Rumors circulated that WWE would hold a September Premium Live Event, but nobody knew what it was. Finally, the company announced that an old ECW pay-per-view will be revived from the ashes in the form of WrestlePalooza. The event is scheduled to take place on September 20, 2025, in Indiana, airing on ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service and Netflix internationally, following WWE Clash in Paris and preceding WWE Crown Jewel.
The ECW original event ran from 1995 to 2000, with the last event featuring a tag team main event of Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman, and the “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes taking on The Network in a Street Fight.
ECW fans are surely rejoicing that a classic Extreme Championship Wrestling Premium Live Event has come back to life, as it featured amazing bouts that involved The Public Enemy versus The Gangstas in a Stretcher Match, as well as The Dudley Boyz battling their bitter rivals The Eliminators for the ECW World Tag Team Championship at WrestlePalooza 1997.
Most of WrestlePalooza’s content was taped to air on ECW Hardcore TV, apart from the 1998 edition that aired as a full pay-per-view, headlined by “The Franchise” Shane Douglas defending the ECW World Heavyweight Championship against Al Snow.
The 1997 installment also gave ECW diehards the payoff between Tommy Dreamer and Raven in a “Loser Leaves Town Match.” Raven was on his way to WCW, but before that, he wanted to beat on his arch-nemesis one last time. Up to that point, Dreamer had never beaten Raven in ECW, making the “Innovator of Violence’s” first victory over Raven all the more sweet, running him out of ECW.
WWE has had success in reviving elements from the old “Tribe of Extreme,” notably with the success of the ECW One Night Stand Events. As such, it’s going to be interesting with what they do for the new but classic WWE WrestlePalooza.
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