Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling / History History . ECCW began promoting its first shows in January 1996 under the ownership of veteran wrestler / promoter " Gorgeous " Michelle Starr , with assistance from Terry - Joe Silverspoon . The promotion initially operated solely on Vancouver Island in British Columbia , Canada , running shows in towns such as Port Alberni , Nanaimo , and Campbell River . The first ECCW Heavyweight champion was The Bodyguard . The title changed hands to " Superfly " Jimmy Snuka and John Rambo , before settling for longer periods of time with Michelle Starr and Mike Roselli . In September of 1996 , ECCW moved its home base to New Westminster , British Columbia in order to more directly compete with rival International Championship Wrestling ( based in Cloverdale , British Columbia ) . The promotion would hold its main house shows at the Eagles Hall ( the former Columbia Theatre , now the Burr Theatre ) . In late 1996 , full control of ECCW was given to Silverspoon , who continued to operate out of New Westminster until Michelle Starr returned to Canada approximately six months later . In late 1997 , Dave Republic assumed controlling interest of the promotion , and announced that it had become a member of the National Wrestling Alliance , operating under the NWA Pacific Northwest banner . This resulted in a separation of the talent , with half the roster aligning itself with Republic and the NWA , and the other half with Starr , thumbing their collective noses at the more traditional wrestling mindset the NWA adopted at the time . It was during this time that the company adopted a rigorous touring schedule , often running up to 15 shows a month across British Columbia . Playing in towns of all sizes in the province , many of these touring shows were fundraisers for various schools or charities . A collection of one of these tours , " The Northern Hell Tour " , was made available as a multiple volume set of VHS video cassettes . The company also began running an annual summertime event at the North Surrey Rec Centre in Surrey , British Columbia , the first of which saw then - NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dan Severn defeat " Ironman " Mike Roselli in the main event . During this period of the company ' s history , they heavily relied on rabid fans and a blend of hardcore - style veterans such as Billy Two Eagles and " Maniac " Matt Borne , young up - and - comers such as Tony Kozina , El Antorcha , Strife , and Chance Beckett , and wrestling purists such as " Rocket " Randy Tyler and Doby Gillis . Other talent used during this period included Louie Spicolli , Tommy Rogers , and Dan Severn as touring NWA World Heavyweight Champion . It was not rare to see chairs , tables , and barbed wire at ECCW events . In 2000 , with their main building having been sold to the Raymond Burr Society , ECCW relocated its main monthly shows to Surrey , BC ' s Bridgeview Hall . To this day , it splits its main shows between Surrey and the Russian Community Centre in Vancouver , BC . During this period , ECCW brought in such outside stars as " Fallen Angel " Christopher Daniels , Nova ( WWE ' s Simon Dean ) , Steve Corino , Sabu , and Tommy Dreamer . They also expanded into Washington State , occasionally running simultaneous shows in the U . S . and Canada with separate crews of wrestlers . It was around this time that ECCW entered into a working relationship with the IWA Japan organization , exchanging talent . IWA wrestlers Leatherface , Freddie Kruger and Jason the Terrible would often appear for ECCW , as well as IWA freelancer Asian Cougar , while Michelle Starr , Juggernaut , Disco Fury , and Buffy appeared in Japan for IWA . On December 8 , 2005 , ECCW announced that they had purchased independent group Top Ranked Wrestling ( TRW ) , which had a program on KVOS ( Channel 23 in Vancouver ) on Saturday afternoons . ECCW ' s take over of the " Top Ranked Wrestling " program ( renamed " NWA Top Ranked Wrestling " or " NWA - TRW " following the purchase ) took effect on January 7 , 2006 , in time for the promotion ' s tenth anniversary celebrations . However , the first TV tapings under ECCW ownership took place at its " Season ' s Beatings " event on December 23 , 2005 . TRW star Vid Vain , who was the promotion ' s heavyweight champion at the time of the ECCW purchase , then joined ECCW , and his title was renamed by the company as the TRW Television Championship ; that title was rarely defended on " NWA - TRW " , however , and the belt was shelved after a brief run . Also during the run of " NWA - TRW " , ECCW ' s top two championships , the NWA / ECCW Pacific Northwest Heavyweight and Tag Team titles , began to be referred to on the TV program as the NWA Top Ranked Heavyweight and NWA Top Ranked Tag Team Championships , respectively , although the titles otherwise retained their official names in promotional material . ECCW later announced that " NWA - TRW " had been picked up for a second season . ECCW constantly had a rating of around . 3 , which is abnormally high for an independent promotion , and given the time slot , it was one of the highest ranked wrestling shows outside of WWE and TNA . Originally a one - hour show , " NWA - TRW " was cut to a 30 - minute program in the spring of 2006 . Despite being picked up for a second season , " NWA - TRW " aired its last episode on November 4 , 2006 . It is unknown whether the show was cancelled by KVOS or by ECCW . Mauro Ranallo , who got his start on - camera with All Star Wrestling ' s CHAN - TV program in the late - 1980s , was the original host of the program ( starting with the then - independent TRW ) , with heel commentary provided by The Count and later Ladies ' Choice ( and occasionally Vance Nevada ) ; after Ranallo left , ECCW ring announcer Scotty Sweatervest became the new TV host and held that job until " NWA - TRW " ended its run . During a training session in the fall of 2006 at ECCW ' s wrestling gym in Whalley , British Columbia , ECCW star Disco Fury suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon . The injury ' s severity was such that the tendon re - coiled half way up Fury ' s calf , requiring restorative surgery where 250 stitches inside and out were needed to re - connect the tendon tissue . Fury spent the remainder of 2006 out of action , and despite initial fears that he would never wrestle again due to his injury , he made a full recovery and returned to action in Surrey on May 4 , 2007 . Following the cancellation of " NWA - TRW " , former color commentator Ladies ' Choice was named as the new General Manager of ECCW on December 16 , 2006 in Vancouver . Not surprisingly , following the lead of previous heel authority figures in major promotions like WWE and TNA , LC has shown blatant favoritism toward heel wrestlers and abused the power of his office , in particular actively attempting to protect the title reign of NWA / ECCW Champion Randy Tyler ( who had held the title since January 27 , 2006 , when he was awarded the belt without wrestling for it , after tricking Sweet Daddy Devastation into signing a contract giving the championship to Tyler if SDD defeated then - champion Juggernaut ) from the challenges of popular contenders like Aaron Idol by doing all in his power to prevent those contenders from receiving title shots . LC ' s luck in keeping the championship on Tyler finally ran out on June 22 , 2007 when Idol defeated Tyler in a steel cage match in Surrey to win the title , thanks in part to the involvement of the returning Sweet Daddy Devastation , who slammed the cage door into the escaping Tyler as payback for Tyler ' s duplicity .