The Many Faces Of Paul Heyman - Ranked From Worst To Best
Promoter, announcer, manager - The Advocate has played a number of roles since 1987.
Born in Westchester County, New York, Paul Heyman has been a go-getter from a very young age. He was already running his own mail order business at age 11, and secured his first paid wrestling gig by fast-talking his way into a WWE event in New York as a photojournalist when he was just 14 years old.
Heyman's photography work continued, and he kept making inroads into the business, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Dusty Rhodes and Jim Cornette, before finally making his debut as an onscreen performer in January 1987.
The past three decades have seen him not only become one of the most respected managers in the business, but a successful promoter, writer, and colour commentator. Heyman has built a Hall Of Fame-worthy career since debuting, and while he has plenty of detractors (particularly those who remember ECW's dying days), few can deny his influence.
Though his actual character hasn't changed much since his debut, Paul's career can be easily divided into a number of different phases, with each bringing varying levels of success. With Heyman still going strong in 2017, let's take a look at the roles that brought prosperity, and those that failed...
10. The Invader
When the Invasion kicked-off in summer 2001, Heyman was the obvious choice to lead the ECW charge. He’d joined WWE as a broadcaster following his company’s dissolution earlier in the year, and took the departed Jerry Lawler’s position in the announce team, embarking on a rivalry with Jim Ross. With WCW already established on WWE TV, Heyman brought ECW into the mix in July, and the group immediately aligned with Shane McMahon’s invaders.
The Alliance was formed, and Stephanie McMahon was revealed as the benefactor behind the ECW revival, but her insertion into the angle was totally needless, and transformed the Invasion into yet another glorified family feud. Not only that, but it completely undermined Paul’s status within the group, and rendered him pretty much obsolete in the power hierarchy.
Heyman became a subservient character, which made sense on some levels (ECW went bankrupt, and Stephanie had money), but not others (why wouldn't you have Mr. ECW lead the charge throughout the Invasion?). Heyman was eventually fired following The Alliance’s failure at Survivor Series 2001, ending his disappointing role in a storyline that promised much, but delivered little.