In an interview with MMA Hour Live, Paul Heyman talked about the possibility of working with TNA Wrestling:

“They’re not ready for me. They’re not there yet. I kind of have self-justified my own interest in TNA as a network of stock and ownership. I left pro wrestling in December 2006 and I haven’t done one shoot DVD, one convention appearance, one cameo. I haven’t done anything on wrestling.”

Heyman confirmed that TNA has reached out to him many times in the last year but he didn’t take it seriously until Dixie Carter contacted him and offered him potential ownership points and stock, as well as potential side projects with Spike TV. He concluded though that they weren’t ready for his ideas, particularly using things from MMA to influence wrestling. He also said that TNA is not looking long term and only wants short term solutions and that they don’t have their own vision for what they want to be.

Heyman added that he would get rid of everyone over 40 in TNA if he was in charge, saying their place is to be used for promotional events, autograph signings, and video games, but not as the core, noting that TNA’s focus seems to be on former ECW guys in their 40s, Hulk Hogan, and Ric Flair.

“If you were over 40, I’d chop your f***ing head off. I want a guy who is entering the prime of his career and shape him and mold him.”

“Imagine if all they did the entire show was promote the Beer Money vs. Motor City Machineguns match and had Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan and the ECW guys saying they needed to see that match and said these guys are the future now. Then, if you put that match in the main event – as opposed to the middle of the card with no follow-up – and produce and present them as the main event. Then, if ‘you buy this product, this is the progressive type of presentation we are going to present to you.’ Instead, you have Hulk Hogan in his 50s thanking ECW guys in their 40s before the ECW guys are beat up by a group led by Ric Flair in his 60s.”

– With TNA’s HardCORE Justice pay-per-view just a few days away, sources in TNA say there’s little to no buzz backstage about Paul Heyman appearing at the show. While Heyman has met with TNA management in recent months, things seem to have died down as of late.

– Don’t expect to see Hulk Hogan back in the ring any time soon. In recent comments made to prowrestling.net, Eric Bischoff gave an update on the condition of Hulk Hogan’s health following recent back surgeyr.  “I don’t know for sure,” Bischoff said. “I don’t even ask him anymore because I know what his reaction would be. He’d say he’s feeling perfect.” Bischoff said Hogan feels that if he verbalizes something positively, it will come true, which is why he takes that approach with his back. When asked whether Hogan’s in-ring career is over, Bischoff said, “I don’t see him wrestling again. I’d be disappointed and there would probably be a physical moment backstage because I would try to stop him.”

– Team 3D is currently negotiating new TNA contracts, as the current deals are set to expire in the next few months. For what it’s worth, neither Brother Ray or Devon are happy about the latest ECW revival in TNA.

(credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Sources indicate that in a recent meeting with TNA President Dixie Carter, Paul Heyman emphasized he didn’t believe in drastic changes, bur rather the way to go is with new talent as the key stars while using a few veterans to give them credibility, not unlike how he used Terry Funk in the original ECW. Ironically, Heyman did not support the idea of an ECW invasion when it was brought up, yet Carter went ahead and did it anyway, plugging Tommy Dreamer into the role that essentially would have belonged to Heyman (both on-screen and behind the scenes).

Heyman is also said to have told Carter to her face that of the older legends they have under contract, she could keep one and get rid of the others, and she didn’t seem to understand why. Carter has been loyal to the stars of the past and has been resistant to giving anyone the authority to hire or fire people. This includes Vince Russo and even Jim Ross, back when they were making a serious play for him.

While the Heyman deal is cold, it is nowhere close to being dead. TNA sees Heyman’s asking for points in the company as merely a negotiating tactic and is still hopeful a deal can be reached.

After retaining his UFC Heavyweight Championship against Shane Carwin last night at UFC 116, Brock Lesnar was congratulated by former professional wrestling colleagues Steve Austin and Bill Goldberg.

Meanwhile, “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson was pointed out by the announcers during the pay-per-view broadcast, as was Austin. UFC lead announcer Mike Goldberg referred to Austin as “Cold Stone” rather than “Stone Cold,” though he corrected himself later in the evening when mentioning him again.

When Lesnar celebrated his victory in the crowd, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross and former ECW creative director Paul Heyman were shown on-camera sitting near Austin and Goldberg.

Following the pay-per-view broadcast, cameras showed Lesnar embracing Johnson in the locker room as part of his post-fight celebration.

The “nice surprise” to TNA that Dixie Carter was teasing prior to last month’s TNA’s Slammiversary was supposed to be Paul Heyman, but a deal could not be reached. Tommy Dreamer was ready on standby in case Heyman wasn’t used and wound up appearing on the show.

TNA is pushing hard to bring Heyman in by Victory Road. The overall feeling within the company is that Heyman is in fact TNA bound, but no deal has been reached yet. TNA is said to be willing to give Heyman anything he wants.

Morale in TNA has been very low in recent weeks and many feel that the company needs a savior to turn things around, with Heyman being looked at as the best chance TNA has to survive.

– TNA’s push to bring in Paul Heyman continues, as TNA President Dixie Carter has been in regular contact with Heyman in recent weeks. Carter wants Heyman to take over the TNA creative team as well as be an on-air character as part of the ECW originals storyline.

Heyman has made it clear that he won’t be involved in the creative process if Vince Russo is involved, which wouldn’t be a problem, since Russo is looking to take a different role in the company. Heyman is said to have no problem working with Eric Bischoff.

– Regarding Heyman coming to TNA, Spike TV has been involved in the negotiations with Heyman, as they were with guys like Sting, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Mick Foley. Heyman is currently serving as one of Brock Lesnar’s agents and has two book projects in development.

– Mick Foley will be returning to TNA in the next month or two, with TNA planning to use him at Bound For Glory.

– Former TNA Knockout Roxxi is training to compete in the fitness competition at the NPC Jay Cutler Classic in Boston, MA.

Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

– TNA has either made a direct offer or has sent strong hints to Paul Heyman that he would be welcomed on the TNA creative team. Heyman coming into TNA has been a popular topic of discussion backstage, especially among the many ECW originals currently with the company. While there is still a chance Heyman comes to TNA, it’s been said that it was looking more likely a few weeks ago and the more he hears about what’s going on behind the scenes, the less interested he becomes.

– Vince Russo will be moving from Colorado to Nashville soon. As previously reported, Russo has been telling people he’s been burt out lately from writing and could be taking a different role in the company when he moves to Nashville.

In response to Impact‘s lackluster ratings, discussion of bringing Jim Ross and Paul Heyman to TNA has heated up amongst company officials.

Ross remains under contract to World Wrestling Entertainment through the 30th of this month and has indicated on his official website that he doesn’t know what the future holds for him in WWE.

Heyman is contractually free, but hasn’t shown much interest in joining TNA when friends have asked him about joining the company in the past. However, they feel he would accept a position with the company if he was given power beyond appearing as a character and writing shows.

source: www.pwtorch.com

Last night on Twitter, Paul Heyman went on a rant about the the way TNA has booked Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy in recent weeks. Heyman started off by writing:

“To answer all the questions, I will not be blogging on last night’s TNA Impact. What am I going to say that has not been said already?”

A minute later, Heyman let it fly:

“Okay, I can’t resist. How many times can u beat up RVD and Jeff Hardy and not give them a ‘revenge-minded’ interview afterwards? Heels beat up babyfaces. Babyfaces swear revenge. People tune in. Holy s—! The formula is not that f’n complicated, people!”

“I don’t want any1 to think I am saying I know it all. I DON’T KNOW IT ALL. I still have a lot to learn. I don’t know how to grow hair on top of my head. I don’t know how to get six pack abs.”

“BUT I KNOW THAT IF A HEEL BEATS UP A POPULAR BABYFACE, THEN BABYFACE NEEDS A CHANCE TO PROMOTE THE TIME AND PLACE OF THE BABYFACE’S REVENGE.”

In his new book Rope Opera: How WCW Killed Vince Russo, TNA writer vince Russo claims that he personally reached out to Paul Heyman and tried getting him to join TNA. Russo wrote, “Oh, and one last thing, for the record: I called Paul E personally to ask him to join TNA. He declined.”

There’s no time line given as to when Heyman was allegedly offered a job with TNA, but the book was published on January 22nd, 2010.

It’s also worth noting that a great deal has transpired in TNA since Vince Russo would have reached out to Paul Heyman. Just last week, Taz and Tommy Dreamer noted on Twitter that they had dinner with Paul Heyman and Brother Ray of Team 3D in New York.

With the strong presence of ECW originals in TNA and the shaky power structure at the top of TNA, one has to wonder if guys like Taz, Brother Ray and RVD will make a stronger push to get Heyman into TNA.

The UK Sun has posted Part 2 of their interview with former WWE & ECW Champion, Rob Van Dam.

Read More: RVD Explains How Vince McMahon Ripped His Heart Out & Stepped On It (Part 1 Recap)

In part 2, Van Dam talks about why he left WWE in June 2007, what he’s been doing since then, what sets him apart from other wrestlers and more.  You can read the entire part 2 at TheSun.co.uk. Here are some highlights:

When asked whether he would return to World Wrestling Entertainment or perhaps make a run with TNA Wrestling, Van Dam said, “It’s possible. Never say never.” He went into detail about how the lighter TNA schedule is very attractive to him, but would consider returning to WWE if they could offer him the same reduced schedule.” The talk of Van Dam wrestling for TNA led interviewer Simon Rothstein to ask what Van Dam thinks about what many fans would consider a dream match against AJ Styles. “I can tell you this — I don’t sit at home and fantasise about matches with AJ Styles,” he said. ” I am a professional when I get in the ring . But as far as personal matches that go through my mind, and working with this guy or that guy, I don’t give a f— about that.”

RVD spoke about his relationship with Paul Heyman and whether he would work with Paul should he return to the national wrestling scene with WWE/TNA or start his own company. “I do talk to Paul a lot and we do chat about hypothetical situations and what’s going on in our minds,” Van Dam said.  “I will always be a soldier for Paul and always have interest in hearing anything that he’s got to say. If he asked me to do him a favour then of course I would. But Paul also knows, if he wants to take me away from home, then just like the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase everybody has their price.”

There’s a lot more to the interview and it’s worth checking out at TheSun.co.uk.

Rob Van Dam tells Simon Rothstein of the UK Sun that Vince McMahon ripped his heart out and stomped on it with the way he handled the resurrection of ECW back in 2006. The former WWE & ECW champion goes in depth about how poorly he feels Vince McMahon handled ECW, the various steps McMahon took to make his version ECW completely different while burying the ECW legacy, Paul Heyman’s reaction to the whole fiasco and more.

Winning the WWE Title & Vince’s ECW: “RVD wasn’t going to be WWE champ, but I brought ECW back because that was my spirit and the spirit of the fans. I knew they wanted to see it and I was feeding off that energy. Winning the world title meant a lot. It gave creditability to ECW. At least for the moment…so we thought! But very shortly afterwards Vince McMahon’s long-term plans started to unfold.

“We were faced with the fact that he would give ECW no credit for anything up until that point and wanted to create this new brand of wrestling that would be a global product and mainstream in every way, with Extreme Rules only as a stipulation every once in a while. Our hearts were ripped out of our chests and stomped on. Vince said: “Nobody remembers the old ECW anyway, Rob. This is something new.” So it was a fun moment, it was short-lived and it’s definitely gone now.

Paul Heyman’s Feelings About the new ECW: He would come to work and just tell me how much disdain and loathing he had for Vince. I remember him saying it was like Vince had raped his wife, because ECW was so close to his heart and Vince f***ed it. He felt Vince enjoyed watching him suffer, while ripping apart the fabric of ECW week by week. But Paul has no resentment now and no desire to get back at Vince. He has made balance and is in a peaceful stage, like I am. It’s just something we laugh about.

There’s a lot more to this interview and it’s definitely worth reading – check it out at TheSun.co.uk.

Taz posted a message on his Facebook page in response to a reader’s comment that TNA should bring in Paul Heyman and put him in charge of the creative team:

“How do u know if Paul would want to even be back in the wrestling biz?”

“How do u know if Paul was happy doing with he’s doing”

“How do you know if Vince Russo and Paul aren’t friends and talk ‘shop’ at times?

How do you know if TNA wants Paul?? How do you know if Paul wants TNA?

How do you know if Paul wasn’t offered to work for TNA already?

You don’t, sir.”

ECW creator Paul Heyman has accused pop star Rihanna of ripping off ECW’s 1998 music album “Extreme Music” for her new album, Russian Roulette. Heyman wrote the following on his Heyman Hustle site:

The entertainment community is abuzz about Rihanna’s new album cover , where the once-but-never-again-almost- Mrs.-Chris-Brown is wrapped up in barbed wire, with her right arm in the air, and blood dripping on the cover design.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm……… is this familiar to anyone?

…[H]ere’s Rihanna’s album cover today, and here’s The Sandman on the cover of the ECW album in 1998. Hardcore thievery? Dangerously Inspired? “Extreme” Coincidence?

What do you think? Did ECW invent barbed wire??

The folks at the Heyman Hustle sent out the following this morning:

PAUL HEYMAN BLOGS ABOUT THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN LOU ALBANO
…and offers some never-before-told stories!

Long before he was the owner of ECW; even before he was known as “Paul E. Dangerously”; Paul Heyman was a teenage photographer who was given all access passes to Madison Square Garden. One of the people Paul came to know during this time was the legendary pro wrestling manager Captain Lou Albano. In a blog posted exclusively on The Heyman Hustle website, Paul offers some wild road stories about the Captain that have never been told (at least publicly) before.

Key excerpt:

There are so many “Albano” stories to tell, from the time he ran in his shorts and flip flops up 8th Avenue in New York City when his car broke down during a snow storm, and had hundreds of people following him to what was then known as The Howard Johnson’s Hotel where everyone stayed; to the time he got into a drinking contest with Andre The Giant at the hotel bar, took a Ric Flair-esque face bump into the top of a stool, cracked his head, and was knocked out cold … only to wake up when Don Muraco and Greg Valentine helped peel Lou off the floor. Lou ran outside, threw up all over the sidewalk (with half the remnants of his dinner prominently remaining on his hairy chest), came back inside, ordered another 3 rounds, turned to Andre and said “I get a 3 drink handicap for that bump!”

As a 15 year old who bullsh****d his way into getting All Access Photographer Passes for Madison Square Garden, I ran the fan clubs for all 3 Wise Men of the East. During the summertime, I would sometimes go to Allentown and Hamburg, and cover the WWWF television tapings. One time, I ended up catching a ride with Albano, who was driving Blassie (which was a great idea, because Blassie was partially blind and a menace behind the wheel even with perfect eyesight).

So we got out of Madison Square Garden, and we’re flying through New Jersey heading towards Allentown. Lou reaches under his seat, and pulls out one of those big glass Tropicana grapefruit juice bottles. Of course, grapefruit juice was no longer the contents of this bottle. As a matter of fact, I can’t even tell you that Lou was drinking Vodka AND grapefruit juice. It was more like vodka with a tiny little splash of grapefruit juice. Or, as Blassie used to tease The Captain, “methane with something to give it a little bit of color.”

Now keep in mind, I’m in my mid-teens here, watching and listening to Blassie scream at Albano “you’re going to get us killed! This kid’s Father is a lawyer! He’s going to sue our widows, and take our swimming pools, you (2 minutes of expletives) maniac!”

Lou would just laugh, with both feet on the gas pedal, and hanging onto the steering wheel for dear life. All of a sudden, Lou goes into an insane coughing fit, and spits up some phlemmy-looking loogie that must have come from the deepest, darkest recesses of his digestive system. This frightening piece of intestinal backwash ends up all over the inside of the windshield, and Lou pulls a tissue out of his pocket, wipes it off the windshield … we’re still going 90 miles an hour, mind you… and proceeds to suck the loogie back down with a big mischievous smile on his face.

It only gets crazier from there.

Please feel free to offer this key excerpt to your readers. A link to the blog itself would be very much appreciated.

Here is the link to Heyman’s blog on Albano: http://heymanhustle.craveonline.com/articles/news/22266-rip-captain-lou

The story also includes a rare photograph of a 15 year old Paul Heyman in the Madison Square Garden locker room with Albano, Fred Blassie, and The Grand Wizard aka “The 3 Wise Men of the East.”