Paul Heyman Shares His Thoughts on AEW as an Alternative & Competitive Brand, How ECW Influenced the Product

During a recent interview with Insight with Chris Van Vliet, WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman was asked if wrestling is better due to the presence of AEW, offering competition in the business and improving compensation overall for the wrestling talent.

Heyman also shared his thoughts on how AEW is influenced by the style of the original ECW and more. Below are some highlights from Insight and F4WOnline.com:

Paul Heyman on If AEW Helps Make Wrestling Better With Competition and Compensation for the Wrestlers

“I certainly hope so. I mean, it shortchanged the compensation packages for a lot of talent, because there was a wolf across the river named Tony Khan that had a billion-dollar checkbook that he could afford to pay a lot more money for talent than talent was making back in 2017, 2018, 2019. So it certainly changed the compensation for talent, and they’re on a viable network; they have a style that’s different than WWE’s. They present an alternative, if not a competitive brand.

“I look at AEW, and I realize the influence that ECW had on that project, on that product. For example, like Moxley is a total ECW Sandman, New Jack style performer. But if you look at the AEW style, it’s Rob Van Dam versus Jerry Lynn from 1999. AEW is RVD, and if you were a fan of what RVD and Jerry Lynn were doing in 1999, a lot of what AEW presents today is derived and is influenced by what RVD and Jerry Lynn were doing back then.”

His Thoughts on ECW’s Style Influencing PWG and Later ECW

“Well, that style went into the PWG, which then became, you know, I think a basis for what AEW is doing now. So am I glad that they’re there? Absolutely love the fact that there is an alternative for an audience. Love the fact that there’s something else out there. Love the fact that there’s something that captures the imagination of the pro wrestling slash sports entertainment. If we still use that phrase today, audience, I’m glad. I wish there were more promotions out there. Right now, it’s just going to make us work harder to be better than all of them. And we certainly have the advantage in terms of distribution and in terms of lineage of this industry.”