WWE: The legend that is Paul Heyman

Imagine professional wrestling without the bad guys, or without promoters who don’t have a vision. It is hard to imagine professional wrestling reaching the heights that it did without a couple of revolutionaries.

Vince McMahon being the primary individual who has managed to transform the business into something much bigger, and transcending into a global phenomenon. When you think about such people, there are very few who come to mind. After Vince McMahon, the only other individual to have made such an impact on the business is the person who was responsible for professional wrestling getting “edgy”. It can also be argued that directly or indirectly, he was responsible for the birth of the “Attitude Era” in the then WWF. He is none other than Paul Heyman.

An Era of Extreme

“We wanted to set our mark, we wanted to break away from the pack, we wanted to let the world know that we weren’t just some independent promotion” – Paul Heyman about ECW

When the fans were getting tired of the same old gimmicks and characters in the WWF and WCW, another promoter set on changing the industry. Rather than waiting for things to change, he had a vision, a vision to make professional wrestling “real”. After Vince McMahon came out with the “Sports Entertainment” concept, Paul Heyman wanted to shake things up in the industry.

So what did he do? He started a new era, an era of extreme. Paul Heyman took over the Eastern Championship Wrestling and made it into his own pet project, something that he thought would capture the imagination of the fans and mainstream media. He renamed the company as “Extreme Championship Wrestling”, providing edgier story lines, matches and product.

 
Under Paul Heyman’s regime, ECW became a global phenomenon with a cult following. ECW was known for its gore, violence and explicit content, something that was never tried before in the world of professional wrestling. Paul Heyman took something that was quickly fading off and gave it a different dimension, something that has been implemented since in the industry. The birth of the ‘Attitude Era’ in the WWF was also a result of the fans buying the edgier product of ECW. Be it The Raven ‘crucifying’ The Sandman or performers being put through flaming tables, ECW gave something unique to the fans, something that was influential for the birth of the Attitude Era.