‘YOU’RE DAMN F***ING RIGHT I DO’: Paul Heyman on well-deserved WWE Hall of Fame induction

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Philadelphia celebrated one of its own on Friday night as Paul Heyman, the brash but brilliant creator of Extreme Championship Wrestling — the longtime Philadelphia-based wrestling promotion that Heyman helped build from the ground up — was elevated to immortal with his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.

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Heyman, whose then violent, edgy and provocative ECW brand defied the odds and wrestling gods by becoming an unimaginably successful and fiercely popular independent promotion that is now considered one of the most innovative and influential promotions in wrestling history, accepted his induction into hall of fame in a ceremony that followed WWE SmackDown at Wells Fargo Centre in Philadelphia on Friday night as only he could: with an impassioned, powerful and at times defiant speech that was not only the greatest in WWE history, but perhaps of all time, period, end of story.

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Heyman, who was inducted by the current Undisputed WWE Universal champion, received a hero’s welcome by the capacity Philly faithful, who chanted “You deserve it” as he walked toward the ring, first stopping to embrace ECW originals Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer and Bubba Ray Dudley, key members of the ECW roster that famously packed the nearby ECW Arena in its heyday.

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“You’re damn f***ing right I do,” he answered defiantly as he took the mic, prompting the crowd to stand and break into ECW chants.

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Heyman, widely considered one of the best speakers and on-camera personas in pro wrestling history, told the crowd he didn’t prepare a speech, preferring to speak from his heart. He said he turned to those closest to him, including his son and daughter, to seek advice about having to advocate for himself in a public setting, something he said he wasn’t quite sure how to do. But for some 30-ish minutes, as only Paul Heyman can, he had the crowd eating from the palm of his hand.

“I’m a beneficiary for doing with my life exactly what I wanted to do with my life,” he said. “I get to work with the men and women in this beautiful performance art known as sports enter … professional wrestling,” he said, purposely correcting himself, much to the delight of the packed house.

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Heyman paid tribute to some members of the crowd who he said have had a large influence in his life, most notably CM Punk and Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque. In perhaps his most powerful prose, he singled out Levesque, saying the WWE legend-turned-executive has single-handedly turned the company around, improving not only the product that fans see, but the work environment for performers and wrestlers in backstage and beyond.

Heyman vowed that for the rest of his life, “I will be a Paul Levesque guy,” as a visibly emotional Levesque and his wife, Stephanie McMahon-Levesque looked on.

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Heyman addressed his son and daughter, who beamed for their father in the front row, urging them: “Pursue your dreams, pursue your happiness.” He pointed to the results of pursuing those dreams and happiness, pointing out to the adoring crowd. “You will hear the love for the body of work that you put together.”

He paid tribute to his late parents, stopping himself from choking up as he expressed his wishes that his parents could have been there to see him elevated among the immortals.

“My father was a far greater orator than I could ever hope to be, and I could never find the words to express to you two how much I desperately love you,” Heyman told his children, before shifting gears to discuss ECW and its place in history.

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“It’s time to talk about ECW,” he said, meticulously taking the crowd on an emotional rollercoaster as only Heyman can.

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He reached into an old box that was placed on the podium with him, pulling out his once-trademark ECW wardrobe, a leather duster, ball cap, headset and an OG cellphone he said he was pretty sure was one that had been broken over the head of the legendary Sting.

“In 1993, this industry sucked,” Heyman said.

He recounted how strongly he felt about creating an alternative, edgy, extreme brand of wrestling that would “bring hip hop into wrestling, bring heavy metal into wrestling. A tribe of extreme,” he said, energizing the crowd when he shouted that that vision “would never have happened in any other place than Phila-F***ng-delphia!”

He spoke about the innovative work his ECW crew did with extreme matches, ECW being the place Stone Cold Steve Austin first drank a beer, where RVD, the Dudleys, Rey Mysterio and others reinvented the wrestling wheel.

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He spoke about the passionate fanbase, which packed the ECW Arena show after show, proving his prophetic vision was at the right time and in the right place.

Finally, he finished as only he could, shouting that ECW was, is and always will be alive and well in the passion of the fanbase.

“If you think that the spirit of ECW died in a bankruptcy court in 2001, you can suck my —-ing d—!,” he screamed as the audience jumped to its feet and roared.

In accepting his place in the lores of wrestling, Heyman finished by vowing that no matter how many times he is cancelled – he listed a litany of times when he was told he was finished – he will keep coming back.

“They ain’t going to cancel me because if they do, I’m coming back bigger, badder and stronger before,” he said as the crowd stood on its feet. “The message tonight is they can’t cancel you. Only you can cancel you. Only you can let them cancel you.”

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“Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Paul Heyman,” he said, referencing his trademark expression. “Welcome to the class of 2024 Paul of Fame. This is not a lifetime achievement award because you ain’t seen nothing yet,” he said, setting off a loud and prolonged ovation as he left the stage.

Heyman, predictably, was a tough act to follow in the nearly three-hour-long ceremony, which also saw legends Bull Nakano, the U.S. Express, Thunderbolt Patterson, Muhammad Ali and Lia Maivia, the grandmother of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, inducted into immortality.

Nakano was inducted by Alundra Blayze, the U.S. Express by Mika and Taylor Rotunda, the siblings of the late Windham Rotunda, a.k.a. Bray Wyatt, Ali by The Undertaker, who introduced the late Ali’s widow Lonnie and Patterson by The New Day and Scott Spears.

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Other notable moments in the evening were Lonnie Ali honouring The Rock by presenting him with “The People’s Championship” belt, the Rotunda siblings paying tribute to their late brother, who died suddenly last year, as the crowd turned on their cellphone lights to show their love for the Bray Wyatt character and the evening closed with a standoff between The Rock and Cody Rhodes, who will face off on Saturday at night one of WrestleMania 40, in a tag-team match that pits Rock and Reigns against Rhodes and WWE Heavyweight champion Seth Rollins.

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