What went wrong between WWE and Channel 4 in the Attitude Era

On October 22nd 2000, WWF’s Sunday Night Heat would replay a graphic scene from that week’s episode of Smackdown. Rikishi, who was in his weird evil mob boss phase at the time, would destroy a pickup truck belonging to Stone Cold Steve Austin with a sledgehammer. He would then threaten to attack Jim Ross, a noted friend of Stone Cold with the same hammer. As strange as this is to say, that scene would ordinarily be fairly typical of attitude era WWF programming, but it would later be named specifically when the company’s deal with Channel 4 in the UK. A deal that many thought was a well made match, but it would not just end badly, but ti would start badly too.


In this video, we’ll look at the broadcasting deal that existed between WWF and Channel 4 in the early 2000’s. We’ll also look at what made the relationship go sour, and what that meant for fans in the UK at the time.


Channel 4 gets an attitude


At one time if you were a fan in the UK who only had access to the five free TV channels, your options for American wrestling were limited. (1) Starting on July 30th 1999, Friday nights on Channel 5 brought WCW Worldwide, which was similar to the US version but with specialized commentary for the UK by Scott Hudson and Larry Zybysko. We would continue to get more towards the end of the year though, as starting in late ‘99, when you were very lucky, you’d even get a WWF pay per view through a short lived broadcast deal with Channel 4. Through that same deal on Sunday evenings we had WWF Heat, very much a B or maybe even C show by then, but broadcast in a very easy to catch time slot. Initially at least, but we’ll get to that. Wrestling on UK television had been a big deal for many years until it was cancelled in the 1980’s, being a part of World of Sport which aired on Saturday afternoons. This wrestling is still remembered today by the older generation, as in when someone of that age finds out you like wrestling this is what they think you mean, but it’s very different from what WWF and WCW were presenting by the late 90’s, and Channel 4 somehow didn’t seem to be fully aware of how different.


Whether your show aired on a free channel versus a paid subscription channel back then made the world of difference. In October ‘99, before Heat started airing, (2) the highest rated wrestling show was often Worldwide, higher than Nitro or Raw, purely because it was available in every single home with a television, versus the paid channels that weren’t. If you’re looking at those numbers and wondering why Nitro rated higher than Raw, it’s worth pointing out, as a fan from Wales says in a letter to the Observer in November ‘99, (3) “Raw also has a replay early Saturday morning and Nitro doesn’t. Many fans watch Nitro and tape Raw. The reverse is impossible unless you own two satellite systems.” (4) This didn’t guarantee Nitro the win every week, but it does mean that the rating was regularly much closer every week than it was in the US. That might well be as close to Monday Night Wars ratings talk as we’ll ever get on this channel.


If any of the five free channels that were around back then were going to feel like a perfect fit for the attitude era, Channel 4 was going to be the one. It was known as the edgy and cool channel compared to the BBC, but frankly it’d be hard to be seen as less cool than them. It’s target viewership often skewed towards teenagers and younger adults, so you might think WWF might be a good idea for them. You might think that. Their first mistake came with the decision to air Heat in an early evening time slot. In just the first few months of this scheduling, all ages of viewers could well have been shown Mae Young giving birth to a hand, Mae Young being put through a table by the Dudley Boys, and Mae Young taking the Olympic Slam by Kurt Angle. There were of course many other examples of questionable things to broadcast in such a time slot, but if you haven’t clocked why I’m focusing on Mae Young, I suppose I’d better get to it then.


Royal Rumble 2000


The first pay per view that Channel 4 would broadcast came on January 23rd, and it was the 2000 Royal Rumble event. While this show is fondly remembered for many noteworthy things, from Taz making his debut and ending Kurt Angle’s undefeated streak, to Triple H and Cactus Jack having a brutal street fight, to the Rock sort of winning the Royal Rumble, it’s also less fondly remembered for another moment. Not less remembered because it’s not noteworthy, but less remembered simply because nobody wants to. Third on the card that night would be the Miss Rumble 2000 swimsuit contest, which was open to all women on the roster. Unfortunately though, it was open to all women on the roster.


If we’re going to be charitable, we could say that this segment did one good thing, in that it got across the personalities of the women involved. Ivory in particular stood out by refusing to fully to participate, foreshadowing her joining Right to Censor later in the year. I suppose we should get to the thing I’m not talking about though. One of the participants, a late entry, was seventy seven years old, and unbeknownst to us at the time, pregnant with a human hand. Mae Young would enter the contest, and upon winning by judges vote, would celebrate by showing off a prosthetic body suit that was supposed to make her look as nature intended. For what it’s worth, it clearly wasn’t apparent that it was a body suit at the time, as Dave Meltzer would write in his recap of the show, (5) “The WWF in its previews on the TV-14 logo listed “N,” promising nudity, and delivered the ultimate tease of giving it without giving it, in the form of 77-year-old Mae Young unzipping her bathing suit”. He goes on to say that “While a huge “X” and “censored” appeared on the television screen, the crowd live got to see it for what seemed like an eternity, for whatever it was worth, and there were a few token glimpses to the television audience as well.” No indication is given that Mae was actually covered up, implying that they weren’t sure of that until a week later. Not that it makes anything any better though.


If for some reason you’re wondering who came up with this daft idea, it was this bloke. (6) According to the PW Torch, Vince got the idea from seeing “There’s Something about Mary”, and wanted to do something similar on his product. McMahon, who was famous for being out of touch with pop culture outside his own company, had to see that of all films. The situation crossed the line and upset many viewers, even the venue that hosted the event, Madison Square Garden. A rep for MSG would release a statement claiming that they were “disturbed” by what had taken place, and would go on to say, (7) “The event was promoted as being consistent with traditional WWF programs, however there was an intentional and significant departure within the event about which both The Garden and the public were unaware. Today, the Garden has received a guarantee from the WWF that the presentation of the next event on February 28th will be consistent in every way with traditional WWF programs - and for that matter, so will any future events that may be held at The Garden.” It didn’t end there for the world's most famous arena though, (8) as according to Dave Meltzer, “MSG lawyers are investigating whether the WWF violated conduct clauses in its contract with MSG.” Wade Keller added that Garden officials “had stopped the WWF from selling merchandise they deemed inappropriate”, so this was perhaps part of a larger issue brewing between the famous venue and the WWF.


The reason I’m bringing all of this up is because allegedly, Channel 4 bosses saw what they had aired the following day and were furious about it. I’ve yet to see any concrete proof of this, but it’s a long talked about theory that this was the point where C4 developed buyers remorse. It’s worth pointing out that Channel 4 didn’t air the Armageddon pay per view a month earlier, and so didn’t show the Kat doing something similar on that event.


Royal Rumble 2001


After the 2000 Royal Rumble, things really started to go downhill between the channel and WWF. The timeslot that Heat would air in would move around the schedule, making it difficult for viewers to find until May 2001, when the show would move to midnight into Monday morning, where it would stay for the end of the run. While that was annoying, it wasn’t the most annoying thing that Channel 4 did. While we were still fortunate to have free airings of four pay per views a year on the channel, typically the Rumble in January, Backlash in April, Fully Loaded in July and Armageddon in December, they would become littered with advert breaks that would interrupt the broadcast, sometimes at the worst possible times. It was almost like watching a film and a commercial coming right as Mufasa is thrown off the cliff or something. The most infamous instance of this occurred during the airing of the 2001 Royal Rumble match, spoiling the return of a big surprise entrant.


On August 7th 2000, The Big Show made his last televised appearance that year, wrestling only on one house show after that. From there, he would disappear to casual viewers for the rest of the year, so much so that he was cut from that year's main video game release, Smackdown 2 Know Your Role. Big Show had disappeared at least to everyone who didn’t have access to Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE’s developmental group at the time.


Jumping ahead to the 2001 Royal Rumble match, Big Show would make his triumphant return as the twenty third entrant, and would do so just over sixty pounds lighter. I say triumphant, but he would last not even one and a half minutes in the match, before being eliminated by The Rock. That's all well and good if you were in the US and had bought the event on pay per view, or are watching today on whatever past events are on in your area. As a UK viewer back in 2001, we saw the Big Show charge to the ring, a cut to an ad break, and by the time the action resumed Show was already out of the match. To say this disappointed and even angered some viewers is an understatement, as it’s still remembered by UK fans to this day. It also marks maybe the clearest indication to us viewers that Channel 4 didn’t really care about the WWF product anymore, and was seemingly happy to throw an ad break in regardless of if it hurt the viewing experience. (15) On the screen now are comments I found posted in 2001, on the forum of UK based entertainment website Digital Spy, showing just how unhappy these fans were with Channel 4’s WWF coverage. I’m sure many of them would have been happy to learn that the writing appeared to be on the wall come contract renewal time. While the deal would end at the end of 2001, we wouldn’t have to wait that long to find out.


Cancellation


On July 27th 2001, the British media reported on WWF getting axed by Channel 4. This would have been considered a big story at the time because much like in America, wrestling was possibly at a peak it’s popularity. As a kid myself back then WWF seemed to be everywhere around the time Channel 4 first started airing it, which might actually be part of the problem. An article printed in the Guardian newspaper claimed that (5) “The decision to drop the American show, which has a global following among children and teenagers, was made because of the increasingly violent fighting scenes and misgivings over its portrayal of women. According to a Channel 4 spokesperson the show had become "increasingly difficult to edit.” This does appear to be Channel 4’s first mistake in their airing of Sunday Night Heat. While in the US Heat would air at 7pm, in the UK Channel 4 chose to air it at 4, but it’s content would sometimes not make for great family viewing.


Channel 4’s decision was said at the time to have been due not just to their own opinion, but because of several incidents that had received complaints from viewers to the Independent Television Commission, one of several governing bodies for broadcasting that have since merged to form the Office of Communications, or Ofcom for short. The Guardian only names one specific incident, the Rikishi, Stone Cold and Jim Ross segment that I mentioned in the intro of this video. No other incidents are detailed, but I’d be willing to bet that in any given week a disgruntled parent would be able to find something on WWF TV to complain about, especially given its unfortunate time slot.


The content of televised wrestling shows had already been discussed by the media by that time, to the point where complaints had led to a study that was carried out into how viewers were affected by the content of wrestling. There were several other factors that caused this level of scrutiny, such as the rise of backyard wrestling, and other cases of children imitation what they had seen on TV.


In March 2001, (16) UK trade magazine Broadcast reported on a study titled “How do audiences perceive TV and video wrestling?”, which was commissioned because “in the past three years the ITC has received 128 separate complaints.” This doesn’t just relate to Channel 4, but Sky One and Channel 5 as well, who were also showing WWF and WCW within that time. The study consisted of interviewing “85 wrestling fans aged six to 55-plus from across the UK.“ According to Broadcast, a report was compiled from these interviews, and the conclusion of it was interesting. “Viewers questioned by the report said they followed the fortunes of their favourite wrestlers in a similar manner to developments in soap plot lines. It also found that most viewers were well aware that the violence in the shows was faked and that the narrative was pre-scripted. Viewers also agreed that the violence involved was no worse than in other types of programmes. Parents who watched the shows were largely unconcerned about their children mimicking what they saw on screen, seeing no link between watching the sport and real-life violence.“ While wrestling seems to come out of the report mostly unscathed, Broadcast does add that “Some participants in the research were concerned about the portrayal of women, especially their maltreatment by wrestlers and for being shown as sex objects.”


Given that both Channel 4 and the study mentioned concerns about how poorly women were treated on WWF programming, while they were clearly correct, it showed an obvious lack of product knowledge when the deal was first being put together. Off the top of my head while writing this I came up with a list of questionable moments or storylines involving women within the previous year. I don’t know how much I’m allowed to describe on this platform so they’re scrolling up the screen. Even while the Channel 4 deal was being made, you had many more dodgy moments involving Stephanie McMahon from Test and Shane fighting over her like she’s property, to the Bulldog throwing a bin and knocking her out, and another thing on the subject of her being knocked out. My point is, did Channel 4 really know what they were getting themselves into if this is one of the reasons they gave for ending the deal?


You could also make the argument, as the Observer and Figure Four Weekly would a few weeks later, that wrestling wasn’t the most complained about thing that was airing around the same time by far. A few weeks later Dave Meltzer would add an interesting comparison to the conversation. (6) “The decision was criticized because the station had aired a comedy show on paedophilia the day before wrestling was canceled, which drew more than 1,000 complaints, while wrestling received relatively few viewer complaints.” The comedy show that Dave is referencing is Brass Eye, a satirical take on media coverage of sometimes very serious topics. On July 26th 2001, they had as Dave says aired a special episode about the subject that YouTube wouldn’t like me talking about. The Brass Eye special is pretty infamous for how badly received it was, (7) causing around three thousand complaints on the night that it aired alone, leading the ITC to demand an apology from Channel 4. Brass Eye was viewed in it’s live airing by around two million viewers, which will likely have been much higher than a 4pm airing of Heat, which is why there were far more complaints for the comedic show than for WWF. As Broadcast noted, there had been nearly a hundred and thirty complaints across three different channels over three years, versus three thousand in one single night. Dave makes a very interesting point by bringing up Brass Eye, because it reminds us that television as a whole had issues with what was deemed acceptable around this time, but it’s not a very fair comparison to make though given the scale of the shows involved.


Ending


Fans at the time wondered if Sky TV would be picking up any of the WWF programming that Channel 4 had cut. According to Broadcast, Sky had in February 2000 renewed their deal with the promotion for five more years, bringing the number of hours per of WWF content annually up to over four hundred with the addition of Smackdown to the schedule, joining Raw and various B-shows like Livewire, Superstars and Metal. In August 2001, (14) Sky would comment saying they had no intention of adding any more WWF, which was not really a surprise with Heat, but was more of one regarding the four pay per views a year that fans were set to miss, one being the Royal Rumble. Dave would note though that the promotion was already in talks with other companies to carry those events. The 2002 Royal Rumble, the first after the Channel 4 deal ended, would be available to UK fans, but for the first time as an actual pay per view event. Aye, cheers Channel 4.


WWF would air on free television for the last time in many years with the December 31st 2001 episode of Heat. As if to show they had no intention of changing, earlier that month WWF would include a segment where the Undertaker, then feuding with the Hardy Boys, would throw Lita off the stage, (17) which according to the Observer would be edited off UK broadcasts of the show. It would take a few more years for the company to fully embrace a PG product, which actually might have done quite well on Channel 4.


Nearly twenty years later, WWE would again be seen on free to air UK television. In January 2020, they would sign a deal with Channel 5 to air two weekly best of Raw and Smackdown shows a week. If I were being a cynic, or just teasing a bit, I’d point out that this deal was made just a couple of months after another wrestling company would launch a show that also aired on free TV. Can’t be related though, nope. Not at all.



Sources:

https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/august-9-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wwf-goes-public-hall-fame/ WCW Worldwide launch


https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/october-11-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-vince-russo-leaves-wwf/ UK ratings Oct 99


https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/november-8-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-life-and-death-owen-hart/ Why Nitro did so well


https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/october-4-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wwf-unforgiven-and-ufc-22/ Closer rating


https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/january-31-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wcw-departures-wwf-royal/ RR2000 review


https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch586/T586WWFNews.html Update on Mae angle


https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch587/T587CoverSidebar.html MSG statement and merch quote


https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/february-7-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-radicalz-debut-wwf-rock/ MSG Lawyers


https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/august-14-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wcw-turmoil-hall-fame/ Big Show


https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/august-21-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-steve-austin-return-wcw/ Big Show 2


https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/august-6-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wcw-purchase-price/ Cancellation announcement


https://www.c21media.net/news/channel-4-axes-increasingly-extreme-wwf/ Story on axe


https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/jul/27/channel4.broadcasting Story on axe


https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/august-13-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wwf-invasion-ppv-does-big/ Sky TV


https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/7245/wwf-on-channel-4 Fans comments from 2001


https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/knives-are-out-for-wrestling-but-public-laps-it-up/1171973.article Broadcast 1 March 16th 2001


https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/december-31-2001-observer-newsletter-2001-retrospective-more-97426/ Last airing, Undertaker and Lita


https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a30607187/wwe-raw-smackdown-uk-tv-channel-5-highlights/

https://transdiffusion.org/2025/11/03/an-americans-view-of-channel-4/

The Story of Spike Dudley and his mystery girlfriend in ECW

 

In a video on this channel that I made a couple of years ago, I covered an intense trilogy of matches between Spike Dudley and Mike Awesome, because their clash from Guilty as Charged 2000 has stuck in my head all these years. It’s a match worth going out of your way to see, it’s a bit one sided, and it’s certainly never dull.




I’m not going to get into the match here though, rather an aspect of the story that I didn’t talk about much back then. If you’ve seen this match or the build to it, you might remember someone unfamiliar to us who was involved in the story, showing us a very different side of Spike. I decided to find out who this person actually was and how many other times they appeared in ECW, so in this video we’ll look at what happened in the ring, and who she was. The story would end quite abruptly , and we’ll also look at the reasons for that too. This is the brief story of who I’m calling, Littler Spike Dudley.




Before we get into Littler Spike, it’s worth putting into context that Spike was a pretty popular member of the ECW roster by 1999. He spent much of the year along with tag team partners like New Jack and John Kronus feuding with Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley, eventually finding some success, even winning the tag team titles from them teaming with Balls Mahoney. In an August 2025 interview with Chris Van Vliet, (4) Spike credits his success against his storyline siblings to him being able to take a beating, and Bubba in particular knowing how far he could take that. “He never injured me, but he’d beat the shit out of me.” He goes on to say that he had three older brothers who weren’t easy on him growing up, so it’s easy to see how Spike fit so well into the role. Once Bubba and D-Von left for greener pastures, it would have been easy for Spike to have gotten lost in the shuffle, had he not built a connection with the fans by then.




One of the things that was so likeable about Spike was his distinct look. Even alongside his kayfabe brothers, he stood out with his ragged hair, taped up glasses and the brightly coloured tye-dye and overalls. Eventually you could even spot fans in the crowd dressing like him, and Spike would make a point of interacting with these fans. It was quite clever then to introduce a character as one of these fans dressed like Spike, because Joey Styles and Joel Gertner on commentary would draw attention to them and we would be none the wiser that one of them might be in on the show until the moment they jump the guardrail.




Littler Spike




Littler Spike would actually be noticeable in the crowd for months before the storyline began. On October 16th, Spike would head to the ring for a Television title match with Rob Van Dam. On his way down the aisle he would spot his number one fan dressed as him, and would briefly pose with her before carrying on his entrance. Joey Styles points her out the way he might any other fan that a wrestler was interacting with, and at the time we’d be none the wiser that she was part of the show. A couple of weeks later on the November 5th TNN episode, she would be visible on the entranceway, and Spike would even remove his glasses and swap them with hers. One of Spike’s opponents that night Little Guido would take the glasses off her and break them, leaving Spike’s fan furious.

There were actually a couple of clues here that she might be in on the act, the first being that when we cut back from the ad break all three participants in the match, Spike, Guido and Super Crazy are already in the ring. Spike would have already passed his number one fan on his way to the ring, but goes back to her after the in ring introductions, making sure that it airs on TNN. The other clue was a line from Joey Styles noting that she had turned up in different cities, with the RVD match happening in Westwego Louisiana, and the second appearance being in the ECW arena. Joel Gertner jokes that she walked here, which if you’re interested would apparently take nineteen days according to Google Maps. Several weeks later, something else would make her mad enough to get involved in the storyline with Awesome, but not before an interesting report was published in the Pro Wrestling Torch.




On December 23rd 1999 at the ECW on TNN taping in White Plains New York, Spike Dudley would be spotted “teaching an unknown woman some wrestling moves in the ring.” This is according to Wade Keller, who reported it in the January 1st 2000 issue of the Torch. Assuming this is the same person who had been dreading up like Spike, could this be the first mention of Littler Spike in the Torch, well no actually. (5) In the November 14th issue, in coverage of the glasses moment she is referred to as “his planted female fan.” It might have not been a secret that she was a plant, but what happened next would still be surprising.




In the main event of the December 31st episode of ECW on TNN, Mike Awesome would regain the ECW World title, beating Masato Tanaka who had taken it from him a week earlier. While Awesome was celebrating his victory, Highway to Hell would start to play, and Spike would march to the ring, having confronted Awesome weeks earlier, already making his challenge for Mike’s World title. Very quickly Spike would be the victim of a two on one attack, as Judge Jeff Jones would help Awesome get the upper hand, which would cause what at first looked like a second Spike to get into the ring.




Littler Spike goes right after Jones, while Joey Styles calls her Spikes “fan, his groupie, his friend,” almost not sure what to make of her. The unknown woman would hit an Acid Drop on Jones, but while celebrating would be blasted by Awesome with a clothesline. Officials and Spike go over to check on the woman, who quickly starts bleeding from the mouth. We would later learn that Awesome had, in storyline mind, knocked her two front teeth out. Mike would remind us of this in promos for weeks, explaining that he was furious at Spike for ruining his championship celebration. The episode then ends with Spike going after Awesome, but being dumped out of the ring before we fade to black.




On the following night, January 1st 2000, Hardcore TV would feature a replay of the Awesome versus Tanaka match, and everything that followed with Spike 1 and Spike 2. After this we cut to a very different than usual Spike Dudley, who makes the point that even after all of the violent things he has taken, he has never missed an ECW show in the three years he had been with the company. He also tells Awesome “You knocked my girl’s teeth out,” and vows that there will be no silliness at Guilty as Charged. (2) The January 8th Torch notes that Spike apparently received a lot of praise for this promo, and that management is high on Spike for his ability to take all he has and still not miss a show. Foreshadowing is a literary device where- We will learn a lot more from this same issue, but more on that in a minute. On the Friday January 7th ECW on TNN, the only new thing we see is a rebuttal from Mike Awesome and Jeff Jones, who say that Spike's girlfriend made him look ridiculous. Awesome then says if he’s willing to do what he did, imagine what he will do to Spike at the pay per view.




Who was Spike’s Fan?




In the January 8th Torch, we get our first indication who the mystery woman actually is. I should note that while Wade Keller gives her full name I won’t be doing so. She isn’t a public figure as best I can tell, so I imagine twenty plus years later she might not want to be named in a YouTube video. I am however, going to tell you who she is in relation to ECW, and the storyline with Spike. Wade Keller would write, (2) “the woman who plays Spike's look-alike fan and took the incredible bump for Mike Awesome on last week's TNN show, has never had formal wrestling training. In fact, she is ECW's lighting director.” Wade also claims that before the clothesline took place, Littler Spike told Awesome to really hit her. “Paul Heyman wasn't surprised by that report and called her "the toughest woman I've ever met." Wade goes on to say that she wasn’t hurt at all from the rough looking clothesline, and that her front teeth were actually knocked out years ago, and that she wears false ones. “[Bullock] the planted fan is slated to be a regular part of Spike's routine and will appear with him at the PPV,” though TNN were reportedly not happy with the level of man on woman violence that the angle included. This, as I’m sure you can imagine, was a bit of a recurring conversation between TNN and ECW.




On the night of Guilty as Charged, January 9th 2000 from Birmingham Alabama, Spike's girlfriend wouldn’t appear on the live show, but she would be part of a pre-taped promo that would air on the show. Spike shows us Mike’s handiwork, and Littler Spike who ECW still hadn’t given a name yet, shows us a large gap in her teeth which again, Mike didn’t really cause. Something happens off screen and we hear Paul Heyman ask Spike to start over, and he flies into a rage, throwing a trash can around and completely dropping the gimmick. Though Littler Spike doesn't say a word, she shows fear while Spike is throwing a fit, helping to get across how out of character this is for him. Over this and the previous promo they do a very good job in showing us a different Spike Dudley, one that is ready for a war with Awesome.




After Guilty as Charged, Littler Spike doesn’t appear on ECW TV again, nor is she mentioned much by the newsletters. (7) In the March 4th Torch, Wade reports that she was on a leave of absence from BML, the lighting company used by ECW because of a personal reason, and was even moving to a different state to be near her family. This might well explain why she never appeared on screen again, though it’s also said that “She has an open invitation to return as ECW's lighting director through BML or directly with ECW.” Though it would seem like this might be the last we would hear about Spike’s girlfriend, she would pop up in the Torch again a few months later, but we’ll get to that after covering what happened in Spike’s career, as her absence was not the only reason for the storyline ultimately being dropped.




At the end of February, Spike Dudley would take some time away from ECW due to a knee injury, his first significant time off since joining the promotion in mid-1996. According to Spike in the Chris Van Vliet interview, he actually suffered the injury in the Guilty as Charged match with Mike Awesome, but kept working on it for another month until it became clear that he couldn’t any longer. When I say that Spike continued to wrestle, I mean that he would take part in twelve more matches, including three World title shots against Mike Awesome, although only two would be televised. Of his injury the Torch would report in late February, (6) “Spike has been telling friends within the company that his knee injury is not serious, but sources report that he has been advised by doctors to have surgery.” Of course he was trying to downplay it. Wade also notes that Spike hoped to be back in the ring by the Living Dangerously pay per view on March 12th, but it would appear that this would be too soon.




Defiant for as long as he could be, Spike would wrestle his last match before taking time off on March 4th against Rhino on a TNN television taping. Not one for taking it easy, Rhino would throw Spike off a stage, and gore him sideways through a table, both of which leading Spike to clutch his injured knee. Spike Dudley would return to the ring in October 2000, though from June on he would make appearances on television, eventually given a sort of take on the commissioner role, their version of what Mick Foley was doing at the time in WWF.




After the Storyline




In a final note about Spike’s girlfriend, she would get one more mention in September, when there appeared to have been a mix up with the lighting company that ECW used at the time. (9) According to the Torch, the August 19th event at the ECW arena was on the verge of being cancelled, as several essential parts of their lighting equipment hadn’t been delivered, and a manager from the company couldn;t be reached as he was working another job. “ECW officials had to send a driver to pick up the equipment and return it to the Arena. Just 15 minutes before showtime, the driver returned with the equipment and the show went on as scheduled.” Wade would write that the person formerly known as Spike's girlfriend was given full credit having set up the lighting in that short time, and ensuring that the show was able to start.




I’ll end not with recent comments from Spike, but with an April 2000 interview with Jason Powell for the Pro Wrestling Torch. Spike makes it clear that he wasn’t too happy with having the storyline, or having an on air girlfriend that looked like him. When asked if he enjoyed it Spike says no quite succinctly. He further explains, (3) “I don't know where all of the shit about the girlfriend stuff came from. I had no say in that (laughs). I thought it was neat that she looked like me when she was dressed up and I thought it was a cool little angle. But no, I didn't like "Spike and his mutant girlfriend who looks just like him.” Spike does add that the angle seemed to go as it was planned, because as he puts it “Mike nailed the hell out of her.” Despite not liking it, when asked if he would do it again Spike says “I'm not opposed to anything if Paul E. says to do it. I'll take his word for it. He is the booker and I will do whatever he wants. It wouldn't be something that I would suggest. How is that?” Perhaps the most interesting thing that Spike says in that interview comes when he elaborates, “It isn't natural for me to walk down the aisle while holding hands with a chick. It's just not my deal.” This caught my eye because the WWE storyline that Spike is perhaps best known for by many is his 2001 romance with Molly Holly, so it’s interesting to hear his comments a year earlier on the subject.




Ending




Something dawned on me while making this video, and it’s a thing that you’re probably going to think I’m daft for only just realising. Following Bubba, D-Von and Big Dick Dudley all leaving ECW in 99, Spike remained as the only surviving member of the group, which I’m sure you’re like aware is a much bigger family than just the most famous ones.




While other Dudleys had success elsewhere, Spike was the last one in ECW, and stayed until the end of the promotion. He claims in the CVV interview that Paul Heyman told him that Spike could have beaten Mike Awesome for the world title had he known that Mike was about to leave in the way he did, but Spike was injured by the time that happened so we’ll never know. While that might have been a bit much, I do still feel like Spike deserves some credit for being introduced as the runt of the litter, and going on to be a significant part of ECW, one of the remaining stars whose name meant something at the end.




Sources:



https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch582/T582ECWNews.html Mystery Woman, Jan 1st 00


https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch583/T583ECWNews.html ECW high on Spike, Womans identity, Jan 8th 00


http://www.prowrestlingtorch.com Spike Dudley Interview with Jason Powell PW Torch, April 14th 2001


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBo01f4Gk7E Brothers, CVV August 2025


https://vip.pwtorch.com/2019/11/16/vip-1999-back-issue-pro-wrestling-torch-575-november-14-1999-cover-story-titled-pro-wrestling-no-longer-cable-anomaly-looking-at-upn-and-ipo-sidebar-updating-progress-or-lack-ther/ Planted female fan


https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/backissues00.shtml Spike Injury 1


https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch592/T592ECWNews.html Injury 2 and divorce


https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch593/T593ECWNews.html nine months


https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch618/T618ECWNews.html Lighting company

Rey Mysterio's 2001 Timeline - Final WCW Nitro to CMLL

 

In recent years, more and more anniversaries have come along to make fans like me, who came along during the attitude era feel old. A really big one is coming soon, as 2026 marks a quarter of a century since the end of World Championship Wrestling. Over the next few months as you browse this website, you’ll likely see masses of content about this historic anniversary, so I thought I’d get on the bandwagon early, but do it in my own way. By deep diving into the year for a wrestler who appeared on the last Nitro, bypassed the Invasion storyline and made his way to WWE for what would become a pretty legendary run.




In this video, we’ll follow the career of Rey Mysterio through 2001, starting with the last episode of Nitro, and covering the places he worked in his wilderness year, and what was reported at the time by the newsletters.




WCW Contracts




At the final WCW Nitro on March 26th 2001, Rey Mysterio would pull double duty, with he and Billy Kidman defeating two out of Three Count, and the Jung Dragons to earn a shot at the Cruiserweight tag team championships. Their title shot would come later in the night, and they would beat Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo to win the belts. The Cruiserweight Tag Team titles while an interesting idea, were less than a month old at the time, with Skipper and Romeo being crowned the first champions at the recent Greed pay per view just a week earlier.




In the Observer covering the last Nitro and the end of WCW, Dave Meltzer says that a meeting held with some of the main creatives in WWF, specifically to pick out which names they wanted and who they didn’t from the purchase. Names that were given a thumbs down at the time included (1) “Scott Steiner, Konnan, Rey Misterio Jr., and Kevin Nash.” All of these names would eventually make it to WWE, though it would take Konnan more than twenty years and another company being bought. While there were many wrestlers who were not picked up by WWF, at least not right away, few seemed to have support quite like Rey. In the Pro Wrestling Torch, (T1) it was alleged that “some wrestlers started a campaign to hire Rey Jr. at the MSG house show this past weekend when they received word he wasn’t on the WWF’s “keeper list””




Much like every other WCW talent, the details of Rey's contract would become a decider on if he would be picked up in the WWF’s acquisition of the company or not. It was first suspected that Rey may have a contract with a (2) “90 day cycle”, which would have meant that he like other talents could be a free agent by sometime in July. As they did with some others, WWE had the option to buy out his contract and bring him in straight away, but they would choose not to do this based on how much Rey was being paid. (3) In late April, it would come out that Rey, as well as a list of other talents were being paid over three hundred thousand dollars per year, and weren’t picked up as this was considered too high. I guess the Millionaires Club turned out to be a terrible idea after all. A few weeks later, it would come out that Rey actually had the rest of the year on his Time Warner contract, and seemed to be content to sit it out. (4) “There is no way they’ll sign him to a deal anywhere close to what he’s making by sitting out, so he doesn’t appear to be stressed by the situation as many people are.”




The term “sitting out” might not be appropriate here though. While other WCW wrestlers have talked about being content with waiting until Time Warner were no longer paying them, Rey Mysterio seemed keen to get back on the road. In mid-May, Rey was advertised for California based Ultimate Pro Wrestling, and their May 30th event called Power Play in Santa Ana. Rey was scheduled to face ECW wrestler the Prodigy, but as Dave Meltzer would note, (5) “this one I wouldn’t lock in stone because Misterio Jr. 's Time Warner contract would prevent him from making the date and don’t think his contract expires until July.” Other WCW talents would work that show with no issues, such as Sean O’Haire, Chuck Palumbo and Chavo Guerrero Jr, which just goes to show how everybody's contractual status was seemingly very different.




Despite his willingness to continue to work, it was reported that Rey (6) “hasn’t been aggressive in contacting WWF so Jim Ross didn’t even meet with him when he came to California.” For a lot of other talents this might be a big gamble, as who knows if WWF would be interested in Rey once his contract eventually did end? Despite not being able to work in the US, he seemingly had something useful to him. Even before WCW closed, Rey Mysterio was occasionally working indie shows in Mexico, so it’s safe to assume he was still allowed to with his contract after the company was sold. The advantage to going back to work for Rey was simple, it would keep his name out there for when he was free to sign with another promotion.




Mexico




Rey wouldn’t wait too long to get back in the ring, as his first match post-WCW would take place in Tijuana on April 6th, at an event called Destino Final. He would face a very familiar opponent who he’d encountered many times starting in Mexico, then having a noteworthy trilogy of matches in ECW, and finally in WCW, Juventud Guerrera. In the most ‘indie wrestling’ quote I’ve read in a long time, Rey and Juvi competed for the newly created ‘IWC Cruiserweight title’, which was actually (7) “an indie belt from Northern California promoter Kirk White, who gave Juvi his cruiserweight belt. Juvi isn’t working for the company any longer so put it up as a new belt in Mexico this weekend.” Kirk White was the promoter of Big Time Wrestling, which is still active today even after White passing away in 2021. I struggled to find any more information about this as I was intrigued, but I did read in an Observer from January 2001 (20) that Juvi did move from San Diego to Mexico City, and after that he would more regularly work in Mexico.




According to reports from the time, (8) the show was said to be a sellout in front of six thousand fans. We can actually see this match thanks to fan recorded footage on YouTube, from which it feels very different to their ECW bouts, very much slower in pace, even (9) referred to as “American TV style” by Bryan Alvarez’ in his review for Figure Four Weekly. Bryan would use this to explain why the fans didn’t seem much into the match, but noted that Rey himself was very popular after the bell.




Remember a little bit ago when I said we could assume that Rey had been allowed to keep working in Mexico? That assumption turns out to have been very wrong. In late April, after Rey had already resumed working, it was reported that (T2) “AOL/TW has informed all wrestlers that they are prohibited from working anywhere else while under WCW contract; if they do, their contracts will be terminated.” Wade Keller explains that if they aren’t allowed to work elsewhere, they may be more willing to accept a lower buyout rate, so they can get out of the contract and work again. Rey continued wrestling in Mexico, and was eventually caught in mid May. (T3) “Time Warner officials recently contacted Rey Mysterio Jr. and accused him of wrestling shows in Mexico. Despite the company claiming that they have pictures of him wrestling, Mysterio denied the allegations. For the record, recent reports indicate that Mysterio has been working the shows in question, but has taken a “catch me if you can” attitude regarding the situation.”




Sadly the Torch never follows up on this. I don’t normally like to include something without some kind of follow up, but the idea of Rey being presented with evidence of him wrestling that he vehemently denies is quite funny. Rey would though, continue to wrestle in Mexico, which led to some pretty interesting situations. For example, on July 1st 2001 in Tijuana, Rey was involved in (10) “an afternoon show to raise money for a candidate in the upcoming Mayoral election.” This was a cause to get behind, because as Dave Meltzer explains, (10) “a new Mayor would appoint a new commission. The current commission actually governs wrestling, keeping out things like cage and other gimmick matches.” I’m just glad that Mayors everywhere haven’t taken this oppressive stance on gimmick matches. Dave Meltzer notes that in the main event of this night, (10) Rey would hit his uncle in the head with a chair, perhaps leading to the next odd encounter he would have, which I’ll get to soon in the timeline.




In early August, it was reported that Rey Mysterio met with Jim Ross in California. On the 3rd, Jim had actually told the fans that the meeting was coming in his Ross Report column on WWFs website. He does also state though that there are no imminent hirings of WCW talents coming, saying (T4) “There is no movement whatsoever with any negotiations with any former WCW competitors. Some are not interested at all, some mildly interested, some have financial issues to deal with, and Scott Steiner is still injured.” I wonder if that last part was just Jim’s way of getting fans to stop asking when Scott was coming in.




A few weeks later, more would be reported about the meeting, which took place at the August 7th Smackdown taping in Los Angeles. Wade says that Rey brought Juventud Guerrera with him to meet with Ross and John Laurinitis. I’ve already told one Juvi story in this video so why not another? The Observer gives us a different version of this story, saying that (17) Juventud “came with him but did not have a meeting scheduled.” He then says that Juvi actually managed to approach JR in catering and ask him for a job, to which “Ross praised his talent and told him to contact him in January and at that point they would have a more lengthy discussion. Ross did bring up to Guerrera that they won’t put up with any drug problems and brought up Road Dogg and Brian Lawler”, those being two big stars for WWF who were both let go for similar issues as Juvi was in WCW in late 2000. Dave ends by saying that Paul Heyman, who had booked Juventud for some of his first matches in the US, “told Guerrera that he’d try and open doors with McMahon to speed up the process.” Juvi would eventually make it to WWE, even becoming a two time cruiserweight champion, but it would take a few years longer than Rey, signing in 2005.




Getting back to Rey’s meeting with JR, according to the Torch, (T5) “Ross advised Mysterio to continue collecting the remainder of his guaranteed money from AOL Time Warner until his contract expires in January. Ross made it sound like both wrestlers will be considered for employment around that time, but offered no guarantees.” Wade also notes here that Rey’s official website, ReyMysterio.com, now redirected to WCW.com, which essentially took you to WWE’s site. The wayback machine doesn’t show us a lot as there are a few broken links, but before then it definitely didn’t look like a WCW owned site, so take from what what you will. If you’re curious, the URL all these years later still redirects to the WWE.com home page. I did wonder, by which I mean wasted a lot of time trying it, if everyone's name takes you to WWE.com, and some actually do like Brock Lesnar’s name dot com. CodyRhodes.com is available by the way, and I might have for a moment considered buying it to redirect to this channel.




We can now come to the odd sounding match I was referring to earlier, which occurred on August 24th 2001. Rey would take part in a two versus three handicap match, teaming up with Gigante Silva, who had also competed in WWF and New Japan, taking on La Familia de Tijuana faction members Damian 666, Halloween and his own uncle Rey Misterio Senior. Sadly we may never actually see this match, though others from around this time still exist online, like his televised matches for another promotion in Mexico. Towards the end of the year, and his WCW contract, he would join one of the biggest promotions in Mexico, CMLL. It seemed like Rey was apparently getting cocky while avoiding the eye of Time Warner, or maybe he was emboldened by his meeting with Jim Ross, and knowing that WWF was in his future.




CMLL




In November 2001, Rey would make his debut for CMLL, as part of an eight man tag team match, making his first ever appearance in Arena Mexico. (11) Him coming into the promotion wasn’t unexpected, as the Observer had been saying it was likely throughout October. As Dave Meltzer points out, Rey joining CMLL (12) meant that he would be set to make his first television appearance since the final Nitro, but this would also be airing in the US, giving Time Warner yet more evidence for the dossier. By this time Rey already had interest from the WWF, and so he might not have been as bothered about being let go from his WCW deal, if he ever was to begin with.




In an interview with Matt Striker for the WWE produced Life of a Masked Man DVD which was released in 2011, Rey talks about waiting for his WCW contract to end, and noted that his daughter Alliyah was born around this time. He says that it was a dream of his to wrestle for CMLL in Arena Mexico, comparing it to Madison Square Garden. He doesn’t go into any details about whether or not he was contractually allowed to though.




Rey would only have just four matches in the historic Arena Mexico plus six more in other venues that wouldn’t be televised, with his first taking place on November 2nd. At the time he was one of a few talents who previously worked for AAA to make the jump there, along with Psicosis, now going by the name Nicho En Millionario. Halloween, better known to WCW fans as Cyclope, and Rey Misterio Sr would follow later in November. According to the Observer though, CMLL promoter Paco Alonso wasn;t willing to make everybody welcome, as (12) Konnan would try to get booked, “but Alonso wouldn’t talk with him.” Dave would explain a couple of weeks later for Paco, that there was (18) “Still tons of bitterness over Konnan and Antonio Pena raiding so much of his talent back in 1992 to form AAA.”




Rey’s first match in Arena Mexico would air on November 13th, where he would team with Antofaz Del Norte, Felino and Black Warrior, against Juventud, Virus and Nicho, as well as Black Tiger. That’s the third one played by Silver King, not Eddie Guerrero. Rey first in ring action is against Nicho, a very familiar opponent for him, and he begins by missing a dropkick. It gets better though, as he earns the first fall for his team pinning Juventud with a move very similar to Zack Sabre Junior’s European Clutch. Rey doesn’t have all that much ring time in his debut, but he makes the most of all the time he gets, including a beautiful dive to the outside in the third fall. After a reverse-rana off the second rope to Black Tiger, Black Warrior hits this whatever it is to score the victory.




Before it aired (13) “Misterio Jr. and Nicho were said to have looked great,“ and it definitely seemed like people tuned in to see him. (14) The airing on Galavision drew bigger ratings than the show had done in months, earning a 2.2 rating. Another reason for these higher ratings could have been because Galavision had been airing reruns in the weeks prior. (19) To give you an idea of why they would have been airing reruns, “Televisa in Mexico, which owns the wrestling show, and is contracted to send weekly tapes, some weeks just doesn’t get around to editing them for the U.S., and in those weeks, just sends an old tape. This happened again on 11/27”




Rey’s last appearance for CMLL would be on December 14th, taking place at the Sin Piedad pay per view. This time in the semi-main event, Juventud teaming with La Familia’s Damian, Nicho and Halloween, would get the better of Rey and his partners, El Hijo del Santo, El Hombre Sin Nombre and Negro Casas. Bryan Alvarez would have this to say about Rey’s team losing. (21) “The Tijuana guys (the outsiders — take note, WWF) lost every single time they had a match on TV, but then at the PPV they pulled out the win, and it was a huge one.” He would add that it was quote “said to be a great match.”




Another thing Bryan would note is that everyone had new ring gear, which for Rey meant for the first time as best I can tell, wearing attire similar to his WWE look. In the match itself Rey would look especially good while he was in the ring, hitting a 619 early on, and scoring the first fall pin for his team, with the same European Clutch as his debut. He would however be pinned to lose the second fall, but only after being teamed up on by three of his opponents. He would later hit a moonsault to the outside, ensuring that he wasn’t involved in his team losing the third fall.




Up to this point, Rey had received rave reviews for his matches in Figure Four Weekly, but it would seem like his time there might be coming to an end. He would wrestle one more match for CMLL in Puebla a few days later, and would not appear for them again. In the meantime, he had been having more talks with WWF. On December 9th, Vengeance 2001 came from San Diego California, (15) and here Rey would meet with Jim Ross again.




While nothing would be reported about this meeting would be reported in the Observer, Figure Four or Torch, Dave ends 2001 not on the most optimistic of notes for Rey. His contract hadn’t yet ended so it’s not like an offer could have been made, (16) but Meltzer laid out how he thought a Rey Mysterio WWF run might go, saying that his size might actually be a hindrance to him there unless they put more focus on smaller guys, though going to WWF would likely make him the most money.




To give you an idea of what the company was like for smaller wrestlers at the time, the Light Heavyweight title hadn't been seen on television since it’s last holder X-Pac suffered an injury in October. Before that it was set to be unified with Tajiri’s Cruiserweight title, the belt it was created to rival. The relatively short lived championship ended up being defended on a few house shows when X-Pac returned in March 2002, and after would be phased out quietly.




Instead, the company would just carry on with the Cruiserweight title, recognising it’s lineage from WCW, including Rey holding it six times. While that title continued, there wasn’t much attention on it, or a formal division as such, until it would become property of the Smackdown brand in 2002, but none of this was on the cards in December 2001.




Of the potential move to WWE, Dave would say “It’s probably the worst place as far as career advancement for him under the current conditions, but from a financial standpoint, the money would likely be so much greater than indies and Mexico that he’d have to take a deal and it probably wouldn’t even be huge money because WWF isn’t in a position where they need to be giving large downsides.” Now being the biggest game in town by a huge margin, they likely didn’t need to.




Ending




While this might seem like an odd place to end this video, with such a pessimistic report on Rey’s future, I found it to be a fascinating contrast with how Rey’s WWE career actually went. As I said in the intro, he would go on to have a legendary career, but shortly before he would sign many expected his ceiling to be the rarely focused on light heavyweight title, and a never ending feud with X-Pac.




Rey would go on to win two world heavyweight titles, and a very brief WWE championship that was finally avenged by recently by Dominik. Add to this the eleven more titles, a Royal Rumble win and a Hall of Fame induction, which are all far more than it looked like the guy wearing Devil horns from WCW could win.




Sources:

FInal Nitro

1. WON Apr 2nd 01https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/april-2-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-final-episode-wcw-monday-0/ Rey not on nice list

T1. https://vip.pwtorch.com/2021/03/20/vip-2001-back-issue-pro-wrestling-torch-647-march-31-2001-major-news-wwf-buys-wcw-the-inside-story-in-depth-analysis-mark-madden-torch-talk-on-downfall-of-wcw-kellers-end-notes/ Campaign for Rey

2. WON May 7th https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/may-7-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-career-johnny-valentine-97326/ Rey possibly becomes a free agent (contract)

3. WON Apr 23rd 01 https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/april-23-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-relaunch-wcw-more-97320/ Why Rey wasn’t picked up (Contract)

4. 6. WON May 28th https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/may-28-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-decline-monday-night/ Waiting out contract - not a free agent

5. WON May 14th https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/may-14-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wwf-insurrextion-review-more/ Advertised for UPW but might how happen (Contract)

7. WON Apr 9th https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/april-9-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wrestlemania-x7-reviewed/ Juvi Match with indie belt

8. https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/april-16-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wrestlemania-x7-shatters/ April 6th sellout

9.https://members.f4wonline.com/newsletters/figure-four-weekly/f4w303-ecw-parent-company-files-bankruptcy-april-16-2001-88816/ April 6th review

T2. https://vip.pwtorch.com/2021/04/10/vip-2001-back-issue-pro-wrestling-torch-650-april-21-2001-wwfs-plans-for-wcw-take-shape-mitchell-feature-on-wwe-becoming-last-standing-territory-rock-acting-lessons-wwe-backstage-n/ Banned from working

T3. https://vip.pwtorch.com/2021/05/01/vip-2001-back-issue-pro-wrestling-torch-653-may-12-2001-keller-reviews-foleys-second-book-rocks-movie-career-takes-off-jerry-jarrett-insider-insight-into-wcw-demise-wcw-post-buyo/ Caught working

10.

https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/july-9-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-fans-reject-wcw-talent-raw/ Political implications

T4. https://vip.pwtorch.com/2021/07/24/vip-2001-back-issue-pro-wrestling-torch-665-august-11-2001-breakout-star-booker-t-to-co-headline-summerslam-wwf-changes-plans-on-wcw-relaunch-why-nitro-was-cancelled-torch-talk-with/ Before JR meeting

T5. https://vip.pwtorch.com/2021/08/07/vip-2001-back-issue-pro-wrestling-torch-667-august-25-2001-summerslam-report-and-roundtable-wwes-plans-for-new-saturday-night-tv-show-keller-on-final-chapter-of-wcw-era-mcneill-on/ After JR Meeting and website

CMLL

11.

https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/october-1-2001-observer-newsletter-wwf-unforgiven-review-more-97454/ Expected to join CMLL

https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/october-22-2001-observer-newsletter-wwf-losing-fans-over-30-tons-news/ CMLL likely

12. https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/november-5-2001-observer-newsletter-frustration-wwf-more-97405/ CMLL debut coming, US TV

13.

https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/november-12-2001-observer-newsletter-chaos-continues-wwf-more-97408/ debut

14.

https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/november-19-2001-observer-newsletter-mass-wwf-layoffs-more-97411/ CMLL ratings 1

15. https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/december-10-2001-observer-newsletter-wwf-contemplating-brand-split/ Upcoming JR meeting, WWC and CMLL

16. https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/december-31-2001-observer-newsletter-2001-retrospective-more-97426/ WWC and back and forth with WWE

17. https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/august-20-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-5-members-inducted-hall/ Rey and Juvi JR meeting

18. https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/november-19-2001-observer-newsletter-mass-wwf-layoffs-more-97411/ Konnan not allowed in CMLL

19. https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/december-10-2001-observer-newsletter-wwf-contemplating-brand-split/ Galavision

20. https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/january-29-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-royal-rumble-review/ Juvi moved to Mexico

21. https://members.f4wonline.com/newsletters/figure-four-weekly/f4w339-wwas-threatens-us-pay-view-december-24-2001-89121/ CMLL PPV 1







https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/december-24-2001-observer-newsletter-death-russ-haas-more-97423/ WWC

https://members.f4whttps://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/december-24-2001-observer-newsletter-death-russ-haas-more-97423/online.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/december-31-2001-observer-newsletter-2001-retrospective-more-97426/ WWC and back and forth with WWE

The Story of ECW Holiday Hell 2000, and the Final ECW Arena Show

Two weeks ago, on this channel I made a video about one of the bigger events in ECW’s early history, the first Holiday Hell event in 1993. That got me thinking about the last one, which occurred in 2000, and was one of the last shows that the company ever held. While December ‘93 was an optimistic time for the still young Eastern Championship Wrestling, December 2000 was a very dark time for those involved, from the wrestlers to those behind the scenes.


In this video, we’ll look at ECW Holiday Hell 2000. We’ll look at the state of the company going into it, the card that was put on that night, and the wrestlers who were involved. We’ll also look at what the newsletters were saying at the time.


Over this year I’ve covered a lot of ECW. I’ve talked about the high points, and a lot of the lows, but never really end very end. Watching a lot of ECW from 93 for my last video, I got the idea to look at one of the last shows, one under very different circumstances.


Background


On December 23rd 2000, ECW presented the final Holiday Hell event at the ECW arena, the same place where the first was held back in ‘93. Things weren’t looking good though, as ECW was several weeks behind in paying their roster. They were at risk of not having enough footage recorded to air on TV having cancelled shows, and they were about to run their final event in the building they called home for many years.


As time went on, shows were held at the ECW arena less and less. At its peak, there would be up to seventeen shows a year, such as in 1995 and 6. Later on there were just nine events in ‘99, only six in 2000 and none would follow in 2001. This is because of two things, the promotion touring more, covering more states in 2000, and even their first show in Canada, than in any other year previous. The other reason is that ECW needed bigger venues in hopes of generating more revenue to sustain itself. There were thoughts around the time that the Hammerstein Ballroom, which the company had only started hosting events at a few months earlier, could become ECW’s new regular home, given that its capacity was around double the ECW arena, and much bigger than their New York home the Elks Lodge. Whether this would have worked especially by December 2000 feels unlikely, but there must have been a feeling that the company needed to make some changes.


It seems that other promotions were noticing this trend as well. On November 18th 2000, months before the company would close it’s doors, Jersey All Pro Wrestling would present their first ever event outside New Jersey. Their third anniversary show would be at the ECW arena, also known as “South Philly Invasion.” As if to add insult to injury, the main event on this night was Sabu vs Axl Rotten, two former ECW wrestlers, one of which had left on very bad terms. Jersey All Pro would run more events there after ECW closed, including one on February 3rd 2001 “The New Beginning,” clearly a jab at ECW, also including The Sandman, one of their last World champions.


As we get into December, morale was low as you might expect. There were things to be positive about though. For their last pay-per-view, November to Remember, the company had packed four and a half thousand fans into the Odeum Expo Centre in Illinois, and they were set to add a new special event to the calendar. Massacre on 34th Street took place on December 3rd, at the Hammerstein Ballroom, where the company had sold out twice that year already. Two and a half thousand fans were packed in, making for a third sellout. Between this show and the November to Remember, there was evidence supporting the idea that there was still some fan demand for ECW.


Massacre on 34th and the Elks Lodge


Massacre on 34th Street is not considered the strongest of ECW pay-per-views, but there are some memorable things to take away from it. A brutal match for the television title took place between Rhino and Spike Dudley, who had been fighting for weeks on television with Rhino getting the upper hand. This would end up no different, with Spike left laying in a puddle of his own vomit, as a result of Rhino choking him out. The show would also include one title change, a coronation of sorts for two genuine ECW originals. Two of the very few graduates of the House of Hardcore training school, Danny Doring and Roadkill. The unlikely tag team would win their first championships from the Full Blooded Italians, Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke, and would hold them until the end of the promotion. In the main event, Steve Corino would defend the World title against two men who had also been first time champions that year, Jerry Lynn and Justin Credible. After Corino retained the title, The Sandman would attack, and would steal the World title belt. This is worth remembering when we get to Holiday Hell.


Backstage at the show, Paul Heyman gave each wrestler their cheque, promising that things weren’t going to change any time soon. I assume he meant that positively, but you could also read it as Paul admitting that his roster was still going to be behind on payments. “At the meeting, Heyman admitted that the company is going through a frustrating financial time, but added that it will not go out of business. He described the company's problems as short-term, but fixable, and vowed that he will not bankrupt the company.” I give Paul quite a lot of leeway in these videos sometimes, but the idea that the company’s financial problems were ‘short term’ is laughable. If you’ve seen my video on the start of ECW on TNN, I talked about financial problems dating back to mid ‘99, when Paul was trying to get deals that would hopefully save the company like the one he landed for Acclaim to make ECW video games, and loan the company some money. On the subject of Paul making deals, It’s also noted that Paul was still trying to get new national television following the collapse of the show on TNN. ”USA Network, FX, and Fox Sports Network” are all named, but nothing was near set in stone.


ECW’s next event would take place two weeks later on December 15th, from the Elks Lodge in Queens, which was added to the schedule as a way to improve ECW’s money problems. The company charged higher than usual ticket prices to try and raise funds to pay debts, and for this elevated ticket price presented a one off appearance by Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley, as well as a surprise appearance from Tazz. They were also hoping to use as much of the show as possible to produce more content for Hardcore TV. Unfortunately for ECW, the show sold out of seated tickets, but didn’t overspill like most of the shows there did, and so the result was ultimately disappointing.


If the wrestlers weren’t already unhappy, they were even more so coming out of this night. “The wrestlers did not receive their scheduled paychecks at the Queens event, leaving most of them seven weeks behind in pay. Heyman did not hold a meeting in Queens to address the matter, but some wrestlers claim that he told them the checks will be sent to them during the week.” To make things even worse, “there were reports that the company cancelled a few checks they had issued to the wrestlers during the previous pay period.” The same edition of the Torch reported that “rumors have spread that a few wrestlers have discussed the idea of boycotting the Dec. 23 show at ECW Arena.” While no specific wrestlers are named, Wade Keller claims that some were threatening this, while others were laughing at the suggestion.


As the final episode of Hardcore TV would air one week later, none of the December 23rd show would be used for television, though fan cam footage exists, so we are able to see the event. While it’s alleged that at least two completed lost episodes weren't aired, it's not clear whether these would have included footage from Holiday Hell, or if they were still using the December 15th show from the Elks Lodge. What is clear though, is that the footage from this event seems to have been intended for TV, because in 2013 RF video released a much better quality version of the show, including commentary by Tommy Dreamer and Danny Doring. Dreamer actually notes at one point that he booked this show, and alludes to having some creative influence throughout, presumably with Paul Heyman having final say. This version of the event includes unedited footage of Joey Styles and Joel Gertner filming an intro for Hardcore TV, one that would never make it to fans screens.


Undercard


So now we get to the show itself, and for the sake of brevity, I’ll divide it into the Undercard, and the main matches later on. In the opener of the night, Da Blue Guy faced Chilly Willy. While the Blue Guy was very familiar to the fans in the ECW arena, he looked very different in this run with the company, having lost over a hundred pounds near the end of his time with WWE. Chilly Willy however was a relative newcomer to ECW, having made his debut in February of 2000. In the RF Video commentary, Tommy Dreamer says that to his mind, Chilly Willy would have become a mainstay in the company had ECW stayed open longer, also noting that he was signed to a WWE developmental deal afterwards. He worked in OVW, but never made it past a couple of dark matches on main WWE shows. There’s not a whole lot to say about the match, as I’ve already talked about both guys for longer than it actually lasted. After just thirty seconds, Rhino runs in and blasts Meanie with a gore. He has a bit more trouble with Chilly Willy, but hits him with a piledriver. Rhino is not done there though, as he hits Meanie’s manager Jasmine St. Clair with a terrifying looking piledriver off the second rope, and gives one to referee HC Loc through a table off the apron. While it was good to see Rhino, it’s slightly gutting that he had no match on this card. He would wrestle again in the venue many, many times over the following years though, for quite a few promotions from Jersey All pro to quite a few for TNA. His last match in the building was earlier in 2025, where he challenged for the NWA World title, a belt he held twenty years ago.


The rest of the undercard continues with a parade of ECW’s more unusual gimmicks, starting with the two remaining Baldies. Of all of the Baldies that ECW had, from Red Dogg, also known as Rodney Mack, to Vito LaGrasso to PN News to perhaps most infamously Vic Grimes, the last two left in the group were Tony Devito and Angel. They would face the new tag team champions who won at Massacre on 34th Street, Danny Doring and Roadkill. This match is the first of only two defences they would ever make of the tag team titles, also retaining them against Hot Commodity at Guilty as Charged a few weeks later. The two teams would essentially have the real opening match, with a very quick pace where the popular team won.


The third match on the night featured an interesting looking Muppet show of a group, fronted by Elvis impersonator, Bilvis Wesley, formerly known as Beautiful Bill Wiles. He would be accompanied by House of Hardcore trainee the Prodigy, as well as the Prodigette who was trained by Dusty Rhodes, and Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy graduate Chris Krueger. That's quite a collection of names all in one place there. Danny Doring on commentary notes that Wiles hated the Elvis gimmick that Paul Heyman gave him, but it’s worth noting that he kept using it after ECW for at least a year after the company closed. Bilvis faces Balls Mahoney in what is essentially a handicap match, but one that's somehow in the favour of Balls and his chair, as he handily outlasts the whole group to win the match. The Pro Wrestling Torch would add in the following week that “Krueger bladed severely and blood gushed from his head. He was later taken to the hospital.” Dreamer and Doring dispute this, saying he got cut for real. Tommy also says that Kruger used to drive from Texas for his ECW bookings. A twenty five hour drive to get bludgeoned by Balls and a visit to the hospital doesn’t sound like the most fun of ways to spend a weekend. While I’m being quite flippant, it’s not at all fair to compare many of these names to the mainstay ECW talent who had been there longer, as Bilvis and his crew among others were still finding their footing. It’s very difficult not to though, when ECW in years past would have many more established stars on their shows. Many of those stars had either moved on to bigger companies, or fallen out with ECW, but fortunately they still had some names in the building.


Main Show


While watching the rest of this show one thing is very clear. Even though things weren't looking good for the company, there was still a mindset of building up new talent for the future, or at least changing direction for some who had been around a bit longer. After the third match, Joey Styles and Joel Gertner come out and the show really feels like it’s getting started. Joey has some fun with the crowd, before they tape an intro to Hardcore TV, starting with Joey’s trademark “hello everyone and welcome,” and a dirty limerick from Gertner. The two are quickly interrupted by Cyrus, who comes out to introduce not just Jerry Lynn, but the heel “simply the best” version of Jerry Lynn. The turn to the dark side for Jerry came after his brief run as ECW world champion had ended, losing it after just a month and a few days at November to Remember to Steve Corino, another who was being built up into a top level star in the company.


On November 11th 2000, days after the pay per view, We find Jerry Lynn sitting in front of a mirror, no doubt for dramatic effect. Cyrus enters the frame, to which Lynn at first reacts with hostility. Cyrus manages to calm the former champion down, and convinces him that he got screwed out of the World title, and Jerry begins to hear him out. The following week’s episode begins with Cyrus listing the various ways that Jerry has been overlooked and underappreciated by ECW. He’s looking into the camera, but he’s talking only to Jerry, a bit like how I imagine he pitches joining the Don Callis Family to people today.


I talked about the company having plans for the future, and the next few matches definitely show that. First, Jerry Lynn would defeat Spike Dudley in what might well have been the most technical wrestling match of Spike's entire ECW career, then CW Anderson would beat Super Crazy, who himself had been pushed earlier in the year, winning the TV title after RVD gave it up due to injury. Next on the card though, a newer addition to the roster would get a big win over a veteran, and like with many things in ECW, it’s not quite that simple.


The match was originally set to be Nova vs EZ Money, who Tommy Dreamer notes is someone that Paul Heyman was a big fan of. EZ had joined the company in June, and would quickly become a regular on shows. He would wrestle with Nova for a few minutes, before blood started pouring from Nova’s ear, and the referee would call for the bell. Danny Doring says on the RF Video commentary that Nova was quote “doing a burst eardrum gimmick.” The Observer also notes that this was an angle, but explains that it stems from a real ear injury that Nova was dealing with. “The angle was done because if Nova needs surgery on his ear, he’ll be out six weeks, although it won’t be definite about the surgery until an exam on 1/4.”


After the match ends, Tommy Dreamer, along with two more relatively new ECW talents, Christian York and Joey Matthews, come out to check on Nova, EZ as well as his Hot commodity teammates Chris Hamrick and Julio Dinero go after them, and a six man tag breaks out. Dreamer on commentary says that he in particular was quote, “a huge fan” of York and Matthews, and said that he thought of them as the next top tag team act. Matthews would achieve quite a bit of success in WWE in a different team, with Johnny Nitro as MNM, while it would take York a fair bit longer to eventually get signed by TNA in 2012. The six men have an absolute brawl of a match, with even Tommy Dreamer attempting a dive, and catching his feet on the top rope on the way over. The match would end with EZ Money getting a pinfall victory over Dreamer, but not without interference from CW Anderson, Tommy’s next opponent at Guilty as Charged.


The Main Event


Perhaps the most notable of all the matches that night was the main event, which was originally set to be Justin Credible challenging Steve Corino for the ECW World title. There’s just one problem though, ever since Massacre on 34th Street, Sandman had possession of the title belt. After a very long entrance which as usual got through the whole of his Metallica song, Sandman gets on the microphone and demands that the match be made a three way dance. He does make a valid point, how are the other two going to fight for the belt if he is wearing it?


When I told you about Sandman stealing the belt at the last pay per view, I said that it would be worth remembering for later. I was referring to a very nerdy detail that I actually first noticed when making my ECW arena video last year. On June 8th 1993, the very first episode of television from the ECW arena aired, and on that night Don Muraco would defend the ECW title against the Sandman. Fast forward to the final ever ECW match in the same building, and the Sandman is challenging for that same, albeit different looking title. This time though, he was wearing the belt to the ring despite not being the champion. I did say it was a nerdy thing to point out.


The match itself is actually fairly short for a main event, with Justin Credible getting eliminated not very long in. Steve Corino takes a scary looking superplex onto a guardrail propped up by chairs. After this, Justin attempts to whip Corino into the ropes where Francine, who he wasn’t getting along with, was set to crack Corino with a cane. Steve reverses the whip though, and Francine hits her own client, leading to another caning from Sandman, and old school expulsion from Corino to take Justin out of the match. On his way out of the arena, Francine can be heard shouting at Justin that he screwed it up.


It’s almost fitting in a way that this match and the night ended with a callback to a classic ECW moment. The Sandman, much like Terry Funk did at Hardcore Heaven ‘94, would request chairs be thrown into the ring, and the fans would gladly oblige. Luckily for Steve Corino though, he was more fortunate than poor Rocco Rock who took the brunt of it by laying in the ring while the chairs flew back in ‘94, and he had the good sense to get out of there until the chairs stopped coming.


Afterwards he and Sandman are left with a big stack of chairs in the ring, and spend the final few minutes staggering and slipping on them. Sadman misses a Rolling Rock, diving off the top rope and crashing into the pile of chairs. When he gets up, Corino hits Old School expulsion, a sort of variant on the Twist of Fate. After a distraction from Jack Victory, Corino hits Sandman with a cowbell, which he carried as a reference to his brutal bullrope match with Dusty Rhodes earlier in the year. He then pins Sandman to win the match. Corino wouldn’t get his belt back though, as Justin comes back to Corino, and Sandman gets the upper hand in the end with his cane. All of this was planned to build towards Guilty as Charged, but for now the show ends quite fittingly with Sandman celebrating with the fans, world title belt in one hand and his cane in the other. Clearly from the optimistic booking plans ECW, weren’t expecting this to be their final show there, but what an appropriate ending knowing that it was.


Aftermath


After all the talk from some wrestlers about boycotting the show, it’s not clear if anyone actually did, though some wrestlers weren’t there for other reasons. The Observer (Jan 1st) notes that Simon Diamond, Johnny Swinger, Jim Mitchell, Dawn Marie weren’t there as they were at Swinger’s wedding, and New Jack wasn’t because he had a falling out with Paul Heyman. It had been reported a week earlier that the dispute had come over New Jack working the Jersey All Pro show at the ECW arena. He would effectively be gone from the company, with his last ECW match being against Angel on the non-pay per view portion of Massacre on 34th Street, which would also air on Hardcore TV. The other notable name that Dave mentions is Kid Kash, who had suffered broken ribs at the Elks Lodge show, and was advised not to work.


While the company technically sold out seated tickets for Holiday Hell, they were disappointed by the turnout afterwards. As reported in Figure Four Weekly, “It was said to be a full house, but attendance was down a bit since there weren’t people standing around everywhere.” The Observer would report that this was “similar to Queens in that every seat was packed, but there was no overflow, with the crowd estimated at about 1,000.” Critical reception seems to have been best summarized by Bryan Alvarez, who said he had heard it called “a decent show with nothing spectacular happening save for a chair-throwing incident in the main event.”


Backstage at the ECW arena, the wrestlers did in fact get their cheques this time, however there would be a catch. “The wrestlers were given paychecks covering two weeks on Dec. 23. The checks were post-dated to Dec. 27, meaning the wrestlers weren't allowed to cash them before the Christmas holiday. Even with the latest checks, the company is still six weeks behind on paying the wrestlers.” While the wrestlers would again get paid at Guilty as Charged, this would still leave them several weeks behind on pay, as they would be until the company closed. Tommy Dreamer on the RF Video commentary made sure to point out that these were very difficult times for many on the ECW roster, but the best they could do was continue to hope that the company would pull through the difficult times, like they had done before.


On January 6th, the Torch would report something that really began to spell the end for the company, as “a spokesperson for MSG network says ECW’s syndicated show is not scheduled to air on January 6th. ECW has paid a fee to air the show throughout it’s run,” While at the time Heyman was telling people that it would all be resolved, this would mark the official end for Hardcore TV, as the December 30th show would be the last to air anywhere. The timing of this was particularly awful, as it meant that their episode set to air the day before the next pay per view wouldn’t air. While this might not have much of an effect on Guilty as Charged itself, as Bryan Alvarez put it, “I think if ECW fans tuned into MSG Saturday night and found a George Foreman Grill infomercial, they’d still buy the PPV the next afternoon, but the perception issue is what is really important. Not having a show in that slot would just reiterate to fans that the company is in such bad shape that they couldn’t even afford to air their TV show the night before a PPV in the market the PPV is airing from.”


The future would continue to look bleak for ECW, but there was one last big show before the end came. On January 7th, the company would return to the Hammerstein Ballroom, selling it out one final time for Guilty as Charged. Two and a half thousand fans would see the Sandman win the ECW World title officially, only for it to be ripped away from him by a challenger he had been in a heated feud with all year, when Rhino defeated him for that title. Also on the show, Tommy Dreamer would have what he called in 2013 one of his all time favourite matches, defeating CW Anderson in an I Quit match. On the RF Video commentary for Holiday Hell, Dreamer says that Anderson was quote, “the next guy in line to get a push,” and sadly this wouldn’t come anywhere else for the then thirty year old Anderson.


Ending


I’ve been trying hard to find a way to not end this video on a depressing note, and the best one I can find is that for the average fan viewing on pay per view at least, ECW went out with a bang at Guilty as Charged. For one final night, arguably until One Night Stand, ECW felt like a hot promotion with dedicated fans, and a roster who was ready to show the world who they are. This was helped immensely by Rob Van Dam and Jerry Lynn closing the show not with a classic like they had before, but with a match that made the fans happy.

On screen, ECW was still presenting the product that they always had, with the stars they had left and a new crop of wrestlers that Paul Heyman had hoped would take them into 2001, many of whom would go on to have long careers. Despite my covering of some quite bleak times in this video, RVD’s reception as he walked into the Hammerstein is the positive side of how we can remember the end of ECW, with a roaring crowd, loudly shouting obscenities at Cyrus.


Sources:

Dec 3rd

PWT Dec 9th Meeting after 34th https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch631/T631ECWNews.html

PWT Dec 23rd Not paid in Queens https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch633/T633ECWNews.html

Dec 23rd

PWT Dec 30th 2000 Wrestlers paid poorly, show review https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch634/T634ECWNews.html

WON January 1st 2001 - Show report https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/january-1-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-candidates-wrestler-year/

FFW Jan 1st Show report https://members.f4wonline.com/newsletters/figure-four-weekly/f4w288-brief-history-recent-backstage-fights-january-1-2001-88731/

PWT Jan 6th Last HTV