Paul Heyman: AEW Present An Alternative, I Realise The Influence ECW Had On That Project

Paul Heyman addresses whether AEW has made pro wrestling a better place.

In 2019, The Elite and Tony Khan took the wrestling world by storm. Using the momentum built through Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling, Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and Cody Rhodes changed the American wrestling landscape by launching AEW in an attempt to provide an alternative to WWE. Now, Paul Heyman has reflected on how the company has affected the industry as a whole.

Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Paul Heyman addressed whether AEW has made pro wrestling a better place, noting that ECW has influenced them.

“I certainly hope so. I mean, it shortchanged the compensation packages for a lot of talent, because there was a wolf across the river named Tony Khan that had a billion dollar checkbook that he could afford to pay a lot more money for talent than talent was making back in 2017, 2018, 2019. So it certainly changed the compensation for talent, and they’re on a viable network, they have a style that’s different than WWEs. They present an alternative, if not a competitive brand. I look at AEW, and I realize the influence that ECW had on that project, on that product. For example, like Moxley is a total ECW Sandman, New Jack style performer. But if you look at the AEW style, it’s Rob Van Dam versus Jerry Lynn from 1999. AEW is RVD, and if you were a fan of what RVD and Jerry Lynn were doing in 1999 a lot of what AEW presents today is derived and is influenced by what RVD and Jerry Lynn were doing back then.” 

-Paul Heyman

While Heyman references his time with ECW, it’s worth noting that the 60-year-old almost led an alternative to WWE as recently as 2010, when TNA were interested in offering him a behind the scenes role. According to interviews he’s done since their approach, a Heyman-led TNA would’ve focused more on the younger talent, wanting to create new stars for the company. However, his move to TNA never came to fruition.

Heyman is known for leading some of WWE’s biggest stars to championship success. However, his list of clients include Brock Lesnar and CM Punk, fans were left unimpressed by his pairing with Cesaro. Elsewhere in the interview, Heyman called WWE’s usage of ‘The Swiss Superman’ a wasted opportunity. You can read more about that here.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Paul Heyman as soon and we hear more.