Do you know why so many fans have remained loyal to Paul Heyman? The man always put us first. Look up his first reaction to Sabu “No Showing” an event. The man always made sure we knew the truth behind the injuries to his performers. The man fought without conviction when he felt as though they weren’t giving US the best wrestling program possible, even when faced with network executives or Vince McMahon himself (December to Dismember). He never treated me as an ignorant person that would be easy to put one past. Heyman always treated the crowd as the HEART of his product and gave me the utmost respect as a fan. He has earned my loyalty and respect. Yes the man is a brilliantly mad scientist when it comes to character creations, but the smartest thing the man ever did was to create a brood of super loyal fans by treating us as adults who are more than just people to take money from. He knew how smart we were and that insulting our abilities to recognize what a talented wrestler is would be the easiest way to make us turn on him.


Paul Heyman never insulted my intelligence (My Opinion). In fact he embraced it and pushed me to further my wrestling knowledge. He challenged me to trade more tapes. He pushed me to be a better fan. By making me the focus of what he wanted to accomplish, he nudged me to be even more involved. He knew my voice could help get them onto PPV, so he assigned me a responsibility to do my part. Yes, this is a Fan Boy (or Mark, whichever you prefer) putting over someone who doesn’t need it, but that’s how deep my loyalty runs for someone who made me feel as though my thoughts weren’t idiotic.


I feel TNA gets the worst of this rant. When Dixie Carter continues to state “Big Changes are coming” and fails to follow up, she is insulting fans. Subtle changes in programming have not been the cry of the fans. Open Fight Night and Gut Check are two sound concepts that have potential to succeed, but our cry has been for BIG changes. We want to be out of the Impact Zone. We have asked to go live, even if only once every two or three weeks. We have asked you to remove Hogan and Bischoff from the main focus of the show. These are a general consensus of BIG changes that have been sought after by the fans of TNA.


The fact that Hogan spouts lies out of his mouth more often than Shane Douglas lies when he “shoots” constantly hurts the credibility of the show. I understand it’s scripted, but it is hard for the line of reality v wrestling to be blurred when the person telling you the information is a documented and well known liar. As much good that comes from the restoration of championships value (Austin Aries & Bobby Roode), direct lies hurt the credibility of the product. When Dixie Carter blatantly lies to the fans, saying that “Garrett (Bischoff) has earned” anything in the world of wrestling, it further insults the fans of the product. We are fans that know he hasn’t accomplished ANYTHING that deserves him being featured on TV for a whole month, meanwhile leaving your Television Title (just won by a veteran of some two decades) off TV. Lies like this might be to “further advance stories”, but they are poorly crafted, hence making them unbelievable. Make it a believable lie, and I might not feel as insulted by you telling me that he is a “talented wrestler”.


As always, feel free to comment and I will reply as I can. Have a different opinion? Make your valid points as I always enjoy hearing them. If you feel like you’ve missed the direction of this blog, check out the previous blog archives and catch up a bit on where my opinions are based from(this will also help you understand why I choose the word “loyal”) and what the goal of this series truly is; How to regain loyal fans.



Note:Upon writing this, I have yet to see RAW in which Paul E. made his return. I will make sure to watch but I cannot comment on it at this moment… Other than I am glad the ‘E Universe’ has done what many have begged them to do.