The If Factor: Rocky Maivia in ECW

Brian Damage

The ‘If Factor’ are a series of articles that takes a look at real scenarios in pro wrestling that at one point or another were suggested, planned, considered…but did not get the green light to continue. What would the landscape of professional wrestling look like if these ideas came to fruition?

The If: Rocky Maivia Debuts in Extreme Championship Wrestling

In 1997, with the WWF reeling from their wrestling war with WCW…Vince McMahon decided to form a partnership with Paul Heyman’s ECW. While ECW was on a much smaller scale than the WWF, it had a lot of buzz from wrestling fans that intrigued McMahon. The working agreement between the WWF and ECW saw various exchanges of talent. It also saw ECW get more national and worldwide exposure being on WWF TV. In addition to that, Vince would supply ECW with unused talent to try and cultivate and develop.

Over their agreement, WWF supplied wrestlers like Brakkus, Droz and Al Snow for Heyman to use on ECW shows and try and make something out of them. One wrestler that Heyman saw on WWF’s roster that was doing nothing and struggling to connect with fans was Rocky Maivia. According to Tommy Dreamer, Paul Heyman saw a lot of potential in the young wrestler and requested that he be sent to ECW to develop. Dreamer said that Heyman had such a keen eye for talent and even in 1997, when Maivia was languishing…Heyman saw stardom for the future ‘Rock.’

Unfortunately for Heyman and ECW, Vince McMahon refused the request to send Maivia to Philadelphia for seasoning. Of course, as history showed…Rocky Maivia’s wrestling career eventually turned out alright. One does wonder, how Paul Heyman would have used Maivia in ECW. What if anything would have been different in his career if he was sent down to the “Land of the Extreme?” What if anything would have changed for ECW if Heyman was able to make Rocky Maivia a star there?

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