In the mid-2000s, WWE had the genius idea of reviving the ECW brand, just without anything that made ECW what it was back in the late 90’s. As expected, the project was largely a failure. However, there were some big moments, such as the main roster debut of CM Punk that occurred on the rebooted program. A guilty pleasure for some fans was the “monster” era of ECW, where mammoths such as Big Show, Kane, and “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry were heavily featured on weekly programming.
During Henry’s run with the brand, he won the ECW Championship. At the time, WWE was using the same title design as the iconic belt featured in 90’s ECW. However, during Henry’s reign, they changed the look of the title. The new belt was all silver with the letters ECW in giant font.
Henry was a guest on Isaiah 1’s YouTube Channel and talked about the story behind the changing of the belt design.
“They wanted to find a title that fit me because if you look at those pictures, that ECW title was very small and it was like one of the old school type belts. And they wanted me to have a belt that was befitting of a giant and so they designed this. I mean that belt was, man, it was huge and it was probably about 10 to 12 pounds. It was very, very heavy and I had to go buy a new bag for a carry-on because it wouldn’t fit in my old luggage. Yeah, I had a feeling that was the reason why they changed the ECW title.”
Henry would discuss a litany of topics on the podcast, including his iconic “retirement” speech, where he says Cena didn’t know about the swerve until right before he hit the ring.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the Isaiah 1 YouTube Channel and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for transcription.
