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Paul Heyman (born September 11, 1965, Scarsdale, New York) is a professional wrestling manager, on-air talent, and former promoter. He is best known for being the creative force behind Extreme Championship Wrestling's rise to prominence in the 1990s, and shortly thereafter he became a very notable personality in World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently working with WWE's ECW brand where he is recognised as the ECW Representative.

Career

Early career

Paul Heyman made his managerial debut in 1985, initially appearing on the Northeast independent circuit before moving to a more high-profile stint with Florida Championship Wrestling in 1986, where he joined forces with Kevin Sullivan and Oliver Humperdink and first became known as Paul E. Dangerously (many in the business still refer to him as "Paul E.") because of his resemblence to Michael Keaton in the movie Johnny Dangerously in both their younger days. From there, he travelled to Memphis and the CWA to manage Tommy Rich and Austin Idol in a heated feud with Jerry Lawler, a war which later carried over to the American Wrestling Association (with the Original Midnight Express of Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose taking over for Idol and the face-turned Rich). Heyman's gimmick was basically an extension of his personality - a brash New Yorker who was often seen holding a mobile phone (which was quite large, due to the technology of the late 1980s); the phone was an occasional "foreign object". After departing the AWA, Heyman next went to the Alabama-based Continental Wrestling Federation and first became allied with Eddie Gilbert in Gilbert's Hot Stuff Inc. stable.

World Championship Wrestling

In 1989, Heyman jumped to WCW, where he again managed the Original Midnight Express in a feud with the Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) and their manager, Jim Cornette, as well as managing the future Undertaker, "Mean" Mark Callous, before settling into the announcer's desk, joining Jim Ross to call the matches on WTBS' World Championship Wrestling and other WCW programming. After stepping off-camera for a brief period in 1991, he returned following that year's Halloween Havoc as the manager of the Dangerous Alliance, made up of Eaton, Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, WCW TV Champion Steve Austin and Larry Zbyszko. Madusa was his assistant. Heyman would lead Rude to the United States title and the Anderson-Eaton tandem to the World Tag Team title as the Dangerous Alliance dominated WCW through most of 1992, meeting their biggest foes in Sting, Rick Steamboat, Nikita Koloff, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes and The Steiner Brothers.

Political problems in WCW made Heyman's tenure with the company a miserable one, which was made even more miserable when WCW president Bill Watts, who was not fond of Heyman's style, fired him in late-1992, putting the final nail in the coffin of the Dangerous Alliance (which had been in a downward spiral for some time beforehand, beginning with their loss to Sting's Squadron in a WarGames cage match at WarGames) in WCW.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

Main Article: Extreme Championship Wrestling

Heyman acquired ECW from its founder, Tod Gordon, after the ECW Barely Legal PPV.

Because of Heyman's love for wrestling, combined with his ability to book matches that the crowd would love, he earned the nicknames "The Evil Genius of Wrestling" and "The Mad Scientist of Wrestling".

Heyman introduced several new types of matches to the American audience, such as a "Barbed Wire Match" and "The Three Way Dance." Such matches were never before seen in the WWF or WCW, thus solidifying Heyman's reputation as an outlaw in the world of pro wrestling. Heyman also brought lucha libre wrestling to American TV, an event which inspired the WWF and WCW to follow suit.

Heyman is known as a genius not just for having the innovation of bringing unique and refreshing elements to wrestling, but also for his ability to write captivating, edgy, and realistic wrestling storylines that had actually made sense with few plot holes. Heyman was the king of having long, drawn-out feuds build for months until a series of matches took place to determine a winner.

His most notable storylines during the mid-90s include the infamous Sandman vs. Raven feud where Raven brainwashed Sandman's seven-year-old son into calling Raven his father, at one time putting The Sandman in tears. The other big feud in the mid 90s involved possibly the two biggest draws in ECW history, Sabu and Taz, which was built up for years until finally culminating at ECW's first Pay Per View Barely Legal, April 13, 1997. For the remainder of ECW's tenure, Taz and Sabu would continue to feud on-and-off, but their match at Barely Legal was without a doubt the most heavily built up.

Many feel that ECW's latter years (1998 and later) saw Heyman's storylines weaken a bit. Many of ECW's stars had defected to the "big two", and Heyman himself was feeling an incredible amount of stress at the time with ECW's financial situation. However, he could still captivate his audience and always had a loyal audience to entertain. In the latter years, Heyman built a huge, year-long feud with the company's top star, the aforementioned Taz, and then-ECW World Champion Shane Douglas. Douglas had been injured and insisted on dropping the title earlier than expected, but Paul had better ideas. He built a drawn-out storyline where Taz chased the title for a year and destroyed all the opposition (including his old nemesis Sabu) to finally capture the title at ECW's Guilty As Charged pay-per-view in January 1999.

Heyman then decided in the final year of ECW to have a huge feud between the loyal ECW wrestlers and "The Network," a stable that represented TNN, which Heyman had notably been having real-life issues with. The storyline never took off like it could've and never saved ECW, mainly due to the lack of funds that ECW was bringing in, as well as the fact that most of its top stars left for WWF (Taz, the Dudley Boyz), WCW (Mike Awesome, Shane Douglas), or were injured (Rob Van Dam). Heyman was a brilliant storyteller, but as told by many of the ECW alumni during the "Rise and Fall of ECW" DVD, he was not very talented as a businessman.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

After ECW folded, Heyman became a broadcaster for the WWF, replacing Jerry "The King" Lawler as the color commentator for RAW in early 2001. He would later turn heel by creating the ECW Alliance. He was "fired" following Survivor Series 2001, but returned to television as the manager of Brock Lesnar. He led Lesnar to the WWE Undisputed Championship when Lesnar beat The Rock at SummerSlam 2002. Then at Survivor Series 2002, Heyman then turned on Lesnar and helped Big Show win the title. Just before Lesnar's title match against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XIX, Lesnar challenged his former manager to a steel cage match. After his defeat, Heyman left for a while. He later returned to assume the on-camera role of General Manager of the then-Thursday night show SmackDown!, until March 22, 2004, when (according to the storyline) he was drafted to Eric Bischoff's RAW, and promptly quit rather than work for Bischoff. Heyman was writing for SmackDown! during the early months of 2003.

During Heyman's tenure on SmackDown!, he served as the head writer, and is credited with being the creative force behind the successful "Smackdown six," who were Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero. He placed them in a triple threat tag team feud (Angle & Benoit, Edge & Mysterio, Los Guerreros) over the WWE Tag Team Championship. But at the 2003 No Way Out PPV, it was announced that Heyman was removed from the SmackDown! writing team, mainly because of backstage political issues between him, Creative Director Stephanie McMahon and RAW writer Brian Gerwitz.

During 2004, Heyman's on-camera role was as manager to The Dudley Boyz (not including Spike Dudley; Heyman's role in that regard disappeared just as Spike became "the boss" of his "big brothers"), and Heidenreich. In these managerial roles, he mainly led his stars in feuds with the Undertaker.

Heyman's last appearance on SmackDown! saw him sealed in a coffin by the Undertaker during a handicap match which featured Heyman and Heidenreich against the Undertaker on January 6, 2005.

ECW One Night Stand

Paul Heyman was heavily involved in the booking and promotion of the June 12, 2005 ECW reunion PPV, ECW One Night Stand. Heyman returned to RAW on May 23, 2005 and confronted former WCW President Eric Bischoff, lauding ECW and criticizing WCW. Among other things, Heyman told him the following: "ECW was a lifestyle, it was anti-establishment, it was counter-culture, and it was up in your face!" Heyman finished it up by setting Bischoff's ECW funeral wreath (made out of barbed wire) on fire.

At One Night Stand, a visibly emotional Heyman came to the ring, got on his knees and bowed to the fans, who chanted "Thank you Paul!" He then cut a shoot promo insulting Bischoff, Edge, JBL, and Triple H. On this show, Heyman was portrayed as a face who successfully prevented the heels, Bischoff and his crusaders, from putting ECW out of business once and for all.

On February 18, 2006, Heyman and Tazz announced that that there will be another ECW One Night Stand. The event happened on June 11 in New York.

Ohio Valley Wrestling

On July 10, 2005, it was confirmed that Paul Heyman took over the position of Head Booker and Writer in OVW, a developmental territory maintained by the WWE. This position was vacated when Jim Cornette was fired for issues with WWE management. Many feel Heyman's work in writing and producing the show is his best since the early days of ECW. Heyman has been instrumental in developing characters and/or improving mic skills for Mr. Kennedy, Armando Alejandro Estrada, Bobby Lashley, Beth Phoenix, The Boogeyman, Paul Burchill, Gunner Scott, Maria Kanellis, and the Spirit Squad (all of whom have been called up to the WWE roster and are a part of it on at least an official basis) during his short time in OVW.

Heyman's contract with WWE expired on December 31 2005. Heyman's contract has been extended twice while he and WWE work on a long-term deal. With ECW being re-launched, it is likely that Heyman will remain with the company for the long-term.

The Return of ECW

See Extreme Championship Wrestling (WWE)
In 2006 rumors started to swirl throughout the Internet Wrestling Community about the return of ECW as another "brand" under the WWE name. For weeks it was hinted at through WWE programming and made official on May 25th through an announcement at ECW.com*.

It was reported that Heyman would have control over the new ECW show, and that both he and Tommy Dreamer will share booking duties. This was confirmed when the news of Heyman having his own office at Titan Towers (for the ECW project) emerged. Names from ECW's past such as Terry Funk, Sabu, The Sandman, Axl Rotten, Balls Mahoney and Danny Doring all signed with WWE for the new project as it was getting under way.

On the May 29th edition of RAW, during a face-off with Mick Foley, Heyman announced that he was granted a draft pick from both RAW and SmackDown! by Vince McMahon. His RAW draft pick was former ECW superstar (and Money in the Bank contract holder) Rob Van Dam, and his SmackDown! draft pick was Kurt Angle, Angle then came down to the ring and attacked Foley, hitting him with an Angle Slam. Also of note, Heyman predicted that Rob Van Dam would defeat WWE Champion John Cena at ECW One Night Stand 2006 and then declare himself the new ECW World Champion. A similar incident occurred on March 26, 1994, when Shane Douglas became NWA World Heavyweight Champion, only to vacate the title and then declare himself the ECW World Heavyweight Champion.

On the June 2nd edition of SmackDown!, Heyman served as a guest commentator for Kurt Angle's last match on SmackDown! with World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio. During the match Heyman announced that Mysterio would face ECW's Sabu in a at One Night Stand "dream match" for the title. He also announced that Kurt Angle had issued an open challenge to anyone willing to wrestle him at the Pay Per View. He hinted at the challenge being answered by a former TNA or UFC competitor, and told play by play announcer Michael Cole to "read between the lines". The challenge was eventually answered by Randy Orton returning to RAW.

At ECW One Night Stand 2006, Van Dam defeated John Cena to win his first World Championship, the WWE Championship. After John Cena knocked an ECW referee unconscious, Edge (in a disguise) appeared and speared Cena through a table, before taking out SmackDown! referee Nick Patrick, allowing Van Dam to hit a frog splash on Cena. With no referee available Paul Heyman ran down the aisle to count the pinfall. The next night on RAW Heyman confirmed that because the championship match was contested under "ECW rules" (which means, essentially, there are no rules) that the decision stands and RVD is the "Undisputed" WWE Champion.

As the WWE Champion Van Dam was the number one man in the reformed ECW, so on the debut of ECW on Sci Fi the next night Paul Heyman, announced as an "ECW Representive", presented him with the re-instated ECW World Heavyweight Championship.

Heyman had previously implied that RVD would "re-christen" the WWE Championship into the ECW Championship (Like Shane Douglas). However, Van Dam elected to keep both title belts (He kept the WWE Championship because "it spins"), and was recognised as both the WWE and ECW Champion.

In the beginning it was said that Heyman would have complete control of the new ECW. The first week's show was written nearly entirely by the WWE writing team and Vince McMahon. After public criticism of the first show, Heyman was given some more control for the 2nd week's show. Vince McMahon has apparently taken complete control over the ECW brand with Heyman left with very little control.

On the July 4th edition of ECW, Big Show challenged Rob Van Dam to a match for the ECW Championship. Near the end of the match, the Big Show took out the referee and RVD hit a Five Star Frog Splash on Show. Heyman then came out to count the 3 count (just like at ECW One Night Stand) but stopped at the count of 2. He then told the Big Show to chokeslam RVD on a steel chair that had been used in the match. Big Show pinned RVD and Heyman made the 3 count screwing RVD out of the ECW Championship. Being that Philadelphia was "the home of ECW", and the audience at the Wachovia Center was the first "true ECW-style" fanbase for an ECW on Sci-Fi show, the fans were so incensed by the title change that many of them threw garbage into the ring. This marked the second time Paul Heyman screwed someone over for a heavyweight title to join the Big Show, with the first being Survivor Series 2002 when Paul screwed Brock Lesnar for the WWE title to join the Big Show.

WWE.com then (kayfabe) announced that Heyman was suspending Van Dam for 30 days (mirroring the legit WWE executive decision, due to his and Sabu's recent arrests on drug possession charges.)

Personal Life

Son of Richard and Sulamita Heyman. Both were listed as company funders and owed creditors of ECW when the company went bankrupt in 2001. Sulamita was owed $226,500 and Richard was owed $3,575,429.19.

Wrestlers managed by Paul Heyman

Awards

  • He is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inducted in 2005)
  • 1994 Best Booker
  • 1995 Best Booker
  • 1996 Best Booker
  • 1997 Best Booker
  • 2001 Best Non-Wrestler
  • 2002 Best Booker
  • 2002 Best Non-Wrestler
  • 2004 Best Non-Wrestler

External links

1965 births | American color commentators | AWA alumni | ECW alumni | Extreme Championship Wrestling | Jewish-American businesspeople | Living people | People from New York | Professional wrestling managers and valets | Professional wrestling announcers | Professional wrestling executives

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