13. Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman is a unique figure in wrestling as a former promoter who had it all and then lost it. Thus, he spent a large portion of his career working as a regular wrestling talent in addition to having had several years as one of the wrestling industry’s most important bosses. Heyman’s time as the owner and main creative force behind ECW has its pros and cons. The pros namely being his ability as a creative mind, and the big con being Heyman’s abilities as an executive. Plenty of wrestlers were left unpaid, unsupported, and overworked, and yet somehow, enough of them supported Heyman’s vision that they remained friends with Paul E. despite getting screwed over by him as his employees.
Little has been said about the business half of Austin’s time with ECW, but anyone with a WWE Network subscription can go back and relive the few months in late 1995 when Austin made it clear he was going to be a superstar no matter who tried to stop him. At the time, Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan were the ones trying to stop Austin, and Heyman was the one giving him a camera and television time to voice his grievances against them for doing so. Heyman also managed Austin in WCW as a member of The Dangerous Alliance, a group hand-picked by Heyman out of his favorite talents. Heyman and Austin managed to form a solid friendship throughout these various interactions, which, as far as we can tell, hasn’t been marred by any of Heyman’s usual shadier business methods.
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