Paul Heyman Gives UNTOLD Truth On ECW Originals Failing in WWE

[@InsideTheRopes]

How would you have booked ECW's relaunch? Let us know in the comments below.

[@kylebowman652]

Made Angle ECW champion and feuded with Punk

[@thequixoticangler3364]

Here's how I'd book it. Hammerstein is nice, but I need this to begin in Philly. I'm asking Vince to build me my own facility. A new ECW arena. Small, but much nicer than the original. I'm putting the belt on Raven to start. Him, Sandman, Rhyno, and Dreamer in a fatal 4 way elimination match. Once he has it, the possibilities become very interesting. Dreamer and Sandman become managers right away. I'm gonna have Dreamer training my boys, Levy too if he wants to. I'm also gonna let him pick his heir. I know who it'd be. CM Punk and Raven had that chemistry you just don't see much. I build Punk as the antihero that becomes an enigma to Raven. Not a rivalry initially, but rather a form of courtship. Use Angle, Dreamer, Raven to "Recruit" him. Don't let him lose to anybody for 6 months. The losses need to create the story. Side note: Bobby Lashley and The Hardyz are my other belt holders. I'm not booking a women's division. It'd be inauthentic. ECW wasn't about that. Raven, after recruiting Punk for a while, sours on the indecisive nature of Punk. He's built this kid up, he's got him in the ring with him on the mic. He's grooming his protoge. Punk doesn't worship Raven adequately, therefore he's a nonbeliever and must be punished. You also use this space in time to build two factions: Ravens Nest, a nihilism cult and people who follow Punk without his needing to speak to them. A messianic cult. You create a series of three singles matches. No normal stuff, this is ECW. 1. The most violent hardcore match you've ever seen on cable. It was on a b network, so it would've been less controlled. This ends in a draw. Both knock each other out somehow. This is where the factions come in. That first match needs to happen after Raven has had the belt for almost a year. That was unprecedented in ECW. Make Scotty the exception. Create a sense of "Romanism", that belt isn't leaving our homegrown guy. Ever. This is where you really start to push guys like Lashley and maybe a Zach Ryder or Evan Bourne. Bear in mind, this is peak TNA AJ styles era too. I'm signing him. They follow Punk. He's the chosen one. 2. A vicious PPV cage match. Think the ones they actually had but bump that up 2 notches. You have to let Raven win, but it has to be a steal or just flat luck. He gets thoroughly dismantled, but through some sort of angle gets out intact. This is where Punk starts to become the Cult of Personality. The Voice of the Voiceless. A face Raven. A foil. He speaks to how the young talent is getting shelved for the "Old guys who got rich by quitting, got bailed out, and now they won't pass the torch". It creates something we never really got to see. A new take on how the NWO( the Nest is this, except they didn't invade, they're just bad rulers.) should have ended. Before the finale, you gotta figure out a way to put all the belts on Nest guys, because that's how the end starts. You get Styles over, have him beat Rhyno for the TV title. Who got him there? Punk. You get a good young tag team to take it from Nest members. I'm thinking Bourne and Ryder. They beat, let's say, the team of Richards and Kidman. Who pushed em and built em? Punk. Now, Punk has beaten every heel on the roster, taken away 2/3 of the jewelry from the Nest, and now the Nest is questioning it's leadership. A mutiny is coming. 3. Not sure how you get this on a PPV, but essentially the finale needs to be a simulated snuff film. A "real" deathmatch. It needs to happen in some sort of warehouse or compound. The Nest. Raven has to win here to reinforce his dominance over his flock. It needs to be cinematic. A showdown between cult leaders. A big circle surrounds them. Those are the respective cults. No civilians, no crowd otherwise. Joey Styles must be announcing. Make it feel like he's been abducted in order to settle this. The fight ends up with Raven getting the upper hand in a cheap way. A non Raven way. A betrayal to the flock. They revolt as Punk is about to be ended. The Nest save him. They give him time to recover. Raven, ever aware of the situation, tried to escape. He's stopped. Punk beats him mercilessly. Fight over. This last part is the essence of it all. Punk is handed the belt by a weary Joey Styles. Notice how I never mentioned Paul. There's a reason why. During this arc, Paul becomes disillusioned by Raven. His favorite guy let it all go to his head. You mirror Raven's ascension with Paul's decline. He likes Punk, but his heart is broken. By the finale, Paul is seriously considering closing up shop because ECW isn't itself anymore. Its a cult now, not a religion anymore. As Punk takes the belt, you see Paul looking on. Eyes meet. Punk smiles a bit and looks at the belt. "Its just a pretty piece of garbage, no more , no less." And the he drops the belt on the floor and leaves. Raven, now conscious, attempts to retrieve it but is stopped by Paul, who has already picked it up. "It's mine, he doesn't want it! What about me!" Raven screams. Paul, rattled but firm: "No Scotty, it's not. It's mine, and I'm gonna do what I should've done 2 years ago." Paul then walks to a trash can, and asks Sandman for a lighter and some whiskey. He asks RVD for a joint. He pours the bottle on the belt, lights it on fire, and lights the joint with the belt and dumps it in the garbage. "It never was going to be the same, I knew that. We were fools." Raven, now now resigned to his defeat, sulks over bloody and battered. "I need a beer, Sandman." He's given one. Paul takes a big toke and hands the joint to Raven. "We built it, and we destroyed it, but at least it was ours" Paul says. Raven smirks. "Quote the Heyman, nevermore." That's how you book it.You don't relaunch to become mainstream, you relaunch to end it properly. You fold it up, and bam! Half that roster became main eventers. It essentially would render all other promotions useless. You use 2 years to build to the end. You create a bunch of names in the process. Paul finally gets his legacy.

[@adamlane6453]

​@@thequixoticangler3364TLDR

[@AJnzxv1]

If I were Vince McMahon, I would have bought the ECW arena and renovated it (it would have to be done for national TV). I would have held ECW weekly in that arena, because you're guaranteed an ECW crowd, which was half the magic of the original ECW. I wouldn't have moved Big Show to ECW (doesn't suit), Kurt Angle was fine though. I'd have moved some other ECW originals they had at the time to the brand too (Chris Benoit, Super Crazy, Kid Kash etc.) & tried to hire a few more, because they didn't have enough guys on their roster. Short term, I would have turned Angle heel very shortly into the new show & had him feud with Rob Van Dam for the Title, that would be the main event of their first PPV under the new brand. Long term, I'd be focusing on hiring guys like Punk (which they obviously did) and more guys like that from the indies that the ECW fans would have knowledge of. Don't bring in WWE rejects like The Basham's, Test, Hardcore Holly (no disrespect to them, but they were WWE 'rejects' at the time). And the obvious things would be; keep it totally separate from WWE, don't change the rules that they had in the old ECW, bring back the Tag Titles and Television Title that they had on the original ECW, let Paul Heyman have the ultimate say in booking (not Vince).

[@michaelvazquez7851]

What's your opinion?

[@Thefrozenarrow]

I could listen to this man all day.

[@HopSkipLimp]

That interview he did for Rick Rubins' podcast: the 3hrs flew by!

[@frodnipper]

And i could believe him for at least half of it 😂

[@theinconspicuousbxc]

For real. If he ever did a one man show like Taker, I'd pay money to listen to him speak, lecture, and tell stories.

[@TheRealMrAndrew]

Perhaps the best all around mind/talent in the business, better than Cornette, better than Vince, better than Bischoff.

[@MrMusick84]

Facts

[@speaktruthtopower3222]

Notice how Heyman spends the majority of the time looking and speaking directly to the person that mentioned Raven. he's not talking to the audience and telling a story or accessing his memories, he's talking directly to a fan and engaging that single individual.

[@aripea1980]

Paul Heyman is definitely a man I would invite to one of those historical dinner parties. Einstein? Newton? Caesar? Nah, give me Paul.E, plenty to eat and drink and a comfortable chair!!!

[@christopherbassit2757]

@@aripea1980dOjA cAt

[@seanfullerton8161]

Sabu’s work in TNA between 2004-2005 was exceptional. Especially his feud with Abyss. 2 Characters that didn’t speak. But told such an exceptional bunch of stories.

[@GNR4Life355]

Sabu and Raven were both excellent in TNA. It was a nice resurgence for both of them and I loved their feud too there.

[@perezynkrs1]

And who asked for your opinion ​@@GNR4Life355

[@Kas58223]

Loved the Sabu and Abyss matches oh yea it got intense especially that bardwire match they had

[@billymimnaugh3998]

Agree 100% on Sabu .Unless you saw him in his true prime years , it’s hard to explain how great he was .We saw him in person on numerous occasions during those early years and couldn’t believe the things he was doing .Truly ground breaking stuff .

[@ST1TCH916]

​@Goodb0b craziest mf in wrestling, deserves all the respect

[@floggyWM1]

@@zeppelindemon i didnt even consider FMW wrestling, lol, it was a giant weapons match

[@floggyWM1]

@@zeppelindemon they did have crazy matches, i remember Onita and Mr Pogo went at it inside onitas house lol.

[@josephdelledonne2098]

I remember seeing him work for an indy promotion here in Vegas in like 94 or 95, I forget. The promotion sucked, but was built around Sabu. He was the champion. Also, Ultimate Warrior showed up and did promos, but I don't think did very many matches. Back to Sabu, he was doing stuff I never saw before like the triple jump moonsaults off a chair. I remember thinking he was gonna be a legit top guy somewhere soon. It sort of happened in ECW. I really thought he was gonna be the goat. I even told friends about him. I believed he was from India, and wasn't sure if he spoke English or not since he never spoke. What an awesome character at the time.

[@josephdelledonne2098]

@zeppelindemon it's actually online. I didn't know that it was bigger than I thought. Cactus Jack had a match with Sabu. Type NWC Sabu.

[@zodiac66]

Paul Heyman will always be one of my most favourite people in all of professional wrestling. The man just gets it. Every little thing. He gets what makes fans tune in or out. He gets what ticks the right or wrong boxes. He is by far one of, if not the smartest brain in the business. Love Paul. Absolutely love that man.

[@ML-my8qq]

He’s a great salesman too

[@ripman21]

​@@ML-my8qqjust keep him away from a checkbook

[@L4-295]

Mark

[@syetemaskm7706]

Just not a smart brain for business unfortunately, Would absolutely have loved ECW to continue past 2000 and continue to push the envelope, Who knows what the industry could look like now

[@ChaosTheory9]

Ravens character in WCW was definitely watered down compared to ECW, but WCW still did a great job with raven and the flock. I watched WcW as a kid and didn’t know about his ecw run, and thought his group was so cool and unique. Heyman should be saying that WWE ruined raven

[@jdionio]

Part of the problem was the NWO. If the NWO hadn't happened, hadn't been a driving force for so long, hadn't politicked to hold people down, maybe Raven wouldn't have gotten watered down

[@andrewhernandez6981]

He won’t because he hated WCW and I think still does

[@poulasta]

But WCW did ruin him once they did that storyline of him being a rich kid. And before that, in 97-98 they could have booked the Flock a bit higher in the cards but doubt the top names would have gone through it 'brother'

[@CharizardMaster69]

@@poulastathat was 110% raven’s idea

[@poulasta]

@@CharizardMaster69 I read in an interview that he wanted to combine his ECW backstory with the rich kid one but somehow WCW bungled it.

[@juvenilemachine]

The way people say the Undertaker was Vince McMahon greatest character I must say the same for Raven and Heyman.

[@FuckTheWorld-p6u]

THAT would have been a LEGENDARY feud: 'Taker and Raven.

[@EGarrett01]

Undertaker was amazing but it was hard to take him outside of the actual show. He couldn't do talk shows (watch his train wreck the first time he appeared on Regis and Kathie Lee) so he had a tougher time drawing money and getting mainstream coverage. I'm not sure who Vince's greatest character actually was though, it's a good question. They involve Vince and the wrestler working together, so Hogan, Austin, Cena etc weren't really Vince's creations. But he played a huge part in it.

[@sobbyhasselhoff]

Raven came up with his character.

[@juicyeboi9006]

You could argue Dreamer or Sandman was as well. Sandman was the perfect example of showcasing a wrestlers strengths and hiding his weaknesses. Same with Dreamer except Dreamer had more utility as he was ok in ring and had use as a promo/booker/behind the scenes figure.

[@J0SHUAKANE]

The Undertaker was a character before the WWF in CWA. Why would anyone think Vince had anything to do with it?

[@aarondavid5565]

This one interview with Heyman has so many gems

[@Jay-ob4ti]

Where can we find full episodes?

[@GypsyDanger514]

I love how Paul keeps constant eye contact with the person who asks the question, very personable, and attentive. Nothing but love for heyman.

[@brandonsmith5880]

Heyman is one of my favorite people in the world. I could listen to him for days. I'm a Paul Heyman guy 🤷🏻‍♂️ and I still have the Tshirt to prove it

[@Gameking92888]

​@@brandonsmith5880😂😂 You do know he's the reason why ecw went out of business? New Jack said he gambled all the money reason why so many wrestler was getting bounced checks.

[@brandonsmith5880]

@@Gameking92888 He wasn't signing my checks 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@wrestlinghistorian]

@@Gameking92888yet they al love him still. He made so many guys known or led them to joining the bigger two companies which made them a ton of money that they wouldn’t have had without Paul.

[@TheVeemon]

@@Gameking92888 Yet many of those who didn't get their money are still to this day his close friends. Bubba ray even said "F*ck the money that man gave me a career of a lifetime" in one of his interviews. Tommy Dreamer had depression when it happened and not once did he blame Heyman for it

[@aydenoryan]

Raven was a psychology mastermind its a shame McMahon and Bischoff didn't know/care to use him correctly

[@EGarrett01]

Someone pointed out recently that Raven was on the cover of WCW/nWo Revenge with Goldberg and Hogan (and Nash) and no one thought it was out of place. That gives you an idea of how good that character was. He could've been bigger but Bischoff and Hogan weren't going to go for it because he was a heel and not part of his group. He also wasn't Hogan's generation so Hogan wouldn't get it.

[@ChaosTheory9]

Very true, I thought it was cool he was on the cover. He may have been mid card , but he had a strong character, strong group behind him, and had great feuds that the fans cared about (ie Benoit, ddp, etc)

[@EGarrett01]

@@ChaosTheory9 His matches didn't go on last, but he stood out so much that he didn't really fit in a category of "midcarder" IMO.

[@zachxavierpatatag8393]

and hogan pulled off the "it doesnt work for me brother" card at that time.

[@jcgonzalez84]

Now that you mention it I remember back in the dah I lived in a country where we did not get WCW. However the only wrestling game on N64 were the THQ games. Me and my cousin would use Raven and we had no idea who he was.

[@zachblack7459]

One of the creators of the game was a total mark for Raven. So am I. Listen to his podcast weekly.

[@jamesb1988]

This is one of the few times I have heard Paul actually shoot straight recently... I respect that anything current/active he kayfabes, the man is soo good.

[@jeremiahstenzel789]

The way Heyman describes Raven is the issue with Hollywood taking all these IPs and continuing them or adapting them years later. Most of the projects are failures because they didn't create the characters, they don't know the soul of the characters, and they have to change it to make it theirs and ot usually ruins it and makes it about the original in name only.

[@sstrykert]

No, the studios are being paid & propagandized to make what were role models into virtue signalers.

[@lastwaxbender]

Sabu and Raven are two of the only ECW originals that I grab CAW's for in every wrestling game they're not in. RVD is my first if he's not already on the roster, then it's those two followed by Sandman and Dreamer if I have the room in the end with other stars from NWA, TNA, WCW, WWF, ROH and other promotions both new and old.

[@RodneyBennett-w9c]

I could listen to Paul Heyman talk about wrestling all day. This one interview with Heyman has so many gems.

[@crazyhorsecavdoc4916]

My dad had the pleasure of booking Sabu in our county jail around 2013. He said he was a chill guy and didn’t give anyone any hard times. He stayed overnight and they never saw him again.

[@MadFapEntertainment]

What for?

[@firewalker1372]

This man was pretty brilliant when it came to story lines and the talent. He was also a real grease ball. But ya got to give him props/respect for a lot of stuff he has done for the wrestling business.

[@MavenTorrez]

Facts. Heyman was pro wrestling's Don King

[@PeteSanctions]

This is the best summation of Raven's character I've ever heard and Heyman emoted it perfectly

[@stephengilbreath840]

I could listen to Paul Heyman talk about wrestling all day

[@moffit1]

Paul giving this much respect to Raven whilst also pushing the biggest people in modern day speaks volumes about how big scott could of been

[@devicebackup664]

Can you imagine if this man was head of creative for AEW

[@InitialDL84]

I think he should be!

[@devicebackup664]

Or even Jim Cornette

[@whitetigerrr458]

Whenever Vince is completely done I feel Paul Hayman should stick around with Triple H to do creative with him. Don't see Paul going to AEW. Not saying he wouldn't but he makes WWE feel alive right now

[@devicebackup664]

@@simonhh It still is in my head😂

[@CynicalRam]

@@devicebackup664keep that man away from all of them lol ya know who could use him? NWA

[@mcoleman3547]

Bruh Paul is an amazing speaker. You can close your eyes and see his words in motion. This is powerful......

[@henrikschmidt3964]

I was always a fan of the Raven character. I remember his in-ring debut on Nitro against Scotty Riggs. He picked up the mic and went 'there's no reason for us to fight'. I'd never seen that before.

[@fitzgerald434]

I had just got back into wrestling in 2006 and that was the year the relaunch of ECW happened. I was hyped up for it but in a few months it took a huge nose dive. I had a weird feeling right after they went to the hammerstein ballroom and that match with Big Show vs Batista the ECW crowd booed them out the building, I just knew they were gonna stop catering to that hardcore audience. I went to December to Dismember that same year and was disappointed and heard days after that Paul Heyman left the company. I was like yup WWECW is done

[@darthandeddeu]

I always thought that ece showl had been the mature brand,, WCW the family Saturday morning brand and WWE just doing what they do. You place the characters in the slot/show they fit into. By trying to tie all the shows together it just became a mess. I like watching, but I'm not going to watch more than I e or two.shows a week at best.

[@Noblcksallowed]

Y’all out here killing these old ass vids …. And I love it !

[@duckmangooo7376]

Paul is and always will be the greatest mind in professional wrestling. The character development was/is the master genius.

[@Tha_Trigga]

Everybody giving Paul love. Remember he's also the guy who would say anything and would snow the guys about ecw. He also didn't pay guys sometimes too. One of the reasons guys left was because of the hefty regular paydays.

[@ljaproductions07]

Totally fair comments on Raven, Eric Bischoff has said multiple times on his 83 weeks podcast that he didn't get Raven as a character or as a person, so Paul definitely isn't sh*tting on Bischoff and Vince McMahon, unless you're a main eventer that he's created, he's not fully invested in you, as the invasion angle showed... A lot of people have said Sabu should have got a lot more than he did

[@paulearl8203]

Raven had a good run in wcw and actually made money.

[@aaronrobinson8394]

Paul heyman just explained cm punk to me without even mentioning his name

[@lukemullins8647]

Paul Heyman is such a great story teller!

[@420Yako]

The greatest fan reaction was Raven pinning me back in '05. Here in the Farm Center in Dothan. The kids jumped out of their chairs! Lol 😅😂

[@AnOldEnglishBloke]

And of course, some of us suspected Raven's horrible family life etc wasn't cut n dry as the Raven promos had most believe. Some of us saw an actual privileged, spoilt kid who had everything, but wanted to be the grungy, broken, bitter outcast. And yeah, Raven turned out to be what some of us suspected. Which, in all fairness, made the Raven character one of the most relatable, compelling and frustrating ever

[@user-jl8lw8td7f]

In my opinion Raven is the most underrated wrestler ever, such a phenomenal character.

[@Exoticbuttters]

Santino wins that one

[@HaHaHaYouFool9439]

@@Exoticbuttterswhat are you smoking?

[@Romchikthelemon]

Steve Blackman.

[@James-qx3rh]

I may not have been in the room but I totally get what his character was supposed to be. Everything he did was done with some intent. That's why he's my personal favorite wrestler/entertainer. He really knew how to manipulate a crowd and purposely only gave as much effort as he had to just to get the reaction. He would literally sit in the corner before the match started to prove a point.

[@JasonBlackYT1]

I honestly believe if they'd brought ECW back now with Triple H running things it would have been so much better, imagine the NXT Black&Gold era stars mixing with ECW originals (obviously a lot of them are too old now and I realise that) but it would have been amazing. Finn Balor vs RVD, Ciampa vs Sabu, Nakamura vs Tajiri... just imagine it

[@markdejonge937]

it would still be a cluster fuck if triple h rebooted it

[@JasonBlackYT1]

@@markdejonge937 Worse than Sandman fighting a zombie?

[@markdejonge937]

@@JasonBlackYT1 its the wwe we both know vince would still have a say so if triple h rebooted it

[@markdejonge937]

@@JasonBlackYT1 and 9 out of 10 times reboots suck

[@markdejonge937]

@@JasonBlackYT1 the only one i could of seen being rebooted under triple h is if vince had sold the rights to wcw to triple h

[@joeboggio4002]

I love that Ryback said he could beat Paul Heyman in a promo battle....

[@KliqDon1983]

This guy owes alot of wrestlers alot of money

[@justin_your_cousin9273]

If grunge rock was a wrestler, it would be Raven

[@andrewhernandez6981]

Only The Dudleys and RVD were top stars in other promotions and WWE booked them good and if RVD didn’t get pulled over with Sabu he would have had a longer reign

[@josephdelledonne2098]

I agree with Heyman. Saw him at an indy promotion here in 94 or 95. He was the champion and the promotion was built around him. Ultimate Warrior made appearances and did some promos, but hardly had any matches if any at all. Anyways, as far as Sabu goes, I was in awe. I never saw anyone do the triple jumps off chairs into tables, etc. Plus, they made it seem like he was the man. I remember telling my Indian best friend about him. I said he was awesome. My friend asked how big he was. I said 6ft0 220, i think. He said he would be a giant in India (this is before Khali) lol. I really thought i was going to see him as the man in one of the big 2, and he would be the goat. Fast forward years later, i saw him in ECW tagging with Rob Van Damn. Oh, by the way Van Damn was in that indy promotion too. He was just a mid card guy. I never thought he would be anything, and didnt know what skills he possessed. He and a partner (i forget who), tagged against the Powers of Pain. The POP were still jacked back then and destroyed Van Damn and his partner. However, i think the POP lost by DQ. Not sure if they didnt want to beat their guys since, i think the POP were coming in as attractions and would be leaving, or what. They should have just had the POP go over because Rob and his partner looked like jobbers anyways

[@Samurai_Stoner]

Raven is one of my all time favorites, and wwe really just fucked it all up as they did so many other good talents

[@crisin6045]

Heyman and Cornette. Legends. Know half a century worth of old school wrestling knowledge

[@chriscraddock2867]

How can we as fans of Paul, put pressure on him to create a podcast? Is their a petition somewhere? He has to have one.

[@DJBIGCG]

Loved that match when raven stared beating the late terry funk into a bloody mess. Then big dock dudley comes out of nowhere. Then Tommy dreamer chocked slammed him through all of those tables.

[@veissra4047]

Love hearing Raven get his due, even if just to a small audience. Way too underappreciated for how good he was. Which is wild to me, especially in WWE where they wont push certain guys because they cant talk, but can go in the ring. Raven was one of the best promos out there, and could also have great matches.

[@IggyStardust1967]

The thing about both Bischoff and McMahon is that they didn't bother to delve into the Raven character as it was. If they had, THEN they could have written and booked him very well. They wanted to change Raven, rather than just go with what had already been created. I wonder if Heyman actually attempted to "educate" either of them on the character, or just let them blindly do their own thing? If the latter, then Heymen himself is partially at fault there. I do disagree with Heyman about one thing.... Despite him being a Heel, I liked Raven. I understood him, because he represented my generation. We were ignored, and when not ignored, we were abused, and when we tried to stand up for ourselves, we were ostracized for it.

[@mattklette7721]

I could listen to paul heyman tell stories forever

[@stonedViking304]

I jus gotta say…FUCK YES!!! Glad to see this out pouring of respect for Raven and even more happy that it’s comin without him having to pass away for everyone to realize his greatness…I been sayin for years how great ECW Raven would fit in about any era

[@elgringo4918]

Heyman is the man!!!!! I love how he speaks to the crowd, keeps eye to eye contact with the crowd. He has so much knowledge in that head of his.

[@daveh1065]

Idk, Raven was gold on Nitro still..til wcw fkd it up, but to this day Raven is in my top 10 of all time,.would always make Raven on create a character on wrestling video games. Super underrated & WWe didnt handle him right at all either...I hope one day hes in the Hall OF Fame

[@BlaineBranham-no9ik]

Might be a long shot considering that concussion suit

[@billzco6137]

He wasn't paying them though. It's in forever hard-core documentary . They were all jobbing ship to WCW

[@howlieMCFC]

The best sidekick since Paul bearer

[@chrispuig4525]

To all of us and every ECW fans that watch ECW over 20 years ago that watch ECW are the best wrestling fans in the world the Philly fans are true ECW fans and legends for next year’s WWE hall of fame in Philadelphia pa the legendary Paul heyman and raven deserves it 1000 percent love these guys and respect these guys they both deserves one Paul heyman is Philadelphia hero and two raven was really born from Philadelphia these 2 1000 percent deserves it thank you Paul and thank you raven

[@chr1998is]

Shout out the the person who left the wide safety shot on Auto-focus. Top job 👍 😂

[@rodmaknouni]

I was always such a fan of Sabu and always wondered why he wasn’t a bigger star than he turned out to be, didn’t know of his demons

[@mikeberg6407]

Raven was never over. Dont even @me.

[@mikeberg6407]

lmfao majority of interview spent on Raven but all comments about Sabu or something else. My point exactly.

[@Heywood3]

Who you think is over now? Will Osprey? Lmao mark clown

[@johnathanrush4666]

I also love being smugly wrong about things with my whole chest.

[@carltongraham1240]

I love Paul so much because he's one of the greatest minds in wrestling history. Whatever he touched it turns into gold. I absolutely love how he breaks down the creative work behind the raven character. He's so relatable because he represents the working man while being a creative genius. I cms listen to him talk all day

[@fortressofsoliddudes4597]

Raven is probably my favorite wrestling character of all time. Some wrestlers had "the look" that got them over (Warrior) or the ability (Benoit) or charisma (The Rock), but I always loved watching Raven simply for his character. I didn't even need to watch his matches, since his promos were so enjoyable. I loved rooting for him while simultaneously rooting against him. To this day, my favorite wrestling moment is his return to ECW when he won the tag titles with Dreamer against the Dudley Boyz. I can't imagine what it would've been like to be there at the Trocadero that night.

[@nickk7425]

I ALWAYS liked Raven, and i thought he was super over in ECW and WCW with the whole Ravens flock thing. i could never understand why the WWF didn't do anything with him??

[@slashernation6724]

Where can I watch these full videos? Is there a subscription service? I'd like to watch more then just clips!

[@corbjones2738]

Small NC town of Mooresboro, so small that just a few people dying/leaving the place would remove it from atlas consideration. Raven makes an indy appearance around '09/'10 or so. Town's pumped, packed gym, area's biggest morning radio guys were even there for the main event. We wait through nobody after nobody, then The Offspring starts blaring. We go wild. Raven comes out, says hello, and tells us he's been trying a standup routine he wants to share with us. Immediately does the hicks-with-missing-teeth stereotype jokes to an audience that cant believe it. Turns out the nobody he was facing was intended to be working face and Raven pulled the funniest fucking audible he could, and it worked. Will never forget.

[@jugghead82]

Paul Heyman is so right Raven was so Good

[@MazzaMedia_]

ECW would’ve had a massive additional stream of revenue had KZbin been around at the time. They could’ve uploaded all of their shows and made 💵 off the views like NWA has done in recent history. They would’ve never needed to worry about TNN.

[@kwizzeh]

I once read that Shane McMahon suggested to Vince to buy ECW, run it like another official development territory while moving their format to running weekly PPV shows like NWA-TNA did in 2002-2004 and monthly internet PPV supercards. All of these ideas in late 2000 prior to ECW going to bankruptcy in April 2001. But Vince knew it would just be cheaper to buy ECW tape library from the bankruptcy court.

[@craigwilson3532]

I enjoy listening to Heyman, you can hear the passion n enthusiasm in his voice

[@sonnychase6615]

My love for Heyman is astounding. However I will say damn that was cold what he did to Candido

[@camschuster5947]

The Evenflow DDT is still one of my all time favorite finishers…

[@boombringer4078]

Paul heyman, love him or hate him......he does speak the truth.

[@Matt-cr4vv]

I’m sure lots of those guys would’ve loved to stay put. But the pesky aspect of needing their checks to clear so they could pay their bills got in the way. It’s great to be booked as the top guy in your company but not if you can’t keep your lights on.

[@S.T.A.N.D_inspirational]

Ravens WCW nirvana themed music was sick incredible

[@jack_slater_x8708]

wasnt goin to comment unless he mentioned sabu and he did sabu is my #2nd fav wrestler of all time and yes heyman is correct early sabu was clean (BOTCHLESS) to watch he was way ahead of his time ......... and yes he was leg droppin people through tables them early days as well POINTS TO THE SKY !!!!!

[@starcityradio]

Heyman is so right. Bischoff even admitted he didn't like nor know what to do with the Raven character.

[@aaronstiner6339]

Raven is the most under utilized character in the last 30 years. Only Paul could book him well though his TNA run had his moments too

[@BoogalooBartholomew]

I don't usually care how a wrestler is booked or who deserves a push or whatnot, but Raven is the exception, I feel so many good stories were thrown out because they didn't know what to do with him. Kane (even Undertaker) could have gone under Raven's spell and/or manipulation as one storyline. Raven as the real Higher Power and chastising Taker for "getting soft" and "ruining the plan". Even if during the Alliance a story where he injured a bunch of Originals Vince didn't want (or know how) to use as a way to make sure ECW stayed dead could have been captivating TV. And while Raven was used better in WCW, he wasn't used great there either. Many a people would have paid to see him vs Hogan. Sting, Hall, Nash, Flair and so on and so forth

[@silversoulken]

Raven not feuding with Big Evil Taker in a main event feud was such a missed opportunity

[@BoogalooBartholomew]

@@silversoulken Agreed

[@TheHannibalTV]

Raven was over in WCW

[@ImBlackSnowTNA]

Raven was so relatable when he went to tna it was like watching a real live antihero

[@glevy17]

Man I loved raven as a kid. It was a large reason I kept switching over from WWF to see ECW and WCW back in the day.

[@wilcox660]

Incredibly perceptive & spot-on.

[@Jacktrack7]

"he came from a broken home" I know what Paul means, that's ECW, but I can't stop thinking about Raven in WCW when he was like in a sitcom with his fancy mom and like casual sunday morning Sandman 😂

[@alecnorwood1693]

Bro just explained why Disney Star Wars without George Lucas won’t ever be a success.

[@ItSnowsInHell]

Raven and his Raven Effect were my favorite things in wrestling forever. Wish he got the run he deserved.

[@nu-metalfan2654]

Imo ECW gave us 5 great main event level talents, RVD, Taz, Raven, Rhyno and Bully Ray. Everyone knew RVD was the one that was most likely to succeed, Shawn Michaels was a huge fan of RVD, but as RVD fully knows that Triple H wasn’t a fan of his. But everyone knew it was when and not if when it came to RVD. Taz, Raven and Rhyno were just right place, but wrong time in WWE during their time in WWE. WWE’s main event and upper mid card scene was staked from 2000 to 2002. Rock, Austin, Triple H, Taker, Foley, Big Show, Kane, Angle, and Jericho, with Benoit and Eddie just underneath those names. So It was hard to break through from 2000 to 2002 into that upper mid card and main event scene, in fact I think it was a miracle how Angle and Jericho got into that main event scene at the time. So Taz, Raven and Rhyno were big fishes in a small pond at ECW, but in WWE they were big fishes in a giant ocean of even bigger fishes. Now to Bully Ray, no one expected Bully Ray to be a singles guy, WWE experimented it in 2002 but both Bully Ray and DVon weren’t ready to split at that time, so in 2002 Bully Ray was just in the Hardcore division and teaming with Spike, because no one expected Bully Ray to be a singles guy. It wasn’t until 2010 in TNA that Bully and DVon were fully ready to split, and Bully changed his look and name and people started to see that there was something in Bully Ray as a top guy. And by 2012 into 2013 Bully Ray was fantastic, he was doing the best work of his entire career. By the time WWE called again in 2015 Bully and DVon did the nostalgia reunion but Bully wanted to do his Bully gimmick in WWE, but Vince and the higher ups didn’t know what that was and just wanted them to put over the young guys as a tag team, after the year contract was up, Bully left because he wanted to do his Bully gimmick but WWE said no. But there is one name I’m not sure about and that’s Sabu, Sabu is one of those guys were you had to see him in his prime to fully get Sabu. And I only saw Sabu In his WWE run so for me I just didn’t see Sabu as a top guy, Sabu just screamed Deathmatch wrestler and that’s it.

[@paladonis]

Paul Heyman, low key, also explained why Super heroes have so many paths and backstories. Why the Infinity Wars weren't about Lady Death with Disney. Imagine if Tolkien gave Lovecraft a half finished Lord of the Rings....

[@banesbox]

Paul Heyman is just as knowledgeable as Jim Cornette and is as passionate about wrestling. I love this dude!

[@NicB115]

It’s so funny Hayman & Cornett disagree but also agree so much. Corny even says that Hayman is the NY version of himself. The 2 best minds in the world of wrestling.

[@spaceycaveco.698]

I was disappointed Raven didn’t have a bigger role in WWE after I’ve been behind his character in ECW and WCW.

[@Charsi_Escobar]

Walking around naked in front of Stone Cold’s wife isn’t a great idea 😅

[@spaceycaveco.698]

@@Charsi_Escobar I heard it also had something to do with when Raven was Johnny Polo in WWF, he went on a drug-fueled night out on the town with Shane and Stephanie.

[@Charsi_Escobar]

@@spaceycaveco.698 the stories from that night! Love it I never heard that story before

[@spaceycaveco.698]

@@Charsi_Escobar I would think Vince would be over something like that, but this is Vince McMahon we’re talking about…

[@FrankC71]

ECW originals were not used to being paid well and on a regular basis

[@bradw317]

Mike Awesome should have had a bigger part to play, if he had made the decision to go to WWE instead of WCW when his contract with ECW expired, guy was incredibly agile for his size. Would he have had a longer career, definitely and when he did eventually come to WWE it was way too late.

[@tonyjackson4078]

As much as a lot of critics of ECW focus on the violence, there were many complex, compelling, and prolonged stories. It was just kendo sticks, chairshots, and tables.

[@Tha_Trigga]

You know, even if you love that character at much as any other character in ECW, that really isn't a compliment. You would have to love it MORE than any other character.

[@Myunsolicitedthoughts]

Raven was such a good character, could’ve been a mega face or a mega herl

[@shawnhoman4867]

I just started rewatching ECW on Scifi on the network and it's actually better then I remember it.The whole Kelly/Kelly expose dance would never happen today tho!

[@SlapBoxCity]

How can I attend these in person events? I really want to buy tickets and see this live

[@thechosen481]

Paul Heyman, formerly known as Paul E. Dangerously, is a very good creative writer and creative genius of wrestling characters. Sadly, alot of his work in ECW, which was my favorite of the 3 organizations, was ruined by WWE's creative team.

[@ben6993]

Where can we watch the full interviews?

[@kaythedon2]

GOD bless you all 🤎I love you but GOD loves you more, always remember that 🫶🏾

[@Oddlogic335]

Raven gave off nirvana vibes

[@WhiteIkiryo-yt2it]

I would say that Stevie Richards deserved better and while he might not have been WWE champion, he deserved a good Intercontinental title run.

[@BlaineBranham-no9ik]

Idk about IC, especially in that Era. Everything always looks more feasible in hindsight. (Like Billy Gunn getting a run with the top belt, he didnt take advantage of his mid card belt run or KOTR so i think it wouldve been awful) But with Stevie def European or given him more freedom when he was Hardcore. Hell even if they let the Stevie Night Heat gimmick go on. They just had too much more-over talent at the time

[@alwaysemployed656]

Raven was the first ECW superstar. His wrestling skills sucked, but he looked great! Though, honestly what really got the Raven character over WAS that the day before he was Johnny Polo over at WWF, then the next day he was Raven at ECW. It got people curious how he went from nerdy "Duckie" Dale to Eddie Vedder, in just one day. That's what really made people watch because it was so weird how he transitioned in a very very short time.

[@thequixoticangler3364]

He was the first big company defector. Because of him, Steve Austin came, he knew Scotty. Scotty made ECW sexy. He did a fair amount of the booking. Helped with the training. When Paul got control, that was his first move. Scott Levy. He was the only in prime wrestler from a big company they ever had for more than a cameo/short run. That's why Paul and everyone else in ECW gushes over him. He really was his character. He was an enigma and a fantastic leader. When you think about ECW, you always think about Raven. He made the company viable nationally. Side note: The Stone Cold gimmick was absolutely inspired by Raven. They knew Steve was basically on loan. Needed a new gimmick to get over big. 1. The beer drinking. That's Sandman's signature. Took that to WWE and got over huge. 2. The antisocial behavior. Raven. He saw Scotty do the antihero and took it to WWE and got over huge. 3. The look. Steve's copying Scott there in a clever way. That's was just the biker version of Raven's look. Black leather vest. Combat boots. When not in tights, he was always in baggy denim shorts. Before the personal merch, he wore band shirts like Pantera. Got a few tattoos. A redneck Raven. Stone Cold was the Raven gimmick for the masses. Same exact idea.

[@alwaysemployed656]

@@thequixoticangler3364 You forgot Austin got his promo style directly from Shane Douglas. Austin did a lot of promo segments during his very short ECW stay. Not sure if WWE Network has those ECW promos Austin did in their library. Anyway, those ECW promos Austin did were genuine rants, you can see Austin genuinely upset and very emotional. I'm sure Shane Douglas must have pulled Austin to the side and mentor Austin on how to cut a promo. Shane Douglas is also a part time educator. A few years later when Austin cut that 3:16 promo on Jake Roberts, Austin did it EXACTLY just like Shane Douglas cuts promos, and that was the promo that made Austin who he is now.

[@thequixoticangler3364]

@@alwaysemployed656 yup. Forgot about that. Those were special. He found himself in that room in Philadelphia. I know Shane's promos backwards. I was an ECW guy back when it was East Coast Wrestling. You're absolutely right. Down to how he points his finger. Without that short run in Philly with cousin Paul and his motley crew, there is no Stone Cold. Austin becomes the greatest IC guy ever, but not a top guy. So, in a nutshell, He takes Sandman's signature, Raven's gimmick, Shane's promos, Paul's attitude, and don't forget that he became a brawler in ECW. He was a master technician before. Everybody seems to overlook the obvious. Paul got his guys into WWE and himself because Austin was an ECW creation. Remember, he wore ECW shirts early in his WWE run. Had a Sandman shirt in a promo. Vince understood that. He used ECWs best guy to create a revolution. Austin didn't want to leave Philly, Paul just couldn't pay him the same. No ECW, no Stone Cold.

[@alwaysemployed656]

@@thequixoticangler3364 Salute, brother! The first time I laid eyes on ECW was around 1993. The company was known as (E)astern (C)hampionship (W)restling. It was before the bloody format style. I was flipping the TV channels late at night and landed on the SportsChannel Philadelphia cable channel, when Shane Douglas won the NWA title tournament, then trashed the title to the ground and renamed the title as the ECW title. At that time the promotion was doing the traditional no blood format. It was the Axl and Ian Rotten matches that influenced changing the format to the "More Blood, Less Talent" format. Still, Shane Douglas kept it classy with his matches, no blood and more wrestling. This has been said by many in the business, and it bares repeating, PAUL HEYMAN IS A GENIUS!!! Paul produced high quality entertainment utilizing DuckTape and used chewing gum. The ECW arena was a rat infested warehouse located in a poverty crime neighborhood! I don't know about you, but I consider myself "Extremely" lucky to have witness everything ECW as it happened. The Sabu "Hannibal Lecter" gimmick, which Sabu really hated. When Taz had that goofy looking cotton hair. The 911 intermission chockeslams. The very first time RVD was inside that building, he looked like a scared little puppy. The Jason ambiguous segments, which made Joey Styles scratch his head. The Eliminators and Total Elimination. The Public Enemy segments were pure comedy!! The bWo segments were entertaining!! And of course, the CLASSIC "RVD vs Bam Bam Bigelow" matches, considered by many (including myself) as match of the year! The Sabu and Terry Funk barbwire match was gross! I watched that match with my head slightly tilted back and one eye squinting. I do feel sorry for Francine when her breasts were exposed. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy seeing female skin, but not when it's accidental and embarrassing to the female. It was a Catch-22 for Francine. She could have covered herself using her hands, but her hands were busy supporting her own body weight to avoid Tommy breaking her neck, and possibly die from a broken neck. Anyway, I think Shane Douglas is very underappreciated. If you trace the wrestling boom of the 90's and the main root of it all, it's Shane Douglas! The 90's wrestling boom branched out of ECW, and everything ECW branched out of Shane Douglas.

[@thequixoticangler3364]

@@alwaysemployed656 Ya. Prior to 92, it was called East Coast Wrestling I think. Very small. Same rathole. I grew up with an Army Dad. We lived in the area for a summer. This was a developmental territory during the NWA era. It became more when WCW killed most of the South. Shane was the reason. He was their guy. Homegrown. He grew up in ECW. He had everything. The body, the mic work, the ring work. That promo wasn't a work. ECW needed a way out of the NWA. Shane took the hit. Second best promo ever. Best is Raven and Cactus chiding Dreamer. Shane was blacklisted for that promo. He was supposed to be the new Ric Flair for NWA. He became the soul of the company. Nice to talk to another fan of that company. They were so special. It never should've gone mainstream. That killed it.