Former ECW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas believes that Paul Heyman was too ‘lax’ when booking the shows of the now-defunct promotion.
On a recent edition of his “Franchise University” podcast, Douglas argued that Heyman had the power to tell wrestlers to tone it down and should have used that power more. He said,
“The first time Sabu broke a table — and it elicited the response it did — all of the sudden everybody and their brother was breaking a table in a match. Same thing with chairs. Mine of course was the F-bomb; suddenly everyone’s F-bombing all over the microphone … and that’s where I think Paul [Heyman] was lax as a booker.
“I think Paul was a bit too lax as a booker. In the everyday minute-to-minute management, somebody has to be the boss and those are the types of things where ECW found a bit of its Achilles’ heel.”
Douglas would infamously throw down the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship in August 1994, declaring that he didn’t want to be champion of a ‘dead’ promotion.
Douglas would declare the ECW Heavyweight Championship as a real world title, which would lead to Eastern Championship Wrestling becoming Extreme Championship Wrestling.
