Paul Heyman

Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman in April 2014.
Birth name	Paul Heyman
Born	(1965-09-11) September 11, 1965 Scarsdale, New York, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Marla Heyman
Children	2
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Paul Heyman Paul E. Dangerously Paul Dangerly
Billed from	Scarsdale, New York, U.S.
Debut	1987

Paul Heyman (born September 11, 1965) is an American entertainment producer, writer, performer and promoter, currently signed to WWE. He owned and was the creative visionary behind the revolutionary Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion from September 1993 until its closure in 2001. Before investing in ECW, he was a manager, Paul E. Dangerously, in World Championship Wrestling and other promotions. He is also the co-owner of the Looking4Larry Agency in New York City, regarded as one of NYC's hottest viral marketing firms. Heyman was named one of Advertising Age's Top 100 Global Marketers, and continues to do both WWE and his agency as dual full time careers.

In WWE, he has managed a record five WWE Champions: Brock Lesnar, Big Show, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, and CM Punk, with Lesnar being his current client. Commentators have praised Heyman's abilities at managing and on the microphone to be among the greatest. if not the greatest in professional wrestling history.

Early life

Paul Heyman was born in Scarsdale, New York to Jewish parents, Richard S. Heyman, a prominent personal injury attorney (died June 25, 2013) and Sulamita Heyman, a Holocaust survivor (died February 27, 2009). By age 11, he was running a mail order business selling celebrity and sports memorabilia business from his home. While still a teenager, Heyman fast-talked his way backstage at a World Wide Wrestling Federation event at Madison Square Garden as a photojournalist. He was paid by the company for several of his photographs. He attended SUNY Purchase and Westchester Community College, where he worked on-air as an opinionated, controversial host at the radio stations, and later became a producer (at the age of 19) and promoter for the New York City nightclub Studio 54 in the mid-1990s.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1987)

Heyman decided he wanted to work in professional wrestling when he saw Vince McMahon interviewing Billy Graham. Heyman began as a photographer when he was 13 and bought his own photo lab to take photos of pro wrestlers of New York. He published his own newspaper, "The Wrestling Times Magazine" and wrote for third-party wrestling publications such as Pro Wrestling Illustrated. At the age of 14, he called Capitol Wrestling Corporation and obtained a backstage pass for Madison Square Garden, his first official work in pro wrestling. He became a friend of Freddie Blassie, Captain Lou Albano and The Grand Wizard of Wrestling. Heyman met Dusty Rhodes at a NWA Jim Crockett TV Taping, when he entered a production meeting.

In 1980, Heyman took photos of Vince McMahon Sr. talking with André the Giant backstage at a show. Heyman gave the photos to McMahon, Howard Finkel and was paid for several more of his photos. In 1985, Heyman was hired by New York Studio 54 as photographer. The same year, he became producer of Studio 54 and hosted the first Wrestle Party 85 show. Heyman called Jim Crockett and Crockett sent Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA. The show featured Bam Bam Bigelow's debut and an award to Flair.

Heyman made his managerial debut on January 2, 1987 after Bigelow asked him, initially appearing on the Northeast independent circuit before moving to a more high-profile stint with Championship Wrestling from Florida in February 1987. There, he joined forces with Kevin Sullivan and Oliver Humperdink and first became known as Paul E. Dangerously because of his resemblance to Michael Keaton's character in Johnny Dangerously.

After CWF was absorbed by Jim Crockett Promotions, Bigelow brought him to Memphis and the Continental Wrestling Association to manage Tommy Rich and Austin Idol in a heated feud with Jerry Lawler, a war which later carried over to the American Wrestling Association (AWA), with the Original Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose) taking over for Idol and the face-turned Rich. The feud also manifested later in the WWF in 1997, with the two clashing over the merits of ECW in an interpromotional angle between the two companies.

The Paul E. Dangerously gimmick was an extension of Heyman's own personality: a brash New Yorker with a yuppie attitude, often seen holding a mobile phone, which was occasionally used as a "foreign object" (according to Heyman, he decided to use the mobile phone as a weapon when he watched Gordon Gekko in Wall Street.)

Continental Wrestling Federation (1987–1988)

After departing the AWA, Heyman went to the Alabama-based Continental Wrestling Federation. Paul joined with Eddie Gilbert's Hot Stuff Inc. stable. Behind the scenes, Gilbert was the head booker of the promotion and Heyman became his assistant. Heyman was also the head Booker for Windy City Wrestling in Chicago, and started developing a reputation as being an innovative television writer and producer.

World Championship Wrestling (1988–1993)

Main article: The Dangerous Alliance

In 1988, Heyman jumped to Jim Crockett Promotions, where Dangerously again managed the Original Midnight Express in a feud with the new Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) and their manager, Jim Cornette, as well as managing "Mean" Mark Callous, who later became The Undertaker in WWE. He settled into the role of an announcer, joining Jim Ross to call the matches on WTBS' World Championship Wrestling and other programming. Heyman admitted during his work with Ross, he learned more than from his previous mentors. During his role as an announcer, he feuded with Ross, Missy Hyatt, and Hyatt's boyfriend and actor Jason Hervey.

In October 1991, Heyman was briefly suspended from the company, as he supposedly leaked information to Eddie Gilbert about a planned angle by Jerry Jarrett to set up an angle between Lex Luger and Jerry Lawler, which would eventually lead to a title unification match for the USWA and WCW World titles. Heyman claimed to have no knowledge of the proposed angle, the suspension was lifted and Heyman returned to the company.

In 1991, WCW needed to re-structure its "heels", so Heyman returned to the role as spokesman and ringside manager as the manager of the Dangerous Alliance (a new version of the Four Horsemen), with Rick Rude as the center piece of the stable. Also included Madusa as his assistant, Bobby Eaton, Arn Anderson, and Larry Zbyszko. Also, he asked for the WCW TV Champion Steve Austin to include a superstar of tomorrow. According to Heyman, him and Austin learned how to be a main eventer from Rude. Heyman led Rude to the United States title and the Anderson-Eaton tag team to the Tag Team titles. The Dangerous Alliance dominated WCW through most of 1992, meeting their biggest foes in Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Nikita Koloff, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes and the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott Steiner). Heyman's major falling out with management occurred when WCW hired Bill Watts, the legendary former owner of the Mid-South (Oklahoma/Louisiana) territory. Heyman was fired from WCW in January 1993 by Watts for supposedly falsifying expense reports between April and July 1992, but he retaliated by suing the company based on claims of antisemitism. Heyman won a major undisclosed settlement, as Watts had been fired shortly after getting rid of Heyman, with Watts' termination coming on the heels of comments supporting racial discrimination he gave during a PWTorch interview, which had been pointed out to TBS Vice President Henry Aaron.

Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling (1993–2001)

Main article: Extreme Championship Wrestling

Heyman at an ECW show in 1998.

After departing WCW, Heyman attempted to start a new promotion in Texas with Jim Crockett, Jr., but Crockett wanted to build a traditional wrestling brand while Heyman declared traditional wrestling was antiquated and a new take on the genre was needed.

At this time, Eddie Gilbert was a Booker for a Philadelphia-based promotion, NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling, which he did under the ownership of a local pawn shop owner named Tod Gordon. Heyman came in to help Gilbert teach the younger wrestlers how to perform on interviews, but Gilbert's erratic behavior became too much for Gordon, who had a major falling out with Gilbert right before the "Ultra Clash" event on September 18, 1993. From that point forward, Heyman was in charge of the creative direction of the company.

As Paul E. Dangerously, he managed a few wrestlers, including Sabu who Paul E. managed to the top, winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship and the ECW World Television Championship and 911, but Heyman's increased workload led to him making fewer and fewer appearances on-camera.

A year later, the company was the flagship promotion of the struggling National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). A tournament was scheduled to be held in August 1994 for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, at an ECW-hosted event mostly featuring ECW wrestlers. The proposed outcome was the current ECW champion Shane Douglas becoming champion, but Heyman conspired with Douglas and Gordon without the knowledge of NWA president Dennis Coraluzzo to have Douglas (and by extension, ECW itself) publicly denounce the NWA and its "tradition" after winning the tournament. In his post-match speech, Douglas aggressively assaulted the title's lineage, throwing the belt itself down, proclaiming the NWA a "dead organization" and declaring his ECW title a world-level championship. The plan for this shoot screwjob was known only to those three men; the surprise of the incident made headlines throughout the wrestling industry.

Heyman addressing the crowd at an ECW television taping in 1999.

That same week, Heyman and Gordon rechristened the promotion, eliminating the regional branding "Eastern" and declaring the promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling. They broke the company away from the National Wrestling Alliance and ECW became its own entity, with Heyman encouraging wrestlers to express their true feelings about the WWF, the NWA, and WCW and allowing them to help develop their own characters. Many wrestlers willingly took on additional roles in company operations, such as handling merchandise and answering phones. The company grew a hardcore loyal fan base with which Heyman encouraged interaction. Eventually, Heyman bought the company from Tod Gordon and, became sole owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling. Heyman's creative vision for ECW was based on the promotion's ability to rally its audience into an "us versus them" mentality, and while the resurrgence in professional wrestling in the 1990s can be attributed to many factors, Heyman's "Extreme" vision paved the way for Vince McMahon's "Attitude" era, and Heyman is credited as the architect for the boom.

During his time in ECW, Heyman found an ally in Vince McMahon's WWF. In 1996, Heyman and McMahon had a reunion. McMahon will send some WWF wrestlers to ECW (under WWF payroll) to develop them, like Al Snow or Droz and he was interested in some ECW wrestlers, like Terry Gordy or 2 Cold Scorpio. However, ECW made a deal with Tommy Boy Records. Tommy Boy Records gave ECW $1,000 per week if ECW uses his songs during Scorpio's entrances. So, McMahon gave Heyman $1,000 per week to rent Scorpio.

In the final days of ECW, Heyman didn't appear on the show and he was replaced as the leader of the backstage and creative by Tommy Dreamer. ECW entered into bankruptcy in 2001 (just weeks after WCW was sold to WWF for $2,000,000, after AOL Time Warner wrote off over 100 million in debt), with the company $7,000,000 in arrears, with over $3,000,000 owed to the company by InDemand pay per view. After ECW folded, Heyman moved to WWF as the color commentator on Monday Night Raw, and also became a major force on the creative team behind the scenes.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

Broadcaster and commentator (2001)

Heyman became a broadcaster for the WWF, replacing Jerry Lawler (who had quit the WWF in protest when then-wife Stacy Carter was released by the company) as color commentator for Raw in March 2001. During that time, he resumed his storyline rivalry with Jim Ross. In July, while retaining his commentator role, Heyman recreated ECW as a stable, which then immediately merged with Shane McMahon's WCW to form the Alliance during the Invasion angle. After the Alliance's formation, Michael Cole replaced Heyman on commentary for the July 16 and July 23 episodes of Raw before Heyman took his position back on the July 30 episode, saying that Cole had not done a good job conveying the Alliance's message to fans. Heyman was "fired" following the 2001 Survivor Series. He was replaced by the returning Lawler, who held the position until late 2014, when he was replaced by Booker T and moved to Smackdown.

Managing Brock Lesnar (2002-2003)

While he was in WWE, Tazz talked to him about Brock Lesnar, a development wrestler who was receiving "the worst advice possible", so Heyman helped him with the "different advice than what he was receiving". When Heyman and Vince McMahon watched Lesnar's match together, McMahon decided to make Heyman Lesnar's manager. Heyman led Lesnar to the WWE Undisputed Championship when Lesnar beat The Rock at SummerSlam. Then at the Survivor Series, Heyman turned on Lesnar and helped The Big Show take the title from him. Heyman became the first man in professional wrestling history to manage three successive World Champions when it was revealed that he was Kurt Angle's agent just days after Angle beat Big Show for the title.

Heyman was legitimately injured in January, when taking the F-5 from Lesnar at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California. A major falling out between Heyman and McMahon occurred when McMahon ended the Lesnar – Heyman feud on television just weeks before WrestleMania, when Heyman was scheduled to manage Angle in the main event against Lesnar. Heyman left for a while, and was on WWE payroll for several months as a consultant regarding the television shows as he also received therapy on his neck.

SmackDown! General Manager (2003–2004)

After McMahon "defeated" his daughter Stephanie in October at the No Mercy 2003 pay-per-view, she was forced to resign from her position as General Manager (GM) of SmackDown!. Heyman returned to television to assume Stephanie McMahon's on-camera role as GM and, unlike the fan favorite character Stephanie portrayed, Heyman's character, like Eric Bischoff's on Raw, was portrayed similarly to that of Vince McMahon's on-screen role- an arrogant dictator of a boss that stacked the odds against his popular wrestlers and favored the unpopular ones. During this time, he re-aligned himself with Lesnar and proceeded to infuriate Undertaker, John Cena, and especially Chris Benoit by making sure he had no WWE Championship opportunities as long as he was GM. Eventually, on SmackDown! right before WrestleMania XX, Heyman asked the entire locker room to back him and Lesnar up against Stone Cold Steve Austin, but they just stood there and walked away from him, including one of Heyman's main supporters, The Big Show.

On March 22, 2004, Heyman appeared on Raw to take part in the annual WWE Draft Lottery. During the show he was drafted to work for Bischoff on Raw, but instead decided to "quit" rather than work for nemesis Bischoff, the man who he blamed for killing ECW by raiding its talent. Heyman was replaced by one of his former managerial clients, Kurt Angle.

During Heyman's tenure on SmackDown!, he served as the head writer and is credited with being the creative force behind the successful so-called "SmackDown! Six": (Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero). He placed them in a "triple threat tag team feud" (Angle and Benoit, Edge and Mysterio, Los Guerreros) over the WWE Tag Team Championship. This resulted in a string of high-caliber matches over several months, one of which was awarded 2002 Match of the Year by the Wrestling Observer; Heyman was awarded Best Booker. All of the "SmackDown! Six" went on to become world champions, with Edge, Benoit, Mysterio, & Angle becoming World Heavyweight Champions, Eddie Guerrero, Angle, Mysterio and Edge becoming WWE Champions, & Chavo Guererro later becoming ECW World Champion on the later revived ECW, with Edge and Eddie Guerrero even being awarded a place in the WWE Hall of Fame. Also, during his tenure on SmackDown, the TV show beat RAW in rating, merchandising and live events assistance.

Return to managing (2004–2005)

During 2004, Heyman's on-camera role was again as a manager, this time to the Dudley Boyz (not including Spike Dudley; Heyman's role in that regard disappeared just as Spike became "the boss" of his "big brothers"), and Heidenreich. In these managerial roles, he mainly led his stars in feuds with The Undertaker. Heyman's last appearance on SmackDown! saw him sealed in a coffin by Undertaker during a handicap match, which featured Heyman and Heidenreich against The Undertaker on January 6, 2005.

ECW One Night Stand Revival (2005)

Heyman was heavily involved in the booking and promotion of the June 12, 2005 ECW reunion PPV, One Night Stand. Heyman returned to Raw on May 23 and confronted former WCW President Eric Bischoff, lauding ECW and criticizing WCW. Among other things, Heyman told him the following: "ECW was a lifestyle, it was anti-establishment, it was countercultures, and it was up in your face!" Heyman finished it up by setting Bischoff's ECW funeral wreath (made out of barbed wire) on fire. At One Night Stand, a visibly emotional Heyman came to the ring, got on his knees and bowed to the fans, who chanted "Thank you Paul!" He then cut a worked shoot promo insulting Bischoff, Edge, and JBL.

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2005–2006)

On July 10, 2005, it was reported that Heyman took over the positions of head booker and writer in OVW, a developmental territory maintained by WWE. It was during this time that he forged a real-life friendship with future WWE Champion, CM Punk. Once, Heyman permitted Punk to write the TV show.

Return of ECW (2006)

Heyman in the ring in 2006.

On the May 22 episode of Raw Heyman appeared as ECW Representative promoting One Night Stand. On May 25, 2006 it was announced that ECW would relaunch, as a third WWE brand. Heyman was in charge of the new brand on-camera but had minimal creative input off-camera as well. This would turn Heyman face for the first time in his career. On the May 29 episode of Raw, during a face-off with Mick Foley, Heyman announced that he was granted a draft pick from both Raw and SmackDown! by Vince McMahon. His Raw draft pick was former ECW wrestler (and Money in the Bank contract holder) Rob Van Dam, and his SmackDown! draft pick was Kurt Angle. Angle then came down to the ring and attacked Foley, hitting him with an Angle Slam. Heyman predicted that Van Dam would defeat John Cena at One Night Stand for the WWE Championship and then declare himself the new ECW World Heavyweight Champion. On the June 2 edition of SmackDown!, Heyman served as a guest commentator for Angle's final match on the brand.

At One Night Stand, Van Dam defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship. After Cena knocked an ECW referee unconscious, Edge (in a disguise) appeared and speared Cena through a table, before taking out SmackDown! referee Nick Patrick, allowing Van Dam to hit the Five-Star Frog Splash on Cena. With no referee available Heyman ran down the aisle to count the pinfall and cement his face turn. The following night on Raw, Heyman confirmed that because the championship match was contested under "ECW rules" (which means, essentially, there are no rules) that the decision stands and RVD is the "Undisputed" WWE Champion. As the WWE Champion, Van Dam was the number one man in the reformed ECW, so on the debut of ECW on Sci Fi the next night Heyman, announced as an "ECW Representative", presented him with the re-instated ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Heyman had previously implied that RVD would "re-christen" the WWE Championship into the ECW Championship. Van Dam, however, elected to keep both title belts and was recognized as both the WWE and ECW Champion.

On the July 4, 2006 edition of ECW, The Big Show challenged Van Dam to a match for the ECW Championship. Near the end of the match, Big Show took out the referee prior to RVD hitting a Five-Star Frog Splash on Show. Heyman then came out to count the pin (just like at One Night Stand) but stopped at the count of 2, reverting to a heel. After realizing what happened, Van Dam began chasing Heyman. The distraction allowed Big Show to recover, and knock Van Dam to the mat. At this time Heyman began barking orders at Big Show. He then instructed Big Show to chokeslam Van Dam on a steel chair that had been used earlier in the match. Big Show pinned Van Dam and Heyman made the 3 count, "screwing" Van Dam out of the ECW Championship. Being that Philadelphia was "the home of ECW", and the audience at the Wachovia Center was the first "true ECW-style" fanbase for an ECW on Sci-Fi show, the fans were so incensed by the title change that many of them threw garbage and debris into the ring. This incident has been referred to by the WWE as the "South Philly Screwjob" (evoking comparisons to the Montreal screwjob).

WWE.com then (kayfabe) announced that Heyman was suspending Van Dam for 30 days (mirroring the legit WWE executive decision, due to his and Sabu's recent arrests on drug possession charges.) Heyman began referring to himself as the "Messiah" and "Father Of ECW", justifying his actions stating "anything [can] happen in ECW" and RVD got what he deserved. He also began being accompanied to ECW events by a pair of "private security guards" in riot gear (in actuality the Basham Brothers), ostensibly to protect him from ECW wrestlers and fans who are angry about his recent actions. Heyman's character has also been shown as having a bias toward the "new faces of ECW" (wrestlers who never wrestled for the original incarnation) instead of the "ECW Originals". The only "new face of ECW" he had not shown bias towards was CM Punk, likely due to Punk's status as a then-babyface again.

Due to a behind-the-scenes dispute over ECW's first (and only) solo pay-per-view under WWE (December to Dismember) which aired December 3, 2006, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and Heyman clashed in front of several members of the writing team on McMahon's corporate jet the day after the pay per view, and Heyman ended up traveling home from the RAW/ECW taping in South Carolina. After turning down Stephanie McMahon-Levesque's behind the scenes offer to return to his post writing TV for WWE Developmental television shows, Heyman quietly parted ways with WWE in late 2006. It was over a year after his dismissal before Heyman commented on the departure, revealing that the resurrection of ECW was mishandled in his opinion and how his booking ideas for December to Dismember were completely different from Vince McMahon's. Heyman disagreed with Lashley becoming the champion. He also felt that taking Sabu out of the main event was a ridiculous idea, claiming he would be perfect for the "Extreme Elimination Chamber". Vince however felt that he could be removed in place of Hardcore Holly, in order to big up Lashley for becoming the new champ. Heyman also felt that Big Show should be eliminated early on in the match by CM Punk via submission, in order to push the rising star. Big Show also agreed with this idea, also wanting to help push Punk's rising career, but Vince once more disagreed. According to Heyman, he was very frustrated during his time in ECW, because it was a very different product than the original ECW and he thought it was a huge mistake.

Return to WWE (2012–present)

Heyman brandishing the WWE Championship on behalf of champion CM Punk.

Paul Heyman returned to WWE on the May 7, 2012 episode of Raw as Brock Lesnar's legal advisor. He announced that Lesnar had quit the company, and was "never coming back". The following week on Raw, Heyman confronted Triple H, handing him a lawsuit from Lesnar for "breaching a valid contract". Triple H responded by physically grabbing Heyman by the face and shove him backward into the ropes, leading Heyman to announce that he would file a lawsuit against Triple H for "assault and battery". On the June 18 Raw, Heyman declined Triple H's challenge for a match at SummerSlam, on Lesnar's behalf before Triple H punched him . Later that month, Heyman said Lesnar would answer Triple H's challenge himself at the 1000th episode of Raw. On Raw 1000, Heyman was assaulted by Stephanie McMahon. Lesnar would go on to defeat Triple H at SummerSlam, where, on the following nights episode of Raw, Lesnar once again announced he was leaving the WWE.

Heyman aligned himself with CM Punk on the September 3 episode of Raw after he was seen driving the car Punk had entered. He began accompanying Punk to the ring for his matches and promos. On the October 8th Raw he attempted to propose to Raw General Manager AJ Lee in order to also have power running Raw but she slapped him in the face. Mr. McMahon cost CM Punk the title at Royal Rumble when he restarted the main event match after Punk initially cheated to win and The Rock pinned Punk to become the new champion. On the January 28 edition of Raw, Mr. McMahon was given an F5 by Lesnar when he was ready to fire Heyman for lying about using The Shield and Maddox to help CM Punk during his championship reign. The next week on Raw, it was revealed on MizTV that Lesnar was resigned to WWE by Raw Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero (who had recently replaced AJ Lee) without Heyman's prior knowledge. During MizTV, Lesnar came back and gave an F-5 to The Miz.

Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman at WrestleMania 29.

Paul Heyman had his WWE resignation speech on the February 11 Raw which was halted by CM Punk, and he managed to negotiate a clause with Mr. McMahon that the champion cannot retain the title via count-out of disqualification, as long as The Shield is not involved. Heyman kept good on his promise to support Punk, then unintentionally caused Punk to lose to The Rock at Elimination Chamber when Punk struck him by mistake. Heyman was challenged to a fight by Mr. McMahon on the February 25 edition of Raw, in which Heyman and McMahon traded shots with his crutches. Lesnar interfered on Heyman's behalf but Triple H showed up and went after Lesnar. CM Punk earned the right to fight The Undertaker in a WrestleMania match after winning a Fatal Four Way match at Old School Raw and on the March 25 episode of Raw Triple H signed the contract to face Lesnar at WrestleMania, the stipulations being: No Holds Barred, with Triple H's career on the line. On the subsequent episode of Raw, he elaborated that Triple H's managerial career could be on the line. Heyman also dressed up to impersonate the late Paul Bearer to lure The Undertaker to be attacked by CM Punk on Raw, who was dressed as one of the torch carrying druids. Punk proceeded to empty ash from the symbolic urn onto the dead-man as a sign of disrespect. Both of Heyman's clients lost their high-stakes matches during WrestleMania 29, during Lesnar's match, Heyman received a Sweet Chin Music from Shawn Michaels.

On the April 15 episode of Raw, Heyman announced Lesnar had once again challenged Triple H at Extreme Rules to a steel cage match. On the following week, Triple H accepted the match and delivered a pedigree to Heyman. As a response, Lesnar and Heyman invaded the headquarters of WWE and trashed the office of Triple H. In Heyman's words, after years of 'discouraging Lesnar from inflicting more damage and hurt on his opponents or rival', the Pedigree Heyman received was the last straw for him to change his stance and 'encourage' Lesnar to 'hurt Triple H' and to 'maim Triple H' in the Steel Cage, and take him 'to the extreme... and go further and further...'.

Heyman announced Michael McGillicutty as the newest "Paul Heyman guy" on the May 20 Raw and gave him the new name of Curtis Axel. On the May 27th episode of Raw, Paul Heyman appeared on the Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho, where Jericho challenged CM Punk to a match at Payback which Heyman accepted on Punk's behalf. The next week, Heyman and Jericho signed the contract to make it official. The same week on SmackDown, Jericho faced off against Curtis Axel. As Jericho was closing in on the victory, Heyman stood on the announce table and yelled It's clobbering time, the phrase Punk uses on his way to the ring. Punk's music began to play distracting Jericho long enough for Axel to pick up the victory.

At Payback, Heyman coached Axel during his match with Wade Barrett and The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship with Axel winning the match and the title. Heyman then accompanied Punk to the ring later in the show for his match with Chris Jericho. After Payback, a WWE.com exclusive video aired with Punk telling Heyman that he is his friend and not his client. Punk later turned face on the June 17th Raw, challenging Alberto Del Rio, making sure to mention he doesn't want Heyman managing him anymore. Following Punk's match, he was attacked by Lesnar. The next week on Raw, Punk demanded answers from Heyman, who swore that he did not ask Lesnar to attack him. Punk forgave Heyman and hugged him. Punk then faced Darren Young and, following his win, was attacked by Titus O'Neil until Curtis Axel saved him, to Punk's chagrin. Heyman announced that he would team with Axel against The Prime Time Players the next week, again to Punk's disapproval.

At Money in the Bank, Paul Heyman betrayed CM Punk, costing him his chance at the Money in the Bank briefcase by hitting him 3 times with a ladder, knocking Punk off the ladder when he was ascending. On the August 5th episode of Raw, Punk retaliated by choking Heyman while Heyman was in Curtis Axel's corner during a match. This prompted Lesnar to enter the ring and attack Punk. Heyman later challenged Punk to a 1-on-1 match for the next week's Raw, which Punk accepted. However, this was revealed to be a trap when Lesnar appeared prior to the match. The plan was foiled however when Heyman dared CM Punk to come into the ring and accept the challenge as CM Punk, who had anticipated the trap and hid under the ring, emerged and attacked Lesnar. However, Punk failed to get his hands on Heyman as Curtis Axel came to Heyman's aid. This led to a match between Lesnar and Punk at SummerSlam, which Lesnar won after interference from Heyman.

"I think the bar was set so high with the chemistry that Brock and I have, and the chemistry that Punk and I had, that it would be very difficult to match that ... I've never walked through the curtain with someone I wasn't trying to audition as a WrestleMania main-eventer, and I never want to ... But sometimes the chemistry just isn't there."

Heyman in 2015, regarding wrestlers he did not complement well with.

Heyman and Axel delivered a brutal assault to Punk on Raw the following week, with Heyman breaking a kendo stick over Punk's back while Punk was handcuffed. Heyman was then booked to team with Axel against CM Punk in an elimination handicap match at Night of Champions. Heyman tried various times to get out of the match, which caused General Manager Brad Maddox to make the match into a no disqualification elimination handicap match. At Night of Champions, Punk eliminated Axel (who had been forced to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Kofi Kingston earlier in the night), leaving Heyman alone with Punk. After a receiving a beating from Punk and being placed in handcuffs, just as Heyman did to Punk weeks before, Punk was about to attack Heyman with a kendo stick when Ryback interfered and cost Punk the match by putting Punk through a table. In subsequent weeks Heyman boasted his win over Punk and Ryback began associating with Heyman. At Battleground, Punk would pin Ryback after a low blow. At Hell in a Cell, Punk defeated both Ryback & Heyman and after the match attacked Heyman on top of the cell, putting an end to their feud. On the November 11, 2013 episode of Raw, Heyman stated that he was no longer with Ryback as Ryback never officially accepted his proposal to become a "Paul Heyman Guy." After that, CM Punk came out to once again beat Heyman with a kendo stick. The following night on Smackdown, Heyman formally announced to Curtis Axel and Ryback that they were no longer Paul Heyman guys, therefore marking the end of Axel's association with Heyman as he continued to team with Ryback.

Heyman returned on the December 30 edition of Raw alongside Brock Lesnar, who attacked Mark Henry. He also stood by Lesnar as he feuded with Big Show and The Undertaker in the first four months of 2014. Lesnar ended The Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania XXX; this was Undertaker's first loss at a WrestleMania, as he previously had a record of 21 wins. On the Raw following WrestleMania, Cesaro revealed himself to be a "Paul Heyman Guy". Cesaro eventually declared himself no longer a "Paul Heyman Guy" on the July 21 edition of Raw. After Triple H announced that Randy Orton would challenge John Cena at SummerSlam, Roman Reigns came out and fought with Orton backstage. Heyman then came out and told Triple H to implement "Plan C" which was the return of Lesnar, who would have a match against Cena at SummerSlam. Lesnar defeated Cena at the pay-per-view to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

At Royal Rumble, Paul Heyman was at ringside when Lesnar retained his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena and Seth Rollins. At WrestleMania 31 Paul Heyman was at ringside when Brock Lesnar defended his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Royal Rumble 2015 winner Roman Reigns, Lesnar was unsuccessful as Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and made the match a Triple Threat Match, Rollins pinned Reigns for the win. The next night on Raw, Lesnar was suspended after he demanded a rematch for the title and attacked several innocent people.

Other media

Heyman launched a multimedia project with the paper called The Heyman Hustle. It features video of Heyman interacting with celebrities from various fields of entertainment on the streets of New York City, as well as regular writings of Heyman's take on the world of professional wrestling, including his thoughts on the McMahon family, the Chris Benoit murder-suicide, Ric Flair's retirement, and Joey Styles being replaced by Mike Adamle as the ECW play-by-play commentator. Notable guests of the first season of the Hustle include Holly Madison, Ice-T and Coco, James Lipton, Aubrey O'Day, and Jesse Ventura.

The Heyman Hustle became the flagship for NewsCorp's SUN TV broadband television network, and Heyman expanded the brand in New York City to open an advertising, marketing, and branding firm called The Looking4Larry Agency. Heyman collaborated with award winning NYC ad executive Mitchell K. Stuart of HQ-Creative Services to form the company, which immediately signed up EA Sports as their first client.

After successful viral campaigns with EA, The Looking4Larry Agency became the agency of record for THQ video games, where Heyman and Stuart wrote, directed, and produced viral videos for THQ games such as All Stars, WWE '12, and WWE '13; In 2011, Heyman worked with Brock Lesnar once again, this time collaborating with him on Lesnar's autobiography, Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival. It was published by William Morrow and Company on May 24, 2011.

Video games

Heyman has appeared in the following video games: WWE Day of Reckoning; WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw, WWE 2K14 & WWE 2K15.

Acting

Heyman portrayed a sports announcer in 2002's Rollerball. Heyman was later chosen by I Am Legend executive producer Michael Tadross to play "Gino" in the film adaptation of long-running Off-Broadway show Tony n' Tina's Wedding.

Personal life

Heyman is a single father of two children, Azalea Szarf Heyman (born July 31, 2002) and Jacob Zelig Heyman (born May 28, 2004).

In wrestling

• Wrestlers managed ("Paul Heyman Guys")

• 911
• A-Train
• Adrian Adonis
• Arn Anderson
• Austin Idol
• Big Show
• Bob Orton
• Bobby Eaton
• Brock Lesnar
• Bubba Ray Dudley
• Cesaro
• Charlie Haas
• CM Punk
• Colonel DeBeers
• Curtis Axel
• The Dark Patriot
• D-Von Dudley
• Don Muraco
• Eddie Gilbert
• Hardcore Holly
• Heidenreich
• Jimmy Snuka
• Kurt Angle
• Larry Zbyszko
• Madusa
• Mark Callous
• Matt Morgan
• Nathan Jones
• Rey Mysterio
• Rhyno
• Rick Rude
• Rob Van Dam
• Ryback
• Sabu
• Shelton Benjamin
• Steve Austin
• Tazz
• Test
• Tommy Dreamer
• Tommy Rich

• Stables and tag teams managed
  • The Original Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose)
  • The New Original Midnight Express (Randy Rose and Jack Victory)
  • The Samoan Swat Team
  • The Dangerous Alliance
  • The New Dangerous Alliance (ECW Version) Eddie Gilbert, Jimmy Snuka, Don Muraco, and Dark Patriot)
  • Team Angle
  • The Dudley Boyz
  • RybAxel (Curtis Axel and Ryback)

• Nicknames
  • "One of the Greatest Minds in Professional Wrestling"
  • "The Best in the World" – self-proclaimed after pinning CM Punk at Night of Champions
  • "The Mad Scientist"
  • "The Messiah of a New Breed Unleashed"
  • "The Rabbi of the Revolution"
  • "The Swinging Schlong of the Extreme"
  • "The Voice of the Voice of the Voiceless" – while managing CM Punk
  • "The One Behind the One in 21-1"
  • "Paulrus"

• Entrance themes
  • "This is Extreme" by Harry Slash & The Slashtones
  • "Balls to the Wall" by Chimaira
  • "Next Big Thing" by Jim Johnston (as Brock Lesnar's manager; March 2002 – November 2002; May 7, 2012 – August 20, 2012)
  • "Mental" by Bryan New (as SmackDown General Manager; 2003–2004)
  • "Cult of Personality" by Living Colour (as CM Punk's manager; September 3, 2012 – July 14, 2013; March 3, 2014)
  • "The Next Big Thing (Remix)" by Jim Johnston (as Brock Lesnar's manager; January 28, 2013–present)
  • "Reborn" by Jim Johnston (as Curtis Axel's manager; May 20, 2013 – November 16, 2013)
  • "Meat on the Table" by Jim Johnston (as Ryback's manager; 2013)
  • "Swiss Made" by CFO$ (as Cesaro's manager; April 21, 2014 – July 21, 2014)

Awards and accomplishments

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Manager of the Year (1992)

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Best Booker (1994–1997, 2002)
  • Best on Interviews (2013–2014)
  • Best Non-Wrestler (2001–2002, 2004, 2012–2014)
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2005)

External links

• Heyman Hustle
• Paul Heyman at IMDb
• Paul Heyman on WWE.com

• Paul Heyman Biography