The Secret History Of ECW | Wrestling Timelines

April 11, 1999 - Hak

In a wild sentence, the former Sandman highlights what is the last great night in the history of World Championship Wrestling.

Performing under the name ‘Hak’ - after a strange, dropped initial character arc as a preppy - he does a job to Bam Bam Bigelow in a ‘Hardcore’ match at Spring Stampede in a bout that does not happen, in any alternate universe, without Heyman’s influence. This is part of WCW’s Hardcore division initiative, which follows the WWF launching a specialised division of its own in late 1998. Which, of course, follows Paul Heyman’s life’s work.

It’s a fantastic, committed creative war that must infuriate Heyman. The shockingly dynamic Hak is in the best cosmetic and cardiovascular shape of his life, now that he’s in the big leagues. In ECW, and it didn’t matter much because his bond with the audience was so fierce, he was a slow, drastically out-of-shape mess half the time. One cannot sympathise too much with Heyman, however.

Hak is almost joined in WCW by Tommy Dreamer, who later claims that he rejected the offer because he felt a sense of obligation to his cult leader. A manipulative Heyman, per Dreamer’s version of the story, cried and said “You can’t do it”.

Skipping ahead on the timeline briefly:

A lot of wrestlers complained that Heyman’s money was no good. Mike Awesome had even left ECW for WCW in April 2000 because the cheques kept bouncing. The payments he was promised, and that he had earned, were delayed so frequently that he could not offer his young family financial security. Dreamer’s situation was the worst of all. He was, in effect, Heyman’s business partner towards the end of ECW. He used his own money, even his family’s money, in a bid to keep the operation afloat. Infatuated with ECW, he even arranged business meetings with potential investors in March 2001. Nothing ever happened because Heyman, per the July 23 Observer, could not produce “adequate” financial records.

Dreamer, in financial peril, was so depressed by ECW’s closure that he planned to avenge Paul Heyman by assassinating him. Heyman, who was already taking money from them as a consultant, joined the WWF full-time as a colour commentator. This final betrayal was not quite the final straw; it was one last Paul Heyman lie that plagued Dreamer’s psyche.

Heyman had told Dreamer that a spot was available to him at WrestleMania X-Seven. It was dropped, if it was ever planned in the first place. Dreamer, who learned that firearms were more freely available and permitted in Houston than his native northeast, toyed with the idea of entering the Astrodome, hopping over the barricade, and shooting Heyman in the back of the head before turning the gun on himself.

Consider, also, the fate of Chris Candido. Alongside Tammy Lynn Sytch, whose drug addiction was exploited onscreen by Heyman, Candido left ECW in December 1999 because he was owed money. He paid for company travel expenses on his personal credit card, and never received the money he had fronted. Candido ultimately lost his home. Heyman allegedly only allows Candido and Sytch out of their deal when they sign an agreement absolving Heyman of the debt.

Heyman was considered a great mind and pioneer. The sad truth is that he’d be far more reviled by pro wrestling fans, if he happened to have booked a bad or mediocre product.