10 Popular ECW Wrestlers Who Failed In WWE

WWE signing talents from ECW became a common practice in the 90s and 2000s. Paul Heyman did a stellar job using the talent on the free agent market who were overlooked by WWE and WCW. Unfortunately, some of their success in ECW would lead to failure in WWE when getting an opportunity there based on their value.RELATED: The 10 Best ECW Wrestlers Of All-Time, According To Cagematch.netThe hope of WWE was to boost their roster with many of the names who spent time in ECW before or after the WWE tenures. Vince McMahon couldn’t book to their strengths or didn’t see their appeal like Heyman did and it led to negative scenarios unfolding. Each of the following wrestlers were outstanding in ECW despite flopping in WWE.

10 Shane Douglas

The ECW run of Shane Douglas validated his career after disappointing stints in WWE and WCW. Douglas especially felt disrespected by WWE when given the awful Dean Douglas gimmick and getting buried in the booking allegedly due to the Kliq’s input.

The ECW run of Douglas saw him cutting promos running down Shawn Michaels, Vince McMahon and a few other names who he felt wronged him. WWE and Douglas never wanted to work together again after the disappointment in the early 90s.

9 Mike Awesome

The WWE career of Mike Awesome went so poorly that many fans forgot he even worked there. Awesome witnessed the best run of his career coming in ECW when Paul Heyman booked him based off Japan success and placed the ECW World Championship on him.

The move to join WCW would see Awesome losing his momentum following the ECW success. WWE kept Awesome on the roster when purchasing WCW and starting the Invasion angle. Awesome barely received television time and was unable to show his skills.

8 2 Cold Scorpio

2 Cold Scorpio was one of the first breakout stars for ECW who had experience in other bigger promotions. WCW did little with Scorpio before he showed he was among the best in-ring workers in the world for ECW.

The stellar matches of Scorpio landed him an opportunity with WWE as Flash Funk in the New Generation Era. WWE didn’t define his gimmick enough and it led to a lack of purpose on the show. Scorpio struggled to get over in WWE and left without having any standout moments.

7 Francine

The rare women to get chances in the early days of ECW primarily were in the manager role. Francine was arguably the most successful woman in ECW history thanks to great stints managing Shane Douglas, The Pitballs and Justin Credible.

The heel personality of Francine made her an impactful performer and helped the talent get over. Francine joined WWE in 2006 for the ECW project as a third brand, but Vince McMahon didn’t care to push her. There were only a handful of Francine appearances before getting released.

6 Justin Credible

Justin Credible was one of the more unlikely ECW World Champions after his start in WWE with the colorful gimmick of Aldo Montoya. Paul Heyman helped spotlight Credible without a mask as part of the Impact Players with Lance Storm.

An eventual singles push put him in the top spot towards the end of the company’s run to gain credibility. WWE came calling back and rehired Credible to join X-Pac’s X-Factor faction. The group failed to make an impact and all three members suffered for it.

5 Taz

WWE witnessed Taz having a great debut at Royal Rumble 2000 when receiving a huge pop to defeat Kurt Angle. There was hope for Taz to bring his badass persona to WWE after having an all-time great ECW run.

Many fans believed that Taz was the best ECW World Champion of all time, but he ended the reign by choosing to join WWE with his contract ending. Taz unfortunately witnessed his WWE push ending after a few weeks with a secondary mid-card role. The move to join the commentary team helped him find greater success in WWE once retiring from the flopped in-ring stint.

4 Jerry Lynn

The final few years of ECW saw Jerry Lynn becoming one of the brightest spots. Lynn’s stellar in-ring work made his matches compelling and entertaining to move up the card. Paul Heyman trusted Lynn enough to win the ECW World Championship before the company closed.

WWE signed Lynn shortly after ECW ended and had him debut by winning the Light Heavyweight Championship. Unfortunately, they rarely featured him outside of the rarely watched Sunday Night Heat. Lynn couldn’t get over and instead was released a few months later.

3 Super Crazy

Super Crazy was among the most underrated talents for ECW to have great matches and a connection with the audience. WCW signed most of the top talented Mexican wrestlers for the luchador division, but Paul Heyman’s scouting helped bring another top lucha star to ECW.

WWE eventually signed Super Crazy in the mid-2000s to finally give him an opportunity in the biggest promotion. Super Crazy was placed in thankless roles like the offensive Mexicools faction or a lower card tag team with Jim Duggan for comedic purposes.

2 The Sandman

Paul Heyman was the only top wrestling promoter to find a way to spotlight The Sandman in a way that got him over. Sandman was over thanks to his entrance coming through the crowd and the use of a kendo stick among other weapons in his matches.

WWE would not add Sandman to the roster until the ECW revamp in 2006. The magic was gone from Sandman no longer being able to use the “Enter Sandman” theme song and attempting to wrestle normal matches. Sandman lasted a few years in a lower card role before getting released.

1 Raven

Few wrestlers used ECW better than Raven to showcase their character skills and ability to thrive in a top spot. Raven was an outstanding ECW World Champion leading the faction known as Raven’s Nest feuding with top faces.

The WWE signing of Raven in 2000 came after a prior failed WWE run, the ECW stints and a WCW run. Fans had high expectations of Raven thriving in WWE like Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit after they made the move. Vince McMahon couldn’t understand Raven’s gimmick and his peak WWE run came as part of the hardcore division.