The ECW Originals

### Members

Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman, Sabu, Balls Mahoney, Stevie Richards, Bubba Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley, Rhyno

When World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) revived ECW as a third brand, they did so by having a number of wrestlers from the original promotion appear on the June 5, 2006 *Raw* to attack WWE Champion John Cena. From there, the new *ECW* was given its own weekly show. 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 the "New Breed." He lavished praise on Elijah Burke at the end of the night, prompting 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 into 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 following episode of *ECW*.

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. Over 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 Marcus Cor Von, Thorn and Matt Striker, 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. 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 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.

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, 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.

On November 30, 2015, The Dudley Boyz – who had been feuding with The Wyatt Family – brought back Tommy Dreamer on *Raw*, establishing a new incarnation of the ECW Originals.

On December 7, 2015, the group introduced the returning Rhyno on *Raw* to help in their feud with the Wyatts. On December 13 at the TLC pay-per-view, the ECW Originals lost to the Wyatt Family in an 8-man tables elimination match, and again the next night on *Raw* in an Extreme Rules match.