As Paul Heyman prepares for his big induction into the WWE Hall of Fame, fans have thought fondly about his time managing the likes of Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, his efforts on commentary and on SmackDown, and his most lasting legacy in professional wrestling, ECW, the former Philadelphia-based promotion that called the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia home from 1992 through 2001.

Discussing the little promotion that burned out in a spectacular fashion but never truly faded away in an interview with The Ringer, Heyman explained that ECW was never truly about producing the most hardcore wrestling matches but to instead do something with their finger on the pulse of what the audience wanted to see.

“I never considered hardcore wrestling to be the pursuit of blood. I considered extreme and hardcore to be a testament to the work ethic that was involved. We did an excessive amount of blood in ECW because the others couldn't offer it,” Paul Heyman told The Ringer. “We popularized Mysterio versus Psicosis. We popularized Malenko versus Guerrero. We innovated the tap-out instead of ‘I Quit' in professional wrestling and sports entertainment with the character of Taz. The stunts and the visuals and the music [were] a counterculture presentation.”

Turning his attention from the past to the future, Heyman noted that, in his opinion, much of what ECW pioneered has lived on in AEW, where noted fan Tony Khan has kept some of the style he helped to originate in the 1990s.

“ECW was meant to disrupt. The disruptors very rarely in life get the direct benefit of their disruption… Bubba Ray Dudley says it best to this day: ECW was Napster. It completely changed the way this industry is presented, thought about, and absorbed by the audience,” Heyman explained.

“AEW is in and of itself RVD, because anyone who watches AEW can quickly conclude the AEW style is based on Rob Van Dam versus Jerry Lynn from 1998, 1999. And then you throw in all the different things that were obviously influenced by Taz, Sabu, the Sandman's entrance, playing music while the action still goes on—let alone the fact that they continue to use the ‘lights out, lights on' gimmick, which we debuted at the November to Remember 1995 when I brought back Sabu. The first financially viable opposition to WWE in many years employs styles that we either innovated or popularized during our run.”

Is AEW nothing more than ECW 2.0? No, while the promotion does do hardcore matches, lights off entrances, and has booked everyone from Rob Van Dam, Jerry Lynn, and Taz, in the end, they are fully their own thing, different from everything that came before and after it. Still, the fact that Heyman watches AEW enough to recognize and admire his own influence must be a true pinch-me moment for TK and company in Jacksonville.

Roman Reigns didn't need Paul Heyman to be successful.

When Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman returned to WWE as a pairing in 2020, it rapidly formed the best one-two punch since Rocky Balboa gave Mickey Goldmill a shot in South Philly back in the late 1970s.

But did Reigns actually need Heyman to be successful? Or would the “Tribal Chief” have faultered without his “Wise Man” by his side? Well, in an interview with Graham “GSM” Matthews for WrestleRant, Heyman let it be known that, in his opinion, Reigns would have been just fine, as, in his humble opinion, his legend was already set before even even linked up.

“Midway through the last decade, I think Roman Reigns was worthy of being called the legend when he had already main evented three or four consecutive WrestleManias,” Paul Heyman explained via Fightful. “This was while he was still the Big Dog Roman Reigns, and we had not entered the era of the ‘Tribal Chief,' ‘The Head Of The Table,' the Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, which was August 2020. I think he was already a legend when we got paired together on television, and everything that was accomplished before August 2020 would, by our design, pale by comparison to what gets accomplished after August 2020, which is something that was discussed in depth in this documentary, which was his confidence consistent pursuit of greatness.”

Is Heyman on the money? It's impossible to know, but considering how things shook out, with the “Tribal Chief” becoming a true blue all-time great gimmick, it's safe to say WWE caught lightning in a bottle by pairing Heyman and Reigns together, and there would be no all-Bloodline main event if it wasn't for that chemestry.