ECW’s head honcho Paul Heyman played an important managerial role in WWE for many years. ECW was one of the most hardcore forms of wrestling. However, the promotion failed over time, and was later bought out by Vince McMahon. After Heyman was instrumental in popularizing ECW, Vince McMahon opened the gates of WWE for him. Heyman wore many hats during his early days in WWE including commentating, managing Brock Lesnar, and later becoming the General Manager of SmackDown.
Vince loved the ‘extreme’ features of ECW and had the burning desire to add that element to his company. With Heyman’s help, McMahon salvaged ECW and relaunched the ECW franchise as the third brand of WWE in 2005.
However, it had little success as Vince McMahon could not revive the spirit of Extreme Championship Wrestling. If you’re wondering why McMahon could not save the floundering brand even with Heyman on his side, it was McMahon’s dismissiveness of Heyman’s ideas.
What occasioned Paul Heyman’s exit from WWE?
Vince McMahon is famously known for being a control freak. Even with Heyman by his side helping him run ECW, McMahon was not very accepting of the traditional ECW ideas. Instead, he sent Heyman packing after his five-year tenure with WWE.
The downfall of ECW stemmed from the December to Dismember PPV in 2006. In the main event, then-ECW World Champion Big Show put his title on the line and entered the ECW Elimination Chamber where each competitor had a weapon of choice in their respective pods.
The match featured other competitors such as CM Punk, RVD, Test, Hardcore Holly, and Bobby Lashley. Interestingly, CM Punk was the fan favorite at the time. Punk and RVD were the only two ECW originals that Paul Heyman wanted to see outshine others in the match.
Heyman reportedly pitched the finish to the match that would see Punk winning the ECW World title but his idea fell on Vince McMahon’s deaf ears. Vince McMahon has a proclivity for big muscly wrestlers, so naturally, his favorites in the match were Bobby Lashley and Test.
Due to creative disagreement, McMahon booked the match to culminate in the exact opposite way that Heyman pitched for the finish.
As a result, CM Punk and RVD were the first two eliminations during the match. Lashley on the other hand dominated the rest of the match and pinned the Big Show for the win, becoming the new ECW Champion.
To McMahon’s surprise, fans detested the PPV. With a meager attendance of 4.900, the event was a huge failure. McMahon and Heyman played the blame game for weeks.
In an interview years later, Heyman confirmed that their heated argument led Heyman to withdraw himself from the promotion.
When did Paul Heyman return to WWE?
After Paul Heyman departed from WWE, ECW came crashing down and soon became defunct. It appeared as if Paul Heyman had cut all ties with WWE until Stephanie McMahon approached Heyman in 2012 with an offer to return and manage then-returning Brock Lesnar.
Although Heyman plays no administrative role in WWE anymore, he is still regarded as one of the best managers known to produce top stars in the company. The father of ECW is currently the legal advisor for The Tribal Chief Roman Reigns.
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