, exchanging talent. IWA wrestlers Leatherface, Freddie Kruger and Jason the Terrible would often appear for ECCW, as well as IWA freelancer Asian Cougar, while Michelle Starr, Juggernaut, Disco Fury, and Buffy appeared in Japan for IWA.

Expansion

On December 8, 2005, ECCW announced that they had purchased independent group Top Ranked Wrestling (TRW), which had a program on KVOS (Channel 23 in Vancouver) on Saturday afternoons. ECCW's take over of the Top Ranked Wrestling program (renamed NWA Top Ranked Wrestling or NWA-TRW following the purchase) took effect on January 7, 2006, in time for the promotion's tenth anniversary celebrations. However, the first TV tapings under ECCW ownership took place at its "Season's Beatings" event on December 23, 2005. TRW star Vid Vain, who was the promotion's heavyweight champion at the time of the ECCW purchase, then joined ECCW, and his title was renamed by the company as the TRW Television Championship; that title was rarely defended on NWA-TRW, however, and the belt was shelved after a brief run. Also during the run of NWA-TRW, ECCW's top two championships, the NWA/ECCW Pacific Northwest Heavyweight and Tag Team titles, began to be referred to on the TV program as the NWA Top Ranked Heavyweight and NWA Top Ranked Tag Team Championships, respectively, although the titles otherwise retained their official names in promotional material.

ECCW later announced that NWA-TRW had been picked up for a second season. ECCW constantly had a rating of around .3, which is high for an independent promotion, and given the time slot, it was one of the highest ranked wrestling shows outside of World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Originally a one-hour show, NWA-TRW was cut to a 30-minute program in the spring of 2006. Despite being picked up for a second season, NWA-TRW aired its last episode on November 4, 2006. It is unknown whether the show was canceled by KVOS or by ECCW. Mauro Ranallo, who got his start on-camera with All Star Wrestling's CHAN-TV program in the late-1980s, was the original host of the program (starting with the then-independent TRW), with heel commentary provided by The Count and later Ladies' Choice (and occasionally Vance Nevada); after Ranallo left, ECCW ring announcer Scotty Sweatervest became the new TV host and held that job until NWA-TRW ended its run.

Following the cancellation of NWA-TRW, former color commentator Ladies' Choice was named as the new General Manager of ECCW on December 16, 2006 in Vancouver. Not surprisingly, following the lead of previous heel authority figures in major promotions like World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, LC has shown blatant favoritism toward heel wrestlers and abused the power of his office, in particular actively attempting to protect the title reign of NWA/ECCW Champion Randy Tyler (who had held the title since January 27, 2006, when he was awarded the belt without wrestling for it, after tricking Sweet Daddy Devastation into signing a contract giving the championship to Tyler if SDD defeated then-champion Juggernaut) from the challenges of popular contenders like Aaron Idol by doing all in his power to prevent those contenders from receiving title shots. LC's luck in keeping the championship on Tyler finally ran out on June 22, 2007 when Idol defeated Tyler in a steel cage match in Surrey to win the title, thanks in part to the involvement of the returning Sweet Daddy Devastation, who slammed the cage door into the escaping Tyler as payback for Tyler's duplicity. Not long after Idol's title win, Ladies' Choice resigned as General Manager and left ECCW.

During a training session in the fall of 2006 at ECCW's wrestling gym in Whalley, ECCW star Disco Fury suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon. The injury's severity was such that the tendon re-coiled half way up Fury's calf, requiring restorative surgery where 250 stitches inside and out were needed to re-connect the tendon tissue. Fury spent the remainder of 2006 out of action, and despite initial fears that he would never wrestle again due to his injury, he made a full recovery and returned to action in Surrey on May 4, 2007.

Change in ownership

In 2010, Republic decided to focus on outside interests and sold the company to Scotty Mac, Mary Ness, and The Natural who formed the company ECCW Entertainment, Ltd.. Later in 2010, Michael Sweetser took the role as owner in a storyline as part of "The Administration" with Scotty Mac, but he is not an actual owner of the company.

Renaming

On January 7th, 2012, Scotty Mac and Michael Sweetser announced that ECCW had been renamed to Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling, and unveiled a new ECCW championship belt. The belt is similar in design to the vanity "Elite championship" used by the Elite faction in DOA Pro Wrestling in Portland in 2011, of which Sweetser was also a member. The new ECCW logo is a modified version of the Elite logo. The previously used NWA/ECCW heavyweight championship belt was symbolically dropped into a trashcan, signifying the end of the "Extreme" era.

International Success

Many of Western Canada's brightest and best young talents have either started with ECCW, or used the promotion as a proving ground to build on their own skills and abilities. Harry Smith, TJ Wilson and Natalya spent time with ECCW before signing on with the WWE, as did Mattias Wilde and Tenille Tayla, with Natalya briefly holding the SuperGirls championship (now the ECCW Women's Championship) and Tayla holding the belt on two occasions. Nicole Matthews was one half of the SHIMMER Tag Team champions, and is regarded as a rising star on the North American independent wrestling scene. Tenille Tayla and KC Spinelli were featured on the wrestling-based World of Hurt television show's first season, with Spinelli and Bishop being featured in the second season. Spinelli and Veronika Vice appeared on the Wipeout Canada game show. Kyle O'Reilly appeared in the 2010 edition of the CHIKARA Young Lions Cup before signing a contract with Ring of Honor and joining Davey Richards as a member of Team Ambition.

ECCW Pacific Cup

Winners

Year	Name
2000	Asian Cougar
2002	Black Dragon
2003	Scotty Mac
2004	Major Hardway
2005	Aaron Idol
2006	Memphis Raines
2007	Kyle O'Reilly
2008	Billy Suede
2009	El Phantasmo
2010	Artemis Spencer
2011	RICK
2012	Bishop

Since 2000, ECCW has held an annual tournament called the ECCW Pacific Cup. The first edition of the tournament took place on November 24, 2000 in New Westminster, with Asian Cougar defeating Havoc and Tony Kozina in the final. Beginning with the 2002 edition (it was not held in 2001), the event was moved closer to the start of the year, and alternated between Surrey and Vancouver in later years. After years of doing the singles version of the ECCW Pacific Cup, ECCW added a tag team version of the wrestling tournament. To date there has only been one tag team version, held in 2004.

On day two of the 2005 Pacific Cup tournament, on April 23, 2005, Aaron Idol beat Puma and Bryan Danielson in a triple threat match in the finals of the Pacific Cup tournament that lasted 30 minutes. After the match, Danielson smashed the Pacific Cup trophy and claimed that ECCW was inferior to New Japan Pro Wrestling. Puma and Danielson then beat down Idol. Promoter Dave Republic then issued a challenge to New Japan, and gave Antonio Inoki 30 days to respond. Inoki did not reply and the challenge was then dropped as a result.

The 2006 edition of the tournament was also held to fill the vacant NWA Canadian Junior Heavyweight Championship, which Idol had given up in March that year to challenge for the NWA/ECCW Heavyweight title. Memphis Raines defeated Kyle O'Reilly in the championship final on June 23, 2006 in Surrey to win both the Pacific Cup and the NWA Canadian Junior title.

The 2007 Pacific Cup took place in Vancouver, BC, on June 16, 2007. Among the competitors who took part were Ring of Honor star Davey Richards, former NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion "Tornado" Tony Kozina, 2006 Pacific Cup winner Memphis Raines, NWA Canadian Junior Heavyweight Champion Ice, and Kyle O'Reilly. O'Reilly beat Kozina and Scotty Mac in a three-way tournament final to win the Pacific Cup. The event also featured a first-round match in the tournament to crown a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion, as former ROH World Champion "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson defeated top NWA contender "Bomber" Nelson Creed by submission.

The 2008 Pacific Cup tournament took place in Vancouver, BC on June 7, 2008. Billy Suede emerged victorious in front of a packed house in Vancouver by defeating both El Phantasmo and defending Pacific Cup champion Kyle O'Reilly in the finals. O'Reilly defeated Halo and Azeem The Dream to make it to the final. Phantasmo defeated Ravenous Randy in round one, and defeated 2002 Pacific Cup champion Black Dragon in the semifinals by submission. Suede defeated fellow Storm Wrestling Academy graduate CJ Strongheart in the first round, and defeated "Dastardly" Danni Deeds in the semifinals. Deeds was the replacement for Ice, who suffered a concussion in his first round victory over Jamie Diaz and was ruled unable to continue by ECCW officials. In a feature match made at the start of the show by ECCW owner Dave Republic, Scotty Mac successfully defended the NWA Canadian Heavyweight championship in a falls count anywhere match versus both The Cremator and Synn. Mac was sent over the upper balcony by The Cremator, but landed on both Synn and his own Chilltown stablemates (Sid Sylum, Azeem the Dream, and The Natural) and pinned Synn to retain his title.

The 2009 Pacific Cup tournament took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 6, 2009. El Phantasmo emerged victorious, by defeating Rick "The Weapon" X and Azeem The Dream. Rick "The Weapon" X was a replacement for Manther, who was injured.

On June 6, 2010 Artemis Spencer defeated 2007 winner Kyle O'Reilly in the finals to win the Pacific Cup. All the opponents he defeated on his path were former Pacific Cup Champions. Spencer defeated 2006 winner Memphis Raines in the first round, reigning 2009 Champion El Phantasmo in the semi-finals and finally O'Reilly in the finals. At the end of the final match when El Phantasmo came to the ring to present the trophy to Spencer, Spencer delivered a low blow to Phantasmo setting up a rematch at the next event.

The 2011 Pacific Cup tournament took place on June 18th, 2011 in Vancouver and saw controversy, as El Phantasmo was attacked by a masked man following his semi-final victory over Billy Suede and was eliminated from the tournament. RICK was inserted as the assigned alternate into the tournament, and won the final bout over 2010 champion Artemis Spencer to win the Pacific Cup tournament by only winning one match.

The 2012 Pacific Cup tournament will take place on February 24th in Surrey and February 25th in Vancouver, and will revert to a two-night, 16-man tournament format. The tournament will also do away with the junior heavyweight restriction, and will allow any qualifying competitor to take part, regardless of weight.

Championships

Current

Canadian championships

Championship	Champion	Previous	Held since	Location
NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship	Bishop	Artemis Spencer	February 25, 2012	Vancouver, British Columbia

NWA/ECCW championships

Championship	Champion	Previous	Held since	Location
ECCW Championship	Pete Powers	El Phantasmo	January 27, 2012	Surrey, British Columbia
ECCW Tag Team Championship	Riot (Alex Plexis, Ravenous Randy, Nicole Matthews & Andy The Dreadful Bird)	Bollywood Lions (Harv & Gurv Sihra)	November 26, 2011	Port Coquitlam, British Columbia
ECCW Women's Championship	KC Spinelli	Nicole Matthews	October 28, 2011	Surrey, British Columbia
ECCW Vancouver Island Championship	Azeem The Dream	Jamie Diaz	April 29, 2011	Surrey, British Columbia
ECCW Hardcore Championship	Michael Sweetser	Scotty Mac	January 27, 2012	Surrey, British Columbia
Pacific Cup Champion	Bishop	RICK	February 25, 2012	Vancouver, British Columbia
ECCW SLAM Academy Championship	Ray Brooks	The Divine Prophet		Port Coquitlam, British Columbia

Defunct

Championship	Final champion
NWA Top Ranked Television Championship	Vid Vain
NWA Canadian Junior Heavyweight Championship	Nick Price
NWA Pacific Northwest Junior Heavyweight Championship	Harv Sihra
ECCW Jobber Championship	Danni Deeds

Roster

Male wrestlers

• Aaron Bolo
• Alex Plexis
• Andy the Dreadful Bird
• Artemis Spencer
• Azeem The Dream
• Azul Angel
• "Brilliant" Billy Suede
• Bishop
• Cremator
• "Dastardly" Danni Deeds
• Disco Fury
• Dropkick Murphy
• El Phantasmo
• Gurv Sihra
• Harv Sihra
• Hellion
• The Honky Tonk Kid
• Jamie Diaz
• Jordie Taylor
• JR Daniels
• J-SIN Sullivan
• Ladies Choice
• Matt Xstatic
• "Gorgeous" Michelle Starr
• "Iron" Mike Roselli
• Mike Santiago
• Moondog Manson
• MR2
• Nick Price
• Pete Powers
• "Rocket" Randy Tyler
• Ravenous Randy
• Ray Brooks
• Red Dinero
• Scotty Mac
• Sid Sylum
• Stallyn Smyth
• Tony Baroni

SuperGirls

KC Spinelli Nicole Matthews Raven Lake Sammie Hall Taya Valkyrie Veronika Vice

Tag Teams

• Air Pirates (Ravenous Randy & Alex Plexis)
• The Bollywood Lions (Gurv and Harv Sihra)
• Cremator and "Dastardly" Danni Deeds
• Jordie Taylor & Ray Brooks
• Kenny Lush and "Brilliant" Billy Suede

Stables

The Administration

• Dropkick Murphy (loyalist)
• Michael Sweetser (ECCW Owner)
• Nick Price
• Red Dinero
• Scotty Mac

Natural Selection

• Bishop
• Ethan HD
• The Natural
• Pete Powers
• Stallyn Smith

The Riot

• Alex Plexis
• Andy the Dreadful Bird
• Nicole Matthews
• Ravenous Randy

Referees

• Bill Williams
• Robert Mitchell
• Stephen Gillis

Ring announcers

• Patrick McClorey
• Scotty Sweatervest
• Tyler Terrance

Alumni

Male wrestlers

• Aaron Idol
• Abbadon
• AC Zeidel
• Adam Fedyk
• Adam Firestorm/Torch/El Antorcha
• Agent Orange
• Asian Cooger
• Austin Spencer
• BJ Laredo
• Ballard Brothers
• Billy Two Eagles
• Black Dragon
• Brian Bedlam
• Brandon Van Danielson
• Bryan Danielson
• Cactus Jackson
• Chance Beckett
• Cheechuck
• Christopher Daniels
• Chuck Awesomesauce
• Chucky Blaze
• CJ Strongheart
• Colin Cutler
• The Count
• "Superfly" Dan Myers
• Davey Richards
• Doink the Clown
• Dr. Luther
• Eric Young
• Father Juan Valdez/Mr. Thug
• Fast Freddy Funk
• Gama Singh
• Havoc
• The Honky Tonk Man
• Ice
• Jack Evans
• Jim Neidhart
• Jimbo Richards
• Johnny Canuck
• Juggernaut
• Killswitch
• Kurrgan
• Kurt Sterling
• Kyle O'Reilly
• Lumberjack Bubba
• Machette Brown
• Major Hardway
• Manther
• Matt Borne
• Matt Classic
• Mattias Wild
• Memphis
• Michelle Starr
• Mike Dempsey
• Moondog Chopps
• Mr. Gillis
• Nelson Creed
• Nova
• Prince Aladdin
• Puma
• R.A.G.E.
• The Reaper
• RICK
• Ritchie Destiny
• Sgt. Kaos
• Scotley Crue
• Scott Steel
• Skag Rollins
• Steve Corino
• Steve Rizzono
• Strife
• Tommy Dreamer
• Tito Santana
• TJ Wilson
• Tony Kozina
• Tony Tisoy
• Travis Sparx
• V
• Vid Vain
• VK
• Wrathchild

SuperGirls

• Amazing Grace
• Amazing Kong
• Aurora
• Belle Lovitz
• Buffy
• Bunny
• Cheerleader Melissa
• Ivory/Lisa Moretti
• LuFisto
• Lylah Lodge
• Madison
• Miss Chevious
• Nattie Neidhart
• Olympia Hartauer
• Penni Lane
• Portia Perez
• Pyro
• Rotten Roxy Monoxide
• Rebecca Knox
• Sexy Samantha Slides
• Tiffany

See also

• National Wrestling Alliance

External links

• ECCW.com- Official website of Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling
• Solie.org ECCW title histories
• ECCW title histories at Wrestling-Titles.com
• ECCW poised for 10th anniversary celebration: British Columbia promotion has survived the test of time