In the 1990s, ECW (or Extreme Championship Wrestling) earned a reputation for hard-hitting and boundary-pushing pro wrestling, attracting a devoted fanbase that has revered the promotion since its closure. While not a 1:1 comparison, there are some similarities between today’s AEW and the ECW of yore, with Rob Van Dam acknowledging in an interview with Monopoly Events that some of its modern stars would do well in the hardcore promotion.
“I think Jon Moxley,” Van Dam said. “ECW had some people that liked to do gory stuff, and bleeding a lot, but not all of us. I didn’t like that s**t, you know? So I wasn’t in those matches and I still don’t like it … but it was a melting pot of a lot of different styles. … Swerve [Strickland] would do really well there, as well. He’d fit in.”
RVD also nodded his head along with the interviewer when it was suggested that Darby Allin would be a strong ECW performer. The WWE Hall of Famer said that the AEW stars could have ready-made rivals in opponents like Balls Mahoney and the Gangstas tag team, featuring New Jack and Mustafa Saed.
This is far from the first time AEW has drawn certain comparisons to ECW. In the past, Tony Khan has paid tribute to ECW by hosting some of its most memorable performers, including Van Dam. Last year, AEW also held a TV special called September to Remember, making reference to ECW’s recurring November to Remember pay-per-view.
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