May 1, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Justin Credible wins ECW Heavyweight Championship, safety concerns in Japan, tons more
When the smoke cleared after nine months of title changes largely forced upon him and designed to surprise, Paul Heyman finally went back to the original Plan A–as the latest surprise.
Justin Credible (Peter Polaco), who Heyman had planned to be ECW heavyweight champion dating back more than 18 months, with the idea of not putting the title on him until he had a national television outlet, and being the wrestler that Rob Van Dam would chase in the company’s top program, wound up with the title after two more switches at ECW’s “Cyberslam” show on 4/22 in Philadelphia at the ECW Arena.
The title changes over the past year have all been mandated not by long-term planning, but by short term-reactions to various problems. The original plan was for Shane Douglas to hold it until getting a national outlet, going to Credible for a long run, finally building for Van Dam’s big chase. But that was changed several times along the way.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.