Yea! It felt so taboo at the time because of the time slot around here, it was so violent and crazy they could only air when the FCC wasn't paying attention! Plus WWE hadn't fully jumped on the "hardcore" shit yet, and even when they did it was a joke compared to the shit ECW was pulling off weekly.
it was all dark and sketchy, dudes bleeding everywhere. the constant feeling that at any moment you might see a boob? it was just cool
You were at least DEFINITELY seeing Dawn Marie or Francine's ass for sure lol but yea, there was just something so shoestring (at times literally when Paulie couldn't pay lol) about it that made it feel so much more alive.
people talk about "outlaw mud shows" but like ecw literally felt like that all the time. the 2000s indies boom came close in points, but ecw actually felt like a show happening on the fly
plus the wrestling was just... something you didn't see anywhere. even when wwf/wcw went all in on hardcore wrestling there was still nothing like seeing mike awesome vs. spike dudley at 11pm at night
There was something too about their ring, it seemed bouncier, so when people would hit their moves, it just seemed so much brutal and impactful. The sound that ring made when people would hit like piledrivers or something its INGRAINED in my mind.
it does make me nostalgic because i wish i could actually recapture the moments watching some of those episodes and just losing my mind at what i was seeing lol