“The audience wants something that entertains them, and whether that entertainment is in the form of a physical match or in the form of a skit or video or promo, it’s our job to deliver it to them, to the point where the audience becomes the biggest champion of our brand. And if we can’t match that, then we’re falling short.”
― Paul Heyman
“Kurt Angle is an Olympic gold medalist, one of the greatest in-ring performers of all-time.”
― Paul Heyman
“Unlike Frank Sinatra, I have no regrets in my life. Zero. Whatever hardships I have faced, or have caused myself, are moments I have to embrace in order to move forward. I have no problem coming to grips with either the highs or lows in my life.”
― Paul Heyman
“I grew up in a household with my mother, who was a Holocaust survivor. I very much understand the mentality that you cannot live in the past. You can’t spend your entire life, or even portions of it, looking back and dwelling on things that have already happened. You have to move forward.”
― Paul Heyman
“The whole concept of ECW was that the biggest star of the promotion was the promotion itself. It didn’t matter if a persona was designed to elicit cheers or boos. It didn’t matter if someone was an antagonist or protagonist. The whole concept was to fight for the honor of the cause. The cause was ECW itself.”
― Paul Heyman
“People are remembered for defining moments in their career.”
― Paul Heyman
“I hate watching myself because when I watch anything I’ve ever done, I realize all the ways I could have done it better.”
― Paul Heyman
“I’ve never walked through the curtain with someone I wasn’t trying to audition as a WrestleMania main-eventer, and I never want to.”
― Paul Heyman
“I can go off-point, I can go off-word, I can go off-paragraph, but I can never go off message.”
― Paul Heyman
“Brock Lesnar is an extraordinary, underrated forward thinker. Every day of Brock’s life, he is smarter than he was the day before.”
― Paul Heyman
“I haven’t wanted to portray a manager since Paul E. Dangerously was with the Samoan Swat Team in 1989. I’ve always wanted to do some different presentation in that role. I don’t consider myself a manager – I’m an advocate, and I truly believe that that is the description for the role that I play.”
― Paul Heyman
“I don’t want to be one of these guys who sits in a room watching old footage of himself, reliving old glory. It’s just not me. I want to create new adventures. I’m not trying to live vicariously through my own past.”
― Paul Heyman
“I was a huge fan of Raven because of the way he redefined how a champion should wrestle.”
― Paul Heyman
“Madison Square Garden to any New York kid is the center of the universe. Even going there as a fan is like stepping up to the plate at Yankee Stadium. You know you’re in the grand cathedral.”
― Paul Heyman
“Usually, people that I like to work with are people that I believe in more than they believe in themselves, and they just need that extra boost and the person to give them a little more time and understanding and introspection into their own character to find that box office that lives inside of them.”
― Paul Heyman
“I can’t deal in ifs or in hypothetical situations. I only deal in absolutes.”
― Paul Heyman
“Who cares if the locker room would embrace Conor McGregor. If Conor McGregor can be a revenue driver for WWE, if he can sell network subscriptions, or if he can sell thousands and tens of thousands of tickets, if he can move millions of T-shirts, who cares if anybody in the locker room likes it or doesn’t like it.”
― Paul Heyman
“Triple H is one of the greatest in-ring performers of all-time.”
― Paul Heyman
“I dearly believe in my heart that Goldberg is a family man who has a profound love for his wife and son and wants his family to see him as that superhero that people romanticize him being during the height of his fame.”
― Paul Heyman
“I’ve known the members of Roman Reigns’ family since I was 15 years old.”
― Paul Heyman
“Shane Douglas’s work in the first 11 months as The Franchise of ECW was so groundbreaking. He made people forget about his on-air persona in WCW and successfully reinvented himself as The Franchise in ECW.”
― Paul Heyman
“Shane Douglas accomplished quite a bit in and for ECW, but his career will forever be defined by the moment he threw down the NWA Title.”
― Paul Heyman
“If you look at who emerged on the horizon 12 to 18 months after ECW stopped running shows, I think it’s very reasonable to believe that we would have picked up CM Punk and several of the other young stars that emerged in the independent scene in the early part of that decade. Punk obviously is the one that I would hope I would have noticed.”
― Paul Heyman
“I never envisioned multimillion-dollar offices for ECW.”
― Paul Heyman
“Goldberg is authentic. What you see is what you get, and he’s a wrecking machine.”
― Paul Heyman
“Goldberg was as close to a cultural icon as WCW ever produced.”
― Paul Heyman
“I’m not someone who concerns himself with whether people pay to cheer Roman Reigns or whether people pay to boo Roman Reigns. People pay to see Roman Reigns. They pay to react to Roman Reigns.”
― Paul Heyman
“I don’t think anything Ronda Rousey does is going to be the norm. I think everything she does is going to set a new trend and blaze a new trail.”
― Paul Heyman
“Ronda Rousey is a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, and anything that Ronda Rousey does is going to come with extreme scrutiny because she is such a pivotal figure in not only American sports but in global sports as well.”
― Paul Heyman
“Ronda Rousey is a groundbreaker. She is one who charts through territory that has never been explored before and is one of the biggest sports stars in the world, male or female.”
― Paul Heyman
“The Dangerous Alliance consists of the following – ‘The Advocate’ Paul Heyman and ‘The Beast’ Brock Lesnar. That Dangerous Alliance is the single most formidable faction in the history of sports entertainment. We don’t need Four Horsemen. We don’t need three Freebirds. We don’t need a Legion of Doom.”
― Paul Heyman
“I truly am of the belief that I should be nominated and elected ‘Emperor of North America’ and given a shot at being ruler of the universe, and I haven’t had the chance to craft my campaigns for these offices yet because I’ve been very busy with Brock Lesnar.”
― Paul Heyman
“If your heart’s not pumping premium on WrestleMania Sunday, then I don’t understand what you’re doing at WrestleMania.”
― Paul Heyman
“No one goes to WrestleMania wanting to walk away goin,g ‘Yeah, it was okay, but I thought last year’s was better.’”
― Paul Heyman
“WrestleMania is an experience. It’s an overall ride, its ups and its downs and its curves and its music. It’s presentation, and it’s emotion, and it’s paying tribute to the past and progressing the product into the future. It’s career-defining moments for people who live for career-defining moments.”
― Paul Heyman
“I think that Dean Ambrose is driven to create a first-time-ever, unique character that other people in the future can be compared to.”
― Paul Heyman
“I don’t think you can ever tell the story of Ted Turner’s involvement in professional wrestling-slash-sports entertainment without devoting several chapters to the rise and continued ascent of Sting.”
― Paul Heyman
“I think you should start the first 90 minutes of Raw with a Paul Heyman promo and the second 90 minutes of Raw with Brock Lesnar wiping out the entire roster. But then again, that’s my vision for Monday Night Raw.”
― Paul Heyman
“I don’t follow football, because it’s predetermined.”
― Paul Heyman
“Brock Lesnar and I have a very unique chemistry. It works. It’s worked since 2002; it will continue to work any time we are presented together.”
― Paul Heyman
“You wouldn’t have thought Paul Heyman and CM Punk would have been so effective with the WWE Title, but we were because we understood our roles to each and the audience.”
― Paul Heyman
“I think ECW itself was a gimmick. I think getting the audience to chant ECW was really something. I don’t care if you draw 70,000 people in a dome for Wrestlemania – nobody chants WWE.”
― Paul Heyman
“I was a huge fan of Shane Douglas and how he used the microphone during a match.”
― Paul Heyman
“Who can deny that it was a pleasure to watch Rob Van Dam interact with the audience and tear the house down for 30 minutes a night.”
― Paul Heyman
“Roles constantly have to be redefined in any form of entertainment. Look back at the gangster pics of the 1930s and 1940s and the way James Cagney or Humphrey Bogart would play the part. These roles were redefined in the 1970s by Al Pacino and Rober DeNiro. And again in the 1990s by Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins.”
― Paul Heyman
“My off-camera friendship with Brock Lesnar has always been different than my off-camera friendship with CM Punk. But I could not tell you that I am closer to either one of them or either one of them is closer to me. It’s just a different relationship.”
― Paul Heyman
“Like any compelling show on television, what works best in WWE is relationships. What’s the relationship between these two people, and how does the conflict manifest itself into box office?”
― Paul Heyman
“Brock Lesnar and I are as different as any two people can be. What drew us together was the love of the actual performance aspect of what we do.”
― Paul Heyman
“My first memory of the Garden, it’s probably like any other kid in New York: it’s either watching the Knicks win the championship or Muhammed Ali against Joe Frazier.”
― Paul Heyman
“Working with Brock Lesnar is a daily challenge because every Monday night that we’re on television, I feel compelled to deliver, at least from my end, the best performance I’ve ever put on.”
― Paul Heyman
“I look at every promo I do as a command performance to do better than I did the previous week if not deliver the best promo of my life.”
― Paul Heyman
“I always tell Brock Lesnar the truth. I don’t appease Brock Lesnar. I don’t placate Brock Lesnar. When Brock Lesnar asks me for an opinion, I give to him an honest opinion that I’m willing to back up with facts, with theory.”
― Paul Heyman
“I don’t think anyone realizes how much Bray Wyatt has to offer.”
― Paul Heyman
“I’ve always been of the opinion that great talent can’t be held down.”
― Paul Heyman
“My role is different than Freddie Blassie, the Grand Wizard, and Lou Albano’s, and Bobby Heenan’s, Jimmy Hart’s and J.J. Dillon’s as well. I legitimately consider myself Brock Lesnar’s advocate. That’s my primary purpose to serve to the WWE Universe.”
― Paul Heyman
“I would probably confess that I was the greatest disappointment of my mother’s life, but my father only admired his son’s moxie, drive, hustle, and wherewithal to pursue his dreams no matter how I achieve them.”
― Paul Heyman
“I love what I do. I’m passionate about what I do. I live for what I do. And every morning, I can’t wait to stop sleeping and to jump up and get out of bed and start doing what I do.”
― Paul Heyman
“I’m involved with projects that strike up a passion with me, that stir up completion inside of me. People come at me and go, ‘My job makes me feel alive.’ OK, well, good for you. My job doesn’t make me feel ‘alive,’ my job makes me feel alive!”
― Paul Heyman
“I can’t tell you that it would be bad exposure for me to be associated with someone who has the global Q-rating of Ronda Rousey. She certainly knows how to attract attention and garner tons of publicity, and just to be in on the merchandising of Ronda Rousey, would love for her to be a Paul Heyman girl.”
― Paul Heyman
“Oh, I’m a huge fan of ‘Lucha Underground.’”
― Paul Heyman
“I’ve always been a big believer in diversification for anybody. It’s never good to put all of your efforts and all of your time and all of your financial resources into just one project. Diversification is key for any individual and any business.”
― Paul Heyman
“The crowd is a performer. En masse, a crowd has its own personality, its own character. And there are going to be nights when the crowd delivers a great performance. And there are going to be nights when the crowd bombs.”
― Paul Heyman
“Here’s the funny thing: Nothing drives a performance like an audience that gives back and even takes over. ECW was a product that will be remembered as much, if not more, for its audience interaction as for the things that happened in the ring.”
― Paul Heyman
“I broke into the business in the ’80s, and the ’80s was based on hyper-exaggerated reactions.”
― Paul Heyman
“I approach my interviews with the mindset of, exactly what are we selling? How can I sell it the hardest and the most effectively in the fewest words possible? And how can I make each word that I say mean as much as it possibly can? And I bring that perspective to the table because I used to focus a lot on the character that I had to play.”
― Paul Heyman
“Brock Lesnar is a fascinating human being.”
― Paul Heyman
“I don’t think Roman Reigns should for one moment of his life be worrying about earning the respect of the WWE audience. Because what he has is their willingness to pay to see Roman Reigns whether they respect him or not.”
― Paul Heyman
“People are willing to pay for the right to cheer or boo Roman Reigns. That is your job as a box office attraction. Your job and the manner in which you feed your family is not dependent upon whether the audience respects you or disrespects you. It’s dependent on the audience’s willingness to pay to see you.”
― Paul Heyman
“Very few people I know deserve to live out their dreams more than Daniel Bryan.”
― Paul Heyman
“Vince McMahon can end up in a federal lawsuit with you where there is mudslinging back and forth that makes the front page of ‘The Wall Street Journal,’ and if tomorrow he figures out a way where the company can benefit from your involvement, you will be at a negotiating table with him at lunch.”
― Paul Heyman
“The thing about Brock has always been, who can push Brock to a level where you actually get to see the best of Brock Lesnar, because very rarely have people ever gotten a chance to see that. I mean, really, who can keep up with him? This is not wrestling hype: he’s a once-in-a-lifetime athlete.”
― Paul Heyman
“Vince McMahon became a billionaire based on Attitude, and Attitude was spawned by the ECW experience.”
― Paul Heyman
“Brock Lesnar is the most unique athlete in this history of World Wrestling Entertainment, and I say that with without embellishment or exaggeration.”
― Paul Heyman
“I knew Roman Reigns when he used to come into the locker room with his father, holding his father’s hand, barely out of diapers. And I don’t say that as an ironic statement… I mean it sincerely.”
― Paul Heyman
“If you show me someone who’s afraid of failure, I’ll show you someone who is not a groundbreaking, innovative pioneer of a certain industry.”
― Paul Heyman
“I don’t ever recall being nervous before performing because I’ve already stepped into the shoes and the clothes of the character.”
― Paul Heyman
“To me, a WrestleMania Sunday is ‘I serve at the behest and at the pleasure of my beast.’ I’m there to lighten the mood. I’m there to keep the mood light and not make it too heavy, and to keep the pressure off Brock Lesnar.”
― Paul Heyman
“I think the fact that Brock Lesnar is not on the road 52 weeks a year, is not on ‘Monday Night Raw’ every episode, is not performing 300 matches per year… I think that dictates to the public, ‘Brock Lesnar is special.’ That an appearance by Brock Lesnar in an of itself is newsworthy. It’s not commonplace.”
― Paul Heyman
“Where Brock Lesnar would be without Paul Heyman? He would certainly be on top. He would certainly be the number one box office attraction. He would just be doing it without someone who truly understands his persona like I do.”
― Paul Heyman
“I never looked at ECW as wrestling. I always considered it more of a theology. I don’t know whether I had or didn’t have a messianic complex during that time. But I bought into the movement as much as, if not more than, anybody else. If I sold anyone on the religion of extreme, I was its number-one customer.”
― Paul Heyman
“If you’re content in WWE, then you have peaked. You have peaked in your own earning capacity for what you’re going to bring home to your family, and you’ve peaked in what you offer to WWE in terms of your own talent to exploit.”
― Paul Heyman
“Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns are the main event of WrestleMania 34 because neither one is content, and both are ambitious enough to push the limits of what is now considered their greatest moment, and that’s the point that neither one will ever accept. They will never accept the idea that they’ve peaked as individuals.”
― Paul Heyman
“I think Sting would be denying his fans a great moment if Sting did not step into WWE competition at least once. I have always been a huge admirer of what Sting brings to the table and his relationship with his audience, and I would be dramatically disappointed if Sting does not wrestle a WWE match.”
― Paul Heyman
“CM Punk clearly established during his time as a Paul Heyman Guy that he was, as the billing suggested, The Best In The World.”
― Paul Heyman
“My father was an attorney in the state of New York, which is where I came up with the term ‘advocate.’”
― Paul Heyman
“The key to WWE’s success and longevity is that they are, as modern and as relevant as the company may be in modern social media and platforms and contemporary distribution, the company is still built around old-school promotion. Who are these two fighters? Why are they wrestling? And why should I pay to see it?”
― Paul Heyman
“I think The Undertaker is, much like Brock Lesnar, a once-in-a-lifetime wrestler, a once-in-a-lifetime athlete, and a once-in-a-lifetime performer.”
― Paul Heyman
“I took the antiquated, outdated, passe role of the wrestling manager, and I upgraded it into the upper echelon of sports entertainment to be known as an advocate.”
― Paul Heyman
“How could you look at CM Punk and not think that he has the ‘it’ factor? I don’t think I’m any great visionary or genius because I saw something in CM Punk; I think everyone else is a stupid schmuck for not seeing it in CM Punk.”
― Paul Heyman
“I mean, truly, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, and if you can’t spot that CM Punk is magic from the moment he walks in the door, then you’re reading a playbook from an antiquated writer.”
― Paul Heyman
“Defeat is a wonderful experience if it motivates you to never forget you’re only as good as your last performance.”
― Paul Heyman
“A little humbling never hurt a great advocate.”
― Paul Heyman
“I think Brock Lesnar does whatever Brock Lesnar wants to do.”
― Paul Heyman
“If Brock Lesnar wants to fight in UFC, Brock Lesnar will fight in UFC. If Brock Lesnar wants to fight in WWE, he will fight in WWE.”
― Paul Heyman
“Brock Lesnar does what Brock Lesnar wants to do.”
― Paul Heyman
“The problem with these UFC fighters – and they’re all fantastic athletes, top of the line in the entire world – is that they wear their bodies down in these training camps. All these guys that are cutting weight are just destroying their own bodies.”
― Paul Heyman
“Even my enemies would acknowledge that I’m a great judge of talent, and this statement will be proven true time and time again.”
― Paul Heyman
“Curtis Axel has more talent than his grandfather and his father.”
― Paul Heyman
“We live in an ever-changing global pop culture community.”
― Paul Heyman
“We live in a society that has ever-changing values and ever-changing standards and ever-changing criteria to determine who is a superstar or not. If you want to be a superstar, if you want to main event, if you want to profit in the entertainment business, you have to go with those trends and spearhead new trends.”
― Paul Heyman
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