After years of growing as a premiere independant wrestling federation under the guidance of Paul Heyman, the Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship Wrestling gained national television exposure on TNN. The show showcased their violent, hardcore matches and featured the color commentary of Joey Styles and Joel Gertner. Unfortunately, a bad Friday night time slot combined with a need to edit matches resulted in low ratings, and the WWF's RAW program moving to TNN was the final nail in the coffin. ECW closed its doors and ended the show in 2001.