From about 1994 to 2001, based in Philadelphia extreme championship fight offered a unique alternative to the mainstream professional wrestling seen in WWE and WCW with diverse and often violent fighting styles and gritty characters to match. There were a number of notable rivalries in ECW history, but few could match the intensity of the feud between Raven and the Sandman.
From late 1995 to mid-1997, Sandman and Raven faced each other in various matches, often with the ECW World Title on the line, though matters became incredibly personal between the two. Let’s take a look at their rivalry, which continued past the ECW shutdown.
10 First he shared the ring in couples combat
Ironically, one of the first known matches involving Raven and The Sandman had them as tag team partners. It was in May 1995 for ECW that the future rivals teamed up in a tag team deathmatch, and ultimately a losing effort, against Cactus Jack and Tommy Dreamer. Six months later, the two would be on the same side again in ECW, teaming with Stevie Richards, Cactus Jack, and 2 Cold Scorpio in a five-on-five match against The Pitbulls, Public Enemy, and Tommy Dreamer.
9 His first match was for Sandman’s ECW World Title.
About a month after that five-on-five match, The Sandman and Raven would finally have their first singles match, at the ECW event in late December 1995. holiday hell. In the show’s penultimate match, Sandman successfully defended his ECW World Heavyweight Championship against Raven. However, that wasn’t enough to send Raven to the back of the line. Instead, over a month later they had a rematch on the 1/30/1996 episode of ECW’s weekly series, hardcore tvwhich resulted in Raven successfully dethroning The Sandman.
8 Raven brainwashed the Sandman’s family
Just defeating the Sandman in matches wasn’t enough for Raven. As the leader of an evil cult, Raven excelled at playing mind games with his opponents and targeted the Sandman’s family as a result. He started with the Sandman’s wife, Lori, bringing her into the fold of the ever-growing stable The Nest, and later even persuaded her son Tyler to side with him.
While Tyler was a child and therefore in no condition to participate in matches, Lori, who was no stranger to the wrestling business, having worked as the Sandman’s manager, ended up getting into the ring as part of the feud. . In one instance, she teamed with Raven in a mixed tag team match against the Sandman and Missy Hyatt.
7 The raven and his flock “crucified” the sandman
The Sandman’s betrayal at the hands of his own family also led to one of the most infamous and controversial moments in ECW history. At the October 1996 event high incidentTyler appeared to be interfering in a match on his father’s behalf, but this turned out to be a distraction when Raven attacked. But that wasn’t all: with the help of her sidekicks Stevie Richards and The Blue Meanie, Raven tied the Sandman to a crucifix, complete with a crown made of barbed wire. It was such a momentous moment that even the typically bloodthirsty ECW crowds were taken aback.
6 The Sandman could never beat Raven for the world title
Over the course of their roughly 17-month ECW rivalry, Raven and The Sandman had countless battles for the ECW World Title, switching it back and forth on several occasions. Raven ended up retrieving the Sandman belt, however, in holiday hell in early December 1996 in a fight with barbed wire. The Sandman was a five-time champion in his ECW career, but was never able to dethrone Raven to win the title during his feud. However, he defeated Raven in a Dog Collar Match to seemingly end the feud in May 1997.
5 His last ECW singles match was in 1999
After the aforementioned May 1997 Dog Collar Match, Raven and The Sandman did not meet again in singles competition. Over two years later, in November 1999, the Sandman and Raven teamed up in a tag team match alongside Tommy Dreamer only for the Sandman to attack his rival/partner Raven during the match. This led to a singles match between the two the following week on the 12/3/1999 episode of ECW on TNN, with Dreamer as the special guest referee. After a series of run-ins and hard points, the Sandman was finally victorious.
4 He reignited his rivalry in Impact Wrestling
The year after ECW closed in 2001 came the founding of Impact Wrestling, then known as TNA. In early 2003, both Raven and The Sandman met at the Impact Zone and faced each other in several matches, beginning with a Falls Count Anywhere Match in mid-February.
As the feud between Raven and the Sandman escalated, it led to the first of what became a signature match of Raven’s Impact career: the Clockwork Orange House of Fun Match. The match took place on the March 5, 2003 episode of Impact’s weekly pay-per-view series, with the Sandman coming up short against his rival.
3 Sometimes teamed up in tag matches
In addition to being bitter rivals for several decades, the Sandman and Raven were also teammates on occasion. Their first team-up on television occurred a couple of years after their rivalry ended, with Raven and Sandman feuding with ECW’s Impact Players faction in 1999. The two met on Impact in 2004, teaming up to take on ECW’s former faction. Raven, The Gathering later. members CM Punk and Julio Dinero betrayed him in favor of sinister manager Father James Mitchell.
2 wrestled in hardcore homecoming
June 12, 2005 brought the WWE produced ECW reunion show. one night standing, but that was not the only event of that nature that happened that week. Two days earlier, Shane Douglas and future Impact and WWE backstage figure Jeremy Borash donned Hardcore Homecoming: An Extreme Reunion, featuring ECW alumni who were not exclusively contracted to WWE. A come home hardRaven and The Sandman faced off once again as a 10-minute throwback to their classic rivalry, with Raven picking up the win.
one Continued to crash in the Indies
While many fans haven’t consistently seen many ECW alumni like Raven and The Sandman on professional wrestling television for quite some time, they’re actually no stranger to the independent wrestling scene. In fact, Raven and The Sandman have had additional matches on the indies, one of the first being a three-way title match with Sabu in November 2003. The rivals have had several matches up to May 2005, including a Raven’s Rules Match refereed. by Mick Foley and a three-way Street Fight with Tommy Dreamer.