Wrestling History Message Forum

[convoy71]

The night ECW changed its name to Extreme, via Shane Douglas speach denouncing the NWA World Title, was that a shoot or angle. I viewed it as a shoot because how Dennis Caraluzzo reacted.

[Dan Poutsma]

From what I understand, it was a combination of both.

Coralluzzo apparently knew Douglas was going to denounce the belt, so that was planned as part of the show. The promo that aired afterward where he voiced his displeasure with the situation was supposedly taped ahead of time.

But everything that happend subsequent to that, such as Shane proclaiming himself the ECW "World" champion and Gordon's announcement that he had shut down NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling and replaced it with Extreme Championship Wrestling, was a doublecross.

[James Hearte]

Why'd they agree to have their title denounced in the first place, though?

[Dan Poutsma]

What I've heard, and keep in mind this is just something I've heard, was that the angle would play out with Shane being forced to keep the NWA belt (hence Coralluzzo's promo) and he'd eventually end up dropping it on one of Dennis's shows. ECW could then leave the NWA and go their own way if they desired. But Tod Gordon and Paul Heyman hated Coralluzzo, whose WWA promoted opposition to them, and felt he and the NWA were only using ECW for their own benefit (which was basically true), so they doublecrossed him.

Also according to Shane in a couple of fairly recent interviews, he claims Dennis had been publically knocking him for whatever reason and was telling other independent promoters not to book him. So when Gordon and Heyman approached him about throwing down the belt and telling the NWA to shove it, it gave him some extra incentive to do it.