Paul Heyman recently spoke with ESPN.com about his career. Here are the highlights.
On his promos: “Credibility. Authenticity. Believing in everything that you are saying,” Heyman said. “It’s something that some people are born with and don’t know how to tap into. And it’s something some people are not born with, but once they feel the affirmation of the crowd … [they] get that rush. If you truly want to reach for the brass ring, you need to put your balls on the table,” Heyman said. “I can go off-point, I can go off-word, I can go off-paragraph, but I can never go off message. Because when I come back through that curtain, if I haven’t sold [McMahon] tickets or pay-per-views or merchandise or network subscriptions, it’s not about reaching for the brass ring — my balls are getting chopped off. And you have to be willing to put your balls on the line with that. Now if you are, he’ll let you do it. It’s your funeral. Or it’s you reaching for the brass ring. Either way, it’s a risk that you have to take.”
On Vince McMahon: “Yeah, but he’s insane,” Heyman said. “At least I’m rather sane about it. Then again, I’m sane and I’m a thousandaire, and he’s insane and he’s a billionaire. I don’t think Vince would be flattered by the comparison, but in my little synagogue of life, I could see where maybe we could kibitz a little about that,” he said.
On his longevity in wrestling: “I don’t know what explains my longevity,” Heyman said. “I think I’m kind of like the cockroach of the sports entertainment industry. You could drop a nuclear bomb somewhere but who is going to survive? The cockroaches are always going to survive. They are going to be the last things on earth. I’ve survived it all. And you know what? Why would they want to get rid of me by now? ‘This guy is still alive? No one has killed him yet? Put him on television, he must have something to offer!'”
