Paul Heyman: Extreme Desperation

TNA is reportedly interested in Paul Heyman. I suppose I should be impressed by this. Maybe I should look at this and say ‘well, goes to show that TNA realizes they need some more work creatively, and they’re going after one of the most innovative minds the business has seen in the past twenty years.’ Yes, I should definitely see this as a positive step forward for this still growing promotion. Problem is, I don’t.

Don’t misunderstand me here, this is not to bash anything that Heyman did with ECW. He took a regional promotion and made it the talk of the wrestling world. Even more impressive, he managed to do this with a locker room largely comprised of unknowns and using a one dimensional presentation for his product.

I don’t care for hardcore. I just don’t. I guess there is a time and place for it in the business, but who’s to say when and where that is? For an old school fan like me, I’m more partial to the good old fashioned steel cage as being the resolution to a feud. Flaming tables? Not so much.

But, give the devil his due, Heyman made it work. And the unknowns on his roster became pretty well known pretty quickly, mostly by Eric Bischoff. The man I affectionately refer to as The Clown Prince of Crap began snapping up guys left and right, leaving Heyman’s locker room seriously wounded.

Enter Vince McMahon, who, supposedly after hearing ECW chants during his shows, decided to put Heyman on the WWE payroll, and began promoting the extreme product. A fairly successful relationship began, and before you know it, ECW had their own magazine, their own toy line, and had gotten on pay per view. Heyman’s creative genius combined with fresh faces and insane action, made ECW a hit.

We all know what happened next.

ECW tanked, having run the hardcore well dry and losing their spot on the network then known as TNN. The talent went elsewhere, some to the WWE, others back to the independents. Heyman continued to work for Vince, as a color commentator, then as a manager, and later became the head of a so-called ECW invasion. Heyman’s ability to stay motivated though he lost his company is admirable. The fact that Vince and the WWE recognized Heyman’s talent is saying something, and speaks well of their ability to see the big picture of the business.

Then along came the “new” ECW, and I began to doubt everyone’s intentions.

First off, this wasn’t ECW. Doesn’t matter what the WWE told everyone, I know a phony when I see it, and this was as far from ECW as you could get.

The fact is, this was merely a “brand”, a third show because Vince has that much money, and because Mike Knox needed to work somewhere that he didn’t need a good gimmick or a legitimate move set. It was a joke. We all knew it. More importantly, Heyman knew it.

He DID know it, right? I mean, ECW was his creation, and here it was being used in name only, apparently negating anything the original had accomplished before. How could he have stood for this? Why didn’t he stop it?

The answer to that one is pretty simple--he’s Paul Heyman, and Vince McMahon is Vince McMahon.

Vince gets his way. End of story. McMahon and company wanted a third show called ECW, and that’s what they got. Supposedly, Heyman had very minimal input on the new show, which shouldn’t really surprise anyone. Vince apparently didn’t want an ECW revisited, but an ECW that he could engineer and control.

And, control he did--up till four years later, when ECW was scrapped in favor of NXT.

Now another promotion who apparently recognizes Heyman’s talent is supposedly drooling over the prospect of bringing him onboard. TNA, have we learned nothing?

The WWE tried the ECW invasion before. We’re all aware of that, right? And Paul Heyman, for all his creative ideas and revolutionary concepts, still ended up out of the business, and out wrestling’s public eye. What in the world would make today any different than yesterday?

Again, I can’t argue the success that Heyman achieved with ECW. But, this is not ECW. This is TNA, and TNA does not belong to Paul Heyman. Once again, he would be placed in the position of working for someone else, on a product that is not his own.

Is this a good move for TNA, resurrecting a concept that even the WWE decided to once again bury? Be honest here, I liked seeing Sandman and Balls Mahoney as much as the next guy, even with the fact that neither one of them could work, but, come on, do we really need to see them now?

Five minutes ago, everyone was ticked off that TNA brought in Chump Hogan and the senior tour of pro wrestling, now we’re all supposed to be excited at the prospect of a reborn ECW faction?

Paul Heyman to TNA? Okay, yes, we can give that a chance. Paul Heyman to TNA with an on air ECW reunion “taking over” the program? No. Please, no.

It seems as though we repeat this message all the time, but I will do it once more.

TNA…STOP LOOKING TO THE PAST TO CARVE YOUR FUTURE IN THIS BUSINESS. Enough already. Please, stop.

Paul Heyman…stay home. TNA screws up every good idea that comes their way, and they will eventually screw you up too. You want to get back in the business? Get some investors and start fresh, with your own promotion. Sign some unknown talent, build from the ground up, and make it work.

In the meantime, don’t answer your phone. The fact is, you’re not the first guy they called.

Their first call was to Vince Russo, a failed storyline writer who took credit for wrestlers who made the Attitude concept work in the WWE.

Their next two calls were to Bischoff and Hogan, two guys who couldn’t maintain WCW’s momentum even with Ted Turner’s money behind them.

Paul Heyman, the truth is, you are TNA’s fourth choice. Their FOURTH CHOICE.

WCW’s legacy couldn’t save TNA. ECW’s won’t be able to either. TNA’s decision to pursue Paul Heyman is not taking things to the extreme. It’s just desperate.

Tom Clark June 27, 2010