"The only people I had been around was the McMahons" - When Paul Heyman snuck into a WWE production meeting

An old clip of WWE Superstar Paul Heyman has surfaced online. It shows the advocate of the Tribal Chief sharing a wild story of him crashing a WWE production meeting run by Dusty Rhodes.

Paul Heyman is widely considered one of the most brilliant minds in the history of the business. The former ECW President, who also gained notoriety as the faction leader of the Dangerous Alliance in WCW, has worked with WWE for 20+ years. In that time, he's mainly been in the corner of Brock Lesnar but joined forces with Roman Reigns in 2020.

Heyman's brilliance comes from years of experience studying the business. The Wise Man once crashed a closed-door production meeting when he was just 17. The meeting was being run by "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, who immediately noticed a young Heyman sitting at the back.

"I sneak into this production meeting... I just wanted to learn Dusty's way of writing and producing television. Because the only people I had been around were the McMahons. " (0:06 - 0:27)

Heyman said that Rhodes called him into the hallway to ask him why he had crashed the meeting, which was closed off from the general public. He told him he was there to take pictures, but The American Dream kept pushing, prompting Heyman to spill the beans.

"I shrugged my shoulders and I said, 'I'm learning from you.' It was a long moment of uncomfortable silence and I’m thinking, 'they’re going to throw me out of here, they’re going to send me back to New York on a bus... I’m done, I’m finished, I’m 17 years old, it was a nice run.' He says, ‘Well, you’re learning from the right person cause I’m the American Dream Dusty Rhodes and I’m a super genius now go back inside and keep on taking notes." (1:15 - 1:50)

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Paul Heyman referenced his relationship with Dusty Rhodes in a recent RAW promo

Paul Heyman and Cody Rhodes had an incredible encounter this past Monday on RAW, which helped build the WrestleMania 39 showdown between The American Nightmare and the Tribal Chief.

Heyman told Cody that his father, Dusty Rhodes, loved him but wanted someone like Reigns as his son. It was revealed in a new report today that both men prepared the segment on their own.

The WWE Universe agreed as the segment was the high-quarter hour for the show.

One thing is for certain. Paul Heyman's legacy in the business could have been forever changed if Dusty Rhodes did not allow him to sit in on those meetings. It seems that fate was on his side.

What do you think of the story? Sound off in the comments below.

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If you use any of the above quotes, please credit WWE and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.