From The TV IV

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Extreme Championship Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion currently presenting a one-hour program Tuesday nights on the Syfy in the United States. ECW is a no-holds-barred, hardcore-themed wrestling show which features wrestlers competing in the hardcore style, while the ECW Divas entertain the crowd. See also WWE Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown!

ECW began in 1992 as a regional promotion called Eastern Championship Wrestling, founded by Tod Gordon and affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance. ECW withdrew from the NWA on August 27, 1994 and changed to its current name at the same time following a dispute with the NWA Board of Directors over booking and control of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After this, ECW, by then under the leadership of new owner Paul Heyman (aka Paul E. Dangerously), soared to new heights among wrestling fans seeking a harder-edged alternative to the "sports entertainment" style of wrestling being promoted by WWE (then known as the WWF).

In 1995, ECW's syndicated TV program, which first began on April 5, 1993 (when the company was still known as Eastern Championship Wrestling), was renamed ECW Hardcore TV. In 1999, ECW gained a national cable TV contract with The Nashville Network (now Spike TV) to present a one-hour show on Friday nights at 8 p.m. EST beginning on August 27, 1999. ECW on TNN was fraught with problems from the start, however, due to interference by TNN executives, who often censored the show and rarely promoted it in their schedule. The show was eventually cancelled by TNN (with the final episode airing on October 6, 2000) in favor of bringing the WWF's Raw is War to the network. The final edition of ECW Hardcore TV aired on December 31, 2000.

ECW's final pay-per-view show (and their final show as an independently-owned promotion), Guilty as Charged, took place on January 7, 2001. Financial trouble led to ECW declaring bankruptcy and ceasing operations in April 2001. ECW's assets, including its video archives, were bought by WWE in 2003. After two ECW-themed PPVs called One Night Stand in June of 2005 and 2006 that were well-received by traditional ECW fans, WWE relaunched ECW on Sci-Fi on June 13, 2006, but the show has drawn criticism from fans for presenting a watered-down product having little to do with the original ECW and for WWE chairman and owner Vince McMahon appearing on the show frequently and getting himself over at the expense of the wrestlers (as he has also done on Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown!), and has derogatorily been referred to by traditional ECW fans as "WWECW".

[edit] Current Roster

Actor	Character	Duration
Main Cast
Brianna Garcia	Brie Bella	2009-
Jason Reso	Christian	2009-
Steven Lewington	DJ Gabriel	2008-
Rycklon Stephens	Ezekiel Jackson	2009-
Dustin Runnels	Goldust	2009-
Gregory Helms	Gregory Helms	2009-
Josh Lomberger	Josh Mathews	2009-
Katarina Waters	Katie Lea Burchill	2008-
Matthew Kaye	Matt Striker	2008-
Nicole Garcia	Nikki Bella	2009-
Paul Burchill	Paul Burchill	2008-
Shelton Benjamin	Shelton Benjamin	2009-
Taryn Terrell	Tiffany	2008-
Thomas Laughlin	Tommy Dreamer (ECW Champion)	2006-
Anthony White	Tony Atlas	2008-
Tony Chimel	Tony Chimel	2007-
Oleg Prudius	Vladimir Kozlov	2009-
Darren Matthews	William Regal	2009-
Matthew Cardona	Zack Ryder	2009-