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In the modern world, WWE is the be-all and end-all of professional wrestling and to fans, WWE is pro wrestling, much like how UFC is the sport of MMA.
Vince McMahon is the most powerful individual in the history of business and after trampling the territory system and buying out his competition, the company came to personify the entire sport. Successful across the globe and more profitable than any other wrestling promotion, WWE existed in a vacuum as not a single promotion came close to the empire of Vince McMahon.
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After acquiring WCW and ECW, Vince McMahon banned any and every mention of foreign wrestling promotions. Commentators were not allowed to say that a returning wrestler had competed in other promotions and Vince McMahon closed off his company to outsiders.
WWE Is All Alone At The Mountain Top
Vince McMahon is regarded as a selfish businessman as he not only brought his competition but for years before his purchase of WCW, he single-handedly destroyed the old system of territories. He was ruthless throughout his ambitious run to the top of the industry but among the many, many promotions he destroyed, Vince McMahon has offered a helping hand to one company in particular: Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Yes, Vince McMahon actually helped Paul Heyman and his strapped-for-cash corporation, and had it not been for McMahon, ECW would have perished well before 2001. This was definitely a one-time occurrence, and maybe it was due to the fact that for once, McMahon was in uncharted territory, on the brink of defeat by the hands of Eric Bischoff and WCW.
Meanwhile, Paul Heyman, the owner of ECW, had personal issues with WCW himself and perhaps through this common bond, McMahon and Heyman developed somewhat of a working relationship with each other. ECW was on the cusp of collapse even as early as 1996, and it was Vince McMahon who provided much-needed funds to Paul Heyman.
According to people involved in the business, McMahon loaned Heyman about 500,000 USD and this was quite the big amount back in the mid-1990s. With this capital, Heyman was able to keep the promotion going and ECW survived into the new millennium. More importantly, in a rare instance of cross-promotion, ECW and WWE came together on television and we were given one of the more underrated invasion angles in professional wrestling.
The catalyst for this invasion was the real-life hatred between Jerry Lawler and Paul Heyman. Out of nowhere, Lawler started calling out ECW during live commentary, blasting Heyman and his company for being too bloody and violent.
This led to ECW wrestlers showing up on WWE television and eventually, Heyman himself showed up for a heated debate with Lawler. The storyline continued for a couple of months and many ECW stars gained exposure on national television and a few WWE wrestlers were sent to ECW for training and development.
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Unfortunately, ECW could only survive a few more years and in 2001, the company was declared bankrupt. McMahon purchased the assets of the defunct promotion and ECW intellectual property became the exclusive property of WWE.
McMahon Wanted The ECW Library
Out of work and under debt, Heyman was brought over to WWE, and McMahon never once asked for Heyman to make good on the 500,000 USD loan. Heyman worked as an on-screen talent and a backstage worker for many years. He had a spat with the boss in 2006 and left but he found his way back to WWE and he remains an important part of the company to this day.
Long-time WWE employee Jim Ross commented on the matter during an episode of his podcast and said that McMahon loaned the amount so he could buy the video library later on. Ross also mentioned that Heyman was getting 50,000 USD a month, but he did not make it clear whether this was in addition to the 500,000 USD loan or the amount was being handed to Heyman month by month and not in a lump sum. Perhaps Vince McMahon treated ECW as an investment and aided Heyman so he could groom talent for cherry-picking later on.
This is Vince McMahon we are talking about, so we will never know the truth, but the fact remains: Once in a blue moon, Vince McMahon might help out a rival promoter. He probably had his own interests in the forefront of his mind but maybe he appreciates the kind of talent Heyman was and he wanted to help where he could. Or maybe Vince McMahon was a secret ECW fan and the promotion was his guilty pleasure.
