For ECW to thrive? NOT GOING TO THE wwe for one! Vince McMahon didn't give a rat's *ss about ANY of the ECW's wrestlers or their history. All he wanted to do was eliminate any type of competition. Then once he had them he made them look like garbage. He did the same with WCW. Vince McMahon is a 100% pure piece of sh*t!
Shane McMahon's original pitch for an ECW revival would've been revolutionary and ahead of the curve in terms of how we digitally received content online and with streaming in the timeframe he wanted to do it in (2005/2006 era). WWE would've had their finger on the pulse of what was about to become a digital revolution had they pulled the trigger but instead the company just essentially made it a smaller brand. Not that it was entirely bad, as it was sort of an alpha version of what NXT (as a brand, not the gameshow version) would eventually become with rejuvenating talent mindlessly drifting on the main brands while giving a platform for called up/developing talent. Ultimately though, what would it have taken for ECW to thrive under the WWE banner? Less direct control and input from Vince and more delegation and trust to people who knew how to use and market that brand (Heyman/Dreamer etc)
@@TheBigShotTMD - this was a time, before the words "streaming service" was a thing. Blockbuster Video vs. Netflix DVD (1999-2000) rental service wars; pre-RedBox movies and video game rental vending machines...
@@kshinokevin Thanks for the history lesson buddy. I was very much alive and lived through the 90s and 00s. That doesn't add anything to what I said, nor does it mean anything to the question that was posed.
I love his shark example. He ain't bullshitting either. Instead of clinging to the past and descending into irrelevancy, Paul is at the top of the industry right now! All thanks to his willingness & ability to roll with the changes.
Paul Heyman is a powerful speaker, no doubt about it and probably worth the seminar admission alone. Might not be everyone's cuppa tea but his stories are filled with wistful regret; wisdom; raw honesty, humour and understanding, they are worth paying attention to. Not everyone in the Wrestling business can deliver it quite as profoundly as that
It's amazing how people change or your perception of them, it's night/day difference between this well spoken, empathetic, and emotional Paul Heyman and the one I grew up with in a trench coat screaming at the top of his lungs while standing on a table
Still amazes me how Vince was gifted the greatest storyline in the history of wrestling and screwed it up so that it essentially meant nothing within 6 months. They could have rode that wave for years.
According to kurt angle they made shit load of money during that angle but yeah you are right doing it properly it could last for years lol. How they ended up with kurt angle , stone cold, and shane mcmahon as a final 5 of the alliance is beyond me lmao.
As soon as they made invasion McMahon vs McMahon you knew it was going to be rubbish. I didnt think it could get any worse then nWo came a few months later and got buried within month. Then ECW came back again and Vince became the champion there was some terrible booking around that time
You can’t 100% blame the nwo stuff on Wwe hulk hogan got hella over at wrestlemania which they couldn’t ignore so he went babyface, Scott hall as we know was a mess n couldn’t be trusted, n Kevin nash tore out he his quads in that tag match on raw so even though they went about it horribly they couldn’t do much with what they had, at least it brought back Shawn
Bro i have no one else to tell so I’ll tell this comment section I’ve been battling addiction for 2 years because I went through a break up I simply wasn’t ready for I thought I’d met the person I was gonna spend the rest of my life with I started smoking weed and using MDMA on the regular stopped the MD after a while but couldn’t stop the weed after listening to Paul talk and the way he talked about not being able take back the past and having to keep moving forward bruh I think he just saved my life been clean now since this video came out people will laugh cause it’s not been that long but this is the longest I’ve been clean for 2 years Paul Heyman what a man!
It’s easy to fall off the wagon even after a few years. One moment in the day is all it takes. There are hundreds of moments in one day to fail. You said it was just two years, but it’s also thousands of moments you have succeeded. Even if you fail at some point, it does not take away from all you achieved and can continue to achieve. May this message find you well.❤
@@ericramirez2608 I’ve fallen off the wagon once or twice in the last year but never for longer than a day I want to get to a stage where I won’t fall off at all but the fact I can bounce back has made me really happy
Never knew that was the reason it went from a wcw invasion to a alliance invasion. I would love to hear Eric and Paul ina podcast together going at it 😂
What he said was true, WCW in 2001 was a shell of its former self, but also WWF didn't get any of the biggest stars of WCW. No Sting, Flair, Hogan, Hall, or Nash. The biggest names was Booker T, who was a great worker but at that time wasn't a superstar.
And everyone else remembers it as Paul begging to bring back ECW. Don't fall for this narrative that they came to him with the idea, particularly since he just said that he was trying to get the ECW guys jobs (which was totally a worthwhile idea.)
Yeah, the networks wanted nothing to do with the invasion. So they sweetened the pot with ECW. And when they still balked, they threw in the biggest star of all time. But the invasion part couldn't last forever so without UPN or USA agreeing to be part of it, they had to move on.
Paul and Vince are polar opposites. Paul is brilliant creatively, but terrible at business. Vince isn’t very good creatively and has to be dragged kicking and screaming toward a really good idea, but he’s a great businessman. The problem is that Vince’s ego wouldn’t allow him to use his business sense to use Paul’s creative mind effectively. Rather than buying ECW and killing off any decent alternative to WWF, he should have kept funding ECW, taking over bookkeeping and management while letting Paul handle the creative end. Most of his top guys in 2001 had gotten over in ECW and the fact that he couldn’t see value in at least a semi independent ECW (not WWE ECW) is incredibly to me. Heyman as a creative guy is one of the best ever. He just can’t handle money. Vince is the opposite.
I agree...he could have kept ECW going but under better financial management. That's not even touching on how he took the potentially biggest storyline in wrestling history and made it nothing within 6 months(really well before then).
@@mattm7798the worst part is that he made it into a McMahon oriented story line first n the invasion was just in the background Vince’s ego really cannot be beaten
Pretty much...because nothign screamed ECW like Steph McMahon leading it and aligning with WCW, because those two companies always loved each other SMH@@ch66ry88
I genuinely can't believe I'm about to type this but... I can sorta see why Vince wouldn't do that. ECW built its brand through some superb wrestling, some pretty shocking angles and a *lot* of blood. Controversy followed the promotion, it was part of its DNA and that's great when you're the underdog. A WWE-backed ECW doing ECW-things, however, would have likely brought a lot of problems and the blame would have been firmly aimed at WWE. Only way to really fix that would have been to reign in the product which the core audience would never buy in the long run. Now the idea I believe Paul was pitching for the relaunched ECW in the mid 2000's of turning into much more of a shoot-style promotion echoing a chunk of what was making bank for UFC? Yeah, THAT I could see working under the WWE umbrella but, IMO, the relationship between Paul and WWE at that point just didn't have enough trust left to take such a potentially radical risk with a new product. So to zombie-town on sci-fi they went...
Paul E isn't only one of the greatest on screen managers and talkers in the business with a brilliant mind for wrestling. He is also a very wise man who can take lessons from his engaging stories in life and apply it to theirs because EVERY one of us can relate in someway or another to what he is saying, feeling and been through.
unless you watched ECW at 3am on the sun network or a local crappy channel with bad reception you have no ideal how truly amazing ECW was. living during the time of the Monday night wars and the ecw era was a amazing time for wrestling fans. I will never forget seeing rey mysterio for the first time, sandman smoking a cigarette, raven, tommy dreamer, sabu, RVD the list goes on and on. watching youtube clips is nothing like waiting week to week to see what will happen next
Back in those days, I was in high school and long story short, someone taped ECW shows on VHS cassettes and me and my friends would take rounds every week so we could take them and watch them all at home on weekends, when we had the time to watch. ECW blew our minds. We were hooked instantly. We thought it was insane but entertaining as hell. We all became fans of the product.
I would love to have seen New Jack in WWE. He was always my favourite ECW talent, and even if you don't like him, you have to admit you'd be curious just how that would go!
When i first got into wrestling, it was through WWE. At that point i was extremely green in my knowledge of wrestling, i literally knew no one at all. I didn’t know what wcw or ecw was. So, when the invasion storyline kicked in, i absolutely loved it. All of it. To the untrained eye, without judgement or anything, it was very fun television for myself.
3:50(ish) - for a mouthpiece like Paul Heyman to call him the 'greatest talker', i really hope JR appreciates the compliment, cuz i sure as hell did...
If Paul did a podcast his would be number 1 in wrestling. When Paul speaks everyone listens. Number 2 manager in my opinion only behind Bobby the brain
Got to love how Heyman didn't think bringing in New Jack was a bad idea because he was a bad wrestler or anything but because he knew just how crazy New Jack really was. Fantastic performer for sure and one of the pinnacles when you're talking about hardcore wrestling but New Jack would have torn apart that roster both in and out of the ring and Paul knew it 😅🤣
@@darylheath6524I was just about to say the same thing. Everyone knows Jim Cornette’s one of the BIGGEST critics of who can & can’t actually work & wrestle… and Cornette absolutely LOVED New Jack when he was in Smoky Mountain. Anyone who wants to see New Jack in his younger days and at his in-ring peak, should go back and look up SMW videos of New Jack & Mustafa as a tag team in Smoky Mountain.
This dude absolutely NAILS IT. Paul Heyman is perhaps the greatest mind in all of pro wrestling and shares that distinction with Vince McMahon. He breathes and bleeds the business.
WCW wasn't bad until the AOL Time Warner merger because the heads that came in basically told Eric "Hey you know that stuff that made WCW successful? Yeah we need you to do the opposite so we can please advertisers"
Everyone watch very very carefully... This comment about how father is undoubtedly the most real and true thing you will ever hear come out of Paul Heyman's mouth. This is the only time you'll ever hear him say something that isn't a work, or an angle, or some type of manipulation for the camera....i think that after 40 years we have just witnessed the first totally open and honest moment of Herman's career... dude loves his father. 😢❤
I think what people don’t understand about the invasion angle is that people like myself never watched WCW or ECW, so I had no idea that the top talent was missing cause I had no idea who they were. I loved the invasion angle.
He is such an eloquent speaker. And EXTREMELY intelligent businessman. And not only when it comes to pro wrestling. But about LIFE in general. I think if you work in this business which is so cut throat you have to be. Or else it will run you over.
Paul E. Dangerously said that, in one interview, that ECW would have to "evolve" into a different style, similar to Ring of Honor (ROH): Rob Feinstein (founder; RF Video); Cary Silkin (co-founder); booker Gabe Sapolsky, who was a Paul Heyman protege. It was later sold to Sinclair Broadcasting Company. Then, ROH was purchased last year by some young, hip up and coming "t-shirt company," called AEW (All Elite Wrestling), via CEO Tony Khan. Rob Black (this was the XPW guy from Los Angeles, CA; mr. adult film producer); ECW did have some of it's guys over there, for Heatwave 2000, on the West Coast (Grand Olympic Auditorium); one of the last events held under the original south Philly promotion.
Alot of it is nostalgia goggles. I picked a random raw in 1998 to watch on the network one day after getting really bored and tried to watch it all the way through. Nothing outside of the main event angles aged well, it all came across as dated and corny not particularly funny. Most of the people who are hard stuck on the attitude era remember watching the shit at 9 years old and not as adults.
@@shinzontheta I think it's because 1998 was all about Austin/McMahon and the other stuff wasn't that good yet. That's why, to be frank, I thought WCW was better for the first half of the Monday Night Wars. It wasn't until 1999 that the Attitude Era became about more than just Austin and began to shine from top to bottom, though of course the most obvious difference was The Rock becoming a second megastar for the company to rely on. I'm sure some attitude era fans come across as overbearing to fans of other eras who didn't see it when it happened, but it really was something. I've watched other stuff that came later and I even enjoy some of it (even more recent stuff I've been checking out and it's not all bad), but there really was nothing like peak attitude era and they've never gotten back to those ratings for a reason.
To be fair to WCW as far as the invasion storyline went, they only got two of the main event guys that were still under contract with them. Sting didn't go, Goldberg didn't go, Nash didn't go, Flair could've been the owner but he didn't, hell Eric Bishoff could've been the owner but WWF didn't even try to bring him in, and the last two especially are kicks in the balls considering how fast they jumped on board after the invasion angle, as far as ECW goes while Heyman is right I'm pretty sure almost none of the guys he mentioned end up actually getting signed during the invasion angle, Dreamer did, Tajiri did, but all the other guys that were on ECW for the invasion angle were already in WWF
i honestly used to hate paul heyman. i never knew who he was till brock lesnar came back in 2012 cause i stopped watching wrestling before middle school and i started again when the nexus began in raw. i hated his character idk why but i’ll admit i was wrong this man is brilliant an amazing professional figure and as i got older i seen this over time. they always talk about wrestlers getting the crowd over, but paul heyman does that just as much as any john cena or cm punk or the rock. he knows how to get us going and interested to the point there’s no choice but to watch and let things unfold and when they do it’s masterful usually. the way he talked for brock, the way he backs roman all shows his true character and that’s just one of the best in the business period and we’re lucky to be alive at the same time as this man. people in the future are going to watch this guy and be envious as they wish they were around to see it, that’s who Paul Heyman is. thank you 🙏🏻
I've always hated the shark analogy, b/c their inability to move in other directions is actually their biggest weakness. 'keep moving forward' is good advice, and the analogy SOUNDS good, but it's one of those sayings that falls apart if you actually think about it.
What killed ECW from making it in WWE is Vince's attitude. Vince = We make superstars, we don't hire them. Almost everyone brought into the WWE Vince wanted to change everyone's name and gimmick. IF he couldn't make you sometime in WWE outside of what you already were.. you likely were not going to make it. Very few made it past that rule. Like A.J.
I still believe the highest high and lowest low I've experienced as a fan were both that same night. ECW showing up and attacking being the high and ECW joining WCW like an hour later being the low.
As a 13 year old kid in 2006 I fully believed that ECW was a separate company and rarely watched the extremely crappy wrestlers. I believed fully that WWE and ECW were rivals lol.
Ok I know a lot of people probably hated or loved the invasion storyline, me personally I liked it just cuz of the Austin and Angle feud, but could’ve been better, absolutely. Could wwe brought in more talent to make it better absolutely. But they chose not to and their backs were in a corner bcuz of the injuries and releases they had. But overall the invasion storyline is a one of the big what if for me in wrestling just bcuz of the talent that could’ve been apart of it
The problem is that AOL refused to budge on the -tax writeoff- guaranteed contracts. WWE would have had to buyout their entire contracts (which were overvalued to begin with) and _then_ sign the talent. Goldberg is a big name. He's not woth three times more than they eventually got him for.
I don't agree Vince buried them. WCW was big good wrestling ECW was more extreme they only had a few Wrestlers that was great so mixing them was the great but WWE dropped the ball.
@@JesusIsComingSoon316 Practically ALL of the Attitude Era was about the McMahons. That's why I don't really care for it. Go back and watch most of it. You'll see at least one person with the last name McMahon on nearly every show. The Ruthless Aggression Era was MUCH better in EVERY way.
Tony Khan should back up the Brinks truck to Heyman’s house once his WWE contract is up and let him run the creative side of AEW. Tony Khan can’t book his way out of a paper bag.
Heyman wasn't completely honest about why the WCW invasion failed it wasn't because everyone remembered how shit the product was in the end (even though it was shit) but all the big stars of WCW that everyone wanted to see chose not to be there because they were still getting paid more to sit at home if those stars were there for the invasion like nwo Goldberg Scott steiner and others it would have been alot better
He’s also a bit generous with calling his guys “stars”, a lot of them were slobs who did fine slumming it in a hardcore indie setting like Dreamer or Sandman but we’re definitely not stars on the big stage.
I used to think I take bad news poorly. But then one day I found Tommy Dreamers take on Heyman leaving ECW behind for WWF and how he reacted. Suddenly i felt way better of myself. Always move forward folks. But keep tabs on the lunatics you upset along the way, just in case.
whoever thought to put stephanie mcmahon as the leader killed what little storytelling wwf had left. even the average casual channel flipper who rarely watched wrestling looking for something to watch on tv knew deep down it was a storyline. in other words it didn't feel realistic. why would she related to family of all people be heavily behind a completely separate entity wanting to betray and destroy the company that has provided everything to her never having to work a day in her life? shane on the other hand was a completely different scenario. he had already years prior started to rebel against his dad. a storyline of shane owning wcw fit right into the character being portrayed. they ruined what potentially could have been a masterpiece in the classic father/son rebellion storytelling for generations to come.
No alliance storyline. They should have interfered in match after match until McMahon was “forced” to give them their own company, so that wwf could finish beating up on wcw.
What would it have taken for ECW to thrive in WWE? Let us know in the comments below!
The Rise & Fall Of ECW DVD - ECW One Night Stand 2005 & 2006 ... and that's about it 👍
For ECW to thrive? NOT GOING TO THE wwe for one! Vince McMahon didn't give a rat's *ss about ANY of the ECW's wrestlers or their history. All he wanted to do was eliminate any type of competition. Then once he had them he made them look like garbage. He did the same with WCW. Vince McMahon is a 100% pure piece of sh*t!
Shane McMahon's original pitch for an ECW revival would've been revolutionary and ahead of the curve in terms of how we digitally received content online and with streaming in the timeframe he wanted to do it in (2005/2006 era). WWE would've had their finger on the pulse of what was about to become a digital revolution had they pulled the trigger but instead the company just essentially made it a smaller brand. Not that it was entirely bad, as it was sort of an alpha version of what NXT (as a brand, not the gameshow version) would eventually become with rejuvenating talent mindlessly drifting on the main brands while giving a platform for called up/developing talent.
Ultimately though, what would it have taken for ECW to thrive under the WWE banner? Less direct control and input from Vince and more delegation and trust to people who knew how to use and market that brand (Heyman/Dreamer etc)
@@TheBigShotTMD - this was a time, before the words "streaming service" was a thing. Blockbuster Video vs. Netflix DVD (1999-2000) rental service wars; pre-RedBox movies and video game rental vending machines...
@@kshinokevin Thanks for the history lesson buddy. I was very much alive and lived through the 90s and 00s. That doesn't add anything to what I said, nor does it mean anything to the question that was posed.
I love his shark example. He ain't bullshitting either. Instead of clinging to the past and descending into irrelevancy, Paul is at the top of the industry right now! All thanks to his willingness & ability to roll with the changes.
He said many times how proud he is of ECW but that there no point in lamenting it’s loss
Technically Orcas rule the seas. Just saying.
This was actually quite inspiring for someone recently going through a breakup lol - MOVE FORWARD LIKE THE SHARKS
If you move forward like a shark after breakup you'll quickly get another one.
Amen, brother. I'm also in a situation that requires embracing change and a new direction but for my professional life.
Couldn’t have said it better myself brother
So you’re no longer mad at me for sleeping with her?
Same here bro
Paul Heyman is a powerful speaker, no doubt about it and probably worth the seminar admission alone. Might not be everyone's cuppa tea but his stories are filled with wistful regret; wisdom; raw honesty, humour and understanding, they are worth paying attention to. Not everyone in the Wrestling business can deliver it quite as profoundly as that
It's amazing how people change or your perception of them, it's night/day difference between this well spoken, empathetic, and emotional Paul Heyman and the one I grew up with in a trench coat screaming at the top of his lungs while standing on a table
That trench coat Heyman was well spoken and emotional, just a whole hell of a lot more intense.
ECW seemed like it produced a whole lot more talent than WCW during the invasion
All the big WCW stars bar Booker T were sitting at home on guaranteed contracts. What was the point in a WCW invasion when they only had the B team?
@@EOTA564 They had DDP, but they decided to bury him and his career for good.
@@fromolwyomingdidn't have ddp at the beginning
@@MrMinionMoney DDP was there since the beginning
@o_oro-q1k you could he right but I thought he came after the 1st ppv
Still amazes me how Vince was gifted the greatest storyline in the history of wrestling and screwed it up so that it essentially meant nothing within 6 months.
They could have rode that wave for years.
I guess he was not ready for that.
According to kurt angle they made shit load of money during that angle but yeah you are right doing it properly it could last for years lol.
How they ended up with kurt angle , stone cold, and shane mcmahon as a final 5 of the alliance is beyond me lmao.
Hmmm, surprised they made any good money from it since it went south super quickly. The entire thing was a giant Vince ego trip@@sidmahasuverachai3722
Talk to USA and Paramount. They wanted nothing to do with either WCW or ECW.
@@sidmahasuverachai3722the Invasion PPV used to be the highest-grossing non-Wrestle Mania event for a long time even with how poorly it was booked
Rob Van Dam became a World Champion. 1 of the best Wwe champions, a Hof. So atleast 1 guy made it from Ecw outside Heyman
As soon as they made invasion McMahon vs McMahon you knew it was going to be rubbish. I didnt think it could get any worse then nWo came a few months later and got buried within month. Then ECW came back again and Vince became the champion there was some terrible booking around that time
You can’t 100% blame the nwo stuff on Wwe hulk hogan got hella over at wrestlemania which they couldn’t ignore so he went babyface, Scott hall as we know was a mess n couldn’t be trusted, n Kevin nash tore out he his quads in that tag match on raw so even though they went about it horribly they couldn’t do much with what they had, at least it brought back Shawn
Yet Steph v. Shane was the best era of the brand split.
Bro i have no one else to tell so I’ll tell this comment section I’ve been battling addiction for 2 years because I went through a break up I simply wasn’t ready for I thought I’d met the person I was gonna spend the rest of my life with I started smoking weed and using MDMA on the regular stopped the MD after a while but couldn’t stop the weed after listening to Paul talk and the way he talked about not being able take back the past and having to keep moving forward bruh I think he just saved my life been clean now since this video came out people will laugh cause it’s not been that long but this is the longest I’ve been clean for 2 years Paul Heyman what a man!
It’s easy to fall off the wagon even after a few years. One moment in the day is all it takes. There are hundreds of moments in one day to fail. You said it was just two years, but it’s also thousands of moments you have succeeded. Even if you fail at some point, it does not take away from all you achieved and can continue to achieve. May this message find you well.❤
@@ericramirez2608 I’ve fallen off the wagon once or twice in the last year but never for longer than a day I want to get to a stage where I won’t fall off at all but the fact I can bounce back has made me really happy
@@ericramirez2608 also thanks g your words mean a lot id completely forgotten id even said this until just now
Keep it going man. Any update? It's all good if there's been struggles.
I love this man he drops the best advice when he speaks u just gotta listen
Never knew that was the reason it went from a wcw invasion to a alliance invasion. I would love to hear Eric and Paul ina podcast together going at it 😂
What he said was true, WCW in 2001 was a shell of its former self, but also WWF didn't get any of the biggest stars of WCW. No Sting, Flair, Hogan, Hall, or Nash. The biggest names was Booker T, who was a great worker but at that time wasn't a superstar.
And everyone else remembers it as Paul begging to bring back ECW. Don't fall for this narrative that they came to him with the idea, particularly since he just said that he was trying to get the ECW guys jobs (which was totally a worthwhile idea.)
Yeah, the networks wanted nothing to do with the invasion. So they sweetened the pot with ECW. And when they still balked, they threw in the biggest star of all time. But the invasion part couldn't last forever so without UPN or USA agreeing to be part of it, they had to move on.
Paul and Vince are polar opposites. Paul is brilliant creatively, but terrible at business. Vince isn’t very good creatively and has to be dragged kicking and screaming toward a really good idea, but he’s a great businessman. The problem is that Vince’s ego wouldn’t allow him to use his business sense to use Paul’s creative mind effectively. Rather than buying ECW and killing off any decent alternative to WWF, he should have kept funding ECW, taking over bookkeeping and management while letting Paul handle the creative end. Most of his top guys in 2001 had gotten over in ECW and the fact that he couldn’t see value in at least a semi independent ECW (not WWE ECW) is incredibly to me. Heyman as a creative guy is one of the best ever. He just can’t handle money. Vince is the opposite.
I agree...he could have kept ECW going but under better financial management. That's not even touching on how he took the potentially biggest storyline in wrestling history and made it nothing within 6 months(really well before then).
@@mattm7798the worst part is that he made it into a McMahon oriented story line first n the invasion was just in the background Vince’s ego really cannot be beaten
Pretty much...because nothign screamed ECW like Steph McMahon leading it and aligning with WCW, because those two companies always loved each other SMH@@ch66ry88
I genuinely can't believe I'm about to type this but... I can sorta see why Vince wouldn't do that. ECW built its brand through some superb wrestling, some pretty shocking angles and a *lot* of blood. Controversy followed the promotion, it was part of its DNA and that's great when you're the underdog. A WWE-backed ECW doing ECW-things, however, would have likely brought a lot of problems and the blame would have been firmly aimed at WWE. Only way to really fix that would have been to reign in the product which the core audience would never buy in the long run. Now the idea I believe Paul was pitching for the relaunched ECW in the mid 2000's of turning into much more of a shoot-style promotion echoing a chunk of what was making bank for UFC? Yeah, THAT I could see working under the WWE umbrella but, IMO, the relationship between Paul and WWE at that point just didn't have enough trust left to take such a potentially radical risk with a new product. So to zombie-town on sci-fi they went...
A pretty quiet interview but pretty good at the same time, still.
Paul E isn't only one of the greatest on screen managers and talkers in the business with a brilliant mind for wrestling. He is also a very wise man who can take lessons from his engaging stories in life and apply it to theirs because EVERY one of us can relate in someway or another to what he is saying, feeling and been through.
Yeah the fact his brilliant mind bankrupted his business proved that!
@@EdsterIII
I’m not talking about his business. I think we can all agree that he was a terrible businessman.
unless you watched ECW at 3am on the sun network or a local crappy channel with bad reception you have no ideal how truly amazing ECW was. living during the time of the Monday night wars and the ecw era was a amazing time for wrestling fans. I will never forget seeing rey mysterio for the first time, sandman smoking a cigarette, raven, tommy dreamer, sabu, RVD the list goes on and on. watching youtube clips is nothing like waiting week to week to see what will happen next
Back in those days, I was in high school and long story short, someone taped ECW shows on VHS cassettes and me and my friends would take rounds every week so we could take them and watch them all at home on weekends, when we had the time to watch. ECW blew our minds. We were hooked instantly. We thought it was insane but entertaining as hell. We all became fans of the product.
Or New York Empire Channel as well
I used to set my alarm for 1:55am, on Saturdays, and sneak downstairs to watch ECW Hardcore TV on some local cable access channel in Atlanta.
I still smoke cigarettes to this day
Great time in wrestling
I would love to have seen New Jack in WWE. He was always my favourite ECW talent, and even if you don't like him, you have to admit you'd be curious just how that would go!
He gave an "interesting" promo the weekend after one night stand at a japw show "id have beaten those superstars like they were my kids".
Absolutely not. New jack was only in business for himself and was a garbage human being and wrestler. Rest in piss new crack.
Half of the roster would’ve been dead.
Jim Cornett said McMahon and the WWE writers and upper management saw New Jack as too dangerous and a threat
When i first got into wrestling, it was through WWE. At that point i was extremely green in my knowledge of wrestling, i literally knew no one at all. I didn’t know what wcw or ecw was. So, when the invasion storyline kicked in, i absolutely loved it. All of it. To the untrained eye, without judgement or anything, it was very fun television for myself.
3:50(ish) - for a mouthpiece like Paul Heyman to call him the 'greatest talker', i really hope JR appreciates the compliment, cuz i sure as hell did...
If Paul did a podcast his would be number 1 in wrestling. When Paul speaks everyone listens. Number 2 manager in my opinion only behind Bobby the brain
Paul Heyman is also known for being manager of some very succesful Wrestlers (Brock Lesnar, CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Antonio Cesaro, Curtis Axel etc)
How you going to mention Curtis Axel and not Steve austin, rick rude and taker
@@andrewvaughan5686because he knew you would be here to help him and say the names for him
Curtis axel isnt successful
Curtis axel lmfaoooooo
Ehhh ECW was way cooler.. besides Brock & maybe punk but nowadays punk gets famous off “ staged “ arguments “ backstage “ .. starting to believe
Got to love how Heyman didn't think bringing in New Jack was a bad idea because he was a bad wrestler or anything but because he knew just how crazy New Jack really was. Fantastic performer for sure and one of the pinnacles when you're talking about hardcore wrestling but New Jack would have torn apart that roster both in and out of the ring and Paul knew it 😅🤣
He's just joking.
New jack could wrestle watch his Smokey mountain stuff he knew how to work
@@darylheath6524I was just about to say the same thing. Everyone knows Jim Cornette’s one of the BIGGEST critics of who can & can’t actually work & wrestle… and Cornette absolutely LOVED New Jack when he was in Smoky Mountain.
Anyone who wants to see New Jack in his younger days and at his in-ring peak, should go back and look up SMW videos of New Jack & Mustafa as a tag team in Smoky Mountain.
@@Voysh2Voysh69 Dude worked with Undertaker and had a good in-character feud with him.
I wish he would’ve torn hunter apart and got in his face
This dude absolutely NAILS IT. Paul Heyman is perhaps the greatest mind in all of pro wrestling and shares that distinction with Vince McMahon. He breathes and bleeds the business.
I think this is the best video on the channel. Really a lot to take from such a legend.
I want the entire show!!! Ugh you guys drip feed us. I want it all now lol
This is probably the best thing I’ve ever heard from Paul. Some beautiful wisdom here.
Paul Hayman Is The Real G.O.A.T Of A Life Time Of All Managers!! 💯 %🔥 🔥
Paulie always has the room
WCW wasn't bad until the AOL Time Warner merger because the heads that came in basically told Eric "Hey you know that stuff that made WCW successful? Yeah we need you to do the opposite so we can please advertisers"
One of the best in the business to Articulate words. Paul Heyman is an over the top awesome guy.
Everyone watch very very carefully... This comment about how father is undoubtedly the most real and true thing you will ever hear come out of Paul Heyman's mouth. This is the only time you'll ever hear him say something that isn't a work, or an angle, or some type of manipulation for the camera....i think that after 40 years we have just witnessed the first totally open and honest moment of Herman's career... dude loves his father. 😢❤
Could listen to heyman talk forever
I think what people don’t understand about the invasion angle is that people like myself never watched WCW or ECW, so I had no idea that the top talent was missing cause I had no idea who they were. I loved the invasion angle.
Where is the full interview?
WCW was way better then ECW overall but both were good
He is such an eloquent speaker. And EXTREMELY intelligent businessman. And not only when it comes to pro wrestling. But about LIFE in general. I think if you work in this business which is so cut throat you have to be. Or else it will run you over.
I had high hopes for the ECW WCW invasion in the WWE. So many dream matches. It ended up not being so great.
Paul E. Dangerously said that, in one interview, that ECW would have to "evolve" into a different style, similar to Ring of Honor (ROH): Rob Feinstein (founder; RF Video); Cary Silkin (co-founder); booker Gabe Sapolsky, who was a Paul Heyman protege. It was later sold to Sinclair Broadcasting Company. Then, ROH was purchased last year by some young, hip up and coming "t-shirt company," called AEW (All Elite Wrestling), via CEO Tony Khan. Rob Black (this was the XPW guy from Los Angeles, CA; mr. adult film producer); ECW did have some of it's guys over there, for Heatwave 2000, on the West Coast (Grand Olympic Auditorium); one of the last events held under the original south Philly promotion.
How do i get the whole interview though
And thats why he's the Wiseman u gotta love Paul ❤
The shark analogy is the life lesson of thinking you are smarter than you are.
Ha ha
Unfortunately, some people who grew up with The Attitude Era never moved on when it came to an end. Seems like that great era spoiled them.
Alot of it is nostalgia goggles. I picked a random raw in 1998 to watch on the network one day after getting really bored and tried to watch it all the way through. Nothing outside of the main event angles aged well, it all came across as dated and corny not particularly funny.
Most of the people who are hard stuck on the attitude era remember watching the shit at 9 years old and not as adults.
@@shinzontheta I think it's because 1998 was all about Austin/McMahon and the other stuff wasn't that good yet. That's why, to be frank, I thought WCW was better for the first half of the Monday Night Wars. It wasn't until 1999 that the Attitude Era became about more than just Austin and began to shine from top to bottom, though of course the most obvious difference was The Rock becoming a second megastar for the company to rely on.
I'm sure some attitude era fans come across as overbearing to fans of other eras who didn't see it when it happened, but it really was something. I've watched other stuff that came later and I even enjoy some of it (even more recent stuff I've been checking out and it's not all bad), but there really was nothing like peak attitude era and they've never gotten back to those ratings for a reason.
Paul Is Right😁 What It Is About Is ADDING To Ur Legacy💯
Wcw invasion failed because the big stars either said no or I'll sit out until my contract is over.
To be fair to WCW as far as the invasion storyline went, they only got two of the main event guys that were still under contract with them. Sting didn't go, Goldberg didn't go, Nash didn't go, Flair could've been the owner but he didn't, hell Eric Bishoff could've been the owner but WWF didn't even try to bring him in, and the last two especially are kicks in the balls considering how fast they jumped on board after the invasion angle, as far as ECW goes while Heyman is right I'm pretty sure almost none of the guys he mentioned end up actually getting signed during the invasion angle, Dreamer did, Tajiri did, but all the other guys that were on ECW for the invasion angle were already in WWF
i honestly used to hate paul heyman. i never knew who he was till brock lesnar came back in 2012 cause i stopped watching wrestling before middle school and i started again when the nexus began in raw. i hated his character idk why but i’ll admit i was wrong this man is brilliant an amazing professional figure and as i got older i seen this over time. they always talk about wrestlers getting the crowd over, but paul heyman does that just as much as any john cena or cm punk or the rock. he knows how to get us going and interested to the point there’s no choice but to watch and let things unfold and when they do it’s masterful usually. the way he talked for brock, the way he backs roman all shows his true character and that’s just one of the best in the business period and we’re lucky to be alive at the same
time as this man. people in the future are going to watch this guy and be envious as they wish they were around to see it, that’s who Paul Heyman is. thank you 🙏🏻
I've always hated the shark analogy, b/c their inability to move in other directions is actually their biggest weakness.
'keep moving forward' is good advice, and the analogy SOUNDS good, but it's one of those sayings that falls apart if you actually think about it.
4:20 Why tell Eric Bischoff? Most of the crap wcw had going on at the end was the results of Vince Russo's 1999/2000 run 🤷🏽♂️
What a very profound response. Mad respect to Paul.
What killed ECW from making it in WWE is Vince's attitude. Vince = We make superstars, we don't hire them. Almost everyone brought into the WWE Vince wanted to change everyone's name and gimmick. IF he couldn't make you sometime in WWE outside of what you already were.. you likely were not going to make it.
Very few made it past that rule. Like A.J.
Damn Paul, have me in tears
This is probably the most honest thing he’s ever said in his career.
I love listening to Paul
Paul Heyman deserves an Emmy and more!
Problem with the wcw invasion was they used the wcw jobbers, most of those guys were nobodies
I still believe the highest high and lowest low I've experienced as a fan were both that same night. ECW showing up and attacking being the high and ECW joining WCW like an hour later being the low.
As a 13 year old kid in 2006 I fully believed that ECW was a separate company and rarely watched the extremely crappy wrestlers. I believed fully that WWE and ECW were rivals lol.
I’m just here to give Paul Hayman his flowers.
Powerful message
Nobody talks like Paul. GOAT
Heyman is what we call a used car dealer of the highest order.
ECW simply did not fit that picture, it had to be WWF vs. WCW.
It was unfortunate we didn’t get much Sandman or Sabu during the invasion
Ok I know a lot of people probably hated or loved the invasion storyline, me personally I liked it just cuz of the Austin and Angle feud, but could’ve been better, absolutely. Could wwe brought in more talent to make it better absolutely. But they chose not to and their backs were in a corner bcuz of the injuries and releases they had. But overall the invasion storyline is a one of the big what if for me in wrestling just bcuz of the talent that could’ve been apart of it
The problem is that AOL refused to budge on the -tax writeoff- guaranteed contracts. WWE would have had to buyout their entire contracts (which were overvalued to begin with) and _then_ sign the talent. Goldberg is a big name. He's not woth three times more than they eventually got him for.
Why are these interviews just now being released from all the way back in 2016?
They were released then. 😂
@@Rjensen2 this video was released 2 weeks ago... the interview happened in 2016...
i love paul heyman, man. im definitely a paul heyman guy
I don't agree Vince buried them. WCW was big good wrestling ECW was more extreme they only had a few Wrestlers that was great so mixing them was the great but WWE dropped the ball.
Life must be understood backwards but it must be lived forward
Heyman really is a poet...
How much clips you have of this interview lol
The Shark example is something you can apply in life, Heyman is awesome
The ECW alliance angle started off strong, and then Stephanie McMahon showed up and it was all over.
@@JesusIsComingSoon316 Practically ALL of the Attitude Era was about the McMahons. That's why I don't really care for it. Go back and watch most of it. You'll see at least one person with the last name McMahon on nearly every show.
The Ruthless Aggression Era was MUCH better in EVERY way.
3:55 guy in the middle looks so much like Jerma
Tony Khan should back up the Brinks truck to Heyman’s house once his WWE contract is up and let him run the creative side of AEW. Tony Khan can’t book his way out of a paper bag.
Please, neither could Heyman after 1997.
Didn’t click on this expecting a Ted Talk 😂 but damn it, he’s right.
Heyman wasn't completely honest about why the WCW invasion failed it wasn't because everyone remembered how shit the product was in the end (even though it was shit) but all the big stars of WCW that everyone wanted to see chose not to be there because they were still getting paid more to sit at home if those stars were there for the invasion like nwo Goldberg Scott steiner and others it would have been alot better
He’s also a bit generous with calling his guys “stars”, a lot of them were slobs who did fine slumming it in a hardcore indie setting like Dreamer or Sandman but we’re definitely not stars on the big stage.
Heyman is working here
ECW was creatively SA'd by WWE & Vince
I loved JR as a kid, still do, but I thought Jerry Lawler was dumb or silly as a kid and now as an adult I think the King is the best
Even Paul Heyman has got to admit at the end of the day doesn't matter how great he'll always be remembered by he failed miserably
This guys a fucking genius and a visionary
I used to think I take bad news poorly.
But then one day I found Tommy Dreamers take on Heyman leaving ECW behind for WWF and how he reacted.
Suddenly i felt way better of myself.
Always move forward folks. But keep tabs on the lunatics you upset along the way, just in case.
whoever thought to put stephanie mcmahon as the leader killed what little storytelling wwf had left. even the average casual channel flipper who rarely watched wrestling looking for something to watch on tv knew deep down it was a storyline. in other words it didn't feel realistic. why would she related to family of all people be heavily behind a completely separate entity wanting to betray and destroy the company that has provided everything to her never having to work a day in her life? shane on the other hand was a completely different scenario. he had already years prior started to rebel against his dad. a storyline of shane owning wcw fit right into the character being portrayed. they ruined what potentially could have been a masterpiece in the classic father/son rebellion storytelling for generations to come.
What a lad Heyman is.
I like Jim Ross as much as the next guy.... but I'd listen to Heyman any day....
Love the moving forward talk.
But let’s be real for the invasion to work they needed the stars of wcw from 97 98. Not polumbo and ohaire.
Paul heyman is a legend
Sabu would have been a great champion in wwe if they used him right
😂😂😂
No alliance storyline. They should have interfered in match after match until McMahon was “forced” to give them their own company, so that wwf could finish beating up on wcw.
People think I'm cold as mom died about a month ago as I keep saying life moves on. I have to look ahead and instead of backwards
Orcas would like a word with Paul.
This man is just a genius.
Absolute bullshit. They only had about 5 percent of the wcw roster. That's why it failed. They were sitting at home getting paid or in tna.
paul heyman is the truth
Paul Heyman speaks in promos.
Paul could sell shoes full of broken glass. He is a genius.
Tomorrow I hope it's better than today, and the day after tomorrow I hope it better than tomorrow
Sharks move forward… can’t change the past. Great advice for life.
I hated the invasion it was in insult to both brands
Excuse me....excuse me sir....shark here. I will let you know that I've been sittin sidewayz since the day I was born.
Respect for jr. 😊
How’s his form tho, thinking of everyone else