WWE’s Paul Heyman is a Giant Among Creative Geniuses

Paul Heyman is a enigma.

As WrestleMania 40 soon will be here, this year with Philadelphia as the host city in early April, given all the storylines in work for the big show, Heyman is who I think of most.  Why? Because, the Heyman that I know is a survivor. For nearly 40 years, in multiple roles, the wrestling business has felt the influence of the kid from tony Westchester, New York.

Let me share my experiences with today's WWE audiences who know Heyman as the manager or special counsel to the current WWE and Universal Champion Roman Reigns. SmackDown on FOX wouldn't be the same without them.

So, I remember going back in 1986 watching NWF (National Wrestling Federation) TV tapes out of Albany, New York on Sunday mornings.  There was this young, early 20s, brash, loud commentator - Paul E. Dangerously.  He knew how to get the wrestlers on TV "over" with the viewing audience.  I could tell the guy was something special.  You could tell he wanted to succeed in the business.

This is the same guy that amazed me in how much he paid to detail in everything he did.  When I was looking to get back into writing for the wrestling newsstand magazines in the early 1980s, Heyman was packaging a magazine simply titled Wrestling. Each time I wrote him a letter with ideas, I was amazed at how fast he responded.  Remember, there was no email, internet, or cell phones at the time.  Postage stamps ensured communication, however, not always timely.

Within a week, Heyman would send me a letter. Each, maybe two or three, tops, sentences. But, respond he did.  To this day I don't know how he responded so fast.  But, that's Paul E.  As the late, great WWE Hall of Fame manager Captain Lou Albano used to say, "often imitated but never duplicated", this has summed up my opinion of Heyman since my first dealings with him.

When Heyman began managing, it was clear that he would succeed, and that he would tick a lot of people off in the business.  He was always going a hundred miles a minute.

I got to meet Heyman in the early 1990s, when covering a show in Philadelphia. The promotion was called Eastern Championship Wrestling. My buddy "Hotstuff" Eddie Gilbert was calling the shots behind the scenes, and Heyman was part of his creative team. Anyone who has ever met Heyman can tell you, he will make you feel comfortable, you feel you are his best friend when walking away.  I felt that during my weekend in Philly.

A few years earlier, I was in Memphis for a wrestling banquet, and to take in matches.  At the time, Heyman and Gilbert were running Continental Wrestling Federation in Alabama.  They drove up to Memphis, and there's Heyman - my best friend. He was so welcoming, and respectful I may add, to me. I remember him needing something from his car, so I offered to retrieve what Heyman needed. What I saw in the back seat blew me away.

Heyman must have had a dozen or two dozen wrestling VHS tapes. He was always laser focused on wrestling, and bettering himself, as a performer, and as a producer of wrestling shows.  The tapes were proof that Heyman studied his and others' work, always in search of creating compelling storylines that hopefully translated into big attendance numbers in arenas.

A couple years after seeing Heyman in Memphis, we met again in Boston.  It's 1989, and the National Wrestling Alliance is giving Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation a run for his money in some northeast cities.

Having recently been fired by the NWA, Heyman made the drive to New England to catch up with some of the performers booked on the show. Gilbert was one of those who Heyman met with. After the Boston Garden show, Heyman, Gilbert, Gilbert's wife Missy Hyatt, myself, and famed wrestling journalist John Arezzi piled into a taxi cab, and headed for the Chinatown section of the city for a late night meal.

As usual, Heyman was engaging, often gregarious, and always entertaining.

Now, back to Philly, and Eastern Championship Wrestling.  Paul shed Gilbert from the company's creative team, and rebranded the company - Extreme Championship Wrestling.

With my buddies serving as ECW promoters in New England in the mid-1990s, I attended most shows, and served as their photographer.  Again, when I met up with Paul at the shows, he showed me nothing but respect.

I had a full run of the dressing room, and I could shoot from wherever I wanted at ringside.  When the ECW Magazine was born, right from the first issue in 1999, I had a column, and many of my photos appeared in print.  I saw Heyman at his shows, and he was often the last person to leave the venue.  How he stayed awake until the wee hours of the morning I'll never know.

The one prank Heyman pulled on me in Troy, New York back in 1989 still remains the best anyone has pulled off in my 50 years around the business.

While in the motel room speaking with Gilbert, little did I know that Heyman (who was still on the outs with the NWA) made the drive upstate from his home in Hartsdale. He was in the bathroom, with the shower running, pretending to be another wrestler - Bobby Eaton, All the while Gilbert was quizzing me on my thoughts of Paul E., and should he be allowed back into the company (NWA).  I offered nothing but compliments on Heyman's work, and character. When Heyman exited the bathroom, and he was laughing hard, I began to sweat. Imagining if I had had anything the least bit derogatory to say about him, it could of gotten ugly.

Then, the times I interacted with Heyman on The Pro Wrestling Spotlight radio program hosted by Arezzi from Long Island and Manhattan, the conversations were never dull.  In fact, Heyman would often get so enraged and "pumped up" in speaking with callers that I would laugh so hard, tears would be coming down my cheeks.

There is that famous photograph of Heyman, as a teenager with his arms around the WWF's "Three Wisemen" managers - The Grand Wizard, Fred Blassie, and Albano.  When I see the foursome today in a magazine or online, I wonder what would either of those hall of famers think of how far Heyman has taken his talents in the current wrestling environment?  In all likelihood, they would insist on another group photo, but would have him in the lead position, standing before them, as proud fathers.

Don Laible is a freelance sportswriter from the Mohawk Valley, now living in Florida. He has reported on professional baseball and hockey for print, radio, and on the web since the 1980's. His columns are featured weekly at WIBX950.com. Don can be contacted via email at Don@icechipsdiamonddust.com.