ECW Legend Accepts They Won’t Induct Paul Heyman Into WWE Hall Of Fame
An ECW legend who knows Paul Heyman well thinks there are better choices to induct the “Wise Man” into WWE’s Hall of Fame.
Paul Heyman was the first name announced for the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2024. Heyman going into the Hall of Fame this year makes a lot of sense due to being the man who ran Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in the 1990s and it’s promotion that was based out of Philadelphia, which is where WrestleMania 40 will take place.
Joining Heyman as inductees at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on April 5th are Bull Nakano and the US Express tag team of Mike Rotunda & Barry Windham. There will likely be more names announced in the coming weeks.
Due to his history in pro wrestling over the last 40 years, there are many names that people have suggested to introduce/induct Heyman into the Hall of Fame. It could be somebody from his days as a WCW manager, the dozens of wrestlers that worked for Heyman in ECW in the 1990s, or his WWE run that dates back to 2001.
In WWE, Heyman has been linked on screen with top stars like Brock Lesnar, Big Show, Kurt Angle, CM Punk and of course the “Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns for the last four years.
Some of the ECW wrestlers that Heyman was closest with were The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley), Tommy Dreamer and Taz since those guys all had roles behind the scenes in the company as well as being top stars.
As a co-host on Busted Open Radio on Sirius XM, Tommy Dreamer explained why he could certainly induct Heyman, but noted there are better options.
“If I’m the original Paul Heyman guy, sure (I’m the right person to induct him into WWE’s Hall of Fame). Am I the right pick? No. If I had to pick between — I have people in-house; Steve Austin, CM Punk. I’m picking either one of those two guys. It’s a television show and I understand the industry… Or, I’m sorry, Roman Reigns, hi… Could I do it? Sure. Should I do it? No.”
Dreamer and co-host Bully Ray (Bubba Ray Dudley) spoke about Roman Reigns as a possibility, but Dreamer thinks that Steve Austin is a better option.
“I can see it happening, I just don’t think that he’s a better choice than Steve in my opinion. Because Paul does not like to lean or rely on the past, I think that the Roman choice could be in play because Roman can speak about the here and now.”
Steve Austin was part of Heyman’s Dangerous Alliance stable in WCW, worked for Heyman in ECW before Austin went to WWE (and really showed off his personality in ECW), and then obviously Heyman worked with Austin a lot in WWE.
Paul Heyman And The Bloodline To Have Heavy Presence At WrestleMania 40
In addition to the Hall of Fame induction, Paul Heyman will be very busy at WrestleMania 40 since The Bloodline’s Roman Reigns & The Rock will face Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40 on Night 1, April 6th.
On Night 2 of WrestleMania 40 on April 7th, the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will defend his title against Cody Rhodes. Based on what happens in the tag team match on Night 1, there could be either a heavy Bloodline presence or no Bloodline presence at all.