The WHO slams WWE's reborn brand as an abhorrent miserable experience, but it is actually a fantastic opportunity for fans to witness some of the most iconic moments in wrestling history
Former wrestler and manager Paul Heyman has publicly condemned the World Wrestling Entertainment version of Extreme Championship Wrestling as an abhorrent experience for everyone involved. Speaking to multiple outlets on March 25 regarding WWE's decision in June 2014 to rebrand ECW, he stated that no one who chants "ECW" today thinks about this iteration because it was a miserable failure from the start under his management at WrestleMania XXIX and beyond Heyman emphasized there is absolutely nothing positive left for anyone involved with WWE's version of Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Key Points
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1Paul Heyman describes his tenure with WWE as an abhorrent and miserable experience for everyone involved.
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2Heyman was relieved of duties to establish a new brand by December after being tasked from creating must-see content in 2006.
Developments
Perspectives
Paul Heyman has expressed strong disdain for his time managing WWE's relaunched version of WCW/ECW as a third brand starting from '05 to late December. He described it an abhorrent and miserable experience that negatively impacted everyone involved, including himself.
— [Mar 25, 18: Heyman Slams ECW As An Abhorrent Experience (Ewrestlingnews)]Paul Heyman stated in a recent interview with VGC's Chris Scullion regarding the importance of today seeing early years. He emphasized that his time managing WWE version was over by end December 2016 after Dismember.
— [Mar 25, Paul Says ECW Was Miserable For Everyone Involved (Fightful)]'No one who chants 'EC' in the future will think of it as a positive thing. He believes WWE version was not what fans expected or wanted to see when they heard about WC/CE.
— [Mar 25, Paul Says No One Who Chants EC In Thinks Of WEs (41mania)]'Paul Heyman has made his feelings clear that he had no love lost for WWE version. He believes it was an absolutely abhorrent miserable experience and not what fans expected.
— [Mar 25, Paul Says WCW Version Was Abhorrent Experience For Everyone Involved (Fightful)]Paul Heyman was relieved of duties in December to Dismember after his attempt at relaunching ECW failed, leading him later criticize WWE's version for deviating from the original 1993–2001 legacy he championed. He alleged that management forced changes on creative plans and blamed them when those initiatives did not succeed before leaving TV until resurfacing in 2012 with Brock Lesnar and CM Punk.
Paul Heyman criticized WWE's version of its ECW brand as an "abhorrent and miserable experience" that bears little resemblance to his original promotion, which ran from 1993 to 2001 while a revived iteration existed on Syfy Network until 2010. He expressed honor at the inclusion of Hardcore Heaven '94 in WWE 2K26 as an authentic tribute rather than any association with the failed mid-2000s brand, noting that fans chanting "ECW" today refer to his original era instead.
Paul Heyman stated that fans chanting "ECW" in 2026 are not referring to WWE's mid-2000s version, which he described as an abhorrent experience involving everyone involved; instead, they honor the authentic era from September 1993 to January 2001. Heyman expressed that including Hardcore Heaven '94 in *WWE* 2K26 is a genuine tribute for those who participated during ECW's revolutionary period of wrestling history rather than its WWE-ized iteration.