On Feb. 25, 1992, Philadelphia native Stevie Richards competed in the first-ever ECW match and never looked back. The master of the jaw-jacking Stevie Kick went on to capture two ECW World Tag Team Titles with Raven and, perhaps more importantly, won the calloused hearts of ECW fans with a wildly popular parody of The nWo, The Blue World Order. Alongside Da Blue Guy and Hollywood Nova, Big Stevie Cool brought some much needed fun to the stern world of ECW.
Clad in denim cut-offs and a half shirt, Richards didn’t resemble the typical ECW antihero, but the Philly fans were squarely behind Stevie when he competed against hardcore icons Terry Funk and The Sandman in a Three Way Dance for an ECW Title opportunity at 1997’s Barely Legal. Richards ultimately lost the bout and suffered a debilitating neck injury soon after, but he fought back to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a WWE Superstar. — JOEY STYLES