The Hardcore Origin of ECW with Tod Gordon

Talk Is Jericho

Chris Jericho

Tv & Film, Sports, Wrestling

4.8 • 9.4K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

ECW founder Tod Gordon shares the unfiltered history of Extreme Championship Wrestling – from its underground beginnings in Philadelphia to becoming one of the most influential wrestling promotions of all time. Tod opens up about bringing in Eddie Gilbert and Paul Heyman, the infamous Shane Douglas NWA title throw-down heard ‘round the world, the wild energy of the ECW Arena, and the rise of stars like Taz, Sandman, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, and Rob Van Dam. He also discusses how ECW fans helped shape the product (yes, someone really handed Terry Funk a prosthetic leg mid-match), what really went down with Vince McMahon and WWE, the angle with Fonzie that had fans waiting outside the arena, weapons in hand to defend ECW, and the reason he walked away from ECW in 1997. Stream Dark Side of The Ring: Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert - https://www.vicetv.com/en_us/video/hot-stuff-eddie-gilbert/679bed68eb787195730eab9d FOLLOW: TikTok: @ChrisJericho Instagram: @talkisjericho @chrisjerichofozzy X: @TalkIsJericho @IAmJericho YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisJerichoFozzy Website: https://www.webisjericho.com/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Talk is Jericho, baby.
0:05.0	Talk is Jericho.
0:07.0	Talk is Jericho, Mama, talk is me.
0:13.0	I was watching a dark side of the ring doing some of the narration that I do.
0:19.0	And I was watching the Eddie Gilbert episode.
0:21.5	And I saw Todd Gordon on in a great explanation of Eddie Gilbert and all the stuff that he did.
0:29.5	And I realized I hadn't talked to Todd Gordon in, I don't know, 30 years maybe, something like that.
0:35.5	It's been a long time, man.
0:37.4	You're still Lionheart back then. That's, man. You're still Lionheart back then.
0:39.0	That's exactly right.
0:40.3	I still was Lionheart back then.
0:42.0	But I thought it'd be great just to touch base and talk about everything and your whole
0:46.9	kind of, you know, being one of the pioneers of this huge, you know, iconic wrestling company
0:52.9	of ECW.
0:54.3	First and foremost, though, talk a little about Eddie Gilbert,
0:58.3	just what kind of a relationship you have with him,
1:00.0	because I never got to meet Eddie,
1:01.3	so I was really interested in that episode of Darkside
1:04.4	and just hearing a little bit more about him
1:06.1	and how smart he was to the business.
1:08.0	He was so smart to the business.
1:09.7	He had done television in Alabama and Tennessee and he had booked territory
	...

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