"He's easy to hate" - Paul Heyman's firing once caused turmoil backstage, according to WWE Hall of Famer
WWE veteran Jim Ross recently discussed Paul Heyman being fired from rival wrestling promotion WCW three decades ago, which created an altercation on the next level.
In 1991, World Championship Wrestling needed to re-structure its "heel," so they stumbled upon Heyman for the role of ringside manager of The Dangerous Alliance faction.
Given that The Bloodline member back then ruled over Ted Turner's promotion with his faction, he had turmoil with booker Bill Watts (aka Cowboy). Following clashes with Watts, the 58-year-old was fired from WCW and the latter sued the company, claiming wrongful termination and ethnic discrimination.
On the latest episode of Grilling JR, co-host Conrad Thompson asked the WWE Hall of Famer about what went wrong between The Wiseman and Cowboy.
According to Jim Ross, Heyman confronted Watts during his WCW booking, which did not sit well with the latter. The veteran commentator shared that he spent hours with Bill Watts and warned him that letting go of The Bloodline member was a mistake.
"I spent literally hours talking to 'Cowboy' over a beer, over a sandwich, in his office in a private meeting, in my office in a private meeting, that we are making a mistake here getting rid of [Paul] Heyman. He's easy to hate," Ross said. [1:10:49 - 1:11:08]
Check out the full video below:
Jim Ross compared Paul Heyman with CM Punk
During the same interview, the Hall of Famer compared The Wiseman with former AEW star CM Punk.
When Punk was a part of the Stamford-based promotion, he was one of the longest-reigning WWE Champions (434 days) under the alliance with Paul Heyman.
However, the 44-year-old star had backstage issues with the WWE roster and management, and later, the same situation was witnessed with AEW. On that note, Jim Ross noted that, unlike CM Punk, The Wiseman understands how to control his anger in public.
"He's [Paul Heyman] a different breed, he's CM Punk kind of a guy, different breed of cat. But he learned to control his emotions and temper his outbursts in his public displays of anger or frustration, something negative," JR said.
It remains to be seen if wrestling fans will witness a Punk return in World Wrestling Entertainment ahead of Survivor Series in Chicago.
If that happens, fans can expect The Wiseman to turn heel on Roman Reigns and join alliances with the former AEW star again.
Do you think Paul Heyman will turn his back on The Ttibal Chief? Sound off in the comments section below.
If you use the quotes from this article, please credit Grilling JR and add an H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcript.