In 2001, the wrestling business underwent a major shift as both Paul Heyman's Extreme Championship Wrestling and WWE's main rival, World Championship Wrestling, both were no more just in the matter of a couple of weeks. Of course, as we all know, Paul Heyman opted to take his ball and run to the WWE in 2001, a move that was and still is highly controversial.
Anyhow, Heyman would be brought in as a color commentator for WWE Monday Night RAW following Jerry "The King" Lawler's leave of absence due to his real-life wife The Kat's firing by the WWE. Heyman would eventually become part of the WWE vs. WCW Invasion storyline after it was realized that without ECW added to the mix, WCW's star power wasn't really that great when you count in the fact that 95% of Team WCW was mid carders such as Buff Bagwell and Chris Kanyon and not the star power such as a Sting, Bill Goldberg or Ric Flair. This led to WWE Survivor Series 2001 where it was decided that either Team Alliance (WCW and ECW) or Team WWE would gain control over the conglomerate of a wrestling business following the pay-per-view.
A few nights before the pay-per-view, Paul Heyman cut one of the most scathing promos ever cut on Vince McMahon and did so right in front of his face. Heyman got to get off his chest a lot of pent up frustrations and what it made for was a moment that is still remembered fondly by fans as the "original Pipebomb" in the WWE!
Give it a look below:
Now, in 2016, Paul Heyman was a guest of Inside The Ropes' and during his sold out tour with Inside The Ropes he talks about this promo and goes into how this moment came together and what Vince thought about it all!
Paul Heyman: "In just a few moments, at my leisure, I'm gonna call Vince McMahon out to his ring in front of his public on a television show that's owned by his grand company. At least, that is, until this Sunday at Survivor Series. I know how much you people appreciate what Shane and Stephanie and I have done. How Shane and Stephanie and I have stood up to the tyranny of Vince McMahon. And the way it is ladies and gentlemen is quite simple: the World Wrestling Federation will die this Sunday. But don't blame me for that. It's not my fault. I'm not the one who ruined everything that was accomplished by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
You see, at Survivor Series, it means so much more than just the personalities that are involved. It's about ending what Vince McMahon has tried to accomplish. I sat there at that desk on Monday and I listened to Mick Foley, and I agreed with everything Mick Foley had to say; that the WWF truly does suck! Don't boo me! Have you watched the television show lately? Vince McMahon has lost his mind! The man doesn't have it anymore! He's a has-been. His ideas are antiquated. His concepts are Draconian and Mick Foley was right because the WWF is imploding from within. Like every great empire, the WWF is imploding from within.
Vince's loyal employees, like "Stone Cold", left him, like Mick Foley wants nothing to do with him, Vince's own children want him to burn in Hell, and I don't blame 'em. Vince McMahon will see the WWF die this Sunday at Survivor Series and he has no hope to save his precious company. Vince McMahon has the same chances of saving the WWF as he did of realizing his dream of starting a football league!
I want you to know that I was down on my knees because I know you're used to men kissing your ass, Vinnie. Every time you walk in the back, there's Patterson and Brisco, 'Oh, what a great idea you had, Vince!' You like men kissing your ass, don't you, Vince? Because that's what you're all about; a billionaire! The billionaire, Vince McMahon! The creator of sports entertainment! I've waited so long to see you face to face like this. And I've waited so long to tell you to your face that I hate your stinking guts. And it's not just me, it's your children that hate your stinking guts, Vince, and at Survivor Series, your children are going to do to you what I've waited my whole life to see someone do to you, Vince. You are, so help me God, the most disgusting, vile, son of a bitch I've ever seen in my life.
You took Hulk Hogan's blood and you built Titan Towers. You stole Bret Hart's dream, and with that money, bought yourself an airplane with 'WWF' all over it. You did that, and you know it, you son of a bitch! You stole Shawn Michaels' smile, took your company public, and made yourself a billionaire. But not a self-made billionaire, like you like to tell everybody you are, oh no. See, you're a billionaire on other people's hard work. Your father - your father, Vince McMahon - your father went around the country and shook the hand of every... You know I'm telling the truth don't you? You know in your heart that I'm telling you the truth... that your father shook the hand of every promoter in this country and swore to them that he'd never compete against them, that his son would never compete against them.
And when your father DIED, you competed! And with your ruthless, merciless, take-no-prisoners attitude, you drove everybody out of business, didn't you, Vince? You ran all the competition into the ground and you stole all their ideas and you made yourself a billionaire out of it! And you know whose ideas you stole the most, Vince? You stole mine. You see, I don't give a damn about Don Owen and Sam Mushnick and Jim Crockett; I care about what you did to me and my family. How you stole my dreams, how you stole my legacy, how you stole everything that Extreme Championship Wrestling represented.
Because while Doink the Clown had green hair and a rubber nose, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was drinking his first beer in ECW, damn you. While Bobby Heenan and Gene Okerlund were dancing around singing "Tutti Frutti", ECW was producing the edgy TV that you named "Attitude." 'Oh, we've got Attitude!' You've got nothing, man! What you've got is my ideas and you stole my life, my money, my legacy! SCREW YOU! SCREW YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!
I'll tell you something, your own children hate your guts! And on Sunday, your children are going to get even with you, for everything that you stole from me, from everything you stole from them! You flaunt your affairs in front of your wife! You flaunt your affairs in Playboy for your children to read! You bastard! Look at Tazz! Look at Tazz! This man was a killer, he was a machine! He was a wrestler, a great wrestler, a real man. But wrestling is a dirty word to you, isn't it, Vince? Your father built a wrestling company, and you, you had to have sports entertainment. 'We have to have sports entertainment, ha ha ha!'
He was a wrestler, he was a great wrestler, he was a man. And now, he's a fat, little, obnoxious color commentator, and not even a good one! He is a sports entertainer. He is not a wrestler because you made wrestling a dirty word. You made wrestling a dirty word, Vince. What kind of a man are you? What kind of a man takes wrestling and makes it sports entertainment? At Survivor Series, you're going down. You're going down, Vince. I promise you, you're going down, and I'm going to watch it and your children are going to lift their leg, and stand over your grave and we're going to laugh. And you know what else I'm going to do, Vince? I'm going to run your ass out of business. And there's not a damn thing you can do about. I'm feeling good about myself..."
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