WWE Hall Of Famer D-Von Dudley Calls These Wrestlers The Heart & Soul Of ECW

Like its name suggests, Extreme Championship Wrestling centered on a more hardcore, underground style of wrestling, with stars like The Dudley Boyz at the forefront of it. Who was at its core, though? During a recent episode of "WWE Retrospective," D-Von and Bubba Ray Dudley looked back on an "ECW Hardcore TV" match they had back in October 1998. In doing so, D-Von also took note of the important position that their opponents, Rob Van Dam and Sabu, held in the company at the time.

"I think RVD and Sabu were kinda the heart and soul of ECW during that time," D-Von said. "They weren't the only ones, but they were kinda in that picture. They were so over in what they did. And being in the ring with them, you knew something was gonna be magical, especially if they were in there with the Dudleys.

"Sabu was a little stiff," D-Von continued. "He would land on you or punch the hell out of you. He had this three punch combination where he would hit you once, hit you a second time, and apologize before the third punch came because he knew he was going to stiff you and he didn't do it on purpose. That was just the way it was."

During their respective runs in ECW, RVD and Sabu each collected a number of championships, including the ECW World Television Championship. Together, they also shared two reigns as ECW Tag Team Champions. The aforementioned match saw the end of their first tag title reign and the beginning of The Dudleys' fourth.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "WWE Retrospective" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.