“No Funny Stuff”- Paul Heyman Envisioned Two Former WWE Champions as the Poster Boys of the New ECW

One of the greatest wrestling minds of all time, Paul Heyman has seen the evolution of pro wrestling from the very near. In 2006, ECW was going through a revamp, and Paul Heyman took matters into his own hands, as he began transforming the company.

This era of ECW saw several names from WWE participating in the show. Names such as, Kurt Angle, John Cena, Edge, and Randy Orton were a major part of these shows. However, despite names such as John Cena, and Randy Orton being there, Paul Heyman had two other names in his mind as the faces of ECW.

Which superstars did Paul Heyman choose as his poster boys of ECW?

The Wiseman of WWE has one of the greatest strategic minds in all the wrestling business. Looking back at that era, Kurt Angle recently revealed a very unknown thing that Paul Heyman had in mind for ECW. Angle revealed that Heyman wanted him, and RVD as the new faces of the promotion.

He wanted Angle to be a no-nonsense wrestler. Angle said, “Paul wanted me to dominate. He wanted, you know, the longest match he wanted me to have was the match I have with Randy. So, he wanted me to dominate, he wanted me to be the face of the company along with Rob Van Dam. And you know they wanted me to be this wrestling machine.”

The Olympic Gold medalist further said, “They didn’t want me to do any gimmicks or anything. Just full-bread wrestling, lots of suplexes, less punches, all wrestling. That’s what they wanted. No funny stuff.”

Angle then went onto having a dominant run in ECW, while RVD won the WWE Championship off John Cena. Heyman’s vision was proved correct, when ECW started doing well, and fans became invested in the show and the idea.

How did Paul Heyman change ECW?

One of the most influential minds in the wrestling business, Paul Heyman had completely turned ECW’s fortunes. Prior to Heyman’s takeover, ECW was aligned with NWA, and was known as Eastern Championship Wrestling.

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However, Heyman saw the potential in the promotion, and took over it. He changed it into Extreme Championship Wrestling, and became the direct alternative WWE and WCW. ECW was far edgier, grittier, and violent than WWE or WCW. The roster comprised several well-known names, and followed the strong style wrestling of Japan, and Lucha Libre.

However, in 2001, ECW was acquired by Vince McMahon, and Heyman started working with Vince McMahon. Its acquisition by WWE marked a new day in its history, and ECW went onto having another major run before finally being disbanded in 2010.

Do you guys agree that Paul Heyman had turned ECW’s fortunes? Let us know in the comments.

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