‘It Certainly Changed The Compensation For Talent’ – WWE’s Paul Heyman Addresses Whether Wrestling Is In A Better Place Due To AEW, Identifies ECW Influence On Their Product

WWE/AEW

Paul Heyman highlighted how the existence of AEW has led to the professional wrestling scene improving, noting the influence of ECW.

Founded in 2019, AEW has gone on to establish itself as a legitimate alternative to WWE, with Paul Heyman commenting on how Tony Khan-led company has seemingly improved the landscape of professional wrestling.

Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Heyman noted that AEW’s very existence has led to improved compensation packages for talent, after being asked whether he feels the company has improved the wrestling landscape overall:

“I certainly hope so. I mean, it shortchanged the compensation packages for a lot of talent, because there was a wolf across the river named Tony Khan that had a billion dollar checkbook that he could afford to pay a lot more money for talent than talent was making back in 2017, 2018, 2019.

“So it certainly changed the compensation for talent, and they’re on a viable network, they have a style that’s different than WWEs. They present an alternative, if not a competitive brand.”

With his own history as a promoter, Heyman would also comment on how he sees elements of ECW in AEW, stating:

“I look at AEW, and I realize the influence that ECW had on that project, on that product. For example, like Moxley is a total ECW Sandman, New Jack style performer.

“But if you look at the AEW style, it’s Rob Van Dam versus Jerry Lynn from 1999. AEW is RVD, and if you were a fan of what RVD and Jerry Lynn were doing in 1999 a lot of what AEW presents today is derived and is influenced by what RVD and Jerry Lynn were doing back then.”

ECW would be created in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Eastern Championship Wrestling, an NWA affiliate, with Paul Heyman joining a year later and the more familiar Extreme Championship Wrestling being born.

In 2001, ECW would cease to operate, leading to Heyman joining WWE as a color commentor before the company purchased the underdog promotion around two years later.

Every Number One Needs A Number Two

WWE and AEW have, for the past few years, been locked in an eternal debate as to which company the fans see as the better offering.

While it’s a debate that won’t be settled easily among those who discuss such things, Tony Khan has made it clear that AEW is “where the best wrestle”.

Whether the metric is on-screen talent, show attendance, global reach, money or another benchmark, the number one company needs a number two to be biting at its heels.

It can be argued that only by seeing the success of the number two can the leader move forward to greater achievements of their own. It was seen with the Monday Night Wars, when the WWF seemed untouchable, only to lose the race to have the top show to WCW for eighty-three consecutive weeks.

Hubris arguably brought an end to WCW’s reign, as it seemed that the Turner-owned juggernaut was unstoppable during its dominance, only to lose its lead back to the WWF, and then be purchased by the very company it had been competing against.

Being an “alternative” to the leader is a strong position to be in, but who really wants to be seen in second place? That said, becoming the leader leads to challenges of its own, and it’s very easy to be overtaken in the race to the top.

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• AEW
• wwe
• paul heyman
• ecw

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