Paul Heyman Takes Shot At Legendary WWE Era For Being “Carbon Copy Of ECW”

Before jumping ship to WWE, Paul Heyman was the head booker in ECW.

Between 1993 and its closure in 2001, Heyman had the promotion’s full creative control. The company set itself apart from the then-World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling promotions.

Its environment often felt hostile, with performers often looking to one-up each other in non-traditional wrestling stipulations.

WWE, meanwhile, entered the Attitude Era, which saw the rise of names like The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Kane, and many others.

On the other hand, Extreme Championship Wrestling was headlined by the likes of Rob Van Dam, Taz, Shane Douglas, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, and Sandman, with Paul Heyman at the helm.

After it declared bankruptcy, ECW’s assets were purchased by the Vince McMahon-led WWE. A few years later, the brand was revived under the WWE banner, but it did not achieve the same level of popularity.

Paul Heyman Dubs The Attitude Era As A Copy Of ECW

Despite being WWE’s competitor at the time, Paul Heyman had a cordial relationship with Vince McMahon.

While speaking on Catch Club, the 60-year-old was asked how ECW inspited the Attitude Era, to which he claimed that the Attitude Era was a carbon copy of Extreme Championship Wrestling.

ECW was the Attitude Era. The Attitude Era was based on ECW. The Attitude Era was a carbon copy of ECW. The Attitude Era was stolen from ECW. This entire multi-billion dollar conglomerate was built on the concepts that came out of the bingo hall in Philadelphia, which were all done by me and the people in ECW.

I mean, let’s be honest as to how this all happened, because that’s how it happened, and I don’t blame the billionaires for stealing the concept. If you’re going to steal, you steal from the best, and ECW was the best. That’s why, by the way, I am the last manager from the 1980s still standing, and I’m the last promoter from the 1990s still standing. [H/T: Fightful]