Why ECW Founder Tod Gordon Wants To 'Clear Up' Narrative, Tell Promotion's True Story
Tod Gordon founded Extreme Championship Wrestling — originally known as Eastern Championship Wrestling — in 1992. The American businessman sold the now-defunct organization to Paul Heyman three years later. Gordon, whose book "Tod is God: The Authorized Story of How I Created Extreme Championship Wrestling" will be released on September 28, was asked why he feels it's the right time to open up about his involvement with ECW.
"It was not even about the right time," Gordon said on the "Wrestling Nostalgia" podcast. "I just never had any desire or plan to ever write a book. And Sean, my co-author from Kayfabe Commentaries, he just hounded me day in and day out for literally two full years. We're just hanging out on the phone, telling a story [and] another story, and then he's screaming and laughing, and he goes, 'Tod, we've got to put this in the book.' I said, 'I'm not doing a book.' Back and forth, back and forth; finally, he all but wore me down.
"Also, I thought there were things that really needed to be cleared up and rectified. As I'm getting older now, parts of my legacy were really not accurate, is the only way I can put it. I want to make sure they were put out there accurately so people would actually know what really happened because it's such an important part of a lot of people's lives."
'I was running that thing for a couple of years before Paul [Heyman] even got hired'
ECW's key success came while the promotion was under Paul Heyman's control. Gordon provided his thoughts on Heyman regularly being marketed as the force behind ECW.
"It's true that eventually you can paint a picture any way you want and eventually start painting it as Paul Heyman's ECW," Gordon said. "So that's interesting. I was running that thing for a couple of years before Paul even got hired. So that's interesting, and I just figured, 'You know what? Let it be. Let it be.'
"But I kept seeing all these DVDs coming out, books coming out, 'The Rise and Fall of ECW,' the history of Extreme Championship Wrestling, the unauthorized story. Why were they all the unauthorized story? Because [people] don't ever interview me."
Gordon said he has only ever been asked to feature in one of WWE's past projects focusing on the promotion. He claims that if individuals weren't employed by WWE — who currently own the ECW tape library — then they wouldn't get asked to be involved. Because of that, Gordon has now decided to share his "authorized" ECW story.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Wrestling Nostalgia" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.