Paul Heyman has given his honest opinion of the “WWEized” version of ECW.
After the success of its two ECW One Night Stand pay-per-views, WWE resurrected Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2006 with a weekly show on Syfy. Paul Heyman’s early involvement meant fans were initially hopeful that WWE would try to capture the spirit of the original ECW with the show, but the former owner of the company was relieved from his duties on the brand only months after its launch due to the disastrous December to Dismember event.
By then, WWE stars had become a regular feature of ECW, and it continued to become more like WWE than a separate brand as time went on. By the time the show was taken off the air in 2010, it had become a developmental brand for the main roster, making it fitting that it was replaced by NXT.
While discussing the inclusion of the classic Hardcore Heaven 94 arena in WWE 2K26 with VCG, Paul Heyman has given a brutal assessment of the “abhorrent” relaunched ECW.
“I don’t think anybody that chants ECW in 2026 ever is thinking about the WWEized version of 2006, which was one absolutely abhorrent, miserable experience for everybody involved.”
Heyman says that anyone chanting for ECW now is thinking back to the original era, when the promotion was revolutionizing pro wrestling.
“When people chant ECW, they chant from the period of September 1993 to January 2001, and to have Hardcore Heaven 94 as part of the WWE 2K26 video game is an honor for anyone that was involved in that, and I certainly was, anybody that was there, and there are many who were, and anyone who wants the genuine, authentic portrayal of ECW when it was revolutionizing, indeed evolutionizing, the entire industry.”
Paul Heyman Wants To Entice People To Play WWE 2K26 Over Major Franchises
Paul Heyman is heavily involved in the creative process for the WWE 2K games, In a recent interview, he explained that his motive when writing storylines is to get gamers to play WWE 2K26 instead of the likes of Fortnite or Call of Duty.
“I try not to play to my own fantasy booking, I try to play to the audience’s fantasy booking, and not just the WWE audience, but the video game audience itself. ‘Cause I would like to steal people from other video game franchises. I like to entice people to not play Fortnite, but to play WWE 2k26. I would like to entice people to not play Call of Duty, but to play WWE 2k26.”
H/T to Fightful for the above transcription.
