Paul Heyman Reflects on ECW’s Massive Legacy – When WWE and WCW wrestled in the 1990s Heyman’s company in Philadelphia had also been changing idea of what wrestling was.
Brock Lesnar finally had the pleasure of taking revenge in the ring at SummerSlam.
An intricate, nuanced, and action-packed plot ended wweon Saturday night, Lesnar’s moment of catharsis finally happening when he forcefully struck Paul Heyman onto the announcer’s table using an F5. Heyman was his long-time onscreen advisor (or in the way that Heyman would put it, “advocate”). In the past when you watched Lesnar and the next person you saw in your vision would surely be Heyman.
Although they remain in the background but their story on the screen changed six months ago , when Heyman made a pledge of allegiance towards Roman Reigns instead of Lesnar. It was satisfying to watch Lesnar end the story with Heyman who was followed by the violent conclusion of the Lesnar-Reigns show. There was some reason Reigns struck Lesnar shortly after hitting his F5 on Heyman and, ever the gambler, Reigns took advantage of the situation that Lesnar was distracted. After that, the two Bloodline siblings Jimmy as well as Jey Uso began their smackdown and the sequence of false finishes that concluded SummerSlam on a an eerie way.
Paul Heyman Reflects on ECW’s Massive Legacy
Reigns was victorious in the Last Man Standing match, which is, of course the same was true for Heyman. This is a storyline that blends into reality. As he enters his fifth decade in professional wrestlers, Heyman created an incredible legacy. He laid the foundation for his career as an incredibly undervalued manager in WCW and later returned to a more refined version of the job and most notable in the company of Lesnar as well as Reigns. He has seen success — and there was controversy, too at every turn creating an unforgettable history as chief operating officer for Extreme Championship Wrestling during the mid-1990s. That’s the reason for Heyman’s appearance next Saturday on the A&E channel’s WWE Rivals on Sunday, where he’ll provide a unique perspective that is unlike any other WWE–WCW match in the infamous “Monday Night Wars” era.
Heyman played a key role in the battle However, it wasn’t due to the fact that the show was competing with his show on Monday night. In many cases, you didn’t see ECW in the air until about two to three in the early morning. Before DVR had been invented, it took the leap of faith put your faith in the VCR to record the way it was programmed with the hope that you would see an uncut, uncensored , and extremely savage version of professional wrestling.
“What was it like competing in the single most hyper-competitive environment in the history of this industry?” Heyman states. “With the absence of sponsors at all, advertising, and no huge trust-funds or money-backers behind me? It was thrilling.”
ECW was the constant influence in determining who was the hot hand in the WWE-WCW weekly fight for supremacy in wrestling. This was partly due to the fact that, initially, it seemed that the talent brought in from ECW could influence ratings. Then, when Public Enemy and Sabu signed with WCW and after “The Franchise” Shane Douglas went to pastures with greener grass and the opportunity to profit from the brilliance of Vince McMahon, there was no doubt that the death of ECW was approaching faster than was anticipated. But a sudden event shaped the next generation of professional wrestling. It wasn’t only the wrestlers that defined the Monday night Raw and the Nitro battle, but the mentality. ECW was headed by Heyman and a highly skilled team, was able to take the business to the forefront. In terms of both content and athleticism ECW is still an example for all major wrestling event across North America, especially WWE and AEW.
“My role was not to be a dollar-for-dollar competitor,” Heyman declares. “My purpose was to play the disruptor, the catalyst to change the industry. I understood it. I also knew that history would see ECW as an issue, not a company, and eventually, we would be prey to this designation and stigma as it would be self-fulfilling prophecy. It was impossible that we could be able to fight two billion-dollar corporations that had no money, no muscle and with no public face. All we had were bulls, balls and bravado.
“In the 35 years I’ve been an orator, it’s difficult discover a better soundbite as Bubba Ray Dudley, who declared that we were all Napster. We weren’t made to live. We were designed to disrupt. It was a good cause that continues to see its ideas embraced and monetized to benefit an industry. This is what we did, we were the disruptive force with the Faustian passion of a whole generation.”
There’s plenty of “Paul Heyman Guys” in wrestling and MMA, with Steve Austin and The Undertaker dominating the scene. It would be difficult to find anyone more closely in the world of Heyman as Lesnar or, more recently, Reigns The pair has surpassed all expectations.
“I understand the level of greatness both of those men can achieve,” Heyman declares. “I’ve had the best job in during the last 20 years. See who I am able to promote. Even as I try to hype them, they often under-promise, and they over-deliver.”
Should Lesnar as well as Reigns were to ever enter an old-fashioned time machine alongside Heyman, who is now aged 56 Heyman and somehow travel back to the future , and coming to Philadelphia, a city which has a lot to say about being revolutionary — in front of a packed public at ECW Arena in April 1997, Heyman believes there would have been no shortage of possibilities for on-screen, in-ring the most amazing of moments.
“Rob Van Dam could have hung with them, or for that matter, anybody,” Heyman declares. “I believe Taz was an intriguing character who could be a credible ally with anyone. The Dudleys could be friends with anyone.”
The biggest myth about ECW has been that the brand was just blood, sucks and nastiness. Although these were all important aspects of the brand, it wouldn’t have lasted in the absence of fashion without substance. The foundation of ECW was its wrestling, regardless of whether it be done through Rey Mysterio, Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, Tommy Dreamer, Too Cold Scorpio, Bam Bam Bigelow, Mick Foley, Mikey Whipwreck, The Great Sasuke, Lance Storm, Psicosis or those mentioned above such as Van Dam, the Dudleys, Sabu and Taz. The promotion was able to get an energy boost and gave a sense of satisfaction to everyone who were dissatisfied with the product that no longer was appealing to the majority of them. Also, ECW would not have been ECW without legendary timeless Funk who would have produced a masterful match against the likes of Reigns and Lesnar.
“Terry Funk was a completely different style,” Heyman states. “He was an expert at fitting to the expectation and vision of the audience who he was performing to. The standard, or bar for the best professional wrestling in sense of grappling, is Flair and Steamboat. Steamboat and the Briscos against. The Funks. Although Terry Funk’s name is praised for his outrageous antics, it was also among the greatest mat techs of his time who was able to comfortably go for 60 minutes in a row with Jack Brisco anywhere in the world. When Terry Funk was paired against Jack Brisco, that was the show he gave. In the time that Terry Funk was paired with Harley Race, you saw an unclean, naked knuckle drag-out fight. If Terry Funk was paired with Ric Flair, you could see the wild-man actions that were Terry Funk against the purity and fluidity as well as the elegance that was Ric Flair.
“What Terry Funk was great at was recognizing what people were paying for. He did not define a specific function. He was master of all. So anyone who was who is up against Terry Funk would be great as he could have it done.”
There’s no way to travel through time, however there is an intriguing alternative. Heyman’s appearance at Saturday’s “Rivals will offer a fascinating insight into the present, the past and the future of pro-wrestling, from the perspective of its most advanced mind.
“I’m going to bring light to a portion of history that A&E is doing a Biography on,” Heyman states. “So far I’ve been amazed by the high-quality and compelling story that’s been told in this A&E Biographies. I have been honest with myself for historical reasons and, to A&E’s huge credit, they have hired high-quality directors to tell these stories.”
An interesting topic to discuss during the show will be Heyman’s involvement together with WWE in 1997. This resulted in a memorable episode of Monday Night Raw and the debut the character of Van Dam as “Mr. Monday Night”. In separating fact from fiction, Heyman stated that his collaboration together with Vince McMahon came with its own set of risk for ECW.
“The understanding I had with Vince in ’97 did not dissuade him from competing with us or us from competing with him,” Heyman declares. “There was a general agreement that when an aggressive move was likely to be made I would be informed in advance of the move that was to be done. I experienced the same tips-offs during WCW by Kevin Sullivan. After Sullivan was gone and the tip-offs stopped. They then went after the talent, offering bonus signings instead of a announcement telling us to be prepared. That was the first warning I got from WWE. It was, “Hey We’re interested in this particular person. What can we do to ensure that this does not harm the business you run? It was a kind gesture from Vince McMahon to ECW. It was, however, still business and the ideas, the talent of people could be stolen.”
The longevity of Heyman is impressive and so can his capacity to convey a story. They are inseparably linked and will be shown this weekend. Just a few two days after Lesnar Reigns,, Heyman, The Usos and referee Chad Patton received a backstage standing ovation from their fans during SummerSlam to show their genuine gratitude for the legendary match by the fans, they now have the chance to understand about how the past became present. While the backstage applause was an issue that Heyman did not want to be discussing, he is not going to be shy during this weekend’s show at the Rivals.
“These episodes are of such high quality,” Heyman declares. “If they’re not nominated for Emmys, something is wrong here.”
