Wrestling legend Paul Heyman had been one of the most valuable names of WWE throughout the edges. We have seen him working in various roles in his WWE career. When he joined the promotion, he mostly worked as a commentator alongside Jim Ross. He also played a major role in the Invasion storyline.
In 2002, he started working as the manager of Brock Lesnar who was being built as “The Next Big Thing” during the time. He played an excellent role in promoting Brock Lesnar as a top star. Later, he played the roles of managers of various other stars like CM Punk and Antonio Cesaro. Right now, he is working as the Special Council of Roman Reigns.
Shocking Revelation: WWE Legend Did Not Want To Appear ON Television Upon Joining The Promotion
Recently, he appeared on the Tetragrammaton podcast with Rick Rubin where he revealed a shocking fact from the early days of WWE. He revealed that he did not want to appear on Television immediately after joining the promotion. But Vince McMahon wanted him on TV and he did not refuse;
“I came to WWE and my first thing I said to Vince (McMahon) in coming in the door was, ‘I don’t wanna be on television. I’m 35, I had my fun. I wanna be behind the scenes only’ and then the whole thing happened with they fired Jerry Lawler’s wife and Jerry Lawler quit and I wasn’t supposed to get into WWE until WrestleMania because I was too busy dealing with the ridiculous amount of legalities of what was the pending ECW bankruptcy.
WWE Legend Paul Heyman Did Not Want To Appear On Television Upon Joining WWE In 2001
“So I’m going into a personal bankruptcy and a corporate bankruptcy and I’m jumping into WWE and I cut my deal to come in behind the scenes and I get a call from Vince on a Tuesday and he says, ‘Are you aware that Jerry Lawler quit last night?’
“And I said, ‘Yeah. I heard the whole story. I’m sorry to hear that’ and says, ‘Well I’m gonna need a little bit of a favor from you’ and I said, ‘Well, I’m not really in a position to turn down a favor from you in this moment. My company’s gone. I’m entering bankruptcy and you’re offering me a lifeline in life. So the answer to the favor is yes. Now please tell me what I’m doing’ and he says, ‘Need you to start on commentary next Monday night’ and I’m like, oh my God. I’m back on television.
“That’s exactly where I don’t wanna be and then of course I realized, well, I get to play with Jim Ross a little bit. I always liked being Jim Ross’ color commentator and you know, if I’m gonna have to do anything in the public eye anymore, replacing Jerry Lawler on Raw is not a bad way to debut. That’s a pretty iconic position. That’s what today, we would refer to as relevant.”
H/t to POST Wrestling