Paul Heyman: Can the "Best Booker of All Time" Resist One More Run With TNA?

Paul Heyman has once again been declared the greatest writer/producer in pro wrestling history. In pro wrestling language, that means Heyman is the best booker of all time.

In a recent poll posted by The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Online, readers of pro wrestling and MMA guru Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez's publications voted on best booker in wrestling history.

The results were not surprising. The passion for Paul Heyman's booking, however, has to be described as somewhat of a shock, since Heyman has distanced himself from all things wrestlings and has certainly made his move into the world of MMA.

Here's the poll results, courtesy http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/20405/

Who was the best wrestling booker?

1. Paul Heyman 39.5%
   
2. Vince K. McMahon 20.6%
   
3. Shohei Baba 12.6%
   
4. Bill Watts 9.8%
   
5. Pat Patterson 6.6%
   
6. Eddie Graham 4.1%
   
7. Jerry Jarrett 2.2%
   
8. Roy Shire 1.2%
   
9. Dusty Rhodes 1.1%
   
10. Hisashi Shinma 1.1%
    
11. Antonio Pena 0.6%
    
12. Bobby Bruns 0.6%

Heyman, who was voted into The Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame in 2005, left the wrestling industry in December 2006 after a major falling out with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. He was heavily courted last year by TNA President Dixie Carter, as well as Spike TV executives Kevin Kay and Brian Diamond.

Heyman had a long range vision for TNA, but Carter didn't want to get rid of the veterans, even though most of the veterans are gone by now.

In a fascinating interview posted by Meltzer and Alvarez after the Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin UFC 116 fight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZHiSBf-SUU) Heyman laid out his plan for TNA, which included building the company up for an Initial Public Offering.

Heyman continued his discussion, this time with Ariel Helwani on AOL's MMA Hour program, in what became one of the most discussed interviews of 2010 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMy726EVpqk).

Now, Heyman has a book coming next month which he co-authored for his best friend, former WWE and UFC Champion Brock Lesnar (Death Clutch—http://heymanhustle.craveonline.com/articles/news/126669), and a book of his own through Simon and Schuster in September called, funny enough, The Heyman Hustle (which is the name of the website he co-owns with "Looking 4 Larry" Agency partner, the Emmy Award winning Mitchell K. Stuart of HQ Productions fame).

Heyman appears to be happy leaving his legacy in professional wrestling alone, but when he gets double the votes of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, how long can the master manipulator resist one more run? While he will always be known as the mastermind behind the Original ECW, Heyman actually deserves a lot of credit for his run as Smackdown lead writer in 2002 and 2003, in which he and then-Junior Writer Dave Lagana positioned Smackdown head-up against Monday Night Raw and actually got Smackdown off the label of being WWE's "b" brand.

The wrestling public's memory of Heyman's innovative booking may be too great a lure for him to turn down. Is 2011 the year Heyman comes back to pro wrestling?