Paul Heyman

At WrestleMania 35, Heyman came out just after the opening segment, demanding that Seth Rollins fights his client to start off the main card. Lesnar and Rollins appeared thereafter. Lesnar then severely beat up Rollins, before the match started. When the match finally started, Rollins ultimately won the match in under 5 minutes, carrying out a low blow when a referee was knocked down, and executing his finisher three times. In June 2019, WWE announced that Paul Heyman would be the new executive director of Raw. Heyman also appeared on SmackDown due to Lesnar being drafted to the brand in the 2019 WWE Draft in October, but shortly thereafter, Lesnar returned to Raw.

At Extreme Rules, Kurt Angle said that if Universal Champion Brock Lesnar did not show up for Raw or agree to the terms of when Lesnar will defend the championship, then he would be stripped of the championship. On July 16, 2018 episode of Raw, Heyman interrupted Angle, who was about to strip Lesnar, and stated that Lesnar would hold on to the championship for however long he pleases. Angle then scheduled Lesnar to defend the championship at SummerSlam and if he did not, he would be indefinitely stripped. On the July 30 episode of Raw, Angle threatened Heyman's employment due to Lesnar's refusal to leave the backstage area and appear in the ring. After several failed attempts by Heyman to convince Lesnar to appear in the ring, Lesnar attacked Angle with an F5 and choked Heyman. Two weeks later on the August 13, 2018 episode of Raw, Heyman revealed it was all a ruse as both Heyman (wielding pepper spray) and Lesnar ambushed Reigns. Heyman would accompany Lesnar going into SummerSlam, where Lesnar's 504 days reign as champion would come to an end after Lesnar was pinned by Reigns. Heyman would appear in a segment backstage the Raw after SummerSlam to invoke Lesnar's rematch clause against Roman Reigns for the Universal title at Hell in a Cell, but the rematch was denied by Kurt Angle. However, at the Hell in a Cell Pay-Per-View, Heyman appeared as Lesnar interfered with the main event match between Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman. The next day, Heyman appeared on Raw, setting up a triple threat match at the Crown Jewel PPV between Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, and Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship. However, following Reigns' leukemia announcement, Heyman would instead set up a singles match between Lesnar and Strowman for the now-vacant title at the event.

Heyman returned with Brock Lesnar on the January 11, 2016 Raw, and was ringside with Lesnar for the Royal Rumble. Lesnar was eliminated in the match by Bray Wyatt, after interference by the rest of The Wyatt Family. He accompanied Lesnar to the ring at WrestleMania 32 with Lesnar defeating Dean Ambrose in a No Holds Barred Street Fight. On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, Lesnar and Heyman were drafted to Raw. Heyman returned alongside Lesnar on the August 1 episode of Raw hyping the Lesnar-Orton match at Summerslam while Lesnar took an RKO from Randy Orton. On the October 31 episode of Raw, Heyman and Rusev confronted Goldberg. Heyman was speared by Goldberg and later taken by ambulance to a hospital in Hartford, Connecticut. On the July 31 episode of Raw, Heyman appeared with Lesnar to announce to acting authority figure Kurt Angle that should Lesnar lose the championship at SummerSlam, they will both depart from the company. At Summerslam, Lesnar defeated Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe, and Braun Strowman in a Fatal 4-Way to retain the Universal Championship.

Heyman in 2015, regarding wrestlers he did not complement well with.

At the Royal Rumble, Heyman was at ringside when Lesnar retained his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Cena and Seth Rollins. At WrestleMania 31 Heyman was at ringside when Lesnar defended his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against the 2015 Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns, but Lesnar was unsuccessful as Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and made the match a Triple Threat match. Rollins pinned Reigns for the win. The next night on Raw, Lesnar was suspended after he demanded a rematch for the title and attacked several innocent people.

At Battleground, Punk pinned Ryback after a low blow. At Hell in a Cell, Punk defeated both Ryback and Heyman and after the match attacked Heyman on top of the cell, putting an end to their feud. On the November 11, 2013 episode of Raw, Heyman stated that he was no longer with Ryback as Ryback never officially accepted his proposal to become a "Paul Heyman Guy". After that, CM Punk came out to once again beat Heyman with a kendo stick. The following night on SmackDown, Heyman formally announced to Curtis Axel and Ryback that they were no longer Paul Heyman guys, therefore marking the end of Axel's association with Heyman as he continued to team with Ryback. Heyman returned on the December 30 episode of Raw alongside Brock Lesnar, who attacked Mark Henry. He stood by Lesnar as he feuded with Big Show and The Undertaker in the first four months of 2014. Lesnar ended The Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania XXX; this was Undertaker's first loss at a WrestleMania, as he previously had a record of 21 wins.

In April 2012, Brock Lesnar returned to WWE. Heyman returned to WWE on the May 7, 2012 episode of Raw as Lesnar's legal advisor, announcing that Lesnar had quit the company. Behind the scenes, Heyman had no interest at first in returning to WWE, as he still felt he held bad blood with a lot of the staff, but reconsidered after Lesnar requested his presence after a lackluster promo with John Laurinaitis. The following week on Raw, Heyman confronted Triple H, handing him a lawsuit from Lesnar for breaching of contract. Triple H responded by shoving Heyman into the ropes, leading Heyman to announce that he would file a lawsuit against Triple H for assault and battery. On the June 18 Raw, Heyman declined Triple H's challenge for a match against Lesnar at SummerSlam on Lesnar's behalf. Later that month, Heyman stated that Brock Lesnar would answer Triple H's challenge himself at Raw 1000. Lesnar would go on to defeat Triple H at SummerSlam.

Heyman operates a multimedia project called The Heyman Hustle. It features videos of Heyman interacting with celebrities from various fields of entertainment on the streets of New York City, as well as regular writings of his take on the world of professional wrestling. After successful viral campaigns with EA, Heyman's Looking4Larry Agency became the agency of record for THQ video games, where Heyman and Stuart wrote, directed, and produced viral videos for THQ games such as WWE All Stars, WWE '12, and WWE '13. In 2011, he worked with Brock Lesnar again, this time collaborating with him on Lesnar's autobiography, Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival.

Heyman traveled home from the Raw/ECW taping in South Carolina due to a behind-the-scenes dispute over ECW's only pay-per-view under WWE, December to Dismember, McMahon and Heyman clashed in front of several members of the writing team on McMahon's corporate jet the day after the pay-per-view. After allegedly turning down an offer from Stephanie McMahon to return to his post writing TV for WWE Developmental television shows, Heyman quietly parted ways with WWE in late 2006. The argument with Vince McMahon was over a disagreement over the Elimination Chamber match at December to Dismember. Heyman thought that the Big Show should be eliminated in the Elimination Chamber match by CM Punk via submission, to push the rising star. Big Show agreed with this idea, wanting to help push Punk's career, but Vince McMahon disagreed, and Punk was ultimately eliminated first.

On July 10, 2005, it was reported that Heyman took over the positions of head booker and writer in Ohio Valley Wrestling, a developmental territory maintained by WWE. It was during this time that he forged a real-life friendship with CM Punk.

On May 23, 2005, Heyman returned in a segment with Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff announcing ECW One Night Stand, with Heyman in charge. On the May 22, 2006 episode of Raw, Heyman appeared as ECW Representative promoting ECW One Night Stand. On May 25, 2006 it was announced that ECW would relaunch, as a third WWE brand. Heyman was in charge of the new brand on-camera but had minimal creative input off-camera as well. On the May 29 episode of Raw, during a face-off with Mick Foley, Heyman announced that he was granted a draft pick from both Raw and SmackDown! by Vince McMahon. His Raw draft pick was former ECW wrestler (and Money in the Bank contract holder) Rob Van Dam, and his SmackDown! draft pick was Kurt Angle. Heyman predicted that Van Dam would defeat John Cena at One Night Stand for the WWE Championship and then declare himself the new ECW World Heavyweight Champion.

After McMahon defeated his daughter Stephanie in October 2003 at the No Mercy pay-per-view, the storyline was that she was forced to resign from her position as general manager (GM) of SmackDown!. Heyman returned to television to assume Stephanie McMahon's on-camera role as GM. On March 22, 2004, he appeared on Raw to take part in the annual WWE draft lottery. During the show he was drafted to RAW to work for RAW general manager Eric Bischoff. Instead, he decided to "quit" rather than work for Bischoff, the man he cited for the death of ECW by raiding its talent. Heyman was replaced as SmackDown! General Manager by his former client Kurt Angle on March 25.

In WWE, Heyman has advocated for five WWE Champions: Brock Lesnar, Big Show, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, and CM Punk. Critics have praised his abilities at advocating and on the microphone. Heyman has also competed sporadically in matches, including the WWE Championship main event of the 2002 Rebellion pay-per-view.

Heyman was the lead writer for SmackDown! from July 2002 to February 2003. On Heyman's 2014 WWE documentary Ladies and Gentleman, My Name is Paul Heyman, Heyman stated that the SmackDown! brand he was writing was beating Raw in ratings, merchandise and live show attendance during a time McMahon wanted real-life competition between the Raw and SmackDown! brands.

He portrayed a sports announcer in 2002's Rollerball. Heyman was later chosen by I Am Legend executive producer Michael Tadross to play "Gino" in the film adaptation of the long-running Off-Broadway show Tony n' Tina's Wedding, after a family emergency forced the original actor to pull out.

In the final days of ECW, Heyman did not appear on the show and was replaced as the leader of the backstage and creative by ECW wrestler Tommy Dreamer. ECW entered into bankruptcy in 2001 (just weeks after WCW was sold to WWF for $2,000,000, after AOL Time Warner wrote off over $100 million in debt), with the company $7,000,000 in arrears, with over $3,000,000 owed to the company by InDemand pay per view.

Heyman became a broadcaster for the WWF, replacing Jerry Lawler who quit due to a dispute when his wife was fired in February 2001. During that time, he resumed his storyline rivalry with Jim Ross. In July, while retaining his commentator role, Heyman recreated ECW as a stable, which then immediately merged with Shane McMahon's WCW to form the Alliance during the Invasion angle. Heyman was "fired" following the 2001 Survivor Series when the Alliance lost a do or die match that marked the end of the invasion angle.

A year later, the company was the flagship promotion of the struggling NWA. A tournament was scheduled to be held in August 1994 for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, at an ECW-hosted event mostly featuring ECW wrestlers. The proposed outcome was the current ECW champion Shane Douglas becoming champion, but Heyman conspired with Douglas and Gordon without the knowledge of NWA president Dennis Coralluzzo to have Douglas (and by extension, ECW itself) publicly denounce the NWA and its "tradition" after winning the tournament. In his post-match speech, Douglas aggressively assaulted the title's lineage, throwing the belt itself down, proclaiming the NWA a "dead organization" and declaring his ECW title a world-level championship. The plan for this shoot screwjob was known only to those three.

Heyman owned and was the creative force behind the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion from 1993 until its closure in 2001. Before running and owning ECW, he was a manager under the ring name Paul E. Dangerously in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and other promotions. He is the co-owner of the Looking4Larry Agency in New York City, and was personally named one of Advertising Age's Top 100 Global Marketers.

At this time, Eddie Gilbert was a booker for a Philadelphia-based promotion, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s Eastern Championship Wrestling, which he did under the ownership of a local pawn shop owner named Tod Gordon. Heyman came in to help Gilbert teach the younger wrestlers how to perform on interviews, but Gilbert's erratic behavior became too much for Gordon, who had a major falling out with Gilbert right before the "Ultra Clash" event on September 18, 1993. From that point forward, Heyman was in charge of the creative direction of the company. As Paul E. Dangerously, he managed a few wrestlers, including Sabu and 911.

In 1991, WCW needed to re-structure its "heels", so Heyman returned to the role as spokesman and ringside manager as the manager of the Dangerous Alliance (a new version of the Four Horsemen), with Rick Rude as the centerpiece of the stable. According to Heyman, he and Stone Cold Steve Austin learned their craft from Rude. Heyman led Rude to the United States title and the Anderson-Eaton tag team to the Tag Team titles. The Dangerous Alliance dominated WCW through most of 1992.

In 1988, Heyman jumped to Jim Crockett Promotions, where Dangerously again managed the Original Midnight Express in a feud with the new Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) and their manager, Jim Cornette, as well as managing "Mean" Mark Callous. He settled into the role of an announcer, joining Jim Ross to call the matches on WTBS' World Championship Wrestling and other programming. Heyman admitted he learned more working with Ross than from his previous mentors. While in-between stints in WCW, Heyman went to work for ICW as a writer, but was fired on his first day in the middle of his first TV taping.

At the urging of Bigelow, Heyman made his managerial debut on January 2, 1987, initially appearing on the Northeast independent circuit before moving to a more high-profile stint with Championship Wrestling from Florida in February 1987. There, he joined forces with Kevin Sullivan and Oliver Humperdink, and acquired the name Paul E. Dangerously because of his resemblance to Michael Keaton's character in Johnny Dangerously. After CWF was absorbed by Jim Crockett Promotions, Bigelow brought him to Memphis and the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) to manage Tommy Rich and Austin Idol in a heated feud with Jerry Lawler, a war which later carried over to the American Wrestling Association (AWA), with the Original Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose) taking over for Idol and the face-turned Rich.

Heyman decided he wanted to work in professional wrestling when he saw Vince McMahon interviewing Superstar Billy Graham. He began as a photographer when he was 13 and bought his own photo lab to take photos of pro wrestlers in New York. He published his own newsletter, The Wrestling Times Magazine, and wrote for third-party wrestling publications such as Pro Wrestling Illustrated. At the age of 14, he called Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the parent company of the World Wide Wrestling Federation, and obtained a backstage pass for Madison Square Garden, his first official work in pro wrestling. Heyman met Dusty Rhodes at a Jim Crockett Promotions taping, when he entered a production meeting. In 1985, Heyman was hired by New York Studio 54 as photographer. The same year, he became producer of Studio 54 and hosted the first Wrestle Party 85 show. He called Jim Crockett, who sent Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA. The show featured Bam Bam Bigelow's debut and an award to Flair.

Paul Heyman (born September 11, 1965) is an American entertainment producer, writer, performer, marketer, promoter, professional wrestling manager, and commentator. He is currently signed to WWE, appearing on the Raw brand, and has a backstage role as the executive director of Monday Night Raw. He has shunned the label of "manager" for decades, preferring the term "advocate" or "agent".

Heyman was born on September 11, 1965, in Westchester County, New York, the son of Sulamita (née Szarf; 1928–2009) and Richard S. Heyman (1926–2013), a prominent personal injury attorney and World War II veteran. He is Jewish; his mother was a Holocaust survivor who suffered through experiences in Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, and the Łódź Ghetto. By age 11, he was running a mail order business selling celebrity and sports memorabilia from his home. While still a teenager, he fast-talked his way backstage at a World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) event at Madison Square Garden as a photojournalist. He was paid by the company for several of his photographs. He graduated from Edgemont High School. He attended SUNY Purchase and worked on-air as an opinionated, controversial host at SUNY's radio station and the WARY-FM New York radio station for Westchester Community College; in 1985, at the age of 20, he became a photographer, then a producer and promoter for the New York City nightclub Studio 54.