ECW’s 1st PPV “Barely Legal” – 14 Years Ago Today!

In the latest Formerly Creative podcast with Alex Greenfield, I discussed a meeting where Vince McMahon tried to tell Paul Heyman that there were ever only 2500 ECW fans.  Having been there from 1994-1997, I saw more then that.  Vince McMahon never attended one ECW event before the 2005 One Night Stand.  The years that followed were NOT ECW. It’s why we always included the language, “Back in the original ECW” during the ECWWE period.

I didn’t attend the Barely Legal PPV live in Philadelphia because I was up finishing my senior year at Emerson College but made sure I ordered it.  This event was important because it was the first PPV for the company that worked so hard to get to a wider audience.  It was important because it was alternative. It was important to Paul Heyman and everyone to simply be seen and heard.

Check out this famous clip from Beyond the Mat below.

A lot has been said about Paul Heyman’s speech before the Barely Legal show to the locker room.  He became famous for these speeches not only to the locker room but to the fans.  I remember being in the ECW Arena in August of 2005 when Malenko, Gurreroro, and Benoit were leaving for WCW and Heyman galvanized the audience see themselves as part of the revolution against “the big two”.

No greater push was done then to get ECW to PPV in 1996/1997 and this announcement below was an example of not only the passion of the ECW talent and Heyman but the fans.

Thanks to Eddie Kingston for sending me this video of Taz’s final promo on Sabu.

What should be celebrated today is that this group of “misfits” who were told they never would did.  They got their chance in the spotlight and helped changed a business that badly needed to change.

Sound familiar?  Sound like today?

David Lagana (@Lagana)

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