Did Paul Heyman "Win"?

[sarkerpolseng]

When it comes to Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff, and Paul Heyman, does Paul Heyman have the best legacy and most respect out of the three? 
I mean it was Vince, until this whole S.A. thing.  Bischoff pops up here and there, but is pretty much out of the business.
Meanwhile, Paul Heyman has been involved with more WrestleMania Main Events than anyone I believe (Cena?), he is still managing and part of main event stories in a meaningful way, and he only manages top people.  Plus, I am sure he is making that sweet TKO $$.

Kinda fun thinking about where all three people were in like 1998-1999.  I doubt anyone would thought he would be one of the most prominent wrestling figures in 2024.

 

[tirtefaa]

Ha. No.

Dude lied his entire career, still owes people money, and largely oversaw the rise and promotion of the worst kind of professional wrestling in terms of gross out violence.

Just because he's making bank, doesn't mean he "won". Many bad people win.

[ChitownKnight]

It seems out of the 3 guys Bischoff is the least scummy. Honestly I think Heyman deserved as much shit as Logan Paul

[XIII]

This dude told ECW wrestlers that he was going to Hollywood to negotiate a new deal and then they saw him on Raw. LMAO.

Paul has been in the business since the late 70s/early 80s I have no doubt that he got up to some actually illegal stuff that we don’t know about along the way.

I’m inclined to not think of any of the three as particularly good people. Bischoff probably did the least illegal shit though.

[tafkaga]

What's the criteria?

Vince stands alone in terms of having the biggest impact on pro wrestling, regardless of how big of a scumbag he turns out to be. Bischoff and Heyman were innovators who were certainly influential in evolving wrestling beyond Vince's aging formula.

Personally, of those three I have the most respect for Bischoff, and I say that as someone with a pro-WCW bias who admittedly never cared much for ECW. I also think the Internet tends to be quick to descend on Bischoff like crows on carrion, instead of properly acknowledging his successes alongside his failures and ineptitudes.

[The anti-ratings Luddite]

If he won, it's real pyrrhic victory at best.

Morally, he's "just" a sleazy conman who puppeteered his employees doing irreversible damage to themselves in the name of ECW while also not paying them. That's better than what Vince is, but that's like choosing the flu over cancer.

Bischoff had moments (firing Austin by FedEx sticks out), but he either had the best moral compass of them all or had Turner standards and practices living up his ass 24/7.

[CeilingFan]

He is the only one who will be at WM40, so that's a victory.

[darbus alan]

Paul was a scumbag in how he ran ECW. Just that everyone pales in that department compared to Vince McMahon.

[thechase]

The man can hustle.

[The Thread Barbi]

With Bischoff, there's the wife swapping rumours but those are as valid and in wrestling mythology as Macho Man Randy Savage and Steph...i.e. rumour and innuendo.

Other than maybe bad booking decisions and maybe bad business decisions, I don't think Bischoff has done anything nearly as abhorrent as the other two.

Even in TNA, he spotted Jeff Hardy's situation and made an audible at Victory Road. I think of the three, Eric sleeps with a clear conscience every night.

[ChitownKnight]

As a kid/teenager I always thought that Vince had the best moral compass of the 3. Kind of wild how he even used his Jedi mind tricks on the fans for decades

[Ben Wyatt]

Feb 23, 2024 11:58:00 GMT -5 The anti-ratings Luddite said:

Bischoff had moments (firing Austin by FedEx sticks out), but he either had the best moral compass of them all or had Turner standards and practices living up his ass 24/7.

And although he has his moments on 83 weeks, the guy generally seems like he's in a really great place in his life.  

[Feyrhausen]

Feb 23, 2024 13:55:58 GMT -5 The Thread Barbi said:

With Bischoff, there's the wife swapping rumours but those are as valid and in wrestling mythology as Macho Man Randy Savage and Steph...i.e. rumour and innuendo.

Other than maybe bad booking decisions and maybe bad business decisions, I don't think Bischoff has done anything nearly as abhorrent as the other two.

Even in TNA, he spotted Jeff Hardy's situation and made an audible at Victory Road. I think of the three, Eric sleeps with a clear conscience every night.

If wife swapping is consensual with all parties then no harm. Private business. Not for me but not judging anyone else for it.

[ChitownKnight]

Feb 23, 2024 13:55:58 GMT -5 The Thread Barbi said:

With Bischoff, there's the wife swapping rumours but those are as valid and in wrestling mythology as Macho Man Randy Savage and Steph...i.e. rumour and innuendo.

Other than maybe bad booking decisions and maybe bad business decisions, I don't think Bischoff has done anything nearly as abhorrent as the other two.

Even in TNA, he spotted Jeff Hardy's situation and made an audible at Victory Road. I think of the three, Eric sleeps with a clear conscience every night.

Yeah I think Eric’s worst crime is being a bit of an egomaniac

[Mozenrath]

It really kind of comes down to your metric. All three guys have their positives and negatives, but obviously, Vince has the biggest demons by leaps. Eric probably, for all of being kind of a dick sometimes, is the most blameless, though I do think that he should have done better by some people, particularly Renegade.

Heyman outright f***ed up some peoples' lives due to incompetence, indifference, or both.

[sarkerpolseng]

I guess my point was look at them then, and look at them now.

Paul was clearly the underdog

[Push R Truth]

Vince is... well, you know.
Paul is a thief and a liar.
Was Eric anything more than just an asshole? As far as I know he actually paid his people and didn't rape anybody.

[Rolent Tex]

Only thing Heyman won was that no one born after a certain year knows what kind of a piece of shit he was. Vince doesn’t have that honor.

[Final Countdown Jones]

Heyman doesn't have a good legacy at all. He's the grafted-on hype man keeping his career afloat by doing for Roman what he did for Brock. His career is still littered with heaps of garbage and no company with his name attached has ever lived to tell the tale. Vince 'won', no matter what the end of his story involves.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

This is real "Three homeless men fighting over a sandwich" territory of a question...