What was Paul Heyman's first production?
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53. Paul Heyman Debuts on Raw - Paul Heyman debuts on "Raw" as an announcer. Paul feels that he had to go to WWF in order to move on, and get on with his life. The wrestlers feel that Paul's dream was to be his own boss, but did not get that opportunity. Vince McMahon feels that Paul Heyman should be commended for everything he accomplished, and that Paul's realization that he had to move on spoke very highly of his character.
The Rise and Fall of ECW
551756#14
Heyman was the lead writer for "SmackDown!" from July 2002 to February 2003. On Heyman's 2014 WWE documentary "Ladies and Gentleman, My Name is Paul Heyman", Heyman stated that the "SmackDown!" brand he was writing was beating "Raw" in ratings, merchandise and live show attendance during a time McMahon wanted real-life competition between the Raw and SmackDown! brands.
Paul Heyman
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On May 23, 2005, Heyman returned in a segment with Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff announcing ECW One Night Stand, with Heyman in charge. On the May 22 episode of "Raw", Heyman appeared as ECW Representative promoting "One Night Stand". On May 25, 2006 it was announced that ECW would relaunch, as a third WWE brand. Heyman was in charge of the new brand on-camera but had minimal creative input off-camera as well. On the May 29 episode of "Raw", during a face-off with Mick Foley, Heyman announced that he was granted a draft pick from both Raw and SmackDown! by Vince McMahon. His Raw draft pick was former ECW wrestler (and Money in the Bank contract holder) Rob Van Dam, and his SmackDown! draft pick was Kurt Angle. Heyman predicted that Van Dam would defeat John Cena at "One Night Stand" for the WWE Championship and then declare himself the new ECW World Heavyweight Champion.
Paul Heyman
551756#3
Paul Heyman was born on September 11, 1965, in Westchester County, New York, the son of Sulamita ("née" Szarf; 1928–2009) and Richard S. Heyman (1926–2013), a prominent personal injury attorney and World War II veteran. He is of Jewish descent; his mother was a Holocaust survivor who suffered through experiences in Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, and the Łódź Ghetto. By age 11, he was running a mail order business selling celebrity and sports memorabilia from his home. While still a teenager, he fast-talked his way backstage at a World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) event at Madison Square Garden as a photojournalist. He was paid by the company for several of his photographs. He graduated from Edgemont High School. He attended SUNY Purchase and worked on-air as an opinionated, controversial host at SUNY's radio station and the WARY-FM New York radio station for Westchester Community College; in 1985, at the age of 19, he became a photographer, then a producer and promoter for the New York City nightclub Studio 54.
Paul Heyman
5943230#15
At the very top of the show, Paul Heyman was the first Alliance member fired. Furious over being fired, Heyman lunged at his now-former broadcast partner Jim Ross. The audience delighted in seeing Ross pummel Heyman before he was carted off by security. To replace him, Jerry Lawler was brought back, making his first appearance since his resignation from the company in the end of February after No Way Out. The Alliance co-owners, Shane and Stephanie McMahon, were called to the ring to answer for what they did. While Shane accepted his defeat and walked away, Stephanie tried to plead for her job, but was escorted from the ring by WWF security per orders by the WWF chairman Vince McMahon.
Survivor Series (2001)
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Heyman decided he wanted to work in professional wrestling when he saw Vince McMahon interviewing Superstar Billy Graham. He began as a photographer when he was 13 and bought his own photo lab to take photos of pro wrestlers in New York. He published his own newsletter, "The Wrestling Times Magazine", and wrote for third-party wrestling publications such as "Pro Wrestling Illustrated". At the age of 14, he called Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the parent company of the World Wide Wrestling Federation, and obtained a backstage pass for Madison Square Garden, his first official work in pro wrestling. Heyman met Dusty Rhodes at a Jim Crockett Promotions taping, when he entered a production meeting. In 1985, Heyman was hired by New York Studio 54 as photographer. The same year, he became producer of Studio 54 and hosted the first Wrestle Party 85 show. He called Jim Crockett, who sent Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA. The show featured Bam Bam Bigelow's debut and an award to Flair.
Paul Heyman
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In 1988, Heyman jumped to Jim Crockett Promotions, where Dangerously again managed the Original Midnight Express in a feud with the new Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) and their manager, Jim Cornette, as well as managing "Mean" Mark Callous. He settled into the role of an announcer, joining Jim Ross to call the matches on WTBS' "World Championship Wrestling" and other programming. Heyman admitted he learned more working with Ross than from his previous mentors. While in-between stints in WCW, Heyman went to work for ICW as a writer, but was fired on his first day in the middle of his first TV taping.
Paul Heyman
551756#33
Heyman operates a multimedia project called The Heyman Hustle. It features videos of Heyman interacting with celebrities from various fields of entertainment on the streets of New York City, as well as regular writings of his take on the world of professional wrestling. After successful viral campaigns with EA, Heyman's Looking4Larry Agency became the agency of record for THQ video games, where Heyman and Stuart wrote, directed, and produced viral videos for THQ games such as "WWE All Stars", "WWE '12", and "WWE '13". In 2011, he worked with Brock Lesnar again, this time collaborating with him on Lesnar's autobiography, "Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival".
Paul Heyman
2286760#2
Heyman started in the film industry as a production assistant on David Lean's "A Passage to India", and in 1986, Heyman became a creative executive at Warner Brothers. In the late '80s, he became vice president of United Artists and subsequently embarked on an independent producing career with his first film, "Juice", in 1992, followed by the cult "stoner" film "The Stoned Age" (1994) and others.
David Heyman
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That same week, Heyman and Tod Gordon rechristened the promotion, eliminating the regional branding "Eastern" and declaring the promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling. They broke the company away from the NWA, and ECW became its own entity. Heyman encouraged wrestlers to express their true feelings about the WWF, the NWA, and WCW. Heyman bought out Gordon and became sole owner of ECW. During his time in ECW, Heyman found an ally in Vince McMahon's WWF. McMahon had sent some WWF wrestlers to ECW (under WWF payroll) to develop them and was interested in some ECW wrestlers, such as Terry Gordy and 2 Cold Scorpio. McMahon paid Heyman $1,000 per week to rent Scorpio.
In the final days of ECW, Heyman did not appear on the show and was replaced as the leader of the backstage and creative by ECW wrestler Tommy Dreamer. ECW entered into bankruptcy in 2001 (just weeks after WCW was sold to WWF for $2,000,000, after AOL Time Warner wrote off over $100 million in debt), with the company $7,000,000 in arrears, with over $3,000,000 owed to the company by InDemand pay per view.
Paul Heyman
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Heyman became a broadcaster for the WWF, replacing Jerry Lawler who quit due to a dispute when his wife was fired in February 2001. During that time, he resumed his storyline rivalry with Jim Ross. In July, while retaining his commentator role, Heyman recreated ECW as a stable, which then immediately merged with Shane McMahon's WCW to form the Alliance during the Invasion angle. Heyman was "fired" following the 2001 Survivor Series when the Alliance lost a do or die match that marked the end of the invasion angle.
Paul Heyman