ECW Originals The ECW Originals are a professional wrestling stable that make sporadic appearances in various wrestling promotions , including World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Their name derives from their affiliation with the original independent Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion , with " ECW Originals " being wrestlers who first came to prominence during the first ECW ' s run . Members of the ECW Originals faction have held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship , Television Championship , and World Tag Team Championship during their tenure with the original company . In July 2010 , the group debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the name EV2 . History . World Wrestling Entertainment . When World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) revived Extreme Championship Wrestling ( ECW ) as a third brand , they did so by having a number of wrestlers from the original promotion appear on the June 5 , 2006 " WWE Raw " to attack WWE Champion John Cena . From there , the new ECW was given its own weekly show , with the tagline " A New Breed Unleashed " appearing in TV advertising , on the Sci Fi Channel . One of the first feuds on the brand pitted Mike Knox and Test against The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer . On January 30 , 2007 , when Vince McMahon appeared on " ECW on Sci Fi " to , in storyline , take a more hands - on role in running the brand , he started by taking stock of the roster . In doing so he degraded the " ECW Originals " he ran into backstage while calling newcomers a " New Breed . " He lavished praise on Elijah Burke at the end of the night , prompting Tommy Dreamer , Sabu , Balls Mahoney , and The Sandman to rush to the ring and attack Burke , leaving him lying in the ring as they taunted McMahon . Over the next weeks , the war continued with Burke and a number of other " new " stars becoming " the New Breed " and promptly starting a feud with the Originals , who lost Balls Mahoney but were joined by Rob Van Dam ( Mahoney was still an active performer and still recognised as a member of the stable , however , he would never become involved in any match related to the stable ) . The New Breed got off to a hot start in the feud , picking up win after win with no ECW Originals pinning New Breed members until three weeks in to the feud , when Rob Van Dam pinned Kevin Thorn . The teams continued to clash in singles and tag matches , trading wins on the weekly ECW show . The Originals won a standard - rules four - on - four match at WrestleMania 23 , but lost an extreme - rules rematch on the next Tuesday ' s show . CM Punk had been brought into the storyline as a coveted free agent , with both the Originals and the New Breed attempting to recruit him . Punk made it clear to both sides that he was not interested . Members of both stables would interfere in Punk ' s matches , with the ECW Originals costing him multiple wins . On the April 10 episode of " ECW " , after a match between Van Dam and Burke , Punk came down to ringside , looking like he was about to check on Sabu . Instead , however , he shook hands with Burke and the rest of the New Breed , showing his allegiance to them . Ofter the next few weeks , Punk showed his loyalty to the members of the New Breed , playing the role of a valet instead of an actual team member . While he openly supported Cor Von , Thorn and Stryker , he openly disrespected Burke , constantly questioning Burke ' s ability to lead the stable or win matches alone . A few weeks after joining , however , Punk turned on the New Breed , and helped the Originals to defeat them in an 8 - man elimination tag team match . This marked the end of the feud as the New Breed started to fall apart during a feud which saw all four members target Punk exclusively ( and unsuccessfully ) . With the common enemy defeated , the ECW Originals seemed to have quietly disbanded , with all members concentrating on their singles careers . Following Mr . McMahon winning the ECW World Championship at Backlash , the Originals were shown to still be a stable when McMahon teased them with the title . The quartet later made comments about Vince McMahon becoming the new ECW Champion and killing the ECW spirit on WWE ' s official website . ( It should be noted that Mr . McMahon won the title while teaming with Shane McMahon and Umaga , and every title defence saw the trio compete as team , however , Mr . McMahon is the only on recognised as the title holder ) . This led to an " Extreme Rules " Four Way Dance between the Originals , with the winner getting a chance to face Mr . McMahon for the ECW World Championship . Van Dam won this match with a Five - Star Frog splash to Sandman , but was it was later announced that his championship match would be a three - on - one handicap match with Mr . McMahon , his son Shane McMahon and Umaga , which Van Dam lost . Split . On May 15 , 2007 Sabu was released by the WWE . At One Night Stand , Dreamer and Sandman teamed up with CM Punk to defeat the remaining New Breed members in a Tables Match . The same night , Van Dam was involved in a match versus Randy Orton and , in storyline , suffered a concussion which removed him from television . This would be Van Dam ' s last match under a WWE contract On June 5 , 2007 Bobby Lashley defeated another ECW Original incarnation of Tommy Dreamer ( a returning member ) , Balls Mahoney , and Sandman in a 3 - on - 1 handicap hardcore match . The stable was fractured even further when Sandman was drafted to " Raw " on June 17 , 2007 , and released on September 11 , 2007 . In mid - 2007 , Stevie Richards teamed with Tommy Dreamer against the New Breed on house shows , replacing Sandman in the ECW Originals . As commentating teams announced Elijah Burke as the " former " leader of the New Breed , it signaled the end of the New Breed and the ECW Originals , and their feud . After the releases of Rob Van Dam in June 2007 , Balls Mahoney in April 2008 and Stevie Richards in August 2008 , Dreamer was the last remaining member of ECW Originals in WWE , until his release was announced in January 2010 , ending the ECW Original blood line . Eventually , ECW was cancelled on February 16 , 2010 and replaced with WWE NXT . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . EV2 . On the July 15 , 2010 , edition of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ' s " Impact ! " television show former ECW wrestlers Rob Van Dam , Tommy Dreamer , Mick Foley , Raven , Stevie Richards , Rhino , Brother Devon , Pat Kenney and Al Snow came together to form the stable " EV2 " and assaulted the TNA locker room . The following week , TNA president Dixie Carter agreed to give the ECW alumni their own reunion pay – per – view event , Hardcore Justice , which took place on August 8 , 2010 . On the following edition of " Impact ! " , Rob Van Dam , Tommy Dreamer , Team 3D , Mick Foley , Sandman , Sabu , Bill Alfonso , Rhino , Raven , Stevie Richards , Guido Maritato and Tony Luke were assaulted by Abyss and A . J . Styles , Kazarian , Beer Money , Inc . ( Robert Roode , James Storm ) , Douglas Williams , and Matt Morgan of Ric Flair ' s Fourtune stable , who thought the originals didn ' t deserve to be in TNA . The following week TNA president Dixie Carter gave each member of EV2 TNA contracts in order for them to settle their score with Fourtune . Team 3D ' s contracts with TNA expired shortly thereafter and they have made no more appearances as members of EV2 , nor has Bill Alfonso or Sandman , who no - showed an " Impact ! " taping on August 23 . Guido Maritato and Tony Luke made their final appearance for TNA on the August 26 edition of " Impact ! " , in a squash match , where they were defeated by Beer Money , Inc . On the September 2 edition of " Impact ! " EV2 was joined by Brian Kendrick , making him the first member of the group with no past with Extreme Championship Wrestling . At No Surrender EV2 lost all three of their matches , when Sabu unsuccessfully challenged Douglas Williams for the TNA X Division Championship , Rhino lost to Abyss in a Falls Count Anywhere match and Dreamer was defeated by A . J . Styles in an " I Quit " match . On the following edition of " Impact ! " , Dreamer appeared on the Impact ! Zone alone , admitted EV2 ' s defeat and attempted to reach a truce with Fourtune , but was beaten down . The following week he returned with Raven , Stevie Richards , Sabu and Rhino and announced that Dixie Carter had given the five of them a Lethal Lockdown match against Fourtune at Bound for Glory . Later that same night Sabu lost to A . J . Styles in a ladder match contested for the advantage at Bound for Glory . On the October 7 live edition of " Impact ! " Mick Foley defeated Fourtune leader Ric Flair in a Last Man Standing match . At Bound for Glory Dreamer , Raven , Rhino , Richards and Sabu defeated Fourtune members Styles , Kazarian , Morgan , Roode and Storm in a Lethal Lockdown match . Shortly after the event , Rhino ' s contract with TNA expired and he left the promotion .