This one brings back some memories for sure. Unless you’re like me and were around for ECW’s heyday, it’s very possible you have never even heard of the wrestler known as 911. We’ll rectify that today.
He was a squash machine for Paul Heyman, so much so that Heyman himself would accompany him to the ring under his Paul E. Dangerously guise. Ah look at Paul, so young, so ready to conquer the world. And with good reason, as he had 911 in the fold. Billed as the “inventor of the chokeslam”, the big guy would come out and lay waste to whomever his opponent was in seconds, lifting them high in the air and driving them to the mat in record time.
This day, his foe was none other than WCW jobber extraordinaire, “Jungle” Jim Steele. Coming out and basically doing the exact same schtick that got him seemingly never-ending gigs on WCW Saturday Night, this ECW crowd replied much as you’d expect, with catcalls and jeers.
Playing into it all (he pretty much had to have known this was going to be the reaction), Steele decides to flip off the crowd, prompting Joey Styles to quip “huh…that must be the universal language of the jungle!”
Undeterred, Jungle Jim psyches himself up and goes for a STEELE SPLASH in the corner…and 911 simply steps to his right as the guy goes crashing into the turnbuckles.
A big ol’ chokeslam makes it academic, with 911 putting a hand on his back for the pin. Wait, a hand on the BACK? No idea what on earth was happening there, but I do know one thing for sure:
Cameron of the Funkadactyls must have been a big 911 fan!
Deciding this wasn’t enough fun for the evening, the crowd urges the big guy “one more time! one more time!” And of course he obliges.
Next, Paul grabs the mic and really whip the crowd into a frenzy, dedicating this chokeslam to all of their friends at CNN tower in beautiful Atlanta, Georgia…
…and then another one for THE RENEGADE, as the crowd sings the “na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye” song. Makes sense – as much as this crowd loved 911, they hated WCW even more. It was a perfect mix.
One final chokeslam is given as Paul E continues his ranting, with this one dedicated to bleeping bleep bleep Bill Alfonzo as the crowd goes absolutely nuclear. Holy smokes these fans were insanely rabid.
Unfortunately for 911, his stint in ECW was short-lived, as he had a falling out with Paul E behind the scenes. He’d show up as Tombstone, Sledge Hammer, and Big Al in WCW. You know those are forgettable gimmicks when you have to say, “No no – not the Big Al of Tank Abbott fame.”
Still, for a brief moment in time he was a huge favorite. And throughout the ECW Arena, no doubt there still echo the chants of “911!”