PWP’s Chris Baker looks back on the extreme career of Paul Heyman.
Paul Heyman’s legacy has been instilled in many promotions, but where was his career truly established? Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ECW attracted the attention of thousands of promoters and fans. And Paul Heyman shaped the company in extreme ways. Blood and guts were aspects of the company, but so were effort and dedication. Paul Heyman (also known as Paul E.) was truly dedicated to ECW, as well as the wrestling industry itself.
This mastermind was the creative force behind ECW. But most notably, Heyman was the owner of the company. During his entire ECW tenure, Heyman booked the company’s shows. In the years 1993-1997, Heyman was awarded Best Booker by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Creatively, he helped develop storylines, while being on the financial end, as well. Money wasn’t always Heyman’s forté, but he handled it, nonetheless.
In the beginning days of ECW, Heyman made many on-screen appearances, managing top-notch wrestlers, such as Sabu and others. WWE Home Video released a documentary titled the Rise and Fall of ECW, in which Paul Heyman was a focus. He was interviewed himself, and other wrestlers talked about him, too.
Throughout the notorious Monday Night Wars, ECW was the third “big” company. Heyman said he’d always had a good relationship with Vince McMahon and the WWF. On the other hand, WCW was home to Paul Heyman’s most bitter rival: Eric Bischoff. Tommy Dreamer made the analogy, “joining WCW was like joining the Taliban, and Eric Bischoff is Satan.”
For years to come, Heyman would ridicule and deride Bischoff. ECW One Night Stand 2005 was the company’s reunion show, but there was a catch; WWE’s “anti-ECW crusaders” would attend the show, repeatedly taunting ECW. At the event, Heyman cut a stellar promo, part of which was directed towards the then Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff. 2006 marked the relaunch of ECW as a WWE brand.
Due to the lack of interest in the brand, as well as his personal disputes with Vince McMahon, Heyman temporarily said goodbye to WWE. Heyman later returned to WWE, being the manager and advocate for Brock Lesnar. Back to the original World Wrestling Federation, Heyman always had a strong business correlation with Vince McMahon. Vince let ECW stars appear on his programming, particularly with the ECW invasion angle in 1997. Heyman would go on to spend years working with WWE, both as a commentator and manager.
Without his time in ECW, Paul Heyman may not have succeeded in WWE. The extreme promotion wasn’t always under the spotlight, but Heyman’s hard work helped push ECW to great heights. In ECW, Heyman spent years trying to find a pay-per-view provider, and after all that effort, ECW finally had its first PPV, Barely Legal, in 1997. The following years would have their ups and downs, yet the company was always one-of-a-kind.
As ECW began to decline, Paul Heyman’s dedication did not. Rather, Heyman continued to put his heart and soul into his beloved company. Not only did ECW give him experience, it also gave him a knack for the business that no one else possesses. Whether it’s his stellar on-screen promos or backstage decisions, Heyman’s strengths developed in Extreme Championship Wrestling.