Heyman Does Everything To Get ECW Thrown Off The Network.
In 1999, ECW was becoming more of a household name, and Heyman was looking to expand. He signed a deal with TNN to air ECW on their network, but the network showed their reluctance by suggesting ECW would be toned down excessively. Heyman didn’t like that idea, and instead of airing original content, Heyman decided to air a “catch up” show, which featured promos and old ECW matches to introduce new fans to the company, and according to Joey Styles, the network crapped all over it.
Further friction between ECW and TNN occurred because the network assumed ECW would keep Taz on the roster, but contract negotiations fell through, and Taz left for the WWF a few months in to the partnership. TNN failed to promote ECW, and according to Heyman, they wanted the quality of the production to be as good as WWF or WCW, despite the small amount of money they were contributing to the promotion.
Heyman was so annoyed with the network, he had Cyrus form a new stable called “The Network”, and Cyrus threatened to pull ECW off the air until they toned down the violence. Heyman tried everything to be thrown off the network, and the shoot promo below is Heyman taking it to the EXTREME.
Heyman Delivers A Worked Shoot Promo (To Vince’s Face) Which Still Resonates With Wrestling Fans.
Damn. It was a while ago now, but I remember watching it and agreeing with Heyman. I was a young wrestling fan, didn’t know much about the business, but everything he said resonated with me, and it still does. One line stuck out … “You made wrestling a dirty word Vince!“, and that’s all I’m going to say about this one, because it speaks for itself. Watch Vince’s expressions.
Stunning Steve Austin Transforms Into Stone Cold, And Eric Bischoff Is To Blame.
Well before “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, he simply went by “Stunning” Steve Austin in WCW. He was frustrated in WCW, because no one would give him a chance; he wanted to wrestle Ric Flair, but no one saw him as a main event guy. One day, Steve Austin was fired over the phone by Eric Bischoff, and he wasn’t too happy about it.
Keeping with the theme, Paul Heyman brought Austin in to do some promos in ECW. He didn’t want Austin to wrestle right away, all he wanted was promos; he wanted Austin to use his frustration and turn it into wrestling gold. And that’s exactly what Austin did. Probably the best promo work Austin ever did in his entire career, and the most important, as it showed the early signs of the “Stone Cold” character he would become famous for.
Sometimes a negative can be turned into a positive. All you need is to translate your frustration, and have someone like Heyman believing in you, and not wanting to change you for anything. Heyman saw gold in Austin when no one else did, and WWF noticed, and Austin soon found himself in the WWF. While it took time for Vince to utilize him in the proper way, there was no doubting Stone Cold Steve Austin; he was bound to be a legend as soon as he cut this promo.
