I'm amused Paul Heyman basically equivocates ECW and its impact on wrestling to that of Nirvana to the music business at the turn of the 90's. It was something down, dirty and honest, in contrast to the WWE and WCW products at the time, which had polished production and inflated, unreal personalities. ECW guys spilled blood like it was water, they beat the living crap out of each other without a single pulled shot. They jumped into the crowd and worked with the fans, they even encouraged fans to _bring weapons_ to the shows for the wrestlers to use. This was grungy, dirty, 'hardcore' if you will, and because it _wasn't_ mainstream it made it even cooler to be a part of.
We can definitely see the effects of ECW popularity in the WWE product, as they moved through the Attitude era and pushed boundaries with the Hardcore Division and eventually by bringing in ECW's top guys, like Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, etc (Dreamer basically drove the Hardcore division during his time on air, drove it with a Singapore cane, no less). These matches didn't help the WWE's reputation with morality groups or parents' councils, but the fans ate it up. And that was only a taste of the real ECW, that could barely get on the air because it was so violent, so disturbing, but overall, uncompromising.
Well, Paul Heyman aka Paul E. Dangerously was uncompromising in many ways. While he gave his talent a wide berth in terms of creative freedom in the ring, he was in charge of the plot direction. He was head writer, producer, director, he wore so many hats while running ECW no wonder he lost his hair, from all the switching from one to another. That unrelenting drive and control helped push ECW out of armories and onto the air, but even then, he was his own master, no matter what the Network (TNN I think?) told him. They kept the low budget, 'intimate' production values mostly because their budget was tiny, but also because that's the feel Heyman wanted.
While he was the ringmaster, he did not treat his acts poorly. In fact, he gave them more freedom and more control over their fate and hand in the company than I've seen in any other wrestling organization so far. This probably had a hand in the cult-like devotion exhibited by ECW'ers to Paul Heyman over the years, as he always took care of them and treated them well, even as he was running everything personally and things began to unravel. The bluster and crazed self-assuredness we see of Heyman on screen has the allure of a demagogue, and orator with such intensity that you can't help be sucked into his words. If ECW was a cult, the wrestlers and hardcore fans were the followers of Paul Heyman, the cultmaster, and their message of violence and gritty realism gradually sucked the wrestling world in, including eventually the WWE. 'Just like Nirvana.'
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Deirdre, I think your comments on Paul are quite accurate, in that ECW and his influence over it feels cultish not because WWE and ECW have both told us this for years but because he was so clearly the "auteur" of ECW in its later years and further because it retained its "gritty" feel. The ECW "grittiness" was not just because of low budget--it was the aesthetic, and it's one reason an ECW show taped along with Smackdown every week can't retain the same feel.
I believe it was Tess who lamented moving on past the territory era precisely because there was something to enjoy about the darkened arena and the wrestling stripped of all the pyrotechnics and staging and lighting. That's what Paul managed to tap into, and it's why ECW has now transformed into something different, with or without Paul Heyman's influence. He was a major creative influence until the end of the year, but ECW was a completely different beast the moment it relaunched.
Heyman truly stands apart from the likes of Bischoff and McMahon. These two guys were always built up as the executives behind the workings of their respective wrestling programs. They'd show up in the ring from time to time, but mostly as heels who were often pitted against the guys they managed. Heyman on the other hand never seemed to oppose his talent. In fact, he was supported them and appeared to be very well like among his wrestlers. Take his good-natured bid farewell to wrestler Tazz for example.
I was really surprised to hear how much freedom Paul Heyman gave his wrestlers. We watched how Vince's stronghold on creativity, which Bret wanted very badly, led to Bret getting screwed. It was refreshing to see that a wrestling show can survive when wrstlers are given that freedom. As a result, it seemed like the wrestlers played a more important part in the ECW. The freedom in ECW also led to the incredible promos that future stars like Mick Foley and Steve Austin gave.
Interesting that you use the word "survived" and ECW together, considering that Paul Heyman's version went out of business. Of course, I wouldn't argue that the autonomy Paul granted to his performers caused that, in fact it probably helped delay it if anything, but it is fascinating that ECW is more profitable as nostalgia than it was at the time...
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