Paul Heyman is one of the few personalities in the professional wrestling business who has worked in multiple capacities in the same industry. Starting as a photographer at age 13, Heyman went on to become the lead booker of a major wrestling promotion, an on-screen personality, a backstage authority figure and has even competed in a handful of matches in his iconic career.
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He's 56 years old as of this writing and still has the fresh passion for the business he developed in his childhood, a trait that became a huge factor in his success in the business. It would take a long time to list down his contributions to pro wrestling, but for the sake of the list, let's take a look at ten pictures of Paul Heyman that would explain his various phases in getting into the business.
10 Early Passion For The Business
Paul Heyman found his passion for the pro wrestling industry during his childhood and started working as a photographer when he was only 13 years old. He soon started writing for third-party wrestling publications like Pro Wrestling Illustrated and published his newsletter "The Wrestling Times Magazine."
People would have a hard time believing how a person can develop a passion for professional wrestling at a very early age, and this picture of a young Paul Heyman with wrestling legend Larry Zbyszko would prove the love he had for the sport.
9 As A Ring Announcer
When Paul Heyman made his way into WCW in 1988, he was only 23 years old, and the first duties the company assigned to him were to work as a ring announcer and then commentary duties alongside Jim Ross.
Heyman revealed that he learned a lot about the business while working with Jim Ross more than from any of his previous mentors. He also tried his hands at creative writing with ICW during that time but got fired on the very first day in the middle of his first TV tapings.
8 Managing Mean Mark Callous
Before finding a break in WWE, The Undertaker had to explore various directions for his career in pro wrestling and shuffled between gimmicks during the early stages of his career.
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One such gimmick he portrayed as Mean Mark Callous in WCW when he made his debut in 1989. Heyman was also a part of WCW at the time, working under the name Paul E. Dangerously managed The Undertaker for a brief period and guided the Deadman in the early stages of his career. Heyman would also play an important role in arranging a meeting between The Undertaker and Vince McMahon alongside Bruce Prichard, which led to the Deadman signing with WWE.
7 Tuxedo Match
When Heyman jumped to Jim Crockett Promotions in 1988, he started managing Original Midnight Express in a feud against the New Original Express and their manager Jim Cornette. It led to a Tuxedo match between Heyman and Cornette at the NWA The Great American Bash 1989 - "Glory Days" PPV, where Cornette defeated Heyman by ripping off his Tuxedo.
It was the first one-on-one match of Heyman's career, and since then, he has competed in 22 singles matches so far, with the last match taking place at a Raw live event in December 2012 against Ryback.
6 With A Young Stone Cold Steve Austin
When Stone Cold Steve Austin got released by WCW in 1995 after Eric Bischoff believed that he was not a marketable wrestler, it was Paul Heyman who invited him to ECW and gave him a platform to prove himself.
Heyman had already managed Austin during their time together in WCW, and when he brought Austin from WCW, the latter had already sustained an injury and couldn't return to the ring immediately. So Heyman had him do promos and interviews until he recovered from the injury and paid him $500 a night.
5 Sharing A Moment With Goldberg
The fans are well aware of the real-life friendship Paul Heyman shares with former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, but most of them didn't know that he was also close with Goldberg until Heyman inducted the WCW legend into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018.
Here's a picture of Heyman having a special moment with Goldberg after the latter's match against Dolph Ziggler at the 2019 Summer Slam PPV. This would show the bond the two legends of the business share with each other.
4 AJ Styles Controversy
This picture of AJ Style and Paul Heyman sharing a friendly handshake must've been taken before WWE rolled out their budget cuts, as the two might not be on very good terms these days. WWE released Styles' long-time friends Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson from their contracts as part of the budget cuts, and it happened when Heyman was the Executive Director of Raw.
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Styles had received some conflicting information about Gallows and Anderson's release, which really got on the former WWE Champion's nerves up to the point that he demanded a move to SmackDown, where he wouldn't have to work with Heyman.
3 Airport Troubles
Part of the job of being a well-known wrestling personality is to be prepared to encounter the fans at almost all places. Apart from the venues of the events and the hotel rooms where they stay, the airports are the most common places where the fans stick pens and papers on their faces asking for autographs and photos.
Here's a picture of Paul Heyman enduring the same fate when a fan asked to take a picture with him at an airport. We can see the frustration very clearly in Heyman's face in the picture.
2 Imparting Wisdom To The Young Ones
Paul Heyman has been in the business for over three decades and has more experience than the ages of some of the younger wrestlers walking into WWE. There is no doubt that Heyman would impart some of the wisdom he gained over the years to help such young wrestlers learn how the business works.
Here's a picture of Paul Heyman having a moment backstage with one of WWE's young stars Liv Morgan. The expression on Morgan's face shows the level of gratitude she has for that interaction.
1 With CM Punk
CM Punk is one of the Paul Heyman guys who went on to achieve tremendous success in the industry. The inputs he received from Heyman over the years would've definitely helped Punk advance in his career, including the point where he became the AEW World Champion at Double or Nothing 2022.
This specific picture must've been taken during Punk's feud against The Undertaker leading to their WrestleMania 29 match, where Punk would become The Deadman's 21st victim before Heyman's other client Brock Lesnar would end the streak on the following year's WrestleMania.
