The Reason Paul Heyman Lacked Respect In WWE
Paul Heyman is heading to the WWE Hall of Fame but life in the company wasn’t always easy for The Wise Man according to Rob Van Dam.
To some Paul Heyman is the massive phone-wielding maniac that put together a huge array of WCW talent in the Dangerous Alliance. To others, Heyman is the brains behind the beloved ECW promotion that had its heyday in the nineties. And to a wider audience, Paul Heyman is the man who guided Brock Lesnar to unparalleled success in WWE before becoming The Wise Man to his Tribal Chief Roman Reigns.
While Heyman is met with almost universal acclaim for his accomplishments these days, it was not always that way for him as had to fight his corner when WWE reintroduced ECW in the mid-2000s.
“He Didn’t Get A Lot Of Respect” – Rob Van Dam On Paul Heyman
Speaking to Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, Rob Van Dam had his say on his former boss becoming a WWE Hall of Famer and explained why Heyman wasn’t always respected by his peers in the company:
It’s pretty cool they’re giving him his flowers because he was the man. He was the one that made ECW happen. He’s the one that really, not just him, but he’s the guy that made everything possible. It couldn’t have happened without him. He changed the business, he set new standards. ECW is because of him, his leadership, his braveness, his passion, his artistic direction. All of that is like, ‘Man, thank you, Paul. Thank you, Paul.’
At the same time, since he’s been in WWE, man, he’s just moved right up. I knew when I was there back then, we’re bringing ECW and all that, he didn’t get a lot of respect in the way of the other agents didn’t like ECW, were trying to fight it, didn’t want it to come in. They were giving him a hard time. They were like an opposition in a lot of ways.
But man, all the boys seemed to know right away that, man, some people say he’s a genius. A lot of the boys have been really always commenting on how smart he is, and he would take the time to pull wrestlers aside and give them advice and everything, even before he was in a higher position where that was part of his job to do that. So to see him work his way up to being one of the, I don’t even know what he is now.
At ECW, he ran everything. So to see him do that on a bigger platform with WWE, and I know he’s making bank. For all those dreams and sacrifices from back in the day, it paid off.
Paul Heyman was the first inductee for the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame and it is now known that he will be joined by Bull Nakano and The U.S. Express.