His name is Paul Heyman and he's one of the best managers in the history of wrestling. Before he was the man standing next to The Tribal Chief and Brock Lesnar, many fans remember Paul Heyman as the "ECW guy." He helped turn Eastern Championship Wrestling into a wrestling phenom in the '90s known as Extreme Championship Wrestling.
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Although he has had various positions in the WWE, Heyman is best known for his wit on the microphone. He's one of the best wrestling entities to ever deliver a promo. Heyman rarely misses on the mic and this list will rank his 10 best quotes.
10 "I Fathered You."
Paul Heyman is known to accompany wrestling stars that lack elite skills on the microphone. One instance where he accompanied a wrestling star who was a stud on the mic was CM Punk. The two had great chemistry as a unit. During their storyline, CM Punk chose to split away from Heyman, which led to harsh words.
Heyman told Punk he was the one responsible for his success. He claimed that he was the one who "fathered Punk," metaphorically stating that he was the person who brought CM Punk to WWE. The words were so strong that it became one of the rare times that Punk had little to say against a person calling him out.
9 "You Can Sell Your Soul To The Devil, But Your A** Belongs To Brock Lesnar."
Some of the best words of Paul Heyman's career happened when he was standing next to Brock Lesnar. He was very famously by Lesnar's side when The Beast Incarnate defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30.
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During a promo that led up to their rematch at SummerSlam 2015, Paul Heyman obliterated The Deadman with a line that minimized Taker's entire gimmick, saying Undertaker sold his soul to the Devil, but his a** belonged to Lesnar.
8 "Here's Double Your Money Back. Get...Out Of Here!"
Although Heyman has had his fair share of over-the-top moments in the WWE, he was even more unleashed with ECW in the '90s. One instance that represented Heyman's respect for the industry was during a segment when the company had a 10-bell salute in memory of Rick Rude in 1999.
A disrespectful fan broke the silence of the salute. Heyman not only threw him out but gave him double his money, essentially stating he would pay the person to stay away from his company.
7 "It's Him Corrupting Me."
After Roman Reigns turned heel in 2020, his true rise to the top of WWE began. He also added Paul Heyman to his corner, which allowed Reigns to be elevated even further thanks to Paul's skill on the mic. In the infamous promo where Heyman announced his allegiance to Roman, Heyman admitted that he wasn't corrupting Roman, but Reigns was so powerful as a heel that he was corrupting Heyman.
6 "Vince McMahon Has The Same [Chance] Of Saving The WWE As He Did Of Realizing His Dream Of Starting A Football League."
Paul Heyman helped form The Alliance during the WWE invasion angle in 2001. Never one to hold his tongue, he aimed many of his shots at the WWE, who opposed The Alliance (ECW/WCW). He took a personal shot at Vince McMahon (who headed WWE) and his failed XFL football league by saying that he had a better chance of realizing his dream of starting a football league than saving the WWE from The Alliance.
5 "Brock Lesnar Is Here To Shock The WWE Universe And Put Tears In The Eyes Of Children."
A large part of Brock Lesnar's early success as a character can be attributed to Paul Heyman. This is true even during Lesnar's return to WWE in 2012. He promised audiences a staunch reality, where Lesnar would both shock the WWE Universe and leave tears in the eyes of children in the process, taking aim at all the top WWE babyfaces of the era.
4 "Don't Worry About My Telephone!"
Before he was a member of WWE or ECW, Heyman was known as "Paul E. Dangerously" in WCW. He was a part of a well-known faction, The Dangerous Alliance, which featured a young Steve Austin. Although his time with the faction was much more subdued due to the era, he did have a few great quotes from this era.
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One of the best quotable moments for Heyman happened when he was questioned about his cell phone. He notoriously used his massive cell phone as a weapon in WCW. Tony Schiavone once tried to question Heyman about the contents of his phone and he told him to not worry about it. It was the precursor to the snark that would follow him for the rest of his career.
3 "We Hate This Stinkin' Network."
ECW had a very lackluster run on TNN that Paul Heyman has criticized many times throughout his career. Despite being one of the top-rated shows on the network, TNN canceled ECW and opted to bring WWE Raw to their airwaves. Heyman went off on the network, citing lack of promotion for his frustrations. He famously ended his segment by saying, "We hate this stinkin' network."
2 "ECW Was Producing The Edgy TV That [Vince McMahon Copied] And Named Attitude."
Any time that Heyman has had a chance to unload on Vince McMahon, he always delivers. In a famous segment between him and McMahon on an episode of SmackDown in 2001. Heyman took shots at McMahon, the WWE, and even Tazz. He even accused McMahon of copying the edgy style of ECW and calling it "attitude." This was a shot at the more extreme content of the WWE's Attitude Era.
1 "The Only Reason Why You Were WWE Champion For A Year, Is Because Triple H Didn't Want To Work Tuesdays."
Of all of Paul Heyman's great promos in his career, none were as visceral as his promo against the WWE roster during One Night Stand 2005. He took shots at multiple wrestlers. At one point he said, "It's Edge, hide your wives" a shot at the love triangle involving Edge, Lita, and Matt Hardy. The most quotable moment happened when he took a shot at JBL, who fans hardly bought as champion.
He demeaned his WWE Championship reign by stating "the only reason [JBL] was champion" was because Triple H didn't want to work on Tuesdays, meaning Triple H preferred working Raw instead of SmackDown, and hence JBL's rise.
