The reputation of Paul Heyman earned him respect in the wrestling business for knowing how to find great talent and putting them in the right position to succeed. Heyman worked effectively with wrestlers in quite a few different contexts. Heyman's time running ECW is what longtime fans will remember fondest about his legacy at the end of the day.
However, Heyman also had an argument for being the all-time best manager. There were also the stints in creative for Raw in recent times and SmackDown in the early 2000s following the brand split. Heyman helped quite a few talents become legitimate stars in the wrestling business with different roles. Find out which wrestlers benefited the most from working with Heyman.
10 CM Punk
The admissions of CM Punk confirmed he never would have found success in WWE without Paul Heyman. Punk impressed Heyman with his independent wrestling background and impressive work in OVW developmental.
Heyman requested Punk get called up for the ECW brand. The end of Heyman’s WWE ECW tenure saw him livid when his desire to have Punk win the ECW Championship was turned down by Vince McMahon. Punk finally got to work with Heyman on-screen when the two became a heel wrestler/manager pairing.
9 Taz
ECW was the place where Paul Heyman put his strongest creative efforts into building new stars. Heyman knew he’d never have the money or stage to compete with WWE or WCW, but he had many hungry stars looking for a chance.
Taz was among the wrestlers that WWE and WCW overlooked due to his height. Heyman still found a way to book him as the most intimidating person in the company. Taz became a huge star and the top face during an important time in both the company and the wrestling business.
8 Zelina Vega
WWE has recently seen Zelina Vega become a bigger part of the show during the empty venue episodes of Raw. Vega’s promo ability has greatly improved while with Andrade, Angel Garza, and Austin Theory (before Theory aligned with Seth Rollins).
Paul Heyman’s presence running Raw has shown which talents he most believes in. Vega even praised the learning experience of working with Heyman when appearing on the Busted Open radio show.
7 Rey Mysterio
The most underrated chapter of Paul Heyman’s career came when running creative for SmackDown during the brand split from 2002-2004. Heyman put his reputation on the line by pushing a few new stars outside of WWE’s comfort zone.
Rey Mysterio was the most surprising name to get elevated by Heyman. Fans believed Vince McMahon would never push a wrestler that small, but Heyman pushed him at a higher level than WCW ever did. The presence of Heyman set up Mysterio’s Hall of Fame worthy career.
6 Rob Van Dam
Paul Heyman put all his confidence in Rob Van Dam as the face of the new ECW as the fans rallied behind him. Van Dam loved ECW more than any other chapter of his career and even preferred it over the bigger WWE payday.
Heyman did a great job letting RVD do his own thing without trying to overproduce him. The ECW legacy of Van Dam set him up for a great run in WWE when finally making the big jump during the Invasion angle.
5 Shane Douglas
The ECW run of Shane Douglas showcased another example of Paul Heyman finding a way to tap into someone’s potential. Douglas was livid about WCW and WWE each using him poorly to basically doom his career.
Heyman gave him a shot and made Douglas a top star in the early stages of ECW. Douglas received free reign to voice his frustrations towards everyone that upset him like Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels. ECW fans ate it up and viewed Douglas as the top heel for years.
4 Drew McIntyre
One of the biggest recent examples of a wrestler benefiting from working with Paul Heyman is Drew McIntyre. Heyman turned McIntyre face and placed him as the top challenger to Brock Lesnar heading into WrestleMania 36.
Instead of going back and forth like Vince McMahon did with Roman Reigns, Heyman’s booking made Drew look like a beast from winning the Royal Rumble to getting the better of Brock on Raw to winning the WWE Championship. McIntyre has had a good start to his title reign as the new face of Monday Night Raw.
3 Raven
WWE and WCW overlooked Raven with the silly characters of Johnny Polo and Scotty Flamingo. Paul Heyman let him introduce the Raven character with the darker backstory tapping into the grunge culture of the time.
Raven became the top heel for ECW, but he was still able to hold an appeal to connect with the audience. Heyman made Raven the top ECW Champion during the company’s biggest growth before he received a bigger offer from WCW.
2 Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar would not have had such a legendary career without Paul Heyman by his side. WWE saw Lesnar become a world champion within a few months of his debut with Heyman cutting the promos for him.
Any stints without Heyman in WWE have led to Brock struggling to stay over at the highest level. WWE even rehired Heyman in 2012 specifically to manage Lesnar after his segments struggled without his manager. The two are still having great success together as an act today.
1 Eddie Guerrero
Paul Heyman’s time running SmackDown’s creative team saw him taking a huge gamble on a trade. The legitimate trade request behind the scenes saw Heyman wanting Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit from Raw for the Un-Americans faction.
Heyman believed he could elevate Guerrero into a main eventer and his plan worked to perfection. Eddie rose from mid-card success to tag success to a top main event babyface star. The rise allowed Guerrero to pull off the defining moment of his career winning the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar. It’s hard to envision this happening without Heyman.