On this episode of Chewin’ The Fat with Chubby Dudley, Bay Ragni sits down with Steven Truitt better known as Stevie Wonderful, one of the true behind the scenes guys of the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance and early Eastern Championship Wrestling story. Stevie wasn’t just a guy who popped up at ringside or on commentary. He was involved in the music, merchandise, promotion, production, early ECW planning, and the messy transition from Joel Goodhart’s TWA into what became ECW. Bay makes that clear right away, calling Stevie an “important piece of the puzzle” and someone who was far more hands on than many people ever realized.
This is not a clean, polished, surface level wrestling interview. This is closer to a three hour therapy session with tequila, old wounds, ECW history, TWA memories, music stories, military stories, and a lot of long buried feelings finally coming out. Stevie even says early on that he hasn’t talked about a lot of this before, and that the conversations with Bay leading up to the episode helped make it possible.
The heart of this episode is Stevie’s need to finally get the story out. He talks about being a soldier, a musician, a father, a businessman, and a wrestling fan who wanted to belong. That word comes up again and again. “Belong”.
That’s what makes the TWA and ECW parts hit harder. Stevie wasn’t just hanging around because he wanted to be seen. He was doing music, merchandise, printing, promotion, setup, mailing lists, and all the little jobs that keep a wrestling company alive. He says he helped with printing, signs, programs, neighborhood promotion, and the early business side, while also trying to raise his kids and keep money coming in.
The early ECW material is the historical meat of the episode. Stevie gives his version of how Eastern Championship Wrestling came together after TWA collapsed, including the ownership split he says existed between Todd Gordon, Larry Winters, Bob Artese, and himself. He also talks about the confusion over the promoter’s license, the first ECW jackets, the first show, the old TWA music being cut off, and the first steps toward making ECW its own thing.
The commentary discussion is also important. Stevie says he picked Jay Sulli to work with him, and that they never really practiced or planned out the booth the way people might assume. They were two fans and friends trying to make early ECW television work. Bay points out that, watching it back now, Stevie had more natural character than he may have realized at the time.
This is a heavy episode, but it is also a valuable one. Stevie Wonderful’s name may not always be the first one brought up when people talk about TWA or early ECW, but after listening to this, it’s hard to deny that he was there, working, helping, building, and trying to keep the machine running before most fans even knew what ECW was going to become.
For fans of Tri-State Wrestling Alliance, early Eastern Championship Wrestling, Jay Sulli, Todd Gordon, Joel Goodhart, Eddie Gilbert, Johnny Hotbody, Tony Stetson, Larry Winters, D.C. Drake, Cactus Jack, Terry Funk, Paul Heyman, and the real behind-the-scenes story of how ECW got started, this one is essential.
Stevie Wonderful didn’t just watch Philly wrestling history happen, he helped facilitate it all! Don’t miss out on a great conversation, this one is HIGHLY recommended!
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