ECW Gangstas Paradise

Not to be confused with Gangsta's Paradise.
Gangstas Paradise
The ECW Arena.
PromotionExtreme Championship Wrestling
DateSeptember 16, 1995
(aired September 26, 1995)
CityPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, US
VenueECW Arena
Attendance1,175
Event chronology
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South Philly Jam

Gangstas Paradise was a professional wrestling event held by the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States–based professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) on September 16, 1995. The commentator for the event was Joey Styles.[1]

The name of the event referred to both the gangsta rap song Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio, which had been released the prior month, and The Gangstas, a tag team who were scheduled to compete in the main event. Gangsta's Paradise was used in the TV commercial spot for the video on ECW Hardcore TV.

Gangstas Paradise saw the ECW debut of "Stunning" Steve Austin, Psicosis and Rey Misterio Jr., all of whom would go on to greater prominence in the late 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).[2][3]

Several matches from Gangstas Paradise aired on episode #127 of ECW Hardcore TV on September 26, 1995. The full event was released on VHS later the same year and on DVD in 2002. The bout between Psicosis and Rey Misterio Jr. was also featured on the 2000 compilation DVD Path of Destruction and the 2007 DVD Rey Mysterio – The Biggest Little Man, while the tag team bout between The Pitbulls and Raven and Stevie Richards was featured on both the 2001 DVD release ECW: Hardcore History and the 2004 DVD release The Rise and Fall of ECW. The main event was included on the compilation DVD ECW: Unreleased Vol. 2 released by WWE in 2013.[4][5] In July 2019, the event was made available for streaming on the WWE Network.[6]

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