With WrestleMania 40 just 33 days away, the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame class will be announced in the coming weeks. Earlier on Monday, the Associated Press and WWE announced the first inductee is longtime manager, executive, and creative liaison Paul Heyman.
Heyman, 58, has enjoyed a career in professional wrestling that spans nearly 40 years. He started as a photographer for the Vincent J. McMahon-owned World Wide Wrestling Federation before launching into a successful on-camera career in the late 1980s. Photos of Heyman with Captain Lou Albano, “Classy” Freddie Blassie, and The Grand Wizard of Wrestling were published by Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 1989, suggesting that Heyman was under their tutelage en route to becoming one of the foremost heel managers in professional wrestling history.
After leaving New York in 1988, Heyman traveled south, where he began work with Jim Crockett Promotions, then the cornerstone of the National Wrestling Alliance. Under the name Paul E. Dangerously, he called shows with Jim Ross on TBS’s World Championship Wrestling (formerly Georgia Championship Wrestling), which later became known under the more popular name of WCW Saturday Night. He left the announce desk in 1991 to once again manage the Dangerous Alliance, the ultimately short-lived faction that rose to prominence after a Four Horsemen breakup.
After departing WCW in 1993 following differences with then-Executive Vice President Bill Watts, Heyman went back east (after a brief stint in Texas) to the Philadelphia-based Eastern Championship Wrestling. He was initially brought in to help younger talent put forth better performances in interviews, but a falling out between booker Eddie Gilbert and owner Tod Gordon resulted in Heyman taking over Gilbert’s creative duties. While the rest of the National Wrestling Alliance struggled, Eastern Championship Wrestling did strong business.
In 1994, Eastern Championship Wrestling was renamed Extreme Championship Wrestling, taking on a new identity as the place where hardcore wrestling took place, as both the WWF and WCW did not specialize in that style. Under Heyman’s vision, ECW made several new stars including Rob Van Dam and Sabu, while also serving as the place where many American wrestling fans were first exposed to the likes of Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. Heyman even provided a young and disgruntled Steve Austin with a place to air his frustrations with WCW before the WWF signed him in 1995.
In 2001, ECW closed its doors after years of financial turmoil. The WWF bought the assets for a rumored $2 million.
Since 2001, Heyman has served in several roles with WWE, but his main work has been as a manager. He introduced Brock Lesnar to WWE audiences in April 2002. From July 2002 to February 2003, Heyman was the lead writer of SmackDown, transforming the show by emphasizing young talent, namely the “SmackDown Six” of Edge, Eddie and Chavo Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. The result was one of the most lauded periods of weekly wrestling television ever, with SmackDown briefly beating Raw in week-to-week ratings.
After departing WWE in 2006, Heyman returned to the company in 2012 and realigned with Lesnar, serving as his on-screen “advocate” while also being heavily involved in Lesnar’s creative direction. He also worked with CM Punk, Curtis Axel, and Ryback, before circling back to Lesnar in 2014. He continued as his advocate until 2020, where he became the on-screen “Wise Man” for Roman Reigns and The Bloodline, while also closely working with Reigns behind the scenes to develop his Tribal Chief character.
Heyman has long been one of the most respected minds in the professional wrestling industry, and news of his induction was met with congratulations from fans, media members, and wrestlers alike. Though not without controversy, Heyman is an invaluable asset to any promotion he’s in, and now he can add “WWE Hall of Famer” to an already very long list of accomplishments. The induction ceremony is in Philadelphia, the birthplace of Heyman’s ECW, on Friday, April 5. WrestleMania 40 begins the following night.
