Paul Heyman: Could Have Made a Contest of It
Published by on February 12th, 2008 in History

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Charles Jay:

Paul Heyman revealed to the British newspaper The Sun this past week that he was indeed close to heading up a group to buy the California-based Strike Force MMA organization, with the intention of retaining Scott Coker, the Strike Force founder, in a leadership position.

In the short piece, Heyman indicated that though he did not really know whether Strike Force, as led by him, would have endeavored to go toe-to-toe with the UFC, he was certain it could succeed as “a viable alternative brand.”

This is interesting, because, if you have read previous stories I have written, I crafted a projection of WWE chief Vince McMahon as a possible owner of the UFC, as had reportedly been discussed some time back, and went over the conceivable fallout from such a transaction.

Heyman, in case you’re not aware, is an on-air announcer and former wrestling manager who handled the career of Brock Lesnar. He worked in pro wrestling under the name “Paul E. Dangerously” So wouldn’t the effect on an MMA outfit be the same with him as it would with McMahon? Would he bring a wrestling culture to the table and stain the legitimacy of MMA? No, I’m not so sure about that.

Heyman also owned something called Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), which, while short of budget, was long on audacity, and managed to scratch and claw its way to a sizable cult following, working out of a small arena in Philadelphia and cooking up interviews that at times looked like they were coming from somebody’s basement. Such bootstrapping is good practice for anyone who wants to be an insurgent in the MMA world, and Heyman got plenty of it. Along the way he demonstrated a keen eye for talent, bringing along countless performers who eventually moved into prominence in the WWE (McMahon also eventually bought out ECW). Certainly MMA promoters can take lessons in star-building from that.

Heyman essentially started the ECW from scratch, taking over a local promotion, a different case than the WWE, which was inherited by McMahon, or the UFC, which was an entity for almost a decade before Zuffa LLC took over. Heyman craved out his own niche and made a positioning statement. I say all this because in his Sun interview, Heyman seemed to have an understanding of the fact that he may not have been an industry leader, but was completely prepared and indeed equipped to establish an identity for his own group, not just another “poor man’s UFC” like so many organizations that spring up out of nowhere and are soon ticketed for oblivion. Sure, he’d stretch things a bit in a colorful way, but he’d also know what could work and what couldn’t. And all indications are that he has a real appreciation for the sport, and can make the distinction between the two, something I’m not so sure McMahon is capable of.

Alas, the Strike Force deal didn’t come to pass…Yet. In Heyman’s words, “The negotiations stopped because one of the key people in our group ended up being someone we didn’t want to get stuck with, because we realized in negotiations that he was the wrong guy for the deal.”

Well, as long as the RIGHT guy for the deal stays in it, and keeps plugging away, we may yet see him at the helm of a viable enterprise, a rare case of a “mid-major” that can line up a loyal audience to roll with the big boys.