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Before it became known as the ECW Arena, the venue in which Eastern Championship Wrestling started to call home in 1993 was known as “Viking Hall”. Many ECW fans from 1992 and early 1993 didn’t even know where the building was located; and some stories claim that the “Swanson and Rittner” intersection didn’t even exist at the time.

Fans had to ask around to find the building’s location, so it’s difficulty and “hidden” nature added to the emotions of what turned into die-hard ECW fans.

WWE.com website has a page dedicated to the building at this link:

https://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/history/ecwarena

If you would like to learn more about fans’ experiences during those early Viking Hall years, then this blog post gives you quotes and reference links to discover more. These fans helped shape the company from a small, regional territory promotion into the company which was known internationally just a few years later.

https://peakd.com/hive-191258/@ecwwebsite/some-little-known-stories-about-the-early-days-of-viking-hall-aka-the-ecw-arena

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Thanks to:

a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j

On November 14, 1993 Eastern Championship Wrestling participated in the three-promotion “supershow” in Essex Maryland. The event took place at Kenwood High School.

The three promotions were MEWF, ASWA, and ECW. Some of the wrestlers by this point in time (November 1993) already had appeared in ECW and had performed the night before at the November to Remember (November 13, 1993) at the ECW Arena.

Some of the names which appeared on these consecutive nights included:

• Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka)
• Johnny Gunn
• Johnny Hot Body
• Kevin Sullivan
• Mr. Hughes
• Public Enemy (Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge)
• Sabu
• Tazmaniac
• Tommy Dreamer
• Tony Stetson

The main event for this Maryland show was Jake Roberts vs. Mr. Hughes.

With so many names crossing over between both nights, including wrestlers who had appeared in previous weeks in ECW (although not on the NTR 1993 card), it often is considered an “ECW” show. However, it is unknown at this time as to which promoters ran the show and who paid the talent that night.

Another side note is that Madusa was scheduled to face Sherri Martel the night before in Philadelphia, based on an ECW Hardcore TV interview which took place a few weeks prior. However, Madusa was replaced by Malia Hosaka. However, Madusa was the valet/manager for Greg Valentine the next night in Maryland.

Here is information about the three-promotion supershow card in Maryland:

https://prowrestling.fandom.com/wiki/Essex_Show_(Nov_’93)

https://forums.prowrestlingonly.com/topic/44122-1993-11-14-aswamewf-essex-md

One final note of interest is that the previous month (October 1993), JT Smith won the NWA Eastern Maryland championship. However, he did not appear on this Maryland show – and he never defended that title again in Maryland.

Video clips found on YouTube and more information from this November 14, 1993 show in Maryland can be found here:

https://hive.blog/hive-191258/@ecwwebsite/little-known-supershow-featuring-ecw-in-1993

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Thanks to:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10