In the late 1990s, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was the counter-culture heartbeat of the professional wrestling industry. Based out of a dilapidated bingo hall in South Philadelphia, the promotion revolutionized the business with its “hardcore” style, adult storylines, and grunge aesthetic. To the fans, ECW was a religion. To the wrestlers, it was a brotherhood. They bled, broke bones, and sacrificed their bodies for the vision of their leader, Paul Heyman. However, by the spring of 2001, the revolution had been foreclosed. The death of ECW was not caused by a lack of talent or passion; it was a slow, agonizing suffocation caused by financial mismanagement, corporate predatory tactics, and a web of lies that left the roster unpaid and betrayed. The end of ECW is a cautionary tale o

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