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A wrestling geniusThe advocate of Brock Lesnar and a genius wrestling promoter, his name is Paul Heyman. Paul is one of the smartest minds in the business today, who can sell any feud he is involved in at the drop of a hat.His mic skills are near-peerless and his analysis of how wrestling should be booked is even greater. His brainchild, ECW was a cult and over the years he has risen to be one of the best talkers in the WWE.Being one of the most sought after persons in wrestling, there are many facts and incidents that have happened that you might not know about the man himself. Let’s take a look at some of those moments in this slideshow.
#7 Was paid by the WWE when he was in ECW
ECW was a cult promotion, with a brand of wrestling that wasn’t seen before. The fans were some of the most loyal fans that you can find anywhere in the world.
They were so loyal and harcore, that they dissed the WWF and WCW and their brands. Heyman though was a shrewd businessman and it’s known that Heyman had an agreement with Vince. He would get paid on a weekly basis for the WWF to use ECW wrestlers.
ECW stood for everything opposite of what the WWE was all about and it eventually crumbled and could not sustain. But Paul cut a deal with the WWF and Vince, who was said to be a supporter of ECW. The ECW stars were told to invade the WWF and it had also cut a sponsorship deal with ECW.
As Paul has stated, ECW became a scouting ground for the WWF in its dying stages and he got paid for it weekly.
#6 He has not cleared his dues with former ECW wrestlers
Paul Heyman handled his finances in ECW very haphazardly. He spent all of his father's money on the promotion and also some more, but eventually ran out of funds to run the show.
Even till this very day, he owes wrestler from ECW, tens of thousands of dollars of money that he said he would pay, but didn’t. Tommy Dreamer is one of the guys who even invested in the promotion and still has to get $100,000. He even thought of committing suicide once, but thankfully passed on the idea.
Rob Van Dam, who stayed with the company till the very bitter end, has around $150,000 that is still owed to him. Other wrestlers include Joey Stiles and Rhyno, to whom he allegedly owes $50,000 each.
ECW got bankrupt due to Paul’s insistence of moving out of its hometown in the North-East, where its hardcore fanbase was situated. Add to it his way with money and it spelt doom for ECW.
#5 Faked a heart attack to mock Jerry \'The King\' Lawler
Paul Heyman, at times to get heat from the crowd, takes it way too far. In one such incident, he faked a heart attack on RAW to mock Jerry Lawler.
Jerry had suffered a heart attack during an episode of RAW and in an attempt to get some genuine heat, Heyman faked a heart attack during RAW. While some found it a genius move to draw heat, others felt it was uncalled for.
Steve Austin was critical about the move and claimed that to do it to a man like Jerry, who has given a lot to the business and who has been a stalwart of his generation, was a bad move.
Nonetheless, Paul is Paul, and cannot be stopped.
#4 Chris Benoit and John Cena made him eat soap once
Paul Heyman has been in many hilarious segments, but this one from SmackDown is one of the best. The story goes that Heyman didn’t like Cena’s raps and Cena hated Heyman’s dirty mouth that would never stop.
So a match was booked between Cena and Rhyno, which was a wash your mouth with soap match. If Cena won then Heyman would have to shove soap in his mouth and vice versa in Cena’s case.
Cena won the match in a SmackDown episode after which Paul started running away only to be brought back to the ring by Chris Benoit. Benoit locked him up in a sharpshooter in the ring and Cena shoved soap down Heyman’s mouth.
Heyman sold the entire segment perfectly and it came out as insanely funny and symbolized the cleansing of his dirty mouth. This was the version of Cena that was cool and everyone wishes he is more like that today.
#3 Has an ambition to get into Hollywood
Heyman has always had an avid interest in setting foot in Hollywood. He has been trying to get into it since 2003. He has appeared in the not so successful movie “Rollerblade” as an announcer. He got critical acclaim for his role although the movie tanked.
He has pitched scripts to studios, with New Line Cinemas accepting a few. But Paul never went ahead with any of them.
He has stated before that he has ideas and visions in mind and one day would like to execute it with the help of some studios. He told Steve Austin in his podcast that he was waiting for the right studio and time. Eventually, we might see his scripts and him fruitfully translating into a movie someday.
#2 Persuaded wrestlers to lie to airlines for discounts
Heyman was so persuasive that he would make other wrestlers lie just to save a few extra bucks. Back when ECW was his baby, he wasn‘t the most well off guy when it came to money.
Due to a tight budget, he would try to save money at every possible turn. One way he used was to get wrestlers via bereavement, that is the discount granted to passengers who were travelling at the last moment to attend a funeral.
He would tell them to lie about being so called relatives of dead people or wrestlers. In one such incident, Chris Jericho and Johnny Smith were both supposedly told to be relatives of the dead Chris Benoit. They said they were mourning Benoit’s death but couldn’t prove to the airline authority how they were related. They blew their covers in the process.
Paul was known to lie his socks off during his days at ECW due to his financial handlings and this was just one of the stories among a lot.
#1 Has had a habit of being a habitual liar
Paul Heyman has been a pathological and habitual liar since he was a kid. Ask his enemies and his friends, and they would tell you the same.
He started off as a mail-order businessman, selling movie posters, but he had an ambition of becoming a photojournalist for the WWE. Having no experience, he had the power of persuasion and the courage to do and say things. He knew Vince McMchon Sr. ate at Ben Benson’s steakhouse with his friends at Madison Square Garden.
Thus, he called up the WWE office and told the officials that he worked for the made up ‘Wrestling Times’ and McMahon senior arrang fored a press pass to be given during his dinner to Paul for an event.
He lied and lied until he was called and told that he had to collect his press pass at a hotel. He went on to earn quite a bit through his photographs with the WWE.
At his time with his brainchild ECW, he was known to lie a lot to wrestlers about the payments and the stuff they had to do. He was so good that wrestlers who hated him would leave thinking he was a good man. He would lie to your face if he had to, to get things done.
