– Ric Flair did not work WWE house shows for the third week in a row. Flair is banned from ringside for Charlotte’s WWE Women’s title defense against Natalya tonight at Extreme Rules.
– Paul Heyman tweeted the following when told to never retire be a fan on Twitter:
. @thethreatt RETIRE???? I'm just figuring out how to do this right. I have barely started! https://t.co/5kfaSeGhru
Paul Heyman is heading to the UK this summer for his first-ever series of 1-man shows.
“An Evening With Paul Heyman” will feature a live Q&A with one of the most engaging personalities in the history of the business. The scheduled tour dates include:
July 11th: London, England
July 12th: Manchester, England
July 15th: Glasgow, Scotland
If you’re in the UK, this is obviously a can’t miss opportunity. Tickets are not yet on sale, but head over to InsideTheRopes.co.ukand join their mailing list to get latest information on ticket availability.
2 Cold Scorpio comments on working for Paul Heyman during the original ECW in the video below. Scorpio gives Heyman props for having a mind for the the industry but says you couldn’t trust Heyman when it came to money or the business side of things. Scorpio added that he had some of his best times in ECW and did a ton of drugs there – but he learned that’s no way to live.
– WWE has had talks about bringing WrestleMania 34 back to the NYC area in 2018. MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ hosted WrestleMania 29, which was a huge success by all accounts.
– Last week, it was announced that Paul Heyman’s Looking4Larry agency will be the focus of an upcoming reality show in development with Left/Right productions. Aside from the agency itself, another focus of the show will be Heyman’s life as the single parents to two children. He told TheWrap.com last week,
“I’m a single parent looking to demonstrate to his children that you can work your ass off and have the time of your life doing it. I sleep two hours a night, so if I don’t keep busy, I end up getting myself in a lot of trouble. At least now if I get in trouble, it’ll make for good television.”
Sources close to Heyman say that his 11 and 13 year old children will not appear on camera, although they will be referenced.
Paul Heyman and his Looking4Larry advertising/marketing agency will be the focus of a new unscripted series currently in development.
Heyman is partnering with Left/Right Productions on the show, an NYC-based production company specializing in television and film projects that “illuminate the drama and comedy of real life.” According to their website, Left/Right tells “stories that are both honest and surprising, revealing and entertaining, dramatic and cinematic.”
In an interview with The Wrap, Heyman said the show is completely unscripted and shows all of the problems his company is forced to solve on a daily basis. The article mentions that Heyman’s “ingeniously dysfunctional” approach to his job will be well-documented in the series.
“It’s the juggling act,” Heyman said. “I’m a single parent looking to demonstrate to his children that you can work your ass off and have the time of your life doing it. I sleep two hours a night, so if I don’t keep busy, I end up getting myself in a lot of trouble.
“At least now if I get in trouble, it’ll make for good television.”
The pilot episode is currently being filmed in New York City. No word yet on the distribution model for the show, whether it be traditional television or an online streaming service, but The Wrap reports that Lionsgate and British TV networks are interested in the show.
Paul Heyman was interviewed by Jan Murphy from “The Kingston Whig Standard” during WrestleMania weekend in Dallas, Texas. Heyman declared Lesnar to be the greatest box office attraction in WWE history and touted some of his accomplishments.
Heyman has worked closely with the biggest names in wrestling history, but none of them are on Brock Lesnar’s level. He agreed with the interviewer that Lesnar does not get the respect he deserves.
Of course Heyman believes Brock Lesnar is due a rematch for the WWE World Heavyweight championship and said WWE has a hard time finding opponents for The Beast – because no one wants to be beaten, victimized and conquered.
Paul Heyman will be in the house at WrestleMania 32 in Dallas, TX tonight as Brock Lesnar’s manager. Heyman recently spoke to Alexandra Irving of the Bleacher Report to promote tonight’s pay-per-view, and he talked about what’s next for his client Brock Lesnar. Heyman hinted at two possible targets for Lesnar after WrestleMania: The Wyatt Family, and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
“There is certainly unfinished business with the Wyatt Family, which will be addressed when Brock Lesnar feels like it, at his whim, at his leisure, and convenience and at his pleasure as well,” Heyman said when asked about Lesnar’s post-‘Mania plans.
“Obviously, the goal for Brock Lesnar is always to be the reigning, and here’s the key word defending, undisputed WWE Heavyweight Champion of the world so whomever comes out of the Triple H versus Roman Reigns match for the title is going to have Brock Lesnar breathing down their neck.”
We’ll have live coverage of WrestleMania 32 here tonight, and stay tuned after the event for all the latest backstage news & fallout from the biggest pay-per-view of the year.
Paul Heyman’s first blog for Yahoo! Sports is now live. In this premiere installment, Heyman explains in-depth why his client Brock Lesnar is still WWE’s must-see attraction and what Dean Ambrose is in for this Sunday in their No Holds Barred Street Fight. It’s a great feature that’s definitely worth checking out at Yahoo! Sports.
Speaking of Paul Heyman, his Heyman Hustle website released this exclusive behind-the-scenes look at WrestleMania week the festivities leading up to the big event. Watch as Paul works his magic with the wrestling media at ‘radio row’ with several cameos that you’ll probably recognize.
Paul Heyman, WWE’s resident Bobby Heenan, is arguably the greatest ‘advocate’ in professional wrestling history. He began Extreme Championship Wrestling, wrote WWE Smackdown to greater heights in the mid-2000’s and is the mouthpiece for Brock Lesnar.
On top of it all, Heyman has a production company called the “Heyman Hustle,” which just signed a deal with Yahoo Sports last week. The question is, when does Heyman sleep?
In an interview with AwfulAnnouncing.com, Heyman answered that question with a less-than-shocking response:
“I work about 22 hours a day and I enjoy every moment of it,” Heyman claimed. “I don’t sleep that much, I come from a long line of insomniacs. I enjoy my life too much. I don’t have time to turn off the switch.”
Heyman continued, “If I’m sleeping I hope I’m dreaming of what project I’m going to be launching the next morning. This is too much for me. There’s too much enjoyment in what I do. I am genuinely exhilarated every single morning when my feet hit the ground because I truly enjoy the plethora of jobs that I have.”
As far as Heyman’s WWE status following the deal signed with Yahoo Sports, there’s no report on if he’ll reduce his WWE schedule in favor of other projects.
Paul Heyman is doing press to promote WrestleMania 32 on April 3rd and his new deal with Yahoo Sports. In an interview with AwfulAnnouncing.com, the former ECW owner spoke about his role as Brock Lesnar’s advocate, and how Lesnar’s current WWE run differs from his first one.
“There’s nothing different about being with Brock Lesnar day-to-day now than it was 14 years ago when we were first together in WWE except we’re both a little older and wiser and we both have more children than we did 14 years ago when we started together on television,” Heyman explained. “The run we’re having now to me is based on the credibility that comes along with the fact that when he left WWE he didn’t just go do odds and ends, he became the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion of the world, knocking out Randy Couture and going on to becoming a three-time defending undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship of the world. He didn’t knock out some schlub, he didn’t knock out an interim champion, or someone who just fell into the division without a lot of competition – he knocked out Randy freaking Couture. Along with that comes an awful lot of credibility and with that comes authenticity and legitimacy that WWE can then exploit. So when we come into this run, you don’t have to imagine “wow, what would happen if this guy fought in UFC?” You know what would happen if he fought in UFC – he would take over the heavyweight division like he did. Now WWE fans have bragging rights, that’s the baddest dude on the face of the planet.
Heyman says he comes from a long line of insomniacs and enjoys his work, which includes managing Brock Lesnar and now producing content for Yahoo Sports.
“I work about 22 hours a day and I enjoy every moment of it,” Heyman claimed. “I don’t sleep that much, I come from a long line of insomniacs. I enjoy my life too much. I don’t have time to turn off the switch. If I’m sleeping I hope I’m dreaming of what project I’m going to be launching the next morning. This is too much for me. There’s too much enjoyment in what I do. I am genuinely exhilarated every single morning when my feet hit the ground because I truly enjoy the plethora of jobs that I have.”
On the subject of WrestleMania 32 being right around the corner, Heyman said the annual “mega-event” is “only getting bigger.” You can read the full interview here.
Paul Heyman has signed a distribution deal with Yahoo! Sports, according to an exclusive report by Tony Maglio at TheWrap.com.
Starting on March 28th, Paul Heyman’s Heyman Hustle website will provide exclusive content to the Yahoo! Sports blog, The Turnstyle.
Additionally, Yahoo Studios will produce “A Day in the Life of the Advocate,” which will follow Heyman as he balances his role as The Advocate of Brock Lesnar with the daily requirements of running his Looking4Larry marketing agency.
“[Yahoo] reached out to me and they wanted to do something that starts on the Turnstile blog with some wrestling content, but also then expands throughout Yahoo,” Heyman told TheWrap. “It became a distribution deal for all things Paul Heyman, Heyman Hustle and the Looking4Larry agency.”
Brock Lesnar’s manager Paul Heyman went on a lengthy Twitter rant in support of his client on Monday. Heyman explained that even after working with great talent for many years, he’s still “in awe” of what Lesnar does in WWE. Heyman also confirmed that he would be bringing the former UFC & WWE Heavyweight Champion with him to RAW in Detroit tonight.
Here’s Heyman’s rant in it’s entirety:
There's no one like @BrockLesnar. No one. He's not only a once n a lifetime (once EVER) athlete, he's equally an unique as a performer.
Paul Heyman has been added to the advertising for WWE’s live event on January 8th. The house show on Friday takes place at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX, and the former ECW leader will be appearing alongside his client Brock Lesnar. Lesnar is advertised to wrestle Sheamus in a singles match. This marks Brock Lesnar’s first time appearing in Houston in over 10 years.
Also advertised for the show are John Cena facing Alberto Del Rio for the U.S. title, and Dean Ambrose taking on Kevin Owens for the Intercontinental title. The Dudley Boyz are also shceduled to be in the house. Tickets start at $20. VIP ticket packages for the event are sold out.
As of right now this will be a non-televised event, but it could be filmed for the WWE Network in some capacity.
Here’s a look at Brock Lesnar’s entire confirmed upcoming WWE schedule:
1/8: Live Event (Houston, TX) 1/11: WWE RAW (New Orleans, LA) 2/6: Live Event (San Jose, CA) 2/8: WWE RAW (Seattle, WA) 3/14: WWE RAW (Pittsburgh, PA)
– Paul Heyman made his WWE television return at Monday’s special Slammy Awards edition of RAW in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Heyman made a number of Slammy Awards-related appearances, as he presented an award early in the show and appeared again to accept Brock Lesnar’s “Match of the Year” Slammy award later in the program. Above is a video of Heyman’s “acceptance speech” for the aforementioned “Match of the Year” award.
– Also making an appearance on Monday’s RAW was WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley, who appeared in a pre-taped segment as Santa Claus. Below is a photo of the Foley segment, which also features the “Hardcore Legend’s” young son (not the one hired by WWE recently) and daughter Noelle Foley as elves.
Brock Lesnar made his WWE in-ring return at the live event at The Forum in Inglewood, California on Saturday evening, defeating WWE United States Champion Alberto Del Rio via disqualification.
Lesnar returned with Paul Heyman by his side at the WWE live event last night, picking up the win via DQ over Del Rio when Rusev hit the ring and attacked “The Beast Incarnate” just as he was taking the U.S. champ to “Suplex City.”
Lesnar ended up fighting off Rusev, hitting him with a German suplex and an F-5. He teased leaving the ring at this point, however decided to turn around to hit Del Rio with a German suplex and an F-5 for good measure.
One of the biggest complaints about WWE Network has always been the speed at which they release older content as well as the inconsistency in how they do it. The service added shows at a pretty consistent clip for its first couple months, but since then, it’s been all over the place. The last month or so has been encouraging, with a wide range of old shows added from all sorts of promotions and eras, but we still don’t really know when to expect anything.
In light of this, a fan asked Joey Styles on Twitter when we can expect more ECW shows, and Styles replied:
This was common in pro wrestling for many years, but ECW did it later than any other major promotion. Music was also a much bigger part of the aesthetic of ECW than it was of other promotions, though, so he’s right that it will take much longer to edit those shows than it would with other promotions.
As noted, WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin appeared on The Taz Show: Bodyslams & Beyond” recently. In addition to the excerpts we posted last week, Austin also spoke about his time in ECW, evolving from The Ringmaster to “Stone Cold” in WWE and more. Below are some more highlights from the interview.
On ECW being just the place he needed when his WCW career was cut short:
“[ECW] was just a great environment at that point in my life,” Austin recalled. “[ECW] was just a hub of so much creativity and guys going through the refining process, trying things out, experimenting, and, of course, guys with great success with real cool gimmicks laying down some heavy stuff. So, it was a great learning process for me and a real eyeopener as far as the creative freedom that Paul E. [Heyman] harbored down there and you were able to do anything that you wanted to do to get over and that doesn’t exist in today’s system.”
On Paul Heyman playing a significant role in his success:
“I really value my days down there in ECW in Philly.” Austin continued, “it was a pivotal time in my career and I dare say that if I’d not made my stop through [ECW], I don’t know if I’d ever really [become] ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. I always give Paul Heyman all the credit in the world for helping me get to the level [to which] I got.”
On Heyman’s ability to get the most out of talent:
“That dude’s like Cesar Millan talking to a dog. Dude can just talk to a cat. I don’t even care if it’s a guy or a girl, but he’d get you in a frame of mind where he opens your mind up, or focuses you, or gives you confidence in yourself, or just sparks some kind of creative spark in your brain, but the dude just has a way to talk to talent to get them to crank out some bad ass stuff.”
Bret “The Hitman” Hart recently did an interview with Sports Illustrated where he gave his thoughts on Roman Reigns, and who he thinks is the best wrestling manager ever. Here are some highlights:
On Paul Heyman:
“Paul Heyman is the best manager in wrestling, ever,” said Hart. “But he also loves the business. In order to be as smart a guy as he is about wrestling, you need to first be a really big wrestling fan. He was a kid who grew up watching wrestling. We share that, and we both have an appreciation for everything–from guys like Abdullah the Butcher to Rey Mysterio, and all kinds of different styles, shapes, and sizes. You need to have a whole assortment of chocolates in the box.”
On Roman Reigns:
“Reigns is just like Kevin Nash,” said Hart. “If you look back at Reigns, his character was getting over really good on his own. Then they rushed him into a babyface turn and crammed him down everybody’s thoughts, and people rejected him. It wasn’t his fault. It was kind of like with Kevin Nash. He was slowly getting over, and I wrestled him at [the 1994] King of the Ring and we had a really good match. All of a sudden, by August, they were ready to make him the new champion. And I’m going, ‘He’s not ready yet. Give him a little time and let him get even more over.’ Why is there a rush? Reigns got dealt a bad set of cards. It has nothing to do with his work rate–he’s a really good worker and his style is really good. He just needs to be himself.”
You can read the full interview where he speaks on Triple H, Daniel Bryan and others here.
– NXT Diva Jasmin Areebi is now going by the name Aaliyah. She appeared in a segment at the NXT live event on Thursday night in Cocoa Beach. Areebi was in the news this summer after some of her old controversial social media posts resurfaced. WWE and Areebi claimed that the posts were made by someone else.
– Legendary Memphis wrestling announcer Lance Russell and Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Dan Murphy will be the guests on next week’s “Ross Report” podcast, which drops on Tuesday evening at PodcastOne.com.
– Below is this week’s Top 10 SmackDown Moments video.
Paul Heyman’s Heyman Hustle website has released the full behind-the-scenes video from last weekend’s WWE Network special from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The video shows Heyman and Brock Lesnar leading up to the match with Big Show, including the two of them taking meetings with Vince McMahon and the Dolan family, which owns the Madison Square Garden Company. Also included is post-match footage.
What went down behind the scenes this past Saturday night at WWE’s special live event from Madison Square Garden? We’re going to find out this Thursday, exclusively via Paul Heyman’s Heyman Hustle website.
Until then .. We get a preview, a glimpse at what the Heyman Hustle team cooked up in the hallowed halls of The Garden. Check back Thursday.
Paul Heyman continues to do the media rounds promoting Saturday night’s WWE live event from Madison Square Garden. Here are some highlights of his interview with Marcus Vanderberg of Yahoo Sports:
Fans Not Being Satisfied With Big Show As Brock Lesnar’s Opponent:
“I think you’re always going to get a backlash for Brock Lesnar’s opponent because we have built Brock up to such a degree that unless we’re giving them Brock Lesnar for the championship against the current champion and probably every other living ex-champion as well in a handicap match, someone is going to find a problem with the booking of the match. If you just gave them Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins for the championship in the Garden, people would then say they should have saved that for a pay-per-view. If you gave them Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena in the Garden, they would question why Brock is fighting for the U.S. title and not the World title. People are always going to find fault in any match that involves Brock Lesnar because any matchup that you present for Brock Lesnar, people are going to say how is that a challenge for The Beast?”
Who He Wants To See Brock Lesnar Get In The Ring With:
“It depends on which show we are talking about. In Madison Square Garden, I personally would love to do something that has mainstream cache to it. I would love to do Brock Lesnar vs. Mike Tyson in Madison Square Garden. Personally, I would find that interesting. I wouldn’t want to do that match at WrestleMania, but I would certainly want to do that at Madison Square Garden. At WrestleMania, I would like Brock Lesnar to be in the championship match — the last match of the night — at any WrestleMania whether he’s the champion or the challenger. At Hell in a Cell, we have the right opponent. The master of the Hell in a Cell … The Undertaker. It’s a rivalry that’s gone on the last 13 years since Brock was a rookie. We finally present the final showdown between Brock and The Undertaker at Hell in a Cell. So, my dream scenarios for Brock Lesnar depend on the show at hand.”
The Advocate Paul Heyman spoke with Scott Fishman of Channel Guide Magthis week to promote Saturday night’s WWE Network special from Madison Square Garden in New York City. They spoke about a number of topics, including Heyman’s long history with MSG, Brock Lesnar’s storied rivalry with the Big Show as well as WrestleMania 32.
Perhaps the most interesting subject was that of WWE’s recent downturn in viewership. Heyman argues that a catalyst of WWE’s predicament has been their failure to attract a generation of new fans. Heyman said,
“I think if there is erosion in the ratings then we are in a cycle within the industry where fans are going and looking for or finding other interests,” Heyman said. “This is not dissimilar to any other forms of entertainment. The key has always been to replace those who leave, to bring in more fans at any time you are losing fans. At this particular point in time there is a search to find the new fan. I am not one who looks at the ratings every Tuesday and says, ‘Well, we haven’t replaced everybody that is left. The ratings didn’t double.’ I’m not expecting that type of increase tomorrow or the next week or the week after that.
Of course, Paul Heyman does not seem like the type of guy to talk about a problem without offering a viable resolution. Heyman pitches a back to basics approach, developing the stars of tomorrow who can carry the company for years to come.
“Any business with longevity, and this is the one company in the business that has survived, deals with this. They survive because when there was an erosion of the audience and they had to replenish the audience, there isn’t a panic. Panic is never the answer. Panic never brings up the ratings. A long-term solution is with a number of brand new stars, all in compelling situations with riveting storylines and new matchups. That is what will bring an upswing to the ratings ever so slowly to where the average rating goes up a little bit each month. Then a couple of years from now the erosion have taken place of the people that have left being fans and a new generation or group or crop of fans has come in. It’s natural evolution of any form of entertainment.”
Big Show was Michael Cole’s guest for this week’s WWE.com sit-down interview. Here are the highlights:
– Cole asks about his match against Brock Lesnar this Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. Show says the match is important for his own redemption and validation. He is going to remind people who he is and what he’s done for the industry.
– Big Show and Brock Lesnar’s rivalry goes back 13 years and Show pointed out that the won the WWE Championship by defeating Lesnar at MSG back in 2002. Cole asked about their match at Royal Rumble 2014 ago. Show says Brock came back with a lot more intensity and he had a steel chair. Show told himself if there came a day when he got another shot at Lesnar, it wouldn’t go down like that again. Show says he owes Lesnar some payback.
– Cole noted that fans on social media were upset Show interrupted Paul Heyman on RAW. Show knocks internet fans and says they’re supposedly the heart and soul of what the wrestling world wants. Show says Heyman knows him and is afraid because he knows if Show hits Lesnar with the knockout punch, the “Go To Hell Tour” will be over. Show says Heyman does not want his match against Lesnar to happen, but it will this Saturday night.