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First ECW match I saw was Tommy Dreamer vs. Vampire Warrior. Same show had highlights from Sandman vs. Cactus Jack in a Barbed Wire Match. I liked Jack for years and thought I would check it out the next week. Said next week had highlights from one of the classics between Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero. I was almost done with wrestling at that point in my life, but Malenko and Guerrero was what got me back into it.
I remember a few things around that time...
1. I was late to the party as far as Raven's ECW debut. But he was such a different persona, I didn't realize he was the obnoxious heels Scotty Flamingo and Johnny Polo. It took me until his world title reign, when he cut this promo and did the obnoxious heel laugh with the vintage ECW post-match promo hairstyle (hairnet to hold the bloody gauze on their head). Also, while his matches fell into a lot of the tropes of what ECW represented, he had the best angles in all of wrestling at the time, with Dreamer and Sandman.
2. I remember the brief runs of Dr. Death, Terry Gordy, and I saw one of Austin's ECW matches.
3. Before there was WWE Sign Guy, there was ECW Sign Guy (who was parodied with Sign Guy Dudley). Before there was Frank the Clown, there was Hawaiian Shirt Guy and Faith No More Guy, who were at EVERY ECW event (and you'll see them at a few WWF shows in New York and Philly, as well) And they always seemed to be front row center of Hard Cam.
4. While the "Extreme" stuff had its point and is the stereotypical thing people paid to see, it was the actual Wrestling that impressed me. The Malenkos, the Guerreros, the Scorpios, the Douglas', the Candidos, and the Jerichos.
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