Top 7 Pro Wrestling Promoters In History

2. Paul Heyman

In professional wrestling, there are the promoters, and then there are the visionaries €“ those who are successful in transcending the business and becoming something much more. The business has been going through a constant metamorphosis, evolving with time thanks to these individuals. In the mid 90s, when the professional wrestling scene was dominated by the WWF and WCW to a lesser extent, another promoter had a vision €“ a vision to inject much needed adrenaline into the business. Paul Heyman, who had earlier made a name for himself as a manager and an announcer in WCW, took over the charge of the creative direction of Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1993. In 1994, Heyman changed the direction of the promotion, by making Shane Douglas denounce NWA and its tradition, and thereby embracing a new, edgier product. Under Heyman€™s regime, the rechristened Extreme Championship Wrestling garnered a cult following, with its hardcore fan base getting firmly behind the promotion. With controversial angles and mature content, ECW soon became the talk of the industry. Paul Heyman also brought wrestlers from Japan to showcase a new style of wrestling to the North American audience, with the likes of Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko putting on solid technical matches, while the likes of Sandman and Sabu brought in brutality and gore to the promotion. ECW€™s style is also considered to have paved way for WWF€™s €œAttitude Era€, while Heyman was credited as the architect for this new kind of product. Although ECW went bankrupt in 2001, Heyman was brought in by Vince McMahon to help him with his company. Heyman is also credited to be one of the best judges of talent, as he scouted and backed the likes of Brock Lesnar and CM Punk, who went on to leave their marks in the professional wrestling industry.