For the past decade, Paul Heyman has been a fairly regular part of ECW television, spending much of it managing Brock Lesnar through countless title runs, though these days he’s associated with WWE’s top star, Roman Reigns. But that’s not what made him such a big deal with wrestling fans — it was running Extreme Championship Wrestling from the mid-1990s until the early 2000s.
Die-hard fans who are old enough have fond memories of Heyman’s time in ECW, but modern fans might be unaware of what he did back then. Let’s rectify that and take a look at how he ended up in the land of Extreme.
10 Followed A Run In WCW
ECW has become Paul Heyman’s biggest contribution to pro wrestling, but it was hardly his first foray into the business. Starting as a teenage photographer, Heyman transitioned to becoming a manager in the late 1980s, adopting the moniker Paul E. Dangerously, and eventually made his way to WCW.
There, he managed a dominant stable in the Dangerous Alliance, featuring a young Steve Austin, Rick Rude, and others, but ended up leaving the company in 1993 under contentious circumstances.
9 Replaced Eddie Gilbert As Head Booker Of ECW
When Paul Heyman arrived in Philadelphia-based ECW, it was known as Eastern Championship Wrestling and already had a booker in “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert, who was brought in to liven a promotion that was a little too old school for the times.
Heyman was hired to work in a creative capacity, but disagreed with the booker’s creative direction, as Gilbert was mostly interested in rehashing Memphis wrestling angles he loved in his youth. However, backstage disputes with ECW owner Tod Gordon resulted in Gilbert taking off and Heyman being promoted to head booker.
8 Seceded From The NWA
By 1994, the NWA was in shambles thanks to the dominance of WWE and a split from WCW. As a result, Eastern Championship Wrestling became the home promotion for what was once wrestling’s biggest governing body, but annoyance with NWA President Dennis Coralluzzo led ECW to pull a fast one on the NWA.
In late August 1994, ECW hosted a tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Title, and Heyman and Gordon conspired to have tournament winner and ECW star Shane Douglas to win the belt, throw it down, and declare the ECW Title the only World Title that mattered. From there, ECW ditched the NWA in dramatic faction.
7 Bought ECW In 1995
After the above incident, Eastern Championship Wrestling became Extreme Championship Wrestling, and started to gain traction among wrestling fans. But that wasn’t the only big change the company would experience in its early years.
Tod Gordon, who had owned the company entirely since buying the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance from his business partner in 1992, ended up selling the company to Paul Heyman in 1995. While Gordon spent the following couple of years as an on-screen figurehead for the company, Heyman was free to execute his vision for the company — as much as finances would allow, at least.
6 Forged A Working Relationship With WWE
Fans of ECW may remember an open hostility to WWE and WCW from both fans and on-screen characters, but Paul Heyman actually managed to develop a secret working relationship with WWE.
This resulted in some amazing cross-promotion between the two promotions, with ECW staging an invasion angle on WWE television and a talent exchange between the two companies, with instances including 2 Cold Scorpio becoming a part of the WWE roster and ECW gaining talent like Al Snow.
5 Heyman’s Vision For ECW
Even though ECW became known as the promotion for “blood and guts,” that wasn’t the stated purpose. Paul Heyman strived to present a pro wrestling show that offered something fans weren’t seeing in the majors. While this obviously included the burgeoning deathmatch style and provocative storylines, this also meant junior heavyweight style wrestlers like Dean Malenko and lucha libre.
The latter was an especially big deal, as the landmark bouts between Rey Mysterio Jr. and Psicosis were the result of Heyman just asking AAA booker Konnan what standout talent he should bring into ECW.
4 Had Tension With TNN
ECW already had the weekly Hardcore TV, but 1999 saw ECW get a big cable television deal with TNN. Unfortunately, that big break wasn't all it was cracked up to be, as TNN’s demands for more sanitized content and higher production value than ECW could afford resulted in clashes and creative tension with Paul Heyman.
Heyman channeled this frustration through his show, creating an overarching storyline where a stable called The Network would seek to dominate ECW. This situation also resulted in moments like Heyman openly trashing his own network in a televised promo.
3 The End Of ECW
While Paul Heyman certainly earned his reputation as a creative genius thanks to his vision for ECW, the promotion under his ownership was always plagued by financial problems. Heyman obviously couldn’t pay its talent WWE or WCW money, but pay disputes seemed to be a frequent reason for guys quitting the company.
In the 2000s, money matters got even worse as ECW lost its TNN deal in the fall of 2000, and Heyman reportedly kept the financial situation a secret even as paychecks bounced. Once the situation became untenable, ECW went bankrupt in 2001 and was subsequently purchased by WWE.
2 Returned For The ECW Revival
After ECW folded, Paul Heyman was brought into WWE, working roles like color commentator, writer, on-screen manager, and booker of WWE’s developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling.
His return as a regular part of WWE’s main roster product would come with its 2006 revival of the ECW brand, with Heyman as the on-screen authority figure and head writer backstage. While Heyman was beloved by nostalgic ECW fans, on screen he turned heel, supporting WWE talent like The Big Show over ECW originals like Rob Van Dam.
1 Left ECW After December To Dismember
As is obvious to anyone who’s watched the initial six months of it, WWE’s ECW revival was plagued by creative problems, as Heyman’s sensibilities clashed with WWE’s demands.
Among other things, Paul Heyman and WWE boss Vince McMahon disagreed on the booking of the brand’s first pay-per-view, December to Dismember, as McMahon insisted on booking Bobby Lashley to become the ECW Champion over Heyman’s pick, a recently debuted CM Punk. The pay-per-view was poorly received, and Heyman quit the company.