If you're a fan of professional wrestling, you've probably come across the name ECW (or "Extreme Championship Wrestling") in the past.
The Philadelphia-based promotion was notorious in the '90s and early 2000s for its hardcore style of wrestling, featuring everything from no-rope-barbed-wire matches to flaming table spots, scaffold matches, and more. It was also home to several wrestlers who later became major WWE stars, including Rob Van Dam, The Dudley Boyz, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, as well as ECW legends such as Sabu, Raven, The Sandman, and Tommy Dreamer.
During its initial run, the promotion was the subject of two licensed video games from the developer/publisher Acclaim, called Hardcore Revolution and Anarchy Rulz. However, neither of these was particularly well-received at the time, with most of the criticisms coming down to their similarity to Acclaim's other wrestling games as well as their inability to capture what made the company so special. As a result, ECW fans have never really had a game that truly reflected the anarchic spirit of the promotion's heyday. But that could all be about to change, thanks to a handful of fans.
Recently, on Twitter, a Smackdown! 2 modder called LawzySD2 announced that they were working on a new ECW overhaul mod called Hardcore Heaven, alongside another modder named Taz1096.
The new mod will see the classic WWF PlayStation title transformed into an entirely new ECW game, complete with new arenas, weapons, and an all-new season mode.
It will also introduce a bunch of classic ECW wrestlers to its roster, including Raven, Tommy Dreamer, Tajiri, Rhino, the Gangstas, and the Dudley Boyz.
No precise release date has been announced just yet for when this mod will drop, but we'll continue to keep an eye on this as it progresses and will let you know once it's finally available.