Tommy Dreamer

[2.0] "He's another washed up old guy that doesn't know when to stop embarrassing himself. Being brutally honest, there's nothing about Tommy Dreamer and his wrestling and promo ability that's memorable outside of ECW. Even then, he was performing for the niche within a niche. Unless it was a hardcore match he wasn't interesting to watch. 30 years later not much has changed. I don't know what the hell Johnny Rodz taught his guys but it sure as shit wasn't actual wrestling holds."

[8.0] "Tommy Dreamer is a bonafide ECW legend who was excellent in his day. Don't get me wrong, it was minging when he used to eat all the gross stuff and nowadays he defninitely needs to retire as soon as money will let him, but overall a top top guy and an entertainer"

[7.0] "Here's a guy who is the prime example of someone who doesn't need to be a phenom in the ring in order to have his passion for and dedication to the industry literally bleed through almost every time he stepped on stage. Tommy Dreamer worked ECW crowds into a fever on a regular basis, cutting as passionate a promo as anybody else was in the 90s and taking a lot of punishment to back it up. For every garbage hardcore match he had one that got the infamous crowd in Philly right behind him - in turn so too did wrestling fandom at large across multiple promotions and decades, cementing Dreamer as one of the enduring wrestling figures of a generation."

[10.0] "Personal favourite of mine. I've been rewatching a lot of his matches since his Impact title match with Swann, which may have signaled the end of his career (on TV at least). Trained by Johnny Rodz he had some indie success before making it to ECW and eventually establishing himself there [Fun Fact: Dreamer held gold in Eastern Championship Wrestling (1 x tag title), Extreme Championship Wrestling (world title x 1 & tag title x 2) and WWE ECW (world title x 1)]. Though his title reigns were typically brief and he was frequently on the losing end, he was a perpetual upper card talent and a great all-rounder for the mixed bag Hardcore promotion and he was involved in some of the company's longest running and most emotional feuds (Raven & Sandman in particular). Following ECW's closure he went to WWE and over a period of time became a terrific lower card act in the Hardcore division, amassing 14 reigns as Hardcore champion and retiring the belt in an underrated RAW unification match with Intercontinental Champion RVD. He was never pushed prominently but you'll find a lot of fun Dreamer TV matches, though he was often so low on the card that he'd be putting over Shawn Stasiak. Returning to in-ring competition for WWE ECW, Dreamer was initially a figurehead and swiftly became a sentimental lower card talent until his month and a half reign as ECW Champion in 2009. The reign itself was enjoyable but not especially well booked. It did right some wrongs of his previous 10 minute title reign but it had no effect on his position going forward as he immediately dropped back down the card again until his "ECW retirement". Dreamer landed in Impact from there and was a prominent mid-card talent but older and injured was never going to be able to compete athletically with that roster. He would cycle in and out of the company behind the scenes and establishing rising heels. Dreamer gets a lot of criticism these days due to his shape and speed but I've loved watching him perform. You don't forget your heroes. In the ring, he won some significant titles as well as a number of indie championships and tournaments. Outside of the ring he had many significant and influential roles and he was quick to help elevate others anyway he could. In his wrestling career, Dreamer worked with CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, Mr Perfect, Drew McIntyre, Terry Funk, Lawler, Orton, AJ Styles, Jake Roberts, Undertaker, Lashley, Eddie Guerrero (IC title), Bray Wyatt, Cena, Christian (ECW title), Foley, Edge, Harper, Strowman, Young Bucks, Cody, Terry Gordy, Hardys, Kane, Dudleyz, Regal (EU title), Aldis (NWA title), Roode (TNA title), Miz & JoMo (WWE Tag title), Mark Henry (ECW title), Beer Money (TNA tag title), Hayabusa, Stan Hansen, Shane Douglas (ECW TV title), Kevin Sullivan (ECW Tag title), Booker T, Big Show and so more. In his career he worked for ECW, WWE, NXT, AEW, Impact, ROH, MLW, USWA, Lucha Underground, CZW, IWA PR, OVW, FCW, AJPW, FMW, WAR, IWA JP and others."

[9.0] "Loyal to a fault, Dreamer wore that ECW pride on his sleeve, which is why he was called the heart & soul. He's made a memorable career for himself as a reliable worker who's over with the fans in an almost legendary way, in addition to promoting and backstage work"

[9.0] "The heart and soul of ECW. Obviously, Dreamer's star power was the biggest in ECW but had success outside of it as well. He was good inside the ring and put on some bangers in ECW. He was a good promo and had a great mind for Pro Wrestling. His passion is obvious as you can tell if you see him on the indies."

[10.0] "Was fortunate to see him wrestle not once but twice. Both in the indies in New Bedford. Performed exceptionally well and shaped my dad's childhood with ECW. Dreamer would not have been here if it weren't for Paul Heyman bringing him in, and the rest is history. So, thank you Tommy for countless memories."

[4.0] "He was over for about two years in ECW and has managed to get another 23 years from the fumes of that which in fairness is a genuine achievement for a man that mediocre in almost every facet of pro wrestling. The man loves a dead legend he can cosplay for a bit post funeral too. You can work out what era of Tommy you are watching by the level of wobble on his tiddies."

[4.0] "If it wasn't for ECW, Tommy Dreamer would be unknown in the world of professional wrestling. He has no real talent as a professional wrestler, but he just happened to be in the right place at the right time. The only two things I can remember of his career were the feud with Raven and the ONS 05 match against the Dudley Boyz. Overall, he had a very nothing career in my opinion. Very overrated."

[2.0] "Tommy Dreamer is one of the most boring wrestlers I have ever seen, and that's coming from an ECW diehard. I never got why the ECW crowd loved Tommy so much. Sandman? Cool. Raven? Cool. Taz? Cool. The list goes on. Dreamer is just so so so so so boring, and as someone who already was limited in their ring ability when it came to providing excitement within a match, he probably should have hung it up several years ago. He's a spineless yes-man, as well... Talking an insane amount of s*** to people he still goes out of his way to then put over when in the presence of them."

[4.0] "I agree with the previous commented ratings. There's nothing spectacular or even really interesting about the guy. I'll give him points for the Raven feud and face of ECW thing, but that was over twenty years ago. He hasn't been good in WWE or TNA or the indies."

[4.0] "The most average of average wrestlers, Dreamer was never anything special and I have no idea why he is still working in "major" American companies. His mic skills are so so, his ring work average at best, yet he is a cult hero to ECW fans, i don't really get it but oh well."

[4.0] "Tommy Dreamer has never been a great pro wrestler. Nor a good one. There is 0 things that makes me care about him. Its fine, not everyone has to like every wrestler. He certainly has fans given his reactions when he wrestles in TNA but im not one of his fans and i don't think its ever going to change"

[5.0] "You can't deny Dreamers contributions to the business. He worked for that grungy ECW crowd of the 90s and his style revolved more around brawling and weapons use so he was never going to be known as a great in-ring technician. What he lacked in promo and in-ring ability, he made up for with his charisma and character work. Throughout his career, he displayed a great amount of versatility having portrayed a resilient underdog, a hardcore brawler, and at times, a sympathetic figure. His ability to connect with the audience emotionally, especially during his ECW days, showcased his skill in storytelling and character development. He played a crucial part in the development of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where he became one of the promotion's most iconic figures. Dreamer's willingness to take risks and participate in brutal matches helped define the hardcore genre. More often than not, those matches also featured superior workers who could make Dreamer look competent in the ring. A few of those notable bouts included his brutal fued with Raven which culminated to their matchup at ECW Hardcore Heaven 1997. He also had great matches with the likes of Rob Van Dam, Mick Foley and Taz, all of whom are great in their own respective ways. He also had a very underrated bout against Christian at ECW One Night Stand in 2005 that was great at paying homage to the spirit of ECW."

[5.0] "I rated Dreamer 8/10 years ago, but after the last few years, I've got to knock him down a few points. First, for his inexcusable comments in the Plane Ride to Hell Dark Side episode. But just as importantly if not more, for hanging on too long. The guy's just a physical wreck at this point, to the point where it's hard to watch his matches. As a character, he hasn't been relevant for...honestly, decades. Given how cool he came across in his ECW days, it's just kind of sad to see the caricature of the old, broken down wrestler who can't let go that he's become. Some wrestlers who're old and broken down find ways to stay compelling long after their prime. Not Tommy Dreamer, though. Not even close. Terry Funk he ain't."

[3.0] "Tommy Dreamer is a strange one for me to rate. He has matches that I absolutely love, although the vast majority of his work I find quite boring. As a kid I loved him as an underdog but nowadays I look back on his old promos and angles and he just comes off as a loser. The fact that he's a champion in a major TV company in the year 2023 is honestly bizarre to me. As other users have pointed out, he's past the point where he can gracefully attire - and that's a massive shame, since he does have a career worth celebrating. He has however been doing the "I used to be in ECW gimmick" for 20 years now; and that's quite remarkable, given his contemporaries like Sabu, Sandman, etc. have their own fleshed out characters and gimmicks that can be applied in any promotion - they're associated with ECW, but their gimmicks aren't that they were in ECW. Tommy Dreamer has, and apparently always will be, the "I used to be in ECW guy"."

[7.0] "I actually liked Tommy Dreamer, he was never gonna be a technician in the ring (he didn't need to) He didn't need to fly around the ring for no reason. He was fine as a hardcore wrestler, it's sad how most people overlook Tommy Dreamer. Again I think Dreamer was a solid worker, plus he is loyal to promoters and probably just worked for every promotion in pro-wrestling history."

[5.0] "He's about as one dimensional as a wrestler can get, but he was a part of some of the best storylines of the 90s. He's been suckling at the wilting teat of nostalgia for over 2 decades. He has no identity outside of the years 1994-2000."

[5.0] "Good enough for ECW where you could fight in street clothes and bash people with weapons and you could be considered a main eventer, but everywhere else it just makes you look like a back yard indy fed guy."

[0.0] "he has never been good and is one of my least favorite wrestlers ever. never seen someone so bad get so much respect outside of hogan. i hate how now he stinks it up and goes over against young people too. The fact he gets pushed today over young and coming talent makes me sick to my stomach as well. How are you given a hardcore gimmick and bad at that. its honestly impressive sometimes how bad he is.5/10"

[5.0] "He's nothing more than average as a worker. Every promotion probably has a guy like Tommy Dreamer somewhere in their history. A guy whose loyalty is commended, but drew little-to-no interest outside of that company anyway. Behind the scenes he was invaluable, second in importance only to Paul Heyman himself. He certainly squeezed out every drop out of the opportunities he got, but it doesn't take away from the fact that he was a rather mediocre pro wrestler."

[4.0] "I don't know, I just never saw it. Found a niche in ECW but struggled to transfer his success anywhere else due to below average work and the look of a random guy on the street."

"[4.0] he's alright but very overrated. if he started his career in wcw/wwf, he would be a midcarder and stayed that way for the rest of his career. instead he hid his lack of mic skills/wrestling ability with being able to do a lot of hardcore wrestling"

[5.0] "I used to think he was a 6 or a 7 based on his work in his prime but after watching his stuff from the modern days of impact I can safaely say he has really lost a step or two and is really not very good."

[5.0] "Just the literal definition of meh. Okay in the ring, okay on the mic. His match quality varies greatly depending on who he is in the ring with. Totally unremarkable as a worker, but had some good feuds. Maybe you had to be there."

"Showing my age but I remember first seeing Tommy on an IWF (good luck finding anything out about them, they were smaller than small) i took my kids to in '89 or '90 when he was tag teaming with Preston Steele (then IWF champion). Saw him in Wallingford, CT, a couple of times too including against Tony Atlas. Wish I could find those programs."

[6.0] "My first exposure to ECW was channel surfing one late-late Friday night/Saturday morning and seeing Primetime Brian Lee waylaying the goshdarn shiitake out of Dreamer's nether regions. *ahem* Tommy Dreamer laid there with a CINDER BLOCK on his groin and let Brian Lee smash a chair on it/him/THEM. Talk about commitment. If we're talking sheer ring skill and technical prowess ... LOL! no. Tommy Dreamer though felt like some normal dude straight off the streets who found himself in this crazy thing called ECW and just did what he could to survive, and eventually THRIVE. Able to connect with the crowd like few ever have and a great underdog character ...but after a while his body had deteriorated and so did his work; by the time he arrived to Vinceland he was a shell, unbridled commitment will burn you out fast. 5.5 rounded up."

[5.0] "A good hand. Some memorable moments. Seems very well liked by most. Very, very adequate on the mic and in the ring."

[6.0] "Never really got Dreamer. In the land of ECW where there was so many different and varied characters, exciting gimmicks with unique stuff behind them, Dreamer was the generic, white-meat babyface with next to zero interesting qualities around him beyond being pushed hard by Heyman despite having basic wrestling skills. Carried mostly personality wise by his opponents (who were usually the ones beating the snot out of him in the first place) he usually was pretty eh most of the time with a few matches worth mentioning, through mostly for the extreme violence and not a lot else. Legit, find a good match of Dreamer's where he isn't getting his ass kicked most of the time, it's impossible lol. I'm impressed by his longevity and he clearly has a passion for the business but let's be honest, he's one of the weakest parts of ECW back then. Post ECW was completely unremarkable beyond some stints in TNA and such that didn't exactly go well for him."

[7.0] "One of the more compelling characters of his generation. His transformation from the guy who didn't fit in ECW to a character who still defines the company's legacy to this day is truly remarkable. Dreamer was never the most proficient technical wrestler or the best high-flyer, but he tells stories and is a hardcore legend. He was nicknamed The Heart and Soul of ECW for a reason. One of the great true babyfaces of his time."

[8.0] "While Tommy Dreamer was only an adequate wrestler from a technical perspective, he had what many of the best in-ring wrestlers today don't have, that being a genuine connection with the crowd. I was too young to watch him in ECW while it was around, but watching his stuff back then, it didn't take too long to realize that this guy had something that those Philly fans really gravitated to."

[6.0] "Could have been better if he focused on wrestling instead of this hardcore nonsense. Cant give him more than 6"

[6.0] "Really connected with the heart of ECW back in the day & was involved in a number of memorable stories. He's an example of someone who stayed in the business longer than they should have & his legacy has taken a hit due to it. Now whenever Dreamer shows up somewhere I groan. I have zero interest in watching him take some tack bump. He is also pretty annoying to listen to on Busted Open Radio, as he thinks VERY highly of himself."

[5.0] "Was only an average worker at best in his prime was the top baby face in ECW. But ECW folded in 2001 and he has spent nearly 20 years now trying to recapture that he was the top baby face in ECW."

[8.0] "Good wrestlers get over for different reasons. Tommy Dreamer got over by being the highly relatable hero-in-sweatpants for a rabid fanbase of Average 90's Dudes From Philly, and that counts for a lot. Never a workrate guy, Tommy knew the ins and outs of match flow and long-term storytelling as well as anyone and he did a lot with it. His feud with Raven was at the very least one of the five best US feuds of the 90's. Tommy's ability to switch between sincere and edgy was a talent perfectly tailored for a top ECW babyface, and although he never (and would have never) ascended to a higher point in a different company, his output is taped and bountiful - peak ECW Tommy is Bingo Hall Onita, and that's a fine thing to be.. His post-ECW career doesn't drag any of his previous work down and clearly comes from a place of professionalism."

[6.0] "He was a decent wrestler in his prime with a strong work ethic that made him a likable character back in the days of ECW. He was never anyone great, but he did his best with what he was good at, and for that he must be given credit."

[8.0] "Tommy Dreamer is hard to rate from a modern perspective. Was he ever a fantastic wrestler? No. Was he a decent wrestler? Sure he was. He has had memorable feuds and matches, and his popularity is based on his likability, his no quit attitude and the fact that he was a hardcore Dusty Rhodes for the fact that he is the average, hardworking Joe. He cuts a great promo no matter what, and while his matches aren't outstanding, they're still fun and at the very least decent. In addition to this, he puts over anyone and everyone at all times proving he's a vet who is here to enhance the product and not to be the center of attention. People are annoyed of him appearing, but so long as Dreamer is focusing on building future stars, I'm happy to see him on tv"

[4.0] "Dreamer may have had his share of memorable moments in ECW but I don't think he's a particularly great wrestler. I personally find him to be pretty average."

[9.0] "Tommy Dreamer is an everyman who always gets back up, and you can't help but cheer him. He's a great face and and puts on treat matches in spite of his basic moveset. He's a legend and belongs on the Mount Rushmore of hardcore wrestlers."

[5.0] "Yet another "ECW legend" who was a pretty subpar wrestler and mostly got over with his willingness to participate in hardcore matches and spots."

[4.0] "Tommy Dreamer was a guy who who got over purely through his willingness to do ridiculous stunts to cover for his limited ability. And I'm not even going to get into his terrible and thankfully short run as booker of OVW."

[5.0] "He's largely a product of Paul Heyman's brilliant booking of him and his own willingness to take a good beating. Besides those 2 things, he's really unspectacular in just about every way which is why he never found much success outside ECW."

[6.0] "Dreamer was so good in ECW with a more than classic story arc. Was underutilized in WWE overall. One of the better hardcore wrestlers of all time."

[4.0] "Boring is the first word that comes to mind when I think of Dreamer, balls being the other given he lost them when Lawler smashed them off. On a serious note the guy did have some guts, but he sacrificed a look that would have gotten him pretty far in a 90s WWF for the sake of being one of the 'bad boys' in ECW. He had a good physique when he first started, but that went away fast. Hes not garbage in the ring but as far as ECW Alumni hes second to Sandman in how utterly over loved he was. I guess props to him for being a company man who was modest enough to put better talents over but man, I couldn't even get hyped for him during his feud with Raven."

[7.0] "I have a lot of respect for this man, who is one of the pioneers of hardcore. He did an excellent job at ECW. Unfortunately, WWE never knew how to use him properly and he ended his career as a jobber"

[7.0] "Tommy Dreamer is someone who made a good crowd connection in ECW and has been used for nostalgia ever since. While at best average, at wrestling and hardcore, he has choosen to not just rely on nostalgia and has opened his own promotion, house of hardcore. and was a part of an amazing feud with Raven."

[10.0] "Tommy was always great at playing the everyman/underdog babyface, and while maybe not a top-of-the-line technical grappler, he could always be counted on for an entertaining brawl, especially with weapons involved. He has always been a selfless performer as well - maybe to a fault - and always does what he can to make his opponent look good, even at the expense of his own glory. As the promoter and booker of his own House of Hardcore promotion, he has shown for my money one of the top wrestling minds out there today, putting on very entertaining shows with just a pinch of ECW nostalgia, but the main focus on showcasing the best current and upcoming talent on the indy scene. Clearly the ECW tradition of booking wrestlers to their strengths and showcasing many different styles lives on in Dreamer. A man with a clear, unbridled passion for professional wrestling. I'm a Tommy Dreamer guy."

[5.0] "Boring talent with no WOAH moments at all. Yea, pretty cool in extreme championship wrestling but he does less than anything to amuse me. 7. 3 is VERY generous of a average to give him."

[7.0] "Can definitely stand his ground in the ring, but his definite lack of mic skills and mediocre charisma is something else. Had a few good Hardcore matches. One of which being a favorite of mine back at One Stand Night in 2006 but, there wasn't much to Dreamer beyond a few matches of his, worth digging up and watching."

[10.0] "He was never the greatest pure wrestler. He wasn't on the level of Kurt Angle or Brock Lesnar. But unlike those two, Tommy made you believe that YOU, the average guy on the streets, could step into that ring and be a hero to many. To make YOUR dream come true. He was never meant to be a champion, yet he's held belts all over the world. He takes inhuman beatings like nobody else, yet he contributed greatly to the "business" side of wrestling in both ECW, WWE, and his new House of Hardcore promotion. No other wrestler in the world has connected with the people quite like Tommy Dreamer. He made his own legacy, and it's one he can be proud of."