Great Interview With Paul Heyman About ECW

[Enigma 0]

Thank you Vince; Heyman at it again

BY SCOTT FISHMAN

Miami Herald Writer

 

Promoter Paul Heyman insists Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) will re-emerge as a new breed unleashed on the pro wrestling scene.

 

ECW was a trend setter the first time around. WCW and WWE borrowed ideas and talent from ECW.

 

The new ECW, under the WWE checkbook, starts 8 p.m. [EDT] Sunday, June 11 at the second One Night Stand pay-per-view and continues into the company's return to network television on the Sci-Fi Channel live at 10 p.m. [EDT] Tuesday, June 13.

 

After last year's successful One Night Stand PPV at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, Heyman was adamant about not making ECW return as a full-time brand under WWE.

 

Heyman turned his attention to one of WWE's feeder groups -- Ohio Valley Wrestling -- in Louisville, KY. Taking over for Jim Cornette, Heyman received rave reviews for rejuvenating the territory.

 

Coupling the never-say-never mentality of the wrestling business with other outside factors brought Heyman on board for the new ECW brand.

 

''It was going to happen with me or without me,'' said Heyman, who made relative unknown misfits into superstars and helped run a company which revolutionized the business throughout the 1990s until its bankruptcy in 2001.

 

``I figured I might as well be involved and have some influence on it. I still have the same concerns today as I did then, and I've addressed those concerns. I don't want it to be a nostalgia show, and it's not going to be a nostalgia show. On that aspect my concerns are assured.

 

``It can't be a nostalgia show because if it's a nostalgia show, it's doomed right off the bat. It's going to be a progressively thinking promotion. It's going to have the most contemporary music. It's going to have the most riveting and compelling characters. It's going to be able to reach out and create new stars and not have to rely on the guys that were hot five, six or seven years ago. With that in mind I'm very excited about it.''

 

In addition to past ECW hardcore legends like Sabu and Terry Funk making their return to the promotion, WWE superstars Kurt Angle and the Big Show will get a chance to build their reputations in a new environment and excel in front of a different audience.

 

''The most motivated bunch of guys you've ever seen in your life,'' said Heyman. ``It's amazing to see the difference in Rob Van Dam. It's amazing to feel in one night how the Big Show's life has changed, and he'll tell you that. Here's a guy, call a spade, a spade, 7-feet tall and 500 pounds. He's not 6-foot-6, 285 pounds, and we claim he's 7-feet tall, 500 pounds.

 

``Here he is now motivated because you tell me the best they can do with him on Raw is what you've seen. It's been horrible, and he knows that. Now he has the opportunity to be himself. A legitimate giant, the world's largest athlete, and that is how we're going to promote him, use him and write for him.''

 

ECW anew with its Big Show will air on the Sci-Fi Channel.

 

There was speculation the network asked for science fiction elements to accommodate their audience including the creation of alien or vampire-like characters and storylines.

 

According to Heyman, this is not the case.

 

Similar to what made ECW a popular cultural renaissance when it first debuted, it's Heyman once again putting his finger on the pulse of what's popular in society.

 

''It's taken out of context,'' said Heyman. 'Here's the funniest thing, everyone is so up in arms saying, `Oh, there has to be a vampire group.' There doesn't have to be anything. There has been discussion about a vampire group, but that discussion came from our end as much as their end because there is a real culture out there today among ages 19-24.

 

``They're called bite clubs, and it is kids, kind of like the Gothic scene now. It's a real culture that's out there, and it's very popular, and it's very hot. Anybody that follows the New York or Los Angeles club scene will find out there are a lot of kids into this right now.

 

``It's where Rob Zombie draws a lot of his audience right now. It's where Marilyn Manson draws a lot of his audience. Are we supposed to deny the cultural influence? I don't care if I'm on Sci-Fi [Channel] or the Food Network or if I'm on USA [Network]. I don't care what channel I'm on.

 

``If I'm going to do a progressively thinking promotion one of the influences we're gong to have is what's hot with kids today, and what's hot with kids today is vampires. That is something I would do with the right people and with the right storyline.

 

'Everybody is so up in arms saying, `Sci-Fi [Channel] is making us do this.' Nobody is making us do anything. This is something I find to be very interesting because kids are into it.''

 

• It's more than hardcore.

 

ECW was known for implementing a variety of styles, with technical marvels like Chris Benoit and Lance Storm to hardcore innovators Sabu and the Sandman.

 

For Heyman, in this case, the new ECW is not so different.

 

''It's going to be a balance like it was before,'' said Heyman. ``The Public Enemy was never really based on pure wrestling science. This won't be based on pure wrestling science. Although, we have the best in the world in Kurt Angle.

 

``This is going to be based on a mix. This is going to be everything you loved about the old ECW and thinking into the future. It's going to be based on hot, new, contemporary and riveting characters with contemporary music.

 

``It's going to be based with the most hard-hitting action and realistic storylines. Hopefully, it will be based on a product Raw and Smackdown can't compete with, and that's my goals for ECW.''

 

The ECW program will telecast live after the Smackdown tapings on Tuesday, which is something Heyman is looking forward to doing.

 

``We're going live, so Smackdown is our warm-up bitch," said Heyman. ``I won't lie to you. That was a real concern. `Aw man we have to go on at 7 p.m. before Smackdown. We're just a warm-up act. This sucks.'

 

``No longer. Now they warm up the crowd for us. We go live at 10 p.m., and that's exciting because it's live television. No safety net there, and that's something else new to us. We did 21 live pay-per-views, but we didn't do live weekly television.

 

``So now our asses are on the line. That is another reason why I'm excited about this because our asses are on the line, and it's put up or shut up now.''

 

• While the competitive juices and his passion to succeed are at all-time highs, Total Nonstop Action (TNA) is off Heyman's radar.

 

TNA is promoting house shows or non-televised events the weekend of One Night Stand including an event dubbed the Hardcore War in New Alhambra Arena, what was formally the ECW Arena, in South Philadelphia.

 

Incidentally, ECW will run a show June 24 in the same place.

 

''I don't think TNA is even a consideration,'' said Heyman. ``I don't think TNA is even a consideration to anyone in this industry. I wish that they were, but the problem with TNA is they never branded themselves. They took a bunch of guys, whether they had legitimate gripes in WWE, it doesn't matter.

 

'They took a bunch of guys, who came on TNA and instead of saying, `This is my opportunity. This is my opportunity to brand TNA. This is my opportunity to create a new style.' All they would say is, `I've been held back. I wasn't given an opportunity. I didn't get this. I didn't get that, and now I'm going to have it.'

 

``You know, nobody cares if you've been held back or not. People want to be entertained. It's like if Sylvester Stallone doing a Rocky movie and saying, `You know I wanted it to be a different script.'

 

``Who cares? Screw you, entertain me. What they do in TNA is sit there bitch and moan about their WWE experiences, instead of selling you on the TNA experience. All they do is tell you how bad WWE is instead of telling you how good TNA is.

 

``Another thing they did in TNA wrong, in my opinion, is they didn't brand new stars to be their stars. They didn't make Samoa Joe their star. They didn't make Abyss their lead star. They should have taken these lead guys and branded them so that they are TNA stars.

 

``Kurt Angle is not going to be the same Kurt Angle in ECW that he was in WWE. We're going to create new stars around Kurt Angle and new stars around the Sandman. They're going to be ECW branded stars, not WWE retreads bitching and moaning about the fact that Vince McMahon didn't give them the opportunity that they felt they deserved.''

 

Despite his feelings on TNA, Heyman is planning on looking everywhere around the world for the best talent he can mold into future superstars.

 

''It's going to come from Ohio Valley Wrestling and Deep South Wrestling [WWE developmental territories],'' said Heyman. ``There are a lot of great prospects in OVW and DSW. We have a great developmental system, and there's a lot of phenomenal talent out there.

 

``There are guys in Mexico that I have my eyes on, and there are guys in Japan I have my eyes on. There are some guys on the independent scene that are very interesting.

 

``We're not going to close our eyes to anything. If there is somebody in the Mixed Martial Arts (MMAs), who I think could be a compelling character on the ECW show, I'm certainly not going to turn a blind eye because, `Oh wait, he's into Brazilian Jujitsu. Let's not take him.'

 

``Baloney, if anybody can entertain our audience, and if anybody is out there that can create public interest I'm going to get them.''

 

When it's all said and done the outspoken Heyman wants ECW to make waves in the pro wrestling business, much like he did during ECW's first run.

 

Despite ECW working under the WWE umbrella, Heyman will not let that deter from his future plans for the brand.

 

''My present goals are to whip Raw and Smackdown's asses creatively,'' said Heyman. ``I want to build a fanbase, creating new characters and expanding the name ECW into a global phenomenon for a second time.

 

'What I'm going to do differently from last time is I don't have to be a book-keeper anymore. That pressure is off of me. They've got a lot of bean counters out in that [stamford] tower there that would love to sit there and handle the books.

 

``This means I can sit back and handle what I like, which is promoting, presenting, producing, directing and writing for an extraordinary bunch of performers, who are just craving the opportunity to be put out there in the public.''

 

• Based on Heyman's track record expect a lot of surprises when ECW presents One Night Stand 8 p.m. [EDT] Sunday, June 11 on PPV from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

 

John Cena defends the WWE championship against Rob Van Dam. Fellow ECW standout Sabu battles Rey Mysterio for the world heavyweight championship.

 

Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk fight Mick Foley and Edge in an extreme tag team confrontation. Beulah is expected to reside in the corner of Dreamer and Funk to keep Edge's girlfriend Lita in check.

 

Jerry Lawler battles Taz in his return to the ring after retiring in 2002 to announce Smackdown full-time. Randy Orton is back from his 60-day suspension against one of ECW's newest stars Kurt Angle.

 

• ECW debuts on the Sci-Fi Channel 10 p.m. Tuesday, June 13 live in Trenton, NJ.

[Mik 0]

I haven't watched wrestling since HHH/Kane/Katie Vick stuff, but yeah... I just set this to record all episodes on my DVR.

[starvenger 0]

As long as we're talking about Heyman interviews, a buddy of mine in Dayton did interviews with Cena and Heyman. You can find the interviews here. Hopefully it'll still be up there but it's a ClearChannel station so who knows.

 

BTW, the guy who asks about Kurrgan (yes, that Kurrgan)? Also a friend of mine. And apparently the only fan left of the Acadian.

[haVoc 0]

I should have been following the ECW threads. I had no idea they were going live on Tuesdays.

 

Randy Orton being added to ONS2 killed a lot of my excitement and hope for the ECW brand, but I'm not giving up on it yet.

[Hawk 34 0]

Say what you want about Heyman but he can always self-promote his product and make it seem like its something special.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Finally, a promotion that has their ear to the motherfucking ground. The vampire market was RIGHT THERE and it was continually ignored for years. I can't tell you how many of the cool kids I see walk home from school with their capes and amulets who curse modern wrestling for not tapping into something that is so hot right now. And don't get me started on the furries, I can't see those hipsters faces but I can imagine they wear nothing but a constant frown because they are not properly being represented in professional wrestling.

[Downhome 0]

Puroresu has the furries market covered.

[haVoc 0]

The gothic look is still popular with kids?

[Hawk 34 0]

I thought Lawler was the one walking around high schools.

[ChrisMWaters 0]

I thought Lawler was the one walking around high schools.

Please, give Lawler SOME credit.

 

He goes to JUNIOR High Schools. >=D

[chaosrage 0]

I really have high hopes for ECW after reading this. In particular, his dead on comments about why TNA is such a shitty wrestling promotion. And his plans to try to out-do Raw and Smackdown.

 

It'll be interesting to see Heyman turn the old ECW guys back from being jobbers and nobodies into badasses again. Every single wrestler in ECW believed they were all that, from Taz to New Jack to the Baldies to Rob Van Dam to Danny Doring to Simon Diamond. They all had confidence and they all made it seem like they thought they were on top of the world. You don't get that from WWE. You could look at the Baldies making their entrance and believe that if they came across the Rock or HHH in a dark alley, they would beat them up and gangrape them. ECW made it's wrestlers seem like they weren't to be fucked with. That image has been more than ruined in the last few years.

 

Even fucking Spike Dudley. You heard his music and you knew someone was about to be destroyed in the ring.

 

No one seemed weak. Somehow, they all seemed like they deserved to be there and got used to the best of their abilities.

[Mole 0]

If Vince doesn't stick his nose in it, this might be huge.

[buffybeast 0]

Heyman made some very good arguments concerning TNA. The "WWE bitching" is old and tiresome. Heyman's right: the casual fans don't care about how said wrestler feels about his time in another fed.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

I suppose A.J. Styles if off Paul Heyman's radar as well. The guy that TNA made a star and the guy who would've likely had never been given an opportunity to succeed if he had signed with WWE. TNA has also made it clear that they plan to push Samoa Joe and he could very well be the future of the promotion.

 

Has anyone seen TNA's house show card for this weekend? It blows One Night Stand out of the water by a long shot.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

``Kurt Angle is not going to be the same Kurt Angle in ECW that he was in WWE. We're going to create new stars around Kurt Angle and new stars around the Sandman. They're going to be ECW branded stars, not WWE retreads bitching and moaning about the fact that Vince McMahon didn't give them the opportunity that they felt they deserved.''

 

What the hell? That is what the ENTIRE new ECW is based off of. We haven't heard the end of the fact that Rob Van Dam would've never gotten a title shot if he hadn't won the Money In the Bank. Paul Heyman is an idiot and Vince McMahon must be having a great time pulling the strings from above.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Yeah, bitching about other companies holding you down is so 1992-2001.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

Yeah, bitching about other companies holding you down is so 1992-2001.

 

Unless you're WWE, in which case you are able to do it and every other promotion that does it is cheap.

[dubq 0]

Wow, I'm impressed that they're getting a live-tv shot after Smackdown tapes. That pretty much says which brand of the two that the company has more faith in.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

If Vince doesn't stick his nose in it, this might be huge.

 

Vince's nose will be in it the first time he sees a potential star being made that could be "better used" on RAW or gasp..Smackdown if its still on..

Especially given the current injury/attitude/roids thing going on..

 

Thats why this ECW will never become as amazing as Heyman or anyone else wants it to be. Its a glorified OVW on TV with the ECW name and select personalities. I doubt Vince will care about Sandman or Sabu or Tommy Dreamer, or even Angle/Big Show.. but they won't be able to establish any new stars without Vince wanting them on RAW/Smackdown.

 

Itd be cool if there was some way Heyman could just buy ECW from Vince after it gets established enough.. but theres no chance of that.

 

And for the record, Im all for this if it really ends up like Heyman's vision, but theres no chance of that either.

[dubq 0]

So, do you have a crystal ball or something?

[evilhomer 0]

Heyman made some very good arguments concerning TNA. The "WWE bitching" is old and tiresome. Heyman's right: the casual fans don't care about how said wrestler feels about his time in another fed.

I'd say it's more of a one week thing, it's entertaining for a lot of fans because it's what they've been thinking, but after it's said the first time, put up and shut up.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Wow, I'm impressed that they're getting a live-tv shot after Smackdown tapes. That pretty much says which brand of the two that the company has more faith in.

Or maybe it's because Raw and Smackdown should be spaced out across the week, since both are WWE. ECW is ECW, period.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

So, do you have a crystal ball or something?

 

Does he really need one? Isn't the past 5 years enough?

[Art Sandusky 0]

Finally, a promotion that has their ear to the motherfucking ground. The vampire market was RIGHT THERE and it was continually ignored for years. I can't tell you how many of the cool kids I see walk home from school with their capes and amulets who curse modern wrestling for not tapping into something that is so hot right now.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

So, do you have a crystal ball or something?

 

Does he really need one? Isn't the past 5 years enough?

 

How long until Heyman is turfed and Stephanie is made head booker for all ECW shows? 6 weeks?

[King Cucaracha 0]

They're going to be ECW branded stars, not WWE retreads bitching and moaning about the fact that Vince McMahon didn't give them the opportunity that they felt they deserved.''

 

Wasn't this basically the storyline reason Big Show joined ECW from the WWE?

 

Must try harder.

[Enigma 0]

At last night's TNA Hardcore War at the ECW Arena, Rhino and Brother Runt (Spike Dudley) tore up "WWE contracts" and proclaimed they were staying with TNA. Rhino claimed he had gotten an offer to be a part of the resurrected ECW while Spike got a contract to work "one night only". I have no idea how Spike would be able to even be offered a contract since he's under contract with TNA, so I immediately call bullshit on that. Not so sure about Rhino though.

[Jacques 0]

They're going to be ECW branded stars, not WWE retreads bitching and moaning about the fact that Vince McMahon didn't give them the opportunity that they felt they deserved.''

 

Wasn't this basically the storyline reason Big Show joined ECW from the WWE?

 

Must try harder.

Not to mention when Austin bitched about being held back in WCW.

[King Cucaracha 0]

"No Gimmicks Needed" Chris Candido, anyone?

[Toxxic 0]

For what it's worth on the vampire front, I personally think a character of group of characters could work if handled correctly. As in, not rising out of the stage like Gangrel drinking blood with fake fangs, because that's just corny. As in, get two or three guys or girls who are a bit... odd. And then slowly make it clear that the reason they act a bit odd is not because they're pretending to be vampires or that they are vampires, but that they think they are vampires.

 

Because pretending to be is stupid. Having them actually as vampires is stupider. But portraying them as disturbed people who genuinely think they are vampires could be really creepy and unnerving, if done in the right way.