ironworks
04-08-2013, 04:32 AM
- Paul Heyman joined Dave Lagreca and Doug Mortman on Busted Open to promote WrestleMania 29. Here are some highlights from the interview:
What brought him back to WWE:
"Well, Brock Lesnar made the decision to go back to WWE and once he got
back in I guess he realized that it's the same boat that it was 10
years ago with all the politics and everything. If you're going to get
involved with a whole bunch of politics obviously you need your New York
Jew along with you. It was a matter of Brock going back and then it was
just a natural fit for me to go back with him. Once I was in there, the
first person that obviously I let know I was coming back was CM Punk,
who is the person that I was fighting with Vince McMahon over back in
2006 when I decided to leave. So it became a natural fit for us to get
back together as well and it just took off from there."
The differences between working with CM Punk and working with Brock Lesnar:
"It's two totally different relationships. My job with CM Punk differs
dramatically from my job with Brock Lesnar. It's very easy for me to
talk about Brock Lesnar because I am Brock Lesnar's biggest fan, and how
could I not be? The man is legitimately the only person in history to
hold the NCAA Division I Heavyweight Championship, the Undisputed UFC
Heavyweight Championship and the Undisputed WWE Heavyweight
Championship. I could talk about him all day long; I am such an admirer
of his talents and his greatness and I think the world of him as a human
being. As far as CM Punk goes, to be very honest with you, we've never
defined my role with him on television; I don't refer to him as my
client because we're just friends. We are best friends and we wanted to
work together on television. We wanted to work together in front of
everybody and so we just did it. I'm there for whatever he needs me to
be; whether that's as a confidant or a strategist or be ring side with
him when he's wrestling or just hang out with him in the ring and admire
him from a close distance when he's actually speaking, because I think
he's a better talker than I am. I think CM Punk does the best interviews
in the industry, and I'm actually learning from him when I'm standing
that close."
State of pro wrestling:
"I'm
happy with my position within the state of pro wrestling. It's a very
interesting weekend to ask me that question, because we're sitting here,
48 hours outside of a show that's going to generate $100 million in
revenue, so it's kind of hard for me to knock the state of pro
wrestling. I grew up in the territorial days where if MSG sold out, the
territory was doing fine. So, to see here on radio row with 24
interviews to do and satellite tv down the hallway and $100 million in
revenue being generated by one show, if I knock the state of pro
wrestling today then I'm just an unappreciative prick. When I was a kid
they didn't generate $100 million in one show, let alone on the weekend
where they've got the Hall of Fame as well, they've got Monday Night Raw
which is sold out, so how do I knock it? So anything that I don't like
about it I should just shut the F up because I'm going to come off like
an idiot. No matter what the answer is, they drew $100 million in one
day. Ok, doing better than I am."
Brock Lesnar:
"Brock Lesnar hates human beings. Period. That's it. Doesn't like
people. He lives on a compound in what I like to call Texas Chainsaw
Massacre Minnesota. You cannot find his address on a GPS. He lives off
two dirt roads and it's a compound. His mail is delivered to his
attorney's office in Minneapolis, they sort through it and then when
they see him they hand him the rest of his mail. That's it. He does not
like people and he wants to be left alone and that's what drives him.
That's what makes him Brock Lesnar. There's a lot to be afraid of with
Brock Lesnar. He's a violent man living in a violent society and it's a
society that couldn't handle him if he decided to conquer it."
ECW getting respect:
"It's something I don't even think about and here's why; do I think
that ECW is getting the credit that it deserves from the audience that
saw it and lived it? I don't think you can ever take that credit away.
For people who didn't experience, it's kind of hard to explain it to
them and it will never get the credit that it deserves from within the
corporate structure of WWE. I don't anticipate that it would. It's like
dreaming of being an astronaut once you're past 20 years old; aint gonna
happen for you. If you're not dedicating your life to it, it just aint
going to happen. I could have campaigns out there to get ECW recognized
and respected within WWE; it's just not going to happen. Its fait
accompli as far as that's concerned. So I don't really worry about it.
The people that lived it, the people that experienced it, the people
that watched it, my god, they love it to this day and it gets the
respect that it deserves from those."
His current run with WWE:
"Career highlight. Absolute career highlight. I am working with my two
best friends in the world. We are in two of the three main events of the
largest Wrestlemania in my home market, New York. The stadiums in New
Jersey but the market is New York. To be in two of the three main events
at Wrestlemania is a pretty big deal. To do it with my two best friends
on our own terms, this is an absolute fantasy come true."
What brought him back to WWE:
"Well, Brock Lesnar made the decision to go back to WWE and once he got
back in I guess he realized that it's the same boat that it was 10
years ago with all the politics and everything. If you're going to get
involved with a whole bunch of politics obviously you need your New York
Jew along with you. It was a matter of Brock going back and then it was
just a natural fit for me to go back with him. Once I was in there, the
first person that obviously I let know I was coming back was CM Punk,
who is the person that I was fighting with Vince McMahon over back in
2006 when I decided to leave. So it became a natural fit for us to get
back together as well and it just took off from there."
The differences between working with CM Punk and working with Brock Lesnar:
"It's two totally different relationships. My job with CM Punk differs
dramatically from my job with Brock Lesnar. It's very easy for me to
talk about Brock Lesnar because I am Brock Lesnar's biggest fan, and how
could I not be? The man is legitimately the only person in history to
hold the NCAA Division I Heavyweight Championship, the Undisputed UFC
Heavyweight Championship and the Undisputed WWE Heavyweight
Championship. I could talk about him all day long; I am such an admirer
of his talents and his greatness and I think the world of him as a human
being. As far as CM Punk goes, to be very honest with you, we've never
defined my role with him on television; I don't refer to him as my
client because we're just friends. We are best friends and we wanted to
work together on television. We wanted to work together in front of
everybody and so we just did it. I'm there for whatever he needs me to
be; whether that's as a confidant or a strategist or be ring side with
him when he's wrestling or just hang out with him in the ring and admire
him from a close distance when he's actually speaking, because I think
he's a better talker than I am. I think CM Punk does the best interviews
in the industry, and I'm actually learning from him when I'm standing
that close."
State of pro wrestling:
"I'm
happy with my position within the state of pro wrestling. It's a very
interesting weekend to ask me that question, because we're sitting here,
48 hours outside of a show that's going to generate $100 million in
revenue, so it's kind of hard for me to knock the state of pro
wrestling. I grew up in the territorial days where if MSG sold out, the
territory was doing fine. So, to see here on radio row with 24
interviews to do and satellite tv down the hallway and $100 million in
revenue being generated by one show, if I knock the state of pro
wrestling today then I'm just an unappreciative prick. When I was a kid
they didn't generate $100 million in one show, let alone on the weekend
where they've got the Hall of Fame as well, they've got Monday Night Raw
which is sold out, so how do I knock it? So anything that I don't like
about it I should just shut the F up because I'm going to come off like
an idiot. No matter what the answer is, they drew $100 million in one
day. Ok, doing better than I am."
Brock Lesnar:
"Brock Lesnar hates human beings. Period. That's it. Doesn't like
people. He lives on a compound in what I like to call Texas Chainsaw
Massacre Minnesota. You cannot find his address on a GPS. He lives off
two dirt roads and it's a compound. His mail is delivered to his
attorney's office in Minneapolis, they sort through it and then when
they see him they hand him the rest of his mail. That's it. He does not
like people and he wants to be left alone and that's what drives him.
That's what makes him Brock Lesnar. There's a lot to be afraid of with
Brock Lesnar. He's a violent man living in a violent society and it's a
society that couldn't handle him if he decided to conquer it."
ECW getting respect:
"It's something I don't even think about and here's why; do I think
that ECW is getting the credit that it deserves from the audience that
saw it and lived it? I don't think you can ever take that credit away.
For people who didn't experience, it's kind of hard to explain it to
them and it will never get the credit that it deserves from within the
corporate structure of WWE. I don't anticipate that it would. It's like
dreaming of being an astronaut once you're past 20 years old; aint gonna
happen for you. If you're not dedicating your life to it, it just aint
going to happen. I could have campaigns out there to get ECW recognized
and respected within WWE; it's just not going to happen. Its fait
accompli as far as that's concerned. So I don't really worry about it.
The people that lived it, the people that experienced it, the people
that watched it, my god, they love it to this day and it gets the
respect that it deserves from those."
His current run with WWE:
"Career highlight. Absolute career highlight. I am working with my two
best friends in the world. We are in two of the three main events of the
largest Wrestlemania in my home market, New York. The stadiums in New
Jersey but the market is New York. To be in two of the three main events
at Wrestlemania is a pretty big deal. To do it with my two best friends
on our own terms, this is an absolute fantasy come true."