Everything in that article could be applied to RVD. And that dude is still a draw.
He is a Draw for who? Bingo halls?
ecw arena was never really a 'bingo hall'. it was a New Years parade clubhouse (south philly Vikings). they ran all types of fundraisers as do many of the New Years clubs in philly. ( I am in one which competes in the same division as spv).
the vikings New Years club's big money maker was illegal poker machines and slot machines. which south philly mobsters made a ton of money off of back in the 80s-90s. well they would have these 'bingo' nights. which were really just underground casino nights.
they got busted in I think 90? and that is when they started renting the arena out. my dads godfather was a guy named butchie who was the captain of the south philly Vikings, who rented the arena out as their clubhouse. (there is a second floor which is where they would hold meetings. downstairs in the arena/backstage area is where they stored and built parade floats). when ecw was losing the bar they were using for shows originally my dad got in touch with butchie and set up the first show at 'ecw arena'. and the rest is history.
sorry if that was hard to follow haha k can answer questions that were confusing.